Whanganui letters: National Party donors and who takes lead on struggling education system

Some of National's big lift in donation money has been put down to work by its former deputy leader, Paula Bennett. Photo / File

Quite a good article by Simon Wilson in our Chronicle (January 24) on National’s big lift in donation money from the big hitters, some because of Paula Bennetts’s efforts.

Simon wants big owners to explain themselves, I’ll try and do it for them.

A lot is a drive to change the Government because the wealth creators have become desperate to get rid of the present Government’s policies, like Three Waters and the absurdity of co-governance in a democracy, there can be no such thing if you want democracy.

Leave Three Waters with the councils just give them the money from GST on rates, cut out the middle man, government bureaucracy.

Big business wants to stop these things that are leading this Government to waste money. None of the big projects the Government is spending heaps of printed money on is helping the economy, just taking the money away from the productive sector, meaning less job creation in the productive sector and a heap of money being spent on hiring bureaucrats to stack the unproductive sector ruining NZ’s productivity rating.

John Key and Bill English concentrated on getting our government debt down. Everyone who went through Rogernomics knows your business can’t thrive if you are spending big lumps of your income on interest payments. The same applies if too much money is going to bureaucrats, and this Government has excelled at that.

It’s not only the business owners who pay a big price, a big price is paid by the workers, job opportunities and wage rises are curtailed, now the rises can’t keep up with inflation.

Everyone keeps reminding us that we are not so badly off because our government debt is low in comparison to comparable countries. This is because Key and English knew you can’t put the horse before the cart, get the debt under control and it frees up a lot of money for things to be done. [abridged]

GARTH SCOWN

Whanganui

State schools the heavy lifters

Alwyn Poole (Comment, January 20) is a product of Wanganui Boys College, but not everything he says should pass without comment.

The heavy lifting in our education system will continue to be done by state schools, and to suggest Catholic schools are leading the way is hardly comparing apples with apples.

Baradene collects $5700 from its parents, and St Peters in leafy Epsom is Decile 8.

They are the most expensive of the Catholic schools, beneficiaries of generous integration funding.

Many commentators consider they are part of the problem, not an “answer to our flagging education standards”.

Max Rashbrooke, researcher with Victoria University, claims we have developed “the most unequal education system in the world”.

GUY GIFFORD

St Johns Hill