Ramping up the rhetoric
The rhetoric Covid-19 protesters are using at Parliament needs to be called out.
The signs they are using are spreading dangerous misinformation. They also callously disregard actual human atrocities that have occurred by equating health measures that preserve human life and our health care system with racial
oppression and segregation and the intentional destruction of an ethnic group.
It is when we downplay those atrocities that white supremacy ideas are allowed to advance.
The protesters clamour for their "rights" and "freedoms", but perversely the advance of extreme-right ideas and rhetoric in politics always leads to fewer rights and freedoms for many people.
Marie-Pascale Desjardins, Wellington.
Speaker should go
This is not the first time Trevor Mallard has been an embarrassment to the Labour Government and all of New Zealand.
The Prime Minister should ask Trevor to resign for not being kind yet again and trying to wash down the drain a democratic demonstration.
Parliament needs only honourable members not street firehose fighters.
David De Lacey, Newmarket.
Sing along
Parliament Speaker Trevor Mallard might consider commissioning a slight variation on another well-known Barry Manilow song, Mandy, for the benefit of the Wellington protesters:
"Well you came and you gave without taking; and I sent you away, oh Mandate; and you kissed me and stopped me from shaking; and I need you today, oh Mandate"
Richard Wolfe, Ponsonby.
Dose of mana
Barry Manilow and blocked toilets aren't going to disperse the protesters at Parliament. Of course, they have the right to protest. It's the privilege of living in a free country. However, they don't have the right to hurt their fellow Kiwis. The businesses surrounding Parliament have suffered enough and shouldn't be penalised any further. Obviously, it would set an unfortunate precedent if the PM were to try and negotiate with the protesters, and the police are trying to de-escalate the situation, not enflame it. The crowd appears to be as diverse as what they're protesting about, so before things get totally out of control, perhaps a large dose of mana is needed. Would it be possible for a delegation, (the Police Commissioner, Dr Ashley Bloomfield, and John Tamihere) to name a few, to be deputised to have a dialogue with representatives of the protest group? Seven days in, it couldn't hurt, and doing nothing will achieve nothing.
Mary Hearn, Glendowie.
Afghani assets
International NGOs say that some 10 million Afghanis are on the brink of starvation. Afghanistan's central bank's assets are held by the New York Federal Reserve Bank – and have been frozen since the Taliban seized control last August.
While the US refuses to release the money, the Afghani economy cannot function – people cannot access their savings, government workers cannot be paid, importers cannot pay for goods, and inflation is skyrocketing.
President Biden is talking about humanitarian aid but this cannot fill the gap left by a non-functioning economy.
The assets belong to the Afghanistan people, not to the United States. Whatever one thinks of the Taliban, surely it is criminal to victimise the ordinary people who have already suffered a two-decade-long war.
It is the US, not the Taliban that is depriving women and their vulnerable children of the most basic right of all – the right to life.
New Zealand troops deployed to Afghanistan were supposedly helping with "stability" and reconstruction. In this even more critical situation, our Government should speak up for the release of frozen Afghani funds.
Maire Leadbeater, Mt Albert.
