The National Party plans to send repeat youth offenders to boot camps. Photo / Getty Images, File
Letter of the week: Michael Blakely, Pt Chevalier
Corrective Training (military-style) institutions in Aotearoa were closed at the beginning of the 1990s. Research had clearly shown CTI was failing the youth, our government, and us as citizens. Sixty-seven per cent re-offended within 12 months of discharge. As their chaplain, I had witnessed the brutal physical, psychological, emotional, and spiritual abuse of these youths. And I was their sole trusted mentor. Youths who had attempted to flee the abuse received broken teeth, broken noses, and dog bites. My complaints were met with derision, threats against my family, and immediate dismissal. My complaints to the Human Rights Commission, Race Relations Commissioner and the Ombudsman failed to bring much-needed interventions. Not deterred, I developed a programme with the assistance of the psychologist, which I ran until my contract (like that of the psychologist) was terminated. Our programme’s focus was on learning and practicing transactional analysis, contemplation, respect for self, others, and creation, Te Tiriti o Waitangi, karakia (prayer) and himene (hymns). One day, a youth said to me “Padre, if I had been taught this in high school, I would never have ended up here”.
Tumultuous waters
Congratulations to Bruce Cotterill on his informative article (Weekend Herald, November 19) regarding both the Government ignoring the 88,000 written Three Waters submissions, but also the sudden and last-minute expansion to confiscation of hydro, coastal and park assets. This is clearly an undemocratic piece of legislation that I hope will stir the normally compliant electorate into a nationwide protest and will provide the Government with yet another chance to ignore the people who put them there.
Richard Telford, Lucas Height.
Knowledge gap
Lower the voting age to 16 at your peril, New Zealand. That is not a political statement. Let me draw a parallel. It would be like giving all 16-year-olds their driving licence without first providing lessons. Three years ago I asked a group of Year 13 top students from 11 Auckland schools what they knew about how local government worked: how is a mayor voted in; what sort of powers does he or she have (and, for the record: he or she has one vote around the table plus a casting vote where there is a tie); what is a local board; who represented them in their neighbourhood? They did not know. The students’ knowledge of how central government worked wasn’t much better. Instead of the courts and Parliament debating the age for voting, the focus should be on our education system. All our young people, not just those who want to make politics a career, have the right to know the facts about how democracy works. It is incumbent on us all to ensure they do. If we leave it to them to try and find out using their fingertips, something will fill the knowledge vacuum.
Felicity Anderson, Murrays Bay.
Attention span
Maybe John Roughan (Weekend Herald, November 19) should visit some of the world’s more modern bridges before condemning the thought of a new harbour bridge for Auckland. To be truly environmentally friendly, he could view them online. A good example is Scotland and its three majestic bridges over the Firth of Forth. One is a heritage rail bridge, one is a traditional suspension road bridge, and the newest is a modern and attractive road bridge. Practical, quicker, and much cheaper to build; they can be designed to be attractive as well as practical.
James Archibald, Birkenhead.
Global stage
Having followed our PM’s attendance at the latest ASEAN summit, among other visits to various Asian leaders (Weekend Herald, November 19), I was very impressed with the way she was welcomed and treated by all those she engaged with. Ardern has, over her time as our country’s globally respected and admired leader, shown herself as an articulate and intelligent ambassador for our country. She has, during her 25 years in politics at all levels, developed another admirable skill. She displays a great deal of diplomacy and tact during particularly awkward negotiations. This can only come through years of practice. I wonder how the current leaders of the Opposition would cope in her place, should they ever become the government of NZ. The “we are the reset”, bull in a china shop approach we’ve seen so far won’t endear them to any global leaders they may encounter. Luxon and Willis are still very much the new kids on the block, with a combined parliamentary history of around six years. Can anyone really, hand on heart, say these two are ready to play a definitive role in our world’s current precarious climate along with other heads of state? Our PM has proved to be one who does have something to offer. Luxon and Willis have yet to prove they have anything of worth to offer their own country, let alone anyone else’s. A few more years on the back benches may help them grow into the positions they aspire to. They are definitely not ready to take the reins yet.
Jeremy Coleman, Hillpark.
Sanctions nonsense
Nanaia Mahuta must have unfettered access to Labour’s wet bus ticket machine. She uses that access to regularly ban Russians who never have any intention of coming to New Zealand, but they are formally issued a sanction as a pretence for action. Who knew Putin even had two daughters, let alone that they had a secret desires to come here, perhaps to learn Maori balalaika playing? Who knew Belarusian President Lukashenko had a son who apparently wanted to try unicycle back-packing on our cycle trails? The sanctions make the same amount of sense as Three or Five Waters. Virtue-signalling masquerading as action to fix a problem that doesn’t exist.
K F Wilson, Devonport.
Pooh-poohed
I hope I am only one of many who were revolted by the news of a planned topsy-turvy film featuring Pooh Bear and Friends (Weekend Herald, November 19). Masterminded by Rhys Frake-Waterfield, it is due to be released next year with the sub-title Blood and Honey and will be an outrageous gore-fest trashing everything good and decent about the original AA Milne characters and stories so loved by millions. Frake-Waterfield is now planning a hatchet job on Peter Pan and has some juicy aberrations in store for Tinkerbell apparently. The field is wide open for plunder. Alice in Wonderland/Through the Looking Glass and The Wind in the Willows will no doubt come up on Frake-Waterfield’s radar for future exploitation. If he, as I’m sure he intends, makes a lot of money, it will prove beyond doubt how many people are prepared to pay their money to support the denigration of what was once considered of great value. “This is the way the world will end: not with a bang but a whimper.”
Jock Crawford, Flagstaff.
If dairies stopped selling cigarettes the risk of robbery would be lessened considerably. Unfortunately, the mighty dollar rules over safety in most dairies. Hans Braun, Takapuna.
Expect billion-dollar bank profits to grow year after year after year after year. Their shareholders are laughing all the way to the bank. Graham Fleetwood, Botany Downs.
People are struggling with inflation. Here’s a good idea. Let’s increase interest rates to make it even harder. Alan Jenkinson, One Tree Hill.
As a simpleton civilian, can an economist explain two things to me: Where do all these massive increases in interest payments go? Why does the Reserve Bank need to do all this damage to get inflation under control? Alan Kemp, Herne Bay.
Bruce Cotterill’s article (WH, Nov. 19) raises some very real concerns on Labour’s expansion of the Three Waters legislation. Like Cotterill, I find the process appalling. Rod McMahon, Birkenhead.
I am pleased to see Detective Inspector Scott Beard in charge of the incident where a man was killed at a dairy. He is a man that I am sure gives people confidence in getting results. Linda Beck, West Harbour.
The world over, we need to cut the power to Russian embassies and consulates. John McConnell, Silverdale.
How much more evidence do we need that the current All Blacks management cannot coach an 80-minute team performance? Peter Beyer, Sandringham.
A total of 17 All Blacks head coaches have a better winning record than Ian Foster’s 67 per cent since 2020. Please do not sign with any other country yet, Razor. Gary Carter, Gulf Harbour.
How about boot camp for white-collar criminals? C C McDowall, Rotorua.
Instead of Defence Minister Peeni Henare wasting his time in Ukraine, why doesn’t he go to Russia and visit Putin where all this trouble started? Peter Reekie, Whangamatā.
The majority of councils have shown they are more capable of maintaining infrastructure than the government. One only has to look at our state highways for proof. Denys Crengle, Paraparaumu.
The argument that the voting age should be lowered to 16 because at this age they can have children is seriously flawed. A great many of this age group are ill-equipped for both responsibilities. Maxine Samson, Whakatāne.
In response to Winnie the Pooh slasher movie (WH, Nov. 19), what’s next, Nightmare On Sesame Street - Cookie Monster Kills? Appalling. Helen Lowe, Albany.
Three of the whales succumbed on the shore.