Letters to the editor: Three Waters money transparent bribery

Potable water is one of two things our council does well, writes a reader. Photo / Getty Images

It is alarming to think Tauranga City Council may think it can accept the Government's Three Waters plan, which appears to have very little substance other than four centres will take over the running of the country's water, wastewater and stormwater systems.

Potable water is one of two things our council does well.

Centralising the management of stuff is something I believe the Government sucks at. Look at our health systems, look at our roads, look at our housing costs. Don't unleash them on us, the last thing we need is yet another layer of bureaucracy between us and good service.

The Government's offer of millions of dollars if we opt in in the next month or two is, in my opinion, insulting, shallow, and transparent bribery.

Yes, give us the means to finish Waiariki, but if you don't, then we'll finish it ourselves.
The selection of Commissioners was good but, in my view, we need to elect our own councillors in the future.

Speak up with your views on the Three Waters Plan.

By the way, the other thing our council does well is parks and reserves.

Dan Russell
Tauranga

Mandatory life sentence

Dare I suggest that anyone committing any crime while in possession of a firearm or illegal weapon receive a mandatory life sentence?

This has worked so well in Singapore, though there the punishment is capital.

We need to stop pussyfooting around with soft sentences, look at what works overseas and start getting our country into the egalitarian balance it needs to be for everyone's sake.

Richard Kean
Rotorua

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