Another is to receive clear guidelines on the nursing role as part of assisted dying so that nurses will be protected under the new law.
A third is to have nurse practitioner representatives on the SCENZ. This would be the state body created to oversee the implementation and regulation of assisted dying practice if the bill is successful.
Tackled head-on! How gutsy are the nurses? NZNO represents 49,000 nurses, midwives and health practitioners.
ANN DAVID
Waikanae
Not a good look
Whatever hope Steve Baron has about being elected to the Whanganui District Council next year, he certainly did his cause no good with his rant against Christianity (Chronicle, April 20).
Steve, if most of the Whanganui Christians read your bigoted diatribe, I can assure you they will remember and never vote for you in the council elections. Putting aside for a moment what Israel Folau is alleged to have said, for you to admit that you have never read the Bible (and never will) is both insulting to those who do almost daily, but also illustrated to me how incredibly bigoted your thinking is. Just be assured God is not mocked.
Not a good look for a wannabe district councillor. And the subeditor who probably wrote the heading should have actually given a line "Baron shows intolerance of religion".
DAVID BENNETT
Whanganui
Joke, not racism
Marama Fox is a precious little soul.
The Hurricanes had a friendly dig at the Chiefs franchise pinching Taranaki from the Hurricanes franchise, and Marama thinks it's racist.
If she opened her mind she would find we have all moved on from where her mind is stuck.
This was a joke — nothing more — no racism included.
G R SCOWN
Whanganui
Selective faith?
Where are Whanganui's righteous, religious correspondents when they are duty-bound to support a fellow Christian?
Israel Folau is being pilloried for his comment that gays will go to hell. The fact that he quoted the book, chapter and verse in the Bible that stated just that, seems to be overlooked by our local, vocal Christians.
Perhaps they use a different Bible that has been modified to exclude some of today's contentious issues. Perhaps they are really not that committed to their faith after all.
These people should be screaming from the rooftops in support of Folau and endorsing his comment. Their silence is deafening.
Of course, in this PC world every man and his dog (with gay leanings) are getting their moment of glory in every form of media, some even crying in their indignation. The poor wee dears!
Whatever happened to free speech in this country? Is it only applicable if it does not criticise fringe groups and Maori?
Methinks it is time we took a long, hard look at the society we live in.
D PARTNER
Eastown
Death of Stalin
Unsurprisingly, Ted Downs' April 6 "Russia 'scourge'" letter plays fast and loose with the truth of Josef Stalin's daughter's widely quoted comments about her father's last moments.
Taking a very Roman Catholic approach, he ignores what Svetlana actually said in favour of the evidence-free claim that, "It can be assumed [by Mr Downs] the demons were there waiting to take his soul ... " as Stalin died after a severe left-brain haemorrhagic stroke that left him unconscious and with right-side paralysis.
Mr Downs paraphrases Svetlana's reported remarks and avoids the direct quotes that other sources use. Perhaps he's schooled in the claims of the Vatican's former chief exorcist Father Gabriele Amorth, who reckoned both Hitler and Stalin were possessed by the Devil, as you would if your livelihood depended on being a celebrity caster-out of demons.
Here's what Svetlana is reported to have said: "At what seemed the very last moment, he suddenly opened his eyes and cast a glance over everyone in the room. It was a terrible glance, insane or perhaps angry and full of fear of death ... then he lifted his left hand as though he were pointing to something above and bringing down a curse on us all. The gesture was full of menace. The next moment ... the spirit wrenched itself free of the flesh."
She is cited as saying later that it was as if her God-hating father were shaking his fist at God in one final act of defiance.
It's a shame Mr Downs didn't declare his fervid Catholicism so readers could make up their own minds about how much credit to give to the truth of his latest claims. And he needs to understand that rashly applying Catholic myth and doctrine to historical events doesn't equate to truth. As for me, I'm a proudly atheist slayer of untruths, researcher and recent "graduate" of Armando Iannucci's hilarious movie The Death of Stalin.
CAROL WEBB
Whanganui
Iwi claims
From what the Attorney General is saying about overlapping iwi claims, it would seem that there are little or no exclusive rights to any area of the coast, yet the process is still proceeding, and — even worse — the iwi and their lawyers are being funded with hundreds of thousands of taxpayers' money, while those opposing the claims have to find their own funding.
If you write to Andrew Little, you receive a letter that basically says he is going to let things proceed.
What's happened to justice and the rule of law guaranteed to all New Zealanders?
TERRY O'CONNOR
Whanganui
River persons
R Pearson of Feilding has obviously never heard a song titled Old Man River or Old Father Thames.
Where have you been all your life, R Pearson?
There are probably other examples. but nothing comes to mind right now.
POTONGA NEILSON
Castlecliff
Gerse St floods
My wife and I attended our Horizons meeting for the Matarawa Diversion scheme.
A few years ago, we consented for more water to be diverted through our property to the Mateonganga Stream to alleviate the flooding at Gerse St.
Unfortunately, this has not worked but it has caused damage on our property.
More than a few residents at the meeting believe that what is actually needed to stop the flooding at Gerse St is to lay more concrete culverts on top of the existing culvert.
I'm not an engineer, but we have plenty of culverts on our property, so I went down to have a look myself, and it appears to be a very easy fix that will solve the problem.
It seems that while plenty of money is being spent clearing the Matarawa Stream the real issue is not being addressed because Whanganui council owns the culvert and Horizons administers the stream.
And if you are wondering why the council won't fix the culvert: Simple, really. We have so much red tape and compliance pushing up costs that simple and easy don't get done any more.
IAN MCARTHUR
Okoia
Common sense
A breath of common sense from our editor! Do I agree with him always? Of course not!
But in his editorial (Chronicle, April 6) he touches on a key issue for any community or country.
When we elect anyone to office, we do so on the premise they will act in our "best" interest and not to further personal agendas.
The legacy they should leave is one of competence, not names on an edifice.
Key's flag cost more than $20 million while our two H's, health and human rights, founder through underfunding. Where are the protests? Silenced by the vocal minority.
If you want to roof the velodrome, it must have an alternate use.
Compare that with the millions in maintenance and infrastructure by the planting of inappropriate plane trees in Victoria Ave. A legacy or a liability? Trim them or let's trim our "dreamers"? A poppy on our street names is a great idea for Anzac. Remember!
KEN CRAFAR
Durie Hill
State houses
Sorry, but M Marshall (Chronicle, April 11) has it all wrong when describing as snobbery the protests made by residents of Poynter Place and at 30 Alma Rd.
It's not snobbery; ours has been a resolute effort to safeguard our property values (already lowered according to one real estate agent), the safety of clients at Arahunga School and Idea Services (just across the road from the subdivision), resident access to an increasingly busy Poynter Place and, yes, our personal safety. Nobody should excuse us for making that protest.
Should M Marshall need convincing about our justified concerns, a quick Google will reveal Housing New Zealand's recent and serious problems with cluster housing in Christchurch suburbs Phillipstown and Halswell — clusters established since the earthquakes.
On a personal note, I grew up in five state houses as my dad shifted as a Post Office employee — in Terrace End, Sockburn, Bryndwr, Taita and Waiwhetu. I'm unaware of any social problems in those suburbs, but the social structure was entirely different back then. It's not state housing that's the issue, it's cluster housing — and Housing New Zealand should and could have avoided that.
LINDSAY STOCKBRIDGE
Gonville
Jock knockers
Sorry about this.
That headline in the Chronicle, April 13, page 20: "AB locks knock mock jocks off the block". Wonderful!
So, when will readers be seeing an interview with an opposing team, fearful of Sam Whitelock, one of the mock jock knockers featured in the above article?
I give you freely this headline for that possible upcoming interview: "So-called glam damn ham Sam rams and slams us — bam!
STAN HOOD
Aramoho
Send your letters to: The Editor, Wanganui Chronicle, 100 Guyton St, PO Box 433, Wanganui 4500; or email editor@wanganuichronicle.co.nz
