Rob Goulden, President of the Centurions Motorcycle Club NZ

Music: 00:00:00

MUSIC

Pete: 00:00:13

Are you tired of the ever rising.

Pete: 00:00:15

Cost of motorcycle registration here in New Zealand?

Pete: 00:00:17

If you're nodding your head, you're not alone. I'm Pete and this is Keep It Twisted, the official podcast of magnz. My guest this week is Rob Goulden,.

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President of the Centurions Motorcycle Club.

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Rob has spent a lifetime riding, organising and turning up when it counts. He arrived at the Wellington High Court protest in August on crutches after a knee replacement and he stood with fellow riders as a pedestrian.

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During this episode, we'll talk about cyclone.

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Recovery work in Hawke's Bay, the motorcycle community's charity engine, the contested ACC levy increases, and why affiliation with MAGNZ is starting to look like common sense. Before I introduce Rob, I'd like to thank the listeners who have shown their support by placing orders for a Keep It Twisted tubular scarf.

Stick around until after the chat with Rob, when I'll name check everyone who's.

Pete: 00:01:04

Placed an order so far.

Pete: 00:01:05

But for now, let's keep it twisted with Rob.

Pete: 00:01:12

I'm joined today by Rob Goulden, who's here today in his capacity as the president of Centurions Motorcycle Club. So, Rob, welcome to the show.

Rob: 00:01:19

Good morning.

Pete: 00:01:20

Up in Wellington today?

Rob: 00:01:21

Yes, calmed down a bit. That southerly that was blowing through yesterday was pretty violent.

Speaker C: 00:01:26

Centurions Motorcycle Club, you best tell me a bit about that.

Rob: 00:01:29

Yeah, we started about four years ago, just after Cyclone Gabriel. It's pretty relaxed. It's about 35, 37 members. We do a lot of charity rides, do the Ride of Respect, Anzac ride.

Pete: 00:01:42

So did you set the motorcycle club up as a way for you to personally and with your friends, help people who'd been affected by the cyclone? Was that the impetus for that movement?

Rob: 00:01:52

I was talking with a mate, Richard Dansey, he's in Australia at the moment, and we were talking about establishing a club. And then Gabriel happened, of course, and devastation even as far west as the desert road. A lot of damage. And we were just getting going as a club.

And I'll call us the Magnificent Seven. The first seven members decided we would go up and help.

Pete: 00:02:14

You're not just riding up there for a coffee, are you? Actually going up there with shovels and spades and getting hands on?

Rob: 00:02:19

Absolutely, yeah. We're digging out silt and things like that. There's a huge recovery taking place with many other groups involved.

Martha led that particular group, the Hawkes Bay Cleanup team, and that would coordinate work and we'd go out on a Friday, stay Friday night, get up early Saturday, go to work, work for the day. Come back at the end of the Saturday, go to the Napier RSA who are very kind and hosting us.

A lot of us are ex service people, so they would host us and we'd have a meal there and whatever entertainment was on, you know, whether it was karaoke or a rock and roll night we'd participate in and then ride home Sunday.

We've been up to some of the worst hit areas, Esk Valley and Pakawai, and we've been digging out houses that in some cases are full up to the roof with silt. Really backbreaking work. And that was a panacea for sort of getting going. And we've been up nine times.

It's been a real good way of recruiting people too. You know, the right sort of people you want in your club who have a, I guess a community spirit, want to help others and some amazing experiences.

I mean, we arrived out at Pakawai at about 8:30 in the morning, which was on the flatland or southeast of Napier. And we met in the middle of the road by this guy farmer. And they'd lost everything, had gone back to get something out of the house.

The water came up so quickly that he cut a hole in the roof to get out. The next one was a guy out on the road.

And the only thing recovered out of that house was a bag of marbles and a tin, you know, full of old first aid covers here with stamps on back when the Queen was a young woman. So, you know, that was found in one of the things and that's about all they got out of that place. Essentially.

They'd lost everything of about 30 years of living there. And that's absolutely devastating for people.

Pete: 00:04:12

A hugely catastrophic, life changing event that,.

Rob: 00:04:15

Hey, oh, it's heartbreaking but you know, out of adversity comes friendship. Every time we go up, sort of contact them. And it's just neat to be able to help people like that who wouldn't do that for others?

We're coming to the end of that now and we'll probably do something in the new year, maybe on the anniversary.

Pete: 00:04:32

Well, that would be a nice way to close that off, wouldn't it?

Rob: 00:04:34

Oh, absolutely, yeah, yeah. I mean, we didn't do it for any gain or anything like that.

We did raised a bit of money for them as well, you know, to buy tools and they got a lot of, you know, a lot of businesses and a lot of people really kind and donated spades and diggers and all sorts of things.

Pete: 00:04:51

That willingness to help others is a fairly common feature among motorcycle groups

Rob: 00:04:55

Absolutely.

Pete: 00:04:56

I'll say in New Zealand because I'm not really familiar with many groups outside, but I'm sure it's a global phenomenon.

Pete: 00:05:01

Really.

Rob: 00:05:01

Well, that's certainly the non, you know, 1% clubs, which is the bulk of. I'm not talking about the criminal groups and that sort of thing, but certainly the social motorcycle clubs and there's tens of thousands of them.

Pete: 00:05:12

We met outside the courthouse in Wellington and you were telling me about the number of riders who you estimate to be club members in Wellington. And I was quite surprised, if not shocked by the numbers you gave me that day.

Rob: 00:05:23

Yeah, there's 16 clubs, I think, in Wellington and I'm talking about the Wellington region. You know, everything from the Patriots, the Centurions, Ulysses, Gold coast riders, vintage riders, Wellington social, you know, you name it.

Pete: 00:05:37

All the clubs that ride specific types of bikes, the Harley owners group and things like that.

Rob: 00:05:41

Yeah, there's a lot of clubs. If you look around and they've all got that. I guess it's partly community sport and the desire to help and raise money for various charities.

And I think the motorcycle community does an inordinate amount of that each year. That's part of it and the other part of it.

It's quite galvanising for the club themselves in terms of the membership, you know, like working together and doing stuff together.

If you want to get an idea of what sort of size of the community, we're a population of about 5 million, maybe 5 and a half if you count the New Zealanders overseas. I know two groups alone. New Zealand Social riders and New Zealand venturisers total over 50,000 people.

We mentioned my club earlier on and all these other clubs. I mean, the Patriots, they've got about seven or eight chapters. You know, from Auckland down, you've got groups all over the country.

And then there's the individual riders and then there's the commuters. I mean, it must be well over 150,000 people. I suspect that is a substantial percentage of the population.

And if you look at an organization even like NZRSA and that was about 60,000 at its height, maybe more than that, maybe less than that. Now, I don't know.

Pete: 00:06:51

The New Zealand Motor Caravan Association, I think they've got about 100,000 members. We're not far behind that in terms of community size.

Rob: 00:06:59

If you got every motorcyclist to join in New Zealand, I think you'd go way past that.

Pete: 00:07:05

How do you think your members have been affected by the huge increase in motorcycle levies Rob?

Rob: 00:07:09

It's not like they're worried about paying levies. We all pay levies. And it's the unfairness of it. Like, I don't think scooter people are paying it.

I don't think cyclists are paying it. They're just as much responsible for accidents.

In fact, I saw some stats the other night that they're responsible for more accidents, but they don't pay any levies at all. So I think it's the unfairness of that huge increase just because you ride a larger bike. And I'm going, well, hang on.

For me, for example, I have two jobs. One, I do a bit of commercial driving, so the company pays the levies. I have my own security company and I pay levies there.

And then they also expect me to pay levies just because I own a motorcycle. And you're talking about 5, 6, $700 a year as opposed to car registration. What is it, about 150 or something like that?

Pete: 00:08:02

248 For my LandCruiser.

Rob: 00:08:04

There you go. So it's nearly two or three times the cost.

Pete: 00:08:07

Well, of course, it's not based on your personal ability, is it? It's based on perceived risk, which they've interpreted as the cost of any medical treatment should you be injured.

Rob: 00:08:17

I've been riding since I was 15. I've had one accident, and that was on a slippery road on the forgotten highway in the mouth of one of those tunnels, February, March last year.

And I wasn't hurt, just a couple of bruises, but a bit of damage to the tank and the peg. No physical damage to me. So one accident in 54 years. I mean, why are they charging me an extra $200 a year?

Pete: 00:08:39

It's complete nonsense.

Rob: 00:08:41

Yeah.

If you look at that, the accident side of it, I think that levy is unfair, and I think a lot of the motorcycle community, it's great that we've got an organization that's thinking about speaking for those people.

Pete: 00:08:53

Absolutely, 100%. I said to Ian in the last episode, I've not met anybody I've spoken to for the podcast who said, what a great idea.

We're paying $816 a year registration.

Rob: 00:09:05

So true, isn't it? It's not a great idea. It's not.

Pete: 00:09:09

And as you say, I don't mind paying levies. It's a system you have to pay in in order for people to benefit from that system. But this just seems to be vindictive.

That's the only word I can think of.

Rob: 00:09:18

I don't think it's based on.

And that's what Mark Chappell who we've both met, the guy that's taken the case to the High Court while he's taking the action himself, is no longer alone and many, many people agree with him.

Pete: 00:09:32

You've made a financial contribution as well which the team at MAGNZ are very grateful for.

Rob: 00:09:36

I gave Mark 30 bucks that day. I don't care if he buys a cup of tea and a donut with him.

He's taking that action at the High Court and good on him and a lot of people will now support him and that's not because of what I've done. But I came home and sent him another hundred dollars and I'll probably give a bit more to as well.

Pete: 00:09:53

And this struggle's been going on for quite a while. You were telling me about a protest ride that you took part in in the late 70s, Rob.

Rob: 00:09:59

Yeah, yeah,: 1979

the fact that we did this in: 1979

So you know, it's been a bone of contention. I think people want to pay their dues but I think they want a fairer system.

Pete: 00:10:25

One of the interesting things that has come out of this whole MAGNZ protest that I've observed is the fact that we've all come together. Rob and I think the latest proposals from the MAG NZ team for club and organisation affiliation is a logical step in that.

Rob: 00:10:41

Yeah, I saw the post on MAGNZ about affiliation. I think that's a really good idea. It's not binding in terms of oh, it's not compulsory to belong to MAGNZ or be affiliated to them.

But I think a joint voice is really important when you're fighting issues like this and having to take on a government department. Affiliation's a really good thing. It's not a decision a president or a vice president or the sergeant at arms or the secretary makes by themselves.

We put that out to all our club members and I've had nothing but positive feedback about that. It's good that you've got a recognized organization like MAGNZ who come across, I think come across very well, very reasonable.

I don't see a problem for any club being affiliated to magnz and I'm not pushing them. But it's good to have a voice and you don't have to take their point of view or Meganz's point of view, and that's democratic.

You may not agree with an issue that's been discussed, but it's also good to have a joint voice. And you can put your 2 cents in worth as a club.

Pete: 00:11:52

The purpose of affiliation isn't for MAGNZ to exert any control over member clubs. It's just to bring them together so that we've got a forum and we can discuss ideas and solutions quickly and easily.

And of course, being an affiliated club to MAGNZ doesn't stop you being affiliated to other organizations, such as the Federation of Motoring Clubs. This isn't an either or, it's an and both.

Rob: 00:12:17

Yeah, that's absolutely right. And that's great. You know, we've formed bonds and relationships with other clubs, for example, so, I mean, that's great.

We try and get other clubs involved. When we're doing that work in the Hawke's Bay, we think it's worthwhile. People have got limited resources and that sort of thing.

They participate when they can.

But it's a great way of getting to know other people, provides you with contacts as well when you're moving around the country or doing your trips or whether it be holiday or working or whatever. So clubs being affiliated with each other, I mean, that's a choice for the club.

Pete: 00:12:49

So I've been involved for about three months, and the one thing I've found out about this group is that there aren't any egos involved. They've been perfectly willing to bring in new people.

They've been perfectly willing to delegate responsibilities for tasks that need to be completed behind the scenes.

And the size and the speed at which the movement is growing has necessitated that the two fellows, Rich and Ance, who started it wouldn't be able to keep up with the speed of it. I mean, there's 15, 20 moderators behind the scenes looking after the Facebook page.

There's other work going on in the background that the public won't see. This thing hasn't just happened. There's been a huge amount of effort and it's all been done without ego or bias.

It's been a tremendous experience for me to get involved.

Rob: 00:13:33

This isn't a place for egos or anything like that. This is about an issue which needs addressing in the first place. So no need for that sort of stuff.

Yes, they are collaborative and willing to listen, and that'll apply to other issues, too. If they've got a valid issue that members or affiliated groups think needs voicing, then that'll be the story down the coast.

Pete: 00:13:56

I know you've got a background in politics, Rob, and the one thing that I'm quite shocked about is the fact that none of the major political parties who are standing candidates from the general election, none of them have talked about this publicly.

Rob: 00:14:07

They probably see the economy and law and order, all those sort of things. I mean, I'm reading half the pamphlets, I'm getting through the mailbox at the moment. They see other issues as more important.

Maybe they don't realize the size of that community and maybe they should take note. And I think our community, if you like, the motorcycling community, I can't think of anyone that would be against what we're doing.

But I may be wrong. There may be dissenters.

It's a substantial part of the community that sees something as unfair and that needs to be listened to and politicians should take note.

Pete: 00:14:41

As I say, I can't think of any that have actually engaged with the issue publicly.

Rob: 00:14:46

No.

Pete: 00:14:47

And we've said it a few times in previous episodes. This isn't just about the fact that my registration's gone up to $816 a year.

This is about the fundamental fairness of the process that ACC used to make that decision.

And they're an unelected body and their policy decision doesn't appear to have been open for consultation or based on legitimate evidence that we can see. It just seems to be a completely naive decision, which is punitive.

You know, if this was any other matter, I'm sure politicians will be talking about it.

Rob: 00:15:18

Yeah, I think there's a lot of unfairness in the ACC system, to be honest. I think they can do a better job than they're doing right now, but I don't think that should be at the expense of a minority.

I mean, the number of people that actually claim ACC must be several hundred thousand, I would imagine, each year. I don't know. I don't know their exact figures. But why target one particular group as.

Pete: 00:15:43

Large as the motorcycling population might be when you compare it to the rest of the country, it's a tiny fraction of people and it just seems strange to pick on that one small segment. It's mind boggling really.

Rob: 00:15:54

Say we've got 100,000 motorcyclists, what is it, about 3, 4% of the general population? If we've got 5 million people, 2%. So why target a small group of people?

Look, we all get ACC if we have an accident and long may it continue in terms of look after our people. We take care of our fellow New Zealanders.

Pete: 00:16:16

Well, the irony is you can come into New Zealand as the holiday maker and we'll pay you full medical costs if you have an accident. This is from the ACC website. New Zealand's ACC covers foreign nationals, temporary visitors and tourists.

If you are injured in an accident while in New Zealand, the government's no Fault scheme will pay for your medical care and rehabilitation, regardless of your nationality and who was at fault. If you are a visitor injured in New Zealand, you'll receive the same ACC cover as everyone else.

If you're looking to save money, there's an obvious place to start. Make people buy compulsory health insurance or accident insurance when they come into the country.

Rob: 00:16:49

Yeah. Temporary cover while they're traveling.

Pete: 00:16:51

Yeah.

Rob: 00:16:52

It's like us traveling somewhere else. We take travel insurance.

I mean, you're a mug if you don't because you can get into a lot of difficulty financially if you're traveling overseas, like the States or something like that, and suddenly something goes wrong, you have an accident. Doesn't have to be your fault.

Pete: 00:17:06

Mark spoke in his episode about the report which led to the commissioning of the ACC back in the 70s.

With your politics head on, do you think it's time that revisited that either to reaffirm the original report or do we need a review into the current purpose and format that ACC is in?

Rob: 00:17:24

I think they did a restructure about five years ago. We all see it as something that should be there and that we should take all due care to help our fellow New Zealanders and even visitors.

But the bottom line is that's got to be paid for. God bless us for doing it. It's great to have a scheme that looks after us and our fellow New Zealanders.

Other countries don't have that and so we're lucky in that regard.

But I guess it's the mechanism, how we raise money for that and that's not a political answer for me, that's for the politicians who are the current ones that are making the policies to decide. Yeah.

Pete: 00:17:58

The one thing we haven't spoken about yet, Rob, is your riding history and the bikes that you currently got in the shed.

Rob: 00:18:04

There's one bike in the shed, that's the only one the Chief of General Staff will allow.

Rob: 00:18:10

So.

Rob: 00:18:13

She. You must be obeyed.

Pete: 00:18:14

And what are you riding these days?

Rob: 00:18:16

I ride a Dyna low rider, beautiful steel blue one with black paint job in the centre of the tank and the Harley Davidson and white writing. Had it for about eight years and love it.

Pete: 00:18:29

And have you always been into that style of bike?

Rob: 00:18:32

No, no. I used to own Japanese bikes. I had an 850 shaft drive going backwards.

Shaft drive, Suzuki GS: 1000

Pete: 00:18:52

Oh, that's good. I might have mentioned yesterday, We've just ordered 100 tubular neck scarves with the keep it twisted logo on them.

And that's just to a raise the profile, but to bring a bit of money into the MAGNZ fund without relying on the give a little page.

Rob: 00:19:06

If you take the motorcycle population as 100,000 and you say to everyone in the country, this is a worthwhile cause. If you got everyone to put in five bucks, we've then got a fund of $500,000 to be representing good causes like this one that Mark's doing.

And I'd say it again, I said it the other day, he's a very brave man doing what he's doing. He represents, as far as I'm concerned, all of us as responsible motorcyclists and safe riders and that.

So I'm more than happy to put some money where your mouth is. It's about fairness. It's about doing the right thing. It's about not isolating a small section of the community and making them pay an unfair share.

Pete: 00:19:51

Do you know, I think that's the bit that grabbed my attention. It's very difficult not to feel bullied as a motorcyclist under this regime.

Rob: 00:19:58

Yeah. When it's sort of put up like this and thrust upon you. Yeah.

You, you think, well, hang on, you know, we live in a democracy and as you quite rightly pointed out before, it's not about we don't want to pay levies, it's about what proportion we should pay and whether that's a fair amount given the considerations everyone else has given.

Pete: 00:20:21

There are a lot of factors that roll out of this. You know, motorcyclists help with easing congestion. Motorcyclists are a quick, cheap, easy, efficient way mode of transport. There's all of that.

Less environmental impact. You could go on and on and on and on.

Rob: 00:20:35

They're an amazing source of charity in this country.

Pete: 00:20:38

That's another important angle, isn't it? The amount of charity work that's done by motorcycle groups.

Rob: 00:20:42

Oh, huge. I can't think of a weekend when there's not a ride on somewhere around the country with maybe several hundred riders.

You know, raising money for kids with cancer, Maine, raising money for veterans, doing the sort of thing that we do. We're not the only club that does it, and I think that's great. I'm very proud of what we've done. So, yeah.

Pete: 00:21:03

Do you want to say how people can find out about Centurions and join?

Rob: 00:21:06

We're a bit of a different club. We're not exclusive, we're inclusive, we're not sexist. We have male and female members and it's on Centurions Motorcycle Club NZ on Facebook.

People either come through a recommendation of another member or they find us on the site and they answer the three questions and we bring them through. There's no hidden agenda or anything like that.

We just want to know that they're a good person, they can mix well with the club and other club members and ride safely.

Pete: 00:21:38

Oh, well, I've enjoyed the chat, Rob.

Rob: 00:21:40

Yes, me too.

Pete: 00:21:41

It's been good to go over some of that ground with you and I appreciate you making the effort to talk to me outside the court and make an appearance on the show. Really appreciate that.

Rob: 00:21:50

Oh, that's easy. That's good fun.

Pete: 00:21:52

Thanks, Rob.

Rob: 00:21:52

All right, you have a great day. See you, mate.

Pete: 00:21:54

And you. Cheers, bud. See ya.

Pete: 00:22:00

From leading relief rides to the Hawke's Bay after Cyclone Gabrielle to standing on crutches outside the High Court, Rob is driven by a selfless passion to help others. And I'd like to thank him for taking time to record this episode and share his story with us all.

He's already invited me on one of his club rides and I'm sure we'll hear from him again at some stage in the future. In the meantime, if you want to find out more about Centurions or get in touch with Rob, you'll find them both on Facebook.

Just search for Rob golden or Centurions Motorcycle Club nz. Before I go, I'm going to name check everybody who's placed an order for a keep it twisted scarf. So here we go.

Aaron McKenzie, Andrew Davies, Ants Nathan, Artem Ruatu, Brett Simon, Kathy McFadden, Chris Eruera, Dave Marshall, Dave Tibble, Don Phillips, Eugene Patton, Fred Nicoll, Greg Campbell, Ian Ogilvy, Ian Cook, Jane Simons, Jeanette Salisbury, Josh Dogood, Keegan Guthrie, Mark Benwell, Martin Sim, Matthew Jones, Murray Colquhoun, Peter Kane, Piri Oea, Rebecca Dyson, Eric Tohu, Ross Hay, Shane Lipshem, Steve Anderson, Steve Bridger, Steve Lloyd, Steve Weston, Wayne Billing and Willy Landman. Thanks, team. Your support means a huge amount and the surplus we raise will go straight into helping magnz.

I'm expecting the scarves to land in New Zealand next week, and I'll post them out or drop them off if you're local as soon as they arrive.

There are still some scarves left at the fabulous price of $20, including postage within New Zealand, and I'll put a link in the notes for anyone who wants to grab one while they can. That's all for this week. Remember to follow or subscribe in your podcast app so you get the next episode delivered straight to your device.

Until then, ride safe. Stands up, visors down and keep it twisted.

Music: 00:23:44

We're not gonna pay it and now we ain't gonna play it we're not gonna play.