Mind that child and watch for hunters with guns
It was a weekof thinking about sickness, death and royals, writes PHILIPMATTHEWS
The New Zealand way of death
We talk with some superiority about the weary predictability of fatal shootings in the US, but the violent deaths of children, often in their own homes, are to New Zealand what campus and school shootings are to the US. Barely a week goes by without one.
This week, 2-year-old Matiu Wereta was allegedly assaulted in Flaxmere on Monday and died on Wednesday; the uncle of a 17-yearold male charged with assault said that the unlucky toddler fell down some stairs.
Also this week, police in Southland investigated the sudden death of a 17-month-old infant.
Last week, Alex Fisher, aged 10, was found dead on Waitarere Beach; his half-brother, Eric McIsaac, 25, appeared in court on Wednesday. Such a grim news week.
The other New Zealand way of death
Gun control? We have our own issues with that too. What to make of two accidental hunting deaths in one week?
On Sunday, 11-year-old Connor Phillips was killed when an adult in his group unloaded a firearm.
Only three days later, also in the Bay of Plenty, Carlos Ngamoki, 27, was shot and killed during a hunting trip.
In the same week, Stephen Long, 61, was discharged without conviction over the death of his son Samuel, 24, in March, after he mistook him for a deer.
That brings the total to six hunting deaths already this year.
‘‘There’s something wrong about the processes that are meant to be teaching people to use firearms safely, or there’s a problem with regulations around safe firearms-handling,’’ Otago University academic and gun control advocate Kevin Clements said.
The rights of the sick
What rights do you have when sick in New Zealand? Three news stories amplified that question.
First, the increasing public interest in having the euthanasia debate, highlighted by the ordeal of David Stephens, a 64-year-old Canterbury man with motor neurone disease who wants to decide when he will die. That right is currently unavailable to him.
Second, the absurd and cruel requirement that beneficiaries who are battling cancer must regularly prove to the Government that they are sick to continue receiving support.
Cancer Society chief executive Claire Austin said it is ‘‘ludicrous and insensitive’’ that people with cancer, and undergoing treatment, must apply for exemptions to jobseeker benefit conditions.
Social Development Minister Anne Tolley said a line had to be drawn somewhere and giving special consideration to cancer patients would undermine the simplicity of the benefits scheme. Yes: why let complex human reality get in the way of your nice, simple plan?
Third, the story of terminally ill and brave union boss Helen Kelly who is arguing that the Government must improve access to medical cannabis. Prime Minister John Key said he was sympathetic but will not change the rules. Kelly responded: ‘‘I’d much rather be sick in Australia than here, I can tell you that. The prime minister better hope he doesn’t get sick.’’
Going west
This will cheer them up on the coast. The royal tour that brings Prince Charles and Camilla to New Zealand in November will make a stop at Westport.
Amazingly, this will be the first time royals have visited the town since 1954, when Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip went more or less everywhere.
But the Westport stop will be Prince Charles solo.
Nonetheless, Buller District Mayor Garry Howard reported that Westport is ‘‘pretty excited about the whole thing’’.
But royal tour or not, it will probably still rain.