PM in Whangarei when he heard about USA hit on Syria

Prime Minister Bill English with Helen Whittaker at Te Kakano, the tiny Hundertwasser project practice build. Photo/Michael Cunningham

Prime Minister Bill English first heard about the US missile attack on Syria when he was visiting the Hundertwasser-inspired folly in Whangarei.

It was not a subject he expected to be asked about, nor one he was prepared for, during his visit to Whangarei yesterday afternoon.

"I don't know anything about it," he said.

Mr English had been in flood-stricken Edgecumbe and the Whakatane emergency response centre in the morning and had not been briefed about the US bombardment of Syria, the Advocate was told.

A statement would be issued after he had been informed about the missile attack.

The Advocate received the same answer 20 minutes later at Mr English's next stop.

His first engagement in Whangarei had been to lunch with members of Prosper Northland Trust (PNT) and be talked through the Hundertwasser Arts Centre (HAC) and its Wairua Maori Art Centre project.

Mr English appeared intrigued at the Te Kakano, also called "the seed" and "the folly", the construction of which, PNT member Helen Whittaker explained, allowed local builders to practise the techniques required to nail a Hundertwasser building.

The Prime Minister then visited the headquarters of Donovan Group NZ Ltd where a possible solution to New Zealand's housing crisis, not the Syrian crisis, was the topic of discussion.

The engineering company plans to launch a new residential housing franchise which offers a modular housing system it said will rival the current industry standard.

The system is backed by custom-built software enabling customers to design, walk through and price the building online.

Mr English took a tour of the manufacturing plant where the new steel panel building system is being developed then his party moved on to nearby Culham Engineering.

That family business with a 50-year old history specialises in the heavy engineering and marine industry.

Mr English left Whangarei later in the afternoon.