Pavlova Paradise lost

If you are as lucky as I have been and got into your ninth decade of life you have the opportunity to consider which have been the best decades in this country.

Depression years in the 1920s and 1930s when I was born and started school were not good; some in ways which I can remember.

The 1940s the war years not great. The 50s took some time to settle and were often turbulent.

The 1960s-1980s were the Pavlova Paradise years. Years of the quarter acre block, the half gallon jar, plenty of work, a fair day’s work for a fair day’s pay, and by then the old age pension was well established.

It was of not much concern as to how the working class would live through their old age. Life expectancy was still three score years and 10.

The improvements in lifestyle, health system and social services have extended that lifestyle by at least 15 years and even beyond.

The guidelines for National Super, which came into force all those years ago, are no longer relevant. Successive governments have dragged the chain upgrading them because of the cost it would be to the country to do so.

National Super became a right to everyone reaching retirement age which was considered a major victory of equality. But was it, or did it just make the rich a little richer?

Fifty per cent of all super recipients receive less than what is considered a living wage, and if super is their only income, it is less than half of the minimum wage. That puts them on the poverty line.

Many of these people who developed the Pavlova Paradise had high hopes of seeing out their lives in comfort but are now in dire straits. Is this what our seniors deserve?

The present government is getting calls from ever side for funds to assist groups under pressure. Senior citizens support is a concern for the whole country and not just based on political beliefs.

We should put all our resources into getting our own yard in order ahead of the rest of the world’s concerns and their needs. Let nature take care of the whales, birdlife, fish or wayward snails and old ships. 1. Who preceded Andrew Little as leader of the New Zealand Labour Party?

2. The town of Taumarunui is located on what river?

3. Their first names are Ian and Paul and they each won five Olympic medals for New Zealand during the 1980s. What are their surnames?

4. Wilkins Micawber was a character in what novel by Charles Dickens?

5. Michael Douglas, Joanna Lumley, Sam Neill and Olivia Newton-John were born in what decade? 6. In what city would you see the Capitoline Hill?

7. Their first names are Charles and Maurice and they were influential figures in the advertising world. What is their surname?

8. From what language do we get the words lasso, avocado and flotilla?

9. In cricket, what is the term for a lower-order batsman who is brought on to bat near the close of the day’s play?

10. What term is used for a cyclone or hurricane that occurs in Asia? Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. 1 Peter 4:8 Anyone wishing to make a complaint to the New Zealand Media Council should first put it in writing to the editor. If not satisfied with the reply, complainants should then write to The Secretary, New Zealand Media Council, Box 10 879, Wellington, including a clipping of the disputed article and copies of the correspondence. Letters are welcome, but writers must provide their name, address and telephone number as a sign of good faith – pseudonyms are not acceptable. So that as many letters as possible can be published, each letter should be no more than 250 words. We reserve the right to edit letters for length, sense, legal reasons and on grounds of good taste. Please send your letters to: The Editor, The Southland Times, PO Box 805, Invercargill; fax on (03) 214 9905; or email to letters@stl.co.nz

Jim Fish