‘Progressive’ New Zealand unfamiliar to many

I WOULD be embarrassed if I was a member of the Employers Association after its advertisement (ODT, 28.6.18).

The minor changes proposed by the Government are greeted with a level of hysteria about a return to the 1970s — an era, it should be noted, when there were fewer homeless people and schools did not have to provide breakfast for children.

Growth in the New Zealand economy in recent years has largely benefited the wealthy. In many ways it is based on unsustainable practices (industrial dairy farming), capital gains on property, or exploitation of labour.

The ‘‘progressive’’ New Zealand the association talks about will be unfamiliar to many on the receiving end of casualisation, insecure jobs and low wages.

The State now has to subsidise most working families in order for them to survive from week to week.

Public services are in crisismode. But senior management and shareholders seem to be doing very well.

It is well overdue to level the playing field against a selfinterested upper class.

The best way to deal with a bully is to stand up to them. Victor Billot

Dunedin

Use weather forecasters

THANK you to David Tucker of Mornington for highlighting the shortcomings of weather forecasting in our region (ODT, 26.6.18).

It is only in recent times that the weather forecasters have discovered where Dunedin actually is.

TV1 should by now know that relating the weather details is not the job for an actor. The forecast is much better delivered by someone trained appropriately, as it is relied upon for information by many in our rural communities. John McGregor

Waverley