The week in good news: history and Harry, royals and reading
Friday, 11 October 2019
OPINION
Philip Matthews looks on the bright side.
Impeachment, Turkey and the Kurds, a typhoon in Japan … the world is full of bad news. But there is good news, too, if you know where to look.
The future of history
Just as we're seeing a revival of interest in te reo Māori right now, perhaps a major renaissance of public interest in New Zealand history is around the corner. After the attention given to the New Zealand Wars and the Government's wise decision to make New Zealand history compulsory in schools, the Tuia 250 commemorations have alerted many otherwise unknowing Pākehā to the messy, conflicted, ambiguous and violent early histories of New Zealand after the Endeavour's arrival in 1769. The prevailing myth that all was friendly and well here lasted for decades or more – in fact, it was only five years ago that former Prime Minister John Key made a notorious gaffe when he said that New Zealand was settled peacefully. Politicians are much less likely to drop such a clanger today, thanks to the work of popular historians and the activists who made Tuia 250 more contentious and lively than it could have been.
Hari Pota
A little while ago we reported the good news that Anne Frank's diary had been translated into te reo. Here comes more: the Harry Potter books are being translated with the first, Hari Pota me te Whatu Manapou, due in 2020. The Kotahi Rau Pukapuka Trust and Auckland University Press is publishing 100 books in te reo: besides Potter, there will be Paula Morris' novel Rangatira and Avengers vs X-Men comics. Trust patron and author Witi Ihimaera said: 'In the second decade of the millennium, New Zealanders both Māori and Pākehā have acknowledged the role of the reo in our daily lives. Māori words and greetings are heard in all our media and New Zealanders are learning the language in record numbers. But for those language learners coming out of kura kaupapa schools or wānanga night classes, there is currently almost nothing to read.'
Surplus to requirements
Who could complain about the Government finding an extra $7.5 billion? To be fair, more than $3b of that hefty sum is attributable to revaluations of Kiwirail and changes to the way IRD books taxes, but that still leaves about $4b in the (political cliche) 'kitty' for the (another cliche) 'election year lolly scramble'. Some spending in health seems like it would be both wise and welcome, along with infrastructure and perhaps even some tinkering with tax thresholds to hold off the baying mob who call for tax cuts. Regardless of how the politics plays out, it seems to demonstrate that the New Zealand economy is not sliding into recession despite the best efforts of naysayers. 'While we do face significant challenges as we look ahead, one of my main concerns is that we talk ourselves into a funk,' Finance Minister Grant Robertson said at the end of his long media statement this week.
Going coastal
When was the last time a royal visit stopped at Kaikōura? Even the Queen and Prince Philip's epic tour of 1953-54 that stopped at Darfield and Ashburton seems to have skipped Kaikōura. So the plucky South Island coastal town will be chuffed that Prince Charles and Camilla have included it on the itinerary of their six-day national tour next month, along with Christchurch and Waitangi. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said 'this will be the first time in 25 years that a member of the royal family will visit Waitangi', which is hard to believe. 'They will also see the regeneration of Christchurch since the 2011 earthquake and how the community has rallied to support those affected by the March 15 terrorist attacks.'
The first million
Christchurch's beautiful, award-winning and very successful central library Tūranga has had a million visitors since opening a year ago and, amazingly, many of those people came to read. Library figures show that more than 471,000 books had been borrowed in the past year, which adds up to more than one book per person in the greater Christchurch area. Here is another stat: in the past 12 months, 8818 new members have joined Christchurch Libraries at Tūranga, compared to 2199 people who joined the temporary central libraries in Manchester St and Peterborough St in the previous year. The most popular books were by Lee Child, Michelle Obama, Philip Reeve and Andy Griffiths. Another achievement: despite some minor angst in 2018, everyone now seems pretty comfortable with the name Tūranga.