Need not greed
Why so many strikes under this government?
Well, the current Labour-led government acknowledges that there are real needs in housing, health and education.
Employees do not want to strike; they do so only when their current situation is unsustainable. Teachers feel keenly for their students and want to avoid disruptions to learning and parents’ /caregivers’ work commitments; teachers also cannot afford to lose salary. Teachers did not strike under the National-led government as the sacrifices made by students, parents/caregivers and themselves would have been futile.
That government did not recognise the recruitment and retention problems. This crisis in teaching is now almost unmanageable, even for a government that is willing to listen and accepts the need for change.
There are few New Zealand qualified teachers willing to take on the ever-increasing pressures of teaching for sub-optimal salaries; thus, any new positions created to alleviate some problems are unlikely to be filled by suitable applicants with a thorough knowledge of New Zealand communities.
Teachers have been patient but in 2019 we will be looking for our own ‘‘three days before Christmas’’ strategy to bring pressure to bear on the decision-makers.
That worked for the Air NZ engineers; what will work for teachers? We are desperately trying to future-proof teaching as a desirable and respected profession, thereby preserving a top quality state education system.
Remember: employees strike through sheer need, not greed.
Eileen Mott, New Plymouth
In the last year, residents across our district used an average of 309 litres of water per person per day.
Media Council
For anyone who lives in Taranaki, the maunga is a source of identity and a beacon for the place we love and call home. Just like many other families, whenever I’ve been away from Taranaki with my family and we are making the journey back, my two young boys are always on the lookout to see who can spot Mt Taranaki first.
As well as a sense of home and identity, our maunga gifts us with life sustaining water.
Many of the rivers and streams in our district flow from the maunga and, as they cross the ring plain, they help create the natural environment that makes Taranaki one of the best places in the world to live. Simply put: water is at the heart of our lifestyle here in Taranaki.
Our rivers and streams are not only places of beauty and enjoyment, they’re also critical lifelines supporting the wildlife and natural environment.
They also play a vital part supplying our community with water so that our community can stay healthy by having clean water to drink, wash with and flush the toilet.
Finally, water is essential to many of the businesses in the district. Without water most businesses couldn’t operate, support employment and keep our local economy thriving.
As the water flows from our maunga to sustain the people of Taranaki, we must not take this gift for granted, and remember we also have a responsibility to sustain the water.
In the last year, residents across our district used an average of 309 litres of water per person per day.
This is a slight reduction from 337 litres the year before which is great progress, but it’s still more than double most other countries – in fact we use about the same amount of water per person as the USA and they don’t exactly share our clean, green reputation!
This year we also got a reminder just how important our water is when Taranaki was hit by Cyclone Gita – a tropical storm that caused significant damage to one of the city’s main pipe networks. This resulted in a three-day water outage for the district’s northern residents that closed local schools, disrupted businesses and saw emergency water tankers deployed to the streets.
At New Plymouth District Council (NPDC) we have a team of people who are committed to ensuring our community has a supply of safe drinking water. They’re also committed to doing our bit to keeping our streams and rivers healthy and swimmable, and a great home for everything that lives within them.