Our meeting was opened with a minute of silence to acknowledge the passing of a long time member and friend of our club, Alan Riley.
Again, a number of our members were absent from our meeting, hopefully we can get back to full strength soon, but great to see those of you who were able to be there and enjoy the most enjoyable presentation from Maurice (aka Moreece) Williamson.
Ian Fox stepped into the role of sergeant and I don’t think anyone escaped his notice some of us more than once !!Thank you Ian, and just for the record my offer to step in as motivational (or just head) coach of the Blues has been declined!!!
Maurice very kindly stepped in at short notice when Christopher Luxon was unable to join us needing to be in Wellington to be part of meetings with the Prime Minister of Samoa.
Maurice is no stranger to our club and it was a real pleasure to welcome him back to New Zealand, his home in Pakuranga and our club. It was also a pleasure to welcome his guest, John Roy. Many of you know John and his work with the Polish Museum in Elliott Street. John did encourage anyone interested to take the time to visit the museum.
Maurice informed us and entertained us sharing some of his experiences while living in California.
Maurice was actually born in St Heliers, grew up in Matamata has a Masters degree in Physics and Mathematics and had his first job at Air NZ when they got their first computer from IBM in 1981, which turned out to be singularly unsuccessful. He was a wee bit critical of our aging technology as well !!
While an MP he met many Heads of State and some not yet heads of state such as Vladimir Putin, who would have imagined then Putin was destined to become what he is today!!
In LA his office was in Santa Monica and he lived in Santa Monica in the NZ Government owned residence, but in fact as a residence of the government official it is “owned” by Her Majesty the Queen, and as such correspondence is addressed to HM Queen Elizabeth. Imagine getting your power bill addressed to the Queen!!
While in LA Maurice used his residence as place to bring NZ enterprises together with US businesses to provide opportunities for trade and business ventures to develop.
Maurice went on to provide us with some very interesting statistics around US debt. Remember that the USA is 38 times the size of NZ, but even with that ratio, the size of the US debt makes our national debt pale into insignificance.
He noted that at the start of Covid as he drove around the city he observed the queues outside Supermarkets, which we in NZ can relate to but what was of even more significance was the length of the queues outside gun shops were far greater, a pretty sobering thought!
His thoughts and insights are pretty sobering, when you consider the reality of the US debt and the divisive political system that creates 50 countries within a country one can’t help but ponder the future of America as we know it.
Maurice wrapped up his presentation with an announcement, he is standing for Council !! he will run alongside Sharon Stewart as representing out area. A seasoned politician with a very keen sense of the role of council and ability to articulate that and challenge where necessary may be just what is needed to give the Auckland Council the energy and drive it needs right now.
Notes.
1. Change Over Night. While there will be no major changes to our team we will still celebrate in style by Gliding On (thank you David Teape, the master of theme titles). The venue will remain our normal meeting room and meal, but there will be a “social atmosphere” we will be having awards and presentations including PHF, and it is an opportunity to dress up and bring partners. I am looking forward to seeing you all there decked out in your finery.
2. Please take care of each other. If you notice one of our members is missing meetings give them a ring, make sure they are ok. If you are unsure check with Mike or Pat, they may have already made contact.
3. Remember Keyway is our major form of communication please read it and keep up to date especially when or if there are changes to our plans or programmes.
Kia Tupato,Kia noho haumaru. Take care, stay safe
Madeleine East MNZM
President.
