Pictures tell story of misery of homeless
Stephen Jaquiery’s photos (ODT 4.9.23) truly paint a thousand words of some of the squalor and disgusting conditions our homeless people live in. One doesn’t need to elaborate on what is written but congratulate the ODT staff for their ongoing investigations, reports and photos over the past few weeks exposing this horrific plight on our own back door.
In the short term there are a number of charities that support people with their immediate needs but in the long term it is up to us to keep pressure on our local councils, social services and government departments to alleviate the misery.
Nou to rourou, naku rourou, ka ora, te manukiri: with your basket and my basket the people will thrive.
Blood policy questioned
The ODT has reported a couple of times this year (most recently on 26.8.23) about New Zealand’s continued ban on blood donations from people who lived in the UK, France or Irish Republic for more than six months between 1980 and 1996.
The disease has a long incubation period and most of the reported cases were at the end of the last century. The UK’s NHS reported that five cases of Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease were transmitted by blood transfusions. Today the risk of being infected via blood transfusion is essentially negligible, and there are no known cases of vCJD in the world currently.
The NZBS’s ban has excluded a large number of donors — including myself. I have been a vegetarian for 45 years, and was a committed regular blood donor in the UK (and also in Ireland when I lived there), so it has been extremely frustrating not to be able to give blood here. As I am keen to resume donating blood I checked the NZ Blood website — it states that the NZBS is reconsidering its position on this. But there has been no change to this wording for over a year – the decision is now in Medsafe’s hands. Meanwhile last year the USA and Australia lifted their ban on donors from the UK, France or Ireland. Australia and the USA have had a surge in donations following the lifting of the ban. Their gain, New Zealand’s loss.
[New Zealand Blood Service marketing and communications manager Asuka Burge replies: NZBS has made a submission to Medsafe recommending the permanent deferral that prevents those who lived in the UK, Ireland and France for a period of six months or more between 1980 and 1996 from donating blood and plasma in New Zealand be lifted. Any changes to the donor eligibility criteria in New Zealand can only be made once we have approval from Medsafe.]
Zebra crossing
The photo and story of the Zebra’s head on the front page of Tuesday’s ODT was in extremely poor taste and for many quite disturbing, especially given that on the TV news the night before there was a story regarding the senseless murder and decapitation of New Zealand wildlife. At least on the TV, viewers were cautioned about the nature of the item, whereas the ODT felt their story warranted front page news. Even our grandchildren questioned why anyone would celebrate or condone such abhorrent acts on defenceless animals.
Toothy grimace
A recent dental visit cost me $600. Same dental clinic in 2019, $320 . A check with two other dental clinics revealed identical charges. This charge plus the $173 (for examination, X-ray and clean) equates to two week’s pension for an 80-year-old. Does anyone else feel this is excessive?
Vote for a candidate for Dunedin’s interests
David Clark's response (ODT 5.9.23) to my letter urging Dunedin voters to rethink their voting strategy in the coming election is typical of MPs from any party who get handed a "safe seat" based on their perceived usefulness to the political party they represent. They have no "skin in the game". For many of them safe seats are no more than career stepping stones and their recipients disappear as soon as it suits them.
Clark, our current political representative, originally from Auckland and spending most of his time up north, negates any opinion I may have as not worth counting because I am "not even in the Dunedin electorate" and he gives a pathetic spin which claims people who write letters he doesn't agree with must always be identified as "trolls" and be part of a conspiracy. He has amply illustrated the underlying arrogance with which some politicians dismiss Dunedin simply because they can and we allow them to. I doubt they actually understand what pride in your home town really is.
Electorate boundaries are arbitrary lines on maps, nothing more. I was born and raised in Dunedin, I was educated here, I worked here, owned and managed businesses and have paid rates for over 50 years; my children and grandchildren live here, I have family in the cemeteries going back 100 years. I am proud to be from Dunedin, I care about this place and I want my vote to work for Dunedin.
As a community we need to stand up and vote for the candidate who we consider has a genuine long-term interest in Dunedin's future and will fight our corner beyond their personal career aspirations.
Address Letters to the Editor to: Otago Daily Times, PO Box 517, 52-56 Lower Stuart St, Dunedin. Email: editor@odt.co.nz
