The Rena

The name of the Filipino captain of the Rena is all over the internet, but I won't provide any links in case that's in breach of the court order.

But one on-line report from the Philippines suggests that crew have been sent home already – 8 on Monday and 11 more by now – compared with the Herald's report, which says: 11 put on flights yesterday and 6 are still here.

Who do we believe? Have the crew been spirited out to avoid any press attention?

Another interesting, unrelated, issue that affects the Philippines embassy and the election arose last week. The Philippines consulate (in Lake Rd, Takapuna, Auckland) is in a large house with land around it, and a billboard promoting local National-party candidate Maggie Barry appeared on the grounds in front of the house, only a few meters away from the Philippines flag.

It's now been removed, but only because it was pointed out to the consulate that any association between a foreign government and a party in the general election was completely inappropriate. It was no big scandal, but the billboard just had to be removed. The story was reported by the North Shore Times, with a photo of the offending billboard.

I can't supply a link to the story as, oddly enough, the editors of the North Shore Times (a part of the Fairfax network), have chosen not to place the item on line.