Otago Daily Times: Opinion

Great hopes for old mine

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 04:55:00 +1300

We understand that a syndicate has acquired the old Bendigo quartz mine, near Cromwell, and immediate steps are to be taken to exploit its possibilities as a bullion producer.

How cross is the superpower?

Gwynne Dyer — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 04:55:00 +1300

The very public row over the Israeli Government's humiliation of US vice-president Joe Biden has led to excited speculation that the US Government might actually defy Israel this time. Don't hold your breath.

Dome-busters upholding gift of universal peace

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 04:55:00 +1300

Kevin Toomey says the acquittal of three men in the Waihopai "spy" satellite case is "a celebration of the privilege of living in a democratic society".

Pussyfooting no substitute for firm leadership

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 04:55:00 +1300

Is the National-led Government losing its way? Dipping toes into political waters to test the heat is no way to govern. We need vision and decision, argues Garth George.

The luxury of peace

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 04:55:00 +1300

The radome effectively destroyed by three men protesting at the Waihopai listening base operated by the Government Communications Security Bureau cost taxpayers $1 million to replace, according to the bureau the day after the attack in 2008.

Reform must trump retribution, says minister

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 04:55:00 +1300

It is satisfactory to find the Minister of Justice steadily bending his energies towards the accomplishment of a comprehensive scheme of prison reform in New Zealand.

Certain road rule changes sensible, but...

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 04:55:00 +1300

John de Bueger has little time for the the recent proposals on possible road-rule changes.

Harbour uncertainty jeopardising industry

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 04:55:00 +1300

Council critic Calvin Oaten sees a disservice to the city in the way the "redevelopment" of the harbour basis has been touted.

Losing their religion?

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 04:55:00 +1300

It is hard to believe the senior ranks of the Roman Catholic Church, increasingly under siege in Fortress Vatican, have any real appreciation of the extent of the calamity facing them.

Successful water-divining for hospital

Wed, 17 Mar 2010 04:55:00 +1300

• The efforts of the water-diviner, whose services were recommended to the Hospital Board by Mr Walter Blackie, in regard to finding a source of water supply adjacent to the Sanatorium for Consumptives at Palmerston, have been attended with decided success.

Time to review Parliament's structure

Wed, 17 Mar 2010 04:55:00 +1300

Alan Collier outlines the case for reintroducing an "upper house" in the New Zealand Parliament.

Mark Twain, rabbits and matters of race

Simon Cunliffe — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 04:55:00 +1300

It was Mark Twain who said of Dunedin's Scots settlers, "They stopped here on their way from home to heaven - thinking they had arrived."

Nigerian paralysis deepens

Gwynne Dyer — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 04:55:00 +1300

There are notable differences between Woodrow Wilson, the 28th president of the United States, and Umaru Yar'Adua, the current president (more or less) of Nigeria.

Suffer the children

Wed, 17 Mar 2010 04:55:00 +1300

It may come as a surprise to many adults that our police last year apprehended a 5-year-old and two 6-year-old boys for "sexual assault" - among a dozen children aged under 9 who committed "sexual offences".

Chinese minority impress

Tue, 16 Mar 2010 04:55:00 +1300

WELLINGTON: With the advent of the Consul for China and his staff many Wellington people have come to change their ideas very considerably about the Chinese as a nation and their ability as a people.

Birthdays have become a yearly ritual

Lisa Scott — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 04:55:00 +1300

Today is my birthday. Please, no presents (obviously I don't mean that: the ODT will be happy to provide a forwarding address - for large items a courier charge may apply).

Chistchurch usurper leaves Yorick waiting in the wings

Roy Colbert — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 04:55:00 +1300

The red letterbox went down last weekend.

Timely rental tax change may help not harm

Peter Lyons — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 04:55:00 +1300

Will rents go up if the Government moves against property investors? Unlikely, suggests Peter Lyons, who nonetheless counsels against sudden or radical change.

Investor migrants

Tue, 16 Mar 2010 04:55:00 +1300

Immigration is one of those vexed issues about which most people have an opinion but few know how to fix.

Standards debate needs revision

Mon, 15 Mar 2010 04:55:00 +1300

The battle lines have been drawn and hostilities commenced. But, for the sake of children and parents, the warring over the introduction - however flawed - of National Standards should stop, says John Langley.

Catching up with Australia a debatable goal

Mon, 15 Mar 2010 04:55:00 +1300

John de Bueger can't quite understand the obsession with catching up with Australia.

Monday's poem

Mon, 15 Mar 2010 04:55:00 +1300

Leaving Home

By Heather Bauchop

The sparrow folded
the air into a corner.
I wondered, lying on the grass
while digging potatoes out
of the lettuces, how
its parents taught it to do this:

Firemen find themselves in hot water

Sat, 13 Mar 2010 04:55:00 +1300

Five firemen from the Buteshire made themselves boisterous at Port Chalmers on Friday, with the result that they were brought before two justices (Messrs D. A. De Maus and J. Watson, jun.) on Saturday to answer for their misdeeds.

Public backlash kept to a minimum

John Armstrong — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 04:55:00 +1300

Whatever you think of Anne Tolley and her trenchant advocacy of national standards, the Minister of Education deserves some credit for having the good grace and fortitude to front this week's announcement of the restructuring of her ministry.

Aiming for excellence

Sat, 13 Mar 2010 04:55:00 +1300

Recent Cabinet decisions relating to funding for higher education and research suggest the Government is serious about its objective of raising knowledge standards and building a solid base for public and economic benefits from progress in science.

Flaws of secular dogma

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 05:55:00 +1300

Celebrated atheist Richard Dawkins has been in Wellington. Ian Harris went to hear him speak.

Crazy Canterbury road-trip

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 04:55:00 +1300

A hair-raising trip from the Hermitage to Christchurch was experienced recently by an Australian visitor, Mr Fritz Kurkshalss. The following are some extracts from his account.

Twitter no timewaster when other line of communication fail

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 04:55:00 +1300

Too busy for Facebook, let alone Twitter? Tracey Barnett has second thoughts.

School choice report can make a difference

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 04:55:00 +1300

One early morning, an elderly man walking on a beach came across a mass of starfish, stretching as far as the eye could see, stranded on the beach by the tide. Nearby, a small child was running back and forth from the beach, picking up starfish and throwing them into the water.

Regional rates

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 04:55:00 +1300

A rare piece of good news emerged for beleaguered ratepayers this week: the Otago Regional Council draft annual plan shows no increase in the general rate.

Modernizing Stewart Island

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 04:57:00 +1300

After remaining dormant for some years the west coast of Stewart Island is again waking into activity.

Otago should cash in on clean-burning wood

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 04:57:00 +1300

Shaun Bowler extols the virtues of "wood energy".

Women to the fore

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 04:57:00 +1300

New Zealand has much to be proud of in its gender equality record, and with the marking on Monday this week of International Women's Day, there is cause for celebration.

Perfect day for a picnic

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 04:55:00 +1300

A Reunion, under the auspices of the Waikouaiti Early Settlers' Association, was held at Waikouaiti yesterday in celebration of the seventieth anniversary of the foundation of the settlement.

A rush of blood to the head?

Simon Cunliffe — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 04:55:00 +1300

David Garrett has been thinking.

Unkind people might suggest this is an oxymoron

Phoenix opening a new vista for sports fans

Brent Edwards — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 04:55:00 +1300

I never thought I'd take more than a casual interest in the progress of a New Zealand club football team.

Exposure to the 'woman's division' a serious topic

Elspeth McLean — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 04:55:00 +1300

Too late, I realised they were not taking my concerns seriously.

The fact they kept pulling down the necks of their T-shirts, exposing their bras and shrieking "You've been cleavaged!" should have been a clue.

Stolen medal saga's difficult unwinding

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 04:55:00 +1300

Some time after Eva Helen Dickson's death, her son, Alistair, brought the George Medal, awarded to her for bravery in the Aramoana tragedy, into the Port Chalmers Museum and signed a long-term loan agreement.

Within our means

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 04:55:00 +1300

Is the plan to be meaningful or is it just a political gesture? Not since the days of Sir Robert Muldoon's state department cost-cutting threats in the late 1970s has the public service faced the challenge proposed by the Key Government.

'Noble-hearted' women run for board

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 04:55:00 +1300

The announcement that there will be at least two women candidates for election as members of the Hospital and Charitable Aid Board for the Otago district will, we believe, be regarded with a considerable amount of satisfaction

Borrowing, lending, laughing all the way to the bank

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 04:55:00 +1300

How to get rich quickly in New Zealand. A primer, by Peter Lyons.

Confusion exists over care cuts

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 04:55:00 +1300

The debate over reducing some aspects of care for the elderly is in danger of becoming a single-issue controversy. Richard Thomson argues that it must be considered in the full context of the ODHB's service provision.

Phoenix burns

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 04:55:00 +1300

How many useful and effective programmes seeded with taxpayer funds are going to be axed, now the effects of the Government's directive to the heads of state departments to save money are emerging?

Piecework pay rejected

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 04:55:00 +1300

By being paid at the rate of 9d per yard, temporary labourers in the employ of the Taieri Drainage Board were able to make 9s per day.

Lessons from the swine flu pandemic

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 04:55:00 +1300

What has the swine flu pandemic taught us, asks Wendy Orent, writing for the Los Angeles Times.

Monday's poem

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 04:55:00 +1300

On the shore, listening (At Tautuku)

By David Karena-Holmes

Wanaka's sports hub

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 04:55:00 +1300

Big decisions are almost always difficult for communities.

Plans for irrigation

Sat, 06 Mar 2010 04:57:00 +1300

Some particulars of the Government's proposals in connection with the irrigation of Central Otago and a small portion of North Otago are given in the Wellington Post.

Yes, it's even hotter than a Dunedin summer

Sat, 06 Mar 2010 04:57:00 +1300

"Hot" is not a word one would usually associate with a Dunedin summer.

A festival's worth

Sat, 06 Mar 2010 04:57:00 +1300

The people of Alexandra certainly need to make their views heard at Wednesday's public meeting to discuss the future of the blossom festival, since the festival is inextricably linked with them, their town, the industry with which the area is associated in the minds of most New Zealanders, and the celebration of the arrival of spring in Central Otago.