Panda debate still red hot
Wellington Zoo seems to have sized up the perfect spot for its much-talked-about pandas, despite heightened political debate over whether the country can afford them.
Zoo chief executive Karen Fifield said there was a huge unused area behind the sun bears, between the ‘‘Asian’’ precinct and the ‘‘African’’ area, that would be a good spot for the pandas.
However, Fifield may have jumped the gun, as Wellington City Council councillors and politicians are still debating whether the country can afford them.
Councillor Paul Eagle has contacted chief executive Kevin Lavery demanding to know why councillors were not briefed on the move.
Eagle understood Defence Minister Gerry Brownlee had yesterday delivered a letter to officials at the Giant Panda Breeding Research Base in Chengdu, China, from Wellington Mayor Celia WadeBrown and Deputy Mayor Justin Lester, expressing the council’s interest in the animals.
Eagle said he found the secrecy around the development ‘‘somewhat disgraceful’’.
Lester said there was no point taking the idea to councillors or the public until the details of the plan were fully scoped and costed.
But Eagle disagreed. ‘‘That sounds okay but when you’ve got a minister involved and you’ve got the prime minister coming out saying he didn’t know about it either, that reinforces the Mickey Mouse outfit around this.
‘‘Any indication that they have given that we are a willing partner has come without any endorsement of Wellingtonians.’’
The substantial financial commitment of hosting giant pandas – which could have a significant impact on rates or other council projects – should warrant far more transparency than normal, Eagle said.
The Chengdu facility has already provided pandas for zoos in Atlanta, Tokyo, Edinburgh, Toronto and Liverpool.
Lester said nothing in the letter or business plan committed Wellington to hosting any pandas; it merely demonstrated the council’s willingness to see if it was a viable idea. He denied any secrecy had been used.
‘‘What I want to see is if this is good for Wellington,’’ he said.
‘‘This is between the Chinese and New Zealand governments. Nothing happens without their say or approval. Until that happens we sit here as an entity saying we are open to the idea.’’
The Government previously said it could send kiwi to China in exchange for a pair of pandas. Prime Minister John Key has also opened the door to taxpayer funding for the Wellington Zoo acquisition.
The annual cost of leasing a pair of pandas from China was put at $1.4m, but the costs of feeding them and building facilities to house them would also be considerable. It is understood the Adelaide Zoo paid more than $10m for its panda enclosure.
Fifield said Adelaide had to spend a lot of money rebuilding its zoo at the time the pandas came – Wellington Zoo would not have to do that.
‘‘We’ve rebuilt our zoo, so we don’t have to,’’ she said.
Key, who is in New York at the United Nations General Assembly, said he did not know Brownlee was delivering the proposal and it wasn’t his No 1 issue.
He also had not yet raised the panda idea with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
WELLINGTON’S CentrePort has returned to profit, boosted by a rise in container and log exports.
The company, owned by the Greater Wellington Regional Council and Horizons Regional Council, posted a net profit after tax of $14 million for the year to June 30.
In 2014 CentrePort reported a loss of $1.9m, with the financial results affected by earthquake damage.
Earnings before interest and tax rose 4.4 per cent to $22.8m, the highest in five years, while the company paid dividends of $6.3m, more than $1m higher than the previous year.
‘‘The board is very pleased with the result and looks forward to the on-going growth of the business,’’ chairman Warren Larsen said.
Port revenue rose 9 per cent to $66m, with container trade up 13 per cent and low trade up 8 per cent, CentrePort said.
Total revenue was just under $70m.
Outgoing chief executive Blair O’Keeffe said the company had invested heavily to extend the port’s reach into the hinterland.
‘‘Every day our CentreRail service, in partnership with KiwiRail, transports containers from across central New Zealand into Wellington, lowering cost and distance to market for importers and exporters in the region.’’
In recent months CentrePort has completed a new container terminal in Whanganui as well as announcing plans to deepen the shipping channel in Wellington’s harbour ‘‘to accommodate bigger ships and ensure on-going direct access to international markets for central New Zealand importers and exporters’’.