Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown. Photo / Michael Craig
Taking the local out of the boards
The mayor’s proposed cull of Auckland local boards is premature. The Local Government Commission will require proof of public support before even considering such a significant change. So far the mayor’s idea has not been formally put to the local boards, let alone discussed at all with the 1.7 million people they represent. We already have less local representation than we had in the days before amalgamation in 2010 when the region had 28 community boards. In fact the Royal Commission recommended against any “grass-roots” level of representation at all. But the Community Boards Association was able to persuade the Minister of Local Government of the vital importance of having readily accessible local representation. This resulted in the creation of 21 local boards, each charged with representing their particular community of interest.
In 12 years as a local board member attempting to represent over 100,000 residents I was repeatedly struck by how thinly we were spread and dread to think of a smaller number of members having to represent more than 150,000 people — more than the population of Dunedin. Can that really be truly a “local” board anymore? Surely that means a reduction in accessibility for the people.
Graeme Easte, Mount Albert
Jacinda’s tragedy
Re Derek Cheng’s excellent “Anatomy of Labour’s Collapse” (Herald, October 19); he should write a companion piece: “Jacinda Ardern, A Tragedy Of Our Time”.
A tragedy, because firstly she seemingly had the motivation to seek genuine transformative change, secondly she had the charisma and personal and professional skills to drive it, and thirdly — particularly with Labour’s second term majority — she had the means to implement it. Yet despite all that she bombed and was gone after just a term and a half, in a simulacrum of the trajectory of another charismatic yet flawed Labour leader, David Lange.
Ultimately she massively over-promised but massively under-delivered. The distractions of Covid and the Christchurch shootings tragedy were mitigations for a while, but on all the major calls she proved not-at-home in a manner that made a mockery of her proclamation that climate change was her nuclear-free moment, for just one example.
For a while her personal popularity plus the establishment of a record number of parliamentary working groups — so that she could say “we’re working on it” for any particular issue — kept her aloft. And she set records for hours spent in interviews and massaging her own social media profile. But as the questions got gnarlier as to actual results she could see the “we’re working on it” game was up. Baling became her only option. Given her skills and potential agency for true transformative change, a tragedy.
Frank Greenall, Whanganui.
Veto the veto
I wish to reinforce Randal Lockie of Rothesay Bay’s call for urgent reform of the UN Security Council (Herald, October 19) by removing the power of veto which for all my life has rendered the UN useless at providing security and stopping war. I agree with all his comments and his question “Is there no end to man’s inhumanity to man?” The answer is yes if we reorganise and accept some form of global governance. Reform of the UN Security Council by removing the power of veto is a good first step if we want a route to global justice.
We all need to urge our politicians to make this happen as Aotearoa New Zealand is in a good position to lead this and peace is possible if we are concerned for the age we live in; now is the time.
Kia Kaha! Be Strong!
Dennis P. Worley, Birkenhead.
Compulsory vote
It looks like we are now going to suffer weeks of negotiations between three parties to see who gets what they want, who gets some of what they want and who ends up with the scraps. It’s time we introduced compulsory voting to capture the true feelings of people who have to deal with what they are given. There are many potential voters who don’t accept their social responsibility because they feel “my vote won’t count”, “it doesn’t matter, they’ll do what they want, as usual”, or any other reason to avoid taking part. Voting is compulsory in many countries and gives a far better picture of which road the Government should take. Perhaps more education for those who may not be aware of what the electoral processes include or entail may be a good idea. For those who do, a fine for not voting could be introduced.
Jeremy Coleman, Hillpark.
Chris v Chris
While the world awaits a Christ to help alleviate the pain in Israel, New Zealand just got one Chris coming in and one Chris getting the boot. But Chris of Hipkins must have learnt a lot in his short tenure of power and needs now to help hold the new governing team to account. I see his caucus wisely agreed. He is still young, and like Winston, who goes on and on, and on again, can manage the Opposition now.
Robert Buchanan, Kerikeri.
Academic vision
It has been incredibly painful watching the scouring of New Zealand’s academic talent from our universities over a very brief time leading to pending shortages in crucial knowledge. The scouring has been justified on lack of funds. But actually, it is founded on no stated vision, as the current model of funds following student enrolments is not a vision.
To the new Government, here is a vision. In 10 years’ time New Zealand should have
There will be naysayers but hey, it’s a vision. Bring us yours?
Christine Keller Smith, Northcote Point
Tweaking the treaty
David Seymour wants to revisit the Treaty of Waitangi, no doubt hoping for votes from the racist underbelly while also interpreting it in a way that is closer to his ideology. But hey, why stop there? There are other historic treaties he could look at; Magna Carta for instance. That’s part of our history too. No doubt it could be given a more neoliberal slant.
Warren Drake, Orakei.
Allan’s key
Kiri Allan’s rapid switch into consultancy is an arrogant affront to taxpayers who collectively have financed her public sector learning curve, much of which is privileged information that should be but currently does not carry an embargo of its use from former politicians.
Larry Mitchell, Rothesay Bay.
No complaints
As a forever Labour voter, I was naturally disappointed in the election results.
To the 22 per cent of eligible voters who didn’t vote (compared to the previous election’s 19 per cent), don’t complain when your benefit goes down, your sickness benefit diminishes, you have to pay for your prescriptions and the Treaty of Waitangi is tampered with.
We get the government we vote for and if some of us can’t be bothered we just can’t complain when it doesn’t serve us.
Susan Wilson, Waiheke Island.
Heart-felt thanks
My experience during my one-night stay at Auckland Hospital after being taken there by St Johns Ambulance on Tuesday morning was so impressive that I would like to sincerely thank both organisations for helping me during my time of need.
I was silly enough to push my 82-year-old body far too much playing nine holes of golf. The St Johns paramedics made my trip to Auckland Hospital such a pleasurable experience.
The staff and the service at both the Emergency Department and the Cardiac Department were superbly professional and personable.
Ray Peel, Kohimarama.
On healthcare
Can someone please explain how disestablishing The Māori Health Authority means Māori won’t have access to healthcare? As far as I am aware, a hospital doesn’t turn people away.
Mark Young, Orewa.
On shield
Investigation on Ranfurly Shield damage has come to no conclusions so the white powder turned out to be a whitewash.
Ian MacGregor, Greenhithe.
New Zealand Rugby must think the general public are stupid to believe that the recently-refurbished Ranfurly Shield was accidentally dropped and split in half. Maybe the white powder was fairy dust talcum powder to cover up any fingerprints. Pull the other one.
Bruce Tubb, Devonport.
On Peters
Winston Peters seems determined to avoid dialogue with the press. May I suggest that if the press completely ignored him, he might change his tune.
Greg Cave, Sunnyvale.
On house sales
Unless Winston Peters manages to stop them, our new Government is likely to sell thousands of our houses to absentee foreign buyers. How well did that work out in Ireland in the 1840s?
Alan Tomlinson, Herne Bay.
Air New Zealand’s radical move to tackle long contact centre waiting times
My experience of offshore call centre staff: hopeless. Not the staff’s fault, poor training, can only read from a script. It’s a cheap way of answering calls. Remember, Air New Zealand is making record profits. They need to update their IT systems, which would remove a large number of calls. I live abroad and travel extensively and hardly ever call my airline. All done online with ease. Anita W.
Air NZ had longstanding problems with answering calls in a timely manner — they should have looked to improve this markedly already years ago. Maybe more competition recently forced them. Alexander G.
I do hope the offshoring is a temporary measure. My experience over a number of years shows me that no amount of training pumped into the overseas entity can overcome the English language nuances. I know the call centre operators are usually trying their hardest. Tom B.
How radical is it to acknowledge you’re under-resourced in a key area and then do something about it? We have had many issues with Air NZ, however, setting aside the lengthy wait times, we always get to the right outcome. John H.
Many travel agents used to book, change bookings and look after Air NZ customers as a priority, then Air NZ dropped paying commissions because “customers would book direct” and online. Be careful what you wish for! Supporting NZ travel agents will pay benefits for the airline, the customer and the economy. John W.
Police arrested 20 Greazy Dogs members over alleged meth crimes in Bay of Plenty.