It's little wonder that PM Jacinda Ardern told a Chronicle reporter there would be no decision on a request for government funding until it was clear just what was being proposed. Photo / file
It's little wonder that PM Jacinda Ardern told a Chronicle reporter there would be no decision on a request for government funding until it was clear just what was being proposed. Photo / file
Velodrome confusion
Councillor Philippa Baker-Hogan (Opinion, August 29) does little to dispel the confusion around the $26.3 million velodrome plan when she says she "may not be confident exactly what the scope of this project will be at present".
Her opinion piece argues only for a roof to cover thetrack yet she campaigned for re-election last October under the banner of "Velodrome Events Centre" and has been urging her fellow councillors to support the $26.3m funding application.
Martin Visser's recent business case, and a well-funded advertising campaign by the project's promoters, are unambiguous in presenting a list of new features, including demolition of the Peter Snell Pavilion and its replacement with a three-storey building. Visser seeks to allay concerns about the facility being an unsustainable burden on ratepayers by forecasting a busy events calendar attracting tens if not hundreds of thousands of visitors.
It's little wonder that PM Jacinda Ardern told a Chronicle reporter there would be no decision on a request for government funding until it was clear just what was being proposed.
This is starting to seem like a novelty velodrome cycling event with teams of riders setting off in opposing directions and meeting in the middle with an inevitably unhappy ending.
Open up the latest news from Whanganui
Get daily headlines from the Whanganui region straight to your inbox.
It has been a productive year for the political scandal industry. New Zealand First had its murky slush fund donation scandal. Labour's workplace relations minister was sacked over his relationship with a former staffer. The National Party was rocked by multiple scandals – suspect donations, and the leaking of confidential Covid-19 patient information.
Now, after turning over all stones, they finally found a "scandal" for the Greens - when Green co-leader James Shaw helped rubberstamp $11.7 million for a New Plymouth "Green school". Yet, the mayor of New Plymouth enthusiastically endorsed the school. Many private schools already receive public funding - some far dodgier.
After social media howled, the media ranted, and Green party members complained that it went against policy, Shaw apologised, and tried to rescind the funding. He was blocked by Robertson. Hardly a "scandal".
Your letters
Anything to take the focus of the real issues; the real scandals. Poverty and homelessness remain rampant in New Zealand. Health and education are struggling. The climate is heading for a catastrophic 4 degrees warming or higher according to the latest UN reports.
Only the Green Party have verified workable policies to move forward on these issues; in some ways they are more Labour than Labour. For example, the Council of Trade Unions endorsed their sickness leave policies. Only the Greens will regulate the "rental property management market ... in a move towards European-style long-term renting, and protect people against the cowboys operating in the market currently". Only the Greens have fully addressed poverty with a minimum income, funded by tax on the top 6 per cent.
A Green "scandal"? As Groucho Marx said: "Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly, and applying the wrong remedies."
BRIT BUNKLEY Whanganui
What price a chief?
You report today (Business, September 1), that the CEO of Fletcher Building earned $3.9 million last year.
Nobody could earn that much, not even our healthcare workers earn that much, and they are important people.
He may have been PAID $3.9 million, and how stupid are we to allow it? How could anyone possibly spend such a sum!
