Rudman's city: Let people's generosity pay for lasting tribute to Blake

By BRIAN RUDMAN

Having found it too hard to clear the boy-racers out of Queen St or to dig a motorway tunnel under Hobson Bay, Auckland Mayor John Banks has homed in on the Sir Peter Blake monument on the waterfront.

A nice, easy emotional cause. "I am committed to a statue, an epic statue, strategically placed at the Viaduct Basin," he told us last Friday. One, he added, that was to be city funded.

So decent of the ever-suffering ratepayer, isn't it? Such a shame though, that neither we nor our elected representatives were consulted about this intended expenditure.

It is droll to see how easy it is for our mayor, such a stern critic of the profligate spending habits of former councils, to come up with new ways of unilaterally spending ratepayers' money. Here, he seems to be pledging the council to $70,000 of expenditure without reference to any council committee.

Of course he can't do it. But even if he could, there are strong reasons why he shouldn't. And he, as the expert on what is "core business" for city councils, should appreciate this.

Auckland ratepayers and taxpayers have already spent well over $50 million creating a Rolls-Royce venue for this battle of the millionaires - Sir Peter included. This was our tribute to the man. And best of all, it came in his own lifetime. Who could ask for a better gesture of respect?

But who pays for the statue goes rather deeper than that. Mr Banks says there was "massive public support" for renaming the Viaduct Harbour or a statue following the murder. That being the case, it should be a doddle to raise the funds by public subscription. As the saying goes, there is great satisfaction in the act of giving and here is a perfect chance for admirers and those who have gained from Sir Peter's exploits to raise a monument in his honour.

When you add the ship chandlers and the restaurants which are profiting from the Viaduct Harbour upgrade and the yacht racing with the sponsors Sir Peter served so well; then throw in the young P-class sailors for whom he set such an example, and you and me, who received such a patriotic buzz from his exploits, there should be money aplenty for the statue.

And that's where it should come from. It shouldn't come the easy, impersonal way, transferred out of some city council slush fund. What's more, it's the traditional way of raising a monument in this town. You might have noticed a while back in the Herald's 100 years ago column mention of then Auckland mayor Mr D. Goldie having managed to get 20 of the 34 planned garden seats for Albert Park "presented". In those days, even the garden seats had to be donated.

Mr Goldie was also hopeful of having a drinking fountain erected in the park before he left office, financing it with the £21 already collected by "the temperance people" to erect just such a memorial in honour of the late G. M. Reed.

I have a soft spot for George McCullagh Reed. He was a colourful journalist who ended his career as a Herald columnist and was, according to his obituaries, "full of reforming zeal", "castigated hypocrisy" and had "a habit of mind which was enthusiastic rather than judicial".

His funeral procession was joined by civic leaders and the judiciary. Afterwards, they passed the hat around for a memorial. That's how such things were done then. I am surprised a traditionalist like John Banks sees any need for a change.

Mind you, when it comes to raising statues to our good and great, we Aucklanders are pretty slack. Father of Auckland Sir John Logan Campbell, who is honoured at Cornwall Park, is about it really when it comes to local leaders. He and Governor Sir George Grey, soldier Lord Fryberg, flyer Jean Batten and Kiri Te Kanawa. Outsiders so honoured are Queen Victoria, Robbie Burns and Lord Auckland.

In March, another one should hit the street when a statue of Sir Dove-Myer Robinson, mayor from 1959 to 1965 and 1968 to 1980 is unveiled. I was going to say it will be in Queen St at the apex of the Town Hall, but the whisper is that some new councillors are querying this.

Wherever it does turn up, the Robbie statue is a lesson to fund-raisers for the Blake monument on how quickly memories fade.

Proponents of the Robbie edifice persuaded councillors 18 months ago to underwrite the $80,000 to $100,000 exercise, arguing that private fund-raising would be easy. Not true. Just $16,000 has been collected. Of that, $10,000 came from the Auckland Regional Council and $5000 from Watercare. Old business associates and the public were invited to contribute. The grand total of $16,000 tells the sad story.

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Peter Blake, 1948-2001