Four-year terms a good start ...
Congratulations to our mayor on his election as the vice-president of Local Government NZ.
Glad also to hear that at least one of our government branches is considering four-year terms and good luck to them.
Both central and local government should be voted in for four years so that we can get something done.
At the moment it takes a new Parliament or council a year to get sorted, another year to present legislation or bylaws and then the final year of a three-year term electioneering.
I certainly support the move to be made by LGNZ to pressurise our central government for the return of GST collected locally in order that infrastructure can urgently be renewed. Look at the situation Wellington is in for example with its stormwater pipes.
Then at the same time why not remove GST off rates and give those on fixed incomes a break?
Our politicians should be challenged at this time to answer why we continue to pay a tax on a tax?
BRIAN MOSEN
Whanganui
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Advertise with NZME.The arrogance of 'I know'
Ever since the age of enlightenment humans have become increasingly aware of just how complex and interconnected the world around us is.
Acknowledging that fact recognises the multiplicity of factors which, when accounted for, can alter what we believe to be fact to become questionable, or plain wrong.
The ideas formulated in our minds are the results of our daily involvement in multifarious interactions throughout our lives.
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Moments of epiphany are continuously being created whilst reading, watching, or listening, potentially providing individuals with a more comprehensive understanding of our world.
Such moments require a questioning mind, one that has an intent to understand as opposed to an intent to reply. In the latter case arrogance can derail the communication process, arrogance emerging out of an individual's strongly held conviction of "I know".
Community leaders have deferred to the "I know" frame of mind repeatedly for thousands of years, very often with disastrous results.
Admitting the policy errors of all past federal governments the Australian Prime Minister recently told parliament that "It was the belief that we knew better than our indigenous people. We don't. We also thought we understood their problems better than they did. We don't."
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The resultant calamitous effect of the "I know" mindset on Australia's First People has been chronicled in detail in voluminous tomes.
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Advertise with NZME.With New Zealand now in election mode a tsunami of political messaging will be flooding into our lives. Candidate pronouncements originating from a cogitation process that is shaped by an "I know" bias require us to blithely accept all the involved complexities, both known and currently unknown, are accounted for.
The validity and effectiveness of our democracy necessitates we be vigilant so that we are not swayed by candidates' promises to fix current problems, fixes that imply a complex interconnected world is put on hold in Aotearoa for the next two months.
MAX WARBURTON
Whanganui
