Only public funds in campaigns

I agree our democracy is acutely at risk and it goes further than back-door significant donations from internal and external interests intending to influence. Here’s my cunning plan.

Only publicly funded, and accounted for, campaign dollars to be used. Any party which has a financial membership of, say, 5000 receives equal public funding and air time, thus creating a more democratic system, rather than the two major parties getting a larger bite of the cherry; the rider being that each party must have a full set of policies for key areas (education, health, financial management, environment etc) for the public to consider.

And wouldn’t it be wonderful if parties were restricted to presenting their own policies rather than playing the destructive personality popularity game. We must start to vote knowledgeably and thoughtfully or we are doomed as a society.

Barbara Hay, Stokes Valley

They deserve silence

Although we live in a country with free speech, the news media and the leader of the National Party have behaved deplorably in their conduct towards a very ill member of Parliament who is deserving of privacy, compassion and help.

Over 40 years ago I was a patient with a stress-related illness in a private hospital, along with a Cabinet minister sine nomine. Utter silence surrounded his admission.

He was granted a pair, and strict privacy was observed, with no reports to the media or anyone else. We became close friends until his death.

People who are mentally unwell may say things they later regret, and Simon Bridges should be totally silent about the whole matter, and leave all communications private.

The public should be spared ‘‘private tape conversations’’ and the poor chap should be helped to get well, which is the most important thing. David Loeber, Maupuia

Donors and dollars

Whilst I agree the Ross-Bridges twostep has gone on for an uncomfortable while for the two main players and National, dropping the saga would only be a good idea if the Dominion Post maintained steady pressure on parties to come clean on who is providing financial support and what donors expect to get for their dollars.

Otherwise, the shady financial dealers and their political friends will be allowed to wriggle clear of the spotlight that has shone remarkably well into their fairly repulsive nooks and crannies.

Peter Waring, Eketa¯ huna I saw the teachers’ banner ‘‘it’s not about income, it’s about outcome’’ in the caption for Urgent strike talks for teachers (Nov 6). I also noticed Education gap dire – Unicef (Oct 31).

The substance of the latter report was that: ‘‘New Zealand had the second worst gap between girls and boys, and ranked in the bottom third of OECD countries across all three school levels.’’ Further, New Zealand was ranked in the bottom five for secondary school reading and equality rates, and had the second lowest primary school level reading ability. New Zealand was put at second worst for reading achievement at age 10.

I wonder if the teachers’ union would have a stab at explaining how more pay and less time in the classroom is likely to produce a rather better outcome?

A E Thomson, Taupo¯

Question for teachers Antarctica’s riches

Peter Barrett (Letters, Nov 6) says the suggestion that Antarctica is rich in natural resources such as gold, platinum and coal is ‘‘without foundation’’, on the grounds that if such occurrences cannot be mined for economic gain, as they cannot be in Antarctica for international treaty reasons, they cannot be considered natural resources.

The world is rich in natural resources of all kinds, and exploitation of these ‘‘for economic gain’’ may or may not be possible or desirable for all sorts of reasons, but to suggest that this negates their existence as a resource is absurd.

The geology of Antarctica, once part of the vast Gondwanaland continent, makes it virtually certain that many mineral resources exist there. Some have already been identified – coal, for example – and known about for many years but without a doubt others exist, including oil and natural gas, and certainly metal orebodies, and probably uranium.

Whether any of these could be proven to be economically viable to mine, may well be doubtful, but I think it possible this will eventually happen in parts of Antarctica, claimed by countries that are not signatories to the Antarctic treaty Barrett refers to. Bruce Utting, retired mineral exploration geologist, O¯ taki

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