Letters to the Editor: war, agendas and cricket
Nothing in recent times has shown how inept and outdated New Zealand's foreign policy is than Winston Peters and Labour's foreign affairs spokesman stating New Zealand is "not taking sides" in this highly dangerous unprovoked attack on Iran by Israel.
That we can be so certain and decisive about the Russia-Ukraine war yet bottle joining the majority of the world's unequivocal condemnation of Israel is morally bankrupt and craven.
What will it take Israel to do to get us to do the right thing? A nuclear bomb on Tehran? We cannot credibly be neutral here. WWJD?
Last week in my submission to the Dunedin City Council when I opposed the Sanctions Bill against Israel, Cr Jim O'Malley asked me as a church minister "What would Jesus do?"
I felt he was leaving out a huge chunk of the pie and just wanted to chew on one tiny portion. In hindsight though, as his question was put to me publicly, I would like to answer him in a letter to the editor.
This is what Jesus would do: He would first point to October 7 and tell Hamas and those with them that they must repent for what they had done. He would then tell them they should lay their weapons down. Upon compliance, Jesus would then take the Israelis by one hand and the Palestinians by the other hand and He would sit down with them and say, "now let's talk about this".
Jesus would then remind the Palestinians that the Jewish people have a covenant with God which gives them the right to live on all the Land of Israel — from the River to the Sea. He would ask the Palestinians to honour that covenant, and then he would encourage both parties to live in peace with each other. Spokesman, Coalition of 114 NZ Church Ministers Supporting Israel Incentives and sanctions
I have no difficulty with Gerrard Eckhoff (Opinion ODT 9.6.25) expressing strong views even if they are poles apart from my own. I do have difficulty when his views are fanciful, serious exaggerations, or just plain wrong.
An illustration of the former is stating that the imposition of a capital gains tax (CGT) is akin to "demanding money with menaces (which) usually results in jail time"
He continues "It is the young and their future that CGT will ultimately destroy". An enormous exaggeration.
Again: "The hope of a comfortable retirement that is rendered inert by a CGT" . . . and further: "CGT therefore will ultimately destroy the incentive to work, take risks and grow assets"
By my reckoning, in excess of 150 countries world-wide collect revenue by means of a tax on capital. Can Mr Eckhoff show that social disintegration is rife on all or any of those countries due to their adoption of CGT? It was a great agenda
It is time for a change all right, when a number of current Dunedin city councillors celebrate that they have left behind the "agenda" of the previous council and mayor Aaron Hawkins ( ODT 17.6.25).
What did that agenda bring the city? The award-winning George St, enhanced community facilities, new Mosgiel pool, upgraded social housing, comprehensive kerbside recycling, protection for Foulden Maar, and much more.
Happily there is a mayoral candidate who would bring real change to the council.
Look out for Mickey Treadwell, Green candidate for mayor and a tech-savvy small business owner.
[Alan Somerville is a Green Otago Regional councillor.] Column on Sparks knocked it out of the park
Bravo, Adrian Seconi. You have hit the nail on the head with your article on the Otago Sparks missing out on the team of the year award at the annual Otago Sports Awards.
Or, to continue your delightful cricket metaphors, you have played a perfect straight drive from the sweet spot of the bat, and it has scorched to the boundary.
For all the reasons you have given, the Sparks have indeed "been robbed." To win nine of their ten round robin matches, for goodness sake.
Imagine if the Highlanders did that: of course they would be our team of the year.
The Sparks were so far ahead of all the other teams, they were into the final before the other places were finalised.
Then on the day, they faced having to make a record score of nearly 300, thanks to a flawless century by Central Hinds' Maddy Green, who appeared to have put the win out of the Sparks' reach. Especially with Otago having three key players out with injury.
Their team work, resolve, courage and skill was breathtaking, and an emotional watch for their supporters.
As an ex-Otago cricketer (1961-76) and a member of the team when it won the Halliburton Johnstone shield for the first time, I could be regarded as somewhat biased, but I believe the facts Adrian has recorded speak for themselves.
I also wish to thank both the Otago Daily Times and Adrian Seconi for the very high profile you consistently give to women's sport. It is without peer amongst news reporting in this country. And as a cricket lover, I can't wait for the return of Adrian's Notes from Slip each summer.
Address Letters to the Editor to: Otago Daily Times, PO Box 517, 52-56 Lower Stuart St, Dunedin. Email: editor@odt.co.nz
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The Spinoff
an hour ago
- The Spinoff
Here's what we know about the 3,145 candidates running in local elections
There's an abundance of Johns, Mikes and Davids, plus other scintillating statistics about the people vying for your vote. Nominations have closed, hoardings have popped up on roadsides and candidates are out and about, actively seeking your vote: it's officially local elections season. But what do we know about the 3,145 individuals running for 1,639 vacancies in 607 elections across 77 councils (some of them multiple times)? We trawled through the data – which LGNZ handily pulled from nomination forms into a couple of spreadsheets – and here's what we found. There are so many Johns, Mikes and Davids Scroll through alllllll the people standing in this year's local elections and some names will keep cropping up. John, Michael/Mike and David/Dave are the most popular names. While we don't have demographic details of candidates like age and ethnicity, Department of Internal Affairs data on baby names gives us an idea: these were among the most common names for boys born in New Zealand in the 1950s and 60s, so it's likely many of these candidates are baby boomers and older gen Xers. The same mostly holds true for women, although there are fewer women standing, and thus lower counts for their names overall. Karen was one of the most popular names for girls in the 1950s and 60s. However, Sarah was at its peak in the 1970s and 80s, and Rachel became popular in the late 70s. (Click the arrow at the top of the graph to show women's names.) This tracks with LGNZ's elected member census from 2022, which found that almost half of the men elected to local government were 61 and older (49%), while the percentage of women over the age of 61 was 27%. Live in the North Island? You'll probably have a Māori ward referendum The legislation that allows councils to have Māori wards for voters on the Māori roll has existed since 2001. However, many councils added Māori wards in 2022, when the Labour government removed a requirement for a binding referendum to be held if a petition signed by 5% of the region's population challenged the establishment of one. While all councils that have a Māori ward will still have that seat in the 2025-2028 term, the majority of those councils will have to hold a referendum on whether to keep or abolish it after that, as the current government has reinstated a referendum requirement. There's a clear geographical trend to councils with Māori wards, with the majority of councils in the North Island adopting them – but not in Tāmaki Makaurau. Some councils have Māori representation but don't need to hold referendums. Wairoa District Council, Ōpōtoki District Council and Waikato Regional Council have already held referendums for their Māori wards that received majority support. Bay of Plenty Regional Council has a piece of local legislation that created its Māori ward, so it exists under a different law and doesn't need to have a referendum. Environment Canterbury, another regional council, has Māori representation through appointees, rather than a vote, so it doesn't need to hold a referendum either. Only one mayor in the country has lasted eight terms – and he wants another Wayne Guppy, mayor of Upper Hutt, was first elected to the position in 2001. That means he's been mayor long enough that people who weren't even born when he first received the mayoral chains are now old enough to vote for him. However, the majority of mayoral candidates standing for re-election have completed only one term, and there are almost as many mayoral elections where the incumbent is not seeking re-election. Reasons for not standing again vary; Mackenzie District Council mayor Anne Munro is stepping down due to a cancer diagnosis, while Lower Hutt mayor Campbell Barry said he is ready for a fresh start outside of local politics. The majority of elections with no incumbent are in the North Island, with only four of 23 elections in the South Island having no existing mayor standing. Ranked choice voting is much less common than first past the post While central government elections use the MMP system, the many elections for local bodies make things more complicated. Instead of just a party vote and an electorate vote, you will have a mayoral vote and a vote for local councillor(s); many places also have community or local boards, licensing trusts and regional councils too. Most local elections use first-past-the-post voting, meaning the winner is the person who gets the most votes. Some elections use ' single transferable vote ' systems, where you rank candidates based on how much you want them to win. If your first-ranked candidate doesn't get enough votes, your vote then passes to your second-ranked candidate and so on, meaning you still have a say even if your preference isn't met. Wellington and Dunedin are the biggest cities that have adopted this method. Otago Regional Council and Whangārei District Council will be holding their first STV elections in 2025. Big cities have fewer candidates to population (but there's a catch) In central government elections, there are about 69,875 people in each electorate, represented by one MP, with slightly more (74,367) for Māori electorates. Counting list MPs, there are about 43,000 people per MP. Comparing this ratio to local government elections shows how much easier it is for people who are keen to represent their community to be elected. Auckland has the highest ratio of people:candidates, at one candidate for every 3,800 people, while the Chatham Islands has the smallest at 1:45. Bigger cities have more people to candidates – but bigger cities often have more choice, because more people choose to run. You also get more options of people to vote for: in Auckland, most people get to vote for a mayor, one or two councillors on the governing body and local board members, while in a smaller area like Westland you might just get to vote for one ward councillor and one mayoral candidate. These statistics conceal how despite the greater rate of representation, seats in smaller councils have less competition overall, especially for more minor positions like community boards. Part of the argument for merging councils is that while there might be some loss to how represented citizens are, bigger councils have bigger budgets (including for paying elected members) and there might therefore be more and better candidates as a result. Candidate priorities: rates, community and choice Some candidates submit affiliations with their nomination, saying what they stand for, or naming the ticket they represent. The most common words in these slogans reveal some obvious trends. The Labour-affiliated ticket 'The People's Choice', in Christchurch, clearly had its candidates coordinating to all have the same information on their nominations. Other party presences in local politics pop up too, like 'Green', 'Act' and direct 'Labour' candidates. There were the exact same number of 'our' and 'you/your' pronouns in slogans, while there was only one instance of 'my', in the phrase 'your life is my life' from a candidate in Rolleston. 'Lower', unsurprisingly, was universally paired with 'rates'. For this analysis, we included 'for' 'your' 'our', but not 'the' or 'a', with the logic that the preposition 'for' contains more information about what a candidate believes than the article 'the'.
NZ Herald
an hour ago
- NZ Herald
Labour MP Willow-Jean Prime's claims of fight clubs, meth in youth justice facilities not substantiated by officials
Prime's claims about fight clubs, meth The Herald has obtained three letters between Prime and Chhour sent in the weeks after the Labour MP made the claims at the Social Services and Community select committee on June 18 about fight clubs and meth use. During that session, Prime asked about funding in this year's Budget for safety improvements in youth justice residences, including to address 'critical safety risks'. Labour MP Willow-Jean Prime is standing by her approach. Photo / Mark Mitchell She wanted to know why this was necessary considering Chhour said last year that work had been done to bring facilities up to a standard she was comfortable with and she was confident young people were now safe. The minister responded by saying change wasn't achieved overnight and she was wanting to constantly invest 'in the right places to make this sustainable and enduring'. Prime then asked whether the minister was aware of 'fight clubs' and 'significant methamphetamine use' in the facilities and asked 'What is in your Budget to address this?' Chhour responded that she wasn't aware of either, but told Prime 'if you are aware of those kinds of situations happening, I would urge you to come and let me know about that'. 'Sure, will do,' Prime said. Chhour went on to say the risks being addressed included staff previously not being listened to and contraband being brought into facilities. She has previously announced legislation to introduce new search provisions to reduce the risk of unauthorised items entering residences. Info 'from a credible source' - Prime The letters show that about a week after that session, Chhour wrote to Prime to 'follow up' about her questions. 'I am writing to reiterate my invitation to you and urge you to approach these issues with the seriousness they deserve given the health and wellbeing implications for the young people within the residences.' She asked Prime to provide information around what prompted the questions 'so that my office is able to follow up with Oranga Tamariki'. On July 3, Prime responded saying she asked about fight clubs and meth as 'I wanted to understand if these were the critical safety issues that received funding in Budget 2025 to address'. 'My questions were based on information from a credible source that I trust. I had expected that you would follow up with Oranga Tamariki based on the questions that I asked during the select committee Estimates Hearing. I certainly encourage you to do so now.' She said the well-being of young people 'is always my primary concern'. Chhour wrote on July 14 confirming her office 'did follow up straight away' with Oranga Tamariki. 'My officials advised me they have a range of measures in place to reduce that risk, but are not aware of any recent incidents matching that description, so are unable to investigate or intervene further.' She said she appreciated Prime wanted to protect her source, 'however without more information it is challenging for Oranga Tamariki to take action'. 'Please encourage them to report any incidents involving this kind of harm to young people to Oranga Tamariki, or Police, or consider utilising the Protected Disclosures Act 2022 if necessary.' Children's Minister Karen Chhour wanted more information from Willow-Jean Prime. Photo / Mark Mitchell Officials couldn't substantiate claims - Chhour Speaking to the Herald, Chhour said her focus was on ensuring children's safety. 'If there is an issue or a concern around the safety of young people, I would hope that politics would be put aside and the young people's safety would be put first,' she said. The minister suggested Prime could have taken a different approach with her question if she wanted to raise it publicly. 'The question could be asked in a completely different manner of, 'I'm hearing of concerns of this happening' rather than 'do you know about this'.' While Chhour said Prime did not contact her after the select committee, despite her invitation, the minister said she asked staff to look into the situation. However, officials couldn't substantiate Prime's comments, Chhour said. 'We've gone out, we've asked questions, we're looking. But unless we have a real focus on where to look, it's very hard, especially if people aren't speaking up, which is my message here. Please speak up.' She is not aware of any disclosures since she wrote to Prime. Chhour acknowledged incidents of youth fighting have happened in the past 'prior to me being minister', but she couldn't recall anything similar recently. She said occasionally illegal drugs were smuggled into residences, 'but no, a significant meth use has not been raised with me'. Oranga Tamariki runs the facilities. Photo / Jason Oxenham Prime told the Herald the information was provided by a 'trusted source'. 'I asked these questions within the context of the minister's statement last year claiming she was confident that young people in facilities were now safe and that those issues were no longer happening. 'This year's Budget then went on to pledge millions for critical safety risks – raising questions about what issues they were addressing. Abuse has been well documented in the history of these facilities, and any concerns that it is continuing must be taken seriously." Prime said, 'We need every confidence that history isn't repeating itself in state care.' Children's Cmmr unaware of meth, fight clubs Children's Commissioner Dr Claire Achmad said she took a close interest in the treatment of children in residences, especially given previous concerns relating to their treatment at Korowai Manaaki. A report by the commission's monitoring team stemming from a visit in February last year found instances there of fighting as well as illegal substances, such as cannabis. However, through the monitoring process, 'we have not been made aware of methamphetamine use in youth justice residences, and we have not heard about fight clubs since the leaked footage reported in 2023'. Video footage in July 2023 showed MMA-style fighting taking place in a youth justice residence. Staff were stood down after the video went public. Iain Chapman, acting deputy chief executive for Oranga Tamariki's Youth Justice Services and Residential Care, confirmed the agency was 'not aware of any recent incidents relating to significant methamphetamine use or fight clubs within our youth justice facilities'. 'The health, safety and wellbeing of rangatahi in our residences is a constant focus for Oranga Tamariki and we have significant work under way to enhance operational security in these spaces. 'We would encourage anyone with any information about harm to young people in residences to contact Oranga Tamariki or New Zealand Police.' The letters come after the Herald revealed last week that Prime ignored and then flat-out declined invitations by Education Minister Erica Stanford about NCEA reform despite Labour calling for cross-party consultation. Prime has since said she could have responded to Stanford to explain why she wasn't taking up the offers, while Labour leader Chris Hipkins has said his MP has 'learned a lot' from the episode. Jamie Ensor is a political reporter in the NZ Herald press gallery team based at Parliament. He was previously a TV reporter and digital producer in the Newshub press gallery office. In 2025, he was a finalist for Political Journalist of the Year at the Voyager Media Awards.
Otago Daily Times
2 hours ago
- Otago Daily Times
Former minister hits out at carbon farming of pines
A tree industry expert and former minister of forestry has condemned "lock and leave" carbon farming, but says you still can not tell farmers what to do with their land. Former Labour minister Stuart Nash said in his time with the portfolio he had a dream for how the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) would benefit the country. "With the ETS, for the first time ever there's been an economic incentive to plant up land that should have never been cleared in the first place," he said. But forestry conversions, since the incentive was introduced, where dense pines were planted with no plan to harvest the mature trees, were not good, he said. "You will end up with an ecological disaster in between 80 and 100 years," he said. He understood that some legislation was developing to help restrict the planting of pines, but said you still can not tell farmers what to do with their land and their money. "I don't know if that's the right route," he said. "Farmers get pretty p..... off ... because what it does mean is, their farm which may be worth, $10 million to a forester is now only worth $7m." The Climate Change Response (Emissions Trading Scheme-Forestry Conversions) Amendment Bill passed its first reading in June. It proposed restrictions to the quality and proportion of arable land that could be planted in trees. Mr Nash had a masters degree in forestry science and previously worked for construction, paper and forestry giants Carter Holt Harvey and Fletcher Challenge. His ideal for carbon farming was that pines would be planted low density, for no longer than 50 years, while at the same time seeding natives. Then after 50 years, the ministry would allow the grower to collect carbon credits of the native forest as the pines died off. In this ideal situation, carbon farmers would not be allowed to collect credits or money on pines past that 50-year cut-off. He said research by the sustainability charitable trust Pure Advantage showed that Mānuka could be a just as fast growing and carbon-absorbing alternative to pines. While he was the minister, he said the research needed more time to cook and the good thing about pines were that they were the most hardy. "It's the over-boiled Brussels sprouts of the trees," he said. "Not many people like it, not many [bugs and diseases] like it [either]." Coming from Napier, he had seen the devastation Cylone Gabrielle and Cyclone Hale had on the east coast of the North Island in 2023. This was where trees on farms would have come in handy, he said as roots made the ground more hardy, and would have prevented slips and other soft ground corrosion after the floods. A lot of New Zealand land should never had been cleared for farming and he said it was expensive to plant hilly, non-productive land, without incentive. He said despite seeing the benefit of forests and the ETS for the land, he by no means wanted to see highly productive farms and soil turned into carbon farms. "I'm really loathe to tell farmers what they should and shouldn't do," he said. "But I'm very happy to tell carbon farmers what they should do."
