New Zealand Listener - November 5, 2016

NOVEMBER 5 2016 http://www.listener.co.nz 5

for aspiring councillors and

mayors.

Neil Ericksen

(Pirongia)

LETTER OF THE WEEK

Does voting really make any

difference? I recall that at a

time when central government

was advocating amalgama-

tions, the Waimakariri District

Council proposed a rating

system change to one used by

neighbouring councils that

would effectively make amal-

gamation easier.

It invited input from

ratepayers. Three-quarters of

submissions were for the status

quo, but the council chose to

ignore them and changed the

system. Who was it respond-

ing to? Not ratepayers, who

elected it. My vote – and those

of many others – counted

for nothing, so why vote? To

quote from the song, “If that’s

all there is, my friend, let’s

keep on dancing.”

Richard Caddick

(Rangiora)

Voting is not sexy. It provides

no instant gratification as

you might get from a Big Mac

and fries. And the connec-

tion between the crime of not

voting and the punishment of

three years of government you

don’t want is too tenuous.

Certainly, we could make

voting easier with an online

option. Connecting this to

Pokémon Go could be an

interesting extension. But what

if the Electoral and Lotteries

commissions were merged?

Then lucky voters could win

cash prizes that might be dou-

bled if their chosen candidate

was successful.

Peter Dawson

(Tauranga)

GARDEN OF DON

I suppose it was inevitable

that Don Brash would reside

in a place called Eden (Letters,

October 29). Just as inevit-

ably as an Exclusive Brethren

interpretation of history would

condense events to as few

GETTY IMAGES

TO ENTER Send your captions for the photo above to [email protected],

with “Caption Competition No 203” in the subject line. Alternatively, entries

can be posted to “Caption Competition No 203”, NZ Listener, Private Bag 92512,

Wellesley St, Auckland 1141, or submitted through listener.co.nz/win. Entries

must be received by noon on Tuesday, November 8.

THE PRIZE The winner will receive a DVD of Where to Invade Next, in

which Michael Moore plays the role of invader, visiting countries around

the world to see how the US can do better.

Caption Competition {[email protected]}

FINALISTS

Melania: “Since I’ve been married, I’ve learnt

so many new words!” – Hans Zindel, Palmerston

North

Melania: “Yes, my hands are bigger than

Donald’s.” – Neil Brown, Banks Peninsula

Melania: “I understand that you respect

women too, Mr Clinton.” – Hans Zindel,

Palmerston North

WINNING CAPTION

Alan MacGregor – Dunedin

I did not shake

hands with that

woman.

principles as possible.

A strictly monetarist

explanation of the Treaty of

Waitangi directly reinforces

colonial racial stereotypes.

Simon Rolleston

(Bromley, Christchurch)

Shame on Bill Ralston for

equating Don Brash and Hob-

son’s Pledge with the Ku Klux

Klan (Life, October 15). Brash

wants equal rights for all races.

The Ku Klux Klan does not.

Bruce Moon

(Nelson)

Don Brash’s Hobson’s Pledge

group may sound authorita-

tive, but it is simply repeating

what it wishes, or believes,

to be true, regardless of the

evidence. Take his notion of

Governor Hobson’s “pledge”

on the Treaty of Waitangi

signing, for example: “Hobson

said, as each chief left his

signature, ‘We are now one

people.’” The record is clear:

what Hobson said was, “He iwi

tahi tatou”. Although it can be

translated as Brash does, this is

not the most likely way it was

understood in that setting in

1840.

Before the Treaty gathering,

Hobson had asked Henry Wil-

liams (leader of the Anglican

missionaries) for something

appropriate to say to rangatira

Caption

competition

THIS WEEK’S PICTURE