Letters to the editor.
It’s how you play game that counts
Letter of the week
Sometimes you win, sometimes you don’t. Yesterday, the All Blacks were in the latter group.
The All Blacks loss to France made me think of a couple of things about sport and the influence on my own home country, Australia, and New Zealand. We are both fanatical about sport, as the world knows.
Rugby and Aussie Rules (invented by Tom Wills, an Australian, ex-Rugby alumni), can trace their genesis to Rugby School, a very prestigious upper class English institution.
As both our countries are consistently considering cutting ties to the “Old Dart”, adopting both our favourite winter codes from under those whose relic colonial clouds we are seemingly trying to escape seems somewhat ironic.
At least these clouds have given us some silver linings we can enjoy.
What we must never forget is that sports of all breeds are fickle beasts and just games to be enjoyed. That’s all.
We were taught at school it’s not whether you win or lose, it’s how you play the game that counts. Sometimes you win, sometimes you don’t. C’est la vie.
Jeremy Coleman, Hillpark
Spending and no delivery
As Kathy Spencer (Letters, September 3) says, “unfortunately, the ability to develop good policy – and successfully implement it – has been lacking for some time”. The Ardern/Hipkins Labour Governments have simply failed to take advice from even their own hand-picked former colleagues, so what was the point in all of that expenditure and no delivery?
No New Zealand government has ever promised more and delivered less than our Government of the last six years. The most important foundation building block for the nation – education – has been trashed by looney theories producing ever worsening results by international standards.
And what happened to Ardern’s pet compassion projects of family violence and mental health she was going to fix? This Government of financial wastrels will not listen to Mike King and cannot even find where to spend the mental health budget. Unbelievable.
When you do your job this badly, you know you are going to be fired.
Gary Carter, Gulf Harbour
Beyond the grave
With David Seymour suggesting support for the Act Party from Nelson Mandela and Kate Sheppard it begs the question: Do you have to be actually dead to support Act or will brain dead suffice?
John O’Neill, Dargaville
Light sentencing
The public are appalled at the light sentencing being handed out by the judiciary such as home detention and community service for serious crimes. A murder suspect was even out on bail with a monitoring bracelet on, which he has taken off and is on the run. I suspect because our jails are full, and with no new ones under construction, the light sentences will have to remain.
Jock Mac Vicar, Hauraki
US justice
New Zealand judges are too liberal. Not so in the US, where perpetrators of the January 6 riots in Washington are receiving heavy terms of imprisonment for their actions that day, up to 18 years’ imprisonment not uncommon so far. No discounts for remorse, early guilty plea, culture, an unfortunate disadvantaged upbringing, disruption to future overseas travel and sporting activities etc.
Phil Chitty, Albany
Mama Hooch rapists
It seems the Mama Hooch rapists may only be deported after serving their sentences of 16 to 17 years. Why not now? The cost of five years’ investigative work and a drawn-out prosecution process must have been prohibitive. Now the New Zealand taxpayer will have to foot the bill for their incarceration. Both brothers don’t hold New Zealand passports and so are not New Zealand citizens. They were born and grew up in Australia. In heinous cases like these, the country of origin should deal with the perpetrators. This would also most likely sit well with the victims.
Bernard Walker, Papamoa
Business, farming support
It looks increasingly like a right-wing government will be elected, thank goodness. Business and farming are the backbone of our country and need to be supported, not regulated to death. The banks, supermarkets and power companies will feel safe, along with investor landlords who need tax breaks to buy and sell more rental properties and keep rents low. Higher tax thresholds, cash in pocket for the squeezed middle (and maybe an extra $10 per week for the bottom feeders). Can we be sure this won’t add to inflation? So, a smaller tax grab from workers, a bigger tax take from the gambling industry and from luxury property sales to wealthy foreign buyers. And far greater governmental efficiencies, while bringing in thousands more doctors, nurses and teachers, smartly. Is this really doable? National promises yes! But if it proves not, what will be the first to go: the tax cuts or the spending on public services and cyclone recovery?
B Darragh, Auckland Central
National and NZ First
Why the media preoccupation with National working with NZ First? Perhaps they would do well to read Jim Bolger’s book or listen to his interview with Chris Laidlaw. Bolger spoke well of working with Peters. Critics would do well to remember National deliberately leaked private information about a mistake in Winston Peters’ pension a few weeks before the last election and Stephen Joyce in his column a few weeks ago said they didn’t want to work with him, so why don’t you really look at Joyce, who was the National tactician at the time. Joyce playing the man instead of the game cost the National party the government. Not Peters.
Bill Gibson, Kawerau
Track record
The National Party wants to get NZ back on track, presumably the same track when they were last in government 2008-17. Back then nine years of doing not much about climate change, this time no plan to reduce emissions and no reductions in agricultural emissions for the next five years. Back then they froze maintenance of roads and now and our roads are wearing out alarmingly. Back then they increased GST to pay for tax cuts, this time a $1 billion hole in their tax cut policy. Back then underfunded the health system, the result a rundown health system stretched to breaking point during the Covid pandemic. Back then they made changes to the education system based on ideology rather than common sense, the results declining education levels since 2012. Back then sold off 2000 state houses when we had vulnerable people needing homes, sold part of our state power companies and Air NZ. All up, not a great track to be taking again.
Rob George, Hamilton
The Government wants to keep operating them for another year.