Letters to the editor: Budget a good start for the have-nots

Finance Minister Grant Robertson reading his Wellbeing Budget 2021. Photo / File

In reply to Tracey McLeod's criticism of Grant Robertson's Budget (Letters, May 25), the gap between the haves and the have nots in New Zealand has never been greater.

What about the working poor?

Thank you to columnist Audrey Young (Opinion, May 21) who points out that, "The Government has picked the right time to increase benefits".

However, this, the largest lift in a generation, is still not considered by some agencies, including the Salvation Army, enough to lift thousands of people facing crippling rents, and increases in food prices, out of poverty.

It is, however, a good start.

I recall an interview with a single mother, coping with an unacceptably high rental, who appreciated the increase, saying it will enable her to buy extras, formerly unattainable, for her family - such as an umbrella.

Jackie Evans
Pukehangi

Disgust

I want to express total disgust at what I believe was the appalling way Reynold Macpherson was treated at the council meeting last Friday.

As Tania Tapsell rightly said, Macpherson was democratically elected by the Rotorua public and had every right to be heard and his views respected.

That people kept interrupting him, when other speakers had been heard in silence is, in my view, dreadful.

Sylvia Christy
Lynmore

Hard hit for many

A further rate increase of 9 per cent will be a hard hit for many in Rotorua. When we were hit with a 7 per cent increase, we were told it was a one-off.

This is ridiculous because once struck, a rate is there for good.

Alf Hoyle
Lynmore

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