Letters: White-anting politicians of the Right deserve to be sent off

Act Party leader David Seymour. Photo / Mark Mitchell

The rebellious ragged elements of National and Act are "white-anting" the "Team of Five Million". Their use of Covid-19 misfortunes to beat up the Government deserves red and yellow cards. Before they make noises about democracy, they might reflect on their ongoing perversion of the electoral rules in Epsom, where they tweak the rules to shoe-horn a twerking remnant of the irrelevant Act Party into Parliament. It is a bit like Nero fiddling while Rome burned. We do not need to delay the election; the electorate are better off not hearing electioneering nonsense. We will make our decision based on past performance and credibility. Anyone who has experienced more than one electoral cycle will know that political promises before elections are not to be trusted: Show me the five new bridges in Northland. We should slow-clap the remnants as they leave the field.
Hugh Webb, Huntington

By the book

Rob Muldoon once said after calling a snap election "It doesn't give my opponents much time either". The alcohol-induced comment is aptly true. Ardern will play this by the book.

History shows the only people befitting from delaying the election are the National politicians who have resigned sitting back on the public purse. The Auckland Central candidate can blame their leader for failing them, not Covid. Electorates want politicians that they know, not opportunist latecomers caused by internal party turmoil. National can in all honesty only blame itself. Judith Collins hoping the match will be rained out is hardly cricket but shows how desperate she is to give her Central candidate an over or two extra.
Steve Russell, Hillcrest

Blue-tinted glasses

Your correspondent, Andy Petersen (Letters, August 9), seems to have such deeply blue-tinted glasses that they have blinded him. The National Party he dreams about no longer exists, but he apparently cannot see this. Between the current National and Act parties there is little experience in the areas he mentions, and pragmatic voters will stay with what they know and trust.
Rhys Morgan, Northcote Point

Shelling out
I see Air Force helicopters are lifting in shell to assist the Department or Conservation to protect the highly endangered fairy terns at Mangawhai Harbour while on the other side of the Kaipara Harbour among the sand dunes the Air Force continues their indefensible aerial bombing programme.Bruce Tubb, Belmont

Maintaining spirit

There seems no mystery in what the Government knew and attempted to conceal in advance of our community outbreak: that it was inevitable and probably imminent, given other countries' experiences, and because of gross inadequacies in its own precautionary systems. And so, while continuing to bask in adulation for saving Kiwis from the pandemic and making us "the envy of the world", they tried (as ever) to play catchup, but sought to soften the public up for fearful future outcomes and transfer responsibility to the team of 5 million with warnings they must not be complacent, must suddenly equip themselves with masks etc. Most of all, they must resiliently maintain the patriotic team spirit that would continue to demand blindness to any dangerous discrepancies in the systems, unquestioning compliance, and gratitude for our redeemer.
JM Livingstone, Ōrākei

Bad call

Criticism of Blake Green for going to the Newcastle Knights is unfair. Warriors owner Mark Robinson didn't just dump Green, he did it publicly. No surprise then that Green sought out another opportunity, which the Knights provided him. Here's hoping he makes every post a winner. Over their time in the NRL the Warriors have a bit of a history of dumping players and coaches who have gone on to spectacular success elsewhere. The names of Ali Lautititi, Daniel Anderson, Ivan Cleary and Jimmy Maloney readily spring to mind, and more recently Shaun Johnson.
Phil Chitty, Albany