Councillors and politicians need to remember that it is the people of New Zealand who are attending this future “national stadium” and any self-interest should come second to the public.
Tristan Cullen, Wānaka.
Winston’s diet
A shout out to Winston Peters and the blindingly obvious truth of his words that “diet is critical” (Mar 26).
Please, all the healthcare professionals who insist drugs will get you well, eat all the carbs you like, will not solve the catastrophic epidemic of Type 2 diabetes. The “drugs as first-line therapy” doesn’t allow for the workable, commonsense approach Peters espouses - high protein and the reduction of carbohydrates (sugars).
Last week I was able to deliver to Health Minister Simeon Brown a letter from highly-respected Dr Glen Davies of Taupō containing the following: “We know exactly the cause and exactly how to fix the problem, but we are lacking the leadership needed”.
Thank you Winston for stepping up. Further from Dr Davies, “I have assisted at least 206 people to reverse their T2 diabetes or prediabetes, stop their medications and reverse the associated consequences of insulin resistance with lifestyle change alone.
“I have estimated that this intervention from just one GP, that has cost zero dollars to implement, has saved Vote Health around $1 million.”
Isn’t that worth thinking about? Certainly what we are currently doing is not working, so let’s make some changes.
Judy Anderson, Remuera.
Immigration overhaul
According to economist Brian Easton’s latest book, there are no economic benefits from migration.
The downsides are higher house prices, higher rentals and strain on our education system and infrastructure. Migrants get access to our job market, free education, free healthcare, a universal old-age pension and a very valuable passport.
What do New Zealanders get out of the migration deal? The first of my ancestors arrived here about 800 years ago from the vicinity of Tahiti. Most of my ancestors arrived in the 19th century from various parts of England, Scotland and Denmark. This country is their patrimony to me and other genuine New Zealanders.
But both National and Labour are willing to give away our patrimony to the lowest possible bidder. I do not recollect any of our political parties going to the electorate to see if New Zealanders like being colonised by hundreds of thousands of people from dystopian kleptocracies. Worse, our politicians are too scared to do more than tinker with immigration policy, when a complete overhaul has been needed for decades.
CC McDowall, Rotorua.
Nursing a grievance
Simeon Brown’s article re putting patients at the centre of NZ healthcare is a little puzzling (Mar 24).
Our 23-year-old granddaughter, having recently graduated as a registered nurse, has now left New Zealand for Australia. After training for three years at her own expense while working part-time in hospitals and rest homes as part of her training, there was no job available for her in her hometown.
There were 150 vacancies for nurses at Tauranga Hospital, but only 75 were filled. This country has missed out on the services of an excellent nurse, along with many others in similar situations.
It seems to me that Simeon Brown’s statement, saying the number of nurses increased, is simply not true.
Denis Turner, Ōmokoroa.
Simple solutions
It is not as difficult as many think to pinpoint the reasons why the Blues have not played well this season.
Unless any team does the basics well the rest of their game suffers. There is a huge difference between good and bad ball when on attack or defence. It will either give time to execute a play or conversely put the team under pressure.
Against the Crusaders for instance, pressure caused dropped and mis-directed passes and as a result the Blues were on the back foot far too often. The Blues need to commit more to breakdowns and do a better job up front with ball retention uppermost.
We know they are well capable so just a bit of a reset will do the job. Rugby basically is a simple game so it shouldn’t be a problem.
Reg Dempster, Albany.
