Letters: Protest disinformation, Trevor Mallard, mediation, Afghanistan, and Ukraine

Some of the signage and messaging around the anti-mandate protest at Parliament gives rise to deeper concerns. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Opinion

Ramping up the rhetoric
The rhetoric Covid-19 protesters are using at Parliament needs to be called out.
The signs they are using are spreading dangerous misinformation. They also callously disregard actual human atrocities that have occurred by equating health measures that preserve human life and our health care system with racial oppression and segregation and the intentional destruction of an ethnic group.
It is when we downplay those atrocities that white supremacy ideas are allowed to advance.
The protesters clamour for their "rights" and "freedoms", but perversely the advance of extreme-right ideas and rhetoric in politics always leads to fewer rights and freedoms for many people.
Marie-Pascale Desjardins, Wellington.

Speaker should go
This is not the first time Trevor Mallard has been an embarrassment to the Labour Government and all of New Zealand.
The Prime Minister should ask Trevor to resign for not being kind yet again and trying to wash down the drain a democratic demonstration.
Parliament needs only honourable members not street firehose fighters.
David De Lacey, Newmarket.

Sing along
Parliament Speaker Trevor Mallard might consider commissioning a slight variation on another well-known Barry Manilow song, Mandy, for the benefit of the Wellington protesters:
"Well you came and you gave without taking; and I sent you away, oh Mandate; and you kissed me and stopped me from shaking; and I need you today, oh Mandate"
Richard Wolfe, Ponsonby.

Dose of mana
Barry Manilow and blocked toilets aren't going to disperse the protesters at Parliament. Of course, they have the right to protest. It's the privilege of living in a free country. However, they don't have the right to hurt their fellow Kiwis. The businesses surrounding Parliament have suffered enough and shouldn't be penalised any further. Obviously, it would set an unfortunate precedent if the PM were to try and negotiate with the protesters, and the police are trying to de-escalate the situation, not enflame it. The crowd appears to be as diverse as what they're protesting about, so before things get totally out of control, perhaps a large dose of mana is needed. Would it be possible for a delegation, (the Police Commissioner, Dr Ashley Bloomfield, and John Tamihere) to name a few, to be deputised to have a dialogue with representatives of the protest group? Seven days in, it couldn't hurt, and doing nothing will achieve nothing.
Mary Hearn, Glendowie.

Afghani assets
International NGOs say that some 10 million Afghanis are on the brink of starvation. Afghanistan's central bank's assets are held by the New York Federal Reserve Bank – and have been frozen since the Taliban seized control last August.
While the US refuses to release the money, the Afghani economy cannot function – people cannot access their savings, government workers cannot be paid, importers cannot pay for goods, and inflation is skyrocketing.
President Biden is talking about humanitarian aid but this cannot fill the gap left by a non-functioning economy.
The assets belong to the Afghanistan people, not to the United States. Whatever one thinks of the Taliban, surely it is criminal to victimise the ordinary people who have already suffered a two-decade-long war.
It is the US, not the Taliban that is depriving women and their vulnerable children of the most basic right of all – the right to life.
New Zealand troops deployed to Afghanistan were supposedly helping with "stability" and reconstruction. In this even more critical situation, our Government should speak up for the release of frozen Afghani funds.
Maire Leadbeater, Mt Albert.

Ukraine persecution
Russia has always had Ukraine in the gun.
In 1933, at the height of Joseph Stalin's state-imposed famine against the Ukrainian people, an estimated 25,000 died each day from starvation.
The systematic extermination by hunger - known as Holodomor - left millions of children orphaned.
Carl Rosel, Freemans Bay.

Road to ruin
Nick Leggett, CEO of the national trucking representative organisation, believes (NZ Herald February 14) the Government's expenditure on rail, designed to expand services, is a mistake and that the Government should not be trying to manipulate the market "for no apparent reason other than some ideological view that trains are better than trucks".
Has Nick heard about the seriousness of climate change?
If the present rate of pollution continues our species will become extinct.
This is a simple fact borne out by many scientific studies.
This can hardly be described as "some idealistic reason".
David Tyler, Beach Haven.

Ferry connection
A suggested electric ferry link to Waiheke from Ōrākei is a very good idea, but I feel the entrance at Ōrākei is coming in from the wrong direction.
If it came from Hobson Pt, it would have traffic from South Auckland via Greenlane exit off the motorway via Ngapipi Rd and Auckland and the North along Tamaki Drive, without causing disruption to the Ōrākei Marina.
A new extension could be built out from Tamaki Drive by adding to the extension already built at the Ngapipi Rd corner and swinging the loading barge parallel to the marina.
Paul Mortensen, Glen Eden.

Other side
Like Irene Mears (NZ Herald, February 14), I live at the opposite end of the world from my birth country and have followed, not with disbelief but horror, the way Covid has been handled in the UK. Almost 140,000 deaths.
Yet despite this, Boris Johnson and his cronies partied on in Downing St while people lay dying alone in hospital intensive care units, unable to have the comfort of a family by their side.
Jenny Ryder, Mairangi Bay

Saving New Zealand
You are to be congratulated on printing David Schnauer's opinion (NZ Herald, February 14), which explains the solid difference between Scandinavia and Oceania.
Please inquire from Schnauer how he might remediate Kiwi MPs from the "make-now... sell-tomorrow" mentality.
Gerry O'Meeghan, Pāpāmoa.

Supernatural events
The modern theory regarding the biblical Passover and the plagues as related to us by your editorial (NZ Herald, February 9) was most enlightening, i.e. that the turning to blood of the River Nile was simply an algal bloom that contaminated some grain which poisoned some children who just happened to die on the night of Passover. It would have taken a great deal more than that for the Egyptians to plead with the Jewish people to leave.
The Israelites were slaves of the Egyptians for over four hundred years. They were the mainstay of the wealth and power of Egypt.
At the time of the Passover, there were 600,000 Jewish men giving "free labour" to Egypt.
There was no way that the pharaoh and the leaders of Egypt were going to wave the Israelites "goodbye" unless something drastic happened.
They refused to let them go in spite of nine supernatural plagues.
It took the solemnity of the final one to force their hand. Every Egyptian household in the country lost their firstborn overnight.
Why do men try so hard to reduce the supernatural events of the Bible into something natural?
Colin M Ross, Mt Roskill.

Short & sweet

On protest
If a small percentage of my staff were upset over working conditions we would have a discussion. The PM needs to do the same. Wendy Tighe-Umbers, Parnell.

So businesses have had disruptions because of the protest? Many there have lost their jobs because of the mandate "no jab, no job". Barry Scott, Epsom.

A word to the protesters and complainers: don't fight the Government: fight the pandemic. If you are in an occupation with mandated protection that offends you, find another job. Brian Pittams, Whangamatā.

On vaccine

Are DHBs accepting non-vaccinated patients for Covid-related illnesses? If so, why? These people do not believe in science. Let them cure themselves. I. S. Thomas, Cambridge.

On Government
This Government seems to have only two roles - the two s's - spend and spin. They are awesome at both. Adina Thorn, St Heliers.

On Goff
Phil Goff will be off all right, somewhere abroad; and with rates a damn sight less than what Auckland has. Glenn Forsyth, Taupō.

On Body
Guy Body (NZ Herald, February 14), US far-right ideology? Oh yes, I forgot. Only far-left ideology is allowed now. All else will be mocked. Karl van de Water, Maungaturoto.

The Premium Debate

How will the protest end?

Until Jacinda Ardern and Grant Robertson understand there is a large anti-mandate group out there, these people will not go away. They and many around New Zealand want a date or plan on when mandates will be dropped. The problem is, I assume there is no plan. I suspect they won't be happy with any announcements of an announcement either. Anita W.

Maybe the protesters themselves have ruined their chances for any adjustments to mandates - as if they were ever going to be overturned on demand. We're likely to have an even bigger outbreak after their behaviour, and what with damp, cold, and exhaustion there could be hospital admissions. So we need to keep up restrictions to accommodate those who are defiant and in denial and keep the rest of us somewhat safe. Margaret W.

Many of these protesters are angry because, among other things, they feel they aren't being listened to so to treat them with seeming contempt and refuse any form of communication is ignorant on the part of the Government and seems to be about political optics. Maureen D.

This protest action is getting sadder by the day. Wet people shouting at a wet building that is shouting back. Adults hiding behind their children, who they are exposing to serious health risks. These are increasingly desperate people who know that they cannot achieve anything because their cause is simply wrong-headed and they have been manipulated. Mark S.

I do not condone the behaviour of some of these protesters. Death threats and intimidation are reprehensible. It's unfortunate that the actions of a few have overshadowed the genuine concerns of all the rest. What's needed here is real leadership from politicians. Richard C.

Although there are all sorts of extremists among the protesters, the general idea of "remove the mandates" rings true with many New Zealanders both here and abroad. To dismiss the protesters is to dismiss a huge slice of NZ citizens. Jeremy W.

The disrespect being shown to the protesters is appalling, drowning them out with music and telling them to "go home" without having so much as spoken to them is abhorrent. Sally R.

Playing "Baby Shark" and turning some sprinklers on is childish and reflects so badly on the Speaker. New Zealand deserves someone better than Trevor Mallard. Anna K.