Letter of the week: John Turbott, Epsom
Regarding your editorial headed "Academia must protect its assets" (Weekend Herald, January 8).
Among the most important assets are intellectual honesty and protection of free speech. In a carefully worded, respectful and factually accurate letter "In defence of science" to the Listener in July last
year, seven eminent Auckland University professors raised issues of concern about a Government NCEA working group's proposal to make curriculum changes to ensure parity for mātauranga Maori with other bodies of knowledge credentialled by the NCEA (particularly Western\Pākehā epistemologies).
Far from supporting the right of senior academic staff members to publicly express legitimate concerns for the future of science education in this country, the University of Auckland chose to condemn the letter. In doing so, the university displayed an egregious lack of intellectual honesty and a conspicuous failure to support its staff.
This issue has drawn significant international attention and clearly will impact on the reputation of the university. Assets like these should not be squandered. A reputation lost will not easily be regained.
Change the locks
In early December, the Prime Minister said she foresaw no need for any widespread Covid lockdowns in 2022. In extreme circumstances there might perhaps be, she said, brief and targeted "localised" lockdowns. I felt this meant that there would never again be a situation where the whole of Auckland, for instance, was locked down or given harsher restrictions than the rest of the country.
Now one or two of the gloomier epidemiologists are directly naming Auckland as a possible target for extreme measures against an Omicron outbreak. It would surely be untenable to ever treat the whole of Auckland again (35 per cent of the nation's population) as one group and certainly it would be incompatible with my notion of "localised."
I trust that Aucklanders will be assured we will not have imposed on us, in coming days or weeks, the inequitable load we suffered last year.
Brian McDonnell, Grey Lynn.
Save what remains
I have been involved with parks management on the North Shore for around 30 years.
There is a second chance for the Sanders Reserve, desecration of 13,700 community planted native trees (Weekend Herald, January 8).
If the trees were only mown and the roots are still in the ground, some for a few years, there is a good chance of considerable regrowth, particularily when the rains come.
I would suggest that, with help from the concerned community, the various groups who put in all the time and effort into the planting should take an injunction against the local board to halt "finishing them off".
Peter Dodd, Chatswood.
Otherwise law-abiding
We have a good friend who is from South Korea. She said to me the other day, "we love NZ and Kiwi people but what happens to you when you get behind the wheel of a car?"
Most days, my wife and I drive for 15 minutes to our exercise class, few cars obey the 50km/h speed limit on East Coast Rd. Every day, we see someone run a red light or someone talking on their mobile phone.
Get the basics right and our road carnage figures will probably reduce.
Paul Mason, Rothesay Bay.
Due process
I find it somewhat ominous that the ERA is short-circuiting its own procedures (Weekend Herald, January 8) for Hendy and Wiles. They are two extremely high-profile people, clearly held in very high regard by both the Prime Minister and the media.
A judicial institution like the ERA should be going out of its way to ensure even-handedness in such circumstances, but what they've done, notwithstanding objection from the organisation being complained about, cannot fail to leave more than a whiff of impropriety.
Mike Newland, Matakana.
