What’s at stake in the Waitaki this election
At the public meeting, hosted by Labour’s impressive Waitaki candidate Ethan Reille (ODT, 23.9.23), environment minister David Parker, talking "all things Waitaki", reminded us what’s at stake in the upcoming election.
He spoke of the depression era pick and shovel construction of the Waitaki Dam, a "make work" scheme involving a village of unemployed manual labourers and their families, living and working in severe hardship and freezing conditions; housed in shacks and tents, women and children lacking warm clothing, socks or shoes. Their dire circumstances had moved Labour locals (now legendary) Messrs Nordmeyer, McMillan, and Davidson, with the Kurow Branch of the Labour Party, to design and, in 1938, establish through the First Labour Government, a social security system including a public health service.
Since then a covetous subset of the private sector, aided by conservative governments, has loosened our grip on publicly owned enterprises. Now roughly half our power companies have been privatised and public health has been run down and is bleeding.
So, if you’re up the valley anytime soon, and you think you hear the hum of turbines, it’s more likely the workers spinning in their graves, not just at the prospect what they suffered to build could be sold — off cheaply, to privateers, for the price of a National Party tax cut, but that a vote also might be bought so cheaply.
De-growth required
I am in complete agreement with Bob Lloyd, we need de-growth, not growth. It seems to have escaped the notice of all of our politicians that the earth is only 40,000km around. Economic and population growth doesn’t just affect the climate it exacerbates nearly all of our problems. The list includes pollution in all of its forms, environmental degradation to extract ever more resources, the end result of which is another problem — getting rid of all of the rubbish we have created in the process. Growth leads to a scramble for resources, looming food and fresh water shortages etc. Continual growth is not just a crazy idea, it is an impossibility in the long term on a finite earth.
Idiosyncrasies
I found Grant McLachlan’s column (ODT 21.9.23) very thought-provoking. As a Pom from Cornwall, I am proud of my Cornish accent and idiosyncrasies. There are many dialects in Britain resistant to the region-less received pronunciation indoctrination by the academic and classist elite. I hope that New Zealand’s regional dialects don’t fade to the same methods. Such idiosyncrasies define us.
Dam safety questioned
Twenty years ago, Falls Dam feeding the Manuherikia River was deemed unsafe and did not comply with dam safety standards. I was an irrigator and member of the Manuherikia scheme at the time and asked as an engineer to investigate increased generation capacity from the existing Pioneer Energy generator in the outflow. Plans and investigations had been prepared to increase the height of the dam or build a new dam downstream. Both were to create a larger lake to give the irrigation company more resilience. Part-funding was going to be requested from Pioneer Energy paid for by the increased generation from a higher head of water. Why has the dam safety issue not been mentioned in proposals for the Manuherikia minimum river flow? Is the existing dam now safe?
How the West Harbour shared path came to be
Regarding the Shared Path letter (Ross Davies, ODT, 19.9.23) there are a few details not given.
Then Dunedin city councillor Teresa Stevenson contacted me to see if it were feasible for a walkway to go along the Otago Harbour from Magnet Street to Ravensbourne.
At that time I was a member of the Chalmers Community Board (CCB).
I and several other people had walked a number of times along an unformed "track" between these two places. I told her that it was possible but there would be a few things to sort out before this became a reality.
Within a very short time of this conversation I did the following:
- Made contact with the Railway management, Ravensbourne Boating Club, directly affected Ravensbourne residents, and encountered no objections;
- Ravensdown Fertiliser Works management. At first very reluctant as there could be problems with people using the path when they had operations on the Ravensbourne wharf.
Very soon came up with the idea of putting gates across the path on either side of the wharf entrance.
They would close these gates when there were wharf operations.
After further quick consideration came up with the idea of installing a chicane structure that would cause walkers to inadvertently look both ways when walking across the wharf entrance.
This much safer option is what is to be seen today. The same system was installed opposite the boating club.
After I had what was now a real possibility very quick confirmation to both the CCB and Stevenson was made.
It was now up to Stevenson to get the initial funding for the project in which she was successful. Any contact she made with any Ravensbourne resident she did on her own volition.
How to limit the possible new govt
Labour voters as well as floating voters are beginning to realise that Labour can’t win this election, and that the best way to limit National and to stop the worst of Act New Zealand’s regressive policies is to switch their party vote to New Zealand First as their only credible alternative option.
The Labour vote has collapsed, and it is too late for it to recover now.
Therefore the back-stop for anyone opposed to the National/Act right-wing agenda based on selfishness and inequality and on cuts to public services as the inevitable result of tax cuts, is to party-vote strategically for a plan-B political outcome rather than just another blind vote based on traditional political loyalties.
The same applies uniquely to Ilam where a strategic electorate vote for Raf Manji could create an additional overhang seat in Parliament and a possible new king-maker.
[Denis O’Rourke is a former New Zealand First MP. — Editor]
Lake Onslow
It just shows how useless the Green Party are by not protecting the wetland lands around Lake Onslow.
If it is fine weather, there is plenty of sun for solar power. The expanse of the scheme of Lake Onslow would be better used in solar, cutting down infrastructure, putting power where needed to lower the price for all peoples.
What achievements?
In the 20th century the Sinn Fein movement was established in Ireland aiming, firstly in a national revival in language as well as independence.
It achieved nothing except death, destruction and distrust.
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