Hide makes good point over NCEA

Since relinquishing his misinformed campaign to expose climate change as a fraud, Rodney Hide’s started to make a modicum of sense. His piece on NCEA last week was surprisingly good.

NCEA is not the wonderful innovation many make it out to be. The fact that so long after its introduction there are still serious moderation issues is unacceptable.

However, such issues will pale into insignificance with the introduction of national on-line external examinations enabling the student to sit the exam at home, when they feel they are ready. So well done Rodney, you’ve finally found a real fraud. If only Leighton Smith would do the same. Ian Findlay, Napier.

Rest home pay rise fallout

Some of our most vulnerable citizens are cared for in aged care facilities.

For most of the residents there is no alternative. Making the move into care takes an emotional toll on them and their families.

For some it also takes a financial toll which adds considerably to the stress of this period in their lives.

Many have worked and saved all their lives and then over a period of time lose their savings and house they were so proud of.

The carers in these facilities work hard and most are dedicated to taking care of the residents to the best of their ability. They are so busy there is little time to spend with those in their charge beyond the basic care.

Not many months ago New Zealanders rejoiced to hear that 55,000 workers in the aged care and support sector would receive pay rises to between $19 and $27 an hour over the next five years commencing on July 1.

Last week we learned that the Care and Support Worker Settlement would only partly be met by the Government’s $2 billion dollar package, with care facilities picking up the remaining balance.

It is not surprising to learn that small rest homes may struggle to keep their doors open and some elderly in rest homes will burn through their savings sooner with new rules a week away requiring some to pay 10 per cent more from July 1. Patricia McDowall, Glendene.

Emergency action needed

As ordinary Kiwis we are ashamed to see yet again the desperate plight of our fellow citizens who are stressed out trying to find a secure place to live.

We are absolutely fed up with the Government’s diatribe of meaningless platitudes and their disgraceful failure in dealing with this festering problem.

It is plain for all to see that far from making inroads into this problem, they are going backwards, and seem to be totally bereft of any innovative ideas or programmes. So we would like to make a few suggestions:

1. Treat it like the emergency that it is and requisition the services of the military reconstruction teams and private enterprise low-cost building firms to immediately start building temporary housing units.

2. Introduce emergency regulations to override local authority road blocks.

3. Introduce an emergency tax on new house builds which exceed a reasonably sized family home (say 300m2) This would free up a significant supply of the labour and materials which are going into the “McMansions’’ that fill new subdivisions, and would make it possible to build more houses sooner.

4. Do an urgent survey of investors houses, and Housing Corporation houses lying empty and take emergency action to prevent this and make use of these houses — as we believe happens in some overseas cities.

5. Stop turning a blind eye to the impact that massive immigration is having on exacerbating the housing problem. Do something urgently to curtail numbers drastically.

6. Instead of housing desperate people in motels at the cost of millions of dollars to the ratepayers, buy them (compulsory purchase if necessary).

7. Incentivise building companies to hugely increase the number of building industry apprenticeships.

Although some of these measures may seem drastic, drastic problems need drastic solutions.

John and Barbara Maltby, Pt Wells.

Barclay should vacate

Why is Todd Barclay still being paid by the taxpayer until the next election? He is no longer a contender for a seat in Parliament, therefore his office needs to be vacated.

Our Prime Minister is not acting in the best interests of New Zealanders who need to be able to trust him as a strong leader.

The question needs to be asked why is Todd Barclay still in office? Is there something else we have not been told?

Todd Barclay has not shown himself to be mature enough to be involved in running New Zealand and indications show that if he was given the chance he might not prove to be up to the responsibilities involved in this job.

Mr Prime Minister do your job of being a good leader and get this young man out of the office now. S Glover, Turangi.

Taxpayers foot National’s bill

How can it be considered acceptable to use the PM’s taxpayer-financed fund to help settle what was an internal National Party employment dispute? Did the fact that there were illegally obtained recordings involved make the size of the settlement greater than the National Party could afford? Peter Kelly, Glendene.

Rest home fee rises wrong

GreyPower applauds the Government for recently agreeing to pay age care workers more from July 1. They look after our elderly and most vulnerable citizens in rest homes and their hospitals.

However, we deplore the decision by many rest homes throughout the country to increase fees for 35 per cent of rest home residents over the set $224,000 asset threshold by up to $365 a month from July 1 as televised recently on television.

The rest homes are having their age care workers pay increases funded by the Government through contracts with the twenty district health boards so no increase in fees of this magnitude is acceptable to any of us at GreyPower.

This is going to be the largest fee increase ever at 12 per cent on average monthly fees on our most vulnerable citizens.

Previously increases had been limited to an annual cost of living adjustment linked to National Superannuation.

Sixty-five per cent of rest home residents are subsidised by the Government and their National Superannuation covers their fees with the DHBs through a formula topping up payments to the rest homes for these residents.

Fancy these announcements being made in International Elder Abuse Awareness Week. Not a good look to us. Mate Marinovich, President Waitakere

GreyPower Association.

International students

Raymond Huo and his Labour Party colleagues have confused the international student market with immigration and lack facts in making their policy decision to cut back on immigration by attacking what they consider as the “low-quality courses” sector.

The Committee for Auckland’s research shows only one in ten students receives a one-year extension for a poststudy visa.

Even if they have completed their poststudy work experience extension, there is no guarantee they will get permanent residence.

If Labour is so intent on cutting back on this source of immigration, they should change the policy guideline for permanent residency instead.

Banning these so-called low-quality course is like banning the export of “low quality” products (eg logs) from New Zealand.

Let’s not forget that these students already have had their primary and secondary education in their home country and by admitting them into New Zealand, we immediately have a human capital gain of $37,000 each (the average cost of education a child in a state school in New Zealand). Ken Choe, Mt Eden.

Plea for human dignity

I wonder how Deborah Penk would respond to the case of Tony Nicklinson in England.

At the age of 51 he had a severe stroke leaving him with “locked-in syndrome”, totally paralysed except for the ability to blink. Unable to speak, he could only communicate using computer software to convert blinks into letters of the alphabet.

Faced with the prospect of another 20 or more years of what he described as a ‘living hell’, at the age of 58 he petitioned the Supreme Court to be helped to die.

His case was the subject of a BBC Hard Talk documentary, available on YouTube.

After watching it, George Carey, a former Archbishop of Canterbury wrote: “It was the case of Tony Nicklinson that exerted the deepest influence on me. Here was a dignified man making a simple appeal for mercy, begging that the law allow him to die in peace, supported by his family.

“His distress made me question my motives in previous debates. Had I been putting doctrine before compassion, dogma before human dignity?”

The Supreme Court refused his request, so he adopted the only way left to him — he stopped eating and died.

Martin Hanson, Nelson.

Intellectual or not?

An article in last Wednesday’s Herald described Sue Bradford as an intellectual. I invite you to correct the error. Murray Fitchett, Remuera .