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Supporting seniors

In response to Paul Rea (September 4) I would point out that this Government has a strong track record of supporting older New Zealanders.

The Government remains committed to NZ Super being indexed at 66 per cent of the average weekly wage and the Family Incomes Package announced in Budget 2017 will have a flow on benefit for the Super.

On April 1 next year, NZ Super is expected to be $622.42 a week for a married couple.

That’s up around $22 a week from current payments.

For a married couple, NZ Super will have increased by 35 per cent since we came into office.

That’s almost three times the rate of inflation.

For a single person living alone, NZ Super is expected to increase by $14 ($404.57 a week) on April 1 next year.

Since coming into office, NZ Super for a single person living alone has increased by 36 per cent, twice the rate of inflation.

Unfortunately, Labour intends to scrap these payment increases if they get into Government.

The Government has also delivered numerous other benefits for seniors, such as increasing aged residential care by $250 million and progressively rolling out a free national bowel screening programme for men and women aged 60 to 74. Sarah Dowie MP for Invercargill

Financial disclosure

Very little is more interesting than someone else’s money . . . how much, how come . . . particularly if they are politicians.

Instead of shouting for Winston’s disclosure, why not adopt the Norwegian practice of making all income tax and all income for anyone liable for disclosure to anyone, on condition that the nosy one discloses full name address and contact details to the person being inquired about?

Of course this would require a law to be passed by Parliament who are the last people on this earth to permit that kind of information about their own finance amounts and sources. In other words, no chance. MGIrving Invercargill

Not holidays

I am a low income Invercargill rate-payer and don’t object to rates money being spent on efforts made by our city council to establish and maintain sister city relationships in other countries.

It is normal business in other Aotearoa New Zealand cities where a fuss is not made by members of the public about the costs involved.

The average worker in our country pays higher tax than in many other countries as well as GST tax and part of this goes towards paying for our diplomatic services overseas.

This benefits the country in all sorts of ways.

I never hear people complaining about this.

I suggest that some of the main Invercargill objectors to the Kumagaya and Suqian trips be invited by the ICC on the next one to see just how much of a ‘‘holiday’’ it is on a short trip to represent our city overseas. Carl Stapleton Invercargill

Hospital here

Having thought about Neville Cook’s suggestion, a rebuild of Dunedin Public Hospital in Invercargill; it is now time to lobby our son-of-Southland PM, before election day (and remind him of the less-earthquake-prone empty sections around and south of Kew ready and waiting) to commit to a new SDHB hospital immediately.

And stop the flow of St John personnel, ambulances and patients north, and the trickle down effect of professional people, their households and ancillary service tradesmen, will start filling the population deficit the SoRDs committee think we have, before 2020.

The estimate of three years to build a new hospital will be reached by then and the search for more money will be on for another private funder by the SDHB.

Remember Southlanders bought their CT scanner.

Finally our Mayor can put us back on the national news again, together with the Southern Institute of Technology’s chief executive Penny Simmonds, regarding the amount of accommodation and the tertiary courses available for further study by qualified hospital professionals. Judith P Stevens Invercargill