Letters: Heather du Plessis-Allan, bulk buying and tax inequities

To get serious about saving money on fruit and vegetables, what we did as families decades ago, was buy from the wholesale City Markets. Photo / Supplied

Letter of the week:

Bulk buying saves cash and the environment

To get serious about saving money on fruit and vegetables, what we did as families decades ago, was buy from the wholesale City Markets. We bought 20kg sacks of spuds, bags of carrots, cases of tomatoes, and boxes of seasonal fruit like apples, feijoas, and mandarins. After school it was a carrot, tomato on toast, or fruit; there was no junk food. You help the environment by cutting food miles and you stop produce getting broken down into plastic packaging for retail selling. You also have tons of fresh healthy produce on tap, at a lot less money per kilo. Two savings we made last week at the Auckland markets in Mt Wellington was a carton of 28 capsicums for $30 + GST ($3.29 each at some stores last week), and a 5kg box of fresh Medjool dates, which happily freeze, for about $110 including GST. We see dates retail for $42 per kilo, so some great savings. Makes a lot of sense and gets that community spirit going again buying in bulk for family and friends. Glenn Forsyth, Taupō

The undemocratic nature of co-governance

Heather du Plessis Allan’s column (April 23) is an excellent reminder of the undemocratic nature of co-governance over water, our health system and the government proposal to do the same with every council in the country. What better person to back up her arguments than Labour Minister for Local Government Kieran McAnulty who openly admitted the idea of co-governance is undemocratic? Why is it being proposed that one group of people can have a disproportionate say over the governance of certain aspects of our country while abandoning the principles of one of the oldest democracies in the world? One of the main arguments has been that Māori have a right to their say in these things and that co-governance is the way to give this to them. However, Māori already have that say as they comprise of 24 per cent of representatives in Parliament compared to 15 per cent of their population so why do they need this added advantage of non-elected representation in other areas that should be of concern to every one of us? They have been elected to Parliament on their own merits through the democratic process so why not continue on this path so as not to cause added confusion and suspicion on the nature of co governance. Kieran McAnulty’s confident assertion that what his Government is doing is undemocratic puts the “moc” right back into democracy. Bernard Walker, Pāpāmoa

Green camouflage

Auckland Council’s new tax grab masquerades in green camouflage. Taking compostable material from your property that costs a fortune to buy and charging you $71.28 a year for the privilege is criminal — theft. If you don’t use their service they effectively steal 2.25 per cent more in rates. If you use it they steal your compost used to reduce the demand for shop grown vegetables. There being no option to opt out, if some enterprising councillor wishes to change this they would get my vote. Steve Russell, Hillcrest

Elephant in the room

Heather du Plessis-Allan applauded Kieran McAnulty for his honesty over Affordable Water Reforms. But is he being completely honest? The elephant in the room is “Te Mana O Te Wai” which is the 100 per cent Māori overseeing body of the 10 water entities. Their statements have to be taken into consideration by the entities. McAnulty thinks there was co-governance in the Treaty. This is wrong. He needs to do more homework. Pauline Alexander, Waiatarua

Not fit for purpose

When 20 per cent of current NZ politicians have fumbled and stumbled over their duties and responsibilities forcing apologies (including those that should have been made, Trevor Mallard) do we not now recognise that too many of our elected politicians are not fit for purpose. It seems the fault lies with the low entry level. We urgently need a quality examination for all current and would be NZ politicians which must be passed (failure means one cannot stand) with marks made public so voters have a better chance of selecting personnel capable of being in government or opposition and making a meaningful contribution to the country. Could some political scientists and personnel consultants please collaborate to create the exam? Gary Carter, Gulf Harbour

Daylight robbery

How interesting is it that Heather du Plessis-Allan is challenging — this time the Government’s spokesperson Kieran McAnulty — on why or how the Three Waters concept stands up on merit and in light of democracy alone. Maybe Heather is arguing again what many of us see as daylight robbery, handing over assets built up over many decades, by New Zealanders, not just white Kiwis or Kiwis of colour. No, by everyone who has ever paid rates, directly or indirectly. Could it therefore not be argued that this minister is in favour of stealing hard-earned infrastructural assets and handing control over to a minority? This entire exercise could — very loosely — be compared to the selling off of Kiwirail, which in effect was built up by the taxpayer, then sold off to bankers and overseas magnates, who in return ran it down, minimised re-investment, only to sell it back a decade or two later in a run-down state for an overinflated value to the government — and for the taxpayer to pick up the tab once again. Thank goodness, that there are still journalists like Heather du Plessis-Allan around, who really care about our country, especially in these fragile times. Rene Blezer, Taupō

Transparent water

Heather du Plessis-Allan labels Three Waters as tinkering with democracy. It was brought about by necessity to bring drinking water up to world health standards and stormwater drainage up to a level to handle current and future needs and not pollute our rivers, streams, lakes and oceans. Unfortunately many councils over many decades have ignored what is below the ground and out of sight and therefore bears the brunt of cost-cutting to appease ratepayers with keeping rates down. The Havelock North saga with drinking water, the boil water notices to numerous regions and the inadequacies in our stormwater system with weather bombs have all shown that present system failing and councils can’t fund or game enough to raise rates for years of underfunding. Sure the presentation wasn’t the best idea, but the Minister in charge was thrown under the bus to present and handle Three Waters while the Government handled other issues of the day. What I do class as undemocratic is the formation of the Super City. Key wanted power, needed Hide and the Act party too do so, and Rodney Hide said only if Auckland legislated to be a Super City. Ratepayers had all their assets stripped with no consultation, only the stroke of pen for power. Sarron Bennett, Manurewa

That’s rich

An unnamed “rich lister” quoted in a front-page article complains that the IRD and Treasury research on tax inequities makes wealthy manufacturers “look like criminals”. While I agree that those who have earned their wealth through privilege and good fortune should not be painted with such broad strokes, neither should we criminalise the condition of poverty, as is often done in both the media and popular discourse. The myth of our ability to raise ourselves out of poverty by dint of savvy and hard work is just that, a myth, which makes it easy for us to blame those mired in it as dumb, lazy, and yes, even criminal. These characterisations are counterproductive and allow us to ignore the real conditions which create poverty. As historian and author Rutger Bregman has so succinctly put it, “Poverty is not a lack of character; it is a lack of cash.” Art Nahill, Meadowbank