For several weeks, Electoral Commission people have been outside major shopping centres here confirming people are enrolled to vote. I thought it was a good thing before I realised that, though I passed these Electoral Commission people many times, not once was I asked if I was enrolled. It is disturbing. Democracy is being hijacked.
Donald Murray, New Plymouth.
Time to change
We are led to believe we have a star economy, but the surplus is the result of taking money out of health, education, and other general funding. And don't let business pay working lower- and middle-class people a decent living wage, just have them paying their taxes and later use that to top up wages to settle any dust that might fly. The neoliberal monetary experiment is losing credibility all over the world, but here in New Zealand we are still being fooled into thinking it's a cracker. That's the pig with lipstick on.
We model the experiment - emphasise the private sector over the public, pull back on government spending and mine essential services, then hide the impacts of having less for the many and more for the few. Stand by and watch the deterioration of the social and environmental, and then champion the myth of the existence of a healthy third party - the economy. Time to change.
Des Casey, Glen Eden.
Lincoln's advice
Abraham Lincoln's wise words are still applicable. You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich. You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong. You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift. You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred. You cannot build character and courage by taking away people's initiative and independence. You cannot help people permanently by doing for them what they could and should do for themselves.
H. Robertson, St Heliers.
Epsom's choice
Your correspondent Connor McMahon would have Act Leader and Epsom MP David Seymour out of Parliament. Thankfully, Epsom voters know a valuable MP when they see one. Most MPs recognise the value of his articulate and common-sense approach to the issues of the day. Would that both the central and Auckland governments act on his proposals for resolving the housing and Auckland's traffic crises in particular.
Vince Ashworth, Morrinsville.
Dairy blame
As a retired dairy farmer I have been watching the criticism of Fonterra and dairying with interest. When Fonterra was formed in 2001 we had a Labour government. The main proviso required by the Government was that Fonterra had to accept all supply regardless of position. This enabled speculators and carpetbaggers to start intensive dairying in totally unsuitable areas, causing the problems we have today.
Perhaps Jacinda and her cohorts need to lay the blame with the real culprits, her party who had an eye on the potential monetary gains. Real farmers respect their animals and the land and look after both. Speculators and carpetbaggers do not.
Lynne Shaw, Te Awamutu.
Pipe reflections
The temporary outage on the single pipe that brings 50 per cent of petrol and diesel and nearly all of our aviation fuel to Auckland during the last week of electioneering gives us the opportunity to reflect on how we want our country run. For nine years we've been run with a short-term cost focus. Our hospitals are overflowing, young police, teachers and nurses can't afford to live in Auckland anymore and we have insufficient resilience across key infrastructure.
In the late 2000s the International Energy Agency advised we did not have enough fuel storage to be of benefit during an international supply crisis. Our response was to outsource a percentage of our emergency storage to Singapore and the UK. In 2012 most of the recommendations from a review of pipeline security were not actioned and the Treasury's 2015 update to our national infrastructure plan ignored the pipeline.
Is this short-term cost-cutting approach the best way to create the building blocks for improving our quality of life? When you vote this weekend will you be thinking of our next generation's quality of life, or a promise for a shallow tax cut?
Russell Baillie, Mt Eden.
Airport to blame
Yesterday you published three letters blaming the Government, or rather National, for the fuel debacle at the airport and one stating the true position. The primary responsibility is Auckland Airport's in failing to have a fully tested and viable backup system, and to a lesser extent the airlines for failing to insist such a backup plan was in place. As part owners of Auckland Airport the Auckland Council must accept some of the blame as well. Any impact on the tourist industry devolves solely on these organisations.
The only way any government of any persuasion could accept any of the blame for this situation is if they nationalised the airport but I am sure this would cause significant complaints in your financial pages as well as the stock exchange.
Rod Lyons, Muriwai.
Voting paper
Because the Electoral Commission wants a fast election night result for channels One and Three the ballot paper is not voter friendly. The small circles to tick for the party list on the right-hand page should be on the right edge as it is for the electorate vote on the left-hand page. Instead the circles have been placed on the left edge of the right page alongside those of the left page to make it faster for the counters. But the voters are confused, they are mistakenly ticking after the party names on the right edge.
Who knows how many of the ballots are invalid. Let's hope this bias is changed for the next election.
Paul King, Hamilton.
Hard work punished
Since the age of 12 my dream has been to buy my own property in Auckland. After high school I attended university, completed my three-year degree and in the process gained a large student loan. This three-year degree is my most valuable investment. I worked hard and found myself a great fulltime job in an industry I love. While my friends are still partying at university or in Europe, I once again work my bum off to build my career as a 22-year-old female and save my income to achieve my dream of purchasing my own property.
Right now I am on track to buy a house in the next two years and I am beyond happy that all my hard work will have paid off. But here's my problem. Currently I pay $360 a month to pay off my student loan. But by cancelling tax threshold adjustments, Labour will take more of my income for other people to be student loan-free entering the work force.
For a party that wants to increase home ownership Labour has left out a whole demographic of hard-working Kiwis.
Stephanie Nicholls, Mt Eden.
Landcorp's value
So after years of allowing ever more New Zealand farmland to be bought and taken over by foreign interests, the National Party will now direct Landcorp to sell the majority of their farms to young farmers. I disagree that Landcorp "hasn't been much use to New Zealand". Lately they have led an amazing philosophical and practical transformation of sustainable farming practice and more diverse land use. The scale of their land holdings have been the enabling components of this transformation. It is just what the country so desperately needs at the moment to clean up our rivers and stay competitive.
Disembowelling Landcorp on the altar of political expediency is a disastrous policy. What is to stop these farms along with others eventually ending up in foreign ownership? This policy is as good a reason as any not to vote for National.
Wayne Parsonson, RD Kaitaia.
