Letters: Seymour is doing the right thing

Act Party leader David Seymour is doing the right thing with his End of Life Choice bill, a reader says.

Seymour is doing the right thing

Don Brebner would clearly like the majority of MPs to oppose David Seymour's End of Life Choice Bill, but they would be foolish to do so.

Independently conducted polls consistently show that the majority of New Zealanders are in favour of end of life choice. Horizon's 1300 randomly selected respondents showing 75 per cent support are statistically way more valid, in my view than the self-selecting select committee submissions he mentions. Likewise the 3 News/Reid Research poll in 2015 showing 71 per cent support, and others.

It's not surprising. How could we not be moved by the plight of Lecretia Seales and others? This should be between the individual, family and their trusted medical advisers, not the state. By giving us more choice, Seymour is doing the right thing.

A referendum would almost certainly give euthanasia a green light, but that is not the way forward. Seymour's bill contains comprehensive protections to address concerns about abuse, and it is right that these should be gone through with a fine-toothed comb, in a sober and thoughtful select committee room.

(Abridged)

Stuart Pedersen
Mt Maunganui

Delayed recall
So Prime Minister Bill English recalled in a few hours the Todd Barclay incident. He has had 14 years to recall his National Party's pledge to abolish Maori electorates. Let's hope that's long enough.

Bryan Johnson
Omokoroa

Teacher training
Regarding "Bay principals review training proposal" (News, June 20). Yet again we have an education body, proposing changes to teaching practice seemingly oblivious of efficacy research that indicates that its proposal is nonsense.

This time it's the Education Council.

Apparently, one of the motives for the proposed change is to "close the gaps". But the council is way off the mark so needs to think again. There is now a body of new efficacy research that builds on research that started emerging 40 years ago.

It indicates that our present understanding of learning is strangling how students learn.

Not only that, it's also stopping the development of about half the entire student body's capacity to learn.

If the Education Council really wants to do teachers and teaching a service, it might do something about modernising its antiquated understanding of learning and how it works in classrooms.

Laurie Loper
Pyes Pa