Is the mayor speaking on behalf of all of us?
I was very surprised to see an article (ODT 25.2.25) reporting that the Mayor of Dunedin Jules Radich had gone before the Treaty Principles select committee, pleading for the Bill to be expunged.
I would ask who gave the mayor the mandate to express this opinion on behalf of the people of Dunedin? I and many others in this city do not have the opinion expressed by Mr Radich and I fear that it will come back to bite him at the ballot box.
He was voted in as a conservative option to the previous mayor, who proved to be unpopular for his stance on many political issues.
Putting his obvious virtue signalling aside, can the mayor provide in detail what is so objectionable and dangerous about the Bill as, on the face of it, the Bill wishes that the present interpretation of the principles of the Treaty of which there are none, cannot be interpreted to gain unfair or undemocratic advantage.
The Bill does not alter the current status of Māori and their possessions but wants by the will of the people, following a national binding referendum, our elected representatives to legislate, to spell out the principles in the statute books, so that they cannot be perverted in the future.
Cancel culture
So Mayor Radich wants to cancel immediately any further discussion of the Treaty Principles Bill.
Those who agree with David Seymour’s proposal to provide a legal basis for the Principles have already had a difficult enough time to have their opinions heard against a headwind of activist rhetoric and media bias. To suggest that we stop further advancement of discussion of this Bill suggests that there is a fear that by giving a legal basis to the principles, those already pushing the current unspecified meanings for their own benefit will be disadvantaged.
How can we continue to apply Treaty principles without legal definition? No judge would convict an accused person of breaking any law unless the breach is legally defined. The lack of a legal definition is akin to asking a group of rugby players to play a game, but not telling what the rules are. It cannot work. We must continue to allow full and open discussion and finally settle on principles which have specific legal meaning.
Super idea
Congratulations Sir Ian Taylor on your interesting article (ODT 17.2.25). What a grand project which the present government should take up with open arms. Like you I am sure there are many wealthy New Zealanders who are not millionaires who would be interested being involved in this worthy helpful and essential service to assist the needy.
Sign of the times
I have read of several instances lately of sea lions being harassed by people wanting to get a good photo and in the latest incident by vehicles on the beach resulting in the death of the sea lion.
I have to wonder at the wisdom of erecting signs on the Katiki beach area north of Palmerston which read "Sea Lions next 4km". I have travelled that road all my life and the last eight years twice a day to work and back from Palmerston to Oamaru. I have never seen a sea lion on the road so I don’t believe the signs are for traffic safety. What I do see is tourists slowing down to look for sea lions on the beach. If there weren’t any signs pointing them out people would drive by and not even notice them.
Trapped in a world with an absolute lunatic
I was prepared to be lulled into thinking that Donald Trump had the odd good idea. However his recent diatribe regarding Ukraine starting the war with Russia and his utterance that "a dictator without elections, Zelenskyy, better move fast or he is not going to have a country left" confirm just what an absolute lunatic the United States president is.
He may well have some narcissist view that oil and mineral resources in Russia/Ukraine have some benefit to the US but this only confirms his level of derangement. He is clearly getting into bed with Vladimir Putin (an equally cruel and dangerous lunatic) and hanging Ukraine out to dry. We should be afraid — very afraid.
Mr Trump’s distance from reality is also demonstrated in his domestic strategies — for instance on the one hand vowing to make America great and on the other imposing tariffs on imports of metals which will stymie industries dependent on these.
We are lucky we live in New Zealand, where the misdemeanours of our politicians pale to insignificance compared to this debacle .
How best to use limited energy supply
Bill Southworth is rightly concerned about sulphur dioxide from cruise ship air pollution at Port Chalmers (Letters ODT 21.2.25).
Not to mention nitrogen oxide and particulate matter which are damaging to human health. He suggests shore-to-ship power supply but this solution faces two problems.
The first is cost. Currently no ports in the southern hemisphere provide shore power supply. Sydney is likely to be the first at an estimated cost of $66 million.
The second problem is that where shore power supply is available cruise companies still opt to burn cheap dirty bunker fuel in port rather than pay for clean shore power.
Southampton, which is one of Europe’s most polluted ports, provides short power infrastructure but it is rarely used by cruise ships.
Airlines include airport taxes in the price of flight tickets to ensure that passengers meet the costs of airport services. Of course the same should apply to cruise ship passengers. And cruise lines generally only use shore power supply in jurisdictions where required to by law.
But expect fierce resistance from national cruise associations to anything that might compromise the extraction of offshore profit from low-cost clientele.
In any case, should we be providing our limited renewable energy supply to cruise ships when the current government is reopening coal and gas for domestic use?
Bon chance
Good luck with Simeon Brown’s commitment to build your hospital at the $1.88 billion budget. This sort of budgeting is different to the budgeting required for repairing potholes. Methinks the Minister for Potholes has been promoted beyond his competence.
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