Badger - while I wouldn't belittle what you and your family have been through - I don't think this is entirely going to help.  The PGDB Chair has a job to do, and I think that it is the "Chair" that you are wanting to have a got at, as opposed to the person themselves.  I don't think personal attacks are going to help - by all means vent at the position and the decision that they made that have cost you so dearly.  Protest too - I think that the letter you have sent them would have been so much more powerful if you had made a statement such as the nepotism and then cited the examples to back it up.  Those who read this forum but are not acquainted with the details of the case will not understand what you are saying.

Why not write again, but take your time and add in the examples that back it up - this will give people a lot more background as to why you are so very angry.  Your case has spotlighted a lot of weaknesses in the process/investigation area and someone may not have done their job correctly - but the only way to fully portray this is to give details and examples - if you are going to give hand outs then I suggest you do this - but always ensure you are factually correct.   Always back yourself - sometimes the road is long and it can take a while to get there. 

Jax... you think well of those that do not deserve it, Bickers is a member of IPENZ an institute for engineers, so is Hammond the inquisitor at my case. The chair of my "hearing" Stephen Parker GANZ and other gas groups, best mates with AND member of the same gas groups, several actually ....you guessed it Hammond and guess who gave Darnley( my old boss and member of the same groups) his license after one oral exam....drum rollllll....Hammond.

So , and there are many, many more links, you have the now chair of the Board, Bickers... the chair of my hearing, Parker, and the foul turd Hammond (who the Board has received numerous complaints about) all members of the same industry groups .....on an industry Board.

Our own law commission states that there should be no industry groups on an industry board because of "perceived" impartiality conflicts ......but our Minister Maurice Williamson has no problem with it at all (I have a letter from him stating it), guess who appointed them all, and at the meeting in Napier said all sorts of nice things about Bickers, like they were old mates.....the same MP.

Our industry is run by people who treat it like a Gentleman's club, sadly we are lacking gentlemen..............


I got heaps....so lets have it you pack of cunts.....

Freudian slip there - I meant I do believe in playing the ball not the man!!  Apologies.

bring balance to the Board I will.....see what they have done to me, I sound like f***** Yoda.....hahaha

Cheers Thunder, too true....
 I am very far from finished....don't pack away your horse and hat just yet mate

I speak from experience and they are, I had tried to get the dodgy dealings of my former boss looked in to many many times for 6 years before an explosion, my concerns were that there were dodgy certs signing off dodgy work, all told to the Board in writting. But they fobbed me off. Basically I was complaining to the very people who gave my old boss his ticket....I have the photos to prove it.

Then after an explosion... they went after me, placing the very man who gave my old boss his full craftsman ticket after one oral exam as the investigator, even though I was found innocent of 42 of 44 trumped up charges, and the ONE last charge is backed by a British Standard, Canadian Standard and the fact that table 16 of 5261 contradicts its self ( then the 44th last charge falls over if this one goes because it is for signing it off), they still went public stating I had no idea what I was doing in my local paper...which now won't give me a right of reply.

They accused me of not realising the importance of a gas certificate....unyet they have accepted at least 11 gas certs with the gas leak test column empty, and tried to cover it up, one of these dodgy certs was for the exploding chip shop....they deny ever receiving this dodgy cert but are so inept that they have forgot to note there is an electronic copy on their own bloody web site...and you got the gall to say I don't know how to conduct my self, I have acted in a proper manner for 3 years and lost everything, I wonder how you would fare up in such circumstances, probably by greasing up to people....well that ain't me. 

What part of this is OK TS in a democratic free society, you have said I deserve it because I spoke out..... about the public safety, with my concerns borne out by the explosion that I lost my home, business and reputation over, if you read the trials transcript then it actually proves that the concerns I had tried to get the Board to look at were very real,BUT THEY IGNORED IT AND STILL DO TO THIS VERY DAY with very real evidence that was with held and ignored and lying letters sent to my customers(my complaint just recently up held by the complaints Lawyer).....just so happens most if not all involved are members of industry groups....that meet at conferences just like when you TS were sucking up to them.

It is true I don't know when to hold my tongue but I would rather that, than use it to kiss up to people.

I agree. TS you got 5mins of the "Star treatment". The biggest con men out there in the big bad world turn people with a quick motivational speech that wows those who will listen every day in this world. Its nothing new, ive met a few myself who roll out the welcome mat and talk the talk but after all the bullshit and chit chat it is my support or friendship they require at the time as it is my money that they ultimately seek in the end.

These guys seem to be all the same, they are just trying to use current acts and regulations to their financial advantage by forcing amendments to acts and regulations, or by bending the law or abusing their powers to achieve it. They do not care how they get there they will do and say anything and everything to prove that they need more money to regulate the P,G and D industry of NZ, costs must rise bla bla bla. They drive fear into the regular everyday plumber that they are the 'Board' and shall not be challenged whilst they go through the processes to legally achieve what they want which is ultimately to profit at the expense of the industry. They have been pulled up on that one through the OAG and are apparently now more transparent although I cant really see it except to say they are trying to do things through the correct legal channels now as they know there every move is being watched closely. I would hate to see where we would be if no one had ever challenged them and the PGDF didnt exist. Everybody who keeps up with this changing industry cant argue that we would be better off doing nothing because we would most certainly would not.

I am actually some days disgusted with myself for paying the fees that are charged these days when my family and I simply cannot afford it.
My way around it you ask?? We as a family simply go without, but in the end usually I go without. New clothes for myself after my family have what they need is a stretch let alone a trip to North America....I hear your overall point loud and clear Badger.

It doesnt matter what spin they put on it either, whether they need more funding for prosecutions, CPD, operating costs, first time registration or exams. The general idea is they constantly need more money. Does it make me angry that an organisation that does nothing for me gets a big piece of the action whenever I try to better myself and my life and the life of my family by attaining another qualification?? You bet it does. If asked, I actually warn young people away from plumbing apprenticeships these days and into electrical. Not so likely to get financially raped by the PGDB or ITO there. Fees from both groups are officially full blown out of control.

Back in the real world in 2011 after 18months of solid performance as a tradesman I enquired about a pay review,a 50cent an hour pay increase was what I sought to be not only a registered plumber, gasfitter but now a newly licensed drainlayer too in the great land of NZ but it was thrown out by my former employer before I could even secure a meeting even though it cost me thousands to get there so it just goes to show, Who is the big winner at the end of the day??....I nor my family certainly are not, yet we are the ones who put in the money and the time.

The NZ Plumbers, Gasfitters, Drainlayers Board wins again. I paid $2500 to the ITO for the apprenticeship,$300 for the exam,$408 first time rego fee. ALL FOR NO GAIN, not one cent yet the ''Board'' made $708 from me

I honestly feel that if fees are reviewed and go up again  in the next 12 months or so that will be it for me. Enough is enough.

I am by nature not a violent person but the lynching mob mentioned in previous posts, I would have to say, F*#k it, Id be happy to join hahaha.

My opinion is that the board is not out to get US, so to speak. They are out to relieve us of our MONEY we earn through any legal means they can. The PGDB is run like a business yet claims perks of being a registered charity also, its a disgrace.In western civilisation societies capitalism rules and each of us is only on this earth for one lifetime....just one. Board members included. If they can live out their one lifetime in luxury and comfort with their families at the expense of others wallowing in muddy ditches and living in shit box uninsulated houses, they will. To me its pretty basic human psychology.
(if anyone in a position of power from the mighty "Board'' is reading this with disgust right now, please understand that a lot of people actually hate you with an upmost intensity that is yet to be fully realised)

This is how things have gone in the past, & I expect the "Board'' to take full advantage of each fee review as an opportunity to up their revenue.
In the next fees review,expect the board to release doctored figures, more pie graphs, more cost projections etc etc showing how they are losing money in certain areas of operation and although they understand the strain people in NZ are under, unfortunately due to the number of prosecutions, the levies and license fees payable to the "Board" must rise to the new amount of $143.00 per license up from $102.00.I mean hell, they boast a 100% prosecution conviction rate, most people take the guilty plea as they know they cant out muscle the board. This saves time and money one would think yet there costs of operation somehow continue to rise??

These guys get things wrong all the time but because of the positions they hold they have the luxury of being able to deny, deny, deny (The classic all time strategy) and stand behind a group of people with the full power of the "Board" to wield. When we get something wrong we can be taken to court as an individual by them and they have the privilege of using any kind of the defamatory, reputation slashing techniques they like well before the defendant is found guilty. I am referring to all methods used by the PGDB on Badger and they are in my opinion appalling, dirty and brutal and are what I like to think of as North American Mafia style tactics. (When the guilty Mob Bosses would influence and twist a court system as well as the general public to their favour through any necessary means)They had the general public convinced through the use of a slanderous media campaign Badger was guilty and a danger to society before things really even got underway. They will do and say anything they possibly can to win. It is no secret that they were fighting for their lives in that case as high profile members were at risk of being exposed as incompetent which would of in turn make the "Board'' as an organisation look incompetent for failing to heed word that would have possibly avoided the fish and chip shop explosion.

Anyone who buys into this bullshit is in my opinion naive. People who are tradesman in NZ and are also to afraid of the board to want to join the PGDF are also naive and are slowing down the wheels of change through lack of testicles, or in that matter a brain.






My quote of the day for all those out there who, like me are feeling disadvantaged, angry and  used/raped while the mighty ''Board'' machine continues to gather un necessary revenue.

"When you've got nothing, you've got nothing to lose"

So when are you guys going to have a victory over the board if your so right? Or is it not possible because everyone involved is conspiring against you???