Editorial - Tuesday December 24, 2013

Peter Jackson, editor, The Northland Age

ONCE upon a time the top bit of what was to become the Far North District was known far and wide as Cannabis County. Those were the days when every man and his dog seemed to be growing the stuff, mainly for an insatiable and highly lucrative export market. Time and techniques have moved on, leaving the very Far North's cannabis industry struggling to find customers, although there are still some who devote considerable effort and expertise, which, if applied to a legal crop, would probably make them a comfortable living.

We have our share of the new scourge, methamphetamine manufacturers and dealers, although they seem to be relatively few and far between. Fortunately the drug is still probably too expensive to establish too much of a local market.

This past year has seen the very Far North's reputation take another battering though, thanks to a series of arrests for the sexual abuse of children, although any suggestion that this district is home to more paedophiles than any other is probably without foundation. The difference here is more likely to be that victims have found the courage to come forward, while that process has yet to begin elsewhere.

Whatever, the Far North should know better than any other community that it is very easy to acquire a reputation for negative reasons. The general perception around the country, and to some extent overseas, seems to be that this place is home to more undesirable types than can be found anywhere else, not to mention high unemployment, poor educational and health statistics, houses only otherwise seen in the Third World and a general malaise of hopelessness and helplessness.

That could not be further from the truth. The Far North, for all the issues it faces, including an average household income that languishes at the bottom of the national table, is a kind, caring community that routinely displays those qualities, quietly and without fanfare. And the weeks leading up to Christmas have once again shown us at our best.

The Northland Age, and others, once again appealed to its community to think of others for whom the trappings of Christmas are beyond reach. The true meaning of Christmas has nothing to do with money, of course, but it is not too far from that true meaning to wish a little joy in the sometimes joyless lives of people, particularly children, for whom life is tough on a daily basis, and no better simply because of the season.

And how the people of the Far North have given. For years now the Northland Age appeal for gifts and food on behalf of families who are struggling has attracted a generous response, but this year was perhaps the best yet. Parcels appeared under the Christmas tree so surreptitiously in many cases that no one even saw them arrive. And still they came late last week, long after the Salvation Army had come to take them away.

The great majority of those gifts were beautifully wrapped and labelled with the appropriate age and gender - nothing was wrapped in the first year or two, making for an extremely busy couple of days for the Sallies and their volunteers - some arriving one or two at a time, some by the van load.

One Kaitaia family went to The Warehouse and ordered gifts for 70 children, each of which was wrapped by Warehouse staff, collected by the family and delivered to the tree, each gift accompanied by a bucket of popcorn.

Then there was the pile of parcels that arrived in Kaitaia late last week from the charity Foster Hope, a pile that a number of Mid and Far North businesses added to before the local police were invited to deliver them to good homes, with the first priority being older folk caring for their grandchildren.

Generosity on that scale is wondrous to behold, and the best possible contradiction of all that might be seen as negative. Some who gave could no doubt well afford to, but many could not. There is a deep, rich vein of generosity in this community, one that is perhaps most evident at Christmas but is never far from the surface.

The Far North is home to many more good people than those who do others and their community harm. People who give to others on a daily basis, by visiting residents at the Switzer Home or giving to the home in cash or kind to help it provide a superb level of care that would otherwise not be possible. People who come home from the beach and share their catch with others who cannot harvest their own (a way of life for many that will never be recognised by those who make the amateur fishing rules). People who offer care to the elderly and/or terminally ill, perhaps no more than the offering of meals and the running of errands, enabling them to remain in their own homes for as long as possible. People who express their humanity by caring for animals in a world that can treat their kind brutally. People who offer a little of the little they have to others who have less.

From an economic point of view it is not a good thing that the Far North conjures negative images for some, but it's not always easy to do much about it. This newspaper has not been immune to criticism from those who see it as contributing to an undesirable reputation, although pretending that bad stuff doesn't happen isn't going to do anyone any favours.

The major media tend to be unfailingly attracted by bad news, however, and determinedly uninterested in good, but at least their attention span is short. And anyone who feels that this community is unfairly picked on needs only watch a few minutes of evening television news or read a metropolitan newspaper to see that when it comes to bad behaviour, in many regards what goes on in the Far North tends to be very small beer.

And while we might not be as insular as we once were, when the Maungataniwha Range was a genuine barrier between us and the rest of the world, when Auckland was a 12-hour drive away, when many of those who lived in Kaitaia and the Mangonui County were known to each other, if not related, we've retained many of our small-town qualities, and long may we continue to do so. We might not be rich, too many of us might be dependent on benefits, we might not always care for ourselves as we should, and we might be shamed by those who bring us unwanted attention, but there is still pride to be taken from being a Far Northerner, and so there should be. This is a great community, where people care for each other but manifest that caring as unobtrusively as they can. The rest of New Zealand probably doesn't know that, but who cares? We know it, and that's what counts.

All the very best wishes for a merry Christmas, hopefully shared with family and friends. May this be a time for love and laughter, for coming together, for the sharing of memories and the making of new ones. And if you know of someone who could do with a slice of ham and a bowl of steamed pudding, why not invite them to share? It's something we do very well in the Far North, and there's no better time to do it.