Letters: Time to throw out the Treaty and make a new one

A portion of the Treaty of Waitangi. Photo/File

At a recent meeting with the Historical Group (U3A) we had a very interesting talk about the Treaty Of Waitangi - a subject that crops up frequently in New Zealand.

I came across this business of treaties while working and living in Canada - the Brits and the French were very fond of handing out "Treaties" to the North American Indian tribes.

A friend of mine, a barrister in the UK once told me that he was familiar with the Treaty of Waitangi and, in his opinion, it wasn't worth the paper it was written on - as was the case with just about all the treaties ever put forward by the British Government to the natives of Africa, North America, India, Australia, Ireland and Wales; the Brits were very good at "Treaties".

Their politicians- many of whom were lawyers - were skilled in the usage of words that would confound university professors let alone natives with only a limited understanding of English - the most versatile language in the world. It is the considered opinion of many that the Treaty should be scrapped and a new one negotiated and drawn up ASAP.

JIM ADAMS
Rotorua

Keep it simple
I agree with Harry Brasser's letter (August 25).

The council seems to have rounds of redundancies and then turn around and advertise to employ more staff in a different capacity.

Take Bruce Horne as an example, who is an ex-police officer, and has been employed by the council to take over a civil defence role, in conjunction with crime prevention. The police already have a crime prevention unit, as it is their role in the community,
not the council's role.

I note a recent advertisement for an asset accountant, and a graphic designer.

How many accountants are on the payroll now? One should be sufficient with the technology these days.

Surely some of these positions could be contracted more economically outside of council employment.

The council is spreading the net too wide, in what its thinks is its duty and responsibility, rather than concentrating on the basic roles the ratepayers expect.

To alleviate the top brass, (or too many chiefs and not enough Indians mentality), the council should employ the chief executive on a performance basis, as in private industry.

He should be paid a retainer of a management salary, set lower than the current salary level and then have an annual bonus remuneration system, upon evaluation of the financial performance of the council, eg, reducing debt, meeting and not exceeding budget expenditure targets, initiatives to reduce costs.

KISS - Keep it simple stupid, is a common business motto that springs to mind.

TRACEY McLEOD
Lake Tarawera