There seems to be no evidence of Key’s loyalty towards New Zealanders.
Rob Harris, Riversdale Beach.
Bye-bye pie, you’ve changed
There’s nothing quite like a delicious pie and I Love Pies were always my go-to. But like your correspondent Murray Hunter (Herald, June 21) I have stopped buying them, but for a different reason. They have changed.
Previously, on the front of the original pies packaging it was proudly stated: No palm oil, no added MSG or preservatives, no artificial flavours or colours. And on the reverse under the catchphrase, “Doesn’t look like a Nasa space experiment”, the ingredients were listed clearly and were easy to understand.
Now, the pies have “New and Improved” fillings. Really? For a start at least two of the family pies have palm oil in them, something that was considered a no-no before. And the list of the other ingredients really does read like a Nasa space experiment.
So, for me, it was time to say goodbye to my favourite pies.
Lorraine Kidd, Warkworth.
Desperately seeking football expertise
Why is the goalkeeping at the World Cup sub-standard?
Normally the goalkeepers are the heroes and the last line of defence.
Most of the goalkeepers appear to be indecisive and are getting beaten easily.
Not being an expert on football, what am I missing?
Jock Mac Vicar, Hauraki.
Cotterill offers no alternatives
Bruce Cotterill (Herald, July 4) criticises ideas presented by left-wing parties to deal with New Zealand’s increasing homelessness, poverty and inequality.
I see no alternative suggestions from him of how to rectify these situations. Possibly, as one of the “sorted”, Cotterill thinks NZ has no such problems other than figuring out how to keep the bottom feeders out of his line of sight.
Susan Grimsdell, Auckland Central.
‘Naively oblivious’
I hope Bruce Cotterill, or anyone dear to him, never has to lie in bed waiting helplessly for a nappy change.
The woman who brought light into my mother’s unbearably dark last years had to sew curtains on her days off to have enough food for her family to eat and to secure a roof over their heads. Yet daily she affirmed Mum’s human dignity in every personal care she undertook for her.
But Bruce Cotterill operates on the assumption that paying women who are caregivers decently should be an optional extra for our economy, and that instead we should prioritise the financial privilege of men whose “success” is gauged by their manufacture of, for example, carbon-based plastics that go to landfill; or whose profits arise from sneakily making space weaponry for the US military industrial complex. In this Cotterill is naively oblivious to the fraying of our society’s human fabric. He could instead show respect for his readers’ life experience by offering an account of our society that is attuned to our lived reality.
Janet Charman, Avondale.
Kids’ lunches
The Act Party leader David Seymour advocates for individual freedoms, but at what cost? What a contrast with his abhorrence of food for school kids, “cutting costs” is the prime factor on his menu – even cutting nutrition to achieve those savings.
The irony is that Seymour claimed cost savings of $360 million over three years by defunding school lunches, but refunding landlords cost $2.9 billion over four years. Please explain your values, spread so thickly on landlords like Marmite on a sammy?
The moral we could learn is it’s better that “kids can” have a decent bite to eat rather than the money tree being robbed for wealthy landlords – gluttony if ever there was – and taking capital gains, too, like PM Christopher Luxon.
Steve Russell, Hillcrest.
Tax and health
It’s quite simple really, stop giving tax cuts, landlord handouts, building roads to nowhere and put that tax revenue into health.
Reg Dempster, Albany.
Lost in translation
When we attend pōwhiri or karakia it’s a pity there is no English translation. English translation would be practical. Some of these are lengthy. Surely the assembled people should know what is being said, otherwise what is the purpose? Overseas visitors miss the essence of what is happening. Not to mention locals. Why is this the case?
Colin Nicholls, Radio Tarana, Mt Eden.
Tama Potaka on the defence
How much longer will Tama Potaka be prepared to be wheeled out to the media by this coalition Government to try to defend the indefensible? It must be increasingly painful and harmful to his self-respect.
Bruce Tubb, Ngataringa Bay Marine Park.