Letters to the Editor: climate, speed and the Pope
I am no fan of the Catholic Church because, too often throughout its history, it sided with the powerful and persecuted the very people it was formed to protect, a state of affairs that continues today in spite of efforts to change.
But I deeply admired and respected Pope Francis who had this to say, in Laudato Si, his encyclical in 2015: "The Earth, our home, is beginning to look more and more like an immense pile of filth ... The problem is that we still lack the culture needed to confront this crisis. We lack leadership capable of striking out on new paths ... Doomsday predictions can no longer be met with irony or disdain."
I sincerely hope that the College of Cardinals choose a replacement for the late Pope with a similar blend of intellectual ability and compassion. Doing our bit
One of the catch-cries from our politicians when trying to sell a policy is to use the phrase "we need to do our bit". This time around it is by spending billions of dollars on building up our armed forces to do what? Support other nations to slaughter human beings and turn their cities into rubble, and/or expecting another nation to rescue us from whomever.
What about the opportunity costs with that money?
Don't "we need to do our bit" as a nation to prioritise our spending on our citizens' health and wellbeing, protection of the natural world, curbing the causes of climate change and dealing with the immediate and after-effects of destructive weather events? Wouldn't New Zealand be wiser "doing our bit" towards being as neutral as possible whilst expressing a voice for peace? Irony abounds
I find it ironic that the Grey District Mayor Tania Gibson tells Denniston Plateau campers/protesters to "bugger off" when the region Gibson lives in is one of the more severely affected by climate change, i.e. ocean rising and flooding in Westport and Hokitika.
Community and government leaders, in their limited and narrow outlook are ignoring climate impacts on coastal communities. Leaders of change are needed to start, not delay, transitioning away from fossil fuels, greenhouse gases in keeping with our targets.
Climate scientists and specialists are scrambling to keep up with emissions rapidly increasing. Parochialism is not helpful. We are all affected by businesses, industries and communities not acting to reduce for monetary reasons.
Communities are concerned about employment because mining has been their wealth. Assistance to transition communities dependent on industries that increase our greenhouse gases is needed. But no, we have the usual obnoxious remarks by Minister Shane Jones, calling protesters "blow-ins". Not helpful.
The protesters' actions are motivated to protect a unique environment, a taonga and give a wake-up call that mining is harmful to the planet and future generations. What he said: the road is used as a race track
Lindsay Hardy: thank you. As a Glen Rd resident for several years I can affirm everything he said ( ODT 23.4.25).
The road is regarded as a race track, and therefore treated as such. Speed limit rules do not apply. It's as fast as you can, as far as you can.
It is busier than a state highway. It traumatises newcomers — I have seen this and they have told me.
On windless days the valley is enclosed in petrol fumes encouraged by roaring vehicles with no mufflers belching out clouds of dark residue. I go to the beach to ease my lungs.
For me, the most difficult thing to adjust to was drivers towing empty trailers who delight in crashing down the road as fast as they can. I honestly think it's a miracle there's been only three incidents in 18 months.
I have had double glazed windows installed which reduced the noise. I often considered asking the city council about speed bumps, which are on many roads in the city. But rightly or wrongly, I feel the local culture is that Glen Rd is for vehicles, not residents.
We live beside an officially designated race track, so that's our fault and we must live with it. Many of us can only park on one side of the road. So thank you Mr Hardy for saying what we are all thinking.
Address Letters to the Editor to: Otago Daily Times, PO Box 517, 52-56 Lower Stuart St, Dunedin. Email: editor@odt.co.nz
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Otago Daily Times
12 hours ago
- Otago Daily Times
Letters to Editor: health, voting, 1080
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You must stand up for what this district deserves. If you lose services you will never get them back. Marg Eckhoff Alexandra It's so right Pete Hodgson has said it well in his letter (31.7.25): the disenfranchised should be heard with their votes. That some do not vote is entirely predictable, despite David Seymour's "drop kick" comments. He is not struggling from day to day to survive in the present climate. His world is "sorted" and there is a totalitarian theme in there somewhere. Likewise our prime minister says he is going to "smash" the gangs. This is Trumpian speech and he really has no idea about managing a group of people who have an immutable sense of belonging and supporting each other. His words show his false sense of status to the detriment of many. The changing of the writing on passports is a similar, dare I say it "racist," move couched in ambiguity and evasion. Aotearoa-New Zealand means a lot more than New Zealand-Aotearoa. The entry of te reo into our vocabulary is to be celebrated as it is establishing our identity as many of us want it to be. Peter Strang Dunedin It's nonsense According to Pete Hodgson's thinking, the electoral changes are voter suppression. Or maybe he is just worried that those affected would most likely vote for the opposition parties but are not capable of enrolling in time. To say it is voter suppression is nonsense. These people have a choice (apart from a few who will have to wait until the next election) to enrol or not. This change is no worse than the election bribe that Labour introduced in 2018 in an attempt to get students on side, and their desire to lower the voting age to allow children to vote. David Tordoff Dunedin What goes around April 1633: Pope Urban VIII bans scientist Galileo Galilei's book Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems on the grounds that it argues that the Earth revolves around the sun. The Pope and the Church hope that this scientific truth will just go away. It doesn't, but it takes 359 years for the Church to acknowledge it was wrong. July 2025: President Trump revokes the scientific declaration on the dangers of greenhouse gases, undermining the United States' work to control emissions. He and his supporters hope that the scientific truth of climate change will go away. Unfortunately, it won't, and unless we do something now there will be no-one around in 359 years' time to point this out. John Drummond Dunedin Shaking one's head at volume of false rhetoric Concerning Tony Vink's remarks (28.7.25) re Israel and its supposed non aggression. I was wondering what planet Mr Vink is from? The sheer volume of the false rhetoric is hard to believe in this day and age. To think there are still people in the world who think like this is beyond my comprehension. Is it any wonder the world is in the mess we are now. Y Palmer West Harbour On the other hand The upshot of Mr Peters' statement, and that of the other foreign ministers, is that it reinforces Hamas' belief that it is winning the war: this is because international opinion is with them, and that they are being recognised (but not for the terrorists they are). The above action by Mr Peters et al, has led to Hamas winding back the latest attempt at ceasefire talks, and Hamas increasing its demands to the point where it was obvious that any agreement was, and is impossible. Israel is being forced to negotiate with Hamas, rather than just deal with them. Hamas has taken this as them being legitimised as a representative of Gaza rather than the cancer that they are. Kevin Rogers Andersons Bay Hunters and all of us should be worried re 1080 After reading the ODT article (26.7.25) "Concern 1080 will lower deer numbers" hunters — indeed the public — should be concerned as the first part of the planned eradication of predators on 6000ha of Stewart Island was only a trial. Two drops of pre-feed to get animals used to feeding on baits were to be followed up by two drops of toxic bait, the first which has been carried out the second yet to come. The use of deer repellent is no guarantee. For that matter where is the guarantee that deer repellent, if it works, was actually used? Besides, how effective is deer repellent? Deaths of white-tail deer after the trial run raise that question. The poison is not authorised to be used on deer, yet in 1980-81 a formal study on the impact of 1080 on white-tail deer occurred on Stewart Island where a gel formulation containing 1080 poison was applied to broadleaf leaves for the control of white-tail deer, the end results being "this method was found to be very efficient at substantially reducing deer numbers". Although 1080 is not used to target deer, DOC seem more than happy: it does reduce deer numbers dramatically. Besides 1080 is an indiscriminate poison which also kills deer, birds and insects, i.e. any creature which ingests it. In addition a 1080 killed creature's body remains toxic and lethal to anything that scavenges it. A lot could be learned from the Fiordland Wapiti Foundation's trapping programme to protect blue duck in Fiordland. In some areas this has increased numbers considerably without using poisons. I think the estimated cost of $90 million to poison Stewart Island predators would go a long way to control them. Use of trapping and other ground control methods without poisoning non-target species is far more preferable. Extermination is impossible and I say "control", as making Stewart Island, along with mainland New Zealand, predator-free is impossible. Lewis Hore Oamaru
The Spinoff
09-07-2025
- The Spinoff
What is Rocket Lab launching into space and why are people angry about it?
On Friday, picket signs bearing Palestine flags and banners about genocide gathered around three Rocket Lab locations in New Zealand. Why? Rocket Lab, founded in 2006 by Sir Peter Beck, is often lauded in New Zealand for catalysing our space industry. Today it still leads the sector, one with a quickly growing revenue – it was $2.68b in 2024. It's not just glowey-eyed nationalism that paints Rocket Lab favourably. Outside of New Zealand, it's seen as an ' innovative, exciting young space tech company,' and in the first quarter of 2025, Rocket Lab recorded $123 million in revenue, 32% up year-on-year. Rocket Lab is now an American corporation with headquarters in California. It offers launches from Māhia Peninsula and Virginia USA as well as aerospace manufacturing and design. While in 2008 Beck stated, ' if it's involved in the military we don't want anything to do with it,' the company won contracts from at least three US defence agencies in 2009, and seemingly never looked back. In May, Rocket Lab announced a $460 million deal with a US missile tracking tech company, positioning itself as a major contractor to US national security. In the US, Rocket Lab's rockets are the second most launched (after SpaceX). Here in New Zealand, concerns have been raised, and largely ignored by politicians, that Rocket Lab's ability to replace satellites makes the country a military target. Over the years, groups like Auckland Peace Action and Rocket Lab Monitor have accused Rocket Lab of being part of the militarisation of space and breaching New Zealand's Nuclear Free status. Many of the complaints have centered around its US military contracts. These groups have pointed out that Lockheed Martin, the world's largest weapons manufacturer, has invested in Rocket Lab and that the aerospace intelligence and communications technology that Rocket Lab develops, manufactures and launches could be used in weapon systems and other military operations. 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Rocket Lab's website says that its launches, numbering over 200 since 2018, have enabled ' operations in national security, scientific research, space debris mitigation, Earth observation, climate monitoring, and communications '. In the past the company has said it does not and will not launch weapons as this is against its commitment and New Zealand law. New Zealand's space activities are regulated by the Outer Space and High-altitude Activities Act 2017. Apart from safety considerations, the act takes into account New Zealand's international obligations and national interests like economic benefits, risks to national security and international relations. Anything launched into space must have a license granted by discretion of the government on a case-by-case basis. Cabinet has outlined some payloads not to be permitted – payloads that contribute to nuclear weapons programmes or capabilities; payloads with the intended end use of harming, interfering with, or destroying other spacecraft, or space systems; payloads with the intended end use of supporting or enabling specific defence, security or intelligence operations that are contrary to government policy; payloads where the intended end use is likely to cause serious or irreversible harm to the environment. Rocket Lab's website includes a log of launched missions. Among the clients listed are Hawkeye360, BlackSky, Capella Space, NASA, the US National Reconnaissance Office, the United States Space Force, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and RideShare. A few are labelled 'confidential commercial customer' or simply 'undisclosed'. 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Scoop
08-07-2025
- Scoop
Nelson-founded Charity Screening Movie To Raise Awareness Of Child Exploitation
The Saint Nicholas Children's Trust, a New Zealand-based charity, is hosting a special screening of the film Sound of Freedom to raise awareness about child sexual exploitation. On Thursday July 10, the Saint Nicholas Children's Trust, in partnership with Whakatū Rotary, will host the screening at the Suter Theatre in Nelson. In Sound of Freedom, a former US government agent embarks on a mission to rescue children from sex traffickers in Colombia. The movie was made as a call to action against human trafficking and was loosely based on a true story. "At the Saint Nicholas Children's Trust we work tirelessly in our pursuit of raising awareness of child sexual exploitation," says Angela Francis, the charity's founder and chair. "The Sound of Freedom is a confronting film which makes us consider the reality of what is happening every day around the world - thousands of children are being exploited." Proceeds from the screening will support the Trust's ongoing efforts to educate and advocate for change - locally and globally. Francis says the Trust is thrilled to welcome Nelson City Councillor Trudie Brand and Nelson MP Rachel Boyack, who will attend the event. Brand says: "Alongside the Nelson City Council's Mayor's office, I proudly support Saint Nicholas Children's Trust in their vital work to raise awareness and take positive steps to protect our tamariki from child sexual exploitation". "Together we are building a safer future for every child in our community." Boyack notes: "Distressingly, child sexual exploitation happens in New Zealand too". "We should do all we can, as a community and as a nation, to shine a light on this abhorrent practice, and to put the resources in to end child sexual exploitation, here in New Zealand and across the globe." The screening follows the charity's launch earlier this year, which drew support from other local leaders including Nelson Mayor Nick Smith and Maungakiekie MP Greg Fleming. Supporters wore masks to symbolise the children who are sexually exploited without the ability to speak up for themselves and conducted a silent march through Nelson's town centre. More information on the Saint Nicholas Children's Trust can be found on our website:
