Grand designs
I am fascinated by the eagerness of so many people, bewitched by the bright colours, simple drawings and media hype of the "flag design list", who are prepared to commit to allowing tens of millions of dollars to be spent on this futile exercise. I am also cringingly embarrassed by the childish posturing of our politicians as they debate the subject.
May I suggest another list, perhaps not as colourful, and another debate which may be better qualified to benefit from such spending. Start with hospital funding, suicide prevention, child abuse, child poverty, deaths in damp houses, the road toll, domestic violence, the homeless, cancer research, housing, schooling, crime, drug abuse, the elderly – the list goes on, and on, and on – feel free to add to it.
So is the money spent on the flag worth one abused child, one suicide, one victim of sexual violence, one infant death in a cold damp house? You would rather have a new flag? Really? OK, if you are sure, go for it.
A wise proverb, which I am sure that no one will need to have translated: He aha te mea nui o te ao? He Tangata, he Tangata, he Tangata, and of course ko te Tamariki. Quality of life over a piece of cloth with a design on it? No contest!
It appears that we are no longer receiving financial and share market reports in your paper. Why?
When, when we did receive those reports, they were in such fine print that it was very difficult to read, particularly the weekend summary. We no longer see routine reports on local body meetings unless there is something controversial – apart from those published by the district council, hardly impartial.
I don’t recall seeing any reports on local livestock sales for some time. Have they disappeared as well?
The only reason I can see for continuing to subscribe to your paper is to keep up with the Family Notices and hopefully not read my own name.
When our subscription, which has been continuous for at least 50 years, expires I see little reason to renew it. Mr Ramsey is quite correct that some items no longer appear in print.
Like any business we continue to review content and coverage on a continual basis.
At present we are looking to source a new provider for our sharemarket table and reporters still regularly attend council meetings, and will continue to do so – Natasha Holland, Editor the benighted causes a cold shiver down my spine.
During Wednesday’s question time in Parliament, the Prime Minister John Key, in a celebratory mood for himself and his party’s prowess, stated that 47 per cent of New Zealand like him and the job he and the National Party are doing.
That’s all fine, except that would mean that 53 per cent don’t.
So nothing to celebrate there.
Anumber of Southlanders attending our drop-in sessions in recent weeks have been telling us they want to know more about the region’s water quality.
They also want to know what the water quality issues are where they live so they can give the council more informed feedback about practical steps they could take to make a positive difference.
Providing explanations about Southland’s water quality isn’t easy because it varies greatly.
In some places water quality is good, pristine even, but in others it is not good and continuing to decline.
We know this based on scientific monitoring and analysis.
So we’ve created a booklet with maps of the region that outlines the variations in water quality based on the extensive scientific monitoring of surface and groundwater across Southland. It is available on our website www.es.govt.nz or from the Environment Southland office.
There is also work to do in our smaller townships and urban centres.
The city and district councils have been discussing wastewater and storm water network issues with their communities.
Some need to be significantly upgraded and all have to be well maintained to work effectively, which is an important aspect for meeting the government’s requirements for freshwater management.
Managing water quality near Invercargill, for example, has additional challenges as both the sewage treatment plant and a former landfill sit alongside the New River Estuary.
And what some of us are only coming to realise is that our estuaries are really important for ecological, economic, cultural and lifestyle reasons.
Healthy estuaries host a wide range of abundant biodiversity with various habitats such as reefs, mud flats and sea grass beds; and animal life from birds to shellfish, fish and invertebrates (insects).
When an estuary is healthy it can act as a filter for contaminants that have come off the land and been washed downstream.
They are also the nurseries to many species such as the blue cod fishery we prize for its economic and recreational values.
They also provide mahinga kai, of particular interest for Maori, and easy access to leisure activities like fishing, walking, kayaking and swimming.
We know from our scientific monitoring that some of our estuaries are in declining health due to high loads of contaminants.
The science to better understand how our estuary systems work and process contaminants is currently being completed and this will be available soon.
Our drop-in sessions are being held across Southland to discuss