Solutions for our worst-off

What a breath of fresh air from Susan St John (NZ Herald, November 29). It should be compulsory reading for all political parties in NZ. A short treatise on poverty in a concise and well-written article. An objective explanation of a few things that might help the poor and struggling families in NZ. None of the present Government’s fixations on Three Waters, merging broadcasters, and creating yet another bloated bureaucracy in Wellington for our health service will help put food on the table or help to pay their rent or mortgages. National’s misguided reduction of the top tax rate would also be an exercise in rewarding the already well-off while doing nothing to help the less privileged among us. Neither of our major political parties appears to understand the problems besetting our worst-off members of society. Maybe because none of them has ever experienced life on a low income they are unable to see the solutions. Maybe the people who actually live them every day could point them in the right direction. Or talk to Susan St John.

James Archibald, Birkenhead.

Less politics

Susan St John (NZ Herald, November 29) reports that the latest Ministry of Social Development report shows that at least 60,000 children are in severe deprivation. And yet the Government continues to downplay the gravity of the situation, pointing to the progress it has made. More useful than statistics that can be manipulated, is feedback from groups such as the Child Poverty Action Group, food banks, and other charities, which report that they have never seen the level of poverty so high. Let’s stop using children’s lives for point scoring and work towards supporting families in need. We should demand nothing less.

Glennys Adams, Oneroa.

Desperate need

Politicians love talking about consequences, but what they really mean is punishment. Their shallow, shouty political discourse about consequences is drowning out the real issue — the fact that nearly a quarter of our population is living in poverty, with no hope of improvement. As Susan St John and Kanwal Grewal (NZ Herald, November 29) point out, poverty is what we should be talking about, not how to trap and punish the desperate. Crime is the consequence of this desperation. Punishment is not the solution. Reducing poverty and inequality is the best cure for crime.

V.M. Fergusson, Mt Eden.

Accept no less

The article from Susan St John (NZ Herald, November 29) is a very strong and timely reminder of the importance and urgency of government work to reduce the scourge of child poverty. While there have been important improvements in the last few years, these need to be accelerated and widened to improve the lives of Aotearoa’s most disadvantaged children. As we move into an election year, it behoves all of us to demand quite specific commitments from all parties to make real changes and to build on what has changed over the last five years. Parties that can’t or won’t commit to further changes don’t deserve our support. All our children and their families need an adequate income to ensure that they all have the opportunity to develop and live their lives as fully as possible. Nothing else is good enough. Michael O’Brien, Red Beach.

Worst of times

My late parents were brought up on farms. They were conservative and voted for the National Party for decades. Towards the end of my mother’s life, she changed her political allegiance to the Labour Party. She claimed that National was only interested in the affluent and farmers. She found their narrow views of New Zealand to be unconscionable. Any progressive policies designed to help the poorer sections of our society, like raising the minimum wage, are opposed by National and Act. And yet generous tax cuts to the affluent are perfectly acceptable. Do National and Act MPs even bother to talk to people on or just above the minimum wage about their concerns? In the past few decades, social inequality, child poverty and falling home ownership rates have scarred our society. But perhaps the greatest damage of neo-liberalism is the one it inflicts on our social cohesion and the pressure it places on democracy. Social democracy was the greatest political success of the 20th century. Instead of being grounded in the 21st century, National and Act sound like they would be more comfortable in the Dickensian world of Victorian Britain.

Craig Clark, Devonport.

Tight fists

I am sure there are those who think the Government is being generous in providing funds to address retail crime.

It is not, as this money is being offered on the basis of it being matched by Auckland, Hamilton, and Bay of Plenty councils. The detection of criminals and preparation of prosecution cases is the responsibility of the police, as is the prevention of crime. The fact they are unable to do this in an adequate way is simply because they are underfunded by central government. The fact our legal system takes forever to prosecute and convict criminals is because our court system is underfunded by central government, which, by the way, collects any fines levied into general revenue. The fact our courts are desperate to avoid sending convincted criminals to jail is because our prison system is underfunded by central government. All of these central government departments are underfunded because of decisions by central government, which prefers to allocate the taxes it collects to programmes it perceives as being more electorally popular. It will be interesting to see how Auckland’s new mayor stands up to this blatant rip-off by central government. Rod Lyons, Kumeu¯ .

Memorial rebuff

Jim Collins was an honourable man; a conscientious pilot who carefully prepared and planned every flight plan he made. I knew Jim personally and was horrified by the accident and the Muldoon government’s attempt to cover up the disastrous error made by some fool who altered Jim’s flight plan by three degrees.

Jim knew that whiteout conditions could and probably would occur. His meticulous flight plan was for the “flight of a lifetime” to view Mt Erebus as they veered past at a safe aeronautical distance. That fool killed Jim and has had the deaths of all those people on their conscience ever since — despite the Government of the day trying to lay the blame on Jim. Muldoon knew it. Fortunately, Jim Collins was eventually cleared. Now Wayne Brown has maligned the names and memories of the Erebus dead by an unacceptable attitude and words. Jim was worth a hundred Wayne Browns parading as a mayor. Ian R. Baddon-Parsons, Rotorua.

Unhappy campers

The disciplines of a healthy society are embodied in learned individual selfdiscipline. Once the “parents” and institutions have deviated from this discipline, the culture collapses. Exposing youthful criminals to boot camps is inappropriate. Successful military training regimes require candidate selection with aptitudes suitable for the task at hand. This form of training is appropriate only when aimed at protecting citizens against security threats from belligerent regimes. State-sponsored murder can be tolerated only for survival against evil foreign aggression. It is not a routine method of education. Those politicians now proposing “boot camps” have never served their country in this manner. They clutch at straws. Hugh Webb, Huntington.

Education role

The current debates over schooling need to be placed in the context of history. Schooling for all was introduced in the late 19th century as a response to the emergence of the mass manufacturing economy. The prime purpose of the model was to teach children a minimum level of the three Rs so they would be functional in that workplace; instil in them the discipline of that workplace, including punctuality and being on task for fixed hours five days a week; and, as early as possible (usually age 11), select those 15 per cent deemed to have been born with superior intelligence so that they could be “educated” to take their more lofty roles in society. David Hood, Hamilton.

Snow business

Mainland ski fields further south have to be propped up by 210 snowmaking machines, which just happen to be the biggest snowmaking system in the Southern Hemisphere. Ruapehu has one. If Ruapehu had the same number of snowmaking machines, then Taupō could become another Queenstown, making a fairer distribution of the tourist dollar or a fairer level playing field for both islands in the process. Gary Hollis, Mellons Bay.