Another Maori Language Week is here with the usual enthusiastic efforts of a growing number of supporters to keep the language alive and the usual… Read More »Whakaorangatia te reo Maori – Rescuing the Maori language
As a relatively new species on planet Earth today’s humans (homo sapiens) have come a long way in a very short time. Along that tortuous… Read More »Leaving Monsters behind
Towards the end of more than forty years in front line journalism I became increasingly aware of the development of an informal duality of citizenship… Read More »Separatism in New Zealand: Part Four; Maori in Central and Local Government
Towards the end of more than forty years in front line journalism I became increasingly aware of the development of an informal duality of citizenship… Read More »Separatism in New Zealand: Part Two; Cultural and traditional harvest of natural and exotic resources
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.
Most hunters will have carefully read the hunting regulations which apply to their areas and have a shooting licence and firearms licence safely tucked away in a back pocket but few will yet have had the opportunity to read the damming report of a year long review of the organisation which manages their sport.
The so-called trans-Tasman relationship, which we will commemorate next Sunday on Anzac Day, has never been more abused than it is now. While the somewhat idealistic brotherhood in arms tradition was established by a previous generation on the bloody slopes of Gallipoli more than a century ago, there is now a new conflict festering beneath the surface which is raising temperatures and tempers on both side of the Tasman.
In a time of unprecedented uncertainty about our protection from a deadly disease and the future of the planet it can often be helpful to look back at how our parents and grandparents managed in the face of adversity. They fed and clothed often quite large families through the very tough times of the major economic depression of the 1930s and the dreadful uncertainties of two world wars. In addition, they helped others less fortunate than themselves in an age when that was a traditional responsibility.