Letter: Editorial divisive and mischievous

OPINION: We welcome your support for free off-peak public transport. Yes, it's a good scheme and older people are using it well to visit friends and family, for shopping and medical appointments, and reconnecting with their communities.

Any weakness in the scheme is not in its use, but the level of government subsidy to transport providers. The Transport Agency gave providers a windfall by reimbursing them 75 per cent of every fare and markedly increasing patronage of off-peak services. We look forward to tougher negotiations with providers, so older people can use all the public transport services available without being bashed by the media for minor anomalies such as the Waiheke Island service.

You're also being divisive and mischievous in pitting supposedly wealthy seniors against the poor. In fact, most older people have little extra income other than NZ Superannuation, and that gives an income of only about $12,800-$16,500 a person (after tax) annually.

If The Dominion Post must write about older people, could we please have real information about the issues of income, safety, healthcare, chronic loneliness, and ageism they face, not an emotive beat-up?

LIZ BAXENDINE

National president, Age Concern

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