Posted on 9-6-2003

Dear Editor,
 
Rod Donald is correct to suggest strings are attached for recipients of Tindall Foundation funding.
 
An example is "The Jobs Trust" and its "Mayors For Jobs" scheme , whose Tindall funded co-coordinator has not yet accepted my challenge to raise the matter of "import substitution" to promote jobs.
 
Another prime ministerial example is Helen Clark. One hardly expects her to utter the words "import" and "substitution" in the same sentence, while flying around the countryside at taxpayers expense, opening Warehouse stores and seeking her friend Mr Tindalls advice regarding economic growth strategies for New Zealand. This is akin to asking the cats advice on how best to look after the canary.
 
While much is heard of the few million dollars the Tindall foundation distributes to local communities, this is only a dribble compared with the silent river of money flowing from its source - the New Zealand public via The Warehouse - into overseas economies.
 
For the record, The Warehouse spent at least $600 million last year buying imported products from foreign manufacturers. This is 98.7% more than the Tindall foundation distributed in New Zealand last year.
 
Ms Clark should wake up and smell the home-grown roses, not the fake imported silk varieties made by Chinese prison labourers. (*)
 
Yours sincerely
Stephen Tindall - the woman, Founder of MADENZ, PO Box 4580, Mt Maunganui. Tel/Fax 07 5745822
 
(*) I have documented evidence of this.