Whanganui letters: Healthy debate key to democratic society

British activist Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull aka Posie Parker is drowned out by trans-rights supporters at Albert Park. Photo / Dean Purcell

Opinion

Let me state my position clearly: firstly, I am not a hater. Secondly, I do not agree with the extremism of all of Posie Parker’s views. However, she did not deserve the treatment she got in Auckland.

I believe very strongly in freedom of speech. Once we get into muzzling people we disagree with, or calling them unpleasant names or threatening them, we are standing on very thin ice.

What is acceptable today may be deemed despicable tomorrow. You or I may be deemed a good person today, and a dangerous person tomorrow.

Who gets to choose whose opinion is right or wrong, good or bad?

Healthy debate is the only way to go in a free and democratic society.

LOUISE ROSTRON

Whanganui

More rubbish bins needed

I appreciate your work, Whanganui District Council. It stands to reason that public recycling bins are full of contaminated waste. They are targeting people’s empty takeaway food containers, not the baked bean can we’ve washed at home, so they are not suited to CBD purposes.

Regarding kerbside: my experience living in New Plymouth was that even the large bins with lids would fall victim to gusty weather, flying open and blowing recycling down the street … thereby turning it into rubbish. So I hope the open-crate system has some protection from our occasional windy day.

I hope Whanganui District Council also can see that with the increase in walking, bussing and cycling being encouraged, there is a greater need for actual rubbish bins.

How hard would it be for buses to have a small bin, and takeaway shop clusters to have bins? I think the reduction of littering would make it worthwhile.

C.M. KNUCKEY

Whanganui East

Rugby news good for socialisers

D. Partner (Letters, March 28) does not understand the importance of common interest in our socialising spheres.

When having a couple of beers at the end of a long week, in a bar there are people of all sorts of different occupations, so not much of common interest. We naturally want to communicate — a national sport gives us common interest.

We watch the 6 o’clock news, read the paper and keep up with the conversation, form opinions to argue about: who was the best player, the ref beat us, need a new coach.

We can all be experts just by watching the 6 o’clock news and reading the paper. We don’t even have to go to the game to make our decisions. All good if it helps us do the very necessary thing called socialising.

GARTH SCOWN

Whanganui