Unprovoked Fringe attendee responds
It is a bit rich to hear the Fringe Festival organisers moaning (ODT 6.6.25) about alleged "anti-social conduct" at Fringe events. The Fringe personnel get all very excited about staging "provocative" productions, yet get all whiney if they do actually provoke anyone.
When Fringe Festival events take what are in fact entirely predictable positions on an entirely predictable range of issues, to do with sex, race, politics, etc, they seem to expect a self-selected audience of fellow-travellers to go along and approve. But they also need some of the broader public who might just be wanting a night out without left-wing cultural politics being shoved down their throats.
Most years I have regarded the Fringe Festival itself as being "anti-social." This year, in fact, I thought they got the balance right, and I attended half a dozen events that were stylish and enjoyable without being obscene or gratuitously offensive.
However, the evidence is coming in all over that the cultural left has for decades overplayed its hand, and is at last getting some pushback. The Fringe line on socio-cultural issues doesn't actually represent a fringe, but a new orthodoxy — at least in the media, academic and public service — which ordinary people are entitled to heckle or protest about, in the same way as fringe-dwellers are entitled to take to the streets about the public issues that upset them.
Water testing
In response to two articles (ODT 5.6.25) regarding the quality of our Otago waterways. To alleviate obscurification of facts gained from monitoring data, at each monitoring point the various data points tested for should be averaged into a single water quality value. This value could then be graphed against the date recorded, perhaps catchment by catchment.
If this information was published in the ODT on regular dates over the years in this era of government deregulation, ratepayers would have a simple indicator of trends over time, of general water quality at a named site: improving or declining.
No to mining
Thanks to Jonathan West for his article questioning the wisdom of Santana's proposed gold mine at Bendigo (Opinion ODT 9.5.25). The last thing we need is another gold mine.
Gold is eminently recyclable — a process that results in no heavy metal pollution and less than 1% of the water and carbon footprint of mined gold. The smart money is going down this route: major jewellery brands such as Pandora have committed to using only recycled gold by this year and Apple has set a goal to use exclusively recycled materials by 2030.
The Central Otago District Council declared a climate emergency in 2019, signifying a commitment to address climate change. The Otago Regional Council says "reducing carbon emissions is a key priority" in their 2024 climate strategy.
These councils will have a role in decision-making on this proposal. How can they allow such a destructive, carbon-intensive, enterprise to operate in an area of outstanding natural landscape to produce a commodity we don't need?
Clarification
I would like a clarification referencing my letter regarding Queenstown power supply. Instead of PowerNet I should have referred to Transpower. My apologies for this error. PowerNet is associated with power distribution and Transpower with power transmission. The line in question is owned by Transpower.
Taieri Island a haven for penguins no longer
In the ODT of June 7 a great photo of Taieri Island appeared. The caption stated: "The island is a nature reserve and is home to many protected seabirds, notably yellow-eyed penguins." Unfortunately, this statement is no longer true.
Like many other previous yellow-eyed penguin habitats along the mainland coast, the penguins have disappeared from this site, as they steadily move towards extinction. They are dying from fishing bycatch, malnutrition and disease. Even when the latter two causes are treated in the chicks, they are lost at sea and not returning to breed.
A. Levy's letter (6.6.25) paints an idyllic picture of Israel, where the people apparently choose life and happiness "despite being surrounded by hostile regimes and terror groups" and where the culture is not one of "militarism, but of moral clarity and joy".
Israel is, as the writer says, ranked among the happiest countries in the world.
I would share the writer’s evident enthusiasm for this picture, if it were not for the fact that Israel has consistently since 1948 increased its area of control in Palestine by force.
In particular, following the Hamas attack on Israel in October 2023 (which I do not condone), Israel has responded ferociously with ongoing warfare on Gaza, killing tens of thousands of Palestinian civilians, wounding countless more, and destroying the homes and livelihoods of much of the remaining population.
In addition, by preventing aid from getting into Gaza, Israel has brought the people perilously close to starvation.
I imagine Palestinians in Gaza would dearly love to have the opportunity that Israelis have to choose life, comfort, and happiness.
At the same time, I struggle to find any moral clarity or joy in Israel’s actions.
Safety and service
"Many of the compliance issues were first enforced after he took ownership, and compliance with new fire safety requirements had not been asked of any previous owners." (ODT 6.5.25)
When it comes to hygiene and safety of direct relevance to me as a customer, how common is this around the commercial premises whose purpose is to serve members of the public?
Was the Colac Bay pub a rarity that consistently slipped off the inspection list?
Address Letters to the Editor to: Otago Daily Times, PO Box 517, 52-56 Lower Stuart St, Dunedin. Email: editor@odt.co.nz
