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Top wool advocate bales out

Top wool advocate bales out

The conversion of productive farmland into trees has pretty much annihilated the wool industry. That’s the view of Hawke’s Bay wool broker Philippa Wright who has called it quits after a stellar 48-year career in the NZ wool industry, most of which has involved running her own wool broking business in Waipukurau. She says she first noticed the start of productive farmland moving away from sheep when the big move to dairy conversions began and since then the problem has increased with the planting of trees. “We have lost an enormous amount of sheep country and at the same time the price of wool hasn’t matched what a grower needs to make a profit, so therefore they have made other choices for their land,” she says. Wright says another factor which has led to the decline of the wool industry was the decision by farmers in 2003 to disestablish of the then Wool Board whose task it was to promote our wool. She says while there were problems with the way the Wool Board was being run at the time, the vote to kill it off completely was wrong. “I am still absolutely gobsmacked that they threw it all out. They should have said we still need wool fibre to be represented at a high level and to promote it in the northern hemisphere. Why couldn’t they have just changed it to suit that requirement rather than get rid of it?” she says. Read More: Pillow talk takes action Wool's dire situation The struggle for a good worker Wright says, to make matters worse, up until comparatively recently with the advent of the campaign for wool, farmers did nothing to support or advocate for wool. The result she says is that wool has slipped off the radar of New Zealanders. Wright says wool used to be the major export for the country and NZ was one of the biggest users of the fibre, but this is no longer the case. “We have missed educating at least two generations of our people about the value and great properties of wool and we have a lot of catching up to do,” she says. Wright says the good news is that over the last five or so years, the media and people in general have become much more aware of wool due to the efforts of the campaign of wool. What we need to do now, she says, is to create an enthusiasm for wool in our own country and make people aware of the excellent properties of the wool and the myriad of uses that it can be put to. The Wright Journey Philippa Wright began her career in the wool industry immediately after leaving school and spent the next two years working as a shed hand before going to Massey University to get a diploma in wool handing. After that she did some wool classing on Merino clips before moving to the North Island. “I’m not from a farm and I can’t say that early on I had a fascination with wool. But my father was a wool buyer and classer, so I saw what the industry was about from a very early age,” she says. Wright ended up in Hawke’s Bay and stayed there for 15 years working for a variety of companies such as William and Kettle, Dalgety’s and Wrightson’s – all of whom eventually merged. “It was a tough working in the brokering industry and was quite difficult for a female trying to progress. They gave me every job from bottom to top, so I got good all-round experience and, in the end, this created a resilience and toughness that has held me in excellent stead in my own business,” she says. After 15 years in Hawke’s Bay, Philippa had the opportunity to buy into a wool broking business in Waipukurau. She initially bought a 50% shareholding in the company and four years later took over the business outright and formed her company, Wright Wool, which she has run for 28 years. During her career in the wool industry, Wright has seen many changes. She says two things stand out: firstly, the improved testing of wool and also the mechanisation of the industry. She says when she started, testing was just beginning and it was mainly for yield. But now she says they test for everything – colour, the micron, the bulk the length and strength. “This is one of the single biggest innovations because it’s taken away that subjective assessment, which means that down the line there is proof that wool is a more reliable fibre to process and create new uses for,” she says. The other big change has been the advent of technology and machinery. Philippa Wright says when she started in the industry, there was only one forklift in the entire wool store of the company she was working for and, of course, lots of people. She says the introduction of mechanisation and new technology made a massive difference. Now that she has sold her business, Wright says she just plans to take a break and see what happens and perhaps reflect on the sector that has been her life. She believes that while a lot of innovation is taking place in the sector, nothing really new is happening – just doing what we always did better. She says the challenge for the future is to create new products that the consumer will genuinely want and be prepared to pay for. #Philippa_Wright #wool

Auckland family terrified after anonymous person tracks down address, delivers threatening letter

Auckland family terrified after anonymous person tracks down address, delivers threatening letter

A family on Auckland’s North Shore have been left terrified after being sent a letter from an anonymous driver.  The letter was in response to an alleged incident while an 18-year-old student was crossing the Harbour Bridge. It was not delivered by a postal service.  The student’s father has now gone to the police and is outraged, saying it is a “very, very scary” thought that someone possibly abused their power to threaten his family.  The dad, who wished to remain anonymous, said the letter had his wife’s full name and their address at the top of the letter, because the car is registered to her, followed by a veiled threat.  “Re: 07:30am, Friday 15th August on ramp before Auckland Harbor Bridge.  “If you are going to drive like an a****** and almost cause a crash with your lane changes, make sure its not to a person who can find where you live.”  The sender identified themselves only as “Person you nearly ran off the road”.  The father said he originally did not entertain the threat as his wife had not been driving at that time, but then he discovered his daughter had borrowed her mum’s car that morning.  He said, although he was not pleased to hear his daughter had possibly been driving dangerously, the idea that someone was abusing their privileges greatly concerned him.  He said his daughter could not even recall the incident. There was no contact with another car, and she did not remember anyone honking at her.  “At the end of the day, new drivers and all the rest of it, they have to cut their teeth on the job, and that is obviously getting used to the road.”  He said he did not know how soon after the incident the letter got dropped off, but he found it three days after the sender alleged they were wronged.  “This takes sort of road rage to another level, doesn’t it?  “You’ve got somebody there who’s clearly got a job where they have access to privacy, you know, your address, all that sort of stuff.  “And clearly they’ve abused their ability to have that and used it for their own personal gain.  “And then gone ahead and made this threat … very, very scary for somebody who’s, you know, an 18-year-old girl.”  He said his daughter and wife have been left shaken, wondering if the person is watching their home.  He said it was clear the sender felt some amount of remorse or guilt about their actions, because he or she chose not to leave a name and number with the note.  A police spokesperson said they had received information about an unsigned letter that was delivered to a North Shore address between August 16-20.  “The letter referenced a vehicle that is connected to the property.  “It is not known how personal information relating to the vehicle was accessed and shared.  “Police have not received any other complaints of this nature and will assess the report for any further lines of inquiry.”  The Privacy Commissioner said information about motor vehicles, including car number plates, is held by the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) and can be accessed in several different ways by authorised users, with authorisation granted by NZTA.  “Unauthorised access or use of this information can lead to a range of privacy harms, including theft and emotional harm.  “In a situation where access has occurred without authorisation, we expect the responsible business to assess whether the breach has caused or is likely to cause serious harm and therefore whether the breach requires notification to my office.”  A spokesperson for NZTA said it consults the Ombudsman, Privacy Commissioner and police (our advising agencies) before deciding whether to grant an authorisation to the Motor Vehicle Register (the MVR).  NZTA requires all parties to use the MVR to report every 12 months, providing evidence that they have kept records for each plate inquiry, undertaken regular staff training, and reported all actions t...