Referee Wayne Barnes during the Rugby World Cup final match. Photo / Photosport
Letter of the week: Blow the whistle on abuse
Sixty years ago I officiated as a stand in referee between 6-year-old rugby players. Apparently I did not pick up a knock-on which resulted in the game being drawn.
This enraged a parent so much he hurled abuse at a psychotic level for some time.
Needless to say I never offered my services again.
How Wayne Barnes has put up with the inane and thoughtless abuse for so long is a mark of the man himself. Imagine officiating as a referee with huge pressure on for 80 minutes and millions doing the same, just waiting for you to make a mistake.
These people are paid professionals but took up the career because of the love of the game. They are not infallible but always do their best so we should respect not abuse them.
Reg Dempster, Albany.
Election speculation
Anyone who has ever bought or sold a house or a business knows the price is much lower if the vendor must sell and there is only one interested buyer. When there are 2+ buyers, you can play them off against each other and the seller can achieve a market sale price. Genuine competition is king (maker).
Luxon and Seymour might now be wishing there was a competitive tension to maximise the negotiation position of National + Act. Winston Peters is the sole buyer and Luxon needs a sale. He, and the voters of Ilam, had the chance to offer the right block another prospective buyer.
With no changes to actual party vote, but only a change to the electorate seat of Ilam going to Raf Manji, National and Act would have had two ways to form a government.
A win for Raf would have “coat-tailed” in three TOP MPs. The way the seats are distributed happened to mean that, on the exact 2023 party vote numbers, these three would-be TOP seats were in reality allocated: 1 Greens, 1 Labour, 1 National.
Even with no changes to party vote, this would mean Nat+Act have 59 seats between them (assuming National wins the Port Waikato byelection). They could then either partner with NZF or TOP to achieve a majority in the 123 seat Parliament.
In reality a more accommodating tone in terms of the Ilam Electorate from Mr Luxon might have also increased the TOP party vote and taken extra seats off Labour or Green — increasing the potential majority of the Nat+Act+TOP ...
On the results, just shy of 4000 Hamish Campbell Ilam electorate votes switching to Raf Manji would have achieved this outcome. Perhaps next time, Ilam? For now, let’s see how Peters uses his outsized leverage.
The tail can only wag the dog if it’s the only tail in town.
David Webb, Tauranga
Rocky shores
Janet Boyle (NZ Herald, November 10) suggested rocks were the answer to beach erosion. She has clearly not been to Waihi Beach where rocks have destroyed the beach because sand is eroded in front of the rocks.
At Waihi the sand in front of the rocks never dries out and you can not walk along the beach for, three hours either side of high tide.
At the time cliffs of sand were restored to sand dunes between the Mount and Pāpāmoa by planting native dune plants. The transformation was incredible and may be possible at Ōrewa. The problems at Ōrewa and Waihi Beach are probably occurring throughout the country and will only become worse.
Bruce Phythian, Parnell.
Over AT
There seems to be no end to the irritation AT causes on a daily basis. Buses are delayed and/or bunched two together followed by a long wait. Electronic bus signs don’t work. Lower Queen St. and K Rd. are continually being torn up and re-constructed. Can’t we reduce AT’s mandate and demand that they do a smaller number of tasks well rather than a lot of tasks poorly?
Robert Myers, Central Auckland.
Comic capers
Your front page photo (Herald, Nov 9) of the three stooges — Larry Luxon, Moe Peters and Curly Joe Seymour — highlights the problem with MMP. Instead of an elected Government we have ended up with a farce. Until MMP is shown stage left, future elections will produce more of the same.
Larry Tompkins, Turangi.
Weather or not
Meteorologists are like economists. They consistently call the wrong outcome for the wrong time. Over the past 6 months we have been threatened with El Nino — dry even hot drought conditions. We have had rain and cold temperatures. We are now being told maybe El Nino will not kick in until January to February 2024. Will inflation and the official cash rate follow the same patterns of prediction?
John Roberts, Remuera.
Power play
I used to admire some of Winston Peters’ ideas. However after hearing his nonsensical reasons behind the delays in forming a Government, its just seems he is relishing the power given to him by just 6 per cent of the voting population and the resultant media exposure. Surely past and present lessons on his inconsistency will not be forgotten yet again next time around?
Alan Walker, St Heliers.
No mandate
In 1996 we had our first MMP election. After that there have been a plethora of gripes from people whose preferred party hasn’t ended up in government; mainly being around who has a “mandate” to implement what policy.
As we have seen from all coalition negotiations everything goes on that table and agreed positions and policies are decided on not on the basis of who got how many votes but on what is compatible and mutually acceptable to the coalition partners, and this election will be no exception.
Policies from minority partners cannot be taken on board on a pro rata basis. You can’t have 12 per cent of a “Three Strikes” policy or 11 per cent of a Covid inquiry. They are either in or they are out.
This should be relatively simple to understand but nonetheless the griping will no doubt continue.
John Christiansen, Mt Albert.
Isn’t it about time the Government took action against the banks? BNZ announced a $1.5 billion profit. How much misery was created to make this? Isn’t that immoral in these harsh economic times? There used to be rules about profiteering. Jock Mac Vicar, Hauraki
Why does Pharmac not accept research into ground-breaking new medicines already accepted and funded in comparable countries, like Australia, US and the UK? Is it genuine concern that these countries do inadequate testing or just another time-wasting cost-saving measure? Maybe fewer snarky emails about pesky inquiring journalists and more concern for New Zealanders in desperate need of modern medicines would be a better use of their highly paid time. James Archibald, Birkenhead.
It has taken some time, but it now seems that the people who thought Winston Peters only has 6 per cent of the say in the formation of a new government, now realise he in fact has a 100 per cent of the say, and he is the boss, not Luxon or Seymour. David Mairs, Glendowie.
Driving in Wales and Ireland is not a problem with signs in English and Welsh or Irish. No reason for it to be an issue in NZ either as a large number of our place names are Maori. However English should be uppermost, and Māori should be in a different font. Derek Paterson, Sunnyhills.
Do you think that anyone from Auckland Transport has ever been to Paris and seen the scale and magnificence of the fully functioning infrastructure and transport of an iconic city? Gary Carter, Gulf Harbour.
Twelve months ago Winston Peters had to rely on the charity of the media to get coverage. Now he gives the media the cold shoulder. I hope our media learns from this experience. C.C. McDowall, Rotorua.
Why not a National/Labour coalition government? They are very close on many issues. This would close down the grandstanding and we could all get on with living. Peter Dodd, Chatswood.
It has been encouraging to see at least one PM of a major country has resigned, because he believes that the dignity of the office “is not compatible with any suspicion on his integrity, good conduct, and even less so with the suspicion that any criminal acts were committed”. While he seems not to be personally involved with the corruption charges, it is his government. It is a great shame political leaders in other countries do not follow his example. Presumably they have less respect for the office, and the people. Judy Mills, Ngunguru.
I’m confident Chris Hipkins won’t be leader in 2026. If anyone thinks a week in politics is a long time ... John Ford, Taradale.
Armed police stood guard as the patched members were led out in handcuffs.