Case of amnesia?
The question must be asked of the now Labour Government why is an inquiry into pension portability not being initiated by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern?
Might it be because the three political parties now in Government have a severe case of amnesia?
Or could it be because the Government might find they will lose the over half a billion dollars a year that they currently steal from self-funded retirement immigrant pensioners savings if this inquiry is initiated? (Abridged)
PAUL REA
Hawera
Bigotry here
Fair minded New Zealanders have long shaken our heads in disbelief at the oft-cited adage that no openly non-believing (i.e. non-Christian) candidate could ever win the United States presidential nomination of either major party.
And not one of 535 members of the US House or Senate has the guts to state publicly that they don't believe in God.
Alarmingly, that sort of regressive US-style political/religious bigotry has reared its ugly head in our fair district thanks to Presbyterian elder David Bennett, who was elected a Whanganui district councillor on a largely business and antiwastewater plant platform in 2016.
In an April 24 letter, he warns that an atheist opinion writer is jeopardising his chances of election by saying he has never read the Bible and never intends to.
"Just be assured, God is not mocked," thunders Mr Bennett.
He even claims, on behalf of "most" Whanganui Christians, that they wouldn't vote for said opinion writer and to admit he has never read the Bible (and never will) is an insult to daily readers of a book that has precious little relevance to life in the 21st century.
I don't recall councillor Bennett or his elected fellow travellers declaring their affiliations as part of their election campaign propaganda; neither were they keen to cite their religion in opposing Easter Sunday trading during a council vote last year.
Councillor Bennett doesn't admit in his letter to being either a councillor or a Christian.
I'd suggest many openminded Whanganui voters will think carefully at next year's election about whether they want him and his fellow "Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse" back on our council for three more years.
And since he has opened the floodgates, we need to make clear to all 2019 candidates that it is incumbent on them to declare their religious beliefs/ non-beliefs in campaign profiles.
If councillor Bennett's plan is for our district to be governed by a theocracy, can I suggest our council introduces medieval entertainments for the citizenry such as regular burnings of atheists in Majestic Square.
I stand by my call that all letter writers declare their elected local government, political party and church positions where relevant.
CAROL WEBB
Whanganui
Ban on raw milk
Campylobacter make thousands sick but the lawmakers don't ban chicken, the source of the disease.
A few people get sick, on circumstantial evidence raw milk is blamed, and the lawmakers make it almost impossible to get raw milk which most farm children are reared on.
We see adverts every day telling mothers to feed their babies raw milk — ie breast milk — it's best. The reason it is best is that pasteurisation damages proteins making them less useful.
G R SCOWN
Whanganui
