Violence condemned, plea for peace in Gaza
As the conflict continues to grow in Gaza and Israel, members of regional interfaith councils and faith leaders throughout New Zealand unequivocally condemn the violence, and call for peace and justice.
We ask for the current violence and fighting to stop, and we pray for lasting peace, unity, and justice in the Holy Land and the Middle East.
Inevitably when conflicts like this erupt around the world, tensions rise at home. So we ask people of all religious faiths to protect the sanctity of each other’s places of worship, and to protect our ability to practise our faiths in peace and safety.
We send our healing love to our Muslim, Jewish, Christian, and other faith brothers and sisters in the Middle East and to their families and friends here in New Zealand as they endure and try to come to terms with huge loss, pain, and worry.
We ask all New Zealanders to reject all forms of hatred and violence through love, forgiveness, understanding the other, and compassion at this dark time and forevermore.
Peter Small, chairman, Dunedin Interfaith Council; Rev Ken Baker, chairman, Dunedin Abrahamic Interfaith Group
Polls and majorities
For months prior to the election readers were subjected to detailed commenting on opinion polls, which were reported on with increasing frequency in the buildup to October 14. No opinion poll has predicted the outcome with 100% accuracy, given the limitations of their sampling basis. But the overreporting of poll results will have influenced how some people voted, and the overkill of poll announcements will have deterred others from voting. There can be no certainty regarding the final outcome of this election and the composition of Parliament until November 25, when special votes have been counted and the Port Waikato by-election has been held.
No party has gained a majority in this election. MMP voting was introduced to better reflect the votes cast so the party with the most votes will rarely be in a position to govern alone, and parties have to work together more than they did under the less representative FPTP system. With the results so far National has gained approximately 39% of the votes cast, but this is likely to reduce slightly when the special votes are counted — they constitute about 20% of the votes cast, and historically special votes have tended to favour left of centre parties. It is also worth noting that around 20% of the people on the electoral roll chose not to vote, so National so far has received the votes of around 31% of those members of the population who are of voting age. That's not a majority, so the new coalition government will need to listen carefully to the population it seeks to represent.
Pharmac transparency
I call on Pharmac, and Steve Maharey, to be totally transparent on the internal emails that have come to light, showing total disregard for their position and the effect they may have on others. I acknowledge, and thank Peter Alsop, for his apology. However I feel he still must be condemned for his "unprofessional email". Someone who, initially, seemed to consider this acceptable, or at the very least did not consider his actions, does not have the moral right to be in his current position, and should resign. Ms Fitt should not be given the honour of resigning, but should be fired. These people are not being paid peanuts, we do not expect monkeys. (Apologies to all primates.)
Re:Shape yourself in your own time please
I note with great interest that the Mayor of the Central Otago District has now aligned himself with an organisation called Re:Shape.
Interestingly, the link to the website quoted in the ODT advertisement and the ODT article does not work (12.10.23) and a Google search using this name results in organisations connected with either engineering or oversize women’s clothing.
However, knowing that the Mayor of Wellington is another of the supporting signatories, one could assume that her very strong Green Party affiliations and beliefs are close to that of the Central Mayor.
It is perhaps more serious that Mr Cadogan’s statement to the ODT that the current system of democracy is "fundamentally broken" stating that, amongst other things, high rates of youth offending and entrenched inequity are reasons for him to be associated with this organisation.
Readers of the ODT will need no reminding that identical statements about the "failure" of democracy have been recently made by leaders of Te Pāti Māori, the Green Party and the leaders of the Māori caucus of the Labour Party who both have stated that democracy simply doesn’t work.
One person, one vote doesn’t fit with their ideology or agenda.
While there is no doubt that the mayor has a right to join or align himself with whatever national organisation he wishes to as an individual and not as a representative of a community, his prime responsibility and attention as the mayor should be being focused on the interests of the residents of Central Otago.
If he wishes to become involved in his "journey" to grander visions then perhaps the time has come for him to pursue those goals without being held back by lesser responsibilities in Central Otago.
Address Letters to the Editor to: Otago Daily Times, PO Box 517, 52-56 Lower Stuart St, Dunedin. Email: editor@odt.co.nz
