There is now time to join in vital debate
The Treaty Principles Bill should be the catalyst for the most important debate about the continuance of New Zealand’s democracy and ending of divisions.
Extension of the submission time will allow more submitters to take part in the process. The public would be more knowledgeable about the Bill and its progress if, in particular radio and television service providers, supplied balanced reporting of information rather than journalists’ biased opinions and comments from their favoured go-to interviewees.
Now that an extension has been applied, the media mentioned above has an opportunity to participate in, and not subvert, the democratic process.
I hope more people will learn about the Bill and submit now that the Christmas rush and holiday period is ending.
Rights and evolution
In his letter to the ODT (11.1.25) Ewen McDougall opposes the Treaty Principles Bill on the grounds that it "essentially reduces the treaty mana of tangata whenua to equal rights for all, that is, the tyranny of an uninformed or misinformed majority".
Well, who would have thought that equal rights for all could be such an evil concept in this day and age?
Presumably Ewen hankers for an apartheid-style regime like the former South African government but this time with an unelected minority tyrannising the rest.
Let’s hope the majority of all peoples in this country oppose any shift that way.
Hopefully Ewen also read Prof Elizabeth Rata’s article on the next page; the Treaty was a document in its place in time, there has been almost two centuries of evolution since then.
True significance
The correspondent from Queensland (ODT 11.1.25), who quoted from a QLDC invitation, copied to him by a friend, either got his words mixed or the original writer did, and certainly misunderstood its significance.
The correct version is as follows: "Kia whakatōmuri te haere whakamua. I walk backwards into the future with my eyes fixed on my past."
This whakataukī or proverb speaks to Māori perspectives of time, where the past, the present and the future are viewed as intertwined, and life as a continuous cosmic process" (Google).
Thus, while we cannot see into the future, we can reflect on the past, and that carries us forward. Surely a perfect idea to ponder on, as we approach Waitangi Day?
Trump time
President-elect Trump has wasted no time in putting the world both on edge and on notice to expect the unexpected throughout his four-year presidency.
His recent utterances about the USA looking to take control of Greenland and the Panama Canal and renaming the Gulf of Mexico the "Gulf of America" are undoubtedly just a small taste of what to expect when he takes office on January 20.
The challenge for world leaders and mainstream media will be to stay calm and decipher nonsense from reality and not to overreact to his propensity for mixed messages and bombastic rhetoric.
It’s early days but needless to say everything points in one direction. An enigmatic Trump presidency is about to be unleashed on a troubled world desperate for transparency, harmony, peace and stable democratic leadership. The timing could not be worse.
A full measure of what we are about receive
As a relatively new Dunedin resident from overseas, I was shocked to walk into a bar for a "pint" of beer to be served a glass measuring 400ml at a cost of $13.
An imperial pint is 568ml. I appreciate New Zealand is a metric country but serving beers in pints is a traditional thing and we use the word even if it doesn't actually mean pint in its true sense.
Thinking a 400ml pint must be a Dunedin thing I chose a different bar on a different day, ordered a "pint" of the same beer and received a glass that did indeed measure a pint, or 568ml at a cost of only $12 this time, a dollar less the the first bar.
To put that in perspective the percentage difference between the two "pints" (400ml and 568ml) is 42% which equates to a price differential between the two bars of almost $6.50 for the same beer.
The lesson here is to be aware of what volumes you are asking for and what you actually receive.
Address Letters to the Editor to: Otago Daily Times, PO Box 517, 52-56 Lower Stuart St, Dunedin. Email: editor@odt.co.nz
