New Zealand Listener - 09.07,2019

6 LISTENER SEPTEMBER 7 2019

LETTERS

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“Every generation,

civilisation is invaded by

barbarians – we call them

‘children’.” – Hannah Arendt, in

the Telegraph

“Your mind is a bit like a

parachute: if it isn’t open, it

doesn’t work.” – Buzz Aldrin

in the Week

“If you can only be tall

because somebody is on

their knees, then you have

a serious problem.” – Toni

Morrison quoted in Mother Jones

“I tell my friends I’m here

for them 24/7 because it

sounds better than saying

I’m only here for them on

July 24.” – comedian British

Andy Field

“I keep randomly shouting

out ‘broccoli’ and

‘cauliflower’. I think I might

have florets.” – Olaf Falafel,

Edinburgh Fringe festival funniest-

joke winner

“To be or not to be a horse

rider. That is equestrian.”

– comedian Mark Simmons

“I’ve got an Eton-themed

advent calendar, where all

the doors are opened for

me by my Dad’s contacts.” –

English comedian Ivo Graham

“Auckland’s waterfront

venue the Cloud lost part of

its roof and they’ve patched

it with duct tape. So now the

Cloud has a silver lining.” – 7

Days’ Jeremy Corbett

“You will never reach your

destination if you stop

and throw stones at every

dog that barks.” – Winston

Churchill

“When a billionaire dies,

who inherits their senators?”

• US comedian and actorAmir
  Talai

Quips&

Quotes

need to get out there and push

the message at least as hard

as those putting forward vari-

ous quick fixes that may, but

probably won’t, make a great

difference.

Alan Thatcher

Senior clinical veterinarian,

school of veterinary science,

Massey University

WHITHER THE WORKERS?

I disagree with the August 31

Editorial that imported labour

is the only solution to avoid-

ing crop wastage caused by

a lack of pickers. This is not

to suggest reducing the work

available to people who come

here from the Pacific islands,

or travellers looking for casual

jobs on orchards and farms as

they make their way around

the country. There is plenty of

evidence they make a valuable

contribution.

However, if all stakeholders

get together and look hard

enough, they might discover

some existing sections of our

local population who would

be only too happy to work

if some thought went into

circumventing the barriers that

ensure “too few locals will do

it”. These barriers are likely to

differ for different groups of

potential workers.

Retired people, for example,

are not always overflowing

with money, as some commen-

tators would like us to believe,

especially with declining inter-

est rates. Provided they could

work a few hours a day, instead

of long shifts, or a couple of

days a week, say, they may well

be keen to join a roster with

others and gain exercise, social

benefits, a sense of contribut-

ing to their community and

some financial benefit.

Crops would be harvested

and sold and there would be

no need to find or finance yet

more housing during such

a shortage. The answer is to

genuinely consult targeted

groups of potential workers to

The man says he did not get a

wink of sleep as he woke up to

check the ticket was still in his

pocket every few hours.

Otago Daily Times, 23/7/

He hopes to hold a funeral at

night one day ...

Waikato Times, 1/6/

Ruth asked a number of women

who were at home like her with

young children to help.

Independent Herald, 8/5/

I was sure he wasn’t gay, so I

clarified that my cottage has

only one bed. “We’ll bring a

camp bed,” he said.

North & South, September 2019

His tip for going, and staying,

vegan? “You go cold turkey,”

he said.

Press, 16/8/

A steel-bodied Bentley Mark VI

convertible with a fully restored

aluminium body is “probably”

the only one of its kind in the

country ...

NZ Herald, 15/8/

Life in New Zealand

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

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

of nitrogen cycling through a

farm, the emissions per hectare

would stay roughly the same?

Well, yes. And since this grass

grows so fast, wouldn’t farmers

simply put more cows on to

eat it, so there would be no

methane benefit, either? Well,

that would depend on how

farmers use it.

Like many things, the

possibilities of this grass have

been overhyped. Many in the

dairy sector are desperately

seeking a magic bullet to solve

its environmental problems

while studiously ignoring the

one strategy that is guaran-

teed to produce significant

progress. That strategy is

de-intensification.

A small number of pro-

gressive farmers have

demonstrated that not only is

this possible but also it’s actu-

ally more profitable. DairyNZ’s

Owl Farm project appears to

confirm that. DairyNZ et al

“That’s dog years, right?”