IF Aotearoa/New Zealand has gained anything from the Christchurch massacre (March 15) it is that inter-racial and inter-religious barriers have been severely shaken up and eroded, hopefully for good.
Also: our skin colour might be different, but the colour of our blood is the same.
It is with deep sadness, then, that I read your correspondent Denise Lockett (Whanganui Chronicle, April 19) referring to the End of Life Choice Bill (the bill) as "a Pākehā thing, reflecting Pākehā values, ethics and morality".
Denise finds support in an opinion piece in the NZ Herald (April 2) in which Dame Tariana Turia states that "It [the state] should not pass a law that undercuts our families and whānau and makes death an option for those with limited resources and insufficient support".
May I remind both ladies that the latest scientific poll conducted by the reputable NZ Horizon company (June, 2017) finds support for the bill among Pākehā is 79 per cent and for Māori 71 per cent.
Not so much a Pākehā thing after all ...
Opinions about this bill have very little to do with whether one identifies as being Māori or Pākehā but everything with your world view and which schools you attended.
My deep desire is that this bill will become reality so all of us in Aotearoa/New Zealand can have a choice at the end of our lives when we get terminally or irremediably ill and we suffer severely. Is that too much of an ask?
ALIDA VAN DER VELDE
Waikanae
Bill amendment
Agreeing with Janine Delaney (letters, April 30), I wonder how many people are aware that the proposal to eliminate the "grievous and irremediable" category will mean that the End of Life Choice Bill no longer applies to people with multiple sclerosis, Huntington's disease, motor neurone disease, and Parkinson's disease, just to name four of the diseases that are not medically classified as "terminal", because doctors cannot predict when death will occur.
The problem in Parliament is that, a few years ago, then-MP Mojo Mathers convinced Green policy-makers that the lives of disabled people, such as herself (deaf) were devalued by this phrase, to the extent that now Green health policy allows Green MPs to vote ONLY for terminal illness.
But the others can keep it in the bill, if enough of them vote NO when David Seymour proposes an amendment to take it out, which will be after May 22.
Email as many MPs as you can in the little time left. You may live to be glad you did.
DIANNE COOPER
Kapiti
Trading hours
Carol Webb complains that she should be able to spend money every day of the year and it's only daft Christians who are stopping her.
The biblical advice that we should have a break from work is beneficial to both mental and physical health.
And to pre-empt her response that everyone can take a break when they want, no: Some of us don't have the luxury of choosing our working hours, we're at the dictate of our employers.
ANGELA STRATTON
Whanganui
Rain on roads
Eight killed in SH1 crash — Chronicle, Monday, April 29.
This is not the first. We have had a drought over the whole of New Zealand in recent months. This means the roads have not been washed free of oil and grease. So, when it rains, it is suddenly like driving on ice.
My sister-in-law died on Te Puke hill, many years ago, in exactly the same conditions. A heavy shower, a right turn, a slide to the other side of the road and crash.
Pass this on to family and friends. Get off the road if, after a dry spell, you face sudden rain. No ifs or buts, just emergency lights, pull to the side and stop.
Many know, but few take this action.
SARA DICKON
Whanganui
Assisted dying
Dame Tariana Turia (Chronicle, April 12, 2019) gave us clarity of thought called wisdom on the assisted suicide issue.
I cannot recall another like it from the Chronicle, a paper leaning heavily to passionate ideologies having no objective truth. Compare this with a cloudy formation called my truth or personal truth.
Now that woman is the beginning of prime minister material.
F.R. HALPIN
Whanganui
Capital gains tax
Re capital gains tax:
Whilst growing old is inevitable, it would seem many Kiwis feel growing up is optional.
ELAINE HAMPTON
Durie Hill
Send your letters to: Letters, Whanganui Chronicle, 100 Guyton St, PO Box 433, Whanganui 4500; or email letters@wanganuichronicle.co.nz