Disband the United Nations
The United Nations, formed in 1946, is an instrument of its time and represented the geopolitical realities of the Great Powers at the end of World War II. The world today is very different.
If the United Nations is going to survive and
continue to represent its original ideals it must modernise to reflect the realities of the 21st Century. There is a precedent for this. The original League of Nations was disbanded in 1946 and was succeeded by the present organisation.
Neither the General Assembly nor the Security Council is likely to vote for their own demise. The only alternative is for the principal supporters to withdraw their financial, political and moral support, thus collapsing the existing organisation and then for an international conference to be established to propose a new structure reflecting today's realities.
The humanitarian and social agencies and peace-keeping roles of the UN could continue to be funded directly during this transition period.
Any new organisation emerging should be relocated to a less partisan city than New York (and the United States) a country and city with a lower profile and more equitable political establishment would be preferable and more acceptable. A large Canadian city would be ideal.
Allan M Spence, Waiuku.
Looking back
In 1979, I went with my husband and an Australian friend, both journalists, to Bastion Pt, hoping to show our support for the Māori occupiers, under the leadership of Joe Hawke. They were trying to protect their ownership of the land. It had been revealed that the Muldoon Government had plans to build a large tourist hotel complex on the scenic grassy area overlooking the harbour, despite contention over ownership of the land.
We were unceremoniously moved away by police, who were overturning tents and sending people back to their village.
Today, I look out from my Māori-built-and-owned retirement village overlooking the large grassy area, now a reserve used a lot by the general public.
Sadly one rarely sees a Māori person there. Maybe its history is still too raw.
Pamela Russell, Ōrākei.
Birth daze
How times have changed since my children were born. A young mother not able to afford private after-care is routinely discharged within hours of giving birth at a public hospital. Left to deal with a fresh umbilical cord termination, it's little wonder those without support at home suffer mental stress and anxiety. Did Labour address this situation in the latest budget? If so, I missed it.
Consultants are still being handsomely rewarded to produce endless reports on light rail and the fixation on moving Auckland's port to the dangerous waters of the Manukau Harbour, but the increase flagged in the health budget was vague as to what would actually be achieved.
National's Nicola Willis, as a wife, mother and finance minister-hopeful, had the perfect opportunity to expose Labour's shortcomings in healthcare but instead kept chanting a mantra about relief for the squeezed middle.
I hope, in time, National will deliver policies of more substance to improve life in New Zealand than just relying on tax cuts for the rich and letting the market decide how it's spent.
Coralie van Camp, Remuera.
At the controls
We were told by Andrew Little on Q&A on Sunday that everything is under "control".
But my experience over the last two days, when trying to register a friend who caught Covid, shows it is challenging for anyone who does not have a cellphone plus happens to test positive for Covid late on Friday or the weekend.
The first challenge was that a cellphone was required so that a message confirming they had Covid could be sent back to them. The next challenge was that it was late on Friday and doctors' surgeries close at the weekend. Should they require help with food, as both family members are sick with Covid, then finding something at the weekend is not really an option.
Are we running down the health system so it makes it easier to transition to the new health Authority? Or just a system with many ideals and many plans but very little substance.
My experience told me nothing appeared to be under control.
Robin Harrison, Takapuna.
Agenda danger
George Williams' letter (NZ Herald, May 20), is correct to warn of the adverse effects of some green agendas. We can see the adverse consequences of imposing one particular green agenda currently unfolding in Sri Lanka.
There was a disastrous decision that led directly to the deepening of the economic and political crisis there. That was a total government ban on imports of synthetic fertilisers and agrochemicals. Following that ban, the Government then decreed that Sri Lankan agriculture was to use only natural, local, fertiliser. The stated aim was to become the world's first 100 per cent organic agricultural producer. This led to a huge drop in agricultural production. Perhaps the worst economic result was that Sri Lanka went from being self-sufficient in rice, to needing emergency imports of rice.
The rest of the world now has a chance to avoid what has been shown to be unworkable.
Colin Parker, Onehunga.
