Fireworks Control

[Olive]

Or lack of control.  

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/1...-fireworks

Despite local attempts to prevent this selfish indulgence, F & E gave consent and there was nothing the Council could do.   The entitled arse made it clear he didn't care about the safety of the horses and dogs nearby, and it is now clear he didn't care about the safety of his neighbours and their properties either.

[Oh_hunnihunni]

I think it is coming though. Last night was positively quiet around here, not nearly as many idiots as last year. I hope it continues, there really is no excuse to allow the release of explosive devices for fun in city areas or in the country anymore. Controlled public displays only should be the first step towards an outright ban, imo.

[Lilith7]

With luck, the fire caused by this idiot may help move things towards a total ban apart from public displays.

Preferably next week...

[Oh_hunnihunni]

Oh it was him! His property?

We drove into NY at 2am, exhausted, my friend Chris dropped me at the hotel to register and went to park the car and we fell into our beds and slept like the dead.

When we woke, I opened the curtains after my shower, and looked out across the tiny street, straight into the Empire State Building. One of my best memories...

Btw, there is a supermarket in its basement. But they do not sell corkscrews. You needed to know that, right?

[Zurdo]

Before screwcaps ? You must've been just a teenager.

[Oh_hunnihunni]

Before screwcaps ?  You must've been just a teenager.

I am still a teenager. But America is way behind remember. Way behind everyone despite their loud proclamations about leading the world...

[Lilith7]

Before screwcaps ?  You must've been just a teenager.

I am still a teenager. But America is way behind remember. Way behind everyone despite their loud proclamations about leading the world...

Well..we're all still teenagers in some ways.

Someone not a million miles away may have possibly been recently busted for making an allegedly rude gesture in a photo she didn't want to have taken...  

[nzoomed]

Isint this the same people who held a multi million dollar wedding their or something?
I heard them talking about it on the radio the other day.

[Lilith7]

Isint this the same people who held a multi million dollar wedding their or something?
I heard them talking about it on the radio the other day.

I wouldn't be surprised - I've no idea why some people feel they ought to be able to do whatever they please, without considering others.

[Lilith7]

Isint this the same people who held a multi million dollar wedding their or something?
I heard them talking about it on the radio the other day.

This is brilliant - Why an American billionaire should be New Zealander of the year!

https://www.stuff.co.nz/opinion/13088962...f-the-year

"Virginia Fallon is a Stuff senior writer and columnist based in Wellington.

OPINION: Only days into 2023 we already have a strong contender for New Zealander of the Year.
Tony Malkin must surely slide into the nominations after welcoming in the new year first with a private fireworks display, then with a public fire emergency.

For fear of the latter, hundreds of neighbours opposed the former by signing a petition in the days preceding the disaster. But as we know, the celebration went ahead; keeping firefighters working all night; scorching about half a hectare of Malkin’s land and proving the neighbours right in their concerns.

While Malkin might not spring to mind as someone worthy of the country’s highest honour, his service to it is going to be hard to beat. Because in one night, with one event, his selfish actions are set to achieve what right-thinking Kiwis have been seeking for decades: a ban on fireworks.


The chaos caused by Malkin’s display wasn’t New Zealand’s only pyrotechnic problem, of course.

Fireworks and bonfires were behind multiple fires around the country on New Year’s Eve and January 1, resulting in 15 separate incidents nationwide at one point. There were blazes in Tasman, Otago, Auckland, Palmerston North and Wellington, but it’s the one on Malkin’s property near Arrowtown that’s really going to light a fire under the ban argument.

Where Malkin’s incident differs from the others is that his was a private show, understood to have cost tens of thousands of dollars, for an exclusive party at his luxury Central Otago retreat.

And not only did he go ahead with the fireworks despite widespread opposition from his rural neighbours, one of whom says he’s a “helicopter resident”, but he got official sign-off to do it. According to the compliance certificate, the commercial display was operated by Christchurch company Firework Professionals.

New Zealanders might be quick to forgive a bit of pyrotechnic recklessness by everyday countrymen worried about the price of cheese, but from an American who’s worth billions and, worse, won’t say sorry? Not a chance.

Money also can’t buy what Malkin has done for the fight against fireworks. He’s a man worlds apart from most New Zealanders, and it’s that which will really light the tinderbox in this long-burning battle to ban the bloody things.

What money does buy is the opportunity to make massive mistakes that’ll inadvertently force change for the better. In this case that’s cash well spent."

THANK YOU, MR MALKIN!

[harm_less]

Isint this the same people who held a multi million dollar wedding their or something?
I heard them talking about it on the radio the other day.

This is brilliant - Why an American billionaire should be New Zealander of the year!

https://www.stuff.co.nz/opinion/13088962...f-the-year

"Virginia Fallon is a Stuff senior writer and columnist based in Wellington.

OPINION: Only days into 2023 we already have a strong contender for New Zealander of the Year.
Tony Malkin must surely slide into the nominations after welcoming in the new year first with a private fireworks display, then with a public fire emergency.

For fear of the latter, hundreds of neighbours opposed the former by signing a petition in the days preceding the disaster. But as we know, the celebration went ahead; keeping firefighters working all night; scorching about half a hectare of Malkin’s land and proving the neighbours right in their concerns.

While Malkin might not spring to mind as someone worthy of the country’s highest honour, his service to it is going to be hard to beat. Because in one night, with one event, his selfish actions are set to achieve what right-thinking Kiwis have been seeking for decades: a ban on fireworks.


The chaos caused by Malkin’s display wasn’t New Zealand’s only pyrotechnic problem, of course.

Fireworks and bonfires were behind multiple fires around the country on New Year’s Eve and January 1, resulting in 15 separate incidents nationwide at one point. There were blazes in Tasman, Otago, Auckland, Palmerston North and Wellington, but it’s the one on Malkin’s property near Arrowtown that’s really going to light a fire under the ban argument.

Where Malkin’s incident differs from the others is that his was a private show, understood to have cost tens of thousands of dollars, for an exclusive party at his luxury Central Otago retreat.

And not only did he go ahead with the fireworks despite widespread opposition from his rural neighbours, one of whom says he’s a “helicopter resident”, but he got official sign-off to do it. According to the compliance certificate, the commercial display was operated by Christchurch company Firework Professionals.

New Zealanders might be quick to forgive a bit of pyrotechnic recklessness by everyday countrymen worried about the price of cheese, but from an American who’s worth billions and, worse, won’t say sorry? Not a chance.

Money also can’t buy what Malkin has done for the fight against fireworks. He’s a man worlds apart from most New Zealanders, and it’s that which will really light the tinderbox in this long-burning battle to ban the bloody things.

What money does buy is the opportunity to make massive mistakes that’ll inadvertently force change for the better. In this case that’s cash well spent."

THANK YOU, MR MALKIN!

Great opinion piece and Stuff wise to not have comments open on it. Things would have turned pretty nasty pretty quick I'm guessing.

[Lilith7]

This is brilliant - Why an American billionaire should be New Zealander of the year!

https://www.stuff.co.nz/opinion/13088962...f-the-year

"Virginia Fallon is a Stuff senior writer and columnist based in Wellington.

OPINION: Only days into 2023 we already have a strong contender for New Zealander of the Year.
Tony Malkin must surely slide into the nominations after welcoming in the new year first with a private fireworks display, then with a public fire emergency.

For fear of the latter, hundreds of neighbours opposed the former by signing a petition in the days preceding the disaster. But as we know, the celebration went ahead; keeping firefighters working all night; scorching about half a hectare of Malkin’s land and proving the neighbours right in their concerns.

While Malkin might not spring to mind as someone worthy of the country’s highest honour, his service to it is going to be hard to beat. Because in one night, with one event, his selfish actions are set to achieve what right-thinking Kiwis have been seeking for decades: a ban on fireworks.


The chaos caused by Malkin’s display wasn’t New Zealand’s only pyrotechnic problem, of course.

Fireworks and bonfires were behind multiple fires around the country on New Year’s Eve and January 1, resulting in 15 separate incidents nationwide at one point. There were blazes in Tasman, Otago, Auckland, Palmerston North and Wellington, but it’s the one on Malkin’s property near Arrowtown that’s really going to light a fire under the ban argument.

Where Malkin’s incident differs from the others is that his was a private show, understood to have cost tens of thousands of dollars, for an exclusive party at his luxury Central Otago retreat.

And not only did he go ahead with the fireworks despite widespread opposition from his rural neighbours, one of whom says he’s a “helicopter resident”, but he got official sign-off to do it. According to the compliance certificate, the commercial display was operated by Christchurch company Firework Professionals.

New Zealanders might be quick to forgive a bit of pyrotechnic recklessness by everyday countrymen worried about the price of cheese, but from an American who’s worth billions and, worse, won’t say sorry? Not a chance.

Money also can’t buy what Malkin has done for the fight against fireworks. He’s a man worlds apart from most New Zealanders, and it’s that which will really light the tinderbox in this long-burning battle to ban the bloody things.

What money does buy is the opportunity to make massive mistakes that’ll inadvertently force change for the better. In this case that’s cash well spent."

THANK YOU, MR MALKIN!

Great opinion piece and Stuff wise to not have comments open on it. Things would have turned pretty nasty pretty quick I'm guessing.

Oh yes indeed they would have! 

Hope this has the desired effect & the wretched things are banned.

[Olive]

And now the pyrotechnics outfit behind the disaster are displaying comically bad PR. "Accidents will happen".

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/1309104...nts-happen

[Lilith7]

Oh really? They were warned about the possibilities but chose to go ahead anyway. Not entirely sure that can be called genuinely 'accidental'.

[Zurdo]

They will pass the buck around until they find some poor bastard it will stick to...probably Jacinda, everything is her fault.

[nzoomed]

Oh really? They were warned about the possibilities but chose to go ahead anyway. Not entirely sure that can be called genuinely 'accidental'.

It's a high risk industry, I guess they have good public liability insurance to cover this sort of stuff? Ive been to a display and a fire started nearby, but they had a fire crew there on hand to put it out.

[Lilith7]

Oh really? They were warned about the possibilities but chose to go ahead anyway. Not entirely sure that can be called genuinely 'accidental'.

It's a high risk industry, I guess they have good public liability insurance to cover this sort of stuff? Ive been to a display and a fire started nearby, but they had a fire crew there on hand to put it out.

Probably would have been a good move to have them on hand for this one.