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.
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 appeal by the man convicted of the 2019 Christchurch mosque massacre against his jail conditions and terrorist status was not surprising. He probably has little else to do and his action follows the pattern of many long-term prison inmates who have used their time to engage in ongoing litigation, often at taxpayer expense.
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.
Investors and speculators in real estate are equal contributors to a ridiculously overheated housing market and they should have seen these changes, or something similar, coming at them like a freight train at least five years ago. There have been warnings enough that the booming house market would not be allowed to continue without Government intervention. If anything, that intervention has taken too long.
It makes no sense to have hundreds of tourism industry staff in fretting about being out of work while the agriculture and horticulture industries are desperately short of the same number staff.