Hubbard support surges
BY EMMA BAILEY
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A national advertising campaign and a $1 million fighting fund have been set up by supporters who want to help Allan Hubbard clear his name.
This morning half page advertisements rallying support for the 82-year-old Timaru businessman appear in the country's three biggest newspapers.
They were commissioned by supporters of Mr Hubbard who have rallied since last Sunday's announcement that Commerce Minister Simon Power had placed Mr Hubbard and his wife Jean under statutory management, along with seven charitable trusts and their private investment company Aorangi Securities.
Thirty years ago it was Mr Hubbard who gave Taupo man John Funnell MBE the opportunity to own a helicopter business which in turn has saved hundreds of the lives through its emergency operations in the central North Island.
"I don't think there is a bad bone in Mr Hubbard's body," Mr Funnell said. "I had not heard one word in my 60 years of life that would cast doubt on him. This is a man who, along with his wife, has given more than $200 million to charity. I think it is appalling what has happened.
"I have done the Funnell smell test and that said something is very wrong, and it is not in the Hubbard camp."
Mr Funnell spent yesterday on the phone to other supporters who put the advertising campaign together. It calls on people to email Prime Minister John Key or Mr Power telling them what the Hubbards have done for them or to record their story on the Facebook fan page "Help Allan Hubbard".
"I had a call from a supporter who said if money is an issue he has half a million dollars for a fighting fund and he can get another half a million from other supporters if necessary," Mr Funnell said.
Another Facebook group, "Leave Allan Hubbard Alone", was started by Timaru mechanic Rob Clarke. Last night there were more than 900 members signed up. Mr Clarke has no money invested with Mr Hubbard or South Canterbury Finance.
"It's awesome. I am blown away by how many people have joined up. I think he is getting a hard deal. He is a legend here and the most unlikely guy to be ripping someone off."
Timaru lawyer Edgar Bradley, who has been a friend of Mr Hubbard's for more than 50 years, was another staunch supporter.
"Allan takes a long-term point of view and does not look at things on a daily basis or on a three-yearly basis as politicians do.
"He has the ability to stand back from a problem and look at it dispassionately. Even if it affects him personally, he does not allow that to affect his judgment.
"If a sometime criticism of Allan is a lack of documentation then it must be remembered he is a product of the days when trust was more important than paperwork. Sadly the reverse is now the case."
Mr Hubbard, his family and supporter Albert Makary were advised by lawyers not to speak yesterday.
Serious Fraud Office (SFO) chief executive Adam Feeley said four members of his office, including himself, left Timaru on Tuesday.
"We have secured all the information we believe we need or served notices on people we believe may hold information we need." He could not elaborate on how long the investigation will take.
"We have reasonable belief an offence may have been committed, but that is quite different from saying there is a case to be answered and charges to be laid. If anything that belief couldn't be further from the truth.
"What we have is a report from the registrar of companies which has identified transactions which may have questions marks over them, and it is up to us to find the answers to those questions marks."
- © Fairfax NZ News
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# 2, you are obviously financially and economically non educated. Allan Hubbard and his wife represent only good, they have donated more than $200 million to Charities. They are humble down to earth folk who work harder at 82 than you have all your lives combined. They live a very real life, love everyone and have helped so many, so please retract your silly comments.
wELL DONE TIMARU. After 40 years of association with Allan we would accept his word any day over a piece of paper. It sounds like bureaucracy gone mad.
Frankly Johnno, when you dont have to work for you money like we do- you sometimes feel the need to justify your position
Why can't a govt dept do their homework for once first before turning everything into a circus, there are ways to go around things but lets face it, they are all a law unto themselves. I hope when everything is cleared that some idiot's lose their jobs over this, the fact a good man who has done so much for the whole country in general and had offered to supply information within a few weeks was not given a chance shows what type of an outfit New Zealanders are dealing with on a daily basis. So many of these government departments are impossible to deal with, just try and ring one of them and see what type of automated machine they give you to talk to but then thats our problem to go through. Go Mr Hubbard, honest Kiwi's are behind you 100%.
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The Serious Fraud Office has got its work cut out in order to regain any respect whatsoever. That and the fact that high flying ripoff artists like Bryers of Bluechip, Rod Petricevic of Bridgecorp and Hotchin/Watson of Hanover are still allowed to front companies in New Zealand makes the SFO look doubly laughable and irrelevant.