4 LISTENER JUNE 8 2019

LETTERS TERROR MOT

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role model for such action for
the rest of the world, as they
are already being in relation
to gun control and curbing
internet hate. And they should
start the process now.
Kerr Inkson
(Birkenhead, Auckland)
LETTER OF THE WEEK
CONFRONTING HISTORY
I agree that we “need an
honest and open reckoning
with our past” (“Owning our
past” May 25), which means
acknowledging the good and
the bad. If we are to do this,
then we need to take a broader
view than, “It began with a
single musket shot ... in 1842
... and ended in 1873.” War-
fare had been going on in this
country for much longer, with
far more casualties than the
estimated 2250 Māori detailed
in Vincent O’Malley’s The New
Zealand Wars.
In the Musket Wars alone,
which occurred mainly
between 1818 and 1840, bat-
tles between Māori resulted
in about 20,000 deaths and
considerable redrawing of
tribal boundaries in the North
and South islands as well as
the Chatham Islands.
Michael King’s History of
New Zealand refers to “an
incident” at Ōnawe in Akaroa
Harbour, in 1832. My recollec-
tion from visiting there several
years ago was the chilling
EYES RIGHT
We are seeing rising support
worldwide for conservative
right-wing values (Life, June
1). “Working-class” labour and
social democratic parties have
moved leftwards and are losing
their traditional support. The
Australian election highlights
the trend.
In this country, National,
too, has drifted left of centre
socially and is alienating its
natural support base. The New
Conservative Party, which is
the Conservatives with a new
name, is a potential coalition
partner for National that incor-
porates many Christian values.
There is no need to split the
conservative vote with a new
Christian party.
David Gibbs
(Beach Haven, Auckland)
FLUSHING OUT EXTREMISTS
David Hall’s article about
violent radicalisation and
international counterterrorism
was excellent (“Flushing out
extremists”, May 25).
But I must protest at anti-
1080 campaigners being
highlighted in the article and
thus, by implication, popped
into the same box as hate-
filled extremists.
Please don’t compare those
of us who question 1080 use to
right-wing extremists, religious
fundamentalists and fanatics,
and other unsavoury charac-
ters lurking around the world
(wide web.)
Mostly we are sane, compas-
sionate, thoughtful people
of an environmental bent
who think it is time to find
some more organic, long-term
strategies to support the spe-
cies with whom we share this
planet.
Lynette Vigrass
(Lower Hutt)
CHANGING POLITICAL CLIMATE
The climate-change catastro-
phe can only be averted by
political action in all coun-
tries that is not only strong,
but consistent over at least
the next several decades. In
democracies, the only way to
achieve such consistency is
by long-term accords between
political parties.
Jane Clifton (Politics, May
25) argues that in New Zealand
there is unlikely to be such
an agreement because each
of the major parties perceives
the risk of short-term electoral
disadvantage and appears to
put staying in government in
the short term ahead of benefit
for the people in the long
term. We are seeing British
politics reduced to impotence
by similar party-before-country
responses to another long-term
issue, namely Brexit. And since
Clifton wrote her column, the
climate crisis has been kicked
down the road by the same
electoral forces in Australia – a
country with more to lose
than most by continuing to
postpone climate action.
New Zealand’s political lead-
ers should seek to depoliticise
the climate-change issue by
starting to talk to each other
with a view to reaching a con-
sensus on long-term climate
policy, and maintaining and
developing it in the long term
regardless of who is in govern-
ment. They should seek to be a
Keeping suicide
conversation going
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It was heartening to note the
focus on suicide (“Hope after
grief”, May 25). This is as much
a health issue as any other
covered by the Listener.
Katie Bradford’s story, in
particular, resonated with me.
Her brother Danny, 19, was
supposedly on suicide watch in
Whangārei Hospital, yet made
his way to Auckland to take his
life. This was in 1993.
Fourteen years earlier, my
21-year-old sister was sup-
posedly on suicide watch
in Wellington Hospital, yet
managed to end her life in the
hospital grounds.
Family are left not only
with the grief and guilt that
comes with the territory but
also with the knowledge that
the mental-health system has
badly let them down.
I applaud the bravery of
Jane Stevens, mother of Nicky,
another young person who
outwitted trained staff, this
time at Waikato Hospital’s
Henry Rongomau Bennett
Centre. She has fought since
2015 for recognition of the cor-
oner’s finding that the Waikato
District Health Board’s care of
her son was horrendous.
It may have been 40 years
since my sister’s death, but little
appears to have changed. Let’s
keep this conversation going.
Robyn Richards
(Picton)
The winner receives a
copy of Homemade,
a collection of Kiwi
Eleanor Ozich’s
recipes for everything
from mayonnaise
to lip balm.
Letter of the week