Thoughts

Letters to Editors

The following letters are copies of those I have sent to Editors of papers around New Zealand. Most have been published.

Lack of hospital beds

Dear Editor,

Dr Freeman, Emergency Department clinical director at the new

Auckland City Hospital says that it is hard for his staff to treat

new arrivals. The problem appears to be a shortage of beds.

Auckland District Health Board Chairman, Wayne Brown says

700 beds are enough. He says the problem is that they are

not discharging people as quickly as they would like to.

Is this similar to our Government's method of dealing with excess

criminals in prison when they lowered the eligibity for parole down

to one third of the sentence?

Half hearted hikoi

Dear Editor, (27/04/04)

What a brave Prime Minister. She questioned the actions of the Police

and Transit immediately after the hikoi had crossed the Harbour

Bridge.

The claim that she did not want to interfere in operational

matters is pure nonsense.

Surely the Government could have interfered - after all, who is in

charge?

How to cut the Court backlog

Dear Editor, (24/04/04)

The following method will cut the Court backlogs dramatically while
still ensuring Justice is done correctly.

Offenders do not need the decision of a Court to find out if they
are guilty. They know they are guilty but hope to get off by
pleading "Not guilty". The ensuing Court case costs everyone time
and money.

The law should be changed to read "Where an offender pleads "Not
guilty" and is subsequently proven guilty, the Judge MUST give a
minimum sentence of at least 50% of the maximum. This sentence to be
without parole."

For example, where a charge carries a 10 year maximum, in the
unlikely event they receive it, they will be out in less than four
years on parole. Most times, they would receive about five years and
be out in 20 months. Weigh this against receiving five years without
parole and there would be many more guilty pleas.

Society in general, Police and jurors would all benefit. The only
complaints would be from lawyers who have pleaded "Not guilty" to
stretch out a case to make more money.

Israeli spies

Dear Editor, (17/04/04)

How strange. We allow terrorists claiming to be refugees into the

country and now we have Israeli spies coming in as well. What else

could we expect?

Smoking is not a Human Right

Dear Editor, (24/03/04)

When considering the case of employers refusing to employ smokers

the Human Rights Commissioner has stated that smoking is not one

of the human rights.

Now is the time to declare our Prisons non-smoking areas. The less

the offenders like prison, the less likely they are to re-offend.

Bill of Rights bungle

Dear Editor, (23/03/04)

fYet another criminal case (kidnapping) has been lost due to the

caution and rights of an offender not being correctly administered.

Section 25 of the Crimes Act, 1961, states that ignorance of the law

is no excuse. That covers a multitude of laws, so why don't we

publicise the rights and then pass a law that says ignorance of your

rights does not make you innocent. Everyone knows they have the right

to remain silent and that they have the right to call a lawyer. It

beats me how the Police failing to recite a set of rules can make a

guilty person innocent. We managed quite well before the Bill of

Rights was introduced.

When we keep tying the hands of the Police no wonder they get

frustrated and things go wrong.

Political lies, misinformation etc

Dear Editor, (26/02/04)

With the recent lies and misinformation coming from the

Government, one could easily believe that the comical Iraqi

Information Minister Muhammed Saeed al-Sahaf has surfaced as an

advisor to the Labour Party.

The PM and the Polls

Dear Editor, (24/02/04)

Our Prime Minister says that she hears what the people are saying,

reads what the people are saying and a new balance has to be found.

At the election before last, 92% of the voting public wanted stronger

law and order. Since then the Labour party introduced the Sentencing

and Parole Reform Bill which gives convicted criminals parole at one

third of their sentence.

Was she listening to the people then? Does a leopard change it's

spots? I think not!

Daring Politics

Dear Editor, (16/02/04)

In the present political climate, "I dare you Helen to call a snap

election, in fact, I double dare you!"

Whenuapai Air Base as a Prison

Dear Editor, (03/02/04)

I was so pleased tonight to receive a call from a survey group who

were seeking my opinion on the future of Whenuapai Air Base. As I

work at Mangere Airport, I know that air passenger traffic is

expanding dramatically and that we will need greater capacity than we

currently have. This Xmas was something like 30% up on last year and

I cannot see a downturn. Once Whenuapai is gone, where would we put

another airport?

The survey considered retaining the airport, converting it to rural

lifestyle blocks or commercial/Governmental use. I believe we should

retain it as an airport. The survey prompted me to think that there

must also be enough land to put another prison, tucked away in a

corner. The buildings are usually low profile and we need more

prisons if we are serious about stopping crime. So there you have it,

an airport and a prison.

Govt sued for $5M over RSA killings:

Dear Editor, (28/01/04)

It is hardly surprising that this Government is being sued for

releasing one of the RSA killers early on parole. They don't seem to

realise that there are some people that are so bad or so mad that

they should not be allowed free.

Only recently they brought in the Sentencing and Parole

Reform Bill, 2002 whereby offenders are released at one third of

their sentence.

Considering Judges are loath to hand out anything near the full

sentence one can expect that if a criminal commits a crime with a ten

year penalty attached the Judge is highly unlikely to give a sentence

of more than five years. Now, with parole at one third of the

sentence, the offender is out in twenty months.

It seems we are now reaping what the Government is sowing. Seriously

bad criminals out on the streets again in no time. Little wonder the

Police are feeling frustrated. When will the public demand and expect

effective law and order? Does the Government care at all?

Swiss cyclists injured:

Dear Editor, (28/01/04)

Swiss cyclists injured by beer bottles thrown from cars in Oxford,

Canterbury were no doubt a result of the recent television

advertisement where a green monster is assaulted by objects thrown

from cars.

Television advertisements do require standards and this

does not set a good example.

If the offender is caught, the penalty is likely to be moderate and

the offender released on parole after a third of the sentence. Why do

we even bother to prosecute. Bad behaviour seems more and more

acceptable.

New slant on Waitangi issues:

Dear Editor, (28/01/04)

Here is a letter to the average Maori husband and wife through your
Editorial:

Dear Mr and Mrs Tainui,

Not all that long ago, your Iwi received $170,000,000 by way of

compensation. As average taxpayers, you and your wife jointly paid

around $140 in taxes toward this payout.

Did you see any benefit from this? Or, did your lawyers and leaders

get it all?

Sometime later, Ngai Tahu received a similar payout and it again cost

you $140 in taxes. Did you see any benefit from this or once again,

did the lawyers and leaders get it all?

There will be many more claims to settle and you will be dipping into

your pocket many times over.

As an alternative, do you think the Government should apologise for

any past wrongdoings and we all move on before you and I go broke?

Sky Marshalls:

Dear Editor, (28/01/04)

Keith Locke, Foreign Affairs spokesperson for the Greens is claiming

we should not meekly accede to American edicts on air travel into

their country.

Surely they have to right to control who and how people come into

their country? If he does not like that, he can bypass America and

fly other routes or totally avoid America. They probably don't want

him anyway.

Isn't this from a party who together with Labour last year repealed

the law on Home invasion here in New Zealand? Obviously they don't

believe people should have the right to keep undesirables out of

their homes.

Court bottleneck and “P”:

Dear Editor, (01/01/04)

Chief Justice Dame Sian Elias is worried that methamphetamine cases

will put extra pressure on the High Court's workload. She feels this

will cause big delays and spiralling costs.

Offenders do not need the decision of a Court to find out if they are

guilty. They know they are guilty but hope to get off by pleading

"Not guilty". The ensuing Court case costs everyone time and money.

The law should be changed to read "Where an offender pleads "Not

guilty" and is subsequently proven guilty, the Judge must give a

minimum sentence of at least 50% of the maximum. This sentence to be

without parole."

For example, where a charge carries a 10 year maximum, in the

unlikely event they receive it, they will be out in less than four

years on parole. Most times, they would receive about five years and

be out in 20 months. Weigh this against receiving five years without

parole and there would be many more guilty pleas.

Society in general, Police and jurors would all benefit. The only

complaints would be from lawyers who have pleaded "Not guilty" to

stretch out a case to make more money.

Fiji foreshore fiasco:

Dear Editor, (01/01/04)

Fiji's Government is giving ownership of its tourist rich coastal

areas to the indigenous tribes. The same people who only a few years

before overthrew by force, the democratically elected Indian majority

Government.

This declaration of ownership has about as much credibility as Robert

Mugabwe if he declared himself Supreme ruler of the world.

Ban the Police?:

Dear Editor, (19/12/03

With all the hue and cry recently over Police pursuits causing deaths

perhaps we need to ban the Police. After all, the moment they turn on

their flashing lights to stop a vehicle it is going to do one of two

things. It will either stop or do a "runner". If it tries to escape,

it will be travelling at high speed until the driver feels safe from

capture. Probably many minutes and many kilometres, regardless of

whether the Police pursue or not. The accident risk is the same.

A solution may be to take the Police off the roads and retrench them

to the Police Stations where they can sit and wait for the complaints

to come in. They can record the complaints and then wait for the

offenders to come in and give themselves up. We could make savings by

not having to provide Police cars for patrolling and response. In

fact, we could make even more savings by having lower paid clerical

staff operate the Police Stations and having no Police at all.

Hmmm, now I've solved the problems caused by the Police, I

will work on a way to stop vigilantes from taking over their role.

Bulk discounts for serious crimes:

Dear Editor, (05/12/03)

It seems the more serious the crime, the bigger the discount on the

sentence given. Justice John Hansen said the starting point for

attempting to traffic heroin back to Australia was ten years.

Because of "quite exceptional" circumstances, namely, that Justine

Rachael Marlique was pregnant, had a blameless record, her remorse,

insight and early guilty plea, he was prepared to give her a 50%

discount. With good behavour she will be out in 20 months. That is a

massive discount for someone who knowingly agreed to be a "mule" and

carry drugs.

Where is the deterrent to other such "mules". A blameless record

means nothing, that's why she was chosen as a courier. One wouldn't

want to attract Customs attention by sending someone with convictions

as a courier. Pregnant? Hardly reason to let her off. She was

prepared to traffic drugs - does that sound like a suitable parent to

bring up a child? Remorse, insight and early guilty plea? She was

caught cold and her lawyer has probably done some clever plea

bargaining.

Sentencing like that makes me wonder if we have given up the fight!

Joke sentences for kidnapping:

Dear Editor, (03/12/03)

Judge Avinash Deobhakta said that "sadly, the Courts were dealing

with kidnapping offences with tremendous regularity".This was when he

sentenced Wen Wen Chen, a 21 year old Chinese student to 4 1/2

years on two kidnapping charges, one charge of aggravated robbery

and one of committing a crime with a firearm.

Section 209 of the Crimes Act, 1961 allows a maximum of 14 years

imprisonment for kidnapping. As a probable first offender (in this

country) and with good behaviour, Chen can expect to be free in

18 months. Where would we be if everyone only had to pay a third of

their debts. Third world perhaps?

Protesting postie promotes N.Z. First:

Dear Editor, (03/12/03)

Congratulations to the Auckland Postie who refused to deliver the

N.Z. First circular. He stirred me into reading every word when mine

was delivered. I believe he stimulated thousands of others to read

the circular who may well have otherwise tossed it away with the

junk mail.

Mr Peters must be rubbing his hands together after getting that much

publicity for free! I must admit that the details as set out in the

circular seem pretty much true. I wonder if we will see them being

denied by the Government?

Trees, poles, risks to drivers:

Dear Editor, (03/11/03)

Decades ago many Councils were moving poles back from the road edge

to prevent injuries to motorists. Recent statistics show that trees

similarly are a factor in many fatal or injury accidents.

I notice the Manukau City Council has planted kauri on the edges of

the busy Favona Rd. Two have already been bowled over by a cars.

What will happen when theses trees are too big to transplant and

as protected trees, cannot be cut down? Surely there are parks that

they can be planted in without endangering motorists.

Something to praise at last:

Dear Editor, (22/10/03)

We appear to have turned the corner from years of politically correct

but ineffectual laws. The British Parliament has approved

legislation to overturn "double jeopardy" protection for offences

such as murder, rape and armed robbery.

Imagine that your child has been abducted, raped and murdered

by an offender. The Police prosecute but don't quite have enough

evidence to convince a Jury. The offender is released, free, unable

to be charged again for that crime.

Now the offender, releases a video tape (for which some media will

probably pay him an enormous amount of money), showing him committing

the crime. He even releases evidence which proves his guilt.

Too bad, he has been charged and can't be charged again.

Are you happy with that or should our laws be changed to match

those just changed in Britain?

Where fresh evidence is found to prove an offenders guilt, "double

jeopardy" should not provide a defence to being recharged.

Reparation:

Dear Editor, (29/10/03)

Judge Neil McLean in the Zhang trial (39 charges of kidnapping,

aggravated robbery and demanding with menaces) said that 14 years was

an appropriate starting point but that he had to consider "meaningful

offers of reparation". Such reparation should be made by the

offender, not by family or other persons. This is not the intention

of the legislation. The Justice Dept notes on the Sentencing and

Parole Reform Bill, 2002, Clause 8 state that it will give "clear

sentencing guidance that sentences near the maximum should be imposed

for offences near the worst instances of their type". The Judge

appears to have overlooked this as well.

Dogs on beaches, North Shore and Rodney:

Dear Editor, (29/10/03)

The North Shore and Rodney councils are banning dogs on beaches

during the summer from 9am to 7pm on account of the "doggie doos"

fouling the beach. I seem to have missed the point. Are droppings

deposited outside of normal hours different from those within the

allowable hours?

Why must the public pay?:

Dear Editor, (25/10/03)

The prisoners currently complaining about ill treatment in prison

will no doubt receive financial compensation. They have had no

financial loss therefore should receive no money.

The public have paid as victims of crimes then in having to

pay for prisons as well as the support of prisoners families.

Finally, to rub salt into the wound, financial compensation.

If there has been some breach of prison rules by those in charge,

punish those persons, be it financially, loss of job or by

criminal charges but don't make the public pay yet again.

Prisoners treated like animals:

Dear Editor, (21/10/03)

Prisoners have been complaining about being treated like animals.

Animals don't do many of the things prisoners do therefore they must

be on a level less than animals. Are they complaining of being

upgraded to animal status?

How to stem the refugee flow:

Dear Editor, (13/10/03)

Every week so called refugees arrive at Mangere airport after

tearing up and flushing their passports. They are interviewed by the

N.Z. Immigration Service and remain in the country while enquiries

are made, often for extended periods of time.

If cameras monitored each arrival gate and were checked to see which

airline the refugee arrived on, they could be put back on the very

next plane to that country. By all means give them any application

forms they may need but don't accept them here in the meantime.

The Government has a quota of refugees that will be accepted and they

can make application from the country they last left.

Under age drinkers in the Mikano Restaurant:

Dear Editor, (13/10/03)

Once again, the wrong people are being punished by archaic laws.

Very little if anything will happen to the girls involved as they

are "children" and any action will be cloaked in secrecy.

I agree the duty manager and anyone who specifically dealt with the

under age patrons should be dealt with but others paid the price.

Innocent staff had to take their holidays at short notice, people who

had made bookings had to make other arrangements and the restaurant

suffered severe financial loss.

Back to Top