Social workers’ nightmare

Who would be a social worker in the current climate of blame? I feel sorry for such workers trying to do their best for the most vulnerable members of our society. Increasingly they are caught within a power play between Wha¯ nau Ora and Oranga Tamariki.

New Zealand has appalling statistics of child abuse and murder at the hands of wha¯ nau/ family. The Children’s Commissioner’s report says Ma¯ ori are five times more likely to be placed in state care than non-Ma¯ ori. Generational poverty and addiction are common threads with child abuse.

Against this backdrop, police are having to protect social workers from threats of violence from so-called ‘‘caregivers’’ addicted to methamphetamine. Meanwhile wha¯ nau/family members hide behind the Privacy Act, all the while blaming Oranga Tamariki, who are muzzled from telling their side of the story.

It’s a no-win situation for Oranga Tamariki. They are damned if they take the children and if they don’t and the child is harmed, they’re also damned. I have nothing but admiration for the social workers trying the navigate this minefield.

Steve Plowman, Wellington

Older workers

It seems that the only way forward for those mentioned in the feature ‘‘Older, wiser . . . but out of work’’ (Focus, February 2), is to have mature joblessness declared a disability.

Only then would the organs of the state swing into action and some changes in employer thinking eventuate. Around 2005, the Ministry of Transport published an excellent report, The Accessible Journey which looked at disability barriers in everyday travel.

Perhaps something like The

Accessible Job Market would highlight the barriers faced by Caroline Nola and others in the post-50 cohort.

It is extraordinary that in a digital age when distance has no meaning, that remote working hasn’t gained more traction in our public service. Correspondence drafting, report editing and similar activities are easily done remotely. Recruiting trusted experienced people and paying by piece-work would overcome the main objections raised by the mandarins.

Rob Harris, Dannevirke

Pike River costs

Ian Blake’s view on the Pike River Mine financials (Letters, February 2) is narrow in the grand scheme of Government expenses.

Blake might want to jump on the bandwagon of student debt that’s not being repaid, fathers who don’t pay child support and fine dodgers.

I am sick and tired of hearing about people getting fixated on the $36 million cost of Pike River. The reality is that if it had been handled properly in the first place the cost would have been significantly less.

The whole Pike River tragedy has had salt rubbed into its wounds by poor management and an underlying game of stringing it out in the hope the problem would go away. Well, guess what? It didn’t and now we’re paying for it.

Andrew Wicks, Auckland

A transport vision

Steven Joyce (‘‘Hallelujah – roads are back’’, Business, February 2) seems to be the only person with a vision for the future of transport outside of the cities. With climate change in mind, what is the future of not only light, but also heavy transport?

There is little doubt that within 15 years most cars will be electric and have autonomous drive capability. Trucks are likely to be powered by hydrogen or electricity. Should we therefore be looking at electrifying our main highways? Or should we start to plan for a hydrogen future?

Unlike some European countries, New Zealand has a very poor history in transport planning. With climate change in mind it might be a good time to look at the future of transport. Chris Kaelin, Te Awamutu

Christchurch cash

Andrea Vance (Opinion, February 2) raises an argument for more Government monies to be channelled into Christchurch’s infrastructure.

At the time of the quakes I believed that recovery to something resembling a modern, clean city (which it certainly wasn’t before) would take at least two decades and would embrace some very fanciful notions (which it has).

Christchurch is recovering well after nearly one decade, despite some mishandlings by the previous administration, but it is not the only deserving cause. There are other parts of New Zealand that are just as deserving of Government handouts, assuming of course that the money really is there and is not just the result of creative accounting.

John D Mahony, Christchurch

Neo-liberal Moore

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says Mike Moore helped open up New Zealand to the world. This is a simplistic and inaccurate description. What he and the other neo-liberals from both major parties did was open up New Zealand to dominance by the giant global corporations. In