OVER TO YOU

Anyone wishing to make a complaint to the New Zealand Press Council should first put it in writing to the editor. If not satisfied with the reply, complainants should then write to The Secretary, NZ Press Council, Box 10 879, Wellington, including a clipping of the disputed article and copies of the correspondence.

We welcome the views of readers. Letters to the editor should be no more than 200 words. All correspondence is at the discretion of the editor, who reserves the right to decline, edit or abridge letters without explanation. Please send your letter to: The Editor, The Nelson Mail, 15 Bridge St, Nelson or email to mailbox@nelsonmail.co.nz. Please include your full first name and last name, address and phone number.

Plea for information

My 81 year-old mum is trying to get information on her half-brother, whom she never got to meet. She is his closest surviving relative.

Are there any readers who worked at Ngawhatu Hospital in Marsden Valley who may have known Trevor Alexander Herdman? Trevor was intellectually disabled and became a resident of Ngawhatu Hospital from mid-1920s until his death in 1977 at age 57 years. We would love to hear from anyone who knew Trevor - and if there are any photographs of him. He currently has an unmarked grave and we would like to rectify that. We haven’t had any luck accessing such information from the DHB. Megan Blakie Christchurch, June 9

Holiday entitlement

In response to Chris Blackman’s letter (May 27), I share his view that our hard working retail and hospitality workers should receive their full public holiday entitlement.

As an Organiser for six years with New Zealand’s Retail Union, FIRST Union, I was part of the negotiating teams that bargained for public holiday "transfer days" so that retail workers who worked a regularly Tuesday to Saturday roster wouldn’t miss out on their public holidays. Some of our big retail chains, like Countdown Supermarkets have these "transfer days" written into their employment agreements thanks to the work of the Union and its members. During Covid-19 the hard work and dedication of supermarket workers in particular has been recognised by many in our community, and my view is that the best form of recognition for these workers should come through decent living wages and conditions at work. Rachel Boyack

Labour candidate, Nelson June 1

Freedom of speech

Gary Clover (May 16) takes me to task because of a typo error which had an ’s’ incorrectly added to the word pakeha and because of that and because I had the audacity to challenge comments made by a Ma¯ ori academic he calls me ignorant and biased. All I can say about that is that is a classic example of the kettle calling the pot discoloured.

Mr Henry Hudson’s letter published on the same date spells out what pakeha have done for the good of this country and none of what he said can be denied. He also says correctly says the article in question ‘‘encourages dialogue from a different perspective’’ and that’s called freedom of speech.

As far as Mr Clover quoting Dame Jenny Shipley is concerned that’s a red herring. If she has concerns about colonisation affecting race relationships then she is entitled to express her views in the same way that I am entitled to express mine. I will continue to strongly advocate for a country where we can all live successfully without any political privilege as citizens of one democratic nation. That’s what most New Zealanders are longing for. Neville Male Stoke, June 1

Blinded by custom

Arthur Kitson said :- ‘‘It is remarkable how blinded by custom people are, to the most obvious truths.’’

Today nothing has changed. Orthodox finance demands that all Government finance is borrowed from the private banks and financial institutions and we blindly follow this immoral system. It defies logic for central and local government to borrow money or buy bonds from the private banks and mortgage present and future generations with compounding debt, when the Reserve Bank can create money free of interest or debt. Notes and coins which is real money (only 2 per cent of money in circulation) is created through the RBNZ without incurring interest or debt, which proves it can be done. 98 per cent of ‘‘money’’ in circulation is created by the private banks as loans which is an I.O.U. and has to be repaid with interest. I implore the Minister of Finance not to be pressured by the establishment to follow a failed monetary policy, but follow the example of the 1935 Labour Government who showed the world how to overcome the Great Depression by using sovereign money created directly from the

RBNZ for Government use without incurring interest or debt. Ian Davey Motueka, June 5

Lockdown legacy

Much self-congratulation from our political masters as they now bask in the adulation of their adoring subjects.

But wait : Our economy is in tatters. Tens of thousands have lost jobs, income, businesses and general human happiness.

The country’s indebtedness has skyrocketed. Government’s fumbling, inane attempts to engineer a revival of the economy by central control of the market is fast turning into custard and chaos.

Covid-19 is now endemic - as is openly admitted by most epidemiologists, even by the World Health Organisation.

This means (correct me if I am wrong) that all lockdowns are in vain. Covid-19 will eventually reach each and every person in the world, causing the exact same ratio of deaths – and nothing we can do about it (except, admittedly, if a vaccine becomes available).

So, instead of having a spike in natural deaths this year, New Zealand will suffer exactly the same number of fatal cases over the next few years - only different people dying.

Industrial lockdowns, never in human history practiced before, are callous, inequitable, irrational, unethical - and futile. Andy Espersen Nelson, June 8