A Paula benefit

Martin Doyle’s increasingly negative and reactionary column took a turn for the worse in his defence of Paula Bennett and her government’s so-called welfare reforms (May 16). All I hear is the same old beneficiary bashing in an attempt to grab votes. 

Where is this great need for reform anyway? According to the Ministry of Social Development’s own statistics, numbers claiming the DPB declined from the late 1990s. The government’s own documents identify the recent increase reflects changes in economic conditions. I would dare to suggest that doing something - anything, really - to stimulate the economy and create more jobs might be a better idea than taking a negative approach.

Or (and this is wishful thinking) Paula Bennett and her colleagues should resign from parliament since their policies have thus far failed to turn around increasing benefit numbers.

Matthew Mawkes, Mt Cook.

Much ado about something

Re. your article (May 16) about local productions of scenes from Much Ado about Nothing. I hope the statement claiming that this Shakespeare play isn’t much seen on “main stages” means only performances here in New Zealand: I agree there have apparently been neither professional nor amateur stagings here for a very long time.

However, although this fine comedy has never been thrashed as much as, say, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Merchant of Venice,  or As You Like It, it’s far from being forgotten, worldwide.

There is an opera of Much Ado, Beatrice and Benedick, by Berlioz; so even ignorant blasted foreigners have long known something of this play; and the Bard has inspired a good many musical versions. Two really great musical comedies have been the Rogers and Hart takeoff from The Comedy of Errors, called The Boys from Syracuse (1938), and Porter’s Kiss Me Kate (1948-49). 

Incidental music for the plays has been done by many famed composers. One Italian-American composer, Castellnuovo-Tedesco, wrote settings for  every one of the songs in the plays! It’s great to see what the Bard of Avon has inspired people to do, isn’t it?                 
                     
H. Westfold, Miramar (abridged).

Rail subsidies

Philip Hayward’s  letter in Capital Times (May 9) is ludicrous. He speaks of transport modes becoming obsolete. Are bicycles obsolete because the car was invented?  Of course not, and they are now having a renaissance of interest. Different systems are useful for different purposes. He speaks of Manhattan: imagine if there were no public transport there!  The result would be unimaginable horror.

There is enough congestion now in Wellington, and on the motorway - imagine if there were no public transport. How can electric trains emit more CO2 than road vehicles?  Come on! 

He does have a good idea, though, in asking employers to subsidise the public transport that brings their workers to the city.

Rosemary Collier, Plimmerton.

My critics, simply wrong 

It is the anti-car activists who are self-deluded. Urban economic conditions have steadily trended in favour of flexible go-anywhere wheeled transport. Urban population movements trend away from railway lines, not closer to them; poorer people cluster further away than anybody, and rely disproportionately on bus services. 

The real average cost of running a car has not changed, commuter rail has gone up in cost around four-fold, and the requirement for subsidies has increased commensurately. Bus services have increased in cost by a much smaller amount. 

My critics are simply wrong. Even the VTPI, a famous anti-car, pro-rail organisation, produces figures that show the cost of roads and externalities to be about 10% to 15% (shock, horror) of the total cost of driving, and a reasonable proportion of this is covered by taxes paid by drivers, on top of the other 85% directly borne by drivers. Commuter rail transport riders, on the other hand, are not even covering 50% of the operating costs of their trips, let alone the actual trains, let alone the rails, let alone the externalities.

Philip G. Hayward, Naenae (abridged).

Bad drivers

On two occasions in the last couple of days it has amazed me how many bad drivers there are on the road, many of them the only contribution to driving is they can get in the car and turn on the key. Any further than that their brain is dead.

At 7am recently it was pitch black and raining, I was crossing an intersection when suddenly a grey car came into view, without lights on.

Another evening the rain was pelting down about 5pm, and there were many cars driving without their lights on even though visibility was almost nil.

Then there are those who against the law drive with their park lights only, and the many who do not know the three second rule at all, and do not put on their indicators until they are on the roundabout or intersection.

The lack of police on the road contributes to this bad behavior and of course the lack of good driving skills before they are given a license. I have also felt that the drug situation in New Zealand means there are far too many drivers who should not be behind the wheel because of the drug content in their system.

Heather Bevan, Newtown (abridged).

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