Bring back night school to help us help ourselves

New Zealand needs a return of night classes, wrongly stopped more than 10 years ago by a National Government seeking money for tax cuts. I badly needed further education when both my parents died the year I started fulltime work, aged 16. So I did my accounting degree at night classes for nine years.

Cost accounting has been, and always will be, my favourite subject and work. This was highlighted when I got the cost accountant role for three years at Pacific Steel and the agent said his brief was to get the best cost accountant in New Zealand. In my next role, I was cost accountant for seven years at Carter Holt Harvey and my boss, the sales manager, said in his reference: ‘‘Murray’s ability as a cost accountant is without peer in the manufacturing industry’’.

I could never ever have done all of that without night classes, so please bring them back and correct another selfish action by the National Government. So many people need it in a wide range of subjects while working fulltime too.

Murray Hunter, Auckland

A small politeness

Like Polly Gillespie (Focus, February 28), I too was surprised the first time I heard that addressing a mixed group of people as ‘‘guys’’ could be problematic. I’ve been doing it for years. Then I took a step back and tried to imagine what it might be like to be someone who was consistently mis-gendered in the world. Mis-gendered directly, aggressively, judgmentally on a bad day, and casually, carelessly, unthinkingly, even on a good one.

I note that the other terms Gillespie takes offence at have been recommended for use alongside terms such as ‘‘mother’’ and ‘‘breastfeeding’’ – not as replacements. Why she would have a problem with that is unclear.

Changing the words we use is easy: folks, people, parent. It’s a small politeness, Polly.

Liz Hibbs, Wellington

Big bucks for rugby

Marc Hinton writes of Silver Lake’s $465 million bid for 15 per cent of New Zealand Rugby (Sport, February 28).

Will Silver Lake greatly increase rugby’s earning ability, by perhaps accessing sponsors with a greater ability to splash the cash and take games to areas where gate takings and TV contracts are much bigger?

If the answer is yes, then New Zealand Rugby would get 85 per cent of a much bigger cake.

It’s not a case of selling the All Blacks, just 15 per cent of their earning ability for a set period of time.

Garth Scown, Whanganui

‘Aotearoa’ mystery

T. R. Florian (Letters, February 28) implies that ‘‘Aotearoa’’ preceded the appellation ‘‘New Zealand’’. I would like to be enlightened as to when, or if, Ma¯ ori ever used this term as a collective name for our three islands.

In his book Place Names of New Zealand, A.W. Reed calls it the ‘‘accepted traditional name’’ for New Zealand, but does not say when that tradition began. At school we were taught that ‘‘Aotearoa’’ was the name called out by Kupe’s wife on sighting land, but I can find no reference to the use of ‘Aotearoa’ by preEuropean Maori. They did not seem to regard New Zealand as one place, and instead they gave names to each island.

Certainly, when Captain Cook, aided by the incomparable navigator Tupaia, mapped the three islands, he entitled his map ‘‘A Chart of Newzeland or the Islands of Aeheinomouwe and Tovypoenammu’’. These islands were shown on later maps as ‘Teika-a-Maui’ and ‘Te Wahi Poenamu’, and Cook’s rendering was how he heard Tupaia pronounce them.

In 1793 settlers asked Tuki Te Terenui Whare Pirau to draw a map to show the location of important features of New Zealand. There is again no reference to ‘‘Aotearoa’’.

When, then, did a legendary name become used to encompass all three islands? Is it, perhaps, just a relic of colonisation?

Paul Canham, Napier

Not so Grand

The Republicans have lost the right to be called the Grand Old Party, since they endorsed Trump for a second term (thankfully he lost), failed to impeach him and continue to support him.

To call them the ‘‘Grand Old Party’’ is an insult to democracy and the free world. It gives them a credibility they do not deserve. Andrew Parker, Palmerston North

Gumboots run

One hesitates to rain on Ants Pitman’s parade (News, February 28), but is planning for his Bots to wear gumboots for the We Run The Night event in Tauranga really wise?

Adults can please themselves as to what footwear they adopt for which purpose, but to encourage children to perform a 10km event in unsuitable

footwear is wrongheaded. It is a gimmick that might rebound badly. I can imagine chafed legs, unbalanced movement, falls, blisters and other damage to young feet. It hardly seems to fit with his desire to ‘‘want the best for them’’.

If my concerns are legitimate, it is hoped a podiatrist or professional body might caution against Pitman’s intention. Carol Brown, Wellington

Masks’ role

Alf Hoyle (Letters, February 28) comments on the increased sales of toilet paper but not of facemasks. It could be that people have realised that toilet paper cannot be re-used. Face-masks can.

Tony Williams, Napier

Lockdown anger

It is high time for a tougher border quarantine regime, and longer isolation for returnees. As a country we cannot afford further lockdowns – New Zealanders would be extremely angry.

We should not be penalised on account of some people not following the rules.

Tom Stephens, New Plymouth