Indi Wealleans, 8, was diagnosed with Ewing Sarcoma at 2 years old. She relapsed in 2022 but is now in remission. Photo / Supplied
Youngster’s courage a lesson in selflessness
Out of the mouth of babes has never been truer than the story of Indi Wealleans, (Herald, May 24). The 8-year-old cancer survivor has been through more challenges in her short life than many adults ever will and has displayed courage throughout her ordeal.
Her generosity in wanting to join a skate-a-thon in support of the Child Cancer Foundation, which receives no government funding, is inspirational.
For some parliamentarians, there is a salient lesson to be learned about ethics and selflessness. The Minister for Regulation has just completed a six-month review of the hairdressing industry at a cost of $500,000 and a savings of $1 million in red tape over a year.
Hairdressers, (who may or may not be qualified), can now offer their clients coffee and dogs can enter a salon if the owner allows it. While David Seymour gives a “buzz cut” to archaic regulations, the minister may want to have his department turn the shears on himself totally wasting taxpayers’ money.
I’m fairly certain the Child Cancer Foundation could have made better use of that money.
Mary Hearn, Glendowie.
Run it straight out of town
I find it hard to believe the Government is going to “seek advice” about the possibility of banning Run it Straight events.
Duelling with swords and pistols has been banned for decades. This new contest of who has the thickest skull may not involve weapons, but as we’ve seen already the potential for a fatal outcome is, tragically, only too obvious.
How many more combatants will have to die or be maimed for life before the “advice” being sought comes to the conclusion this new brand of stupidity should be outlawed immediately?
Jeremy Coleman, Hillpark.
RMA changes at what cost?
So the Government has traded off increasing pollution of our water and land for higher returns for farmers and easier property development.
The proposed RMA changes loosen regulations and standards to promote more industrial farming, make mining and quarrying easier and reclassify wetland to allow more building development.
This will mean more pollution of our water, land and air, no matter how you cut it. This will bring with it huge health and environmental costs, which we all pay.
This may be a quick sugar rush for the short-term business cycle but it’s bad for everyone and the planet in the long term.
The vital concept of sustainability has been smothered by the siren song of unrelenting growth. We are going to pay a very high price for this short-term thinking.
Jeff Hayward, Auckland Central.
Regulatory Standards Bill demands scrutiny
The Regulatory Standards Bill, put forward by David Seymour, is marketed as upholding democratic values, but it does not explicitly protect free speech and may in practice do the opposite.
It threatens protest rights and freedom of expression. For months, people across Aotearoa, including in downtown Auckland, have gathered peacefully to call for an end to Israel’s assault on Gaza and urge our Government to uphold international law. Under this bill, such protests could be deemed “inconsistent” with vague principles, judged by a minister-appointed board.
The bill also sidelines Te Tiriti o Waitangi. It lacks any requirement to honour Treaty principles or include Māori voices, a major constitutional failure.
Steve Bannon, former Trump adviser, once spoke of “flooding the zone with chaos” to overwhelm the public. This bill feels just like that: unnecessary, confusing and dangerous.
We already have checks in place: the Bill of Rights Act, Regulatory Impact Statements, select committees, the courts and oversight bodies like the Ombudsman and Human Rights Commission.
With the June 23 deadline approaching for submissions, now is a good time for anyone concerned about our democratic rights to look closely at what this bill could mean.
Dana A. Patterson, Waiheke Island.
On stopping crime early
Re “Police push crime message” (Herald, May 28): since most crime is fuelled by substance abuse, each arrest is an opportunity not just for accountability but also for intervention, rehabilitation and healing.
Most citizens consistently report wanting this approach rather than contributing to mass incarceration.
The “Broken Windows” theory of policing, which began in 1982, suggests that not intervening at lower levels of crime will result in the escalation of crime and also supports taking all theft crime more seriously.
New Zealand is known for its innovative approach towards crime reduction, beginning with juvenile offending. Giving free passes to minor crime is inconsistent with best practices.
Eugene M. Hyman, Judge Superior Court of California (retired), California, USA.
Political blame game
The coalition Government has been in the House for half of an electoral cycle and yet continues to blame Labour, who coped with a massive pandemic and kept thousands of the population alive, and also a huge cyclone, for the lack of economic growth.
They also continue to blame Covid for their lack of action to address vital basic needs.
The best this Government can do to rectify this is chase 30,000+ of our brightest offshore, make massive job cuts, disrespect women and our indigenous people, reduce the income and housing for those who have remained, increasing homelessness and poverty.
They have not addressed child poverty or the climate change issue but pander to the wealthy and lobbyists by making laws under urgency with little or no consultation.
These MPs live in a fantasy world and are totally out of touch with the real world.
Marie Kaire, Whangarei.
Something in the soil
According to an article published in the 1961 American Popular Mechanics’ science overseas section, New Zealand made headlines by the discovery that the metal molybdenum ingested with foods grown rich in the metal prevents cavities in teeth.
A New Zealand study showed residents of Napier have fewer cavities than those of nearby Hastings, although they have common milk and water supplies.
The different factor in their diet is the crops grown for food. Napier grows its crops in a former lagoon that has higher amounts of molybdenum, titanium and aluminium than those used for crop-growing in nearby Hastings.
Gary Hollis, Mellons Bay.
NZ’s voice on Gaza
Firstly, I agree with John Minto (Herald, May 30) As usual he speaks from the heart and empathises with persecuted people wherever they are in the world. The United States, by supplying the weapons of war to Israel, is hugely complicit in the genocide of innocent women and children in Gaza.
Our Foreign Minister’s apparent willingness to go along with everything the Trump White House does actually makes us loosely complicit too.
Our Government should have the fortitude to speak out whenever and wherever injustice is.
Evidently, 147 of the 193 UN members recognise Palestine as a sovereign nation. It shocked me to learn New Zealand is one of the 47 countries that do not. To me this is shameful and needs to change. Surely this is the least we can do?
Glen Stanton, Mairangi Bay.
More female referees too
It is not only “NZF under fire for overlooking female coaches” (Herald, May 29), it is also female referees. When I watch the all-men NRL games every weekend, often the major referee is a woman. Here they are always men in both male and female games.
Why not share the jobs of rugby coaches and referees so half of both tasks are done by women? Please do it in 2025 for fair equal rights and fair choice, as New Zealand women absolutely deserve to have this equal right now.
Murray Hunter, Titirangi.
Online gambling harm
Auctioning 15 online gambling licences is going to be devastating for addicted gamblers and their families.
Thousands of those caught in this cruel addiction will be financially ruined. The odds are heavily stacked in favour of the online casinos, run by remorseless multinational corporations. The gambler will inevitably lose everything they gamble.
Now thanks to legal online gambling, this will be available all-hours in your own home.
How cruelly short-sighted and expedient is this?
So the Government can generate a few million dollars in taxes and licence sales, many thousands of people will be financially ruined. The health and social costs incurred alone will dwarf any gambling tax gain.
Jeff Hayward, Auckland Central.
Speak out about Gaza
I completely agree with all the statements made in the letter from Keith and Jo Ballagh (Herald, May 29).
Being a small country, all we have is our voice, which we have used very effectively in the past.
For example, helping stop nuclear testing in the Pacific during the 1980s, despite the French Government’s threats to damage our trade relationship.
I urge our Government to recognise Palestine as a state and a full voting member of the UN.
Ineffective hand-wringing and vague comments about joining with other countries etc do not help the starving, mutilated and dying people of Gaza and the West Bank. The time is now!
Those who see an injustice and turn away or delay action become complicit in the actions of the perpetrator.
We have our own voice and should use it in total condemnation of the Israeli genocide now. Silence is complicity.
Ruth Coombes, Auckland.
Tiny setback for school lunches
The school lunch programme continues as an embarrassment and frustration for David Seymour, with a report that a larva was found in one school lunch recently.
However, the school lunch programme delivers approximately 244,000 lunches to schools daily. This one lunch represents 0.0004% of all lunches. Although hygiene should be of paramount importance in any food programme, this is hardly evidence of gross mismanagement to the point of being overly concerned. Let’s just call it added protein.
I was given banana sandwiches as a kid that were brown and mushy by the time I got to eat them. I saw, I ate and I survived!
Bernard Walker, Mount Maunganui.
It’s going to be a long 18 months as we watch David Seymour hog the headlines as Deputy Prime Minister. What an opportune time for Prime Minister Christopher Luxon to reassert his authority and call a snap election.
Graham Fleetwood, Tauranga.
The Holocaust: Nazis treated Jews like animals, confiscated their property, herded them into camps with unspeakable and unstoppable violence. Needing additional Zionist inhabitable space, Israel is tragically repeating its own history.
Michael Howard, Mt Eden.
There has been a lot written about the Equal Pay Amendment Bill 2025 but did I miss the publication of all the companies that don’t pay women the same as men who are doing the same work? That is what is missing from all that has been written.
Mike Wells, Kawerau.
The problem with patients absconding from hospital ED units is not a crime. Patients are not prisoners and are free to make their own decisions no matter how wrong.
Neville Cameron, Coromandel.
When I returned to NZ after years abroad I was advised not to subscribe to the Herald as it was too right-wing. I have not found this to be the case. Your editorial (May 28) that Nicola Willis’ Budget, like her $1100, dress highlights the growing gap between the haves and the have-nots confirms my view.
You ask readers to consider supporting local foodbanks or social agencies. Please continue to highlight the huge gap in this country between those who can afford to fly business class and those who struggle to find a bus fare.
Sarah Beck, Devonport.
Imagine there’s less Super, it’s easy if you try, no Working for Families, it isn’t hard to do, dreams Matthew Hooton (Herald, May 30) like a neoliberal John Lennon.
Mike Wagg, Freemans Bay.
One victim's son is appealing for information about the ute involved
