I’m with Karl
responsible for climate change, so why should taxpayers subsidise people with properties threatened by sea-level rise?
In the financial crash of 2006-2012, people lost savings invested with finance companies that failed earlier, whilst later the government compensated investors for their losses (South Canterbury Finance, for instance). The ‘‘bad taste’’ this engendered will happen again if the government compensates these property owners.
Owners with home insurance contribute to losses through ‘‘fast’’ disasters, such as earthquake, fire and flood. However, sea-level rise is different. Although unstoppable, it will occur slowly, leaving time for market forces to apply. If, and when, insurance premiums become unaffordable, surely these homeowners will decide what is best for them. What has happened to the adage ‘‘you can’t have your cake and eat it too’’?
Ray Richards, Trentham Karl du Fresne – ‘‘I’m not a flightless bird, so why call me a Kiwi’’ – is my 2018 hero (Dec 13).
I, and I suspect many of us, have been beating this drum for years – TV news tells me that a Kiwi was killed in Mongolia, the local paper tells me of a Kiwi drowning off California. Do kiwis inhabit the world? No, they don’t.
We are all New Zealanders and we should be called that. Calling us Kiwis is lazy and patronising reporting. It came to prominence in my own home when my wife asked our young Australian grandchildren to come downstairs for a big kiwi breakfast. ‘‘No, thank you, Nana’’ was the reply, ‘‘we don’t eat Kiwis’’. If my grandchildren can see the difference, why can’t the media? Murray Woodhouse, Whanganui
His writing has a slightly snappy quality, but I can’t imagine him a common gull, scrapping with all the others. A ka¯ ka¯ then? They are well known for their attacks on exotics. But no. The ka¯ ka¯ has a playful quality, whereas du Fresne’s work is of far more serious pedagogical intent.
That got me thinking about owls. I don’t know if he stays up late, but I can imagine him sending out his notes from some high perch, while us poor flightless Kiwis, fossicking in the undergrowth, cower in our tracks.
That is as far as I’ve got. I’d love to hear from anyone with inside knowledge – from du Fresne himself perhaps?
Bevan Knight, Avalon