Houses in Mt Roskill sit boarded up and abandoned. Photo / Jason Dorday
Seymour’s UN letter just his latest gaffe
David Seymour sending a letter to the United Nations without consulting the Foreign Minister is the latest in a long line of gaffes he refuses to take responsibility for.
Even when the majority of submissions opposed his Treaty Principles Bill, he still insisted he was right and everyone else was wrong.
When someone with the standing of Dame Anna Salmond and Dame Jenny Shipley questions his views, he personally attacks them.
Politics is sometimes about showing humility and compromise, and this is why the Deputy Prime Minister is the most divisive politician New Zealand has experienced since former Act leaders Don Brash and Roger Douglas.
Paul Kenny, Ponsonby.
It needed to be said
David Seymour is to be congratulated for taking the proverbial bull by the horns and replying immediately and strongly to the UN letter to the New Zealand Government.
He may have been technically out of line from a protocol point of view, but quite frankly, what he said in his letter needed to be said.
I have a lot of time for Winston Peters and am confident that his official reply will not sell us out, even though he has said that his reply will be different to that of Seymour’s.
We, the public, can only hope that the official letters will be published unredacted in due course, possibly even accompanied by Seymour’s withdrawn letter.
At the very least, although withdrawn officially, Seymour’s letter will have pointed out to the UN where it simply got it wrong.
Steve Clerk, Meadowbank.
Health system fears
Simeon Brown is not quite right to suggest New Zealanders do not care who does their operations, as long as they get done.
It is not in New Zealanders’ interest to take surgeons out of public hospitals and for them to be employed at greater cost by private hospitals. It is not in New Zealand’s interest to promote an American-style private health system which will mean many will not be able to afford services.
The day that we see such a system will be a very sad one indeed.
Marie Kaire, Whangārei.
Sad state of housing
I found the article by Simon Wilson (July 16) disgraceful. Not so much in the content as the fact it needed to be written at all.
We were promised pre-election that this Government would build warm, dry, liveable homes for all those who were not able to afford them. So far, all that has happened is that plan after plan has been abandoned or delayed because of “rigour and fiscal responsibility” requirements.
“Writing down” $220 million and halting hundreds of housing developments hardly seems very fiscally responsible, does it? Maybe they can recoup the deficit by selling multimillion-dollar homes for investors from overseas rather than address the problems at home?
Meanwhile, when it comes to what has happened to people who have been removed from emergency accommodation, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says it is “not our responsibility”. Whose responsibility is it, then?
I would remind Housing Minister Chris Bishop and Potaka that as part of a Government that promised to take every New Zealander’s needs into consideration, they are very much responsible. For every single one. It’s beyond time they realised they are servants of this country, not board members of an elite real estate group selling to the highest bidder. Or are they?
Jeremy Coleman, Hillpark.
A community problem
The first day of the inquest into the death of Malachi Subecz reveals some horrific facts about a little boy whose mother describes as “a very, very special kid”.
The inquest is serving as yet another report on the shortcomings of the so-called child protection system. A 2022 review by Dame Karen Poutasi following the death of 5-year-old Malachi made 14 recommendations, which Aroturuki Tamariki/Independent Children’s Monitor was tasked with reviewing. Among the key points raised in the review process was the apparent lack of urgency to implement change but more important was the finding that Oranga Tamariki was not sufficiently focused on the safety of the child.
This is a community problem in which we all need to be involved.
Glennys Adams, Oneroa.
Classroom changes
I’m not surprised open-plan classrooms have not worked.
Learning needs to be focused, teachers need to be able to monitor their students and ensure all are catered to.
Open plan was way too new age, some might consider a bit woke even.
As long as students get tailored education that maximises their potential, everyone wins.
John Ford, Taradale.