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Its not abuse were just dancing

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Health board chief quits

$60,000 GAMBLING BAN

THE REGIONS

I cant cut any more

Kate Newton
HEALTH

Plenty of gravy for state bosses

State sector bosses have been told off for their excessive spending on entertainment and dining as the past two years of their credit-card expenses were made public yesterday. Their expenses show a tendency towards boozy meals and lavish staff parties. They also identify Wellington restaurants that have become regular haunts for the Whos Who of the public service. For foodies and Wellingtonians many of the names will be familiar Logan Brown, Juniper, Boulcott St Bistro, Shed 5, Bisque on Bolton and Martin Bosleys. They are top restaurants in the capital and have prices to match. POLITICS A2

BOARD REACTION
Sir John Anderson (chairman): Agreed that there was no more room to make cuts. If you cut into muscle you are going to affect services. Donald Urquhart-Hay: Sympathised with Mr Whelan and said he agreed with his sentiments. Keith Hindle: Said Mr Whelans job was one of the toughest jobs in Wellington. Board members were stunned by his departure. Judith Aitken: Would not comment on Mr Whelans email, but was disappointed he was leaving. Ruth Gotlieb: Hes worked like a dog for the past two years, cutting expenditure back, cutting the budget deficit and hes reached the plimsoll line. Debbie Chin, Peter Roberts, Helene Ritchie and Margaret Faulkner did not want to comment. Virginia Hope, Peter Douglas and Selwyn Katene did not return calls.
Sir John Anderson, Peter Douglas, Selwyn Katene, Keith Hindle and Debbie Chin are government appointees. The others are elected. Line. He feels that he cant cut any more. Mr Urquhart-Hay said Mr Whelans resignation should serve as a warning to the Government that it had pushed district health boards too far. There must be an appreciation of the problems that DHBs face, and in particular our DHB, of the increasing demands that the health service is facing. The board had worked hard to live within its means in recent years under Mr Whelans firstclass leadership, but it faced big financial problems. Health Minister Tony Ryall refused to comment on Mr Whelans email or talk to The Dominion Post yesterday. Through a spokesman, he said Mr Whelan had done a good job and made a real difference.

WELLINGTONS district health board chief has quit, saying he cannot cut costs any further without undermining patient care. Ken Whelan announced his resignation yesterday as chief executive of Capital & Coast District Health Board, which he has led since April 2008. In a public statement, he said only that he had enjoyed his time in the role and was now taking a much-needed break before pursuing other opportunities. However, in an email to staff explaining his reasons for leaving his $430,000-a-year job, he said there was no more room to cut the district health boards costs, despite Government pressure to do so. I cannot see where any more major efficiency can come from without negatively impacting on services. Board members, including chairman Sir John Anderson, backed his statements, saying any further savings would cut into muscle. District health boards have been under pressure from the Government to cut costs. Capital & Coast has come under particular scrutiny, after years of large deficits and budget blowouts. The board finished the latest financial year on budget but with a $47.5 million deficit, much of it the result of costs associated with the new regional hospital, which was completed last year. Earlier this year the board unveiled a plan to cut $27m from its budget. Mr Whelan would not comment any further yesterday about why he was resigning. Sir John said he had accepted Mr Whelans resignation with regret and agreed with his assessment that there was little room for further cost-cutting. If you cut into muscle you are going to affect services.

Ken Whelan: Taking a break.

NUMBER CRUNCHING
Capital & Coast DHB ended the financial year on June 30 with a $47.5 million deficit, $180,000 better than budgeted. $37.5m of that was interest, depreciation and charges related to the new Wellington Hospital. The board expected its operational budget to break even by the end of the next financial year, but regional hospital costs would mean an overall deficit of $40m. The board will cut $10m from primary health and $17m from hospital services this year and next year to help meet its budget.
The organisation had been a complete and utter shambles before Mr Whelan arrived, he said. Mr Whelan was appointed to replace chief executive Margot Mains, who resigned in December 2007 after political fallout over the boards deficit, clinical service crises and tensions between management and clinical staff. He oversaw the completion of the new regional hospital a $377m project that Sir John described in March as a financial albatross. Mr Whelans comments were also backed by board members Donald Urquhart-Hay and Ruth Gotlieb. Mrs Gotlieb said Mr Whelan had worked like a dog for the last two years cutting expenditure back, cutting the budget deficit and hes reached the Plimsoll

Coming home
An air force Boeing 757 was being flown to Afghanistan last night to collect the body of Lieutenant Timothy ODonnell and the injured soldiers Lance Corporal Matthew Ball and Private Allister Baker. Prime Minister John Key said it was not yet known when the Boeing would return home to New Zealand. Lieutenant ODonnells funeral was likely to be early next week. NEWS A3

Not on the cards: Sothea Sinn says he thought his self-imposed ban from SkyCity Casino had expired.
Michael Fox
A WELLINGTON man won $60,000 at Aucklands SkyCity Casino but was denied the prize because of a self-imposed ban he thought had expired. Sothea Sinn, 28, was playing Caribbean Stud a card game similar to poker on Wednesday when he pulled in the big haul. Needing a royal flush to win more than $600,000, Mr Sinn drew a straight flush and, he thought, the $60,000 that went with it. I was the happiest guy in the world. When he went to collect the money, he says he was taken to a small room with a SkyCity security guard who took his details before casino and Internal Affairs representatives arrived and said he would not be paid due to a ban he put on himself six years ago. As part of the re-entry criteria, he was required to undergo six counselling sessions which he had not done. I was absolutely gutted. Mr Sinn said he and his girlfriend banned themselves in 2004 because he was gambling too much. After several years in Australia and now Wellington since leaving Auckland, he had forgotten about the ban, which was only for two years. Wednesdays visit was his first to the casino since 2005. He did not have a gambling problem, he said.

Photo: CHRIS SKELTON

Earning a fortune . . .
A West Ham United deal with star All Whites defender Winston Reid is worth $8.7 million, the British press is reporting. The Daily Mail and The Independent said the English Premier League club had agreed a 4 million deal with Reids Danish team FC Midtjylland. And The Sun reports the defender has agreed personal terms on a three-year contract, saying he had flown to London and hoped to put pen to paper. SPORT C12

He was told by Internal Affairs representatives that SkyCity was not legally obliged to pay up because he was banned. SkyCity executive Peter Treacy said that, when people were banned, they were required to complete steps, including counselling sessions, to prove they no longer had a gambling problem before being allowed back in. When someone comes in in breach of an exclusion order, its illegal. Internal Affairs said selfimposed bans were not uncommon. Gambling inspector Andrew McAllum said that, if Mr Sinn wanted to make a complaint, the department would look into the matter.

. . . Giving away a fortune

More than 40 American billionaires pledge to give at least half their fortunes to charity in a philanthropy campaign launched by Warren Buffett and Bill Gates. WORLD B1

$14m arts festival blames recession for possible shortfall

Stacey Wood
TICKET sales for this years arts festival fell short of expectations by 20,000 to 30,000. The New Zealand International Arts Festival revealed yesterday that the event may not break even. However, it said the festival brought more than $39 million to Wellington this year, up from $33.4m in 2008. Bottom-line figures will not be available until the books are balanced towards the end of September. Executive director Sue Paterson said: Its hard to tell at the moment. Were hoping to break even, or there may be a slight loss. About 103,000 tickets were sold from a total of 140,000 available this year, a drop from the 120,000 to 130,000 the organisers predicted at the end of the festival. An estimated 185,000 people attended free events. Audience research showed that the same number of people visited the festival as last time, but 30 per

FESTIVAL TAKINGS
1986: $133,000 loss 1988: $550,000 loss 1990: $200,000 loss 1992: Broke even 1994: Small profit 1996: $25,000 profit
cent said they bought fewer tickets because of the recession. Organisers said yesterday that the economic climate caused box office
WELLINGTON CITY HUTT VALLEY PORIRUA KAPITI COAST HIGH 13 HIGH 13 HIGH 13 HIGH 13 LOW 5 LOW 3 LOW 3 LOW 0

1998: $250,000 profit 2000: $2.17m profit 2002: $88,000 loss 2004: $136,000 profit 2006: $225,000 profit 2008: $28,000 profit
takings to drop from the boom times of 2006 and 2008 to levels more in line with the 2002 and 2004 events.

The recession was No 1, second was competition from other events on, like Womad, sporting events, and Diana Krall was in town as well, Ms Paterson said. The festival gets 19 per cent of its funding from central and local government, relying on sponsorship and box office sales for the rest. This years festival cost $14m and the next is expected to cost about the same. Its a really low subsidy in world terms, Ms Paterson said.
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In Australia, festivals get between 50 and 60 per cent. Some critics said this years festival programme fell flat. Music critic John Button said New Zealands early arts festivals staged the kind of performances audiences would not see outside of a festival. However, this years programme was not an exciting festival. But Ms Paterson said she stood by the quality of events, citing the Sound of Silence and Ravi Shankar as personal favourites.
GISBORNE FINE NAPIER/HASTINGS FINE

Time for courage

The Government is responding well to the tragedy of child abuse in some areas, but there are some serious weaknesses, writes Childrens Commissioner John Angus. OPINION B7
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WEATHER A12 PUZZLES C8

TODAY HINT OF SHOWERS BUT OVERALL ITS NOT TOO BAD

TOMORROW FIELD SPORTS COULD BE UNDER A CLOUD . . . AND RAIN

PALMERSTON NTH NEW PLYMOUTH FINE CHANCE OF SHOWERS MASTERTON NELSON FINE FINE SPELLS

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