Letters: On the election, healthcare, bus lanes and supermarkets

Letter of the week: Graeme Mackay

Does anyone seriously believe that a general election will really improve or change living in New Zealand? The most natural coalition is between Labour and National. This is how politicians such as Winston Peters and Peter Dunne were able to seamlessly change support between the major parties as required to ensure their own job security. Labour is no more comfortable with strong Green policy than National is with Act or more correctly, neither is brave enough to acknowledge they are. Where the major parties used to have strong principles that differentiated them, they now choose to place that difference on the personalities that will lead them. Who cares about who is the preferred prime minister if that person is doomed to be in opposition? Unfortunately, the last 15 years have appeared to show that many base their voting choices on the leader they find most appealing. The result is that the chosen one does not want to do anything that will upset the masses. While we have had relatively good economies for years now with strong immigration the generated growth has seen our education, health, infrastructure, environmental and public service standards all decline. How can competent governments let this happen and then somehow expect us to believe they will do better next time? Show us some guts in policy – what will you do and how will you fund it in clear terms, so the results are measurable, not just give some vague spin. There is nothing I have seen so far that would encourage me that casting a vote will make any real difference. Graeme Mackay, Kerikeri.

Moderation needed

I have a comprehensive model of society in which the driver of random social violence is development of tension referred to as social angst. The immature politicians who judge it is about ‘winning’ almost at any cost in terms of lies and deceit and lack of openness, are a major if not the whole cause of randomised social angst. It has been rife in the US for decades. Recent politics in New Zealand has escalated lies, spin and deceit. Social tensions across the board have increased. Much of it well beyond the control of citizens, where elite groups have taken it unto themselves to impose change, the change undiscussed. They judge they are right, and we all need get used to it. The result: social angst. Media are major contributors with deeply uninformed and unthinking journalists supporting levels of activism which can only be described as extreme. Unless we moderate ourselves with some semblance of self-discipline, pull back with acceptance no one will agree with whatever you demand we do, so best get workable compromise, even when one judges it far from enough. We are now clearly as US, just a few decades behind. Dr Graham Little, Birkenhead.

Medic stress

Why in this day and age, are doctors and nurses, expected to work 12-hour + shifts? You want the best healthcare if you have to be admitted to hospital in an emergency situation - so why are we having to rely on so many staff who are stressed and overwhelmed at being under extreme pressure for 12 hours, or even more! All other trades have an eight-hour shift, we know we need more healthcare staff but why expect them all to work for 12 hours, or even longer if they have no other choice! It’s time they only have to work an eight-hour shift, with time to decompress. They’re needing time to relax and have a life between work and home, we don’t have robots to replace them yet! They also need a rate of pay that relates to their experience, the hours, stress and care they give everyone, everyday. If you honestly thought about it, could you do the work they do, and continue to come back? Trish Mahon-Adams, Totara Vale.

Countdown to Woolworths

It was not too many years ago Woolworths succeeded in getting approval to take over Countdown supermarkets after extended lobbying and unspecified pressure on the Commerce Commission in Wellington. I remember the late Tim Rattray, founder of Countdown, saying Woolworths would get what they want because the Commerce Commission is weak. The result of that takeover was NZ ended up with only two Supermarket Operators having had three and where there used to be a reasonable amount of competition in a small country and prices for all groceries were affordable. The supermarket scene gradually changed for the worse afterwards. The Government has recently appointed a grocery commissioner to look at prices and supermarket operations. The commissioner’s role is a part of the Commerce Commission. Just force Woolworths to sell the original Countdown supermarkets regardless of how much it costs them. Brent Marshall, Whangaparaoa

Revise, not scrap, policies

Christopher Luxon is committing a serious error in announcing that he’ll reverse or scrap more than a dozen Labour policy initiatives. Studies of policy reversals suggest that they reduce the effectiveness of government policies generally. Policies become ignored/evaded on the grounds that they’ll soon be changed or not administered. Instead of scuttling policies, it is advisable to revise and improve them. Reversing policies usually amounts to returning to the status quo ante, complete with tolerance of the problem the policy was formulated to address. Luxon is showing political naivete and a lack of policy solutions when he threatens to reverse rather than improve policies that Labour has enacted. Robert Myers, central Auckland.

More bus lanes

As someone who prefers to walk rather than drive my old gas guzzler for local trips, due to a knee injury I have been using public transport quite a lot lately. Off-peak, with flexible departure and arrival times, it has been a great success. Fairly busy daytime buses are a very economical way to travel around the city but one thing really sticks out. Most routes have the buses stuck in traffic along with all the single-occupant cars. So instead of building the hugely expensive and underused cycleways, just get on and build more bus lanes. As buses whiz along the northern busway past the slowly moving motorway traffic it is obvious that this is the better solution for Auckland. Take parked cars off the busiest routes and make them dedicated bus and T3 lanes. A much more affordable way to get Aucklanders moving and save the environment at the same time. Sorry cyclists, you will always be a vocal but small minority of road users and in these dire economic times, at the back of the queue for expensive but underused roading real estate. James Archibald, Birkenhead.

Role of upbringing

P. Belsham (Letters, July 20) believes that youths who are underprivileged and lack positive role models will exhibit anti-social behaviour, and that children are not born criminals. Having previously worked in Corrections, I would add that young people who appear before a court for serious offending have almost invariably been subjected to or witnessed domestic violence and that substance abuse was prevalent in the home. That said, the nature/nurture debate is not to be ignored. For many years I supervised a life parolee who had been convicted of murdering his landlady in a drunken rage. His father and brother had also been convicted of murder. Coincidence? I do not believe so. There have been many similar cases worldwide which support the proposition that a gene mutation plays a crucial role in violent aggression. And genetic traits can overcome a damaging childhood, as the longitudinal study by Dr David Ferguson showed. So the issue is complex, but there is no doubt children raised in a stable home environment are much less likely to appear before a court. Bruce Anderson, Christchurch.

Bank experience

Recent letters from Gil Laurenson (Weekend Herald July 1) and Sheelah Chalklen (WH July 8) highlight lengthy queues and waiting times in their banks. I’m fortunate to bank with the Co-operative Bank and frequent their Henderson branch on occasion. They let you in with a smile, you sit at a desk and are attended to immediately. Your lucky if there’s another customer in at the same time. The bank shares its profits with customers. I only pay $10 a month bank fees for all services, debit card, online and in person banking. Its a good feeling supporting a Kiwi bank and it was easy to change banks. Our money should stay here, not take off overseas. Kaylene McPike, Massey.

A quick word

What an absolutely wonderful police force we have in New Zealand. The rapid response to the shooting in Auckland on Thursday and the bravery of the officers was outstanding. Thank you. Lorraine Kidd, Warkworth.

Surely ‘home detention’ is ‘home detention’, not ‘home and work detention’. Again a number of families are grieving the loss of their loved ones because of failures in our justice and probation systems. It yet remains to see where the sawn-off shotgun came from. Randal Lockie, Rothesay Bay.

It doesn’t matter how hard the government parties toughen up on crime they are not the ones meting out the justice - it is the judges! Dennis Manson, Unsworth Heights.

‘Do you know who I am?’ is now, ‘Do you know who owns this dog?’ Neil Hatfull, Warkworth.

Gangs can’t be changed or stopped, just monitored and punished. It is the early teens that need to be done to. Homes where education is not valued and promoted are where children will underachieve at school, have low self-esteem become truant, and be attracted to car theft and ram-raiding. Alan Duff saw this and started Books in Homes. There could be a cohort of mentors that visit homes with books and engagement. Grant Lilly, Waiheke.

The sad case of Lauren Dickason who is accused of killing her three daughters is being played out across our tv screens nightly. Is it right that she has to stand in court with the camera trained on her? Her husband has been allowed to testify without the public seeing him. Surely we can have compassion for this woman, who has been in custody at a psychiatric unit. Rosemary Balme, Howick.

In the case of the lack of KiwiSaver funds amounts accumulated by the time of retirement, one reason given is because of the gender pay gap. Another one is the amount not contributed because a lot of women take time out from work to raise children. I don’t recall anyone suggesting what could or should be done to address this issue and if there is a solution, who should pay for it. Barry Towers, Morrinsville.

Murray McMillan, (Letters, July 20), is puzzled by the lack of Warriors coverage. Most NZ citizens are rugby union supporters and have no care at all for other codes. They can’t bothered to buy tickets to the big Fifa show we are having. Small-minded, insular and ignorant are three words that come to mind. Jim McCormick, Gisborne.

I take issue with Chloe Swarbrick perpetuating the lie that the wealthy in this country pay less than half the effective tax rate of the average New Zealander. IRD data shows that the top 1 per cent of earners in New Zealand pay an average of 27.4 per cent of their income in tax. The average tax rate for all earners in New Zealand is 20.2 per cent. L Andrews, Kumeu.

When major philosophical changes are undertaken, such as in the new science curriculum, where is the opportunity for those of us outside the science and education upper echelons to have our say? It is imperative that there is opportunity for community consultation. Glennys Adams, Waiheke.