A selection of letters from Northern Advocate readers for Tuesday, November 29th.
Amazing talent
On Friday night and Sunday afternoon, my wife and I attended the opera Die Fledermaus and the Local Artists Fundraising Concert, both at the Captain Bouganville theatre.|Both performances were world class.
The opera, which was performed by mainly local talent was funny, extremely professional with great singing, dancing and acting. Emma, Gail, Luke, James and the whole chorus were superb.
Juan Kim, the pianist, added his class to the show. Joan Kennaway, your input into the singing gave the show added colour.
Sunday's show was about showing off the local talent that have left Whangarei as students and have further developed their skills to an extremely high level.|Kawiti, Maia, Joan's Tweeters, Guys and Dolls, Sophie, Fiddlelore, ably supported by Mikayla Jaunay and Clelland Reynolds (flautists) and the competent Whangarei Youth Music orchestra showed an appreciative audience what amazing talent abounds in our district.
Maia's The Trees on the Mountains, Kawiti's Anthem (from Chess), and Ka Mate were certainly moving and professional performances, which for me were highlights.
Kia kaha, singers. Don't stop growing your talents.
MORRIS CUTFORTH. Whangarei Mayor, Whangarei
Snapper quota
I must say I was a bit disappointed not to get a reply or explanation from Phil Heatley regarding my previous letter about him increasing our snapper quota to commercial fishers.
I can only guess that he is hoping it will go away quietly.
It is basically just another asset sale - an asset that we will never be able to get back.
Once you kill that snapper and send it to Japan, it's gone forever. National's slogan for this election was "Building
a brighter future".
Obviously that won't apply if you're a snapper or a recreational fisher.
GARY PRICE Parua Bay
Permitting GMOs
100 per cent pure New Zealand? Clean and green? Ass!
Northlanders need to be aware of efforts by the Ministry for the Environment (minister Nick Smith). They have a proposal out for tender to examine lifting the existing restrictions on GMOs under national legislation.
This would only further the biosecurity and economic risks to New Zealand from GMOs.|No restrictions? None?
The research, experimentation and release of the results of this science has been careless (still is), and is based on the fantasy that a few farmers can grow all the meat, vegetables and fruit for the rest of the population.
People need to be growing more food locally and they should be given the choice to do so in a clean and green 100 per cent pure environment. |We can already feed the local population with local food. Do we need more?
That the Minister for the Environment chooses to release this info to the political hounds just days after the election makes me think of smoke and mirrors, simple deception really. Nice at a magic show but not in our real daily lives, eh?
DEREK MOULDEY Waipapa West
Tourism payouts
No, no, no. Mr Jongejans, I believe, has got it wrong. The public money received by the tourism industry, in my view, is called corporate welfare.
Very similar to social welfare, except that most beneficiaries are expected at some stage to stand on their own feet.
BRIAN McLACHLAN Whangarei
Ugly building
Re Hundertwasser.
OMG no, please, it is so ugly. The arty fringe may think it wonderful but come on, Whangarei District Council, you cannot spend our money on that.
Build an arts centre but let's do what we do best, a heritage look that would fit in with the historic feel of the Town Basin
that people from outside the region identify with. Let's not fall into the trap because it is "funky".
Sure, people will come to look at it, and will laugh all the way out of town.
I have recently moved to Whangarei and love the town. This proposal, if built, would spoil my day every time I went downtown.
JEFF O'NEIL Kensington
