Queen Victoria is an important figure in the history of New Zealand. She not only brought British justice to this country and stopped the wholesale killing that was happening between iwi engaged in the musket wars, she also issued the letters patent creating this nation. As such she needs to be respected and does not deserve to have the feature named after her also called Sandfly Hill (Pukenamu).
The name Pukenamu may be an insult to some iwi as I believe it commemorates a pa used to dominate local iwi in ways that Maori radicals accuse the British military of.
TERRY O'CONNOR
Whanganui
On prisons
Terry Sarten's article on his take on crime and prisons, I totally agree with. Criminals aren't good for society but at least they let us recognise the good from the bad. The problem comes when we forget what laws are for, and they should certainly not be to protect us from our selves, ie stopping you from taking drugs that someone says is ruining your life, which they can, but that is your problem. Society needs to concentrate on rehabilitation, because it certainly can't stop you from getting and taking drugs that make you feel good, that is well proven.
Making laws, jailing, just take people out of their homes away from their families with disastrous results for all of them, and they are not a danger to others.
There are people who need to be put in jail as they are a menace to others. The experts who deal with jailed people tell us there is no use incarcerating someone and leaving them to just sit there stagnating, rehabilitation is needed. The experts tell us we need to help them learn to read to be employable. Then they need driver's licences, to help with employment and for identification purposes. Bank accounts, let them out a month early and put the $10k saved into their account, which you help them open. This give them a carry over period which hopefully they will use it to get them adjusted to the outside world and and find employment. We know there will be many failures, but if we get behind them there will be many successes.
We all know Garth McVicar and is ilk will cry they don't deserve to be well treated, without factoring in what is good for society as a whole, if they benefit and become useful to society we all benefit. Society no longer has an appetite for elimination, so rehabilitation it has to be.
This will alter how our prisons are structured and operated, they will have to become more like boarding schools, you are there to set you up for your future. Not an easy exercise but most good things in life take a lot of effort.
I am also in favour of children under 2 being in jail with their mother, but that's a whole new discussion.
G R SCOWN
Whanganui
Education first
Every single child needs, and deserves, an education that enables them to reach their full potential. It is imperative that the education system is funded adequately to ensure this happens. After approximately a decade of underfunding, the 2018 budget provided a prime opportunity to give education a real shot in the arm. There were some positives for education in the budget, but not enough. The budget did not address many key issues facing education which include giving teachers more time to teach and addressing the current shortage of teachers which is being felt across the country. However, it is not too late. I urge anyone who has a vested interest in the future of our young people, and an interest in the future of New Zealand, to challenge this government to make a bigger investment in education.
HALIM SHERIDAN
Whanganui
