It would save parents and caregivers money if all state/integrated schools had the same base uniform – like in the United Kingdom. You can buy uniforms from multiple stores just about anywhere.
If schools need their own crest/logos these can be patches ironed-on to shirt pockets/blazer pockets/hats and perhaps winter socks can have the school colours - socks are often the cheapest part of the ensemble.
This would reduce the hit on parents/caregivers and will largely insulate against schools deciding to change uniforms. The downside is schools would lose selling uniforms as a revenue stream.
Celia Bailey, St Heliers.
PM at Waitangi
The editorial “Waitangi no-show seen as a snub” is way off beam (HoS, Jan 26).
It unjustly criticises Christopher Luxon for heading elsewhere than Waitangi. Let’s just use common sense here. Why would anyone go to Waitangi when you will be verbally abused, have things thrown at you, pushed around and jostled and totally disrespected even though as Prime Minister, the position should demand respect.
I have for many years cringed at the disgraceful treatment bestowed by Māori against Government leaders over the years.
The editorial goes on to say that Crown-Māori relations are strained at the best of times, but it ignores the continual disrespect in Parliament shown by the leaders of the Māori Party as they seek to protest over many issues, rather than debating them civilly. It annoys me, so why should the Prime Minister be any different?
Why would the Prime Minister go there? Waitangi Day seems to be about continual protest, so let’s change it back to New Zealand Day.
David Hallett, Mount Maunganui.
Trump genius
Donald Trump is a political genius. I despise him, his arrogance, his cruelty and his utter disregard for decency.
But I cannot deny that his strategy is masterful. He employs a kind of shock and awe repurposed for politics to dominate news cycles, control narratives and disarm opponents.
Yet crucially he has not broken any laws or wielded extraordinary powers. Every mechanism he has used was available to previous presidents. The difference? No one else had his audacity.
He pushes the boundaries relentlessly, stretching the system without shattering it. His power lies not in dictatorship but in his ability to manipulate democratic structures to his advantage.
What makes him both powerful and dangerous is his ability to reshape discourse, forcing opponents to engage on his terms. And rhetoric matters, it can reshape the world.
New Zealand is not exempt. We may feel distant from the chaos of American politics, but its influence seeps into our own discourse. We see echoes of Trump’s style in the emboldened populism of figures like Shane Jones, whose remarks about Mexicans sparked backlash.
We must recognise this reality, not to fear it, but to understand it. The game of politics has changed. Whether we admire or despise Trump, we must acknowledge that he has played it better than anyone before and that it has changed the landscape of political discord in New Zealand.
Rion Roben, Hastings.
School breakfasts
Accepting the fact that children are reportedly going to school hungry, why then are we waiting to feed them until lunchtime?
If as stated children require food to learn and to stay concentrating why are we letting them spend half the school learning day hungry when we could feed them from the start of the day?
Surely a better way forward would be to supply breakfast, which with cereals, toast, fruit, yoghurt, baked beans etc would provide a healthy meal start to the day and I would assume be an easier meal to provide as opposed to hot lunches.
Sadly of course the former Labour government that initially funded the school lunch programme out of Covid funding until the end of 2024 failed to provide extended funding or indicate where the future funding of the programme was going to come from..
Breakfast as opposed to lunch is a logical and practicable way forward.
Mike Baker, Tauranga.
Do the time
If ever there is an example of inadequate and unfair justice then look no further than the recent case where an office worker embezzled a hard-working couple to the tune of $465,000 (HoS, Jan 26).
But a judge then decided that a sentence of 4.5 years can be discounted by 60% and then further so until it became less than one year of home detention so that this thief can look after her children.
Meantime the victims lose their business and their hard-earned money. This occurs all too often and one is left wondering why the judge is siding with the criminal. It is just ridiculous and surely illustrates the need for mandatory sentences free of any discounting by judges. You do the crime, you do the time.
Paul Beck, West Harbour.
Anti-wokeness
Shane Jones appears so desperate to claim the mantle of our favourite anti-woke populist that he is risking going full Trump.
With an ageing Winston Peters surely on his last hurrah, Jones knows he has to seriously boost his political profile or risk NZ First fading into disgruntled obscurity and taking him with it.
Jones’ latest outburst of climate change denial mixed with targeting non-Anglo-Saxon immigrants is clearly channelling Trump’s bombastic populist formula.
The problem with going full anti-woke is you are condemning something which derives from “awake” or “aware”.
So what does that say about your grasp of reality? I suspect it is all about the performance, never mind the facts.
Jeff Hayward, Auckland CBD.
Political cynicism
As Liam Dann says in his column it is hard to disagree with the Prime Minister’s sentiment on the need to stop saying “no” (HoS, Jan 26).
But as Dann infers, saying “no” has many contexts. Hopefully a more nuanced memo has got through to Christopher Luxon’s own ministers, Nicola Willis in particular, whose away with the ferries decision to cancel the interisland contract was arguably the most reckless, politically cynical “no” in recent memory.
David Sanders, Torbay.
