Calendar girls give chopper pilots a lift (+pics)

in response to #24, couldnt have put it better myself

Nice to see the community will always support and admire these men.They are true heros

Sorry ex Haastie but an "mistake in judgement" doesn't span years and years. Dave and Morgan didn't go to trial for not being great people, they went to trial for taking something that wasn't theirs. They profitted hugely from their thieving. Peoples emotions have clouded the facts in this case and if half the truth were known, I'm sure alot of supporters opinions would change.

I saw this calendar hanging in Kingsland Greenstone factory shop, the shopkeeper said they supported these guys 100%. So I didn't buy anything.

Dave and Morgan are "well known and good to do people". Locals DO have high opinions of Dave and Morgan for a very good reason. These high opinions are justified. These guys have earned respect countless times in this district and with Haast being so remote their efforts to help their community are priceless in an emergency. Also Dave especially has a huge record of helping people down on their luck and expects nothing more than a thanks in return. These are great blokes with great hearts who made a mistake in judgement. We all do that at some times in our lives. The perfect life, error free has yet to be lived. I support their case and feel they have been too harshley judged. As for the somebodies and no bodies of this world, shake the chip off your shoulder and get over it. And don't run down good people to make yourself feel important. It just shows weak character.

If the greenstone thieves were anyone else other than well known and good to do people, would such a fuss be made? I think not, because as a former nobody from the coast I get ignored and criticised for undertaking postgraduate study at varsity, never mind a conviction for theft of indigenous property. Since the thieves are "somebodies," people will do anything to preserve their high opinions of the offenders. Wake up people or am I just wasting my breath and throwing my pearls to the swine?

i give my support to these guys. i am originally from the coast, and i hope these good guys have the last laugh......

As Paddy Sweeney's beer says, Good Bastards,are what i say about the saxton's

The took some poxy old rocks, which are not good for anything other than making tikis for the Japs to buy.

Hardly the crime of the century, and hardly worthy of a jail sentence.

This grass roots maori takes exception to your wrongful assumption that this is a victimless crime. Current and future generations of Ngai Tahu have been the victims of significant theft. How would you know who the likely beneficiaries of compensation are? I don't recall seeing you on the marae or around the table when such matters are discussed. I wonder if the haast locals would be so quick to whip their kit off if Morgan and Dave had stolen $800,000 worth of stock from their farms, an equally so-called 'victimless' crime.

I am proud to be Ngai Tahu and equally proud to be a Haast girl. While I respect the calendar girls views and thought they looked lovely, their cause is one I do not support.

Sorry, I must have missed something ... these Saxtons may be popular as helicopter cowboys around Haast but they are convicted thieves (and its not 'just rocks' as they said on tv) who stole hundreds of thousands of dollars of greenstone that they then hocked off around the country - for years! We all know Haast is a queer place but it aint immune from the law. Sorry 'girls' - put your clothes back on before the sandflies getya!