Today's Letters to the Editor from readers cover topics including scrapping of fees free, reorganising councils and the day Trump came to town.
Scrapping fees-free a great leap backwards
The government’s decision to scrap the fees-free university scheme is a huge step backwards for young people across New Zealand.
Student communities fought hard for this policy because education should be based on ability and ambition, not wealth. Fees-free study gave many young people from working-class families the confidence to pursue university when it otherwise may have felt impossible. It opened doors to careers, opportunities, and brighter futures.
In Dunedin especially, where students are at the heart of our city, this decision will be deeply felt. Christopher Luxon’s claim that fees-free “didn’t achieve any goals” ignores that more than 64,000 learners used the scheme in 2024 alone.
At a time when living costs are already forcing students to choose between rent, food, and study, removing support for tertiary education sends the wrong message. Instead of investing in young people and the country’s future workforce, the government is making university harder to access and fuelling the brain drain to Australia
Education should expand opportunity, not become a privilege reserved for those who can afford it. Future leaders are being shut out by our current leaders
Liam Calder
Southland
[Liam Calder is vice-president of Southern Young Labour.]
A fact of life
Unless you are blessed with a very rich mum and dad, getting into debt for a higher education is a fact of life.
Last time I checked it was still an interest-free loan: sounds like a good deal to me. The young students interviewed about this issue (ODT 12.5.26) were worried about an extra $10,000 of debt. Wait till they start looking at buying a house.
A university degree can help them into a career with a higher salary and better prospects, well worth getting into debt for. Just choose something there is a demand for.
Susan Johnston
Mosgiel
There are alternatives
I have been following with interest recent letters regarding the oil crisis.
It is encouraging to see discussion around alternative fuel sources: great work Dunedin. I recently read about chemists at Northwestern University in Illinois who have been experimenting with converting natural gas into liquid fuel, which could be one promising, possible avenue to follow. There could also be ongoing discussion about hemp as a potentially viable energy source.
While I am no expert on this matter, I have come across a range of information over the years suggesting that these alternatives may be worth further exploration, with solutions made and acted upon.
More difficult conversations may be necessary as well. A return to nuclear power and reducing reliance on private vehicles are not easy propositions, but they may be important considerations if we are serious about long-term sustainability and energy security. It is also unfortunate that domestic refining capacity has been reduced, as retaining such infrastructure could offer greater resilience.
Thomas McAlpine
North East Valley
[Abridged.]
Beware the Jabberwock
The warfare revolution continues at pace with plastic drones and fibre threads. Should New Zealand defence only be a derivative clone of another force's conventional assault assets? Do we have a place for wise guy boats and untraceable drones?
Trump embodies the poetry of Lewis Carroll: ‘‘Twas brillig and the slithy toves did gyre and gimble in the wabe:’’. The war with Iran is a nonsense: the Emperor has no clothes.
D L Miller
Dunedin Central
The time that Trump (not that one) came to town
Paul Foster-Bell’s opinion article (4.5.26) reminded me that my late father took me to view a Royal Navy submarine, named HMS Trump, which visited Dunedin in the mid-1960s, when I would have only been 3 or 4 years old.
The submarine’s bell was the one presented to President Donald Trump by King Charles on his recent state visit to the United States.
Probably because of my age, we did not board the submarine. I had to wait for a few years until I served in a submarine myself, which I did as part of an informal exchange between the Royal New Zealand and Australian navies, the latter of which operated submarines of its own after the Royal Navy withdrew its submarines from the Australia station.
That included HMS Trump, which was then decommissioned and scrapped, with only a few artifacts, such as the bell, being preserved.
Michael Gibson
Dunedin
A fair question
Why should I get excited at three free doctors’ visits at $20 each, when I have to pay $100+ each week, every week, in rates on a regular Gore house?
John Kennedy
Gore
Sorting out the reorganisation of local councils
My preferred local unitary authority would consist of willing councils seeking economies of scale, e.g. MacKenzie District, Waimate District, Waitaki District, Central Otago District, Clutha District. These five councils should amount to approximately 50,000 plus ratepayer units.
It is important that boundaries reflect river catchments and community-of-interest factors. Governance/elected systems should be designed to accommodate reasonable ‘‘local voice’’ representation.
Queenstown Lakes District should be a separate governance entity, for now at least, due to the imbalance between ratepayer-funded infrastructure versus visitor numbers. Central government legislative change needs to allow council to add stronger visitor user-pays to help the funding of infrastructure.
The functions of Otago Regional Council such as weeds, pests, fresh water quality and water allocation, can be devolved to the unitary authority and Dunedin city.
Public transport should be provided by private enterprise if it can be profitably managed.
Three Waters CCO collaboration between councils may have to be modified due to the establishment of the unitary authority.
ORC ownership of Ports of Otago devolvement/sale is a conversation for another day. A Community Trust of Otago perhaps ?
Bruce McNab
Weston
No argument from me
I do not always find myself in furious agreement with councillors Lund, Sims and Vandervis but their suggestions for redrawn territorial boundaries (ODT 11.5.26) seem logical to an extent that it is difficult to argue with. That won’t stop many arguing nevertheless but time is short.
Peter McIntyre
North East Valley
Address Letters to the Editor to: Otago Daily Times, PO Box 517, 52-56 Lower Stuart St, Dunedin. Email: letters@odt.co.nz
