Letters to Editor: Behaviour at fruit stall deplorable

Behaviour at fruit stall deplorable

To the lady in the smallish red/orange car who stopped by my children's fruit stall on the side of the road and loaded her car so confidently ... you forgot to pay, again.
The honesty box was right there in front of you.
Thank you for teaching my children that life is excruciatingly unfair sometimes. You were being watched.
Thank you for teaching them that the time they spend picking and bagging that fruit is sometimes wasted time.
Thank you for showing them that adults can not always be trusted.
I do hope that I never see you with children in your car as you steal from my children again.
They may learn that it's OK to steal.
 K Jeffery, Hawke's Bay
Rail worth promoting
The Napier to Gisborne Railway is both a world class rail journey and a NZ national treasure. Yet all we have heard for years is that its future is doomed unless rail traffic increases to a stage that is is self sufficient again.
With tourism being a growth industry, the Government and KiwiRail fail to recognise that the line has a huge ability to support itself through tourism traffic.
Why can't we begin running a simple railcar, as in past years, on the line for the benefit of Kiwis and tourists alike?
The link could be promoted not only for the incredible journey to the beautiful Gisborne District, but also link it into the East Coast's wine tourism? The "Wine Line" or something catchy, would attract those individuals, tourists and locals alike, to take the journey from either end for excursions to wineries, etc? Or promote it to rail enthusiasts as the Tairei Gorge Railway has done? Or just a fantastic trip for the family?
I have fond memories of travelling by railcar on that line and a single vehicle railcar, similar to the Silver Fern or commuter trains as in Auckland, would be more than sufficient to begin with.
I'm positive that with the correct promotion, this line would be an asset to the East Coast region and a great way to show respect to the individuals who built the line so many years ago.
Don't be shortsighted KiwiRail, look to the future, I'm sure the results would speak for themselves.
Tony Crarer, Waipawa
Democracy at workIn a letter to your paper Sid McCann says that Lawrence Yule should prove his sincerity by renouncing his right to stand for the mayoralty of an amalgamated council (Letters, June 6).
Why should he?
He won't be making any decision on amalgamation; the people of Hawke's Bay will, or central government will legislate it, as was the case with the 1989 restructuring and the Auckland City amalgamation.
If such comes to pass then any citizen will have the right to stand for the mayoralty, and the highest polling candidate will be elected mayor. That's democracy.
This is just a case of playing the man, not the ball. Another example is a Napier city councillor calling this proposal a bid by Lawrence Yule to take over Napier. Let's debate the pros and cons of amalgamation, not prejudice the idea by slurring personal motives.
Ewan McGregor, Hastings

Vote 'yes' to MMP
Your correspondent (Letters, June 4) invites further comment about the MMP referendum that we will be voting on at the time of the general election.
With MMP, whatever your political choice, everyone's vote counts equally towards selection of our representatives in Parliament. With MMP, if you support a party that doesn't hold the seat in your electorate, your votes aren't wasted.
The other systems offered in the referendum don't provide this fairness.
We deserve choice and our votes must count, so what else can we do but vote "yes" to MMP.
Angie Denby, Napier
Voting system backed
Unlike a recent correspondent (June 4), I am looking forward to voting yes to MMP in the upcoming referendum.
Surely the test of a voting system is whether it is fair.
Does a party get roughly the same number of seats as their share of the vote? Does my vote have the same value wherever I live?
With MMP 93 per cent of voters have a party or person representing them in Parliament. No other voting system achieves that. Why would I choose to make my vote less equal and less effective than it is now?
Paul Mason, Napier