Not too long ago wildfires weren’t really a topic of conversation around the dinner table but now those discussions are unavoidable.
The thing about wildfires is that they wreak havoc in every which way and are very, very difficult to put out.
We’ve had our share of them in New Zealand and particularly if the weather pattern changes to drought to the east of the motu, then we can expect more to occur.
The problem we face right now, however, is that even in these wet conditions we are experiencing, there is a wildfire starting to ignite — the wildfire of racism. It is being deliberately, continually stoked.
Here’s what Newsroom political journalist Jo Moir has had to say about this. She says that “race, ethnicity and culture wars are divisive. It’s gone beyond what used to be described as water-cooler politics. It’s been an ugly debate for a number of years and increasingly so in the years since Covid”. She finds that “really depressing and quite dangerous”.
