Letters to Editor: Three simple steps

Referendum vote: three simple steps

Friends have been asking - how to vote in Saturday's electoral referendum?

Here's how, in three easy steps.

Step One: Strategic voting.

Opinion polls show only two electoral systems are in the running: The current MMP system and the previous First Past the Post (FPP) system.

Other systems (STV, PV and SM) are polling way too low to have any chance of being chosen, so if you "vote for change" to get any of these, you're only helping to get FPP back.

Step Two: Make up your mind if you would rather have MMP or FPP.

Avoid diversions. This referendum isn't about whether or not you like particular politicians. It's about having a fair system for decades to come.

Step three: Once you're in the polling booth, if you prefer FPP, tick Vote for Change in Part A of the ballot paper; and then tick FPP in Part B. If you prefer MMP, tick KEEP MMP in Part A. You don't have to fill out Part B, but you could tick STV as your second choice, which is the only other reasonably proportional system.

Take the long view: This matters more than which government is elected. Personally, I'm voting for MMP.

John Schiff, Hastings

Police station appals

Having been recently inside the Napier Police station while reporting a crime, I was disappointed at the sorry state of the place; it looks like a throwback to the 60s!

How the staff do such a good job with such poor working conditions amazes me; here we have the guardians of society working in what can only be described as tatty and outdated offices.

Nowhere for equipment to be properly stored, no designated interview rooms; it is a disgrace that we allow this to happen and then expect good service from the frontline police.

Whoever is the minister of police after Saturday should make this a high priority!

W Hicks, Onekawa

Worst intersection

I wish to comment on the New Zealand Transport Agency initiative regarding the intersection of Meeanee Quay and the Expressway.

This would have to be the most dangerous intersection in Hawke's Bay.

To have bits of plastic separating heavy vehicles that travel at 100k from people that have to turn into the same direction is frightening.

It has a Russian roulette ring to it.

Why isn't there a roundabout at this intersection?

It could also incorporate an entrance to the Hawke's Bay Airport and solve another problem, or is this too simple?

Ion Brown, Napier

Point missed Mr Chris Bain, from the Port of Napier Ltd, totally misses the point of my letter.

It is precisely because we have a record number of cruise ships visiting Napier that I am encouraging businesses to open their doors and welcome these visitors, and accept some of the overseas funds that are available to help us out of the recession.Vic JenningsNapierVoting 'charade'Further to Malcolm Eves' letter outlining the subjugation of two independent countries into autocratic rule.

In Libya's case, 90 per cent of their population opposed the uprising.

This forced the international media to improvise.

Al Jazeera built sets and paid people to welcome rebels into Green Square.

The BBC fobbed off a large Indian protest as a Libyan uprising.

This subterfuge was necessary to have Gaddafi executed.

Gaddafi was on the verge of severing Africa's reliance on the IMF and World Bank. Worse, he was also creating a gold-backed African currency that would have devastated the US dollar and the euro.

Fast-forward to New Zealand.

We are spared Libya's fate because our governments support the status quo.

Our freedoms and privacy are legislated away without public consultation at the behest of international organisations.

Even our sovereignty was signed over to the United Nations long ago.

But how do our governments wield what limited power they possess?

Unfortunately, just the same as international organisations.

To use a local example: A company was recently lauded for producing UHT milk, which has the nutritional value of cement and tastes like it, too. At the same time, the Government is poised to pass legislation limiting my supply of raw milk.

The thought of people making their own decisions is obnoxious to our Government. With respect to those who fought for democracy, I can't go through with the charade of voting again.

K C Wellwood, Hastings