Kiwis need homes before refugees get them

If we have houses available rent them to our own who have young children that need to go to school as well. paper where we can read all the news and keep up with things. Val King

Clive

I heard that our Government are bringing refugees in and taking them to designated areas where they’ll be housed and offered jobs or put on a benefit. This doesn’t make sense to me when this Government are filling up motels with New Zealanders that haven’t a home to live in. If we have houses available rent them to our own who have young children that need to go to school as well. Also help the folk on the streets. We have a British family in the South Island who have been here for a number of years and have a business that the wife runs while the husband is a car salesman. They work hard and he is a volunteer fireman who has been at the terrible fires in Wakefield working continuously. Why send them back? Give them citizenship and they can speak English and don’t rely on government support. Thank goodness for our local

Insect decline

There has been media coverage recently about the potentially catastrophic decline in insect populations worldwide. The studies have shown that we now have as little as 20 per cent of insects compared to a century ago. Also that the decline of diversity in insect populations will give rise to increased numbers of houseflies and cockroaches, as well as a decline in soil and water quality, threatening our own existence. Given that we are 80 per cent down that road, the time to act is now, regardless of short-term economic consequences, which could be alleviated. The poisoning of our environment by the use of industrial, agricultural and domestic pesticides should be stopped now. Only a total ban will work. Marek Plesner

Napier

Unequal society

Leighton Smith’s piece (Feb 11) suggested that it is perfectly okay for the wealthy to retain all their wealth, provided they come by it honestly and pay their legal taxes. The result in New Zealand has been a grossly unequal society. We have a low wage economy in which CEOs get obscenely high salaries and bonuses even when their companies perform badly, while working families sometimes have to turn to food banks. We need a change in some of our financial structures. Evidence is clear that fair societies are happier and more productive, with lower crime rates, fewer suicides and much less stress. I hope the Tax Working Group will propose some mechanisms for redistributing wealth so that all citizens can earn living wages and afford food and housing.