Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick, moments before announcing the party has asked MP Darleen Tana to resign. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Tana far from Greens’ only problem
The Greens have more than a problem than Darleen Tana “hanging around like a bad smell” as Heather du Plessis-Allan suggests (HoS, July 14).
It’s one of credibility, given the high-profile indiscretions of other colleagues such as Golriz Ghahraman, a recently convicted shoplifter, Elizabeth Kerekere’s alleged bullying and Julie Anne Genter’s out-of-control shouting in Parliament.
There is also the Greens supposedly holding the moral high ground in their championing of things such as saving the planet from climate change while polluting the atmosphere by flying around the world to attend climate change conferences. Why not use Zoom?
Then there is the party’s stance in Gaza by demonising Israel whilst aligning itself with the terrorist group Hamas. Then by “defending” free speech last year by leading the charge and shouting down Posie Parker, a self-styled women’s activist, who just happened to have views different from those of the Green Party.
If the Greens don’t see the hypocrisy at times of their own actions then they should not only wish that the odorous Darleen Tana leave Parliament, but also the rest of their party, as to stay in the chamber would risk all others present to suffer ultimately from asphyxiation.
Bernard Walker, Mount Maunganui.
Golden workers
Thank you for finally speaking out about the covert discrimination older workers face (HoS, July 14).
The problem with ageism is it’s difficult to hide who we are (and why should we) unless plastic surgery is a viable option and, if so, it’s unlikely we would be applying for a position we’re deemed to be “overqualified” for – a euphemism for we aren’t getting the job.
It’s an intractable problem not easily proved or disproved and younger recruiters who turn down older workers based on perception rather than reality should listen up. Older workers don’t slack off (our physical fitness is a priority), we don’t gossip and create drama (we’ve already experienced enough drama in our lives), and we know how to mitigate commercial challenges because we’ve faced and resolved many of them before.
Are some of us tech dinosaurs? Perhaps, but keep in mind we earned our degrees and or qualifications at a time when there was no Google or generative AI. We know how to research, to intuit relevant information and, more importantly, how to apply that information.
As new graduates leave our shores in ever-increasing numbers, here we are, our knowledgeable, wrinkled selves waiting for an opportunity. Life is linear and, in 20 or 30 years, all you interviewers will be sitting across from some youthful face judging your right to be there applying for a position you’re overqualified for.
Mary Hearn, Glendowie.
Ambulances and donations
Following the letters in the Herald on Sunday (July 14) about ambulance funding, I think there are two different scenarios.
Firstly, those we have do a wonderful job with what they have. In the past, Hato Hone St John has asked for financial funding from the Government while not wanting to lose its charitable status. I’m sorry, but you cannot have it both ways.
Secondly, there is the strength and availability of ambulance services. We see them advertising for donations to build new stations while at the same time closing stations in the centre of the North Island. In November last year, I collapsed and had to wait over four hours for an ambulance, and finally one came from Tauranga. We have two ambulances at our station but only one is manned.
Thirdly, one must consider the arrogance of ambulance management in allocating ambulances. A friend and his wife donated a new ambulance for their district in Auckland, only to be told several months later that this unit was now to be sent to Whanganui. Why would anyone want to donate an ambulance for their community if it’s going to be sent hundreds of kilometres away, where no one knows who they are?
Trevor Green, Matamata.
Read this, parents
It is indeed a sad world when caregivers of the children they chose to bring into it profess to be too busy to spend 15-30 minutes reading books to their children so that they get a headstart at school.
To see a child try to turn the pages of a book by scrolling and having the vocabulary of a 2-year-old on entry to school is a sad indictment on NZ society today. Why are adults so busy when they have more time-saving devices than ever?
My mother was a solo mum, working eight hours in physical labour, and managed all household chores and maintenance with no financial help and yet found time for a bedtime story every single night.
She also valued education and good behaviour. Children, sadly, have no choice as to which family they are raised in and no voice as to their upbringing. They did not ask to be born.
Marie Kaire, Whangārei.
Young offenders
One only has to follow pieces in the NZ Herald over time to realise that silo-type thinking to solve community problems doesn’t work.
Last week we read that it was only the foresight of Dave Letele Snr to send his son, Dave Jnr, to Australia to live with his grandparents, to escape the gang culture, that stopped him going down the same path as his father (HoS, July 14).
Unfortunately, not all children get that opportunity. In the same issue of the paper we read of recidivist offender Cyress Martin, 18, whose background makes for difficult reading, being given a six-year jail sentence with Judge Thomas Ingram saying everything had been tried but “enough is enough”.
According to paediatrician Sir Peter Gluckman, an international expert on child development, it is known that environmental influences starting from before birth and acting right through childhood have the biggest outcomes for children.
For Cyress Martin, hopefully, it won’t be too late. But isn’t it time we joined the dots and invested in our children’s and their whānau’s futures? Then, just maybe, we wouldn’t have such tragic outcomes.
Glennys Adams, Waiheke Island.
Kick out gunman
I agree completely with Hugh Webb’s letter “Deport mosque gunman” (HoS, July 14). I have wondered all along why Kiwis should have been made to feel any guilt whatsoever over the dreadful mosque shootings.
The perpetrator of this hideous crime is a citizen of Australia. Considering that Australia’s PM has no intention of stopping sending NZ citizen offenders back here, we should just follow his lead.
The Prime Minister at the time, Jacinda Ardern, was seriously remiss by not doing so. The other side of this is that NZ taxpayers are likely still paying compensation for this terrible event. This was supposed to be for five years, but some requested an extension.
Deporting Brenton Tarrant back to where he came from should have already occurred and should be completed without any further delay, which would be in the area of responsibility of our Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith as well as Prime Minister Christopher Luxon.
Colleen Wright, Botany Downs.
Itsy bitsy bikinis
The editorial “Bare-faced cheek draws ire” (HoS, July 14) was a good read. Not being a visitor to an aquatic centre, I didn’t have any idea of the surprises to be found there – fungal nails, people exfoliating in the steam rooms and loved-up teens making out, to name a few. And now, there are young women in G-string bikinis.
Quite probably these young women have been watching the Love Island “girls” and have decided, like them, to strut around in minute pieces of material held together with dental floss.
One day these G-string wearers will look back and think did I really wear that in public, like I do when I look at photos of the itsy bitsy teeny weeny bikinis I wore on the beaches in Perth. Ah, they were the days.
Lorraine Kidd, Warkworth.
How a resilient Kiwi village hopes to bounce back from a big drop in visitors.