Bring it on, I’m ready for insults and abuse
It is very sad to see in the pages of the ODT, a profound lack of understanding of the effects of inherited deprivation and trauma.
We have two letters applauding the idea that worse health outcomes for Māori and Pasifika are their own fault.
There are two problems indicated by this:
1. Ignorance of the alien nature of the white, Western medico-industrial complex to indigenous people. The authoritarian "Do what I say, or you're a moron" attitude of older white health professionals, simply creates health outcasts and reinforces alienation.
Preventable deaths in 2016 in this district were double for Māori and Pasifika than for Pākehā. It was only a bit better in 2020. That is a failure of the health system and the cause needs to be addressed by intelligent people.
2. I expected to see outrage on the pages of the ODT letters. But instead there is support. So who buys the ODT? Who works at the ODT?
Are you all old white guys who think this was terra nullius?
Now comes the abuse. I'm ready.
Lyndell Kelly is a former member of the Southern District Health Board. — Editor.
Your number one fan
Noel Kennedy (letters 26.7.23), despite identifying himself as only "occasionally" reading Civis’ Passing Notes has the temerity to suggest Civis be put out to pasture. He bases his opprobrium largely indirectly, on criticisms from other readers, but also contends that policies of Savage, Roosevelt and Attlee, regarded by many as "applied Christianity" have now become irrelevant.
I totally disagree with his denigration of Passing Notes and it will continue to be the first item I read in every Saturday’s ODT. Civis — please continue to provide your compassionate, considered, well-researched point of view.
Flood concern shared
I agree with comments made by Ashburton Mayor Neil Brown and my Environment Canterbury colleague Cr Ian Mackenzie in an article in the Otago Daily Times (26.7.23) .
We were lucky that the impacts of last week’s rainfall were not worse. Flooding is the number one natural disaster in New Zealand and, with the impacts of climate change becoming more significant and frequent, we are at real risk here in Canterbury.
Flood protection is one of our top priorities at Environment Canterbury and I am proud of the work we are doing, and investment we've made to protect and prepare property, infrastructure, and our river systems.
I recognise the co-investment we've received from government in the past, however we need an ongoing commitment to continue to future-proof the region.
We missed out on funding in the 2023 Budget, despite making a joint submission alongside other regional councils for co-investment in flood protection projects.
Since then, I have been working with my regional council colleagues from across the country to raise our concerns in Wellington and to try to figure out a way to fund this work that is desperately needed.
I don’t have a solution yet, but I am as frustrated as many of you are and will continue to advocate for our community on this issue.
I am looking forward to hearing how candidates and parties for the upcoming election are thinking about flood resilience for Canterbury.
Rivers, wellbeing and local communities
We should all be embarrassed that an influential retired Central Otago farmer, former ORC councillor and MP should complain in a feature ODT article that:
- the health and wellbeing of a river should take precedence over the wellbeing of the local community;
- the health and wellbeing of a river represents merely aesthetic values;
- that the government has politicised freshwater by mandating that water flow in New Zealand must give priority to the health and wellbeing of the river.
The suggestion that water use in the Manuherikia River can be resolved by drawing battle lines between self-interested users was surely a last-ditch idea.
Users and regulators of the river resource first need to find agreement which sets aside self-interest.
That common starting point is recognition of the interdependence of the living and non-living components of an environment before human occupancy pressures due to self-interest are brought to bear.
Of course that never happens, so we are almost always forced to apply this longstanding basic ecological knowledge in retrospect, acknowledging that different environments have different land use capabilities.
When all user groups meet with such an appreciation of the resource, they can then map out: how much water from the river in this dry environment might be stored over winter and used over summer; how much waste water might be returned to the river; and what kinds of land use might be supported by the river, soil, and topography. Indicator organisms and baseline nutrient levels are the tools for this job. The water resource can then be shared.
When self-interest fails to listen, the environment and our welfare will suffer.
Address Letters to the Editor to: Otago Daily Times, PO Box 517, 52-56 Lower Stuart St, Dunedin. Email: editor@odt.co.nz
