Letters: Waitangi Day is for celebration not division; supermarket price errors; praise for Watercare

NZ First and Act collectively won 14.72 per cent of votes at the general election. Photo / Mark Mitchell

We didn’t vote for this divisive debate

Would somebody please make it clear to David Seymour, Winston Peters, Shane Jones and all of the other Act and NZ First MPs that they do not have the support of the majority of voters, much less the population.

These two political parties, with their hateful and divisive opinions and tactics, attracted only 14.72 per cent of voters at the last election. They should not be allowed to represent this as a mandate, or the will of the majority, yet they continue to do so.

Honouring Te Tiriti is not “woke nonsense … rejected at the latest election” as claimed by Shane Jones. NZ First received 6.08 per cent of the vote standing on policies that included disestablishing Te Aka Whai Ora - the Māori Health Authority. Getting rid of this body does not represent a democratic outcome, no matter what Jones says.

Over 85 per cent of voters at the last election did not vote for the policies and tactics of Act and NZ First. Theirs is the majority opinion, which deserves to be read and heard.

Suzi Lyons, Kumeū.

Libertarian paradox

Like most libertarians, David Seymour (NZ Herald, February 5) advocates individual freedom, provided each individual chooses to see the world as he does.

Backed by the boring blandness of Don Brash’s Beige Blancmange, he offers Seymour’s Singular Soup - dominated by the majority ingredient.

Meanwhile Aotearoa New Zealand is evolving as a society that embraces cultural diversity. This cultural salad (far more interesting than a soup) is distinguished by te ao Māori, which has enriched us all since it gained more freedom to flourish in the only land it can call home.

The campaign to marginalise mātauranga Māori and te reo would take us back to the grey conformity of the 1950s - quite the opposite of what the Act Party claims it stands for.

Michael Smythe, Northcote Point.

Day of celebration

As I reflect on yet another public holiday, Waitangi Day being our national holiday, it is important to remember that colonisation has brought prosperity and growth to this great nation.

My ancestors, who first came from Ireland in 1877, have subsequently contributed to the growth of this nation in their own small way. It is people like my great-grandfather who I celebrate for making New Zealand what it is today.

Waitangi Day should be a positive day rather than a day of grievance. We have come a very long way forward since 1877.

John Ford, Napier.

Political flip-flops

New Zealand’s economy will never advance whilst we have our present flip-flop policy system of the right wing repealing left-wing policies and vice versa at the cost of millions of dollars to the taxpayer with nothing to show for it.

The latest craze is the proposed reopening of the Marsden Point oil refinery, amid much protesting, which should not have been shut down in the first place.

Propose something, fund it, lock it in permanently and get on with building it. No chopping and changing every election.

There are so many policies that have been repealed by the right-wing coalition, and now some that were repealed by the left wing are being revamped.

Marie Kaire, Whangārei.

Stinging supermarkets

Rather than having to wait many months for a Commerce Commission inquiry, why not change one or the other or both of the Consumer Guarantees Act/Fair Trading Act so that where a supermarket price breach has occurred, the shopper should be entitled to a refund of x times the goods that have been overcharged, plus the price charged, plus they get to retain the goods.

The multiplier should be very high so that as soon as an issue occurs, there is a real incentive for the outlet to immediately remedy the fault.

This will also provide an incentive for people to check what they have been charged. Pre-2017 when I lived in Auckland, the local Countdown (now Woolworths) store used to refund what you had paid and you got to keep the goods.

Not bad, but there needs to be a far-higher incentive for the pricing on the shelf to immediately be changed.

Barry Towers, Morrinsville.

Schooling Hipkins

It is hypocritical of Chris Hipkins to attack Christopher Luxon regarding poor school attendance by Māori. He says Luxon should first understand how the current education system wasn’t respectful or inviting to Māori.

If the current system is uninviting, then why didn’t he as Minister of Education from October 2017 to January 2023, do something about it?

Ken Deal, Sunnyhills.

Watercare praise

We as ratepayers are very quick to criticise Watercare. I would like to praise them and thank them for a job well done.

I reported a leak on the footpath and within days the contractors were on the job and fixed the problem. The footpath is no longer slippery and dangerous.

Thank you Watercare.

Gordon McLeay, Hauraki.

Tax take

If Barb Callaghan (NZ Herald, February 5) had checked the Treasury website she would have discovered that the 122,000 people earning more than $150,000 paid 24 per cent of the total income tax take, while 2.1 million people earning $40,000 or less pay 13 per cent.

Clearly, we need more rich people to tax.

Bryan Leyland, Pt Chevalier.