Have you ever taken the time

to talk about it? At least a dozen times in letters to the editor and elsewhere have I come across the expression "ignorant and offensive" with regard to attitudes about PNG. I got one myself yesterday and I am very sorry that I wrote ignorant and offensive comments. I should not do that. Obviously a correspondent was offended and for that I am sorry. Was it ignorant? Dialogue helps to break down the barriers. You cannot understand my perspective if you do not talk to me. I began the dialogue with the blog and the correspondent elected to participate in the dialogue with a comment. But where can we go from here?
I thought I was understanding. I hear things in my office and through emails and through people who should not talk to me because I am only a messenger. I get ideas through Nationals and obviously there is more than one national voice just as there is more than one national voice back home. I feel very sorry. My haus meri told me this morning that the other wait man for whom she works three days a week is going back to Australia and if she cannot get work with a wait man replacement then she is going to be in difficulty. This is wrong that she would be in difficulty. That is what I was trying to say. Without reservation though, I am sorry to have been offensive.