Letters to Editor: Politics of separatism

Politics of separatism
Hone Harawira's byelection victory at the head of his own party is another step in the Balkanisation of New Zealand politics, made possible by two things.
An insupportable interpretation of the Treaty of Waitangi is one, and reserved Maori seats in a supposedly democratic Parliament is the other.
Harawira spent his time as a Maori Party MP misusing taxpayer funds and foul-mouthing and abusing everyone, Pakeha, other Maori or his own Maori Party members, who doesn't agree with the Harawira family's separatist vision. And, like Winston Peters, he'll never have to take responsibility for things like national debt or earthquake consequences.
He and his party are the epitome of racially destructive politics, and his mission to replace the Maori Party has begun. He has the platform. He has the mission: Maori sovereignty by all and every means. He will endeavour at times to appear more inclusive - a champion of the left and a voice of the poor - but he'll be neither. The politics of racial hatred and nationalism are really where he is at.
And the Nazis in the early 1930s didn't have the springboard of reserved seats in the Reichstag to beat their drums from.
Alan Rhodes, Napier
Votes for Harawira
Hone Harawira is the most despised and distrusted man in the country.
On Saturday he was voted into our House of Representatives.
What kind of a democracy is this?
Leo Leitch, Napier
User-pays fallacy
With regard to the comments on user pays (cycle lanes).
Great idea, and to some extent it already happens, but if we follow this line of reasoning where will it end?
Those who don't need hospital treatment shouldn't pay for hospitals? Those who don't go out walking shouldn't have to pay for pavements?
Those who don't break the law shouldn't pay for a police force or prisons? And the list goes on.
In a modern society it is a case of everyone paying a small amount to maintain it, rather than leaving it to a few paying huge amounts only when they need to use a service.
John Akers, Taradale
Cycle lanes
 I think it is great that the council are putting so much effort into putting cycle lanes all around the city, in particular down my street (Gascoigne), because that will slow down the police driving flat-out down our street on their way to the trouble spots.
I feel sorry for the poor souls who are on the receiving end of a crime that is delayed by cycle lanes and zig-zags down the street.
Just the other day, on my way to the dump, I came across a cyclist going down Wall Rd, but he was riding on the footpath.
And that brings me to my point ... where are all the cyclists?
Roger Wright, Hastings
Velodrome loss
It was with disappointment that I noted the demise of the velodrome project at the regional sports park.
This would have been a fantastic facility for the whole community, not just elite cyclists.
The real shame of this is that the velodrome was a cornerstone of the park development from its inception, and although everybody got seduced by Sport and Recreation NZ (Sparc) funding for a monstrously over-specified national facility, nothing was changed from the original proposal.
Funding was available from the region's councils for a regional facility, and for some reason when we missed out on the national bid the regional plan went out the window, too.
It would appear that even a downscaled version that requires less funding cannot get support.
There is not only a big empty space at the park that was always to be where a velodrome went, but a big empty space in the region's future potential.
G. Wellwood, Hastings