Angry dads victims of gender bias

A group of men have been let down by the system and have lawfully protested to make their plight known as no one seems to be listening. Your article and Andrew Little have put them down and shown them to be intimidating trouble makers. If these were women would they have been tagged as intimidating and treated in this manner? If women were let down by the system and wanted to see their children, how would that be seen and reported? This group of men have been discriminated on by their gender, they are parents who want to see their children, they should have equal rights.

Mark Penketh, New Plymouth. Further to John Clements’ letter commenting in New Zealand and Australia’s medals, I calculated the “points per capita” of some countries allocating three points for a gold, two for a silver, and one for a bronze, then divided the total by millions of population. New Zealand beat Australia — 19 points per million versus nearly 17 for Australia. England, Canada, and South Africa were well behind. Interestingly, Wales beat New Zealand, with 21.5 points per million.

Frank Coulter, Pauanui Beach. Your editorial about the serious risks drones pose to busy airspace made some very good points. However, I need to clarify that under Civil Aviation Rules drones are already banned from areas where there is a lot of air traffic, such as near major airports, unless approval is obtained from Air Traffic Control.

The increasing popularity of drones coupled with a lack of awareness of the rules for flying them safely, is a serious concern. The Civil Aviation Authority is working with Customs at our international airports to try to help make tourists aware of the rules around drones. We’re giving retailers brochures and stickers for customers and we’ll soon be kicking off a comprehensive digital campaign.

We’re also urging people who see drones being flown dangerously to be vigilant. Call police so they have a good chance of finding the operator and report the incident to CAA by emailing isi@caa.govt.nz or calling 0508 472 338. View the rules at www.caa.govt.nz/rpas/ Steve Moore, deputy director,

General Aviation. now have no storm damage to fix and nobody needs housing, would it be a good time to have a look at how we manage our infrastructure? Trim the odd tree like we used to? Upgrade a bit here and there maybe instead of running down assets so that they have to be demolished then rebuilt or take days to restore basic power supply services to? Just saying.

Rob Smid, Pt Chevalier. I grew up in the 1950s and 60s near Port Waikato. I did not attend the local primary school at Te Kohanga because it was “99 per cent Mowrees”. Instead, I was bussed to Onewhero Primary to be with the children of European farmers. Criticisms of local Maori were rife in the area.

Their farms were invariably described as “disgraceful” and many felt they should be in European ownership so that they could “be made more productive”. There was widespread resentment that Maori were able to get State Advances loans to build new houses. Local marae were called “pas” and “tangees” were the butt of many jokes. I heard “work shy Mowrees would use any excuse to take a week off work” and the “endless mourning for King Koroki in 1966 was a travesty”.

How much has really changed in the last 60 years? Are Pakeha New Zealanders any more literate about the Treaty and the downstream effects of colonisation? Is there any more respect for the Maori language and cultural differences or is Taika Waititi right on the money?

V. Muir, Parnell. I was shocked beyond belief to see that Mark Middleton has been issued with a deportation order. As I see it he has no case to answer as pre-1974 anyone with a UK passport could come here and live without being classed as an overstayer. I know because I arrived from the UK in 1974 and was one of the last people to be allowed in under these conditions.

So why suddenly pick on Middleton? Could it be the “do gooders” who support Paul Dally are making trouble for Mark as every year he opposes bail for Dally.

S. Bentley, Pakuranga.