How can Bill English crow about an impending surplus when we have thousands of New Zealanders forced to live in dwellings other than houses, families struggling to pay power bills for heating, families too poor to buy decent healthy food, students being taught in mouldy damp schools when our Minister of Education is overfunding alternative schools and crowing about an education surplus of $205 million, when dairy farmers are being forced into debt, Northland roads are in appalling states, to name just a few examples.
As a result of our families being put under stress and overcrowding, more than 3000 children were abused during March 2014-2015. And unbelievably the aim of the National Government is to reduce this number by a mere 5 per cent (144 children) by 2017. This leaves 3000 vulnerable?
Surely a statistic that should show the opposite with a reduction in 95 per cent by 2017. Even one child abuse is one too many in my book. Anti-smacking laws have not obviously had any effect when the stats show increases in child abuse every year.
Well said Gordon McLauchlan (Herald 8/7) with the very common sense article about using Marsden Point as a main port together with rail to it and upgrade of rail to Auckland.
Marie Kaire,
Whangarei
