Opposition to co-governance has swelled around aspects of the Government's Three Waters and health reforms. Photo / Mark Mitchell, File
A richer nation
Brent Marshall’s assertion (NZ Herald, January 23) that co-governance of Aotearoa/NZ is undemocratic is entirely wrong. To include all the rights and acknowledgment of cultures now resident in our country when legislation is introduced at any level is surely the essence of democracy. Further, to suggest that 16 per cent of our population would be controlling our assets to the detriment of the other 84 per cent is also incorrect. I assume this 84 per cent he mentions is made up of mostly white European settler stock who have made their homes here. Of this 84 per cent, approximately 25 per cent or slightly more are from Asia or the Pacific Island nations. To be truly democratic, all parties should be involved in the governance of our country in partnership and in consultation with the First Nation settlers who understand the land and its resources over a longer period and how best to utilise them. We are a small country and every one of us has something to offer. We should embrace and use the talent we have rather than stifle it. We would be a richer society all round.
Jeremy Coleman, Hillpark.
More experienced
Your editorial (NZ Herald, January 23) states “Hipkins is far ahead of Luxon on experience” and one may well agree. Chris Hipkins’ track record as Education Minister includes a very high school truancy level; NCEA achievement rate at the lowest it’s ever been; a fees-free strategy that has totally missed its target; and tax-payers paying millions in rent for an empty earthquake-prone building due to a lack of commercial nous, etc, etc. Such a record clearly shows that Hipkins has far more experience - at failures - than Christopher Luxon has ever had.
Brian McLachlan, Whangārei.
Details, please
I am 82 years old; I have been able to vote in New Zealand elections for over 60 years. In all of that time, no politician has annoyed me more than Christopher Luxon. He is like a parrot who has been taught to say a very limited number of phrases. Over and over again he says the current Government has failed New Zealanders, but he offers absolutely nothing as an alternative. I am sure there must be many like me who want to know what the National Party will do if elected to govern, to solve the serious issues we and every other country faces in the next decade and beyond.
David Hood, Hamilton.
Insurmountable odds
Did General Custer resign before he got to the Little Bighorn? Did Leonidas bugger off back to Sparta when he saw the size of the Persian army? Did Boudicca wheel her chariot around and leave her gaping warriors to deal with the Romans without her? No. They soldiered on to the bitter end. The fools. Good choice Jacinda.
Ron Hoares, Wellsford.
Head case
So rugby union boffins are trying to do all they can to protect the head contact and halt concussions. The photo on page A38 (NZ Herald, January 23) shows deliberate head contact and no foul was given. Seems like a long way to go with that one then, eh?
J McCormick, Gisborne.
Met with kindness
What an excellent, research-based opinion piece by Forsyth and McCormick (NZ Herald, January 23). Jacinda’s leadership, as would that of anyone not fitting the traditional “leader profile”, exposed the small conservative element within our society and their emotive vitriol. This group was empowered in the USA by the previous president and in earlier times in Germany. In attempting to continue in the development of a fair, caring, pluralist and inclusive society, engagement with this group is essential to minimise the spread of misinformation and to reduce the emotional, misguided, and inappropriate responses seen in NZ over the past few years.
Simon Damerell, Ponsonby.
Duly discouraged
I was shocked to discover that despite my earning the minimum wage and my wife earning less (due to being the prime carer) that we do not qualify for Working For Families. A colleague mentioned that the thresholds had not been altered for a decade. I refused to believe him as no government would place low-income wage earners raising children in New Zealand in this cruel position. Sadly, he was right - for one kid, you don’t get anything material after $50k and it ceases entirely at $65k .This initiative should be renamed to Working to Discourage Families.
Chris Brown, Tauranga.
War clouds
Walking past the local playground in our welcome summer sun, I saw young mums with their little ones excitedly looking to and running for the swings. As they passed by families picnicking on the new-mown grass, the sheer joy of all that was clouded by the thought of east Ukrainian families huddling in the cold - all the while their communities awaiting the next “heroic” bombing by a nation that will be tarred by the actions of its leaders for many decades to come.
Bernie Allen, Mairangi Bay.
Risk aversion
I note that some of the people who drowned could not swim. Perhaps the closing down of school swimming pools because new health and safety regulations could not be complied with is a factor in this tragic result. So instead of children being at a small risk while splashing around in the pool with their friends, they finish up on dangerous beaches without being able to swim and liable to panic if their head goes underwater or they get caught in a rip. Saving children from a small risk thereby exposing them to a much larger one is stupid.
Bryan Leyland, Pt Chevalier.
High volume
Carolyn Peat’s letter (NZ Herald, January 23) in response to mine - makes very fair and reasonable points about the value of bus audio announcements. For those who may not have read it, my letter made several references to the volume and decibel level of the announcements - such that they seemed to target passengers who were also deaf. All the drivers I have spoken to share my exasperation about this and apologise for not being able to turn them down. Even when wearing both earplugs and noise-cancelling headphones - which reduce noise by at least 50 decibels, the announcements are much louder than required. I accept that AT should be praised for considering the needs of the blind, but should also consider those with autism and others who are sensitive to noise. Only then will bus travel be accessible - and comfortable - for all.
Stephen Bayldon, Mt Roskill.
Inquiring minds
Your correspondent Bruce Tubb (NZ Herald, January 19) writes there should be a public inquiry into leasehold land. There was, in 1992, the Government ordered an inquiry into Glasgow leases of residential land in Auckland. The report by Anthony Lusk strongly recommended a law change so that all ground lessors had to pay for lessees’ improvements. All the lessor parties to the inquiry, instead of paying compensation, either offered freehold to their lessees or wrote the clause into their leases. Cornwall Park wasn’t a party to that inquiry having just offered two rounds of freeholding, something the board has refused to do for the last 30 years. That’s why the leaseholders are asking Parliament for a law change.
John Carter, Greenlane.
Protection old-hat?
When reading the article (NZ Herald, January 23) regarding the problems at Raglan’s Soundsplash with lack of shelter, water and long waiting times, I looked at the accompanying photograph. There is only one sunhat and about five caps being worn, out of the dozens of young people in the photo. Perhaps these would have helped towards keeping off the effects of the sun. Perhaps I am just being old-fashioned?
Margaret Wyatt, Matua.
Copping a spray
It was totally irresponsible and poorly timed. Auckland highways are busy enough, especially SH 1. On Sunday, in the early evening, it was bumper-to-bumper from the north into Auckland, especially after a fine weekend. Why then did we then have to suffer being stuck behind a weed-spraying truck, escorted by three Chevron Traffic Services vehicles, travelling at 10 km/h for the full 18km between Warkworth and Puhoi? They showed no consideration by pausing at a layby, even though they were available, but held up traffic for kilometres. NZTA and their contractor need to be far more responsible to the travelling public.
M Ellett, Albany.
On writing
School essays and uni assignments written in a few seconds by artificial intelligence chatbot (NZH, Jan 24). Read my new book, “The Ardern Years”. In shops tomorrow. All my own work. Honest. Arch Thomson, Mt Wellington.
On Hipkins
Will Chris Hipkins be the Labour leader of his generation to call a stop for a cuppa? Alan Johnson, Papatoetoe.
On Labour
I went to the rock opera Bat Out Of Hell on Sunday night. One of the lines I love is, “Nothin’ ever rocks and nothin’ ever rolls and nothin’s ever worth the cost”. Reminded me of our present Government. David Morris, Hillsborough.
Taxpayers deserve an approximate cost of money already spent on policies about to be abandoned. Wendy Tighe-Umbers, Parnell.
On election
National MPs go into politics to run the country. Labour MPs spend all their time talking about it. Mark Young, Ōrewa.
The smart money will be someone called Chris winning the upcoming election. So there, you heard it here first. Dave Miller, Matua.
Inflation expected to stay ‘red hot’
Being able to compare the economies of NZ and Australia in real time, it’s abundantly clear, NZ as a country and its economy is now upper Third World. The quality of customer service is abysmal, the workers are on a constant go slow and have a don’t care attitude. Major car and marine franchises don’t give a damn about customer relations or sales. The supposed tradespeople that work in those franchises lack knowledge and do rough work. They don’t call back when they say they will, they don’t care. I have waited 12 days for a local electrician to come and do a one-hour job. NZ is such a depressing broken country. If the game fishing wasn’t so good I would never return to the country of my birth. Bruce C.
That’s a bit of a mystifying comment, the first paragraph has no relation to the other two. Customer service, not calling back, and the other points you mention are not a part of the assessment of any nation’s economy. The NZ economic rebound in the third quarter of 2022 was the third-highest in the world. We’re doing okay. Philip H.
No, we are not. That increased activity is full of fluff from RBNZ leaving the OCR too low for too long, plus Grant Robertson still spending when he was warned by the banks to stop. Trevor S.
Anyone ever thought that governments worldwide have borrowed a lot of money due to the pandemic, Maybe they want inflation to make the debt smaller in real terms? Steve M.
Governments also want to get re-elected, and that’s not easy during times of rampant inflation. James C.
The 19-year-old disappeared without her wallet or mobile phone.