The Premium Debate: On butcher being burgled, a stranger's gift and a sector in 'crisis'

Tauranga butcher Doug Jarvis. Photo / Andrew Warner

OPINION
A butcher who threatened to close his Mount Maunganui store after burglars targeted it multiple times is "lost for words" after the community rallied behind him.

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A lot of these burglaries are committed by youth offenders. Go after them and their guardians, who are supposed to look after them. If they are not at home at a certain time and they don't know their whereabouts, they're culpable through neglect of their duties.
Stefan N

This poor man. Betrayed by an ideological government and policing policy.
Mark C

A lot of these crimes, especially ram raids, would not occur if it was not so easy to steal motor vehicles. We need to take the security of motor vehicles more seriously and then offenders would only be able to rob businesses that are within walking distance of their homes and much easier to catch.
Colin B

In reply to Colin B: How about making the people who intend to, or actually carry out crimes, stop contemplating doing so, rather than making us all culpable for having our vehicles stolen? How about consequences that make people think twice before they commit a crime, rather than penalising victims or potential victims?
Leigh H

A stranger's gift

Troy Watson's week has been made after a stranger gifted him some money after reading about his battle with cystic fibrosis, and to access a drug that could make it a manageable disease.

I don't understand why this drug is not funded, particularly as it has clear clinical improvements. Surely the cost of the hospital stays and treatment outweigh the cost of the drug. Fingers crossed this will change with the increased funding.
Mags R

That is great, but why do private citizens have to support patients for this when our own government is shirking its responsibilities??
Graham W

Labour crunch

The nationwide labour crunch has hit the Bay of Plenty's retirement sector and one lifestyle village leader says staffing is an "absolute crisis".

Has the Government's priority been legislating for euthanasia, rather than funding aged care, and prioritising and funding palliative care? The lack of nurses in aged care has been at crisis level while the health sector has been 'in the throws' of restructuring. Will there be any improvement for aged care now that there are even more layers of bureaucracy in health?
Sara M

Pay a decent wage by reducing obscene profit margins.
Terry O

Having had parents in aged care I have seen a huge decline in foreign workers over the last two years as they could not get into NZ or were sent home as their visas had expired. These staff looked after clients as if they were their own family, as this was how they were brought up in their culture. Wages were increased for care workers, rest home costs therefore increased, higher costs were put on to the clients (or family if not funded) and there were staff reductions due to ongoing costs for facilities. Now we are seeing the results.
Mike B

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