The Bay of Plenty Times welcomes letters and comments from readers. Here you can read the letters we have published in your newspaper today.
Help, not hatred, needed
Re Man beats 4-year-old for soiling herself (News, Nov 22):
When I read this headline I was thinking "What a horrible man", but after reading the article I actually gained some respect for him.
Certainly what he did to his daughter is, without a doubt, unacceptable and inexcusable, but I am so proud of him for what he did afterwards.
It seems to me to be wrong to say I'm proud of him, but I can't deny that I am.
There have been too many cases where children have been abused and the abuse has been kept quiet and denied by the perpetrators as well as witnesses, and children have even died.
Through your paper I would like to express my thoughts to this man and thank him in memory of the children whose guardians didn't have the ounce of decency he obviously does.
I wish him and his children all the best and hope they get the help they need.
Tamsin Trainor, Bellevue
Thank you
To all the very kind people of Tauranga.
In August my son had an accident. He fell and broke his neck, suffering a serious spinal cord injury, and was sent through to Tauranga Hospital.
My daughter, myself and my family came from around the country and around the world; we sat at his bedside in the Intensive Care Unit for three and a half weeks.
My son, Brad, unfortunately didn't survive his injuries and very sadly passed away. He was 28 years old.
The kindness, generosity and love shown to us from the people of Tauranga will always stay with us.
All the staff at Tauranga Hospital were just amazing.
I cannot name people individually for fear of missing somebody out, but I just want to say thank you for your care, your compassion, your unfailing dedication, love and support of Brad and my family.
Troy, what I would give for you to have had that magic wand.
Thank you to the people of Tauranga you are what New Zealand is all about.
All my love.
Linda Adair (Brad's mum), Auckland
Injustice
Ruth Hodgson (Letters, Nov 21) asserts that because beatings for speaking Maori did not happen in her school, they did not happen anywhere.
My father, who was born in 1909 and went to school in Russell, was hit on the knuckles so frequently with a steel ruler for speaking Maori that the scars were still visible when he died.
And it scarred his soul as well.
Frances Denz, Tauranga
Practice abolished
In reply to Ruth Hodgson (Letters, Nov 21) and her comments regarding Tommy Kapai's letter, I believe he was quite correct in what he said regarding his mother.
I attended Kerikeri District High school in the early 1960s and we had a good number of Maori students who lived on the coast and spoke nothing but te reo at all times when they were at home.
If they were heard speaking Maori at school it was straight to the headmaster's office for a caning.
This practice only stopped in my last year (1965) when I was president of the school council and we voted to abolish the use of the cane and the strap.
Gordon Stewart, Tauranga
Same old story
Re hefty rate rises: The mayor has in the past reported that after the last three years of high rate rises that future hefty rate rises were behind us so it is therefore disturbing to read the headline (News, Nov 16) that "Tauranga won't escape another hefty rate rise".
It should also be noted that a Government inquiry into local body funding, undertaken in 2008, stated that the way that councils were funded was not sustainable into the future and this recent headline proves this.
In my view the problem is that councils continue to operate in exactly the same way that they have always done and few, if any, have the vision to look at other ways of funding ratepayer costs, expectations and requirements.
The current council's way of endeavouring to reduce future rate rises is to defer, delay and extend projects and all this achieves is to delay the inevitable as according to this the expenditure will still be undertaken but at a later date.
There are a variety of measures that the council should at least consider to address future costs but doing exactly the same that they have done in the past is certainly not one of them.
Mike Baker, Bethlehem
'Enough' overdue
All power to Brian Cotter's pen for voicing my own feelings (Letters, Nov 22) - even as his letter is printed the headlines speak of another senseless bashing of a child, and one wonders just where all this is heading, given that family feelings seem to have given way to a mindless rage in our society.
I also admire some qualities of our Maori brethren, but this acceptance of violence must stop, and they are the only ones who can say "enough" and break this "te koni" as he puts it.
I know that all New Zealanders would be behind bringing these dregs of society to justice.
(Abridged)
B Guernier, Hairini
Hardly fragrant
You say in your editorial that Zac Guildford has access to support and guidance by virtue of being an elite athlete to overcome his drinking problem.
While this is true the NZRU does not come up smelling of roses either.
It is well known that it supports a drinking culture strongly backed by the liquor industry.
Perhaps it is time it took a hard look at itself to ensure that it is not contributing to this problem.
Lawrence Woods, Katikati
Goodwill
The Tauranga Regional Multicultural Council sends its best wishes to the Armazem Football Club as it represents Brazil and the BOP region at the New Zealand Communities Football Cup final.
The team won the western BOP tournament, Ethkick 2011, hosted by the Otumoetai Football Club in early October, which led to the invitation to compete at the national event in Auckland this weekend.
Ethkick 2011 was one of a series of ethnic football tournaments held across the country this year.
Ten teams entered the Tauranga event from a range of local cultural groups including the Pacific Islands, Argentina, United Kingdom and India.
The Brazilian team had also won the event in 2010, but this is the first time that they have gone on to the national finals.
They will be competing against teams from qualifying events held in Christchurch, Nelson, Wellington, Upper Hutt, Palmerston North, Rotorua, Hamilton and Auckland.
This is a significant football event with support from NZ Football, Oceania Football, NZ Police, Families Commission and the Human Rights Commission.
It helps to promote harmony within New Zealand's multicultural groups, and also supports White Ribbon Day against family violence.
So good luck or "boa sorte" to the Armazem team.
Ewa Fenn, President, Tauranga Regional Multicultural Society
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Defence counsel says Mark Hohua died after falling on to concrete steps while fleeing.