Letters to the editor: Equal treatment, marching orders, tactile museum

Horse power out in force at the Historic Village in July, 1988. Photo/file

Equal treatment

In regards to Alan Armstrong's letter about minorities like Maori missing out (Letters, January 3). As I said in a previous letter (Letters, December 29), Maori are New Zealanders and have the rights and representation as such, so they are not a minority unless they choose to be, which is separatism.

Democracy is based on the simple principle that all citizens must be treated the same under the law. Every individual has the same rights and indeed has the same responsibilities under the law.

Within society, people may share common views and interests with others, be those cultural, religious, ethnic, social or perhaps sporting. All such groupings are basically tribal in nature.

But forming such groupings, call them what you may, does not give the members collectively any special rights under the law.

Democracy is based on giving equal rights to individuals. Giving special rights or privileges to groups, however configured, cannot be good. If you start treating one group of people either better or worse than others, it will end in tears.

Geoff Parker
Whangarei

Marching orders

What fiscally-responsible person would buy cake before they bought bread? How far would $20 million go towards fixing our transport woes and flooding issues? Previous councillors out of touch with city necessities have been given their marching orders and I believe the current lot face the same fate at the next elections.

Alastair Jones
Otumoetai

Tactile museum

The ongoing consequences of the influx of Jafugees, dollargees and every other 'gee who desires to live in our little bit of paradise greets us daily.

Traffic congestion and the road toll declare population inflow came faster than infrastructure. Priority upgrading of road, reservoir, sewage systems etc but councillors declare a library, a museum and a potential 9.7 per cent rate increase.

Well, what's trending? Tactile is. The resurgence of vinyl records, the raw hiss of that stylus. What happened to the Tauranga Historic Museum? I still remember the steam engine, the engineer and fireman cooking bacon and eggs in a polished shovel before the glowing firebox.

The Beamish living museum in Durham where you can sense the surge of power of heavy horse at their plough, ride old city trams, smell the soot and jerk of a puffing billy, walk into a coal mine, explore a row of miner's cottages, enjoy Victorian style fish and chips then step out into a volatile suffragette rally.

The interestingly dead Tauranga needs a quality tourist attraction.

Let's hope in 2018 this couch of what are, in my view, mendicants sitting in our Hotel de Ville squandering ratepayer money, will rise above what is, in my opinion, chronic ineptitude, wilful or woeful blindness, and be true and wise servants of the ratepayer or meet ratepayer anger at the ballot box.

D J Barry
Mount Maunganui