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Concerns over ‘Streets for People’ project in Grey St

by Tiny Thompson Last year Gisborne District Council, together with Tairāwhiti Adventure Trust, received funding from Waka Kotahi/NZTA’s Streets for People initiative. Under this initiative, one of the changes proposed restricts Kahutia Street...

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Clear distinction between hate and protest

by Takoda Ackerley Regarding the Maxim Institute. In his opinion piece “Un-civil religion at the end of the rainbow”, Josiah takes a concerning stance regarding civil protest and the constitution of secular civil life. Brown, in his discussion...

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Transgender — a passing phase for many?

by Martin Hanson Three recent publications have shed light, rather than heat, on the vexed issue of transgender. The most recent was the April 10 publication of the final report of the Independent Review of Gender Identity Services for Children and...

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Indian election under way

Gwynne Dyer Extreme nationalism always looks foolish or even deranged to those who have not caught the virus, but in India it’s now official. In January, India’s Ministry of Defence started setting up 822 “selfie points” at war memorials...

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On rewriting the definition of hate speech

Clive Bibby During one of the rare occasions l was home in time to watch the lunch-time news, l was intrigued to note the main headline for the day being a call to update legislation governing the crime of hate speech. Perhaps because l am somewhat...

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Inward-looking US a global concern

Ewan McGregor The 20th Century was rightly known as the American Century as it became the industrial powerhouse of the world. However, it was not until World War 2 that it became the absolutely dominant political force. It emerged from the war with...

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Un-Civil religion at end of the rainbow

by Josiah Brown, Maxim Institute New Zealand is a melting pot, so what happens when the moral values of government collide with those of its citizens? What happens when the rubber meets the road, or more aptly, when the paint hits the pavement as it...

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A pantomime crisis, not a real war

Gwynne Dyer Ayatollah Khamenei, Iran’s “Supreme Leader”, is embarrassed and humiliated by the complete failure of his drone and missile attack on Israel, but does US President Joe Biden have the empathy to feel sorry for his old adversary?...

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Madness it seems has taken its toll

Matthew Roderick It’s astounding! Time is but fleeting and madness it seems has taken its toll. Such a mind flip, we seem caught in a time slip . . . . There has been mention in The Herald that “drag” entertainment does not belong in libraries...

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Fought 52mm crayfish concession for 20 years

Alain Jorion Re: Stop the 52mm concession, April 11 letter. I have agreed with Merv’s comments about the useless dreams people have about rail travel between Wairoa and Gisborne, owing to soil type that rose from the sea. Far inland, I have...

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There really are rules

Gwynne Dyer History is mostly a matter of dates, and the key date is always that of the last conquest. All previous conquests are then magically forgiven and forgotten. This observation is prompted partly by the current wars in Ukraine and the Gaz...

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Power in the hands of those who vote

Roger Handford Is it democratic for any small group of people to make major, important decisions on behalf of the rest of the people they are supposed to represent? What is democracy? According to the Oxford Dictionary: “A system of government by...

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Parliament hack: China protesting too much

by Tim Wilson, Maxim Institute executive director “The lady doth protest too much, methinks . . .” Tim Wilson A famous line from Shakespeare’s Hamlet. It’s uttered in response to the insincere overacting of a character in a play within the...

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Māori representation is democratic

Meredith Akuhata-Brown The irony of David Seymour calling Māori wards undemocratic, when the whole purpose of these wards was to provide for Māori representation within a democracy reliant on Te Tiriti o Waitangi. Strangely he is not also calling...

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We reap what we sow

Clive Bibby Some readers may misinterpret this as responding to current editorial policy. That would be a mistake. I accept the editor’s absolute right to determine what is acceptable to this newspaper and what is not. However, while l will admit...

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Russia: The really dangerous ones are sane

There are plenty of crazies in Russian politics who make bizarre claims about their country’s victim status (“the evil West made us do it”) and issue blood-curdling but implausible threats about using nuclear weapons on their enemies. But the...