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• Published date: 20 May 2021

Someone might like to gently inform John Carter (The time has come, April 13) that the time came for Māori wards (Māori partner-or-relationship representation) was 181 years ago, when Te Karauna/Pakeha/Manuhiri signed a solemn declaration and agreement with hapū/iwi Māori at Waitangi on February 6, 1840. Te Tiriti o Waitangi. Te reo Māori version.

As Ani Mikaere put it so succinctly in her Bruce Jesson Memorial Lecture of 2004, an exquisitely beautiful rebuttal and total demolition of Don Brash’s ‘Orewa Speech,’ along with the entire “We are One People, let’s just move on” narrative that buttresses it like a Medievil (sic) Cathedral, “It is for Māori to decide the status of Pakeha in (Aotearoa) New Zealand, not the other way around.”

Matike Mai Aotearoa: constitutional transformation just might let us decide together. Together as two’ - bicultural - and - together as many’ - multi-ethnic?

We’d need a really good govern-meant to do this though, I reckon. That’d be the one we’ve got.

Wally Hicks

Kohukohu

Tangata Tiriti

A vicious circle

I see on the TV our birth rate in New Zealand is the lowest it has ever been. In 1990 our birth-rate was 2.18 compared to 1.61 in 2020. We would have to ask ourselves why?

Today’s youth appear to be struggling to make ends meet with higher mortgages and rents. They say they can’t afford to have children. Also we often hear young people say they don’t want to bring children into this world because of all the dire and alarmist predictions being made.

In 2018 the number of abortions in New Zealand was 13,282. This would have been part of our workforce in 20 years’ time. So where does this leave us for a future workforce? With fewer workers there will be less taxes. With less taxes collected, maybe taxes will have to be increased for our government to pay its way.

Anyone out there got an answer?

Bruce Bell

Kaitaia

Cash flowing

New Zealand health system struggling because of underfunding. Hospitals struggling with understaffing and underpaid nurses and doctors. Just announced public sector pay freeze. Announcing at the same time that Labour is going to set up a Māori Health Authority. Actually admits it has no idea of the cost.

Unlimited funds for separatist health, education and anything else... Not millions but now billions of dollars that could go into ‘help’ and ‘kindness’ for all.

Rex Anderson

Lower Hutt

Better coffee

One of the major changes due to the Covid pandemic was having to work from home. As Victoria, Australia, has had no community cases for at least a month, the government has instructed all workers to return to their offices.

The problem is that only about 50 per cent have actually returned after almost a month.

Returning to the office would give you a chance to talk with all your colleagues, whereas working from home would allow you to avoid talking to your colleagues, and...