Letter to the Editor, Tuesday March 10, 2015

Turning in their graves

Pertaining to the by-election for the parliamentary Northland seat, I have been very interested in the suggestion made by several persons, including unfortunately the leader of the Opposition, that Labour supporters should perhaps vote for the founder/leader of New Zealand First, on tactical grounds, rather than supporting our Labour candidate Ms Willow-Jean Prime.

Surely the great predecessors of Mr Little must have turned in their graves at the suggestion made on the grounds of political expediency.

Should not Mr Peters be instructing his supporters to vote for Ms Prime on the grounds that she was nominated before him and because she is a bona fide Northland resident?

Ms Prime has also shown her commitment and interest in the North with her work as a councillor on the FNDC.

We grizzle and groan about the loss of infrastructure in our area, as well as the high unemployment rate. Apart from a minimal representation by Social Credit we have returned the National candidate to be our representative.

What have we gained and could we do better by signifying to the powers that be that we are tired of being taken for granted?

TOM YOUNG

Cooper's Beach