But enough is enough. Vehicles need to be banned on all beaches (except for boat launching and emergency vehicles) and access needs to be blocked. Then, it needs to be enforced. If ever there was a time, it is now.
Sandra Coney, former chairwoman of Parks, Auckland Regional Council
Zero tolerance for hoons
The Muriwai Beach situation is just another example of the state of our country.
Every day we hear news of people behaving badly, including the story of the tourists who had their campervan trashed. We are a nation with more than our share of mongrels and louts, and I blame the Government for not instructing our police to deal swiftly and harshly with such antisocial behaviour.
When people learn that hooliganism will not be tolerated, the problem will largely go away.
B. Hawke, Kohimarama
Treaty illiterate
That David Seymour is Treaty illiterate, is an understatement. He has no idea what the Treaty of Waitangi promised our tangata whenua.
Te Tiriti o Waitangi guaranteed Māori “tino rangatiratanga”, which translates as “Māori sovereignty” — sovereignty over their lands, dwelling places, fisheries, forests and property of all kinds.
Māori chiefs never ceded their right to rule independently in exchange for British annexation. Why would they?
Through deceit, greed and political manipulation, Māori have never been allowed to enact their promised tino rangatiratanga. Grievances have ensued. These grievances need to be addressed.
Seymour’s intention to define what the Treaty means, without consultation, is arrogance at its worst and merely fuels the fire of Māori discontent.
Edith Cullen, Te Kauwhata
Join the dots
Until we stop working in silos, not much will change in positive outcomes for those in need. For instance, we have Alwyn Poole (NZ Herald, January 22) writing that to do well educationally, children from birth require parents as their foremost educators.
This notion links with the social investment programme promoted some time back by Bill English et al, but which seems to have fallen by the wayside.
In the same newspaper, Jarrod Gilbert writes of Taurus Taurima, a former gang member who is now helping other troubled young people to succeed in work. Gilbert posits that one of the answers to crime is not only work skills, but life skills.
Let’s begin joining the dots.
Glennys Adams, Waiheke Island
Educating parents
Albert Einstein once said, “When the solution is simple, God is answering.” As Alywyn Poole points out, the past 25 years of neuroscientific study have yielded simple, practical steps that all parents — rich or poor — can take to ensure their children have the best chance of educational success.
There is no doubt that, collectively, this could have a far, far greater impact on education than any curriculum reform ever could. I also like the idea of an information-based Crown entity for parenting.
As a new parent, I was amazed at the huge emphasis on ensuring physical health and safety, but the dearth of information provided about emotional and cognitive development.
Perhaps Plunket and/or midwives could take the lead by providing a short, simple, entertaining booklet about the tremendous benefits to infants of reading aloud, verbal interaction and experiences in nature and the downsides of digital devices.
Stephen Bayldon, Mt Roskill
Lock this in
The common theme in robberies and ram raids is that a stolen vehicle is nearly always used.
Why is there no obligation on vehicle owners to make every effort to ensure their vehicle is difficult to steal?
This obligation would be required by either government or insurance companies. Vehicles that are not fitted with immobilisers should have a steering wheel lock present and being used.
I doubt that robbers who successfully interfere with a steering wheel lock would remove it from the vehicle so police would at least know that one had been used.
Many years ago my parents had their car stolen whilst visiting the Takapuna library. After that my dad always made sure he used a steering wheel lock whenever his car was unattended.
Barry Towers, Morrinsville
