Chief Stipe

How many extra ICU beds did Clark's Government provide? While you are researching that have a quick read of her Government's Pandemic Plan and the research they based it on. It's all online.

The point I was making is their system was not "overwhelmed" and they coped with less resources than we have out our disposal. Their curve has flattened. Over 5,500 people have died in NZ since lockdown.

What has he actually delivered that is new? Aside from the lump of cash to bail out an insolvent government agency? He said RITA would not have been able to pay their creditors by the end of the week and the bank was calling in its loan. If you analyse RITA's balance sheet and where that $72.5m is going I bet most of it goes to the ANZ. $20m for the two synthetic tracks that was promised anyway. $2.5m to the DIA to get the Racefields legislation sorted (which they don't really agree with anyway) and to help out sporting bodies that no longer get grants from RITA. Of course we should be grateful for getting yet another handout from Government but I'm picking this will be the last one.

What has he actually delivered that is new? Aside from the lump of cash to bail out an insolvent government agency? He said RITA would not have been able to pay their creditors by the end of the week and the bank was calling in its loan. If you analyse RITA's balance sheet and where that $72.5m is going I bet most of it goes to the ANZ. $20m for the two synthetic tracks that was promised anyway. $2.5m to the DIA to get the Racefields legislation sorted (which they don't really agree with anyway) and to help out sporting bodies that no longer get grants from RITA.

New Zealand has more hospital beds per head of population than Sweden. According to the latest announcement we need to throw $4b at the DHB's in part to help clear the 150,000 delayed surgeries because of Covid-19. Sweden's hospital system was not overwhelmed by Covid-19. Our's in contrast was underwhelmed with our occupancy rate dropping to below 50%.

Wasn't there a poster or two on BOAY saying it was "rubbish saying RITA was insolven"? Seems they didn't have enough money to pay their vendors come Friday.

Have your say. But he has said nothing new.

This has nothing to do with the data that supports the decisions that were made. All you are quoting is surveys on people's opinion not fact. One survey done by a PR firm and reported on the Left Wing news site Spinoff. Good old Toby Manhire - still in their pitching for the Queen Ardern.

Sorry can't let you hijack another Topic with your rubbish.

Now who's gettting political!

Someone asked how much does Radio Trackside cost. The biggest cost would be personnel costs. Broadcasting costs would be SFA for Radio. The total operational cost of Broadcasting for 2019 was $9.5m. That includes TV broadcasting which would obviously take up the lion's share of that cost. Broadcasting a radio station especially digitally costs stuff all. You don't even need a studio nowadays. Sky Radio in OZ 2KY was running a show from people's homes. There was some funny moments where one commentators kids were letting rip in the background. I remember Radio Sport once being run from Nathan Rarere's home - for some reason he couldn't make it to the Studio. Maybe there is an opportunity for an alternative racing show.

Top drawer management will "undo or cancel previous contracts made by incompetent predecessors". It isn't that hard. You send a message to all your vendors and tell them all contracts are being revisited. You even make that message public. Now you will say that there are penalties for breaking contracts. On paper yes but in reality they rarely get enforced. What if you as one of your vendors largest customers said "Look we are in the financial pooh and some of the decisions made by the previous crew no longer align with our direction. Basically we are at the point where you get SFA of nothing or you help us turn this around." Now the Operating Expenses for Technology and Communications increased by 30% between 2018 and 2019. From $20m to $26m. The "Managed Services" component of that rose by 34% from $13m to $17m. Managed Services will be outsourced IT services. The main vendor for that is SPARK (Telecom). I'm picking the increase in costs was the strategic decision to go down the High Definition "Rolls Royce" broadcasting path and the roll out of the supporting high speed and very expensive network to support it. Time to revisit that decision. The worst thing you can do when managing a business is to continue on with the wrong decision because you think you are committed to it. Cut your losses ASAP. I don't make stuff up as you put it. Read the NEW Boards Statement of Intent which I loaded onto BOAY this morning. They state quite clearly the opposite of what they are being forced to do now. I'm not "up with play" as you put it if that means do I have the "inside sources" that YOU keep referring to when you post. I don't have much confidence in Winston Peters at all. The Government bailing out the Industry is the last thing it needs. As for Racefields Legislation that is a waste of time - always has been. As I posted elsewhere on BOAY the most I would accept and expect from Government is for them to guarantee any loans they might be able to place in the commercial banking market. IF Peters pushes the acquisition of club assets then he is a complete charlatan without any economic principles.

Because there is a corollary with what is happening with racing. Dumb decisions and rules are being made based on poor assumptions derived from bad analysis of bad data.

I did the same (I've posted pictures recently on here). However as I was in a Rent-a-Kid situation and my child's mother was on a crusade to prove I was a 'bad' father for taking her to the races it eventually became harder to do. To the point where it was 'bad' to take her to my trainers property to see my horse and pat it. In that respect the NZRB/RITA and their marketing hasn't helped. They haven't positively marketed racing. I posted a video ad from Tabcorp on BOAY recently. TABCORP has an advertising campaign based on showing where their profits go and highlights everyday people that work in the industry. One theme of the campaign is "if you bet with TABCORP two and half times more more profit goes back to these people than if you bet with the bookies." Compare the advertising of Lotto in NZ. They constantly advertise that "All our profits go back to the community like....examples." What advertising do we get? "You know the odds now beat them." Or the latest one - "Can't make it to the local? You can still get on!" Do we see positive marketing on the Sports Betting? "When you bet with the TAB your favourite sport profits?" Even the Pokie Trusts turn what is a sad system of collecting gambling money from the vulnerable into positive advertising. What does the TAB do with its Pokie money? Funds the RIU. Not sure how you can positively spin that one! It even goes down to how we promote race meetings - I'm sick of seeing photoshopped glammed up women with a glass of champagne in their hand. While recently doing some research on the profitability of some racing clubs I visited one site that had such photos - they weren't even from their own race days! They were a mix of stock photos and paid talent. No wonder that club needs a Marketing AND an EVENT Manager and doesn't make a profit!

I suggest you consistently try telling the two ex jockey's they have serious issues. LOL. Suggest for one you get a new phone number.

They are largely the same if not in person definitely in kind and approach. If you are looking for "fit for purpose" then read the NEW Board's Statement of Intent delivered to the Minister in November 2019. It is the same old same old BS. McKenzie was happy to put his name to the 2018-19 Annual Report presented the same month reporting "a successful year." Really? Yet he has yet to release the half yearly report that would show what his first 8 months achieved. Go figure why! SOI_2019_Report_RITA_FINAL@1101.pdf

Rattled are we JJ Flash? Starting to play the man. If I was you I wouldn't try that with the other website forums.

I'll be very disappointed if he throws cash at the industry. Or fast tracks the stuffed up legislation. It would be acceptable if he offered to guarantee loans but not give loans interest free. If RITA can't raise money with a Government guarantee then what does that tell you?

Yep I had the same problem. Didn't get the email. Apparently it was a bug. But if they hadn't tested something as simple as that before putting into production well say no more. Beside the fact they supposedly bought the software second hand. Then spent $50m on it. From what I've heard it costs millions a year to run and pay a license to use it.

Don't hold your breath Curious. Logic doesn't prevail much these days. After all Nanny Jacinda says it's alright to go to school, a cafe, the movies, a restaurant, a shopping mall but going to a pub poses too much of a risk. Or you can book a restaurant for 10 people but not 12. Well that's easy if your party is 16 just get 4 in the party to book for 4 tables of 4. Go figure!

You refuse to get it don't you. Aside from the CEO/Chairman the Board and top management are largely the same. Especially those who pushed the betting and broadcast investment decisions. They just changed the name NZRB to RITA. So do you think Mackenzie decided on a case by case basis who got the chop? Plus it's taken nearly a year for this supposedly new board and top management (It isn't new) to make changes. Instead they continued with the old decisions. Would they have continued along the same route as before if it hadn't been for Covid-19? Well all the signs are they would have. If I was the Minister or in Cabinet I would be querying why they put their hands out for the Covid-19 subsidy when it was clearly apparent that they were insolvent and living beyond their means. Oh I just remembered isn't the latter just what Hon Peters said a few days ago?

You refuse to get it don't you. Aside from the CEO/Chairman the Board and top management are largely the same. Especially those who pushed the betting and broadcast investment decisions. They just changed the name NZRB to RITA. So do you think Mackenzie decided on a case by case basis who got the chop? Plus it's taken nearly a year for this supposedly new board and top management (It isn't new) to make changes. Instead they continued with the old decisions. Would they have continued along the same route as before if it hadn't been for Covid-19? Well all the signs are they would have. If I was the Minister or in Cabinet I would be querying why they put their hands out for the Covid-19 subsidy when it was clearly apparent that they were insolvent and living beyond their means. Oh I just remembered isn't the latter just what Hon Peters said a few days ago?

So you save money at the DHB's by sacking the nurses or get rid of the bakers in your bread bakery. Yeah that'll work.

Guerin?

I don't know. But the annual report should give an indication. Most of the costs would be people costs. Surely they are not doing away with an audio only broadcast? The streaming of video is unreliable if you are moving around and data hungry so I used to use my phone to get the digital version of radio trackside and either have earphones or the volume turned up.