It is important for social cohesion, to focus on things we hold in common rather than those that pull us apart, writes Glennys Adams. Photo / Michael Craig
Alarming speed of change
Congratulations to the Herald for its project to examine what’s pulling people apart and how we find social cohesion. Sir Peter Gluckman sums up the issue nicely when he says that people do not like rapid change. And yet rapid change is exactly what has been occurring over the past five years, the speed and scale of which has been alarming. It is important for social cohesion, to focus on things we hold in common rather than those that pull us apart. Writer Maya Angelou said people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel. The danger of rushing through changes without adequate community consultation is that people will feel the Government is out of touch with the public they serve. Glennys Adams, Oneroa.
Behind the ball
Phil Gifford (NZ Herald, December 5) rightly criticises the rolling maul in rugby as wrong and needing change. I agree. The simple solution for World Rugby is to outlaw “offside mauls” where attached players in front of the ball carrier are permitted to shield the ball from the opposition players. Keep to the number one rule in rugby: players must be on side. Therefore, in a maul the ball must be carried at the front of a forward push of players or those players in front will be offside and penalised. The player with the ball in front of the “onside maul” can be tackled by opposition players and the “onside maul” stopped. Common sense really, but unfortunately sense is not very common in the current rugby rulebook. Gary Carter, Gulf Harbour.
Break in broadcast
Willie Jackson’s approach to the TVNZ/RNZ merger appears to be: if it ain’t broke, completely destroy it. Mike Wagg, Freemans Bay.
Water resource
The Green Party is right about the need to legally entrench public ownership of our nation’s water supply. With climate change, water is of premium strategic value. It is the whole foundation of our wellbeing and economy. A future National/Act government must not be allowed to sell our water rights to overseas investors. They’ve done it already to other important strategic assets like banking and power supply. Act make no secret they want to. The Conservative Party in the UK sold off its water rights and now most are owned by unaccountable foreign investors with all the subsequent profiteering through high prices. Vague promises not to flog off our water to foreign investors by Christopher Luxon is a bucket full of holes to me. Why won’t he commit to sign a legal promise not to? I think we all know the answer to that. Jeff Hayward, Auckland Central.
Finnish your education
A golden opportunity was lost when Jacinda Ardern met Sanna Marin, who leads the best education system in the world with many innovations. Number one being secondary education in Finland is totally free for all students. Secondary education in NZ can cost as much as $3000 a year, private education 10 times that. Is it any wonder many parents of secondary school-aged children in what is now a prolonged cost of living crisis can no longer afford to send their children to school? It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see the connection between truancy and the crime wave. The solution is simple. Make secondary education free — including uniforms if necessary. Getting tough on crime, bootcamps etc, is just typical political posturing, avoiding what lies at the core of the problem. Gary Hollis, Mellons Bay.
Food for thought
A cafe owner in Kaikoura is sentenced to prison under the Food Act, while a multiple rapist gets home detention. It’s getting a bit hard to explain to the kids who the real bad guys are. Larry Tompkins, Waiuku.
Speed trap
When is the Government going to realise that reducing the speed limits on roads is not working, nor is the amount of advertising that taxpayers are paying for. Wendy Galloway, Ōmokoroa.
Covid measures
The editorial “Covid wave an inconvenient holiday guest” (Weekend Herald, December 3) effectively brought together the various aspects of where we are at with the current wave of Covid. Rising case numbers are a concern but if we all think of others, especially the more vulnerable, we just may get through the holiday season without too much of an increase in numbers. Complacency regarding mask wearing in crowded indoor places, and not testing or staying home when not well will be the main stumbling blocks. Lorraine Kidd, Warkworth.
Right turn
After 12 years of right-wing rule, the UK is in an even worse mess than previously believed (Weekend Herald, December 3). While everyone is aware the Government there crashed the economy, it’s now apparent that by failing to go into lockdown early enough and coming out of lockdown prematurely — following right wing governments’ behaviour the world over — there are now hundreds of thousands of working-age people with Long Covid. This is reducing employment levels to below what is sustainable and overwhelming the health system. We must thank our lucky stars we in NZ have a highly competent Government. Mark Nixon, Remuera.
Golden days
I enjoyed reading Barry Magee’s comments regarding the great Sir Murray Halberg. Being a teenager and a keen follower of athletics in the late 1950s and early 1960s, I was privileged to see or hear the events he talks on in real time. Magee’s third place in the marathon in Tokyo in 1960 a great feat in itself. International athletics in that time were historically dominated by northern hemisphere athletes. While most were still amateurs with a great history at Olympic Games, it was noticeable in the post-war years that the Soviet bloc were superior due to being financed by their respective states. New Zealand athletes, many under the tutelage of Arthur Lydiard, held fulltime jobs without government, financial, training, facilities or psychological support. This only enhances the feats of Halberg, Snell and the other notable athletes who flogged the streets of Auckland to succeed in international competition. For anyone wanting to recapture those times I can recommend the book Peter Snell and the Kiwis who Flew, by Vern Walker. This will enlighten you as to how significant the feats of these men and women were in their time. Peter Burn, Gulf Harbour.
Fuelling dependency
Prime Minister Sanna Marin from Finland visited New Zealand recently. I hope our PM was listening carefully when she said “all countries should become less dependent on China and Russia for technology, oil and gas.” This makes Jacinda Ardern’s call to ban oil and gas exploration in New Zealand all the more wrong. We have been put in the position of being totally dependent for transport fuels on countries who have doubtful political systems or who don’t really care about such a small market as NZ. This country will be now completely without any domestic supply to fall back on and without any real major completed infrastructure in place for alternative transport energy, such as electricity. Only 1 per cent of cars in NZ are running on alternative fuels. The other 99 per cent still depend on oil. This puts us in a very poor position to counter any moves by oil producing countries to restrict supplies to NZ. This has happened in the past and could well happen again. Michael Walker, Blockhouse Bay.
Change of direction?
Articles by Richard Prebble and Shane Jones, along with the letters to the editor, are often a worthwhile read indicating if the country may be going forward, backwards, sideways or upside-down. Sometime in the next year, voters will go to the polls, not to elect a Government, but a committee that will proceed to a Dutch auction to determine who will be in a Government and what its policies will be. National may climb the slippery pole to the top but will they have the steel to deal with the mess they will probably inherit? On past performances, possibly not. R S Stratton, Te Atatū.
On mistakes
I wonder if the term “mistake” will become this Government’s catchphrase for all that’s not right. If so it will have to cover an awful lot of things in addition to Three Waters, such as law and order, education and fiscal policy. Paul Beck, West Harbour.
On merger
I fail to understand the criticisms of the RNZ/TVNZ merger. People will still be able to tune into the echo chamber that is talkback radio and have their favourite host tell them what to think and say. John Capener, Kawerau.
On Reserve Bank
The discussion about Reserve Bank predictions brings to mind an old adage. If all of the economists in the world were laid end to end, they still would not reach a conclusion. Alan Johnson, Papatoetoe.
On coaches
Why are we so slow to acknowledge the outstanding foresight, leadership and ideas of our exceptional, world-class coaches such as Arthur Lydiard, Rusty Robertson and Graham Lowe? Bruce Tubb, Devonport.
On Luxon
Why couldn’t the Herald use Claire Trevett’s astute assessment of Christopher Luxon, with his typical waffle at the recent Fieldays, as a headline? “Luxon turns up and says absolutely nothing” would totally sum up the calibre of the man. Edith Cullen, Te Kauwhata
Does anyone know if there is a legitimate justification for managing the Three Waters legislation under urgency? The complexity and controversial nature of the legislation surely justifies slowing it down to allow sufficient public debate, and ideally getting to a version of the bill that is more palatable for most stakeholders.Vanessa C
No other Government has attempted to cement in legislation in this way to bind future Governments. Previous Governments understood the convention that this measure is for electoral purposes to protect the way our Government and Parliament function. This Government believes they are entitled to play fast and loose with democracy on a whim. This entrenchment debacle cannot just be explained away as a mistake. Tony M
So will the Māori Party and iwi commit to public ownership of our water? That is the question. Water is God-given and is a blessing to us all and should stay in public “ownership”, in my opinion. Sara M
Labour undemocratically tries to prevent any future government overturning their undemocratic water laws. The majority of the country don’t want this law. Every poll, including Labour’s own, will be telling them that. Usually they are poll driven but this time they push on. This issue is Labour’s death knell. Peter O
Patient 'absolutely disgusted' National didn't fund 13 cancer drugs as promised in 2023.