Letters, October 11: Monetary realism

Waikato Times

The US financial bailout has politicians fearing a voter backlash for assisting bad investment.

Idealistic monetarism has little realism. Money is not the economy but counts the true economic activity.

Short-term bailouts hide the reality. Monetary wealth isn't guaranteeing the productive resources and labour for our real needs. A world of scarce resources should make us focus on their fair and wise use. The present free market gives power to money based on a nominal value of assets, and gives little reward to those who invest time, energy and resources into truly productive processes.

The main parties follow World Bank and World Trade Organisation policy in the mistaken view this can distribute wealth to the productive base when those who manipulate the market have excess.

The Resource Management Act and taxation based on the rewarding of efficient resource usage can turn the process around. All of this can't be explained in 200 words but we shouldn't be funding speculators' bad investments.

We need a change of government before it is too late, but only the Greens seem brave enough to tackle the issues involved. Maybe the main parties are afraid to lose the vote of those gaining by the process.

WAYNE LUXTON

Waitoa

Opito Bay issues

Bruce Holloway is quite correct when he writes that the proposed development at Opito Bay, recently granted resource consent by the Thames Coromandel District Council, is controversial (Waikato Times, October 1).

However, a couple of issues need to be cleared up.

Although the Blackjack Protection Society is indeed an opponent of the development, it was not a submitter to the application.

This is thanks to the council's decision to grant the application controlled status, which means the hearing was on a limited notification basis and the society, along with most of Opito Bay, wasn't included in that group.

Blackjack filed proceedings in the High Court in March to challenge this decision, but the council saw fit to proceed with a hearing before our case was heard. The case is still live and, if we are successful, everyone will have to start from scratch hardly a wise use of ratepayers' money.

Further, the article stated the entire site was to be a recreation area under the structure plan the council is now trying to change. Only part of the site is slated for a recreation area, but it is a significant part and changing the plan will only make the development more intense. (Abridged)

SIMON FARRELL-GREEN

Secretary Blackjack Protection Society

Auckland

Community support

Our family would like to publicly thank the wonderfully supportive Waikato community who helped us raise more than $4600 for Makiungu Hospital in Tanzania, where our now 10-year-old daughter was born.

The article in the First Person column of the Waikato Times' weekend magazine (June 14) sparked a huge response to our cause, and we were delighted by the positive replies we got from friends, family and outreach connections. Thanks to the generosity of these wonderful people, Makiungu Hospital has not only been able to purchase an oxygen concentrator for newborn babies, but also other equipment such as a diathermy and medical supplies.

The spirit of generosity towards those less fortunate than ourselves is still alive.

THE REYMER BOUMA FAMILY

Ngahinapouri

School bus cuts

How many people are aware that the Education Ministry plans to cut all school bus services drastically?

There has been little or no discussion with parents. School buses were introduced to make sure all children had access to school in the first instance, especially in poor rural areas.

How can this be happening when everybody is apparently trying to conserve fuel and there has been a focus on keeping children in the education system? Is this the next step to the ministry closing more rural schools? Why has there been no public information or consultation?

T NEAL

Piopio

 

Mary Chamberlain, Education Ministry spokesperson, replies: The Education Ministry is committed to providing transport assistance to families in remote areas where transport to and from the nearest school involves long distances. It has no plans to cut bus routes nationally.

The ministry periodically reviews all 2400 bus routes it contracts. We extend, adjust, add to or cancel routes based on these reviews. If a route is cancelled because of low numbers, remaining families are supported financially to get their children to school.

 

Moral standards

Over recent years, changes have been made to New Zealand law regarding moral standards that had endured throughout this country's history. For example, in December 1977, the murder of unborn babies was made freely available with the passing of the Contraception, Sterilisation and Abortion Act.

In July 1986, homosexuality was made legal and with that has come the promotion of more immoral behaviour.

More recently, in 2003, prostitution was legalised with the passing of the Prostitution Law Reform Act.

Same-sex marriages, under the guise of civil unions, were legislated for in 2004.

Most recently, on May 16, 2007, one of the core roles of parenting that of correcting wrongful behaviour in children became illegal under the Green/Labour anti-smacking legislation. This law made the correction of children using any sort of force a criminal offence. It isn't just smacking a child on the bottom that is now illegal.

The shocking increase in crime now is the product of what has been sown in the recent past. What is most disturbing is that it will only get worse under National, Labour and the Greens.

STEVE BEARSLEY

Hamilton

Jones fixated

Poor old Bob Jones is still fixated with Social Credit (Waikato Times, October 3).

Events leading to the NZ Party being set up are largely irrelevant to the world today and most of the main protagonists of the era are gone. Except Bob, who set up his party to give Rob Muldoon a shake-up because he was heading toward a Soviet style of economic management when Bob wanted the University of Chicago free market economic philosophy of Milton Friedman.

Well Bob got his wish with Roger Douglas and Ruth Richardson, and the result has been the virtual collapse of the world economy on the back of the sort of policies he advocated. That economic model is now recognised as providing those engaged in the money-go-round of speculation with opportunities to grow exceedingly rich with scant regard to honesty or ethics.

Social Credit has always focused on problems around debt and money, and has resurfaced for the good reason the solutions offered by Jones and his ilk have been unable to stop the recurring financial/monetary crises that continue to smack us about.

Smart-arsed cracks about truck drivers are no substitute for hard facts and reasoned debate.

TREVOR CROSBIE

Hamilton

On the bus

I used bus route No3 to get to town the other day great ride.

Sitting in the front seat I could only hold my breath as the driver negotiated the tight roundabouts, and left and right angle turns into narrow streets.

I closed my eyes as he drove down Seddon Rd, with its angle parking on one side and parallel parking on the other.

Luckily no heavy vehicles were coming the other way. Glad I was the passenger and not the driver.

BARRIE GRANT

Hamilton

Science bureaucracy

What a remarkable irony.

On October 2 the New Zealand Institute of Agriculture and Horticulture Science hosted a political forum on the topic "Does agricultural research have a future in New Zealand".

Spokespeople from all the major political parties were present and their overwhelming message was that agricultural science was most certainly essential for our nation's future and more was needed.

The following day the Waikato Times reported that AgResearch, New Zealand's largest provider of agricultural research, was cutting back and calling for voluntary redundancies.

Maybe the right hand is too far away from the left hand on the body of science bureaucracy.

D C EDMEADES

Waikato chair

NZIAHS