EXHIBIT

21.5m reasons for being late
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In 1994, 1995 and 1999 the small rural South Island, New Zealand, community where your editor lives was flooded. The cause of the flooding? No, not an act of God, but poor river management – we live at the top end of a hydro lake, on New Zealand's biggest river. The lake is filling with sediment, elevating peak flows. Each recent flood has been bigger than its predecessor, all were bigger than the so-called '100-year' event.

Something had to be done.

If you're an elected public official, those are the words that keep you awake at night! Nothing much had been done after the '94 and '95 floods. A few unsatisfied and unsatisfactory compensation court cases still grumble on, years later. Flood-affected householders and business people were embittered, distrustful and sceptical about the ability of their elected officials – local and national – to offer any help.

This time, though, a national election was imminent. It seemed likely there would soon to be a new government. And the aftermath of '94 and '95 had taught some hard lessons.

A small team of local activists hatched a clever plan. 'We need someone – smart, credible, authoritative and available – to act as an advocate for our community and to help us find an answer to this problem,' the activists said. 'Let's call a public meeting, present the community with a simple, clear and compelling course of action, and cut through all the bureaucratic bumf and obfuscation in one fell swoop!'

There was standing room only in our biggest public venue, the high school hall. And there was only one item on the agenda. Well, not quite true, there were several speakers, and the local candidates for election to national office were invited to say a few words. But there was only one action item – a call for the government to fund a community advocate.

It happened. A recently redundant and highly respected local CEO was available. His arm was bent. The government, soon to be voted out of office, acted expeditiously. The appointment was made.

But. A hitch! The advocate was presented by his government paymasters with a catchment-wide mandate. We're only a small part of the catchment, which stretches from the Southern Alps to the Pacific Ocean. Our problem is local, specific to this town.

Clever plan number two. Your editor appears, stage left: 'How about,' he said, at an early meeting of the Flood Action Group, 'turning this disaster into an opportunity?' How about trying to raise a worth-while amount of money, and employing some top-notch expertise to create a strategic plan for our future? And how about we aim to deliver our plan to the government on the same day the advocate delivers his?

You do it, they said. And that happened too. $75,000, raised in just a few weeks, bought the community some expert help. The path has been rocky, and full of contention and political risk, but this is a community that works, that talks – and is also prepared to listen – and that respects honesty and genuine effort. The two reports were delivered to the new government dead on schedule. 'Great job' was the local consensus, 'but they'll never fund it.'

Early this week [11th September 2000], the deputy prime minister and the minister of energy came to town. And they brought a flood-protection, property-compensation and amenity enhancement package worth $21.5m with them. Almost everything we asked for. We've been celebrating – cautiously, because this is when the hard work begins – and thinking about converting dreams into the real magic of civil engineering and social justice. And that's why this issue is a couple of days late.

Postscript – what's Award-relevant about this story (which, by the way, you can follow on the pages of our regional newspaper)?

It's a story about leadership. About the power of ideas and imagination. About teamwork and commitment and strongly held beliefs. It's a story about the roles and responsibilities of local politicians, and about the strength of communities which work together for clearly articulated goals. I played a part. So did many others – there were, and are, many leaders, and some have only emerged during the past few months.

It's about all of those things, and it's about only one thing: leadership.

Malcolm Macpherson
Thursday, 14 September 2000