Letters: David Seymour out of his depth on school lunch debate; NZDF plane just another asset politicians have neglected

"[David Seymour] will be forever remembered for dissing 'woke sushi' as a suitable school lunch." Photo / Mark Mitchell

Seymour bites off more than he can chew

Excellent opinion piece from Sir Ian Taylor (NZ Herald, June 17) on free school lunches. While Sir Ian respects David Seymour’s right to speak his mind on the cost of free education and lunches in schools, I believe Seymour to be way out of his depth from a position of privilege in the electorate of Epsom to speak with any authority on the nutrition or adequacy of lunch for children.

Exactly how he ended up in charge of the school lunch programme so far from the coalface of raising children in poverty exposes a ridiculous part of his portfolio, and he will be forever remembered for dissing “woke sushi” as a suitable school lunch. If a $3 sandwich is the highlight of a hungry child’s life at school, don’t expect them to learn anything.

Coralie van Camp, Remuera.

Proud to be woke

As I sat down to my delicious “woke” sushi lunch, I thought is being woke a bad thing? If so, how so?

Wikipedia defines woke as aware, conscious, evolved and alert, particularly with regard to social injustice and racism. I think I’m proud to be woke.

Roger Laybourn, Hamilton.

National neglect

The fact that several Prime Ministers have been let down by the NZDF’s aged Boeing 757 could serve as a reminder that this is what happens when you don’t maintain assets on which you depend. Christopher Luxon has recently had a similar example of a neglected asset when he refused to live at Premier House.

The rest of New Zealand experiences similar lack of maintenance in daily life: potholes, mouldy classrooms, leaking hospitals and unsafe courthouses. This coalition has shown that it wants to continue with more infrastructure deficit so that it can make token tax cuts.

Peter D. Graham, Helensville.

Plane v ferries

What is more important, ships to cross the Cook Strait carrying thousands of passengers and freight each year, or a plane to carry politicians and dignitaries overseas when passenger planes can do the same at a cheaper cost to taxpayers?

Wendy Galloway, Ōmokoroa.

Boot camp fallacy

In listening recently to the reflections of a retired probation officer who visited a boot camp set up by a previous National-led Government, he said such camps only “turn crims into fitter crims”.

His view, as with many others dealing with youth crime, was clear: it is support that is needed for these young offenders, not punishment. So isn’t it time we stopped talking about ambulances – or, more appropriately, paddy wagons – at the bottom of the cliff and urge the Government to provide fleets of ambulances at the top of the cliff?

John Hunt, Hobsonville.

Ponsonby Rd realities

The Ponsonby strip after hours has always been a nightmare once the drinks start after five.

Russell Hoban’s letter (NZ Herald, June 19) is simply a gripe that his neighbourhood doesn’t want this type of behaviour. Loutish behaviour happens everywhere there is an entertainment strip. The only way Hoban will achieve his goal is to bring back prohibition.

John Ford, Napier.

Trash talk

After 27 years of rubbish collections on Wednesday in Grey Lynn, I was pretty much used to the routine of putting out the bins. However, Auckland Council wrote to ratepayers here yesterday to tell us that, “to maximise efficiency and enhance service delivery... your kerbside collection day will change to Wednesday”.

You can imagine how disruptive this change might be and I take my hat off to the geniuses who devised the project. A helpful 12-month calendar was attached showing when to expect Wednesday each week and, if you’ll pardon the spoiler, it seems to fall between Tuesday and Thursday every time.

While much of the CBD remains closed, iconic stores pull down the shutters and we look forward to the 2030s when the CRL will take us to watch the tumbleweed in Queen Street, I am at least reassured that our future is in safe hands.

Stephen d’Antal, Grey Lynn.

Deregulation alert

I have a glaring example for Richard Prebble (NZ Herald, June 19) of why rampant deregulation is a bad notion – the leaky building crisis.

Cut oversight and enforced standards, which is what deregulation really means, and greed runs rampant. We don’t want more of Act’s Wild West deregulation, we need the opposite to properly rebuild this nation. We need proper taxation, more oversight and well-funded public services.

Jeff Hayward, Auckland Central.

Treaty training

The requirement for real estate agents to undertake three diversity training sessions “to navigate the different perspectives that relate to the discussions on Treaty principles” (NZ Herald, June 19) is absurd.

Using that same ideology, does this mean that both vendors and purchasers of property will also be required to have an understanding of the Treaty in order to proceed with their house sale?

Sue White, West Harbour.