The Post letters to the editor: April 30
Snapped near the airport
This week, in the early afternoon, I, aged 71, took my brother, aged 68, to the airport, via Moa Point, from my home in Island Bay.
As I drove along the straight at the back of the airport (just past Moa Point) I was snapped by a police officer with a hand-held speed camera. This resulted in me receiving a $30 speeding ticket. To say the traffic was light is an understatement, but I was speeding and am happy to pay the $30 fine. What I am outraged about is the use of police time.
We have a city, and in particular Island Bay, Berhampore and Owhiro Bay Rd, ravaged by floods, houses evacuated that will never have occupants again, possessions destroyed and families and elderly people struggling with the after-mess.
We have a once-proud city looking sad, dishevelled and unkempt. We have a growing number of homeless people gathered on our streets in Courtenay Place and Lambton Quay, and we have the police deployed with a speed camera handing out tickets on one of the safest roads in the city.
Unbelievable! Can’t the police be more positively deployed?
Robyn Green, Island Bay
Aware of criticism
The Wellington mayor recently said he was surprised at the extent of manipulation by the WCC staff towards the elected councillors as revealed in recent observations, including that by Danyl McLauchlan in The Listener. But that has also been the centre of criticism from the left, and mainstream commentators like The Post’s Dave Armstrong, for the last few decades. Where has the mayor been?
His blinder’s view was prominent even when leader of the Labour Party. Perhaps not unexpected given that archetypal neo-liberal Roger Douglas came in through the Labour Party.
Richard Keller, Lyall Bay
Pay back
It has become apparent that many New Zealanders are unaware that they are owed recompense for historic holiday pay back to even 2010 because the Holiday Pay Act 2003 was applied incorrectly in payroll systems.
With a little digging you can discover that MBIE, ACC, Roman, Mfat, Health NZ, district health boards, Bunnings, Restaurant Brands, Westpac, ASB, McDonald’s, Jetstar, Flight Centre, Te Papa, and others have a remediation process in progress or have actioned it.
However, there are others that are under investigation for such breaches such as ANZ, Fonterra and Auckland Council.
It seems dishonest that many of these profit-making corporates have not made the issue clear to previous employees. In fact why isn’t MBIE doing this? I have seen no full-page ads. It is poor to just have on their websites, without a bit of digging, “If you are a current or former employee, you can find more information on xxxxxxxx's dedicated Holidays Act Remediation page”.
If you have changed your email, or address, or phone number in the last 10 years how are they going to contact you?
All these corporates will have integrity as one of their values. it seems some have no intention of living by these.
Peter Robert Clark, Miramar
Science champion
Kevin Marshall (April 27) and Max Rashbrooke (April 18) are both right: successive governments have neglected the research and science sector and New Zealand will be worse off as a result. But I doubt that Dr Marshall's plea to make it an election issue will bear fruit. There are no votes to be won in pushing the R&D agenda.
It is hard to persuade voters of the value of projects whose benefits are uncertain, may be far in the future, or may accrue to overseas interests. The connection between R&D expenditure, growth and wellbeing seems to be better appreciated in many other countries.
To counter this apathy science needs a senior, visionary minister with strong support from the PM. We have not had this happy situation since the 1990s.
Mike Doig, Plimmerton
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