Free public transport spreading

On climate change the Government has been strong on words, but apart from stopping new oil and gas prospecting, there’s been precious little action. In contrast, the city of Dunkirk (population 200,000) last month became the latest city in Europe to make transport free.

The city took its inspiration from Tallinn, capital of Estonia, which in 2013 made public transport free for all residents who have registered as residents. True, you have to pay to register, but thereafter all public transport is free.

And free public transport is spreading. In 2017 there were 99 fare-free public transport networks world-wide: 57 in Europe, 27 in North America, 11 in South America, three in China and one in Australia.

With regard to free public transport, it’s too late for New Zealand to be a leader, but following in the right direction is something we could still be proud of.

Martin Hanson, Nelson

Communism claims

Re John Bent’s frothy accusation that three of the core papers in Massey’s BA resemble the ‘‘re-education programmes of communism’’ (Oct 16).

Putting aside the raised eyebrows that his insensitive comment might draw from people who have actually been subjected to ‘‘re-education’’ by oppressive political regimes, might I clarify three things? First: the content of our core papers reflects extensive feedback from private sector employers regarding the skills they demand in an age of automation. So, not much there smacking of totalitarianism.

Second: two of the five papers focus on academic writing and critical thinking respectively. Not much evidence of communism there either.

Third: the three other courses explore notions of identity and belonging in Aotearoa New Zealand, understandings of global citizenship, and the practice of citizenship in action.

Clearly, we would make pretty hopeless communist indoctrinators.

Richard Shaw, Director (Arts), College of Humanities and Social Sciences, Massey University

Hawking and God

The late and acknowledged world expert in the natural world, Stephen Hawking, is being reported as saying that he did not believe there is a God (Oct 18).

By this, I presume he was saying that since he could find no evidence in his natural world that would support any belief in a God, he did not believe that one exists. His predecessor, Albert Einstein seems to have thought likewise.

Is this evidence that God does not exist? Presumably if either were to find any evidence of a supernatural being that could be supported through their examination of the natural world they would have changed their minds.

God by definition is a supernatural being. Accordingly, God lives in a supernatural world which is not (yet) available to us and where, if God exists, one would look to find the type of evidence that Hawking seeks but finds lacking in our natural world.

That this type of evidence would not be available to someone simply looking in the natural world is then perhaps unsurprising. It would be much like looking for emperor penguins at the North Pole.

As well, if God does exist, perhaps this God can be seen to exist by using means other than those employed by Hawking? Michael Vanderpump, Palmerston North

Canaries in mine

Dave Armstrong (Oct 16) cannot seriously be conflating the actions of a despotic monarch from 400 years ago with current-day women hatred in some Third World communities.

Acid attacks, female genital mutilation, honour killings and child marriage are rife in some of our migrant/refugee source countries. Are you really singing Kumbaya with words suggesting it can’t happen here? All because someone likes cricket, or sells baking for a worthy cause?

Burqa-clad women marching with signs like ‘‘Sharia 4 UK’’ (London) and ‘‘Behead All Who Insult Islam’’ (Sydney) are recent history. Meanwhile in the US, convicted migrant food stamp fraudsters are filmed yelling ‘‘F... America’’.

These are the canaries in the coalmine, which besotted diversity nuts choose to ignore.

The difference is only one of scale, Dave, and there is a pretty defined pattern of escalation as migrant numbers increase.

Rob Harris, Dannevirke

Keep left, overtake right

Well done to the police officer who fined the woman $150 for driving too slowly (Oct 15).

The ‘‘I normally drive faster hence being in the right lane’’ is a non sequitur. How you drove yesterday has nothing to do with the lane you drive in today. That excuse ranks well above the usual ‘‘I was doing the speed limit’’ and the ‘‘but there was nobody behind me’’ reasons regularly trotted out.

Daily I encounter traffic being held up by drivers doing exactly what this woman was doing. Obstructing traffic often leads to other drivers undertaking or performing otherwise unnecessary risky manoeuvres out of sheer desperation. I’m sure this causes many accidents.

Nobody should hold anyone else up, especially those self-appointed road monitors who feel they’re on a civil crusade preventing others from breaking the law. One never knows what emergency those behind them may be experiencing.

Keep left, overtake right. The roads would be safer, less frustrating and more free-flowing if more people followed this practice. I feel not nearly enough focus is given to this cause and wish a fraction of the anti-speeding education budget would be dedicated to this cause.

Warren Slater, Pukerua Bay

Hardly serving the people well

I cheered this week’s recognition of St Oscar Romero, who was assassinated for defending the poor, as I will when our own Suzanne Aubert is canonised. But I was startled and dismayed by this recognition being accorded to Pope Paul VI, and a few years ago to Pope John Paul II.

These men presided over the suppression of complaints of sexual abuse by their clergy for decades. Paul VI also caused untold heartache among the married worldwide with his upholding of the ban on contraception with the encyclical Humanae Vitae.

So what does this process signify when popes canonise their recent predecessors? They have served the institutional church well – but serving the people? It begins to risk sounding like our knighthoods for ex-prime ministers, just something that goes with the job.

Trish McBride, Broadmeadows

Taping phonecalls

The only reason I can think of as to why you would record phone calls you make would be that you’ve been ‘‘outed’’ for something. To then safeguard yourself you begin making calls and asking questions that are ‘‘loaded’’ so that you can pull the trigger if ever needed. Could be a problem though if you don’t know how to aim which end where. Graeme Stevens, Paeka¯ ka¯ riki

Britain and Brexit

Karl du Fresne has it wrong – Britain can leave the EU any time it likes but it can’t cherry-pick the privileges it wants with none of the costs of being a member. Outside the EU it has no more trading rights than New Zealand. Theresa May’s selection as Tory leader was almost certainly engineered by the ‘stay’ fraternity in the party to guarantee the breakup didn’t occur. Had Boris Johnson been selected it would have happened several years ago. Chris Bowen, Lower Hutt