Health Minister Dr Ayesha Verrall says she is confident planning will help people get the care they need over winter. Photo / Samuel Rillstone, RNZ, File
Winter of discontent inevitable
As one who has worked at an executive level in both NZ and Australian public health systems in recent years and is directly involved in winter plans, I am utterly stunned by the timing last week of the Health Minister’s announcement of advising and implementing a winter plan (NZ Herald, May 5). May is way too late. The plans should be prepared and widely tested and practically challenged in November/December of the previous year and then rolled out in February. This enables all to address the challenges (which are even greater this year despite the political pushback) and to develop practical options /alternatives/fallback with the full input of clinical staff particularly if the desired outcomes can’t be fully achieved. Advising this in May is far too late to make substantive changes or add clinical staff if you could get them. Even if government and health executives say they’ve been working on it for months, it’s far too late to share now in the expectation it will magically happen in the current circumstances. What’s their fallback plan if the plan doesn’t work given huge resourcing challenges and given over five million New Zealanders are completely dependent on it?
Ron Pearson, Howick.
Counted out
Thanks for nothing to the 14 per cent of people not filling out their Census form, which took me about 7 minutes to do online from the couch, while drinking a cup of tea. And wasting more of our taxpayer money and resources, that we do not have, chasing you, now including bribes. Wherever you may live, and if you possibly need an ambulance one day, there may be a one in seven chance they take the long route, or worse, not front up at all. The NZ Census, every five years, and a timely reminder to yourself: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
Glenn Forsyth, Taupō.
Gang of four
Three cheers for Matthew Hooton’s expose of MMP as a failed experiment (NZ Herald, May 5). List MPs are party hacks with minds more closed than open to innovative thinking. The people should elect all its representatives, not just 50 per cent. Every voting system has its drawbacks. The best system is the one with the least drawbacks. STV (single transferable vote) fits the bill as a better alternative, as Hooton suggests. A minority party like TOP, which has the fairest and most effective tax policy to address the ever-widening polarisation of wealth in NZ, could provide more influence under an STV system in the likely event of it neither winning the Ilam seat nor hitting the 5 per cent threshold come October. The two major parties are ineffectual on tax reform, tweaking rates and thresholds that have proven useless in addressing real poverty (refer to Auckland Mission or Salvation Army), not carefully manicured indicators manipulated by the government in power. I am sick and tired of voting strategically with my party vote because of disenchantment with the gang of four – Labour, Greens, National or Act – when it comes to eradicating unfair wealth distribution and child poverty. Roll on STV.
Graeme Putt, Remuera.
Missing the point
The Minister of Transport did not seem overly concerned about the imported batch of dirty aviation fuel but I wonder how long will it be before this “dirty fuel” causes a disaster. Motor vehicles have been impacted by “dirty” fuel at times but they just cause traffic jams until they are towed away. An aeroplane does not have this luxury. The closure of NZs dependable refinery at Marsden Pt has not resulted in cheaper overseas fuel. It costs carbon footprints to transport fuel here, and New Zealand has lost many of the added by-products such as bitumen, CO2, etc which are now imported at additional cost. This was a private commercial venture in which shares were sold to overseas investors who now demand a profit. Is there a law that prevents governments from buying shares in private companies? If so, the legislation should be changed. Allowing the refinery (our fuel lifeline to the world) to be sold, was the greatest mistake a New Zealand government has made.
Marie Kaire, Whangārei.
Economic sense
Matthew Hooton’s article, (NZ Herald, May 5) and Meka Whaitiri’s defection have prompted me to write. MMP, warts and all cannot be changed overnight. Essentially we have a system that we once voted for. So what sort of government do we want for New Zealand? Whether our economy has been battered, with more pain still to come, by international issues or by Covid, or by government and Reserve Bank interference, is now irrelevant. We are a small country at the bottom of the South Pacific experiencing a number of economic and social issues which desperately need to be addressed. Like it or not, any proposed fix needs to start with the economy. We, therefore, need to vote for the best team to fix the dollars. Go back to basics and prioritise our spending based on what money we have, because without a stable economy, most of everything else will suffer. With regard to all the other stuff which governments do, all political parties want the best for New Zealanders anyway, but to achieve this they must first balance the books.
Steve Clerk, Meadowbank.
Supine acceptance
I am driven to depart from my accustomed stance of criticising Phil Goff. Some common sense has to be introduced to the narrative. In the context and circumstances in which he spoke, it was blindingly obvious that when Goff remarked that few would have witnessed more than one coronation he was referring to a coronation of a British sovereign. We too readily allow Māori to take offence and then to supinely acknowledge an often non-existent or, at best, grossly exaggerated, wrong. Whilst on the subject of the importance of context, it must also be said that in the context of the day’s events and the other utterances of Meka Whaitiri, the Speaker could have entertained not the slightest doubt that what he had received from her was a resignation from the Labour Party. All he has achieved by his reticence has been to lower the esteem of himself and of his office in the minds of thinking New Zealanders, together with the continuation of the salary of an entirely lame duck supposed Member of Parliament.
Peter Newfield, Takapuna.
MP motives
How politicians love to bang on about how they care for the people, their “commitment to Māori voters” and “responsibility to their whakapapa” as Meka Whaitiri puts it. But at the bottom, it’s a commitment to self that drives them. In Whaitiri’s case, her ego was bruised because Labour wasn’t giving her the respect her self-importance demanded. So she’s taken that ego across to Te Pāti Māori, hoping to be a bigger fish in a smaller pond. For her sake, we hope Rod Emmerson’s cartoon take (NZ Herald, May 5) on this, that she’s actually “off to obscurity”, isn’t the reality.
John Denton, Eskdale.
Feather duster
What a stroke of genius it was to seat Harry behind Princess Anne at the coronation ceremony. The magnificent red plume on her hat helped hide him from our view, and his view of the ceremony.
Lorraine Kidd, Warkworth
Road inspections
I was puzzled by the sudden collapse of Coromandel peninsula roads, many problems on SH25 and the total collapse of SH25A. In a casual conversation with a former roadman, he explained that road inspections are now done by a person in a ute, who does not get out. On SH25 between Coromandel and Whitianga he noted that most of the drains were blocked and had been for some time, Transit (Waka Kotahi) bears a lot of responsibility but prefers to blame the weather.
Neville Cameron, Coromandel.
Non-starters
An excellent article from Mark Thomas (NZ Herald, May 5) showcasing the past benefits to cities hosting the Commonwealth Games but this should never be used to support an Auckland event. Imagine the mentioned Copenhagen, Melbourne, and Vancouver if Auckland Transport, Auckland Council, and NZTA for example were in place there. Those cities would simply be laughing stocks, quite apart from not receiving the financial and infrastructure benefits Thomas describes.
Ross Nielsen, Half Moon Bay.
Vape crusaders
I am dismayed by the killjoys who would ban vaping simply because they consider it to be addictive and that teenagers enjoy it. It should be left to the individual to decide whether the risks outweigh the pleasure and possible benefits or not. If people are concerned about the health of teenagers they should do something about New Zealand’s appalling record of youth suicides. They are not only a national disgrace but also a heartbreaking tragedy for all those involved.
Bruce Robertson, Westmere.
On a bender
In light of the growing interest in te reo, the original spoken language of Aotearoa, it is appropriate that we investigate the origin of the word “kiwi”, a word familiar to the great majority of New Zealanders. This word was given, by the original inhabitants of this country, to a flightless, ground-dwelling, nocturnal bird, but a little-known fact is that the word’s origin lies outside of Aotearoa. In Mary Pukui and Samuel Elbert’s definitive work on the Hawaiian language, the following meanings are given for the word “kiwi”; curved or bent, to bend forward or sideways, or, to stagger as in drunkenness. Perhaps, even more unexpected is that the word “qiwi” also occurs in the Quechua and Aymara languages of Peru in South America. Here, the meaning is given as; bent, curved, hunched over, or to zigzag or turn from side to side.
Louis Rawnsley, Kawakawa Bay.
On Charles
We have a monarch who passionately supports the value of the arts and protection of our natural environment. Long live the King. Samantha Cunningham, Henderson.
On Goff
It’s good to see that Phil Goff is as competent as our ambassador to the UK as he was as mayor of Auckland. James Archibald, Birkenhead.
On Whaitiri
Meka Whaitiri could possibly be facing a National Government next term and how will that be better for Māori? Eric Bennett, Red Beach.
On hospitals
We used to have mental health hospitals. Trying to admit all and sundry into a general hospital is ludicrous and not practical. Tony Ward, Mission Bay.
On wealth
A wise man once said that the only thing worse than dying poor was dying rich. Chris Tompkins, New Plymouth.
On weather
Hear ye. Hear ye. Aucklanders. Count your blessings. We have not had a drought for a very long time. Rex Head, Papatoetoe.
With numbers so good, why does the economy feel so bad?
My business is experiencing the highest costs and lowest profit margins in 25 years. In 2019, I was actively looking at expanding. That is completely off the table now. Try and put a positive spin on that. Nicholas B.
It’s not just the cost of living that concerns people. They’re also sick of crime, sick of a failing education system, a failing health system and a country that is increasingly divided on racial grounds. Alan M.
There is clearly a mis-match between the headline numbers and the reality we see in our everyday lives. The reported Inflation rate does not fully reflect the impact of housing costs and mortgage repayments on household finances. The 3.4 per cent unemployment number does not fully reflect all the people who can’t find a suitable job. The government debt figure has been adjusted by Robertson, making it difficult to compare to historical debt. The government from time to time releases figures on crime, healthcare staffing and hospital wait times which turn out to be misleading. All of this contributes to a feeling that the headline numbers do not really reflect the reality of living in New Zealand at the moment. The reality is grim, and ambitious young New Zealanders are voting with their feet and heading overseas. Sue J.
I live in Australia and I cannot see the benefits of moving here in 2023. Just about everything including house prices have gone up significantly. The cost of living is just about the same as NZ. Believe it or not, I am on a lower salary than what I was offered in NZ. What benefit has moving to Australia provided to me? Absolutely nothing. I was better off in NZ before the move. The only ones moving to Australia that will do well are nurses, doctors and professional services. The rest will be in for a big shock. Tim H.
It’s the cost of living figures that’s tearing everybody apart. Mincemeat four years ago was $5 a kg on special, now it’s $15 a kg on special and it’s the wage spiral you mention, Liam, as well as the out-of-control government spending that’s creating despair in peoples’ lives. As for low unemployment, that’s created by the government paying too much for people not to work. David S.
Lobby group calls out new Police Commissioner over arming his officers.