3 days ago
Letters to the Editor: homeless, Māori words, protecting nature
The Oval tent village. PHOTO: GREGOR RICHARDSON
Park your attitude and then show compassion
Today's Letters to the Editor from readers cover topics including compassion for the homeless, Māori words in school books, and the use of 1080.
In reaction to M. Smith's letter about homeless people (14.8.25) I am appalled at your attitude. Where is your compassion?
I am sure it is not their ''choice'' to camp out anywhere, particularly in winter. There are a lot of people one pay away from the same predicament, often through no fault of their own.
Yes, occasionally people make bad choices in life but even those choices may be influenced by the cards they are dealt in childhood and life in general. If they could pay fines etc they wouldn't be living in destitution.
The main concern to M. Smith seems to be the parking restrictions. If that is your only worry then count your blessings that you have a car and, presumably, live in a warm house.
We are all human and therefore not perfect, even you. There but for a twist of fate go I.
Kay Hannan
Oamaru
New minister
Today's paper (11.8.25) has two glaring examples of why the government needs to introduce a Minister of Unintended Consequences. First ''Disposal of waste expensive problem for op shops'', then ''Backing urged for holiday park housing''.
User pays has made disposal of unwanted stuff more expensive for non-students, though the council provides free skips for them in an attempt to keep their rubbish from being left in rentals and on the street when they depart.
Others as strapped for cash in other parts of town get no such consideration. They solve their problems their own way, causing clean-up problems for others. Unintended, surprising?
Healthy homes standard for rentals is great, except it means ''expensive and fewer''. A weatherproof shed is better than a tent or a shop doorway, but the shed isn't allowed and the people in tents and doorways are, ahem, let's change the subject eh?
Rentals should be classified. A-grade, up to current compulsory standard, rent whatever landlord wants to charge. Then other grades with appropriate rent limits. Uninsulated, no rangehood etc. B grade. Shed, container, with access to ablution block, C grade.
Even an open implement shed with a sound roof would be better to pitch tents in could be allowed at say $10 a week.
The housing shortage is not being solved by waiting for quality rentals to be delivered by the tooth fairy. It's time for politicians and their comfortable department staff to face the reality that grotty shelter, affordable, is better than none. Settling for none isn't OK.
K. Nordal Stene
Dunedin
Not just words
The Ministry of Education has recently decided to take out of use the Ready to Read instructional reading book, At the Marae, supposedly because there are too many words in Māori. These words, although in common usage, are apparently going to add confusion for young early literacy learners because they can't be decoded using phonetics, as is being taught. The vowels have different sounds.
Well, maybe we need to get rid of a fair proportion of high frequency English words, such as one, the, said, eight, any. It is not helpful if decoding is the main strategy for learning to read. There is a lot more to it than just words.
Sue Todd
Dunedin
[Sue Todd is a former reading recovery teacher and tutor. Ed.]
A fair question
A large percentage of European primary school pupils learn to speak English, so why are New Zealand primary school-age pupils thought incapable of learning the meaning of the odd Māori word in school texts?
Margaret Shaw
Mosgiel
Bush clad Stewart Island. Photo: ODT files
Not ideal but it allows flora and fauna to reign
While we would all prefer not to have to use poisons such as 1080, I agree with the Department of Conservation (ODT 9.8.25) that it is the most effective way of reducing predators and allowing native flora and fauna to thrive.
When I first visited Stewart Island I was blown away by the bush cover but noted three problems. Firstly the bush was largely silent with little bird sign or noise; secondly there were a number of what appeared to be dead trees; thirdly where we saw deer, the understorey between ground level and deer height was largely a see-through desert with no seedlings, few leaves or branches, and even bark had been eaten.
When I returned three years later, in areas where there had been one or even two 1080 drops in the interim, birds and tree orchids were again appearing, and some of the ''apparently dead'' trees were now revealing the magnificent red of flowering rata.
If white-tailed deer are genetically rare, live capture them. They should not be able to continue to turn into wastelands the areas where they are browsing, in order that they and a small minority of humans who wish to hunt and kill them have first priority, rather than allowing the rest of us (who are the majority) to enjoy the full restoration of the flora and fauna.
Lala Frazer
Broad Bay
Address Letters to the Editor to: Otago Daily Times, PO Box 517, 52-56 Lower Stuart St, Dunedin. Email: editor@
