Waikato letters to the Editor

Doctor visits

Patients now arrive to see GPS with a “laundry list” because, in fact, we’re not doctors. We are not capable of diagnosing ourselves; we make lists so we can talk fast in the allotted time of fifteen minutes.we need to speak to our doctors, we do not know which symptoms may or may not be relevant and are making appointments weeks and months in advance to determine what might be wrong, or not.

Trying to limit patients to what can be discussed with our GPS is inhumane and will result in worse health outcomes. Doctors in primary practices should have the flexibility to take the time to be human and practice what they’ve been trained to do.

I also understand the pressures they are under in today’s increasingly corporate owned system but this isn’t going to get better if it’s not addressed. We’re not just names, numbers and dollars.

Karen Barrett, Piopio

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Water leaders needed

Three Waters is for the chop even though the main sticking point, co-governance, could have been removed to allow progress to be made on the infrastructure funding aspect. Maybe it could have been renamed “Three Warts” to make the ideologues feel at home.

There was always a need to amalgamate small entities to facilitate borrowing and funding, and that is central government’s responsibility; to set right a century of bumbling government neglect. In terms of raw water availability, we are a lucky country; but the “business does best” mantra favoured by National and ACT does not mean that small councils should blunder down the path followed by Mainzeal and Fletchers.

The funding models (necessitated by a century of infrastructure neglect) demands dedicated attention from central government. They need to stop posturing and take the helm.

Hugh Webb, Hamilton

Powerful performance

What a privilege to see and hear the most powerful festival performance of To Shiver the Sky last night at the Hamilton Gardens. It felt world class to me and I think it was. Powerful, moody, evocative, moving.

Congratulations to all who put so many voluntary hours into this NZ premier of international standard... the arranger, the conductor, the brass band, the choirs, soloists and more.

And the big stage on the huge

Rhododendron Lawn was the perfect setting! (How fortunate the people of Hamilton fought to prevent it becoming a car park.)

Thank you organisers and performers for your memorable performance.

Rosanne Ludbrook, Hamilton

Better budgeting, please

Public finances. Is there light at the end of the tunnel? A minister of finance who understands the basic principles of managing money.

The item in the Times on 22 February should have been headlines on the front page so every politician would have been confronted by it. Just as a family cannot survive financially if they spend more than they earn, so any organisation will fall into bankruptcy if they neglect the same principle.

The need to “have enough headroom when a rainy day comes” should be the aim in every budget. Hamilton City keeps pushing the limits of how much more debt they can raise and in recent years have not provided any headroom for emergencies. Essentials only until some headroom is found. Nice-to-haves will need to wait. Ron Pengelly, Hamilton

Stay local, council

Hamilton City Council comes under the Local Government Minister Simeon Peter Brown and not under Hon Winston Raymond Peters Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

When there is a local problem burning in the heart of local residents in regard to 19.9% rate increase and water meters threat, making statements about international affairs such as Israel and Hamas conflict is unacceptable. These kind of statements will create problems for Prime Minister Christopher Mark Luxon similar to recent incidents in Auckland.

Listen to local communities and look after their need for which you were voted in for.

Mano Manoharan, Hamilton

Pigeon holing problems

In today's world, is it possible to be opposed to the current actions of the Israeli Government in the Gaza Strip and feel sympathy for the millions of Palestinians displaced as well as injured or killed and at the same time not be anti-semitic?

With the "cancel culture" so rampant in the world, is there still room to accept that just maybe the Israeli Government and Hamas do not speak for every person of the Jewish faith; the Muslim faith or even the Christian faith that find themselves in Israel or the Gaza Strip?

It would be nice to think that there is room for such acceptance but, there is not much evidence to support that thought. Instead, it appears that simply belonging to a particular faith or nationality pigeon holes you in the eyes of world. To me that is a sad indictment on today's society.

Dunstan Sheldon, Hamilton

Blow for film fans

The news item which said the Wellington organisers of the International Film Festival are missing out Hamilton this year and it will only go to the four main cities was a blow to movie lovers. We so look forward to the festival in the middle of wintery August. It would be just awful if, after decades of enjoying the festival, it was suddenly gone.

The loss of the festival is no doubt the result of one more financial disaster from Covid lockdowns. Can we not find the finance in Hamilton to make sure that the organisers of the IFF understand how important the festival is to Hamilton? Perhaps the local Hamilton Film Society could organise a system of accepting donations to ensure the IFF can be confident it will not lose financially again this year. Let’s get the festival back. Frankie Letford, Hamilton

Tough on beneficiaries

In his recent ‘state of the nation’ address PM Luxon addressed the issue of benefits, with statements around getting tough on beneficiaries. A few simple figures around benefit fraud illustrate why focusing on beneficiaries makes no financial sense. In 2021/22 benefit fraud cost the country $2.4m. But authorities spent $49m on investigating and prosecuting benefit fraud - a net loss to the government of $46.6m. By the way, when Luxon talks about not wasting taxpayer dollars, just a reminder that everybody receiving a benefit pays tax - beneficiaries are taxpayers too.

Let’s consider another area of fraud - tax evasion. This is predominantly a ‘white collar’ crime. Lisa Marriott, professor of taxation at the University of Victoria is a leading expert in this field. Her research (which is the source of all my figures in this letter) estimates that tax evasion costs this country up to seven billion dollars a year in revenue for the government.

The Inland Revenue Department and agencies such as the Serious Fraud Office recover one billion dollars a year from prosecutions for tax evasion.

This figure is not higher mainly because they are underfunded for this task.

In conclusion, benefit fraud compares as only 0.24% of the money fraudulently obtained by tax evasion (using the $1b recovered annually amount as a baseline). If Luxon wanted to get tough on people cheating the system, clearly the best ‘bang for buck’ is to spend money on pursuing and convicting tax evaders, not beneficiaries.

Financially, this is the only strategy that makes sense. Stephen Bright, Hamilton