Chris Brotherston, Mairangi Bay.
Common ground
Among the tributes and shared memories of Dame Tariana Turia, one in particular stood out.
It was when, in an interview with Audrey Young, Dame Tariana told her that when talking to her Pākehā/Māori mokopuna “blondinis”, (as she called them), she told them they had the best of both worlds.
Another wahine Māori, Dame Whina Cooper, when opening the Auckland Commonwealth Games in 1990, told an international audience to remember “that the Treaty was signed so that we could all live as one nation in Aotearoa”.
Between them, these two Dames did more for race relations than the more verbose who say little of substance but seem to be hell-bent on destroying the relationship between Māori and the state.
Glennys Adams, Oneroa.
Willie Jackson has called for an apology from the Labour Party to the whānau of Tariana Turia.
The apologies need to be more personal and must come from Helen Clark and John Tamihere, both of whom derided and belittled Kahurangi Tariana in 2004.
He pukenga wai, he pukenga tāngata.
Nā Rāwiri Gilgen-Rupāpere, Tokomaru Bay.
Unelected power
Elon Musk’s money-fuelled entry into politics is a disturbing example of how democracy is undermined by extreme wealth.
Unfortunately, Musk is now “first buddy” of a credulous and unprincipled United States President-elect, giving him a unique opportunity to impose his will on the body politic.
Not content with this, Musk is now interfering in European and British politics, funding and encouraging the extreme right.
His motivations are quite clear - he wants free rein for his businesses, deregulation and tax breaks, so he can further increase his wealth.
In New Zealand, we must make very sure that the “Musk virus” doesn’t infect our politics. Banning all offshore donations to political parties and “think-tanks” would be a good start.
And we should also pay close attention to what our leaders are saying, rejecting their calls for deregulation and tax breaks.
However, our very best protection against the far-right is to build up our community cohesion by addressing poverty and inequality without delay.
Vivien Fergusson, Mt Eden.
Larger ferries
Climate change appears to have thrown large swells at our inter-island ferries. Larger ferries might cope better with these conditions.
We all know of an Asian shipbuilder who has had some recent cancellations for suitably large ships. Maybe they would forgive the New Zealand Government if they were to reinstate the orders for these hastily and thoughtlessly cancelled contracts.
It would be a partial remedy for National’s cancel culture.
We don’t need a “sinking lid” on our maritime activities. The other part of this transaction might be to remove Nicola Willis from the finance portfolio to be deputy Education Minister, to specialise in the English literature that her university degree qualifies her for.
Winston to the rescue. His diplomacy might help to unruffle some Hyundai Mipo Dockyard feathers.
Hugh Webb, Hamilton.
Plastic caps
The European Union now requires single-use plastic bottles of less than 3 litres, to have tethered caps.
This is to both reduce littering (who hasn’t seen those awful pictures of sea creatures with stomachs full of caps) and increase the volume that are recycled.
And yet here in Auckland we’ve recently been told to stop putting caps and other tops into the recycling bin and start sending them straight to landfill. Why can’t we live up to our “clean, green” image and make this sort of stuff a priority?
Allison Kelly, Mt Eden.
Keeping left
One thing we could copy from our Australian neighbours are the road signs that line their motorways – “Keep left unless overtaking”.
Why is it that New Zealand drivers sit in the right-hand lane when they are not overtaking?
They seem unaware or simply don’t care about the traffic they are holding up behind them, and it is frustrating to have to pass them on the inside lane but that is what some motorists are forced to do.
Maybe sitting in the right-hand lane is part of the Kiwi driving psyche of not wanting to be overtaken.
Please NZTA, take a note from Australian motorways and consider copying their signs. The Waikato Expressway could be a good place to start.
In Australia, motorists immediately pull back to the left-hand lane once they have overtaken. If you don’t, someone will come up behind and remind you.
Don McBeath, Mt Eden.
