New Zealand Listener – June 01, 2019

6 LISTENER JUNE 1 2019

LETTERS

JO

E^ D

AT

OR

/T

HE

C
AR

TO

O
N^

BA

NK

“Why are women’s bodies

more controlled than guns?

Which ones are the actual

threat to life?” – comedian

Aparna Nancherla

“The whole point of this law

is to establish that a fetus is

a person with rights. That

is a bold interpretation of

human development. But,

on the plus side, apparently,

pregnant women get to

vote twice now.” – The Late

Show’s Stephen Colbert

“Game of Thrones is basically

a show about how you can’t

trust nobody with blonde

hair.” – comedian Roy Wood Jr

“It’s unclear how long this

trade war may last. Just to

be on the safe side, Trump

has already got a note from

his doctor so he can get out

of it.” – British comedian James

Corden

“The whole Green New

Deal is just 14 pages long.

That is seven pages shorter

than the menu for the

Cheesecake Factory.” – Last

Week Tonight’s John Oliver

“Pluto had it coming.” – Neil

deGrasse Tyson on the body no

longer being called a planet

“At what point does not

impeaching the president

become treason?” – US writer

John Hartzell

“The Iranian people

survived Alexander the

Great. I’m pretty sure they

will outlast Donald Trump.”

• publicist Neale Jones

“To stop paying tariffs, all

you have to do is stop using

products made in China.

That’s going to be awkward

for Trump. He’s going to

have to stop using his own

ties, and his hair.” – Stephen

Colbert

Quips&

Quotes

for implementing, overseeing

and evaluating educational

delivery.

Jim McTamney

(Mt Maunganui)

OWNING UP TO HISTORY

À propos of Hone Heke chop-

ping down the flagpole at

Kororāreka/Russell (“Owning

our history”, May 25), there is

an interesting letter from him

in the Grey Manuscript Collec-

tion at the Auckland Library.

He writes to the Governor

(my translation): “I chose to

cut down the flagpole firstly

because it was mine and sec-

ondly because it had neither

breath nor bone, could shed

no blood and feel no pain.”

It certainly was his. After the

members of the Wakaminenga

received the flag of the United

Tribes of New Zealand in, I

think, 1835, he went up Maiki

Hill, which was on his ances-

tral land, and built a flagpole.

After signing Te Tiriti at

Waitangi, he was happy to add

the flag of his treaty partner,

the Union Jack.

Subsequently, as he saw Te

Tiriti being broken, he entered

into what he intended as a

peaceful but powerful protest.

Mitzi Nairn

(Mt Roskill, Auckland)

TERRORTRIAL COVERAGE

One of my pleasures is to read

the excellent articles in the

Listener, and none more so

than Joanne Black’s columns,

with which I usually agree. Her

opinion on the likely press cov-

erage of the upcoming trial of

the alleged Christchurch shoot-

ings gunman got me thinking

(Back to Black, May 18).

My attitude to press cover-

age had been that anything

that might support white

supremacy or terrorist views

should be suppressed. Black’s

column supports the pub-

lishing of these views in the

cause of free speech and I’ve

changed my mind.

... Celia Wade-Brown more

recently floated getting cars

out of Lambton Quay to help

buses get through, but it never

happened.

Dominion Post, 14/5/

Want your cauliflower grower

fresh? We can help with that.

Ad, Listener, 11/5/

As part of the take-over deal,

the council offered Rugby

Southland free office rental at a

rate of $35,000 per year to help

pay off that debt.

Southland Times, 25/3/

Giving birth to my daughter

was like a right of passage into

womanhood.

Sunday, 4/11/

Men filmed using Riccarton

mall toilet

Star, 13/2/

A southerly front rushes

across Southland, draping the

Hokonui Hills in a fresh veil of

snow. Close on its heels, cold,

heavy showers, boisterous

as lambs, cavort across the

landscape.

NZ Geographic, Sept-Oct 2018

Life in New Zealand

LIFE IN NEW ZEALAND: Entries must describe New Zealand events. The first sender

of those accepted will receive a $5 Booksellers voucher. Enclose name, address and

source/date; TV and radio entries must also include specific time. No correspondence

will be entered into. SEND TO: Life in NZ, Listener, Private Bag 92512, Wellesley St,

Auckland 1141. Picture files only can be emailed to: [email protected]

identified group, mainly from

low-income areas and low-

decile schools, do not have the

skills to play a full, active, con-

tributing role in society. The

curriculum, designed by the

Ministry of Education in 2007,

fails to develop them into the

“confident, connected, actively

involved and lifelong learners”

that it sets out to do.

The starting point for

change is at the overstaffed

ministry, which, to meet the

demands of politicians, has

imposed expensive initiatives

that have frequently proven

unsuccessful on an overloaded

system. The establishment of

National Standards, which cost

millions to implement and

have been discontinued, is a

case in point.

The way forward is to find

the money for reform by

restructuring the ministry, and

eliminating political influence.

An educational author-

ity should be established of

proven national and interna-

tional leaders in the field, and

it should be made responsible

“I’m sorry Jeannie; your answer was correct;

but Kevin shouted his incorrect answer

over yours; so he gets the points.”