It is frustrating as a voter to listen to MPs and prospective candidates offering us an increasingly desperate mix of short-term incentives to win our vote whilst ignoring things that are important to our long-term future as a country, writes David Tucker. Photo / Mark Mitchell
NZ needs a long-term outlook
Tuesday’s opinion piece by Matthew Bennett is the most intelligent and thought-provoking article I have read in a long time. Why aren’t people like him running the country? It is frustrating as a voter to listen to MPs and prospective candidates offering us an increasingly desperate mix of short-term incentives to win our vote whilst ignoring things that are important to our long-term future as a country. My only hope is that there will be an outbreak of common sense and we will collectively find a way to incentivise positive long-term change to reposition the economy and the country for the next 50 years. Surely we can have strong social and commercial sectors if we have the courage to develop and adhere to a positive plan that includes everyone.
David Tucker, Remuera.
Time limit
Not only are lives saved when the speed limit is lowered but travel time can also be reduced. Simon Wilson quotes (Herald, Sept 26) “In March 2022, Waka Kotahi reduced the speed limit on the Napier-Taupō road. An independent review of the first year, by Ernst and Young, found that 34 crashes were avoided. The economic benefit was put at $93 million. “The upside was merely that journey times over the 76km road decreased between 36 seconds and 3.6 minutes.” Add in the time it takes to clear a crash on a highway. A July 2023 trip between Taupō and Napier took us an extra three hours because of a crash.
Stephen Buckland, Mt Albert.
Shifting boundaries
The anomaly that exists under the MMP and FPP system of government and why — regardless of the majority vote — it is the number of the seats in Parliament that counts is the reason Donald Trump (with less votes than Hillary Clinton) won in 2016. There have been similar results here, where what the majority want doesn’t count and in fact is further exacerbated by the MMP system. One solution might be to ensure electorates are of equal size in population. For example, Auckland has the same population as the South Island has 25 electorates. The South Island has 16. Auckland has disproportionately more political clout and that seems to be intrinsically an unfair system. It would mean some regions with sparse populations, such as the West Coast, would have their electoral boundaries on a population basis widened to match each of the electorates in Auckland. Unless I’ve got my arithmetic wrong that would engender a fairer system where the majority of voters are guaranteed to get what they voted for.
Gary Hollis, Mellons Bay.
Credit Grant
Grant Robertson has been attacked by the National Party as New Zealand’s worst Minister of Finance. Time to out this as blatant misrepresentation. Take cost-of-living inflation. Traditionally the incumbent government is blamed by the electorate for economic downturns. So National is exploiting this to hammer Robertson. But informed voters see the lie and see the injustice.When New Zealand is compared, it has consistently had lower inflation and less unemployment over the last few years. This current inflation cycle is a global reality: Covid, the Ukraine war, oil prices linked to historically high oil profit levels to just mention the obvious. National claims Robertson has wrecked the economy by presiding over reckless spending. But everyone loved the Robertson-reduced fuel prices, and the financial support through Covid and the 2023 climate events. Robertson gave nurses and teachers the pay hikes they deserve and waited in vain for under John Key’s tenure. Robertson is not being judged a financial failure by economists. Only by National.
Angela Yatri, Auckland.
Turning point
Kate MacNamara (Herald, September 26) posits that histories seek turning points. Over time, various members of Parliament have come to be associated with certain defining policies. Think Robert Muldoon, Ruth Richardson, Roger Douglas. According to MacNamara, the last $5 billion with which he topped up and misused the fund for fighting Covid, may be the defining moment for which Robertson will be remembered.
Glennys Adams, Oneroa.
Rare blooms
It is a curious phenomenon that the flower “expertus proliferous” only comes into blossom in the same season as the New Zealand electoral cycle begins. The fact that they lie dormant for three years has yet to be explained. This season they are everywhere. Media personalities fawn over their colourful displays even though some varieties have a pungent odour. Reds and blues, plus some of the lesser shades are carefully scrutinised and compared for public popularity. In three week’s time the blossoms will wilt and never come into full flower. The cloak of invisibility will descend on them and they will not be seen for another three years. How sad.
Rob Elliott, Kohimarama.
Civics responsibility
I would’ve thought it was a no-brainer for at least one major party to make compulsory civics a matter of policy this election. Studies worldwide cite it as an antidote against conspiracy theories, echo-chambered and chatroom alternative realities, and the influence of these in skewing the kind of information needed for free-and-fair elections. But no. Is it that the influence is already being felt on politicians and their campaign masters: no critical thinking about critical thinking? Or is there just zero understanding that for a democracy to be functional you at least need citizens to have access to information they can establish as fact — combined with critical thinking skills that enable voters to distinguish promises from unbacked fantasy?
Steve Liddle, Napier.
Sense and sensibility
It is fortunate that the Hollywood Screen Writers’ strike is tentatively resolved. It means we will have assistance in writing the script for the recent poll results. The only difficulty is that we need to decide on the genre. Do we make it a comedy in the vein of The Three Amigos or a western in the vein of The Good, The Bad and the Ugly? Sadly, the Screen Actors Guild is still on strike so we will have to accept Christopher Luxon, David Seymour and Winston Peters as stand-ins. With Winston’s track record as a disruptor, what are the bookies giving as odds on the likelihood of an early election? Surely, if there is one, we’ll see a case of “all is forgiven” and the return of Chris Hipkins and company. What New Zealand really needs is a stable, sensible Government that takes us forward while protecting the environment and climate and the disadvantaged, not one that rips things apart and sets us back.
Dunstan Sheldon, Hamilton.
TOP ranking
It is disappointing that the TOP party is continually ignored by Herald political columnists. While its ranking in the latest Newshub-Reid poll sits at 1.9 per cent, a mere 0.3 per cent behind the Māori Party, it did not rate a mention in Tuesday’s newspaper. TOP leader Raf Manji is a serious contender for Christchurch’s Ilam seat, due to electorate popularity for contributions to local body government, especially earthquake recovery service. The outgoing Parliament has three parties with one elected member — Act, Greens and Māori. The rest are list members. Manji’s major appeal to is to ethical voters (what’s best for New Zealand, not myself) where one imagines the undecided sit at present. TOP’s tax and Teal card policies inject oxygen into our present system — incapable of preventing further polarising the nation into have-gots and have-nots.
Graeme Putt, Remuera.
Vision of the future
Parties standing for the election seem primarily focused on policies and strategies to solve the many grave and multiplying issues that impair our country. They declare various solutions to fix the issues. But somehow it feels like many are stopgap answers, much like our escalating temporary roading patches, that will require yet further “rework and repair”. Our country is missing a holistic, integrated, guiding vision that, despite the current national and international turmoil and the election brouhaha, gives context to our issues and declares what we aspire to achieve and become. A vision that stretches us beyond temporary “pothole repairs”. What if we adopted a vision statement like the following? New Zealand: A care-full, creative, foremost nation, guided by fairness and goodwill, uniquely impelled by expertise and capability, where all benefit and prosper.” Such a statement could be both the activator for and “measure” by which we will progress as a people.
Peter Haythornthwaite, Auckland.
On tax
Everybody seems to want more money paid to teachers, nurses, doctors and Pharmac but according to the polls nobody wants to pay tax. Sam Cunningham, Henderson.
On welfare
What is “criminalising” about making job seeker beneficiaries accountable by having them reapply for their benefit every 6 months? Wendy Tighe-Umbers, Parnell.
On change
I have had medical insurance for as long as I can remember, and it is horrendously expensive. I have also had the same four lines in Lotto since it started. Very little call has been made on the health insurance (thank goodness) and Lotto has been most unkind (darn it!). However, I don’t feel I can stop contributing to either one. Gary Andrews, Mt Maunganui.
On the Wahs
Now league fever has abated, I think “Up the Wahs!” should be reviewed as a slogan. It’s too close to “Up yours” and “Up the Wazoo”. I suggest “Go the Wahs!” as the most fully-positive battle-cry for the future. Clyde Scott, Birkenhead.
On Peters
When Winston Peters notes on multiple occasions of late that “it is voters that decide elections, not political leaders” it would appear to be very strong evidence that his memory conveniently stretches no further back than 2017. Ed Porter, Herne Bay.
Richard Prebble: National landslide in electorates, but what about the vote that really decides?
I do not think I have read an opinion piece in the Herald that has had as many comments as this. Reading many has made me realise just how frustrated and annoyed the average New Zealander is with this current Govt. and also how much damage they have done to the country economically and socially. If we went back six years we were never, as a country, so divided in our views. This, along with our economic mess, is one of the worst outcomes of the Ardern/Hipkins Govt. And it will take a very long time to mend before we again start to sing from the same song sheet. I am so extremely proud to be a NZer and believe I am tolerant(to a limit) but even I am now openly criticising those with whom I do not share similar political viewpoints. Six years ago I would have discussed, now I criticise. Damn Labour/Greens for their policies to divide and conquer at our expense. Peter D.
We had a chance to get rid of it in 2011, but didn’t take it. I guess now that we have seen the failings MMP can be there might be a better appetite for change. We do need it. Storm R.
Labour is a confused party, even for their own supporters, kids don’t attend school regularly, health is a mess. In justice they seem happy to facilitate the reduction of the prison population by 30%. and yet wonder why crime is a problem. They crave more tax dollars despite receiving and spending 60+% more courtesy of tax creep.What’s been delivered? It feels like a social experiment gone wrong. Wayne M.
Detectives flew to Victoria, NSW and Queensland as part of the investigation.