The good people can’t do it all by themselves
I read the investigation into homelessness in Dunedin (ODT 11.8.23), and it was like a Third World country.
We all close our eyes to this, and leave it to someone else. It would take a special sort of person (and there are lots about) to care for these vastly different people. There but for the grace of God go I. They were all once children with hopes and dreams. But somewhere along the way life happened.
I would like to know how Work and Income can pay rent for these rooms without checking. The council must know these exist — what have they done? The government promised better mental health facilities — where are they?
It is a disgrace that this can happen in a place like New Zealand .
I don't know how this can be changed: the publicity was a start but what next? You get the "warm fuzzies" when you see rescued homeless animals, but the homeless in the city don’t have a good PR team.
I have not forgotten the good people at the Night Shelter, the Salvation Army etc, but they cannot do it all
Time for a change?
Saturday's article on boarding houses and the homeless made very sad reading. This is a situation well beyond any normal person's individual ability to solve. Collective, probably government, action is required to address both the immediate unmet need and the underlying causes.
In the same week I read that the Ministry for Pacific Peoples squandered $40,000 on a farewell for its chief executive, who was moving down the road to another ministry role. It's like these people are totally unaware of the public whose taxes they're wasting and whom they are supposed to serve.
Last week I was also reminded of Jacinda Ardern's promise to be the most transparent government ever and the vast number of public relations people subsequently hired whose main role is obfuscation of Official Information Act requests.
After six years of the wrong priorities it is no wonder the housing crisis they promised to solve has instead greatly worsened. Time for a change of government.
Stay at home Steve
Steve Walls (ODT, 14.8.23) declares that others like him (that is, retired, cashed up) won't come to Dunedin to go cycling, and that there are already too many cycle trails. He couldn't be more wrong.
You only have to look at cyclists on the most popular trails (and the Otago Central Rail Trail in particular) to see the grey hair and bald heads of the majority of riders. Pensioners-R-Us.
Well, they are not just like him; I've not met any with his attitude.
Best he stays at home in Brisbane and leaves the enjoyment and variety to those who appreciate what the district has to offer. Dunedin won't miss him.
Cycle track stupidity
The train to Middlemarch is a major asset for the city and to make the railway into yet another cycle track is little short of stupid. Yes it does need money spent on it but so would a little-used cycle track. Compare the small number of potential cyclists to the thousands of people from the cruise ships who appreciate the special journey and then consider all the benefits we gain from their visits.
Most Dunedin people have also been on that journey and will continue to do so too. Value what we have and don’t just walk, oops was that cycle, away?
Vouchers the answer, not removing GST
As your experts agree, taking GST off fruit and vegetables is a dumb idea (ODT 15.8.23).
They quote the usual reasons: it would benefit the rich more than the poor, it would complicate the tax and make it less efficient, and it would open the door to endless lobbying for GST to be taken off other essentials.
What they fail to mention is that it wouldn’t lower prices. Fruit and vegetable prices vary with supply and demand, and supermarkets set prices such that they sell all they have available at the best price. Take broccoli for example. Thanks to the vagaries of the weather, its price is different every time I shop, and frankly, I wouldn’t be able to tell if the GST had been removed or doubled.
If GST were removed, prices would remain the same, and supermarkets would pocket what at present goes to the government as GST.
If Labour really wants to help those less well off, it should issue vouchers that can be spent only on fruit and vegetables, not on fags, fast food, and alcohol.
Engagement and clutching one’s pearls
Tess Trotter claims to be "an experienced community engagement professional" (ODT, 11.8.23). Perhaps she should have approached the police directly to inquire why the community constable (who was doing his job) had a firearm rather than having a rant in the ODT. I’m not sure if she realises but all police officers in New Zealand wear their protective vests and carry a taser as part of their regular uniform. She should consider apologising to the officer.
Tess Trotter is clutching her pearls so tightly she must have dictated her letter. I consider it reassuring to know a community constable is properly equipped to protect himself and the community should the need arise.
Global insecurity
It is very disturbing to read what is planned for the security of New Zealand : they have identified a serious threat from China, the major trading partner of New Zealand (ODT editorial, 8.8.23). All the political leadership of this country, until now, played an independent policy towards China, giving propensity to good trade ahead of throwing accusations of some perceived threat: no doubt our leaders were open to be critical on China’s human rights record and conveyed those sentiments directly.
It is always good to be in the good books of our traditional Western allies. The great stewards of the Labour movement adhered to a non-aggressive and independent foreign policy. There appears to be an abrupt change of this policy seen in the document.
Are we sacrificing our political independence to satisfy the aggressive trade policies of the US? The current Labour politicians should try and listen to the warning of Ms Clark, "New Zealand is abandoning its capacity to think for itself".
Address Letters to the Editor to: Otago Daily Times, PO Box 517, 52-56 Lower Stuart St, Dunedin. Email: editor@odt.co.nz
