NZ Centre for Political Research

Muriel,

I have come to the conclusion that 'the jig is up'. This can never be reversed. It can be slowed for a season perhaps, but history has been reversed.

In retrospect it was the Treaty of Waitangi Act of 1985 that did it.

I like one in 6 Maori will be off to Aus ASAP. Not just for this reason but also because in NZ my-after-tax-income is NZ$45k; for the same job in WA I can get paid after tax at .80c to NZ$, NZ$80k. There is no sense our staying here at all.

I'll take my expensive tertiary ed and 30 years of prof wisdom and NZ$500k of financial assets and leave the wreckage to the tribalists. And be able to sleep secure that they can't touch us, tax us or expropriate by welfare theft, my family's birthright.

Sorry that I can't stay and fight - the tribalists and the liberal drongos have 'won' what will be realised as a pyrrhic victory.

DT

During Octobe 2009, I made a postion avaliable and hired a school leaver who wasn't going anywhere at school.

She had to submit 2 job applications as the first I considered was not up to scratch which in itself was a learning curve for her. She was hired and stayed for a period of 6 months and although her attendence at school was dismal, her work attendence was exemplary. She applied for a job closer to her home and family, was accepted and she left my employ.

As a small business owner, I did my small bit to help and encourage a young person leaving school and entering the workforce at my expense.

A government subsidy would have been appreciated (through the tax system). The school leaver learnt several leasons and is still currently employed.

She could so easily have taken "the easy way out", became pregnant and become just another statistic.

Dr Newman

I support totally your cause but I ask you this - itsn't it just the tip of the iceberg? I have never seen such reverse racism as I do in New Zealand.

What about all my hard earned dollars in cash going to Treaty Settlements? Millions and millions of dollars and when will it be enough? Never. Who says anything about it? No-one.

What about my child being forced to learn Maori at school? Its not her culture, why is it imposed on her? What about something more useful like french or spanish?

Never in my life have I seen a government (and indeed successive governments) appease a minority in the way they do and for what? Our jails are full of them and our social services are stretched to the max ensuring they can earn more than I do by sitting at home all day. And can we say anything about it? Hell no, it just wouldn't be right would it?

Frankly, its enough to drive anyone out of the country - and it will. When Hone Harawira said what he said and there was barely a blip of the radar of protest from the common man, it reinforced for me that this country has got it all wrong and its time to go.

Good luck to you with this initiative. Truely, I wish you well. There are bigger issues that need addressing too and I hope you can move on to them.

Connie

Dear Editor,

I am deeply concerned that the National Government is being hoodwinked by the Maori Party over the foreshore and seabed issue.

They are primarily interested in what ongoing financial gain that they can get with very little work at the expense of all NZers.

This can simply be achieved by claiming all ports or resort areas and charging for the use of them for example imports and exports passing over the wharves, a real cash cow.

Maori are already being given too much say in matters both at local councill and government level.

Yours sincerly,

Gaire Thompson

Letter to the Editor.

What year is it? 2010. No it must be 1984 and H.G.Wells must be laughing in his grave since NZ has recently established The Ministry of MisInformation!!

How many people realise that in these times of economic hardship (while cutting funds to home help, infant education and education classes etc.) the Government has established "The Science Media Centre" to handle all media enquiries in matters concerning Science at a cost running into millions. This centre is to be the first call for all radio, television and written articles concerning Science so that the 'correct information' is given out to the public.

It would be good news except that the 'correct information' is the 'party line' as set by the Government.

Be aware 'Big Brother' is feeding to you only the information it wants you to hear! On TV7 last Wednesday the spokesman (Peter Griffin) for the Science Media Centre was introduced as an 'expert' in Science matters and proceeded to give a very unbalanced report on Climate Change.

He made snide remarks regarding the recent appeal to the High Court by the NZ Climate Science Coalition regarding manipulation of temperature data by NIWA. What grounds does he have to adopt the moral 'high ground' in matters about which it was apparent he has little knowledge (he has no formal qualifications in science as stated on SMC's own web-page) but has only a qualification in Communication.

Then we find that the SMC relies on information supplied by the NZ Royal Society which has several employees of NIWA on its committee and all becomes clear. Politics is far more important than good Science and we don't want the public asking Doc Nick Smith awkward questions, do we?

Simon

Much of the problem with men on welfare stems from the abolishing of the old Ministry of Works.

Ha! I hear you say, many of them spent the day leaning on shovels.

I agree to a point but would state that the kids saw dad off out the door to work at 7am, he brought home a pay packet that was more than the dole, he had the respect and camaraderie of his mates, he wasn't at home getting into mischief in the gangs or beating his wife. He set a pretty good example to the kids.

The MOW mopped up an awful lot of wouldbe misfits. They also kept the schools, hospitals and roading maintenance up to the mark.

Why pay people the dole for doing nothing when those sorts of jobs (and apprenticeships) could be reinstated, probably for not much more than the cost of paying them to lay about and cause trouble; a lot less if you think of the cost of prison time.

The DPB is a story for another time.

Helen

On the subject of planning matters, I have some additional ideas.

New Zealand's settlement patterns are an extremely inefficient use of resources.

Auckland is one of the biggest cities in the world by area, but it has a population of little more than one million. This situation arises because of the ridiculous desire of everyone to have a ¼ acre. Consequently, people have to drive enormous distances to their workplaces, enormous amounts of fossil fuels have to be consumed transporting goods to be sold to people living in disparate locations and transport infrastructure is extremely difficult. I have heard anectodally that city dwellers consume 1/3 of the carbon on average of their rural counterparts.

Things are very different in Spain (for instance), where cities have high-rise apartment blocks that are nice to live in, and so there is no need for people to live in remote suburbs to get a good quality of life. It is extremely easy to construct high-speed intercity railway systems that serve large numbers of people, also because the areas between the cities are often sparsely populated: - it is possible to travel the 621km between Barcelona and Madrid in 2 hours and 38 minutes by train.

High-speed intercity rail between Auckland and Wellington via Hamilton and other cities (for instance) might be technically viable, but the dispersed settlement patterns in New Zealand would make it difficult to get the necessary custom.

I think that reports about global warming schmobal warming are severely exaggerated, but I still think New Zealand's settlement patterns are extremely wasteful in terms of resource usage.

Your comments in the August 02 newsletter, plus the excellent article by Michael Coote, summarise well the immediate threat to the nation of the Key/Finlayson proposed foreshore and seabed legislation, and highlight the need for urgent action to prevent its passing.

Leaving aside all the shameful details of the Bill, above all we should face the fundamental issue - should control of the coastline and territorial waters of New Zealand be allowed to fall into the hands of a racial minority? Clearly the answer is "no".

Any prime minister, minister of the Crown, or governing body who allows this to happen should be declared unfit to govern. I believe that such action is more than irresponsible. It borders on treason.

Mr Key is in grave danger of becoming known for all time as the man who gave New Zealand away. Does he really want this on his conscience for the rest of his life? For a start, I am sure it would mark a very swift end to his political career.