Issue 6, August 24 - September 6, 2016

We start this issue with Andrew Little's reply to the questions the Prime Minister raised for the Opposition in his interview published in our issue 5.

Apart from the usual politics around the issue, we do need some sensible debate on why, how much, and what kind of immigration is needed in New Zealand.

Hopefully the Parliament will take the lead on this, and show us the way!

One of the major editorial aims of this newspaper is to put forward in the mainstream the various cultures, and celebrations of those cultures, that we have in Aotearoa.

In this issue, we do this by celebrating Zimbabwe Heroes' Day, the Aotearoa Hispanic Association's Winter festival, the Indian Independence Day, and Singapore National Day.

That so many communities celebrated their history and culture in one fortnight is a testimony to the remarkable diversity Canterbury is gaining by the day.

Even more remarkable is the participation of the wider community in such celebrations.

Hopefully it will grow even further with time!

One important segment in this issue is the follow-up on Peter Townsend's interview of the last issue, where he talked about "enlightened companies" benefiting from employing migrants. Hellers from Waimak and AuCom from Christchurch, are two such companies, which we profile in our stories.

Hopefully more companies will take their lead!

Gaurav