Letters, Feb 3: Staff seek pay justice

I worked as a victims adviser at the Hamilton District Court for nearly 13 years until my retirement last April.

During that time I came to know, like and respect the court staff with whom I worked.

District courts, because of their very nature, create a culture of negativity.

The staff who worked with me worked hard, supported each other well, and fielded a lot of bad language and nasty behaviour from clients with humour and understanding and without retaliation.

They worked often under difficult, uncomfortable and occasionally dangerous conditions, especially those who took court. This work the staff continue to do today.

The district court would be hard pressed to function at all without its staff. That those staff have been striking shows the measure of their distress and I believe their decision to strike has not been taken lightly.

I believe their strike has been justified. I believe the staff have been let down more than once by their employers.

Now is the time for all parties to "get around the table" and work out a mutually beneficial solution before good staff succumb to frustration – and leave.

WENDY HOSKING

Hamilton

Sports tribunal

Sport & Recreation NZ (Sparc) rejects columnist Joseph Romanos' insinuation that correspondence between Sparc and the chief executive of Bowls NZ will somehow compromise the independence of the Sports Tribunal of New Zealand (Waikato Times, January 25).

The tribunal is an independent statutory body whose members are appointed by the governor-general. The tribunal is chaired by a retired High Court judge and all its processes are confidential and decisions independent. It is inappropriate for Mr Romanos to suggest the tribunal is subject to external influence.

Sparc works with many national sports organisations, investing millions of dollars.

We seek to ensure the best result for the taxpayer in terms of getting Kiwis participating in sport and recreation through to our elite athletes winning on the world stage. Those relationships do not and never will impinge on the independence of the Sports Tribunal of New Zealand. To suggest otherwise is mischievous.

JOHN TULLOCH

Sparc spokesman

Wellington

Park for free

Regarding the letters on the expense of parking in the Centre Place parking building in Hamilton: could I just remind shoppers there are no parking fees in Cambridge, no meters and plenty of parking areas. There is a time limit of one hour for some of the on-street parking.

There is also the added bonus of being served by people who are probably owners of the shop, rather than a bored teenager working for minimal wages for an overseas owned chain.

RICHARD WRIGHT

Cambridge

 

Plenty of water

I cannot agree more with B G Scobie's letter regarding water restrictions (Waikato Times, January 23).

Where did Tim Harty get the idea that water is a "precious resource".

Right now people on the other side of the world are experiencing floods of enormous proportions. Hundreds, if not thousands, will end up drowning; villages, towns and cities will be devastated by it and from about August on, hundreds of Hamiltonians will be heading for blue skies and sunshine just to get away from the cursed rain.

So Mr Harty, the only thing precious here seems to be your desire to appease the puppeteers, namely Environment Waikato, which sets the limit of water extraction from the river.

Or, is it because the existing treatment plant cannot cope with the increase necessary to provide us with a consistent supply, and that your employer is reluctant to spend ratepayers' money to rectify this problem? There is no shortage of water, Mr Harty, and you well know it.

Perhaps you would like to advise readers of the drop in the water levels in the Waikato River while extracting say 69 million litres per day and 90 million litres, or is it so insignificant it cannot be measured?

CHRIS COLLIER

Hamilton

National standards

Education Minister Anne Tolley has quoted statistics which are intended to show us national standards for our primary and intermediate aged children are needed.

Many of us understand it is easy to report statistics out of context, or in part, to make it look as if a policy, such as national standards, should be implemented.

As parents we have to put 2 + 2 together ourselves. When the teaching profession (primary and intermediate), leading academics and other educational organisations tell us there are major dangers in this policy, we need to make 4 and listen.

There is substantial evidence and research supporting the red flag that has been raised by people who we shouldn't ignore just because Anne Tolley chooses to.

Given both sides of the debate in an honest and open manner we as parents will be able to make up our own minds instead of being told what we want.

These is our children we are talking about. Whether parents agree with me or not, I ask them to look further into this debate themselves.

Please visit

http://apps.facebook.com/groupsplus/group.php?id=7877 for numerous highly regarded research documents. (Abridged)

DELLIS HUNT

Parents Against Labelling

Rangiora

 

Obscure bylaw

Is there some obscure bylaw in Hamilton that states the public cannot make any negative or critical comments about Waikato Museum?

If you read the director's wordy response to Jack Linklater's letter (Waikato Times, January 27) and an earlier response to a letter of mine (November 7), both using similar language, you could be excused for thinking there may be.

I attended the museum again on January 26 with three grandchildren aged 5 to 8 to give the "Never a Dull Moment" exhibition a second look through the eyes of children. The reaction was the same and, no, I hadn't brainwashed them. We then headed for Exscite but found that now you have to pay to get in. We came home at that point, very disappointed.

R A B WIBERG

Hamilton

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