From the time I started in journalism in 1963 I have seen a number of changes in the social structure of New Zealand and not… Read More »Separatism in New Zealand: The Insidious Development of Separatism in New Zealand: Part One
Like all protests the, initially legal, anti-vaccine mandate gathering currently paralysing Wellington quickly generated it’s own energy and velocity with a wide range of unconnected… Read More »Dictatorial Socialism by Stealth
On Friday February 11, 2022 I tuned into a Zoom meeting hosted by Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ) to discuss Treaty of Waitangi partnerships in… Read More »Separatism
In the first two decades of the twenty first century among the most misused words in New Zealand were racism, apartheid and separatism. Sometimes they were applied incorrectly or used interchangeably and too often they were used to stifle debate or denigrate people who dared to question a new political development
Are we losing our tolerance for the dissenting opinion? By world standards we New Zealanders are a very tolerant lot. We might grumble and even get a little outraged at what other people write, say or do if we disagree with them. However, provided they are within the law and don’t advocate illegality, we are usually prepared to let people express a different opinion.
It is written that a gifted young man in a land far away and long ago could walk on water. The Government might need a similar miracle with their controversial Three Waters restructure project.
The unpopular and controversial project began with the catastrophic failure of a Havelock North wellhead in 2016 which resulted in the death of four people and 5000 people falling seriously ill. A year later a comprehensive report revealed that a significant number of public drinking water systems, managed by district councils, were potentially unsafe through underinvestment in maintenance over many years.
The legal right to peaceful protest is an important part of our folklore but it does not, and never has, included the right to break the law, engage in violence, mayhem and property destruction. We have seen all of these in the growing intensity of anti-vax rallies and protests but it is not a new phenomenon. We have seen this mindless behaviour many times as the ill-informed and rebels looking for a cause deliberately create mistrust, fear and havoc in someone else’s peaceful protest.
When the Global Climate Summit finally concluded Glasgow recently the representatives all 197 attending nations knew they had failed simply because they had no real leadership and no unity of purpose.
In fairness we should liken the complex problem of global warming to a large passenger liner travelling in calm seas without a captain.
Covid vaccination is no threat to our freedom. In spite of hysterical anti-vax placard waving, irresponsible gatherings of self-proclaimed martyrs and illegal road blockages none of the rights and freedoms we take for granted in New Zealand are under threat.
One of the most common arguments against Maori wards is that they would be a racist development but that is a misuse of the term. Racism generally means to act against people simply because of ethnicity and Maori wards will not do that. They are a positive rather than negative concept but are they really justifiable? Many non-Maori don’t think so but seem reluctant to say so in case of accusations of racism.