Tackling homelessness and thanking volunteers
Thank you to Mary Williams for keeping us informed about homelessness in Dunedin (ODT 5.4.25).
It’s great to see the renovation and increased capacity of the Dunedin Night Shelter, but distressing to read about the difficulties people face in accessing services, and the increase of visible homelessness and people living in tents — especially as winter approaches.
It is shameful that this is happening. The government needs to get rid of structural inequities to reduce the gap between rich and poor. It can start by introducing a tax-free threshold of at least $10,000, and bringing in a capital gains tax which could be used to help people living in poverty and unstable housing situations.
I would like to give my heartfelt thanks to Janine Walker of the Dunedin Bedding Bank for her selfless volunteer work to provide much-needed bedding, tents, warm clothing and other items to people who really need them.
Last week I donated a tent and some bedding, and was really touched by Janine’s staunch commitment to making a difference to people who have so little.
I encourage anyone who can, to make either a donation in kind to the Dunedin Bedding Bank, or a monetary donation to them (contact via their facebook page), to help with the costs involved in running this grassroots registered charity.
Investment in time
Thirty years ago, the armed forces took an average New Zealander and over the first six weeks made that person physically fit. Now the NZDF expects a person to be reasonably fit before joining.
This current process results in large numbers of applicants simply not completing the process. And, many would have made great soldiers, sailors or airmen.
The older system was simpler and moulded service people into shape.
That's what it did for me, and the vast numbers of others, and if the NZDF was not for you, then both parties had a better opportunity to make the right decision.
The current system in my opinion represents an under-investment in our youth.
Even if only two-thirds made it through the journey, that would be better than the current lack of time investment required.
Hapless MPs
Have the Greens got a death wish? It would appear so in yet another example of their continuing failure to vet parliamentary candidates properly.
And the Green leadership's attempt to play the victim card regarding the posts of MP Benjamin Doyle sure blew up in their faces by bringing the issue to the attention of the general public.
Then the two co-leaders doubled down on their misjudgment by refusing to clarify what the term used by their MP in posts meant.
A sorry episode, indeed, all round but what seems clear is that change is necessary at the Green Party, starting with the leadership, otherwise the seemingly endless procession of hapless MPs will continue — God give us strength.
Dishing it out to MPs and the endurance factor
To me there seems to be a very simple solution of the school lunches issue: the Parliament restaurant and canteen should only be dispensing school lunches. If parliamentarians are happy with the food then so too will students. No sugary snacks, no alternatives. School lunches are apparently great so no-one can seriously object. Meals can be diverted from any of the Wellington schools.
Lots of benefits: Parliamentarians "away from home" allowance can be reduced by $20 a day because they can get free lunches — their choice to eat the offered food or not. Any pollie away from Wellington can get local lunches wherever they are visiting. After all, the same quality is delivered across the country.
As they are adults and might need extra nourishment, maybe pollies can eat two meals a day — if they can stomach them.
We will very quickly see how great the meals are. I would give it a week tops before changes happen.
Tip of the hat and a frown
Recently I had the pleasure of being shown the new upgraded quarters for the Dunedin City Council’s archives in the Civic Centre, replacing the dangerously substandard, clearly unsafe, spaces they previously occupied.
It was a considerable relief to see now the council’s vitally important, irreplaceable, archives, dating back to the mid-1850s, so much better provided for after eight years of continuous advocacy by the local branch of the Archives and Records Association (ARANZ) — smarter utilisation of space, overhead pipe hazards removed, better fire protection, air-conditioning installed, and much improved conditions for the staff and visiting public.
All this is a minor miracle at a time of greatly constrained funding, for which much credit is due to council, senior administration, and especially the project team.
Truly a case of making the best of available scarce resources. A tip of the hat to them all.
Much less pleasing is the long-standing failure of Toitū to fill its vacant archivist position, resulting (genealogical resources excepted) in at best intermittent access to its rich documentary collections for the early history of Dunedin and Otago.
Despite their superior accommodation this is a constant frustration for local historians, who are now in danger of giving up on them as a usable research resource. The situation is exacerbated by the very limited online presence of its archives.
It is hard to see why this should be so, given the high quality of Toitū's other programmes, but an excellent first step forward would be to appoint a competent archivist to drive improvement from this backward state and bring its archives into the light of day.
As matters now stand, they are of little credit to Toitū or use to the community.
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