Ask for it and you shall receive: fact-checking
Your appeal for fact-checking (21.9.23) has already been answered by a team of academics at Auckland’s Public Policy Institute in "Fact check: Leaders’ claims in the first debate put to the test."
Yes, Chris Hipkins made a minor slip in the leaders’ debate about the timing of a ban on fizzy drinks in primary schools (21.9.23), but as you rightly say, Labour’s election policy is indeed to require all schools to provide only healthy drinks on-site (unflavoured water and milk).
By contrast, and I quote the panel’s findings verbatim, it calls Mr Luxon "the main offender on making false claims in the debate". It describes as "mostly untrue" Mr Luxon’s claim that foreign home buyers tax would bring in $750 million – in reality, it is estimated to be about $210m.
Under "false", it lists the following: No fruit and veg GST savings will be passed on to customers (Luxon) — Grocery Commissioner will monitor pricing to prevent this.
Labour didn’t implement the Circuit Breaker Initiative (Luxon) – Has been rolled out and is being extended.
National supports school lunches for all (Luxon) – They support the current policy (targeted lunches) pending a review of costs.
National invented "by Maori, for Maori’ (Luxon) — Used in matauranga Maori by Maori thinkers and leaders such as Mason Durie decades before.
Every single health outcome has gone backwards under Labour (Luxon) – Most health outcomes (e.g. general mortality, cancer deaths, maternal health) have remained the same or improved.
Jocelyn Harris
Dunedin
Debate disappointment
While I appreciate your coverage of the first leaders’ debate you failed to mention the moment I felt most disappointed — the two Chrises’ personal commitments to mitigate their contributions to climate change amounting to recycling and owning an EV. Surely the largest source of emissions for a politician is travel, especially air travel. I would really like to see a transparent analysis of the travel-related emissions resulting from this election and challenge all politicians to demonstrate how they are reducing travel-related emissions and offsetting unavoidable emissions. Perhaps we should start a tradition of politicians planting trees on election day to offset their electioneering contributions to climate change while the rest of the country looks on and votes.
Janice Lord
Kuri Bush
Everyone’s a loser
Both leaders lost the leaders debate.
Neither can be trusted on the unfair tax system: Labour did next-to-nothing about it and can’t be trusted to do so now; National offers to reduce tax for "the squeezed middle" without showing credibly how the $15 billion cost will be met without more borrowing.
Anyway, they both say one thing and do another.
On housing both pretend that building more houses and state rentals alone is the solution, without addressing the crucial affordability issue for either first home buyers or renters.
On the main public services National has a woeful record of persistent under-funding while Labour has failed to show anything like satisfactory progress, with many services now grossly under-performing.
Neither leader enunciated a clear strategy to improve New Zealand’s overall economic performance and its sustainability, or how to tackle the big three: inflation and the cost of living, the worsening and huge trade deficit, and genuine long-term debt reduction.
Denis O’Rourke
Christchurch
[Denis O’Rourke is a former New Zealand First MP. — Editor]
Don’t get screwed over by the bush telegraph
In 2019, the DCC declared a climate emergency and set 2030 as the Zero Carbon target. The emergency has not ended.
Yet a few songbirds on the bush telegraph say that the DCC might dilute or delay its own goals.
This seems as bonkers as someone suffering from smoke inhalation deciding to stay in a house fire.
If the DCC spends time tinkering with the percent that individual emissions contributors need to stick to, not only do we fall short of reduction targets, we waste the last precious years left to make vital change.
In 2021, former UK Chief Scientist, Sir David King said “What we do (on climate action) in the next 3-5 years will determine the future of humanity”.
That was two years ago. If we don’t act now, we are screwed. Please, DCC: just unscrew it.
Emma Neale
Maori Hill
Trains and sprawl
Jane Campbell (Letters, 18.9.23) emphasised that if the housing in our towns and cities was not predominately low density sprawl we can live in a more sustainable way and connect better with other people.
New Zealand has a very high rate of car ownership and also has a high rate of obesity: Mac Gardner (Opinion, 18.9.23) stressed that the South Island’s existing rail infrastructure could transport passengers as well as freight.
These are not issues which most of our political candidates are discussing, but they should be – we need to think differently, with a long-term lens, and not continue the status quo. If we do this the health of our country and of the planet will improve, as will our physical and mental health.
Hazel Agnew
Oamaru
Things have changed, or have they?
Just to let you know how much we enjoy the 100 Years Ago section of the ODT.
While the front page is of course important, checking in with the local situation a century back gives an interesting contrast to today's woes. Some of them the same, but things do change. Today (9.9.23) was a case in point. Big discussions over the breakfast table over the current population of Lawrence. Surely greater than the 725 in 1923? But no. It's now apparently down to 450. Plenty of tourists though.
And what's all this about weka oil?? Snake oil, more like. A bizarre story.
And the poor (indigent) baby left for the Industrial School to house. Who knew such places existed in the 20th century? I thought they'd gone the way of the workhouse. Apparently not.
Now we have boarding houses unfit to live in instead. Maybe things don't change that much?
Sandra Jones
Wakari
The remarkable Mr Webber
Cyril Ernie Richard Webber was born in Dunedin in 1905. He was a businessman-entrepreneur who had a passion for rail and railway systems, amassing a large collection of books and magazines that represent a history of transportation, especially of the colonies. Although absent from Dunedin for many years, he returned to live in his hometown, at Doon St, in 1975. He died in 1983. I am writing a book on Webber, his life and collecting activities. I therefore appeal to anyone in Dunedin who has any reminiscences of this colourful character, who was often seen driving around town in his Jaguar car, which he dubbed ‘‘The Wicked Lady’’. Any information will be gratefully appreciated and acknowledged.
Dr Donald Kerr
Dunedin
