Labour and National have both announced they will do nothing about excessive profits being taken by the big supermarket chains and their high food prices. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Big parties need to be schooled
Labour and National have both announced they will do nothing about excessive profits being taken by the big supermarket chains and their high food prices. Despite the $3.2 billion excess supermarket profits predicted for the next 20 years, these witless do-nothing parties have opted only to keep a watch on them rather than breaking up these huge chains to enable genuine competitors to enter the market, or bringing in more regulation. The supply of food is such a vital component of the economy and the wellbeing of us all that that supermarkets should be permitted a maximum fair rate of return (say 11 per cent) with any excess taxed at a windfall-profit rate of at least 50 per cent, while a progressive break-up of these near-monopolies is rolled out over time. Obviously we need to vote for neither of the main parties if we want to see any such action on the basic costs of living — they need to learn that doing nothing earns no votes.
Denis O’Rourke, Christchurch
A question of judgment
Derek Cheng’s article in the Weekend Herald admits that there is “a gulf between what the judiciary and the public consider to be appropriate punishment” but suggests that this is acceptable because judges are better informed than the public. However, it is my understanding that New Zealand is a democracy in which the rules by which we live (in Greek, the “kratos”) are decided by the people, (the”demo “) and not an aristocracy in which the rules are decided arbitrarily by an elite (”aristo”) few. So, in the case of the Auckland shooting, it is suggested that the judge was right and that the reduction of a three-year sentence for a violent crime to five months’ home detention in which the shooter was not in fact “detained” was justified because he pleaded guilty, had had an unfortunate upbringing and a prison sentence is more likely to lead to reoffending. But in regard to the latter, surely the whole purpose of a sentence is to act as a deterrent, not an opportunity to re-educate. Finally, it is accepted that mistakes will be made but, as a member of the public, I find it hard to condone being soft on crime when lives are at stake.
Gerald Payman, Mt Albert
One person to blame
When a tragic event happens, the community look to hold someone responsible. This is a normal response but is it fair? There was only one person to blame for Thursday’s shooting and that was the perpetrator. He had been given every chance to turn his life around, but he chose a different path, and he solely is to blame. Even if he had been jailed for his previous conviction, he would have been released, and then what?
Patricia Guptill, Wattle Downs
Tough on crime message wrong
I was very impressed by the opinion piece by Emma Priest, “Why getting tough on crime doesn’t work” (NZ Herald, July 12). As a barrister, Emma is a person who knows what she is talking about. Emma sees that increasing the punishment of people who have only known harm, pain and deprivation will only further damage them; we instead should be looking at rehabilitation and redemption. Poverty does not make one a criminal, but the hopelessness, particularly in the young, can lead in this direction, with drugs and alcohol leading the way. We are a comparatively rich country; we should not have poverty. Our problem is with the distribution of wealth. The Green Party has come up with a tax policy that could fix this. We need the Labour Party to follow suit. If they can come up with a similar policy, or simply adopt that of the Greens, they will be assured of victory in the upcoming elections. Most of us ordinary Kiwis are not happy with the current disparity in wealth and would like to see a fairer system.
Linda McGrogan, Taupo
St James deal ray of hope
At last! Hope for the restoration of Auckland’s beautiful, iconic St James Theatre. The $15m from the Government hopefully will be matched by the Auckland Council for this valuable work to restore St James to its former glory as a vital entertainment and performing arts centre. This will revitalise Queen St after 16 years of neglect. Great news!
Geoff Barlow, Remuera
Shore neglected for years
A call for us all to ditch our cars and embrace rail (Herald on Sunday) is perhaps two decades premature for the over 400,000 North Shore residents. Sure, we have some tracks already ... the goat tracks that pass for suburban roads in East Coast Bays. Given the glacial pace at which Auckland’s infrastructure develops, I am positive that in many Shore residents’ lifetimes, the notion of taking a train across the harbour is just “blowing smoke”.
Larry Mitchell, Rothesay Bay
Not all medical training equal
I read with interest the Weekend Herald article by Nicholas Jones. However, I believe that the letter sent by the “more than 30 doctors” and apparently supported by the RDA Union has erroneously concluded that the differences in success amongst identifiable groups of individuals in the in-person Royal College clinical examination in pediatrics is a result of racial bias and discrimination. I am an Otago Medical School graduate, and a surgical specialist, not a pediatrician. However, I have been examined and certified by specialty certifying bodies in Australasia, Canada, and the USA. I also have been an examiner for the certifying body in the USA. The article quotes from the doctor’s letter that “Candidates have reported being asked ‘Where are you from?’, ‘When did you move here?’, and having their names mis-pronounced”. One can conclude from this paragraph that the doctors are probably from a different country than New Zealand, and likely have undergone their medical school education in that country, and furthermore are now attempting to get specialty certified in pediatrics in New Zealand. My experience from over 40 years of specialist practice, and having worked with thousands of doctors across all specialties, is that medical school education in certain countries such as New Zealand, Australia, Great Britain, USA, Canada, Hong Kong, Singapore, and a number of European countries, is pre-eminent, a “gold standard”. There are some good schools in other countries, but on average the education standards frankly are not as disciplined and rigorous, and their graduated doctors struggle more to pass specialty exams. This difference in fundamental medical education between those doctors who are graduates of the “gold standard” group of medical schools and graduates from many other countries can explain the huge disparity in examination pass rates referenced in the article. Racial bias or bigoted attitudes of the examiners or inherent in the “system” are just not credible in my experience. Every doctor wants to work with colleagues who are exceptionally well-trained for the best outcomes for their patients, no matter what their race or ethnicity is. The explanation that specialty examination pass rates are influenced by racial bias and bigotry appears to me to be the result of a group of 30 doctors who can’t accept that their education has been wanting.
Quentin J Durward, MD FRACS FACS FRCSC
Flagging the Cup cause
While out driving at the weekend I saw a car flying a New Zealand flag, then realised that’s what missing from this World Cup we are hosting: cars flying the flags of the country that they are supporting. At the rugby and rugby league World Cups, many vehicles were flying flags. I remember driving back from Hamilton during one of these Cups and there were many, over 109, all flying Tongan flags and going to where their national team were playing.
Dennis Manson, Unsworth Heights
Rich playing the system
The top 1 per cent of earners here do not pay 27 per cent of their income in tax, as claimed in the letter of July 22. They pay, on average, 27 per cent of their assessed taxable income, and that’s a very different thing. That’s how the rich do it — they arrange their affairs with capital gains, trusts and other ploys to shelter most of their income. The IRD reports that the wealthiest New Zealanders pay just 12 per cent of their actual total incomes in tax — well below what the average wage or salary earner pays out.
Tim Hazledine, Emeritus Professor of Economics at the University of Auckland
Short & sweet
On real concerns
Be damned with inflation, unemployment, education standards, youth crime, the Ukraine war, even climate change. All I want is our women’s team to keep playing good soccer.
Keith Duggan, Browns Bay
On prison cut
What was this Government thinking when they reduced the prison population by 30 per cent.
Chris Parker, Campbells Bay
On speed bumps
With the proposed reduction in speed and an increase in speed bumps etc, do the Greens realise that these “advancements” increase emissions?
Ian Doube, Rotorua
On St James
It is shocking that our woeful Government is wasting $15 million on helping restore the St James Theatre. I have been there many times and it was never anything special. The money would have far better use elsewhere.
Lars Lungren, St Heliers
On fast food bribes
I hope the negotiators who coax people to come down from rooftops by offering them a meal of fast food, ask: “Do you want fries with that?”
Lorraine Kidd, Warkworth
On teaching excellence
The problem with increased pay for excellent teachers is the real outcomes generally don’t become clear until several years after the teaching.
Morgan L. Owens, Manurewa
The agency aims to save up to $220 million by selling a fifth of its vacant land.