Kawhia rocks

I TAKE exception to the article by Michael Laws (Failed towns shelter failed communities, January 20).

Unlike Laws, I have visited Kawhia. With each visit, my love of the place and its people has grown, and it is the setting of my third novel, The Kindness of Your Nature. In Kawhia, I have met kind, entrepreneurial residents with a genuine care for their community.

Kawhia, population 600-odd, is the proud home of a superb library, a museum, several nice restaurants and motels, a doctor and a vet. It also has one of the most hauntingly beautiful settings imaginable. Laws is quick at dismissing our small towns. Could he imagine a country without them? Instead, should we not try to decentralise some of the nation’s business? Make a concerted effort to move jobs out of the few main centres whose infrastructure is struggling to cope?

Finally, may I say that all communities have their share of problem people. Some suffer bigoted mayors for years.

Linda Olsson, Auckland MICHAEL LAWS, writing about the assault on the Kawhia policeman, said ‘‘budget constraints’’ mean New Zealand has more than 60 one-cop towns. Much of the work done by police results from alcohol abuse. It would seem logical to raise the excise tax on alcohol and use the money to provide more police in isolated towns.

The Law Commission recommended a 50 per cent increase in the excise tax but the prime minister instantly vetoed this. People requiring frequent medication have not been as fortunate as drinkers – prescription charges were increased recently by 66 per cent. Clearly, the prime minister is more interested in the health of the liquor industry than in the health of New Zealanders.

Cliff Turner, Hamilton