On walkouts and gifts that have no currency

by Clive Bibby

Opinion

It is hard to differentiate between those who walk out of meetings, probably to gain a headline on the 6pm network news, and those who attend because they desperately need to hear of some government action that might ease the pressure they are facing on a daily basis.

As the election approaches, there is no shortage of politicians and quasi-government department heads visiting our broken territory — some offering genuine hope, but few in a position or willing to make a real difference NOW!

Why is it that money which has been promised or is already sitting in some bank account in Gladstone Road is taking so long to be made available to those who are in dire straights without it? We have filled in the application forms months ago, yet we we still wait.

As one of the people (but by no means in as bad a position as other poor souls) who can’t hire contractors to rebuild the fences required to contain the remaining stock that are our only source of income, we are at the stage where, sadly, even begging doesn’t stimulate a response.

Yet we are being encouraged to spend precious time either travelling to Gisborne or turning up at local meetings in order to tell some other authority things they should already know.

You see, we have been here before — many times — with no evidence that suggests they have listened to what we can tell them. Ever since the cyclones ravaged their way across our landscape, we have dutifully attended every opportunity available to offer those who have the ability to make a real difference to the outcome, our local opinions of:

a) what happened

b) who or what is responsible

c) what corrections need to be made in order that damage from any future event is limited to what we can handle, without too much disruption to the economy.

Unfortunately, it is obvious that, for whatever reasons, Cabinet ministers and other senior government politicians appear unwilling to accept that we here at the coalface are in the best position to know what should happen next.

After all, it is our land and our livelihoods that are at stake.

So, in some ways l understand individuals like my old sparring partner Manu Caddie feeling the need to make his dramatic point by walking out of a meeting being addressed by (ironically) one of the more sympathetic and capable Cabinet ministers.

However, Manu’s approach to our current dilemma is, in my opinion, almost as disingenuous as those officials who come offering gifts that have no currency.

We need access to huge dollops of the folding stuff and we need it now.

We are perfectly capable of designing a future economy, respectful of the environment that has to be protected against the leaching associated with human greed.

But time is running out. For some, it is already too late.