Letter of the week: Wait times: Avoidable incidents contribute

The opposition parties obviously see the possibility of gaining political points by harping on about waiting times at emergency departments. What I would love to see
is some analysis of why people are going to these departments in the first place. Obviously there are genuine medical emergencies and people do get injured but I wonder what proportion of these injuries come from assaults, car crashes and other avoidable accidents. How many medical emergencies are the result of drug overdoses or alcohol abuse? These are all things which a caring society would seek to eliminate. Perhaps then we would not need to monitor waiting times at all. Greg Cave, Sunnyvale

Putin’s war without provocation

In response to Dianne Anderson’s letter “War is War” (HoS, March 5), there is no comparison between the American/Iraq conflict and the war Putin initiated on its diminutive neighbour, without provocation. It was in breach of international laws designed to put an end to this type of brutal behaviour. This act of aggression from a psychopathic despot can only be resolved by returning the aggressor to their own borders. A negotiated settlement? Good luck with that. Appeasing a psychopathic bully never works. They only understand a punch in the nose. Appeasement, via turning a blind eye to the annexation of Crimea didn’t work too well, did it? What’s at stake in Ukraine is the free world. Make no mistake. Michael Kampkes, Narrow Neck

Liked but not effective

A successful American businessman was once asked the secret of his success. He responded that early in his career he had to decide whether to be liked or effective and he chose to be effective. Chris Hipkins may be liked, but that doesn’t necessarily translate into being effective as his time in office has shown. Gavin Baker, Glendowie

Inflammatory argument

I was bemused and confused by Tara McAllister’s rant against Professor Richard Dawkins’ criticism of teaching mātauranga in a science class. Her comment that Dawkins (and other local professors) “function to embolden other racist scientists in Aotearoa”, and that Dawkins’ comments, are “a great example of how clearly white supremacy is ingrained in Western sciences globally, and how colonising scientists continue to undermine the global research of indigenous knowledge … ” concerned me.Her comments of “white supremacy” and “colonising scientists” are inflammatory, emotive and probably more appropriate for a sociological setting than an evidence-based true scientific setting. One of the pillars of scientific study is to remove as much emotion and bias as possible, but these comments promote politically correct responses which are not helpful. I agree that Dawkins’ comments were also inflammatory and challenging, but he has a point and I am sure that he has based his opinion on his understanding of science and how it should be viewed and taught.The University of Auckland should invite Dawkins to debate the topic with Dr McAllister. Niall Robertson, Balmoral

Science not voodoo

It’s a little disturbing that Dr Tara McAllister can use the term “Western Science”. Science is simply science. It refers to a robust process of analysis, experimentation, checking and rechecking, to arrive at conclusions with a high degree of certainty. It is completely different from “belief”. Chinese traditional belief would teach that rhino horn enhances virility. Science thinks this is unlikely as rhino horn is simply keratin. Haitians believe in voodoo. Scientists don’t. Māori knowledge may well be very helpful in some areas. But to say that belief is on a par with science is simply incorrect. To claim that such a view is racist is simply absurd. Chris Elias, Mission Bay

Ministry of Works praise

Hurrah for Warwick Grey (HoS, March 5)! We have always needed a Ministry of Works (MoW) tasked with, among other things, the design and maintenance of public structures. It would now be in charge of repairs to storm-damaged infrastructure and would be able to prioritise jobs nationally. This would advance repairs more quickly (and cheaply — no price gouging) than the current situation where councils are in competition (so beloved by the “Rogergnomes”) with other councils for contractors and materials; and waiting for contractors to become available.Prior to 1988, public structures were designed by the MoW to be more robust than the then-current regulations required, and the MoW oversaw construction quality control. For the past three decades, public structures have been designed and built by private enterprise. Since businesses must make a profit, minimising cost takes priority over maximising quality, so it’s no surprise that there are more opportunities for corruption, and that there are examples of structures which, when completed, weren’t fit for purpose.On top of that, this private system has been a large player in shifting to the favoured few, wealth that belonged to all of us. We have been badly served by “Rogernomics”. Gerry Beckingsale, Stanmore Bay

Sitting down on job

Correspondent Warwick Gray sings the praises of the MoW. As a student engineer I worked on the Huntly Power Station in 1975. We were told by the union rep to sit down and do nothing until the superintendent appeared.Very efficient. Steve Thomas, Titirangi

Ukraine war brutal

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has recently passed its anniversary date and a reminder needs to be made of what this war is all about, lest we forget.Yes, Ukraine’s sovereignty has been compromised and that is reason enough to come to their aid. However, early on in the invasion reports of Russian troops looting and resorting to sexual violence soon became apparent. The bodies of hundreds of civilians piled into mass graves shocked us. Then there was targeting of a theatre in Mariupol that had the words “Children” in Cyrillic letters visible with space satellite imagery, providing the Russians were able to have their cameras pointing in the right direction, where up to 600 people were killed. When Russian victories on the battlefield became elusive there were the attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure that has killed thousands of civilians. In order to hold a battlefield advantage Russia conscripted thousands and sent them to the front basically untrained with some having no idea of why they were there. Finally, in reports confirmed by the United Nations Assistant Secretary General for Human Rights, Ilze, Brands Kehris, there is the relocation of 6000 Ukrainian children, some as young as four months old being held at “integration camps” for reasons we can only guess.All these war crimes can be laid at President Vladimir Putin’s feet. All must realise that Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s Ukraine is on the front line of democracy and should be given all he needs to confront this evil. Bernard Walker, Papamoa