Summer challenges

By Peter Carr

The political events that unfolded late last week will have been done to death by the time readers scan this opinion piece.

The political observer within me would normally provide some epithets on the subject but in newspapers – and other media – timing is of the essence.

So, leave it alone.

Which brings me, by way of relief, to the joys of a long, warm summer and as to whether the circumstances prevailing permit full enjoyment of this lovely country as it appears to languish under clear and azure skies.

But wait - what about the floods and beach erosion in Coromandel and on the East Coast? What about the potholes that are now almost de rigueur on State Highway 1?

What about the inability of tourism operators who are unable to provide a requisite level of service due to a paucity of trained and experienced staff?

And what about the fact that the excellent surf lifesaving teams (of which many are volunteers) cannot provide services at many beaches because of a lack of funds?

This is a hot potato due to a high number of drownings, many attributable to either people swimming at patrolled beaches outside of the flagged area or taking risks on lifeguard-free beaches .

And layer all this over with the welcome return of overseas tourists who have been absent for most of three years – not only due to the pandemic but also the associated lack of airline services that have been slow to re-start.

They too need a level of service, safety and happy memories to take home and further spread the good news about Gods-own.

Like it or not we are sliding into a state of accepting second-level services driven in the main by the spreading of funds too thinly over a very high number of needy areas.

My only foray into politics this week is to remind readers that 2023 is a national election year.

We are now nine months from using our right to decide who should lead us into an improved social, commercial and welfare supporting new world.

We will be besieged by promises at a plethora of hustings which will be normally poorly attended.

Apathy is alive and well when it comes to voting in New Zealand and we are all the poorer for it. The ball is in our court.

So, as we lurch into the Year of the Rabbit and bunny-hop our way through until next Christmas there is much to ponder.

Should potholes take precedence over lifeguard funding?

Should the removal of over-long stays in motels by financially and socially dispossessed people to improved housing be given a higher priority than a new road to Northland - politically and very incorrectly named the Holiday Highway?

Should funding and support services be provided as a right for all younger people to ensure that they understand and can combat the dangers of being in deep water?

Happy New Year everybody – buckle in. We are in for and interesting and possibly bumpy roller-coaster ride.

What an excellent article by Peter Nicholl in this week’s edition of The News. It’s understandable that the Reserve Bank is endeavouring to paint a “gloomy” picture to try and curtail spending. It’s right that as we enter 2023 we should be somewhat cautious from an economic view point. Small and not so small businesses are going through testing times, which may flow over into household incomes. However this article brings a note of optimism that is much indeed. I note with interest that while mentioning a return to tourism in New Zealand Peter didn’t touch on our strong agricultural sector. As I understand it, our farming/agricultural community still produces the largest share of our export earnings, by a considerable margin. I for one would be interested in Peter’s comments around this sector and its expected overall influence in 2023

Bob Sinclair Te Awamutu

Driving on

The comments about bad driving (The News January 19) are nothing new; similar comments were being made when I immigrated to NZ in 1997. Efforts to change bad driving are to be applauded but changing human frailties is impossible. What will be will be irrespective of efforts to “educate” recalcitrant drivers. While not a panacea, the problems in Victoria Street, Cambridge, can be ameliorated by removing the two pedestrian crossings at either end of the street as they are too close to the roundabouts and are a major factor in clogging them up at peak times. They should be replaced by a traffic light pedestrian controlled crossing half way along the street.

Barriers should also be installed to prevent pedestrians crossing at the (former) crossing points, thereby forcing them to use the central crossing. The crossings at the Duke Street/ Victoria Street roundabout should also be moved further back as they too contribute to peak time chaos. But even without such measures traffic flow would improve if drivers complied with the road code and only stopped to allow people to cross on their side of the road and not when they are crossing from the other carriageway. Almost no one (including driving instructors and police) complies with the rule in my experience. I seem to be the only driver that does.

Kelvin Dunn Leamington

Piarere plan

Of course a roundabout is a bad idea for

Piarere. They only work when traffic flows are reasonably even. They fail dismally when overloaded and when traffic flow is uneven. Think Labour weekend, Easter…John Hansen suggests a flyover for traffic coming from SH29, heading toward Hamilton. Has this been costed? To be effective a single lane flyover would need a long lead in and be well banked so big rigs could maintain highway speeds allowing for effortless blending with merging traffic.

But there is a bigger question. If part of the justification is to get big rigs from Ruakura to the base of the Kaimai Range, going via Piarere is a very big detour. A straight line between these points is at least 15km to the north. Maybe common sense should demand a rethink.

Murray Reid Cambridge

By Tom Roa

E te Tau 2022, ō mate, ō piki me ō heke, haere rā! E te Tau 2023 me tō pitomata, haere mai!

We’ve farewelled 2022, all of its ups and downs, and those who who have passed during the last year. Let’s welcome 2023 and its potential.

Histories of place, of the peoples of those places, how and why they are mapped I find fascinating.

A map, on the wall in Gary Dyet’s office at the Waipā District Council dated 1864, is a case in point. In sharing this map with me our editor, Roy Pilott, has remarked that south is at the top of it, Hamilton is noted as Kirikiriroa, and there are details of pā in it (which may well be of interest to many of the News’ readership).

In this article I contrast that map with the map drawn by the northern chief, Tuki in 1793 for the Governor of New South Wales. At that time, British interests in New Zealand were included in the boundaries of New

South Wales. Through his map Tuki provides for the governor an insight into Aotearoa – New Zealand from his world view, as he knew it. It would appear also that he was providing the governor with information helpful to the govermor in Britain’s interests in Eahei-no Maue (Te Ika ā Maui) and Poenammo (Te Wai Pounamu)..

He shows Poenammo (Te Waipounamu – the South Island) at the bottom and Ea-hei-noMaue (Te Ika-a-Māui, the North Island) much larger on the top.

This suggests to me that Eahei-no-Maue was of greater significance to him in terms of both its placement and its size. He no doubt would have explained to the governor the significance of his naming certain sites, and their importance socially, culturally, and politically to him and the information he wished to share with the Governor. Of particular note is the dotted line running through the North Island which marks the pathway followed by the spirits of the dead leading to their final leaping-off place at Terry-inga (Te Reinga) –the northern-most tip of the island.

The 1864 map carries an explanation informing the map reader of its being a plan of certain parts, what that plan principally ‘shews’, the timing of the drawing up of the map, and its authorship. Those explanatory notes of themselves beg a number of questions.

Discourse has been described as ‘verbal or written communication between people that goes beyond a single sentence.’ The overall meanings conveyed by language in context are part and parcel of a disourse. A map can be described as a ‘discourse’. The social, cultural, political and historical backgrounds of the map (the discourse): the reasons for its existence, the backgound of the author(s) of the map, and the persons or group for whom the map is intended are all part of that context.

The discerning reader of this article would do well to apply to this and any other article you read, simple principles of discourse analysis, which explore the discourse’s context.

Key questions may well be - What is the aim of the author of the discourse? Who is the intended audience? What is used to achieve the author’s aims? What can be said about the power relationships intrinsic to the discourse? How successful is the discourse in acheiving the author’s aims?

Essential to discourse analysis is delving beyond what one sees on the surface of the discourseinto its context.

We each have our world views, some parts of which we share with others, some parts we do not. Reality in each of our social contexts is socially constructed. Our experience of the world is understood from a subjective standpoint.

Discourse analysis explores beyond the map of Waipa which adorns Garry Dyet’s office. surface meanings of words and languages into how meaning is constructed in different contexts which include the social, cultural, political, and historical backgrounds of the discourse.

What these maps might mean to you will come primarily from how your social reality has been socially constructed.

Our worlds are enriched by actively engaging with differing worldviews.

I would hope that, whatever might be your particular world view in perusing these maps, you might enjoy them in and of themselves, as part of our heritage as we move toward celebrating Waitangi Day in a few weeks time.

If you are of a mind to perhaps consider an analysis of the discourse, I would hope that an appreciation of these maps and their world views might also play a part in the celebration and exploration of our past, which can inform us of how we are who we are today, and also can be suggestive of who we might be in the future.

Paimārire ki a tātou katoa.

• Dr Roa is a Tainui leader and Manukura/Professor in the University of Waikato’s Te Pua Wananga ki te Ao - Faculty of Māori and Indigenous Studies.

As the weather remains so hot and very wet, it is important to make sure the garden is well looked after. Watering bigger plants like perennials and hedging heavily a few times a week will be more beneficial than daily light watering. Annuals and vegetables may need more frequent watering. Plants benefit more from being watered in the early hours of the morning or at dusk. This will help prevent leaves from burning in the harsh sunlight.

Vegetables – February is the month where everything is ripe. It’s also a great time to replant, preserve or freeze excess produce to enjoy over the cooler months. Inconsistent watering can lead to vegetable plants drying out and becoming bitter, it also increases the chances of pests and diseases attacking.

Herbs – it is common for softer leaved herbs like basil, dill and coriander to go to seed very quickly in this hotter weather. Harvest the young foliage early and dry it or freeze it to use later.

Flowers – Plants like begonias, petunias and portulaca will do better. It is time to start thinking about your winter garden beds but hold fire on planting until it cools down more, or plant in shade.

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