Australia's Israel Folau during a Bledisloe Cup test match between the All Blacks and Australia. Photo / File
Australia's Israel Folau during a Bledisloe Cup test match between the All Blacks and Australia. Photo / File
Folau outrage
About freedom of speech. There can be few better examples of how subjective that concept is than the outrage being dumped on Israel Folau. It is so sad the entire commentariat has hammered him, simply because it is so incontestably fashionable to do it. However, it continues to be uplifting to know that there are still a few courageous individuals left in our craven world. He is, after all, only quoting verbatim from the most effective handbook that humans have ever known. Graham Steenson Whakatane
Nice-to-haves uneccesary
Concerning pothole mentality and infrastructure spending (Letters, April 16): The main problem is who pays for these nice-to-haves. Just because a ratepayer has got a mailbox that a rates demand can be inserted into, doesn't mean they have to be financially responsible for these when it is not used or needed by them. It becomes a social status need by the council, a childlike reasoning because someone else has got something, they should have one too. What we see is more and more minority pressure groups putting their hands up to spend ratepayers' money from a one-sided perspective. What happened to user pays and private enterprise? Maybe we need a ratepayer shareholding ownership of the council with a board of directors and a proxy voting system to let ratepayers better control debt that has been incurred in their name. David Mends Te Puke
Dawn Picken's children failed to get into an accelerant class so it's personal, but we only see an educational caste system if you value streaming (Opinion, April 6). By misquoting Professor John Hattie saying streaming is dragging our students down and lower-streamed classes never catch up, she deduces we should quit streaming. What Hattie actually says is it doesn't make a difference, no difference at all. What does make a difference is the quality of the teacher. The conversation should be about teachers. His meta-analysis proves we should be identifying high growth in schools, not high test scores. All children deserve a year of growth, our gifted deserve a year of growth too. Unfortunately, teachers without high student expectations won't achieve this growth. I say: grow teacher expectations. Parents like Picken focus on unimportant things they can see: uniforms, buildings, class sizes, decile rankings, streaming. They should focus on what Hattie has proven through evidence to make a difference: The teacher quality is the greater determiner of success. The worst thing you can say to your child is do your best, we should be saying do better. M Richardson Tauranga
Bias clear
Replying to David Rolfe (Letters, April 17), the claim that our present local council election system is biased in favour of Pakeha candidates is based on figures available on the Internal Affairs Department and Human Rights Commission websites which state that only 5 per cent of all local councillors throughout New Zealand are Maori. There are no Maori councillors in Tauranga. The figures show clearly that the system is biased. The most likely explanation for the bias is that Pakeha voters heavily outnumber Maori voters, and most Pakeha voters do not support Maori candidates. Peter Dey Welcome Bay
Support our nurses
Across Aotearoa, poor working conditions, low salaries and bullying have been highlighted in both nursing and midwifery. Whilst causes of bullying, much of which is historic and has been poorly managed, are complex, underfunding, lack of support and stressful work conditions have an additive effect resulting in nurses taking to the streets to have their voices heard in 2018. The Bay of Plenty depends on vital services delivered by nurses and midwives, without them health services would collapse. It is therefore up to us as a community to support requests from nurses for improved working conditions and a commitment to a fair day's pay for a fair day's work; it is up to the Government and DHBs to stamp out any bullying and do what they can to improve morale and conditions. I would encourage readers to write to their local politicians supporting nurses' requests and asking why this vital cohort have been subject to financial restraints for many years. Debbie Cunliffe, RN Tauranga
Mangroves intruding
In response to Ann Graeme (Letters, April 13), I agree wading birds feed on crustaceans living in the sandy intertidal flats in our harbours and estuaries. However, I disagree that "mangroves help birds". Careful observations support the findings of The New Zealand Mangrove Review Paper (2007) which states "the available evidence suggests that no New Zealand birds use the mangroves extensively or exclusively for feeding breeding or roosting, but only do so when no other suitable habitat is available". In Welcome Bay, the only birds that have been observed near the mangroves were pukekos and white-faced herons. Before removal of some mature mangroves in Welcome Bay, a bird count identified fewer than 20 birds. Following the opening of water spaces from mangroves and ongoing seedling control, bird life has increased dramatically. A recent count identified 20 bird species, nine migratory. Graeme is right that banded rails and bitterns appear to be threatened. Before mangroves colonised areas in Welcome Bay, banded rails and bitterns were frequently seen and heard. Unfortunately, the native flora they inhabited has been lost due to mangrove incursion. Graeme succinctly describes the threat posed by industrialisation in the northern hemisphere for our godwits and other migratory birds. More than ever, they need our help to protect and maintain their traditional feeding grounds and roosting sites from mangrove incursion and colonisation in the Firth of Thames and elsewhere. Dr Meg Butler Welcome Bay
Wards not equality
Many good people have stood for councils and not made it, women included, and we are 52 per cent of the population. I know every man and woman of any ethnicity is my equal, and I know that if we have a Maori ward it is telling Maori they are not good enough and not electable. This is a nonsense as we have had Maori representatives in the past and we will again in the future. Just as we have had more really capable women on Western Bay and at the moment we only have one. So, it is a dreadful lie to pretend that Maori are not good enough. There is good consultation with Maori now, in addition to the consultation with the whole community. Imagine locking Maori voters into one ward stretching over the extraordinarily vast distances and stopping them from voting for other councillor positions. There are four councillors representing the Kaimai Ward, three representing Katikati/Waihi Beach Ward, and four representing Te Puke/Maketu. No way should the system be designed to keep Maori out and separate. We are all New Zealanders and equal. Margaret Murray-Benge Bethlehem
