The latest damaging revelation about New Zealand’s Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment (MBEI) is a dizzying doozy of a disgrace. It’s hilarious, awful, symptomatic, dispiriting and intriguing, all at the same time. You couldn’t make this stuff up if you tried.
Details are continuing to emerge of the multi-million dollar Kauri Whale Tragi-Comedy, but the bones of this wasteful balderdash are now laid bare.
In the current Aotearoa incarnation of New Zealand, feelings gazump facts. But the Taxpayers’ Union has discovered - through sheer Official Information Act tenacity - the following raw facts about the Whale Kauri Rort:
A central figure in this grifty loopiness is a woman named Melanie Mark-Shadbolt. Melanie M-S is not a director or shareholder of Te Tira Whakamātaki Limited, but is named on the Te Tira Whakamataki Foundation’s website as a founder and the current chief executive officer of the Foundation. According to the Foundation’s website, Melanie’s expertise is as follows:
Melanie was a significant financial beneficiary of the Whale Kauri Rort, well paid for her coordinating role. Most importantly, Melanie is also a director (along with someone called Daniel Patrick) of the BioHeritage Science Challenge, the very government agency that approved the funding of the Kauri Whale Rort - including the very same Melanie M-S herself. Melanie, my dear, you couldn’t have exploited a more flagrant conflict of interest. Well played.
Melanie happens to be the daughter of Ron Mark, former Member of Parliament, current mayor of the Wairarapa town of Carterton and recent appointee to the Waitangi Tribunal. But let’s not hold that against him, or her. Unlike Wokesters, let’s not do the guilt-by-association thing.
At the frontlines of the phoney baloney “treatment” were Project leader Matua Tohe Ashby, who “investigated” traditional Maori medicine solutions for Kauri dieback, and Dr Valance Smith, who is said to have collaborated with the Pawarenga community (some humans in Northland, New Zealand) to explore the use of vibrations and frequencies as healing sounds.
Click to view
Dr Valance’s doctorate is not in medicine, for humans, trees, whales or any other living thing. His 2014 doctoral thesis, through Auckland University of Technology (AUT), explored the role of contemporary Māori music in promoting the Māori language. Valance is currently AUT’s Assistant Pro-Vice Chancellor (Māori Advancement) and leader of Mātauranga Māori Strategy. Believe it…or not.
“Intelligence” that’s artificial?
Some allege that so-called “Artificial Intelligence” is ideologically biased in favour of the political Left. You be the judge. Here’s how the Copilot AI responded to my question about whether Landcare Research funded the Whale Kauri Rort [emphasis added]:
Who’s responsible for this wasteful farce?
In this rich tapestry of charlatans and buffoons, who’s really responsible for the Multi-Million Dollar Mumbo Jumbo? And a clue - it’s not, at root, Melanie Mark-Shadbolt. She’s just one of the multitude of parasites feeding off the dying corpse of an Aotearoan public “service” in dire need of resurrection. Melanie is a product and beneficiary of New Zealand’s rancid cultural and governmental milieu, not a cause.
The tap root feeding this flow of Unholy Woo Woo Dosh is New Zealand’s behemoth Government ministry of everything-and-nothing, the Ministry of (Monkey) Business, (Idiotic) Innovation and Employment (of the otherwise Unemployable).
And who’s the boss of MBIE? It’s a dame by the name of Carolyn Tremain, who has been the MBIE’s chief executive since 2017. Carolyn’s academic qualification is a Bachelor of Arts in [goodness knows what…who cares] from Victoria University. She then rose to the dizzying heights of Head of Human Resources at Air New Zealand before realising that the private sector can be too much like hard work and became a public service Lifer.
Carolyn is an enduring embodiment of the Peter Principle – the principle that ambitious managerial types get steadily promoted until they’re incapable of doing their job anymore. Carolyn reached that stage long ago. She drifted through Customs & Immigration before being inexplicably catapulted into her current MBIE CEO role, which she’s now held for one-fat-lady, 8 fulsome years.
Carolyn Tremain is therefore personally responsible for the Corrupt Whale Kauri Kookiness. And don’t let me hear you say she may not’ve known about this fatuous farce. In the highly unlikely event she didn’t know about it, she damn well should’ve. It was all on her watch. And even if she didn’t know, then in her tenure as MBIE Boss she’s undeniably helped create a public service culture where this brand of corrupt and wasteful nonsense is not just tolerated, it’s joyfully enabled.
It’s all a bit like the All Black leadership fostering a culture that encouraged TJ Perenara to sneakily abuse his leadership of the haka, in his final rugby test match, to criticize the current Treaty Principles Bill. And then have the Gaslighting Gall to claim that his overtly politically partisan rhetoric was meant to unite New Zealanders. But at least New Zealand’s bungling, bust Rugby Union is private sector.
Which politician should’ve nipped this nonsense in the Kauri bud? That’s former Labour Party Minister Ayesha Verrall. Dr Verrall was Minister of Research, Science and Innovation from June 2022 to November 2023, responsible for political oversight on MBIE’s role in supporting and funding research, science, and innovation in New Zealand. Unfortunately, the medical doctor who’s never had a patient adores and embraces this brand of nonsense.
And who’s now responsible for investigating the array of public servants, including Carolyn Tremain, who allowed and facilitated this crazy raid on the public purse? Who were the plethora of public “servants” who orchestrated this pernicious pantomime? It’s our money that pays them, and our money they squander. The person now responsible for holding the bad actors to account is the current Auditor-General, John Ryan. Come on, John.
John McLean is a citizen typist and enthusiastic amateur who blogs at John's Substack where this article was sourced.
In the current Aotearoa incarnation of New Zealand, feelings gazump facts. But the Taxpayers’ Union has discovered - through sheer Official Information Act tenacity - the following raw facts about the Whale Kauri Rort:
- The Kauri Whale Therapy involved playing “music”, composed of whale noises and the “sound” of a healthy kauri forest, to forests containing kauri trees. The putative purpose of this strange symphony was to cure kauri trees possibly afflicted by Phytophthora agathidicida – a fungus alleged to cause kauri trees to die. The fungus has been in New Zealand for centuries, possibly (in human terms) for ever. It’s not clear whether it kills kauris.
- The music therapy was combined with the application to kauri trees of a liquid derived from whale bones. This from magic potion guru, Tohe Ashy Using rongoā Māori to combat Kauri Dieback | #RONGOĀ Tohe Ashby is a traditional Māori healer, using rongoā Māori to fight the tree disease - kauri dieback. The rongoā contains whale oil and is the... | By Te Ao Māori News | Facebook
- This deranged endeavour was labelled, obscurely, the “Oranga (Wellbeing) Project”. According to the Te Aka Maori Dictionary, “Oranga” means simply survivor, food, livelihood, welfare, health, living. So, no hint of kauri trees, whales or music. And you won’t find any mention of the project on any Government website.
- The Rort was funded with over $4 million of New Zealanders’ taxes. Our taxes are of course paid to the Government, which funds MBEI, which funds Landcare Research (a Crown Research Institute)
- Landcare Research funded (through its “BioHeritage Science Challenge”) the provider of the Whale Kauri Therapy, a company called “Te Tira Whakamātaki Limited”. The directors of that company are Melissa Berry, Kiri Hurunui, Albert Marsh and Shaun Neeley.
- Te Tira Whakamātaki Limited achieved official registration as a charity in January 2020. According to the Charities Register, Te Tira Whakamātaki Limited’s charitable purpose is as follows (the “profit-seeking” bit is certainly true):
- Te Tira Whakamātaki Limited’s sole shareholder is an outfit called Te Tira Whakamataki Foundation. That Foundation is also a charity, registered as such in October 2019. According to the Charities Register, Te Tira Whakamataki Foundation’s charitable purpose is:
A central figure in this grifty loopiness is a woman named Melanie Mark-Shadbolt. Melanie M-S is not a director or shareholder of Te Tira Whakamātaki Limited, but is named on the Te Tira Whakamataki Foundation’s website as a founder and the current chief executive officer of the Foundation. According to the Foundation’s website, Melanie’s expertise is as follows:
Melanie specialises in understanding and applying mātauranga Māori (Māori knowledge) to biosecurity, biodiversity and climate change issues. She has a specific interest in decolonising ideologies of conservation and restoration in order to address injustices and harm caused to indigenous peoples and our planet.
Melanie was a significant financial beneficiary of the Whale Kauri Rort, well paid for her coordinating role. Most importantly, Melanie is also a director (along with someone called Daniel Patrick) of the BioHeritage Science Challenge, the very government agency that approved the funding of the Kauri Whale Rort - including the very same Melanie M-S herself. Melanie, my dear, you couldn’t have exploited a more flagrant conflict of interest. Well played.
Melanie happens to be the daughter of Ron Mark, former Member of Parliament, current mayor of the Wairarapa town of Carterton and recent appointee to the Waitangi Tribunal. But let’s not hold that against him, or her. Unlike Wokesters, let’s not do the guilt-by-association thing.
At the frontlines of the phoney baloney “treatment” were Project leader Matua Tohe Ashby, who “investigated” traditional Maori medicine solutions for Kauri dieback, and Dr Valance Smith, who is said to have collaborated with the Pawarenga community (some humans in Northland, New Zealand) to explore the use of vibrations and frequencies as healing sounds.
Click to view
Dr Valance’s doctorate is not in medicine, for humans, trees, whales or any other living thing. His 2014 doctoral thesis, through Auckland University of Technology (AUT), explored the role of contemporary Māori music in promoting the Māori language. Valance is currently AUT’s Assistant Pro-Vice Chancellor (Māori Advancement) and leader of Mātauranga Māori Strategy. Believe it…or not.
“Intelligence” that’s artificial?
Some allege that so-called “Artificial Intelligence” is ideologically biased in favour of the political Left. You be the judge. Here’s how the Copilot AI responded to my question about whether Landcare Research funded the Whale Kauri Rort [emphasis added]:
Yes, Landcare Research was involved in funding the project that used whale songs to help kauri trees. This initiative, known as the Oranga (Wellbeing) Project, aimed to address kauri dieback disease by incorporating traditional Māori knowledge and innovative methods, including the use of whale songs and whale-oil potions.
The project was funded through the National Science Challenges programme, administered by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE). The project explored the cultural connection between kauri trees and whales, as Māori whakapapa (genealogy) describes them as brothers. This unique approach aimed to harness the healing vibrations and frequencies from whale songs to rejuvenate the kauri trees.
It's quite an interesting and unconventional method, don't you think?
Who’s responsible for this wasteful farce?
In this rich tapestry of charlatans and buffoons, who’s really responsible for the Multi-Million Dollar Mumbo Jumbo? And a clue - it’s not, at root, Melanie Mark-Shadbolt. She’s just one of the multitude of parasites feeding off the dying corpse of an Aotearoan public “service” in dire need of resurrection. Melanie is a product and beneficiary of New Zealand’s rancid cultural and governmental milieu, not a cause.
The tap root feeding this flow of Unholy Woo Woo Dosh is New Zealand’s behemoth Government ministry of everything-and-nothing, the Ministry of (Monkey) Business, (Idiotic) Innovation and Employment (of the otherwise Unemployable).
And who’s the boss of MBIE? It’s a dame by the name of Carolyn Tremain, who has been the MBIE’s chief executive since 2017. Carolyn’s academic qualification is a Bachelor of Arts in [goodness knows what…who cares] from Victoria University. She then rose to the dizzying heights of Head of Human Resources at Air New Zealand before realising that the private sector can be too much like hard work and became a public service Lifer.
Carolyn is an enduring embodiment of the Peter Principle – the principle that ambitious managerial types get steadily promoted until they’re incapable of doing their job anymore. Carolyn reached that stage long ago. She drifted through Customs & Immigration before being inexplicably catapulted into her current MBIE CEO role, which she’s now held for one-fat-lady, 8 fulsome years.
Carolyn Tremain is therefore personally responsible for the Corrupt Whale Kauri Kookiness. And don’t let me hear you say she may not’ve known about this fatuous farce. In the highly unlikely event she didn’t know about it, she damn well should’ve. It was all on her watch. And even if she didn’t know, then in her tenure as MBIE Boss she’s undeniably helped create a public service culture where this brand of corrupt and wasteful nonsense is not just tolerated, it’s joyfully enabled.
It’s all a bit like the All Black leadership fostering a culture that encouraged TJ Perenara to sneakily abuse his leadership of the haka, in his final rugby test match, to criticize the current Treaty Principles Bill. And then have the Gaslighting Gall to claim that his overtly politically partisan rhetoric was meant to unite New Zealanders. But at least New Zealand’s bungling, bust Rugby Union is private sector.
Which politician should’ve nipped this nonsense in the Kauri bud? That’s former Labour Party Minister Ayesha Verrall. Dr Verrall was Minister of Research, Science and Innovation from June 2022 to November 2023, responsible for political oversight on MBIE’s role in supporting and funding research, science, and innovation in New Zealand. Unfortunately, the medical doctor who’s never had a patient adores and embraces this brand of nonsense.
And who’s now responsible for investigating the array of public servants, including Carolyn Tremain, who allowed and facilitated this crazy raid on the public purse? Who were the plethora of public “servants” who orchestrated this pernicious pantomime? It’s our money that pays them, and our money they squander. The person now responsible for holding the bad actors to account is the current Auditor-General, John Ryan. Come on, John.
John McLean is a citizen typist and enthusiastic amateur who blogs at John's Substack where this article was sourced.
3 comments:
Thank you very much for this comprehensive account of public service stupidity John. Keep at it please because it is truly evil.
Yes John McLean, you are absolutely right. It’s time there was accountability for these scams and the blatant theft of taxpayers’ money. You've provided the clarity. Govt and the auditor general need to act. We’re all being played for suckers.
An excellent article, John. You have exposed the crazy stupid waste of taxpayers money on these racist based scams.
There is no true Science at all in this laughable singing whale songs to Kauri tree nonsense.
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