Letters: Self-defence laws and criminal accountability; let GPs prescribe ADHD medication

Jeweller Gurdeep Singh suffered serious injuries in a robbery, with his son resorting to using a ceremonial sword to ward off the attackers.

Letters to the Editor

Letter of the week

Self-defence and family protection

I recall the initial reporting on the brutal attack on Gurdeep Singh by teenaged thugs armed with knives and hammers (Weekend Herald, July 6).

I commend the courage of Mr Singh, his wife and their son as they tried to repel this armed shop invasion that resulted with Mr Singh collapsed on the floor with a serious head injury after being hammered. And then the subsequent bravery of his son when he used a religious ceremonial sword to prevent the assailants from returning and killing his father.

It is better that his son retreated because in this country, our self-defence laws and statutes surrounding the use of force to protect whānau from grievous assault favour the assailant. And this needs to change.

I agree with Mr Singh there is a surprising lack of personal accountability in this country. This may change only if parents are held legally responsible for the misdeeds of their children. Crime committed by minors is rising in New Zealand; this antisocial behaviour is not innate.

It has been learned, and sadly, it has become acceptable. Relocating minors from bad home environments to “military camps” where negative influences inflicted upon them can be monitored and improved may not be the only answer, but it is at least one answer.

To shrug one’s shoulders and do nothing at all is also criminal.

Brian d’Angona, Herne Bay

Diagnosing and treating ADHD

Thank you for your editorial and article on the subject of ADHD (NZ Herald, July 10 and 11).

I urge the Government to act urgently to allow suitably qualified GPs to diagnose ADHD and prescribe medication where appropriate, and to discontinue the need for psychiatrists to renew their “special authority” for ADHD prescriptions every two years.

These two measures will enormously help to ease the logjam of people realising they may have ADHD, now that the science has caught up with a brain type that has always existed, but wasn’t widely recognised, especially in adults, until recently. “It’s not a bloody trend”, to quote the title of a very good recent book on the subject.

I was diagnosed earlier this year at the age of 65 (as was my 30-year-old son) after 50 years of asking “what is wrong with me?” — why did I think differently from “normal” people, and why couldn’t I make myself do things I knew I was capable of, except maybe right at the last minute after putting myself through a lot of unnecessary stress.

Why was I left so completely burnt out by an otherwise successful and enjoyable career? Why did I need to retire early, even though I knew I still had so much to contribute?

I am now on medication that hasn’t made my symptoms go away but has been transformative — I am calmer and less anxious, my brain fog has lifted and my low mood has largely gone, and I can get things done. A trivial example: instead of composing this letter in my head for days until it’s too late, I’ve committed it to “paper” straight away — I’ve been able to “just do it”.

In my volunteering job I recently met a young man who was charming, intelligent and enthusiastic — but who had spent nearly half of his first 35 years behind bars. Alarm bells rang for me and, sure enough, I found he had been diagnosed with “severe” ADHD.

What could we achieve in terms of productivity and crime reduction, not to mention the cost of needlessly imprisoning talented young people, if we got on top of this issue as a country?

Name withheld

American vice

I read Bruce Cotterill’s article “America’s challenges bigger than NZ’s” and found it interesting (Weekend Herald, July 6).

I reflect that the US problems are indeed far greater than NZ’s. Partly, it goes with size. Big country, big problems.

Small country, smaller problems, easier to get your hands around. Cotterill says in his article that “America is the world’s last remaining superpower” and he should perhaps have added “in decline”. It has fought many wars — like the ones in Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan — all of which yielded nothing but immense suffering and destruction at huge cost.

In terms of the US being the last remaining superpower, China is a superpower in ascendance rather than decline, despite America’s relentless attempts to counter China’s development. Making an enemy of China has destabilised global pursuit of peace and prosperity together with the two continuing wars where America has vetoed United Nations endeavours and recommendations to move towards peace, a necessary criterium for prosperity.

The reverence for anything military in America is making it harder to criticise wrongdoing. By painting every soldier as a hero, it sets the way for dampening critique of the many misconceived and unnecessary wars as anyone who critiques such wars is painted as unpatriotic and treasonous. The mantra of “be grateful to our servicemen and women putting their lives at risk” allows the hawks in Washington to literally get away with murder and start wars without proper scrutiny and constitutionally prescribed approval.

America playing the role of the world’s policeman, under the guise of benevolence, causes resentment in large parts of the world. Patriotism is a virtuous quality among small nations. For the biggest military power in the world it becomes a vice. The “my country right or wrong” idea is a threat to peace and prosperity when exercised by major powers.

Frank Olsson, Freemans Bay

Churchill and Ardern

The fall in popularity of Jacinda Ardern as reviewed in the extract from A Team of Five Million? (Weekend Herald, July 6) reminds me of that of Winston Churchill.

Ms Ardern’s leadership and policies saved us, in an unprecedented pandemic, from a catastrophic number of casualties from Covid. It was Churchill’s leadership that saved Britain from defeat during World War II and kept its people in good spirits despite powerful odds.

But the post-war election was won by Clement Attlee and the Labour Party. People were tired of food shortages and restrictions and wanted a change. The Conservatives were later re-elected with Churchill again Prime Minister.

Anne Martin, Helensville

Backing entrepreneurs

I enjoyed the excellent article summarising the difficult pathway for new and breakthrough technology development in New Zealand (Weekend Herald, July 6).

It is an important read. There is a struggle for seed funding and venture capital to foster such developments as this brain chip implant. I am not aware of any country becoming sufficiently wealthy to generously fund education and healthcare when primary production and tourism are the major sources of export income.

Both are relatively low-wage economies and face future threats. Yet we still have champagne tastes and expectations for our country. Why are our “best and brightest” emigrating in such numbers? The technology entrepreneurs especially are vulnerable to this starvation of venture capital here at home, but less so elsewhere.

I think we desperately need the technology sector to thrive, if New Zealand is to have an inviting and exciting intellectual science and technology environment and a third major source of national wealth, because there are ultimate capacity limits on the tourism and primary production sectors. And our productivity per person is declining, so there will also be a limit on wages and salaries.

It is important for us to salute and support our technology entrepreneurs if we expect any government to have the future means to provide better education and healthcare, let alone social services and support for the elderly and disadvantaged.

Patrick Frengley, Remuera

A quick word

I am heartbroken reading Gurdeep Singh’s story on the front page of the Weekend Herald. I also feel embarrassed as a New Zealander and wholeheartedly agree with Gurdeep in terms of parents and the Government being responsible for this atrocious youth behaviour. Perhaps if the Government is unable to legislate more proactive measures then the police should redeploy some of their traffic officers stopping people for exceeding the speed limit by 5km/h, and achieve a stronger police (beat) presence in communities such as Papatoetoe. Oh, one problem with that idea, it won’t be revenue earning into the Government coffers.

A.J. Dickason, East Tāmaki Heights

If Kāinga Ora (the Government) is putting a hold on its intensive housing programmes, why is it organising an intense infrastructure evaluation in Māngere East over the next months? This must be costing a small fortune. The stress to the tenants involved in these areas is quite worrying, especially when building is on hold. Where do they expect to move the tenants when no building is being done?

Sue Gallahar, Māngere East

I seem to remember that New Zealand First opposed the use of Māori terms. Can Winston Peters explain why he is happy to use the term “waka jumping”?

Greg Cave, Sunnyvale

Elizabeth Kerekere, Golriz Ghahraman and now Darleen Tana about or gone from the Greens. All list MPs. Is there something wrong with their systems (they claim to maintain high standards), or is the list system the fault with MMP?

Ian MacGregor, Greenhithe

Supermarket owners earn massive profits and as employers they must provide a safe environment for their workers. Abuse of workers is increasing. Employers have the resources to employ more security staff and put cameras on at-risk workers, but they choose not to because they are more concerned with profit margins.

Neil Hatfull, Warkworth

So the ducks are now all lined up for funding the previously unfunded cancer drugs. Credit to the Government for making this happen, but the criticism of them for not initially making good on their pre-election promise was totally justified. Their single greatest critic was probably Labour leader Chris Hipkins, who received quite ample media coverage of his criticisms. What intrigued me during all this, was that no one in the media, nay, not a single one, asked Hipkins the obvious question: Why didn’t you do this when you were Prime Minister? People might like to ask themselves why this is so.

Phil Chitty, Albany

When will the administrators now ruining rugby as the great game it can be, accept that “rush defence” is a euphemism for coached, blatant and cynical offside positioning? Take a leaf from rugby league and empower the linespeople to call it what it is and referees to consistently penalise it and so open the game back up.

Peter Beyer, Sandringham

I hope the rugby union and the management of Eden Park do not allow the annoying and invasive music and announcements that continued throughout the Dunedin game. They drowned out the commentators on the media that I was on.

Rod McMahon, Birkenhead

Auckland Council must use the savings from fortnightly rubbish collections to clear up roadside autumn leaves. Doing nothing will cause surface flooding and block stormwater underground pipes. Trees are council property.

Tiong Ang, Mt Roskill