Fairness was behind CGT

Given his view that a capital gains tax does not work, will Winston Peters be asking every other country in the Western World why they have adopted such pointless and ineffective policies?

Those who can afford to buy property in the first place expand their wealth at a rate far higher than those who cannot, the more so since their unearned income is untaxed. The rich get richer, the rest stand still.

The Tax Working Group proposed a CGT primarily to rectify the sheer unfairness of this situation, and the resulting growing wealth inequality that makes a mockery of New Zealand’s selfproclaimed egalatarianism. That is reason enough to have implemented it – fairness.

Sometimes moral imperatives outweigh technical arguments about what does or doesn’t ‘‘work’’, or whether or not a policy will achieve some specific desired outcome – the vote for women and the nuclear ships ban are examples. Fairness is a desirable outcome.

On current polling Peters’ party would not even be in Parliament if an election was held today; even so, he has decided that protecting the interests of his silverhaired affluent base, a paltry 4 per cent of voters, is a greater imperative than fairness in the tax system – something which affects every New Zealander. Philip Dashfield, Point Howard

Duncan Garner (Why promise change – and then not do it, April 20) seems plausible at first when he slams the prime minister and her party for a perceived lack of progress in implementing their policies.

That’s because he doesn’t provide the context in which the Government is operating. Had he provided a list of the things that the last National government did (or did not do) during its nine years, a different picture emerges.

You see the National Party puts the economy above all else and then forgets that we need that economy to benefit the whole population. And it didn’t, and that’s probably why 56 per cent of voters did not buy the ‘‘rock-star economy’’ line last election.

So this Government starts well behind the eight-ball in its quest to get a fairer society, and it has had less than two years to quantify the problems, work out solutions, and find the money.

Yes, the CGT result is a setback but we already have significant markers of Labour’s intentions in place (rises in the minimum wage, extension of parental leave, adjustments in the Working for Families package, for example). Let’s give them time to explore alternatives that Winston can support.

Have patience, Duncan.

Geoffrey Booth, Pukerua Bay

I am disappointed with how the media is portraying a Government decision to put aside the capital gains tax as a ‘‘backdown’’ by Jacinda Ardern. That is someone’s opinion. Fact is, Ardern still holds her own opinion, but the Government is not one person, nor just one party. We are beyond the ‘‘we won, you lost, eat that’’ mentality – just look at Brexit for a disastrous example of that.

A mandate to govern must not be a mandate to push unpopular laws through just because you can. We are in the fortunate position of having a government that has to negotiate and compromise so that everyone can live with the decision. As it should be for a country where we cherish diversity and celebrate that all people matter, not just those you agree with.

Vivienne Coppell, Mt Cook

The capital gains tax has fallen to the selfinterest of the baby boomers. They will be delighted with another victory over the interests of the young and the struggling. History may record it as their final victory.

Simple demographics will mean it becomes ever harder for them to impose their world view and their self-interested agenda on an electorate with which they are increasingly out of touch.

On issues like climate change, ecological collapse, racism, and the personal worlds of the young and struggling on the wrong side of housing, poverty and inter-generational equity, the baby boomers are not only out of touch but there are fewer and fewer of them.

In The Australian last week commentator Bernard Salt helped clarify the issues. He suggests the coming Aussie election can be seen as an intergenerational skirmish.

How much more so when here in New Zealand there is a prime minister who so obviously represents a completely new world view from that which has dominated New Zealand politics for the past 40 years.

Ardern is a wonderful communicator with great empathy but she has lacked the political courage to nail her flag to the mast and to harness the active support of those young voters who through apathy, cynicism or life’s diversions don’t vote for their interests as the oldies do.

Geoff Prickett, Waikanae

We need to panic

For 30 years at least there have been warnings about the warming of the planet from scientists, economists, green politicians and many more. They have mostly been met with scepticism and often ridicule. Politicians have tried to placate powerful interest groups by doing little to interfere with the status quo.

The fire in Notre-Dame has shown how millions from businesses and government can be made available for repairs and restoration and yet the biggest disaster fast approaching cannot get either the money or the co-operation of big businesses and governments.

It broke my heart to see young Greta Thunberg fight back tears as she addressed EU lawmakers and spoke of the loss of topsoil, massive species extinction, pollution of our waterways, acidification of the oceans, the release of methane from the melting permafrost, because those lawmakers will leave that auditorium and nothing major will change.

That is why the Extinction Rebellion is taking place across the world. People are so frustrated that world leaders will not, or cannot, accept that this is global and we are all in this together.

I, alongside many others, have campaigned for action on climate change for many years and at 81 feel my efforts have gone unrewarded, but maybe if people worldwide support the Extinction Rebellion protesters and the schoolchildren there will be hope. We need to panic, we have 10 years to change the system.

Alison Fletcher, Picton [abridged]

Petition to protect elderly

Reading Retirement Villages: What’s the Catch? (April 20), I was surprised not to see anything about the lack of protection for residents of rest homes when it comes to tenure.

Currently elderly who may have lived in a rest home for many years can essentially be kicked out, some with as little as four to six weeks’ notice.

This affords them less protection than able-bodied, far less vulnerable people who rent. This is terribly unfair and goes against everything I know about looking after our most vulnerable. I have started a parliamentary petition, which closes on May 3 and can be found on the parliamentary petition pages.

Security of Tenure for Rest Home Residents is the name of the petition. Please sign and support our elderly and their families.

Ali Jones, Christchurch

Public access

The Chinese owner of Kawakawa Station was quoted as saying that public access through the station via the Otakaha Stream is usually granted (‘Racism’ forces Chinese owner to sell Wairarapa sheep station, April 20). This is untrue. When I visited the station early last year to ask for permission to walk up the Otakaha Stream to the forest park I was told by the farm manager that there was absolutely no public access granted. I was told the station wanted to provide an exclusive experience to paying guests of the Kawakawa Station Walk.

Peter Griffen, Wilton