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Otago Daily Times
5 hours ago
- Politics
- Otago Daily Times
Letters to the Edtor: Māori, supermarkets and Israel
Woolworths and Foodstuffs are effectively the only two players in New Zealand's grocery sector. Photo: RNZ/Marika Khabazi, Simon Rogers Today's Letters to the Editor from readers cover topics including bullying language from Pākehā males, supermarkets rorting the public, and Israel's "vibrant democracy". Outrage fair response to response to column I cannot stand by in silence after reading letters from Pākehā males (Russell Garbutt and David Tackney) responding to the May 30 opinion column by Metiria Stanton Turei. We could choose to think with respect about the experience of our tangata te whenua, our Māori brothers and sisters. Quite simply, and it is simple, could we not take a moment to put ourselves in their shoes. The Treaty Principles Bill had the potential to reduce our first peoples to be stamped upon again; to arrest memory of taking their land — only five, six or seven generations ago. Not to mention the shutting down of te teo — their language, through the numbers of their people lost by way of influenza and war, by government policies including the punishment of school children for utilising te reo, and by integration policies designed to stamp the Māori way out. Imagine having our generationally owned farm taken off us, along with our language. How might we feel? Undoubtedly, enraged. A haka could be considered to be an appropriate way to express their rage. More appropriate than some of the behaviours we have seen previously by others in the Parliament. Mr Garbutt's letter was an outright personal attack on Mrs Stanton Turei, both as a person and on her professional life using very patronising language. His reference to "Mrs Stanton and her ilk" and then stating that he has "no desire to see this country return to tribalism" is unsavoury. Mr Tackney's dramatic language referred to anarchists and Māori radicals and further referred to Māori's need to "grapple with the darker aspects of their culture instead of trying to bring this country to its knees". This is bullying. Frances Anderson Alexandra Inquest coverage Recently the ODT reported on the inquest into Ian Loughran's death. I, and many others were dismayed at the level of detail that was reported. A family member who I spoke to discussed their distress when the article appeared on the ODT Facebook page in a subscriber-only article that they could not access. When the family member queried the ODT, the response was that it was in the public domain. While I understand that it is news that should be reported on, I implore the ODT to reconsider how it is reported. What we need to know is how the system failed him. Holly Aitchison Mornington [The Otago Daily Times recognises that coronial proceedings can canvas material which friends and family may find distressing. We attempt to report these proceedings carefully and responsibly as part of a public judicial process. Editor.] Dastardly duopoly For many years now we have put up with supermarkets rorting the public. Likewise we have all seen numerous insipid reports, investigations, recommendations and consultant's opinions on how to deal with the public perception of being ripped off. What has happened? Nothing. If this or any government is serious about stopping us being ripped off, the solution is simple. To solve our being overcharged for any supermarket offerings, simply force Foodstuffs and Woolworths to sell off all their supermarkets to the highest bidder, ending this insidious duopoly, making sure of excluding anyone or any entity that has any connection to aforementioned businesses. Suddenly, you have something not seen here in an age, competition. We all have a right to be able to eat and feed our families at a price we can all afford. Graham Bulman Roslyn I've lived there and trust me, it ain't that great A. Levy argues with Mark Hammond (29.5 and 6.6.25) whether "happy Israel" is a contradiction. Hammond wonders how Israelis can be happy and at war; Levy gives us typical Zionist propaganda on this "vibrant democracy". I have lived in Israel most of my life and can assure you it is neither. Israel is an apartheid state that derides international law, where open racism is the norm, and expressing your opinion can land you in prison. Israelis are, as a rule, tense, unhappy, aggressive and rude to each other. I am still regularly struck by New Zealanders' kindness and generosity. My family and I are happy here, and were deeply unhappy in Israel. It is no wonder a million of its Jewish citizens left "happy democratic" Israel in the past 10 years. Rod Pik Dunedin Smiles per capita According to A. Levy, a country that has militarily occupied and displaced another people for decades somehow holds unique moral clarity. This, we're told, is confirmed by its high smiles-per-capita — as if national happiness somehow absolves systemic oppression. Oppression that has been recognised by humanitarian organisations and the International Criminal Court as a form of apartheid. Levy also presents Israel as a uniquely persecuted victim, surrounded by enemies and unfairly maligned by criticism and rhetoric. But a recent Penn State University poll shows that this very population overwhelmingly supports actions many scholars and legal experts have described as ethnic cleansing, or even genocide. So is Israel really unfairly targeted by criticism? P. Maloney Dunedin Address Letters to the Editor to: Otago Daily Times, PO Box 517, 52-56 Lower Stuart St, Dunedin. Email: editor@
Otago Daily Times
01-06-2025
- Automotive
- Otago Daily Times
Holiday road toll: 4 dead and at least 10 injured
The official road toll period will end at 6am on Tuesday. Photo: RNZ/Marika Khabazi Four people have been killed and at least 10 injured in separate crashes in the first two days of the long weekend. A woman died in hospital on Sunday after her vehicle rolled on Tuakau Bridge-Port Waikato Road in Waikato on Friday, just a few hours after the holiday road toll period began. Three others were injured in the single vehicle crash. A man died several hours later in a crash in the Waipā district, also in Waikato, after his vehicle left the road and rolled into a paddock. Just after midnight Saturday a person died in a two vehicle crash south of Kawakawa in Northland. And on Saturday night a man died after his car ended up on its roof on State Highway 16 in Auckland. Four people were taken to hospital, two in a serious condition and two in moderate condition. The official road toll period will end at 6am on Tuesday. Last year, three people died on the roads during the King's Birthday holiday weekend.
Otago Daily Times
01-06-2025
- Automotive
- Otago Daily Times
Four dead in separate crashes this long weekend
The official road toll period will end at 6am on Tuesday. Photo: RNZ/Marika Khabazi Four people have been killed and at least 10 injured in separate crashes in the first two days of the long weekend. A woman died in hospital on Sunday after her vehicle rolled on Tuakau Bridge-Port Waikato Road in Waikato on Friday, just a few hours after the holiday road toll period began. Three others were injured in the single vehicle crash. A man died several hours later in a crash in the Waipā district, also in Waikato, after his vehicle left the road and rolled into a paddock. Just after midnight Saturday a person died in a two vehicle crash south of Kawakawa in Northland. And on Saturday night a man died after his car ended up on its roof on State Highway 16 in Auckland. Four people were taken to hospital, two in a serious condition and two in moderate condition. The official road toll period will end at 6am on Tuesday. Last year, three people died on the roads during the King's Birthday holiday weekend.
RNZ News
14-05-2025
- Politics
- RNZ News
A law change will expand who we remember on Anzac Day – the New Zealand Wars should be included too
By Alexander Gillespie of People laying poppies at Auckland War Memorial Museum on Anzac Day. Photo: RNZ / Marika Khabazi Anzac Day has come and gone again. But - lest we forget - war and its consequences are not confined to single days in the calendar. Nor do we only remember those who fought at Gallipoli more than a century ago. This gradual expansion of the scope and meaning of 25 April is now about to grow further, with the Anzac Day Amendment Bill currently before Parliament. Its goal is to make the commemoration "broader and more inclusive than it currently is". Remembrance will soon include "other conflicts and persons who have served New Zealand in time of war or in warlike conflicts in the past and in the future that are not currently covered". New Zealand personnel who served in United Nations missions, and who fought or died in training, will be recognised, as will civilians who served in war or warlike conflicts. Without doubt, it is an excellent initiative. The question is, does it go far enough? The obvious omission, if the new law is intended to be "broader" and include past wars, is the conflict that helped shape (and still shapes) the country we are today: the New Zealand Wars. Of course, including this pivotal period from 1843 to 1872 plays into the politics of today, given the land confiscations and other injustices the New Zealand Wars also represent. The question is whether their inclusion can avoid becoming a culture war in the process. The case for explicitly including the New Zealand Wars is strong. It is thought about 500 British and colonial troops, 250 of their Māori allies (sometimes known as kūpapa), and 2,000 Māori fighting against the Crown died in these conflicts. It was also during these wars that Australian and New Zealand military cooperation (the earliest form of Anzacs, in a sense) actually began. Around 2,500 Australian men enlisted for irregular New Zealand militia units, many encouraged by the offer of land grants in return for serving. Furthermore, Anzac Day has gradually grown over time to include wars and military conflicts beyond the tragedy in Turkey, first observed in 1916 when the government gazetted a half-day holiday (later made into a full public holiday in 1921) . The government again changed the law governing Anzac Day in 1949 to include World War II and the 11,500 New Zealand citizens who died in it. Significantly, it also added the South African/Boer War (which killed 59 New Zealanders), setting a precedent for bringing pre-first world war events into the frame. In 1966, Anzac Day's scope grew again to recognise those "who at any time have given their lives for New Zealand and the British Empire or Commonwealth of Nations". This allowed commemorations to cover the Cold War period, during which New Zealanders were killed in the Malayan Emergency (15), Korea (38) and Vietnam (37). The counterargument to including the New Zealand Wars in an expanded Anzac Day might be that we already have a dedicated day of observance: Te Pūtake o te Riri on October 28, the date the Declaration of Independence of the United Tribes of New Zealand (precursor to the Treaty of Waitangi) was signed in 1835. First observed in 2018, the commemorations take place in different locations each year. And perhaps one day, young New Zealanders will talk about the events at Rangiriri, Gate Pā, Matawhero and Ngātapa in the same way they now talk about Gallipoli, Passchendaele, Crete and Monte Cassino. But the problem is that a two-tier system seems to have been created. Te Pūtake o te Riri was not made an official holiday and has struggled for wider recognition. While there is some public funding available, it is not on the scale of Anzac Day. Te Pūtake o te Riri can and will continue to evolve, and it's focus on the causes and injustices of these conflicts should not be diminished. But an expanded and more inclusive Anzac Day, which recognises those who fought and died, would add another layer of meaning to a date long enshrined in the national calendar, similar to the way National Memorial Day in the United States encompasses their Civil War. We are now at a point in history when the injustices of the early colonial government have at least been acknowledged through the Treaty settlement process. It would make sense for the New Zealand Wars to be folded into the Anzac Day Amendment Bill. The words "lest we forget" should also apply to those who fell in the nation's third most costly military conflict. That way we can remember all of the fallen, without prejudice. Alexander Gillespie is a Professor of Law at the University of Waikato. This story was originally published on The Conversation.
Otago Daily Times
09-05-2025
- Otago Daily Times
Man admits murdering couple
A man has admitted murdering an Auckland couple in their home during an incident in November 2023. Photo: RNZ / Marika Khabazi A man admitted to murdering an Auckland couple in their Ellerslie home before his trial at the High Court in Auckland last week. It can now be reported Shuk Man Poon pleaded guilty last Monday to killing Fuk-Fu Joseph Kwok and Mei Han Chong in November 2023. The admission had been suppressed by Justice David Johnstone until Friday morning. The defendant is to be sentenced later this month. Another man, Lok Fung Lorrence Li pleaded not guilty to murdering the couple, causing his trial to be aborted and the jury to be discharged last Friday. The reason for this could also not be reported at the time. A new trial date would be set for Li.
