Conference call a ‘slap in the face’ for all of us

THE decision to proceed with the Morgo Conference in Queenstown shows an arrogant disregard for the sacrifice that all New Zealanders have made in the face of the struggle against Covid19.

Conference organisers have chosen to ignore the Prime Minister’s call for people from Auckland to avoid mass gatherings, even if the event is not held in Auckland.

They claim that the event is not a ‘‘social gathering’’ and therefore exempt from the requirements to restrict numbers to 10 people. A look at the programme for the event includes at least 16 speakers from Auckland in addition to the delegates, large numbers of whom will also be travelling from

New Zealand’s largest city, which has only just emerged from Level 3 restrictions.

To inflict this kind of event on the people of this region is a real slap in the face for everyone here and should not have been allowed to happen, especially as Queenstown has already suffered a previous outbreak caused by a conference in the town.

Even more alarming is the fact that the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment is one of the ‘‘community partners’’ of Morgo and by implication is condoning the holding of this event.

Bob Scott

Cromwell

Praise for ‘Mix’

CONGRATULATIONS on all productions of the ‘‘Weekend Mix’’.

A few weeks ago, I had friends with me from the North Island who were envious of me having such a topical and informative magazine.

I always look forward to having my breakfast on a Saturday morning with the ‘‘Mix’’ and miss it when I am away.

For me, it addresses the real issues of today and enables us to be alert to environmental issues so we can leave it in a healthy state for those who come after us — as one article in today’s issue says, ‘‘We still have time (ODT, 29.8.20).

The August 15 issue has excellent material around the issue of plastic and it will not go out with other papers.

It provides us with lively material for discussion and debate over a cup of tea with friends and has something to suit everyone’s taste from poems to recipes, a choice of books, environmental issues we can read, and an educational tool.

Congratulations once again for your vision and initiative in producing the ‘‘Mix’’.

Noreen McGrath

Dunedin

Carbon

JOCK Allison (Letters, 28.8.20) reassures us that an increase of CO2 in the atmosphere is a huge positive, for it leads to an increased greening of the Earth and more food for us all.

He cites Nasa research from 2016 in support of this. Alas, further research funded by Nasa and reported in a 2019 paper in Nature Sustainability suggests it’s not so simple.

It seems that the CO2 absorbed by trees is hugely beneficial, but that the CO2 absorbed by plants and crops does not remain there but is quickly released back into the atmosphere. So, planting trees is what we should do — planting lettuces won’t save the planet.

John Drummond

Glenleith

Nazi petition

READERS — and certainly those signing the petition to have the name of Willi Huber removed from sites on Mount Hutt — should know that the initiator of the petition, Rob Berg, is president of the Zionist Federation of New Zealand.

They should also know that change. org does not require any petition activator on their site to identify who they are. This is surely unacceptable in the era of fake news and social media manipulation.

The obvious question in this case is: why did Rob Berg not wish to have his religious and political connections known?

Philip Temple

Dunedin ......................................