YOUR LOCAL NEWS

We have some pretty serious reading for you today, so grab a ginger nut and a cup of tea and get settled.

I thought I would just focus on our page 6 story in this column banning smoking on the skifields of Mt Ruapehu.

Despite the irony of banning smoking on a belching behemoth of a volcano, this kind of social engineering can be very polarising.

In this case smokers may be inclined to simply hide behind a snow drift.

However the social ‘‘freezing out’’ of smokers is very popular, especially yesterday - the official ‘‘Smokefree’’ day. The skifield operators were not the only outfit to announce a ban.

The key argument when it comes to smoking bans is the relative importance of a person’s right to choose whether they smoke versus a person’s right to not be subjected to someone else’s smoke.

Either way I’m pretty glad I don’t have to glue on a fake beard, don a pair of sunglasses and a hat and slip out the back for a cigarette these days.

To be honest, I wouldn’t be healthy or wealthy enough to ski if I still was. General inquiries: 07 378 9060, Editor: Daniel Hutchinson, 027 809 6854, daniel.hutchinson@stuff.co.nz, News: Steph Rangi, 027 204 2914, steph.rangi@stuff.co.nz, Robert Steven, 027 204 2904, robert.steven@stuff.co.nz, Tamara Thorn, 027 564 7168, tamara.thorn@stuff.co.nz Senior Sales: Graeme Goldsbrough, 027 204 2906, graeme.goldsbrough@stuff.co.nz, Classified ad’s: Lynne Webb 07 378 9060, lynne.webb@stuff.co.nz, Postal: PO Box 205, Taupo. Deliveries: Dave McEwen 07 378 9060, circulation@waikatotimes.co.nz, fixmydelivery.co.nz