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Home / New Zealand

Lucy Lawless: It's a tricky world but good things are happening

By Lucy Lawless
NZ Herald·
12 Jun, 2014 04:15 PM2 mins to read

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Lucy Lawless, best known for playing the title character of the internationally successful television series <i>Xena: Warrior Princess</i> but also a passionate advocate for the environment, was given the opportunity of directing and guiding the tone and content of the newspaper as editor. She chose the theme "A Brighter Day" for her edition. Herald editor Shayne Currie said Lawless was a special New Zealander, respected here and internationally as an actress and advocate for the environment.
Opinion

A hundred times I tried to turn down the Herald guest editorship. But eventually their persistence and my hunger for new challenges won out. And maybe I could do some good?

I canvassed interesting people I know for great untold stories in their field. I was inundated with suggestions. But in the end, you can only do what's authentic for you.

I have always been a cheerleader in the fight against child abuse and neglect. Likewise, climate change, which just proves that child neglect is intergenerational.

Given that Standard & Poors recently gave NZ a 'D' for creditworthiness owing to our vulnerability in the face of climate change and an ageing population, the major parties might want to reflect on their choice to ignore our lack of preparedness. They risk looking like denialists, stuck in the dark ages or worst of all, deep in the pocket of supra-national oil companies who are concerned about no one's survival but their own.

Yep, climate change is blowing into town like the Whore of Babylon - and she wants her money! Unfortunately, so does everybody else. No lightbulb or factory wants to change. I've always thought that enlightened self-interest would light the way forward but evidently blatant self-interest is the only force that actually works in the world of business. So, instead of me bleating on about the catastrophic climate change, only the-Greatest-Issue-of-All-Time, we have tried, when highlighting issues, to present workable solutions as suggested by people who actually know what they're talking about.

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Illustration / Rod Emmerson

Dairy farmers are doing great work cleaning up farming practices. To be fair, the driving force is not concern re climate change but low input farming is definitely better for the planet. Because of our ageing population and straitened hospital budgets, I wondered if it would be a case of geriatric Logan's Run by the time I was 64. Happily, the good folks at the Starship Foundation are showing how we are all going to be better off by factoring social profit into the accounting. It's a formidable case of a stitch in time.

We want to be encouraging of emergent technology and research. Research doesn't sound sexy but by collecting and sharing valid data, we feed into the world knowledge bank and eventually it results in better outcomes, better remedies.

It's a tricky world but good things are happening. Believe it.

Discover more

New Zealand|politics

Carbon policy dangles cash carrot

01 Jun 05:00 PM
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Guest editor Lucy Lawless

12 Jun 12:30 AM
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Herald guest editor Lucy Lawless

12 Jun 05:14 AM
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When Xena met Captain Kirk

12 Jun 08:25 PM
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