Assessment of Treaty found wanting by some
I have read with interest the articles in The Mix (ODT 3.2.26) regarding the Treaty of Waitangi, with the aim of understanding what the Treaty is about and what Act proposes. I am not an Act New Zealand supporter, but I am a Pakeha member of the vast majority of ordinary New Zealanders who have become highly annoyed at the maorification [sic] of our language and the preference given to Maori in everything from healthcare to housing to education.
From carefully reading both the articles in The Mix it appears to me that both Professor Hayward, and especially Dr Warbrick, have become so immersed and imbued with the Maori viewpoint of the issues that they cannot objectively see the issues as ordinary New Zealanders see them.
Constructing the te reo version of the Treaty must have involved missionaries or other Pakeha attempting to put in words what would only be sounds to the Maori and would be difficult for them to understand and verify. Maori at the time were not literate and it is no wonder they had to be told in words what the Treaty meant. However, if the translation of the te reo version of the Treaty by Professor Sir Hugh Kawharu is accurate, the important words in the second paragraph are “... all the people of New Zealand …” and in the third paragraph “... all the ordinary people of New Zealand ...”. What Act proposes simply clarifies that the Treaty applies to all ordinary New Zealanders and not just Maori. That all ordinary New Zealanders are treated equally.
D. Stewart
East Taieri
[Abridged - length]
Don’t get me started
I do not normally read the The Mix, but when I saw David Seymour's face on the front, and a heading ‘‘principles at stake’' I saved it for reading, hoping it would have Seymour's recent state of the nation address - which I have not been able to find in the ODT, and which has been described by friends as inspirational.
Sadly, what I found was two academics espousing their left-wing views on the subject, and no balance whatsoever.
Come on ODT , it’s just not good enough. And don’t get me started on Civis.
Ken Lawson
Oamaru
Depressing read
The Treaty Debate is a depressing and disappointing read.
A debate is a formal discussion between two parties with opposing views, which is usually followed by a vote. This article is a collection of views from contributors all on the same side of the ‘‘debate’’. It is devoid of any semblance of an honest debate. It is pitiful. How could you allow this pathetic effort at journalism be published? It is well past the time for some balanced reporting.
C. Hewitt
Dunedin
The articles were explainers on the topic of the debate, the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi, and how those have been defined and used to date, rather than a debate itself. - Ed.
Let’s go shopping
In economics, the value of an item is typically inferred by its potential usage. For example, when buying a car, the potential value is determined by how the owner would use it. Similarly, the value of a property is framed by how it can be used personally, socially and commercially. So, why has the Dunedin City Council spent $13.2 million to purchase Forbury Park without any clear idea of how to use it? Forget economics, this belies even the most basic common sense. $13m is a touch pricey for an impulse buy.
Jeremiah Clode
Dunedin
Improving Gaza and the open-air policy
Amir Levy (ODT 2.2.24) claims that Israel is a democracy. However, a democracy has a prerequisite of all its people having the right to vote, equality, fairness and respect. Israel’s Nation State Law of 2018 enshrines the rights of Jewish Israelis above the rights of non-Jewish Israelis, meaning that all the people in Israel are not participants in a true democracy.
Mr Levy goes on to say the current conflict is complex. Wrong again. The truth is that the conflict between imported Jewish Israelis and indigenous Palestinians continues because the indigenous Palestinians have been oppressed for decades.
Also, Mr Levy insists that peace-making is the responsibility of the Palestinians not the Israelis. In other words, the occupied should meekly accept ruthless subjugation by their occupiers. Why would they?
Mr Levy is right to question the statement that a majority of Jewish Israelis support the claim that genocide is occurring in Gaza. However, he cannot ignore that there is a significant anti-genocide movement developing amongst Jewish people.
Finally, Mr Levy’s last paragraph is a joke as he suggests Hamas should stop trying to destroy Israel and instead concentrate on “improving Gaza’s health, education, welfare, and infrastructure”. Considering the current state of Gaza, we could call his suggestion an open-air policy.
Jenny McNamara
Gore
[Abridged - length]
No consultants
Government departments have been ordered to make savings to help balance the books. First and foremost should be a complete moratorium on hiring consultants, aka people who tell other people who should know how to do their job how to actually do it whilst being paid a king's ransom.
Graham Bulman
Roslyn
Health inequity and the sorry male stats
Those who claim that Maori are responsible for health inequities on the grounds that it’s a personal choice, might consider the position of men. It is well known that men do not look after their health properly, and as a result, end up with poorer health outcomes than women in many respects.
The reasons centre on cultural biases around masculinity that teach boys and men to hide their feelings and not complain. Cultural expectations to remain stoic can also delay men’s care and make them less likely to visit the doctor. As a consequence, their health is affected.
Do those who criticise Maori who neglect to avail themselves of health initiatives for historic and cultural reasons, have the same punitive, unsympathetic attitude to men?
Susan Grimsdell
Auckland
Deprived communities make poor choices and so that is why Maori are indicated lower life expectancy on average. Stating that it is the fault of Maori that they smoke more or fail to visit doctors as a result of personal responsibility defect is wrong. If it was the fact the personal responsibility is more predominant in non-Maori then smoking, drinking and life choices affecting life expectancy would be much better in the British Isles and they are not, as deprived communities there look the same as anywhere.
All people make the best personal choices that they can at any given moment and of course being human often they are not the best choice but that may depend on your outlook.
Bruce Cloughley
Belleknowes
Not normal
Thank you Shannon Thomson for highlighting the fact that power cuts are not ‘‘normal’’. The latest power cuts in Central Otago happened on January 19 and 23.
Thank goodness we are still in summer.
Kathleen Moore
Alexandra
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