In response to Ryan Gray (Letters, February 3) that property priorities are wrong.
Property speculators cannot be blamed for the homeless. I was a single working woman when I bought my first two houses in my 20s. My working life started at 10 getting paid $2.50 an hour. Isometimes held down three jobs, working day and night including weekends to save for the first deposit. At times I have paid nearly 50 per cent on some of my earnings in tax, by the time you take GST into account.
People have choices in life. Whether to work or not to work, whether to save or not to save.
Property speculators are liable for tax, if they intend to purchase a property to do up or sell for profit and then sell it within a two year period - then they are liable for capital gains tax. If they've paid 50 per cent of their income in tax, and then pay another 30 per cent in capital gains tax for speculating, then it's 80 per cent in tax they've paid on some of their earned income. Sound fair?
To blame property speculators for social problems is unfair, as you have to see how hard they have worked and what they've sacrificed to be able to buy a house. They don't get handouts and think the world owes them a living.
People are failing themselves (not the government). If the homeless had the same work ethic then they too could be in the same position.
[ABRIDGED] T McLEOD Lake Tarawera
Full marks to our mayor's cry for our government to allocate a portion out of the New Zealand tax take's national health budget to help our local poor brethren (Rotorua Daily Post February 4).
It is right that Steve [Chadwick] assures us that this funding request is not taken out of our rates as we are being taxed to pay for our DHB's functions already and not pay twice to fund inefficiencies of this public service.
It remains to be seen, in this the 2017 election year, how us local voters champion Steve's cause by firstly lobbying our local parliamentary representative and then voting those who are standing for our 2017 Parliament who dares promise to help Steve. After all our present government refuses to increase the living wage of our working poor.
