Letters to the editor: Museum, abortion, Māori wards, Bay of Plenty labour shortage

The Bay of Plenty is currently experiencing a labour shortage. Photo/File

Alternative plan for museum

During the school holidays, the grandchildren and I visited the display of Tauranga 1918, in the container. It was so well done, I couldn't help thinking that it would be a great way to display museum artefacts. A container museum in Willow St would be the answer for everyone. The displays could change regularly, and residents and visitors alike would have something fresh to visit, each time they are in the city. It could be run by volunteers, such as those people who are desperate for a museum. It would certainly bring people into the CBD, which seems to be a priority for the council.
The referendum is over, and the people have spoken out against a museum.
Tauranga has its own special drawcard. The same one that has had people flocking to our city for decades: namely the best beach in the country. That is what people want when they come to Tauranga and events such as the Jazz Festival.
(Abridged)

R Smith
Brookfield

Inconvenient truth

Truth can be very inconvenient – especially the truth that human life is sacred, even though it has been a legal cornerstone for human interaction from time immemorial.
In 1974 Parliament in New Zealand produced a compromise with truth in the Contraception, Sterilisation and Abortion Act which, while protecting the unborn child from the violence of murder, e.g. when someone lethally attacks a baby in the womb of a pregnant woman, they created an exception in the Crimes Act for abortion so that women could agree to someone else killing their unborn baby without being prosecuted.
This compromise exists today. Of necessity, limits were put in place, e.g. in the first 10 weeks except in exceptional circumstances. Now, this compromise still doesn't give enough to women seeking extreme freedom in everything, e.g. remove abortion from the Crimes Act (removing any connection with "criminality"), and availability at any time – right up to the natural full term, nine months.
To achieve this, the Government has asked the Law Commission to find a plausible way to call abortion merely a "health issue".
From inconvenience, to compromise – and now "fake truth"? How God must weep.

Don Brebner
Omokoroa

Maori wards

Your frequent correspondent Mr Dey continues to maintain that Māori don't get a fair go in local body politics simply because their low numbers are overwhelmed.
He doesn't seem to accept that the opposite is the case in national politics where many more Māori are elected than their percentage in the population.
If he is correct, could he please explain why there are so few Māori elected in Whakatāne when they make up nearly half of the population.
With such a powerful lobby as that they should be in the majority in council.
My belief is the answer is very simple.
Māori as a whole choose not to be involved. They tend not to vote and tend not to be on the roll. It is well defined by a six letter word starting with A.
I also suspect that many Māori who do choose to be involved, are wary of those who might seek election. It is a matter of trust.
My major objection to Māori wards is that those elected will have a single focus. Today in our ward based local body system all elected officials have a responsibility across the entire district. I consider that to be important.

Murray Reid
Tuakau

Treaty 'scaremongering'

Regrettably, it is C Humphrey's letter (Letters, May 7) that, in my view, plays the race card – not Tommy Wilson or Peter Dey.
There is nowhere in the Treaty that says we are "one people". The Treaty says we all have the rights and duties of British citizens. It is only one article of the Treaty. If it were the be-all-and-end-all, it would have been the only article. The preamble to the Treaty clearly states that Queen Victoria was "anxious to protect their [Māori] just Rights and Property". How does this possibly mean that people have to choose sides and divide their families and the country? This is blatant scaremongering at its worst.
Why can't we move together in partnership with tangata whenua? Why does Māori representation in decision-making in local government make him so scared? Look at what has been achieved on the regional council when Māori and Pākehā from different wards work together making decisions.
Māori wards are still just one person, one vote. The separatism and anti-democracy come from denying them the representation they need, and we can benefit from.

Geoff Wane
Bellevue

Labour shortage?

I heard there are 1200 vacancies in the kiwifruit industry in the Bay of Plenty. Also that there are 6000 unemployed people in the area. One would expect there to be no shortage of pickers and packers, but unbelievably there is.
Maybe if the benefit were paid not to people who don't want to work but only to the ones who can't work (for whatever reason: physical or mental problems, caring for others etc.) this situation would not exist.
According to some psychologists, people who are working often feel useful, appreciated, confident. Joblessness may create feelings of missing out on social support and of depression. The more people in work, the better.

Doetie Keizer
Riverton