Today's Letters to the Editor from readers cover topics including harmful stereotypes, sharks and seeking security.
Inflammatory letter reinforced stereotypes
As one of the city councillors who has chosen to drape their seat with a kuffiyeh - a gift I received while studying in Cairo in the late 1990s - I am compelled to respond to Mr Munn’s (Letters ODT 3.5.25) inflammatory comparison of this cultural symbol to ‘‘displaying the Isis flag.’’
This deeply offensive and unfounded remark does nothing but perpetuate harmful stereotypes and seeks to collectively blame all Palestinians - an injustice in itself.
Mr Munn also expressed bewilderment at what he calls ‘‘the arrant ignorance of such people’’.
For the record, I hold a BA (Hons) degree in development studies, and I have spent time living and working in numerous war-torn regions - including Israel, Palestine, and Lebanon. These experiences have only strengthened my resolve to stand firmly against the horrors of war and the indiscriminate killing of civilians.
And before Mr Munn or anyone else accuses me of ignoring atrocities, let me state clearly and unequivocally: I condemn the Hamas-led attacks of October 7, 2023.
But condemnation must be consistent and principled. I proudly support efforts to pressure our government to speak out on the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
Remaining silent while innocent civilians - women, children, grandparents, medical personnel - are killed is not an option.
It is not just a political issue; it is a human one.
This is not a time for indifference - this is a time for moral clarity.
Lastly, Mr Munn accuses me and two fellow councillors of ‘‘jumping on the woke extreme-left bandwagon.’’ If being ‘‘woke’’ means being informed, compassionate, and committed to justice - then I proudly accept the label. I’ve been riding that so-called bandwagon for nearly 60 years, and I have no intention of getting off.
Cr Steve Walker
Dunedin City Council
[Abridged - length. Editor.]
Lessons from the past
On the main street of Waimate there is a statue of Margaret Cruickshank, the first woman to practise as a GP in New Zealand.
As a long-term campaigner for rural health services I was intrigued by the inscription to her memory which reads: ‘‘The beloved physician. Faithful unto death’’. So I read her biography.
It is an inspiring read, showing how much was achieved with limited resources in the late 1800s and early 1900s, not only by Dr Cruickshank but also by her colleagues who, without the modern-day hordes of bureaucrats and other hangers-on to hinder them, simply got on with what needed to be done - and did so incredibly well.
At the time, Waimate had a substantial public hospital and several small, private ones. Now it has a one-doctor medical centre with local people having to travel all over the place for health care as the centralisation agenda continues. Progress?
Dr. Cruickshank's biography Beyond the Splendours of the Sunset, by David Lockyer, should be required reading for every politician and health system bureaucrat.
They might learn something.
David Tranter
Waimate
No joy
In my book parents are responsible for their offspring and therefore responsible for paying for repairs to stolen vehicles.
Perpetrators will learn nothing if they're not made to pay for their actions in some way - and I am sure parental recompense would have a twofold result.
I realise these joyriders first need to be caught, but when they are the ‘‘joy’’ needs to be removed with serious payback consequences.
No deterrent - no answer.
Roberta Laraman
Cromwell
Returning to our recent debate on shark diets
I fished commercially in Fiordland in the 1970s and occasionally we would find great whites in the set nets we used to catch bait. They were not uncommon; I caught three myself.
Little was known about great white behaviour back then but after the fatalities at St Clair and the mole at the harbour entrance in the 1960s, biologists began to take more notice.
One senior marine biologist would rush to where the latest attack occurred and take water temperatures. Temperature variation was one theory regarding attacks off the Otago coast. Another biologist insisted that great whites did not have parasites. He changed his mind when I showed him a set of jaws with several parasites attached.
As regards their diet of seals, although I have seen seal remains amongst white shark stomach contents, the bulk of their diet was other smaller shark species.
Les Tubman
Oamaru
Taking the bait
Lewis Hore (Letters 28.4.25) says he is seeing lots of road-kill possums. In the 1970s, possuming with my dog, we got hundreds with cyanide paste. In the 1980s, back up in the bush with cyanide, lots of poison baits out, with no dead possums. Got some old traps out, wow, every trap had a possum in it. They had all got poison-shy.
Stephen Hurring
Balclutha
Seeking bunker or a rocket launching pad
Recent discussions about the need to increase defence spending to counter the expansionist threats of other nations could divert our attention from a far greater and more insidious threat to our society.
The super-rich, who are tax and regulation averse, climate change deniers and promote high tech such as AI, will be able to use their extreme wealth to shape the society in which they choose to live. Their excess profits and greed have produced their vast wealth at the expense of the degradation of our planet. They anticipate and even welcome the collapse of civilisation as we know it.
They can protect themselves and their family by looking for havens or as it has been termed ‘‘corporate city states’’ within which there are no regulations, they are protected by high level security, supported by AI, financed by cryptocurrencies and well stocked to withstand an Armageddon.
These bunkers isolate them from the rest of humanity, which they see as expendable, and will protect them from the ravaged planet which they have created. Is this alarmist? No, we have one of the key architects of this vision for the future in Peter Theil who wants to build his bunker in Wanaka. Others who subscribe to this vision of the future are now able to manipulate the US administration for their own ends.
An interrelated issue is that outlined by Julia Wong (The Weekend Mix 26.4.25) on the killing of kindness. A far right extreme fundamentalist Christian philosophy is part of the view of their future world for this group. For those who may think my concerns farfetched or would like to find out more then follow the writings of the author and columnist Naomi Klein.
Alternatively, for a more light-hearted but scaringlingly prescient observation read Ben Elton’s novel Stark, where the ultra-rich having devastated the planet escape Earth on rocket ships. Sound familiar?
Brian Ellis
Pine Hill
Address Letters to the Editor to: Otago Daily Times, PO Box 517, 52-56 Lower Stuart St, Dunedin. Email: editor@odt.co.nz
