Patience & Richard Izard
Where are you from? Taupo.
What do you do for a living? We’re retired now, but we pioneered the local manufacture of tungsten carbide tipped sawblades for the US market in the 1980s.
What causes are you passionate about? Aviation, classic cars, progress.
What project are you involved with that makes the world a better place? Richard: We’re lucky we’ve done reasonably well and it’s nice to be able to give something back to your country. We love trying to do things for people. We’ve had people help us at bad times and it doesn’t hurt to return the favour.
There are two majors; the Lake Taupo Hospice where we helped fund the purchase of their new site, and the Taupo Motorsport Park which we felt we just had to support.
The thing that hit me and made me move fast on the Park was that there was nearly $6 million put in privately - people mortgaging their homes and so on - and suddenly through a series of unfortunate episodes it was going to be sold off by the bank and the only people that would have got any money out of it would have been the bank. So I bought the bank out and now we’re working flat out at revamping the place.
What effect has this project had to date? Patience: The Motorsport Park is a good family venue for all age groups, which is most important. There’s expertise there so people can enjoy their vehicles, and learn how to drive properly.
Richard: It’s going to help grow Taupo. It entertains people and it gives the kids a chance to learn to drive at high speed off the main roads. There's also an ideal environment for teaching truck drivers, giving them training for control of vehicles under extreme conditions.
What do you love most about New Zealand? Patience: Its clean and spacious. We don’t have as much freedom as we used to – things have changed since when we were young. I wouldn’t fit in a box and I just got on and did it. Women could do what they wanted to do, it was up to them. There was actually nothing to stop people, it was just conventions of the times. The men ruled the roost though, and there are still one or two places now that are sancrosanct to males and females are not allowed.
Richard: Oh that’s changing dramatically. I agree with you though the days of going to the Northern Club have finished, when females weren’t allowed downstairs till 6 o’clock and weren’t allowed in the bar with us or be members.
Why I love NZ – well it’s still one of the freest countries in the world. We’ve lived all over the world. You can see for bloody miles, there’s no smog and as long as you don’t live in Auckland it’s alright. I like the money that comes out of Auckland and we need Auckland. I like going to Auckland but I don’t want to be living there, but that’s our choice and the thing is you’ve got choice in this country.
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Photographer: Stacey Simpkin