Editorial: Morgan has heart in right place

Gareth Morgan

IT MAY have been very rewarding for those behind the Givealittle beach campaign to tell Gareth Morgan to stick it.

When I first heard the news I thought Trade Me millionaire Mr Morgan had just agreed to donate the $1 million or so needed to snap up the Abel Tasman Beach.

Before that I actually thought you couldn't own a beach in New Zealand, but that is wrong as well. But there were strings attached to his generosity - that his family would have first dibs on the part of the beach in private ownership.

Mr Morgan has a lot of strings to his bow - economist, businessman, start-up funder, philanthropist and wild cat nemesis. And he has never been reluctant to express his views.

In respect of his beach purchase, Mr Morgan would only be needing it for 10 years or so and then the rest of New Zealand could have it.

I think his heart was in the right place, but the conditions were in opposition to what the Givealittle guys were trying to do.

In a national effort to gift a beach to the people of New Zealand, you don't come along and wave a million or so around for exclusive rights.

Mr Morgan may argue pragmatism, but to most it looked like elitism or greed, qualities he's never seemed to display before.

Quite the opposite, given his work with Unicef, conservation projects and the Kiwi Heroes programme.

His argument is even if the Givealittle campaign raises its target $2 million - currently on $1.6m - the sellers will smell a bigger deal to be made.

The uber-practical Mr Morgan may very well be right, but I suspect there is a deal to be done with Government or other parties before the prospect of the beach becoming public property is lost.