Editorials 15 April 2010

The Herald enthuses over Queens Wharf:

It has been a long and tortuous road but, finally, an acceptable plan for the use of Queens Wharf during next year’s Rugby World Cup has been arrived at. “Party central” will be in a temporary structure on the site of one of the wharf’s two cargo sheds. This has two compelling pluses: the sprucing up of Queens Wharf for the Cup festivities for as low a cost as possible, and the demolition of both the unsightly sheds, an essential precursor to the wharf later being developed to its full potential.

All that is required for the World Cup celebrations is a gathering point. Little needs to be done. A temporary structure housing television screens and places for eating, drinking and dancing will suffice. Solidly constructed, it will easily withstand the buffeting of a wet and windy spring. The swept-up development advocated until recently by the Government was always unnecessary, as well as becoming constrained by time. It could also have resulted in the wharf’s final development being compromised for the benefit of a one-off event.

I tend to agree. People just need shelter, screens, sausages and drink and it will work.

The Dom Post calls on Australia to accept the WTO ruling on apples:

Australia has led New Zealand apple growers a merry dance for 89 years. Now the jig is up.

A World Trade Organisation disputes panel has found that Australian fears that fireblight, a bacterial disease found in some New Zealand orchards, can be transferred from mature New Zealand apples to Australian fruit trees are groundless.

It is past time for the Australian Government to show some leadership on the issue. The ruling is an embarrassment to a government that trumpets the cause of free trade in other arenas, Australian scientists who have lent legitimacy to an illegitimate argument and Aussie growers who appear to believe they cannot compete with their New Zealand counterparts.

Rather than prolong the process yet again, Australian officials and growers should sit down with their counterparts in New Zealand, agree a sensible regime, and develop a marketing strategy that will benefit growers on both sides of the Tasman.

Trans-Tasman believes that the Governments are working on an agreement which would be a good thing.