Letters: Is Carmel Sepuloni a politician or a TV entertainer?; valuing teachers; three’s company in coalition

Letter of the week

Sepuloni: Politician or entertainer?

It’s reported that Carmel Sepuloni, former Deputy Prime Minister and senior Labour MP, is to be one of the contestants on a new season of Celebrity
Treasure Island.

Is it appropriate that a politician, and a senior one at that, should take part in this kind of show?

She is after all a public servant and not a celebrity. She might be partaking in this programme to raise money for charity but surely taking a significant amount of time from her duties representing the Kelston electorate shows a disregard for where her true responsibilities should lie.

Perhaps it would be timely to ask her what career path she is planning to pursue – to continue as a politician or to be an entertainer?

Bernard Walker, Mt Maunganui.

Valuing teachers

Being a competent teacher is a calling, not a job.

A teacher who loves children and imparting knowledge is the best. Sadly our Government has put pressure on, introducing new costly curriculum ideas which teachers have to retrain for.

It all comes back to basic facts and positive communication. The three R s rule and will always do so. From there, learning develops to a greater field.

The only people who understand education are the teachers on the job. Many people have opinions but do not understand the workload and pressures involved.

A great teacher is a jewel to behold for children’s careers and lifestyles.

Marilyn Cure, Papamoa.

Three’s company

Why is it that so many people who enter Parliament are expected to change who they are?

The letter stating that David Seymour must be reined in (HoS, May 5) is a perfect example of this.

Those who voted for Act knew the calibre of Seymour and wanted him to represent them. He should be commended for staying true to who he is, and what he believes in.

Christopher Luxon knew exactly what the coalition with Winston Peters and Seymour would be like, and we’re seeing three different personalities rubbing along really well together.

Lorraine Kidd, Warkworth.

Women whistlers

Last weekend I watched the Canterbury Bulldogs vs the West Tigers NRL game played in Sydney with a woman referee.

It was a great game and she controlled the game so well against many aggressive men – so why are there no NZ rugby games or rugby league games with a woman referee?

Surely if Australia has done it we should too.

Stop making it only a male referee game here. We deserve much better. Women can do just as well as men in these jobs, as I saw. Give it a go.

Murray Hunter, Titirangi.

Drugged driving

Driving while under the influence of drugs has been a hidden killer on our roads for many years and it has been estimated that they account for one-third of our road fatalities.

In Australia drug testing of drivers was introduced in 2004 – 20 years ago.

Why is it then that the rollout in New Zealand is still pending? It has been talked about for years and years, a bit like the second Auckland Harbour crossing.

Certainly NZ police can test for drugs if they suspect the driver is drug-impaired but from what I can see it is a very simple and quick procedure to test all stopped drivers for drugs as they do for alcohol.

Let’s walk the walk, not just talk the talk.

Randal Lockie, Rothesay Bay.

Business smarts

The National Party poll result is not because they are ineffective; it is because some of us are not used to the idea of a competent businessman running the country.

Crowd-pleasing, hand-shaking rhetoric might send a nice vibe, but the bones of fiscal management needs smarts.

It needs directness and a sense of direction. Businessmen running businesses know only one thing; to balance the books and be profitable, which is a nice place to be.

John Ford, Taradale.

Public service cuts

At one of my jobs my manager sat me down and told me with a smile that the other two workers in our section would be redeployed.

In future I would be doing the work that three workers had done in the past. I put up with the new scenario for about six months but it was too much for me and so I left for greener pastures.

The National Government has decreed that large numbers of staff in the public service will lose their jobs. Over recent years the public service departments have struggled to cope with the needs of an ageing and immigrant population.

With a reduced staff, can we truly have confidence that the public service will be able to deliver a satisfactory standard of service to the public.

Johann Nordberg, Paeroa.

Blame game

Energy Minister Simeon Brown browned out recently when he stated we have an energy crisis and it’s all Labour’s fault.

It’s a power generation issue, not an energy crisis. Conservation of energy means we don’t create it. It’s there all the time, like just transform it.

We have the potential energy in dams but transforming it rapidly enough into transmissible electrical energy is the problem. It’s not joules but watts. It’s not energy but power. It’s as simple as that. Time of use is part of the problem though.

Build more power capacity to produce more kW or KJ/s. Build more power stations or storage facilities. The national electricity model needs reform.

Does Simeon Brown not know this is his party’s fault too? The blame game is no excuse.

Steve Russell, Hillcrest.

MPs deserve pay rise

There has been much rhetoric and opinion about our MPs’ pay increase. It has been described as substantial, excessive, and even insulting to the taxpayer.

However, MPs’ salaries have been subject to a pay freeze during a period of high inflation. This means that MPs are currently getting substantially less money in real terms today than they were six years ago.

If a backbencher’s salary of $163,961 (which was set in 2017) had kept pace with inflation it would have increased to more than $206,000 in today’s money. That would be a 26 per cent total increase.

Secondly, the actual pay increase equates to an average yearly increase of approximately 2.5 per cent over four pay periods. The current inflation is still around 4 per cent. This means that in real terms MPs’ salaries are still going backwards.

Thirdly, the current police pay dispute has been mentioned where the police have been offered an annual 4 per cent increase. This has been described as insulting, and considering the current and recent inflation, I agree the police deserve more.

The point is paying MPs an initial extra 2.8 per cent is modest and small in comparison.

Nigel Owen, Hamilton.