AUGUST 24 2019 LISTENER 7
WOULD FOR MORE TREES
A lamb is on pasture a few
months before it is processed.
A radiata pine grows for about
28 years before it is harvested.
Yet the Listener disparages
the tree as “short-lived” in
favour of the “productive”
meat-producing animal as its
prescription for New Zealand
farmland (“Out on a limb?”,
July 6; Editorial, August 10).
In fact, average forest returns
per hectare per year are a
number of times higher than
sheep and beef farm income.
Realising this, people are
planting. Forty percent of
forest land is owned by iwi.
Thirty percent of the current
harvest is from farmland. The
NZ Super Fund is a big investor
in our largest forest.
Only two entities have been
given Overseas Investment
Office approval to plant trees
since the ministerial directive
in 2017. They represent less
than 10% of the total planting
this winter on the East Coast of
the North Island.
As for fighting climate
change, a rotation of pine
trees, average age 20 years,
will indefinitely store twice
the volume of carbon that any
indigenous trees will take 50
years to get to.
Don Carson
(Forest Owners Association)
IHUMĀTAO IMBROGLIO
Like Bill Ralston (Life, August
10), I have witnessed a Māori
land occupation. Mine was in
1995 at Whānganui’s Moutoa
Gardens. There, having
witnessed formerly law-
abiding acquaintances become
“law-breaking occupiers”, silly
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negotiated from Fletchers a
much better deal than that
obtainable through Treaty of
Waitangi settlements. And
unquestionably, the Crown
could repurchase all the
contested farmland for a park
reserve without creating a
precedent, as it did in 1993 in
returning Allan Titford’s pri-
vately owned Maunganui Bluff
farm to Te Rōroa.
So, my hope for a peaceful
end is that, before events turn
sour, King Tūheitia’s mana will
be enough to persuade SOUL
to accept their kaumātua’s
deal as the best obtainable and
quietly leave.
Gary Clover
(Nelson)I rarely quibble with Bill
Ralston but his jump onto
the populist bandwagon over
Ihumātao needs clarification.
In 1863, the Māori king of
the day decided he no longer
wanted to owe allegiance
to the Crown. He followedhis father on that stance, as
he had earlier declared that
“Waikato” had not signed
the Treaty. In so saying, he
conveniently forgot that 40 or
more Waikato-aligned chiefs
had in fact signed the Treaty at
both the Waikato Heads and
Kawhia.
The Government believed
Auckland was at risk, so built
the Great South Rd to Pokeno
so force could be met with
force if needs be. That road
was virtually indefensible, so
a series of redoubts were built
from Miranda to Pokeno to
prevent infiltration via the
Hunua Ranges. The Govern-
ment also demanded that
Waikato Māori living north of
the Mangatawhiri River either
pledge allegiance to the Crown
or leave the district.
Once vacated, the land at
Ihumātao was sold. It was cer-
tainly forfeited but it was not
stolen or confiscated.
Murray Reid
(Cambridge)police provocations and the
fury of Whānganui’s Pākehā
citizenry, I felt such commu-
nity upheaval should never be
allowed to happen again. Yet,
in the tradition of Parihaka, the
Raglan Golf Club and Bastion
Point, we’re today witnessing
Save Our Unique Landscape
(SOUL) campaigners’ Ihumātao
occupation.
Unquestionably, the Crown
in 1863 shamelessly manoeu-
vred Ihumātao’s inhabitants
into “rebellion”. Unquestion-
ably, the 1993 Te Ture Whenua
Māori Act allows governments
to return to Māori private land
of “historical and spiritual
significance”. Unquestionably,
Te Kāwerau ā Maki kaumātua- Which of these words was
deemed too distasteful to
screen in a 1952 episode of I
Love Lucy?
❑Passion
❑Pyjamas
❑Pregnant
❑Pleasure - Which of these characters
does NOT feature in the
legends of King Arthur?
❑Uther Pendragon
❑Herne the Hunter
❑Morgan le Fay
❑The Green Knight - Which film genre was
popularised by the studios
Shaw Brothers and Golden
Harvest?
❑Western
❑Kung Fu
❑Horror
❑Fantasy
4. True or false? It’s possible to
shoot arrows around corners
and obstacles.
❑True
❑False
5. Which of these nuts or seeds
is indigenous to Australia?
❑Almond
❑Macadamia
❑Walnut
❑Cashew
6. True or false? Humans and
Neanderthals are thought to
have interbred.
❑True
❑False
7. Which city’s construction
was made possible by
restarting a series of ancient,
abandoned canals?
❑Phoenix
❑Athens
❑Mexico City
❑Jericho- Which rock group originally
recorded the 1985 song We
Built This City?
❑Van Halen
❑Aerosmith
❑Starship
❑Journey - KLM is the flag carrier airline
of which country?
❑Belgium
❑Germany
❑Sweden
❑Netherlands - Which of these elements
occurs naturally on Earth?
❑Plutonium
❑Berkelium
❑Einsteinium
❑Nobelium
Answers on
page 62.
(^10) by GABE ATKINSON
Quick
Questions