My Account
Tom Mayne’s strengths as an advocate, honed through years in personnel and industrial relations at Air NZ, have been put to good use locally in his roles as vice president of Greypower and chair of Age Concern. His interest in politics also stood him in good stead as he drafted dozens of submissions to Rodney District Council on behalf of the Maygrove Residents Association. In May he received a Community Services Award from Council. He spoke to Terry Moore about the rewards of getting involved.
I have always been politically inclined, and keep up with the local and international news. It’s instinctive for me and is especially vital now that I’m 82, to keep the mind active. I am very concerned about Rodney being taken over by Auckland – it is one of the worst things ever to happen in local government. The legislation that put Auckland Council in place was broad based, and has given the Government a lot of space to manoeuvre. The members of the board of inquiry that was set up did as they were told by Rodney Hide, so predictably the outcome was 100 percent what the Government wanted. I can see what is going to happen, because of people’s need to have someone accessible to deal with their problems; the local board will take up the position that the Council has today and Auckland Council will be like the Auckland Regional Council was – a distant body that does the big picture stuff, and won’t have much to do with the community on a day to day basis. It might take a couple of elections for the Local Board to get established in that role, but I believe it will, in time, be as important as Council is now. A lot will depend on where the board is based and how much money it gets, but I understand there may be a double rating system with rates paid to the Auckland Council and further rates, as there were with the ARC, paid to the Local Board.
My involvement with Greypower began in 1992. Jill Jeffs, who was a Councillor and also Greypower president suggested I join and when she stood down as president in 1995 I took it on. It’s one of those roles that not a lot of people stick up their hands for. I am retired, and the people that Greypower represents are my peers. We use advocacy to keep Government honest, especially on issues such as superannuation, which is the number one issue for this age group. In fact, the reason Greypower started in 1986 was because of Roger Douglas’ super tax. I am a firm believer in a contributory superannuation scheme based on Labour politician Arnold Nordmeyer’s vision. This was that the worker should contribute four percent of their salary, and the employer an equal amount. It’s the best way to go because paying superannuation out of tax is too much of a charity, and successive governments can fiddle with it at will, which I don’t like. With a contributory scheme, it’s your money and that means that Government has less control. I am watching the current debate over superannuation with interest, and hope they’ll come up with a scheme that is fair. Health is another big issue for Greypower members. The Hibiscus Coast branch is reasonably strong, and we’ve found that as soon as you have an issue that affects people in their pockets, they are clamouring to join up. I’m now a life member, but had to step back to vice president as it became too much work once I started working with Age Concern. Even vice president is quite a hands-on role, including writing articles for a regular newsletter – my latest one was about Government reducing the ACC payments for people with hearing loss.
Most of my time these days is taken up as chair of Age Concern. My role is mainly administrative, but I go into the office in Orewa every day and keep my eye on what is going on, as well as talking things over with chief executive Catherine Smith. Policy direction is also an important part of my role. I was invited to join Age Concern while I was still president of Greypower and have overseen some big changes in the organisation. It has a firm focus on welfare and one thing I heartily approve of is the drop-in policy at its office. Anyone can come in and sit down for a cup of tea or coffee and a chat – and a great many people do. It gives us a face, so you can see who we are and what we do for the community. When I joined in 2002 few people knew about Age Concern, but our membership and staff have grown in recent years. The hospital shuttle service, which we took over in 2006, is seen out and about and has really raised our profile. The shuttle service has just been audited by the Waitemata District Health Board. They were very thorough and went through the books, the vans, drivers’ licences – every aspect of the operation. Their report will make interesting reading.
When my wife and I moved into the Maygrove subdivision in Orewa in 1988, there were only 61 houses here – there are now more than 600. We moved here from Mt Roskill in Auckland just before I retired, because we didn’t fancy staying in the city. I started Maygrove Residents Association around 20 years ago in response to an issue we were having at the time with the developers of the subdivision, Hoppers. Soon our main focus became the Council, and we made dozens of submissions on issues such as parks and reserves and rates. I was used to the submissions process because of my work in personnel at Air NZ, where I frequently represented the company in labour court, or at conciliation hearings. I remember in the early days I turned up at an Air NZ hearing ill prepared and was given a stern message that this was not acceptable, by the conciliator. Since then I have always done my homework. The first thing to do when making submissions is to be clear about what you are advocating for and the direction you want the decision to go in. I then collect all the things that are in favour of that position. To be fully prepared, it’s also important to imagine yourself on the opposing side – put all the possible opposition arguments together and be devil’s advocate. ‘Know your enemy’ is what it boils down to. Also remember you never ever get everything you want – even small gains are worth it.
A recent issue for us has been the walkway around the Orewa estuary. Around 95 percent of our Association are in favour of this. Parks are for people, so anything that opens them up and makes them more accessible is good. Since the path has been concreted there have been a lot more people using it from early in the morning until the evening. I can see people walking their dogs or jogging while I have my breakfast and it’s good to see it getting more use. We also keep on at Council to get the Maygrove Lake cleaned up. The ARC set it up as a sediment pond, so it has that part to play in the environment, but it is also a public facility and shouldn’t be allowed to get choked with oxygen weed. Council recently removed all the weed and I understand this cost around $200,000 because it’s such a big area – around one hectare.
When I first came to New Zealand from England in 1948, I was a junior officer in the Union Steamship Company. I got married in 1952 and drifted into a job with Wilson’s Cement. This took me away from home a lot, on board the Herekino, the last coal-burning steamship carrying cement up the coast from Portland Cement Works in Whangarei to Auckland. We would go continuously up and down the coast carrying nearly 400 tons of cement. By the time that ship was taken out of service, I was second officer and moved onto a diesel ship. I looked for work ashore, as we had two children by then and they hardly ever saw me. I started work with National Airways Corporation (NAC), at first as a refueller. When NAC merged with Air NZ, I moved into personnel and industrial relations which mostly involved debating with unions. I had a natural bent for that type of work, having spent a period on the executive of the Engineering Union when I was with NAC and handled crew as an officer with the Steamship Company. I did a lot of personal grievance work for Air NZ, which required careful handling, and stayed with the company for 31 years, retiring in 1990.
One thing you cannot do in retirement is let your mind go stale. It’s vital to take an interest and get involved. I read a lot and write articles, keep records and stay mentally active. I cannot imagine anything worse than sitting around doing nothing in a retirement home. I’m a keen gardener and it can take an hour to two hours a day to keep my section tidy. Most of all I like to get out and take an active part in what’s going on. If you want something done, you have to do it yourself. You have to make things happen.
