Letters: Consult people on voting system

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We get one chance every three years to improve local elections. On August 3 council's O&M committee considered an expert report on First Past the Post (FPP) and Single Transferable Vote (STV) systems.

On August 10 the SP&F committee voted 7-5 not to switch from FPP to STV. This will almost certainly be confirmed by the council on August 24. Why?

In brief, councillors Dave Donaldson, Charles Sturt and Rob Kent reject STV because it will not improve voter turnout, although neither system improves turnout.

Mr Sturt rejects STV because it might favour bloc voting, although neither independent nor bloc voting are advantaged by either system.

Mr Kent rejects Parliament's reasons for making STV compulsory in DHB elections; it is fairer and gets better representation. Mr Donaldson and Mark Gould reject STV because it confuses them. Tania Tapsell and Merepeka Raukawa-Tait and LCB chairman Phill Thomass gave no reasons for rejecting STV.

Karen Hunt and RCB chairwoman Shirley Trumper argued that FPP unfairly favours incumbents, limits choices to ticks, and causes many more votes to be wasted when used alongside STV voting. They conceded that STV takes a little longer to count but creates better representation because minorities' preferences get considered. Peter Bentley and Raj Kumar, and Te Arawa rep Eugene Berryman-Kemp agreed, on principle.

If council won't consult the people, Rotorua District Residents and Ratepayers may petition for a poll (referendum) so everyone can speak.

Cost? About $100,000. Far less than the legacy and vanity projects, and smarter than buying five tonnes of mud.

REYNOLD MACPHERSON
Rotorua

Pokie machine cash

Congratulations to Hamilton Mayor Andrew King, and to the Hamilton Council, who have made a bold decision that cash from Gaming Trusts is out, after councillors voted not to apply for dollars generated from pokie machines.

Mayor King stated that "half of all gambling harm is done by one armed bandits".

Unfortunately, Rotorua Lakes Council has, once more, voted to maintain the status quo in this respect. I recall the late councillor Maureen Waaka, who acknowledged the serious harm done by pokie machine gambling, and campaigned for a "sinking lid" policy.

Sadly, this never happened.

Mayor Steve Chadwick might speak of the "dark side" of pokie machine gambling. Yet her words have not been translated into action. This shameful decision, as well as the Korean mud debacle, will not be forgotten by thinking voters at the next local body elections.

JACKIE EVANS
Rotorua