Is oil and gas industry eyeing South Port?

Your editorial "Not all sunsets are pretty’ (April 4) describes the demise of the fossil fuel industry.

Our government sees the demise as "a nuclear-free moment". The opposition see it as "self harm".

We will all be affected by its demise.

In ’Back in the CBD’ (May 2) a correspondent to the Times wrote: "The reason why the muted whimper of public reaction to the SMAG closure has fizzled out ’ is because there are "no terriers digging down through the obfuscation to find the actual root cause". (Congratulations to Nobby Clark for his letter "SMAG Closure" (May 25) in doing the terrier work.)

Transparency without obfuscation is needed in all information provided for public consultation and reaction.

There have been various Southland Times letters on transparency in recent times.

July 22 2017: Environment Southland transparency queried re oil spill and ethical investing. August 3 2017: Environment Southland and responsible investing. September 9 2017: Production in fossil fuel industry, (Exploration comes before production).

At an Australian oil and gas conference recently, NZOG launched its marketing booklet Great Southern Drilling Opportunities - Strategies for unlocking value in the Canterbury and Great South Basins (GSB) in New Zealand.

It mentions "an excellent port infrastructure - 200km from the GSB prospect." Is this South Port?

Did New Zealand Oil and Gas consult ES, which owns 60 per cent of South Port?

Would it be responsible/ethical to allow it to be used by the O&G industry for exploration in the Great South Basin?

"Not all sunsets are pretty" but after a sunset there is always a sunrise.

D BARTLEY

South Port general manager Geoff Finnerty replied:

South Port is positioned well to support any exploration activities in the Great South Basin.

Any future exploration support opportunities will be assessed on a case by case basis and if it makes commercial sense for SouthPort to be involved it is likely a proposal to provide support would be made to the exploration party.

Environment Southland director of corporate services Neil Selman replied:

Environment Southland has not had any contact from NZ Oil and Gas in respect of exploring the Great South Basin.

Although we are the majority shareholder in South Port, it is a publicly listed company and therefore we do not get involved in operational matters. ABORTION

The #metoo movement spread Anyone wishing to make a complaint to the New Zealand Media Council should first put it in writing to the editor. If not satisfied with the reply, complainants should then write to The Secretary, New Zealand Media Council, Box 10 879, Wellington, including a clipping of the disputed article and copies of the correspondence. Letters are welcome, but writers must provide their name, address and telephone number as a sign of good faith – pseudonyms are not acceptable. So that as many letters as possible can be published, each letter should be no more than 250 words. We reserve the right to edit letters for length, sense, legal reasons and on grounds of good taste. Please send your letters to: The Editor, The Southland Times, PO Box 805, Invercargill; fax on (03) 214 9905; or email to letters@stl.co.nz world wide when actresses began to talk about their sexual harassment and assault experiences.

The world then got a picture of the prevalence of this bad behaviour and now thankfully the likes Harvey Weinstein are being held to account for their actions.

One may wonder why the women kept quiet for so long?

Like so many victims, did they think people wouldn’t believe their story?

Or perhaps they were pressured to think their careers would not progress if they exposed the bad behaviour when it occurred?

Some people think the proposal to decriminalise abortion is a victory for women. But is it?

Abortion is another example of abuse to humankind. One where the victim is powerless to cry out "stop, let me live, I have a future too".

Scientists say that around three weeks after conception the heart of a fetus starts beating. In week eight of pregnancy the beating heart may be heard in an ultrasound scan.

I would like to think women contemplating abortion paused to think, not just about their own future but about the future life of their baby.

If we listen carefully enough can we hear the baby cry out "me too".

FIONA MEYER