TUREI TROUBLES
A constant refrain about politicians is that they’re untrustworthy, manipulative and loose with the truth. We want honesty, we keep telling ourselves, openness and transparency.
Then along comes Greens co-leader Metiria
Turei, who reveals past indiscretions ( Politics, July 29) in her interactions with Social Welfare as a young mum on the domestic purposes benefit.
And the result? General hysteria reigns.
The Turei witch-hunt shows we are fooling ourselves if we say we want
honesty from politicians. The truth? We can’t handle it. Frank Macskasy (Wallaceville, Upper Hutt) Congratulations to Metiria Turei for recognising she lacks the basic skills of a minister – fudging, evasion, attack and
distraction. Good grief, she even volunteered an uncomfortable truth without being asked. Watch Jacinda Ardern carefully. Her gender suggests she might be similarly unqualified. Karen Peterson Butterworth (Waikanae) The Metiria Turei affair highlights a clear double standard that needs to be debated. Poverty-stricken Maori and female solo beneficiaries are many times more likely to be prosecuted, and for a lower level of fraud, than are wealthy, white, middle-class, white-collar criminals for offences many times more costly to the taxpaying public.
A little contrition in all of Turei’s public defending of her law-breaking, even, heaven forbid, an apology for her 20-year-old misdemeanours, would have greatly enhanced her wish for such a debate. Gary Clover (Richmond) It was courageous of Metiria Turei to expose her past indiscretions. The sad thing is that she has become the story, and the issue she was on about – a failing and punitive welfare system – risks being lost in all the outrage. Michael Barnett (Karaka Bays, Wellington) Metiria Turei is just the sort of person I want to be in a position of making positive change. In order to ameliorate the righteous indignation she has triggered, I suggest a national fess-up day. I’ll start.
I pay cash for certain services, I topped up a friend’s bank account for immigration purposes, I signed a document for the bank saying I’d be a boarder for someone who needed a mortgage, I’ve driven under the influence, and the rest …
How about not judging Turei by her mistakes but applauding her for what she’s giving back? I want MPs who are us. Name and address withheld