Letters: Build that tunnel, Ardern vs Luxon, Classic trope

Christopher Luxon vs Jacinda Ardern. Photo / file

The social crisis facing New Zealand at present is potentially bigger than Covid. If we can’t get the other 60 per cent of children back to school we are facing a social disaster of epic proportions. If they can’t read and write properly they will be unemployable and this will potentially bankrupt the Government as no country can afford to pay the unemployment benefit to 60 per cent of its youth. We are already seeing the results of juveniles not attending school with all the lawless ram raids and the complete disregard for the law. Where are all these people that appear every year on the Queen’s honours list for services to the community? Why aren’t these people leading from the front? It can’t all be left to the police. Jock MacVicar, Hauraki

Build that tunnel

We now have the technology, so no more mucking around, just get on and build the damn tunnel. If Ruby Tui was in charge it would have been built years ago. Bruce Tubb, Devonport

Case in Point

This government sat back and did nothing while the Marsden Point refinery was permanently closed, a facility of great strategic importance to New Zealand, not just a few selfish shareholders. Now the government once again sits on its hands while overseas companies buy up good arable land to plant trees on just so they can gain carbon credits to offset their polluting emissions. Once that land is gone to forestry it is gone forever. Vince West, Milford

Ardern vs Luxon

Gary Hollis (Herald on Sunday, November 13) compared Christopher Luxon’s commercial history with that of Jacinda Ardern, saying that while he had led a company with 10,000 employees, she had been the chairperson of the International Union of Socialist Youth which has 122 member nations. The International Union of Socialist Youth is mostly a mish-mash of university students and graduates. The chair is largely a figurehead whose role is limited to opening the biennial conference, glad-handing delegates and announcing that “the ayes have it”. It’s not quite in the league of running an international business where every day tens of thousands of customers turn up at an airport expecting that there will be a fully crewed aircraft sitting on the apron ready to fly them to wherever. It’s not like running a business that has hundreds of millions of dollars invested in highly complex equipment on which shareholders, largely the New Zealand Government, expect a return for their investment. Before that, Luxon headed the Canadian operations of another international business, Unilever. This is not to denigrate Ardern’s considerable achievements, but it’s well wide of the mark to unfavourably compare them in terms of their ability to run a complex organisation like a government. David Morris, Hillsborough

Classic trope

Shaneel Lal hits the nail on the head about Christopher Luxon and National’s misguided tax policies. The only thing I can think that the McDonald’s stunt was trying to say was something akin to “hey look where I started and how much I’ve managed to achieve, and you can do the same”. A classic trope of the right, seeing as their policies are counter-intuitive to helping poor people get ahead, and are always aimed at keeping wealth as concentrated at the top as possible. John Deyell, Ellerslie

National Party leader Christopher Luxon announces the party's new crime prevention policies targeting youth, gangs and ram-raiders at a gathering in the Hamilton West headquarters on Thursday. Photo / Mike Scott

‘Public support’

Christopher Luxon says he has “public support” for his boot camp policy. I have no doubt he does have some support, but I am sure he will not reveal how much support he has received, who these people are and how they expressed their support to him. No doubt there are also many members of the public who do not support this policy. There will always be people who believe in harsher punishments. In the early 1970s there was “public support” to “birch the bashers”. If Mr Luxon suggested bringing back corporal or even capital punishment he would no doubt receive “public support”. Such simplistic policies are always vote catchers but history has shown they do not work. Greg Cave, Sunnyvale

Sobering history

Liam Dann’s comment (Herald on Sunday, November 13) hits the nail on the head: “If we want to understand the inability of these people to work, I’d suggest we take a look back at what our economic policies did to them or their parents in the 1990s”. Some years ago, in attending a lecture by Professor Innes Asher, I viewed some sobering, sad graphs of the results of those policies. In the “mother of all budgets”, funding tax cuts by a 20 per cent reduction in unemployment, sickness and solo-parent benefits resulted in the taking of the light out of the end of the tunnel for these recipients. We should not be surprised at our current social situation. Barb Stevens, Takapuna

Working prisoners

I have always wondered why prisoners couldn’t be doing more to regain some self-discipline, vital survival skills and quality exercise than sitting in jails with a few too many home comforts, bedding and meals provided and served regularly like I would enjoy myself. The idea of “boot camp” seems great, and why not include shovels, gardens, stock-minding and fish farming to make some quality rural rehabilitation training for a bunch of youth who have probably only known city streets and gang life. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. In fact, in Fiji I remember visiting a prison where prisoners had to grow all their own food if they wanted to eat, as it’s been in every village for the past 5000 years. Fingers in soil, stock to milk, chickens to raise and even bunk rooms to be built, all may just give a whole new perspective to youth detention or those serving jail time. Why not give it a go? Rob Buchanan, Kerikeri

Boot camp not all bad

Christopher Luxon has copped a bit of flak for suggesting youth who have committed offences should be sent to military style boot camps. I was called up in the late 1960s to do Compulsory Military Training. I duly reported to Burnham Military Camp. I went determined to hate every minute. After a day or so I had changed my attitude. I was really enjoying the life. All you had to do was obey orders from a fearsome Māori Sergeant Major. You got free board, food and cheap beer. And also, free evening lectures on military strategy, tactics and logistics which stood me in good stead in my later work life. And with outdoor skills I still enjoy using today. I went into boot camp a lazy lout. I left a confident, independent, strong, fit and organised person able to face the challenges of life. Boot camp will not suit everyone. But it sure helped me much more than I knew at the time. Michael Walker, Blockhouse Bay