General Election

Press, 4 August 1987, Page 16

General Election

Sir, —Our Prime Minister chose an inappropriate analogy in his speech at the Christchurch Town Hall on July 27 when he exhorted voters to give Labour a second term to “finish the job” and “not to give up at half-time!” He was obviously referring to the recent All Blacks Bledisloe Cup win over the Australians, after being behind at half-time. David Lange gave up well before halftime when he and a number of his colleagues refused to welcome the overseas World Cup rugby players and boycotted their matches. Surely this is

another case of empty utterances not being matched by definite deeds. — Yours, etc., E. BENNETT. July 31, 1987. Sir,—The National Party extravaganzas remind me of an elderly grandmother who was told by her teenage granddaughters that she should try to be "with It.” She bought and applied vigorously all the latest cosmetics and scents, had her hair done in the latest style, and bought mod. clothes. Then she went to a night-club. She-was disappointed. Forall hertarting up she was a failure. The trouble was that she could not rejuvenate her head 'and heart. — Yours, etc., VERNON WILKINSON.

July 30, 1987. „ < Sir—The ’ thing I like about the Prime Minister’s “photo opportunity” election campaign Is the great chance It gives the New Zealand public to see his "negatives.” These include arrogance, rudeness, sarcasm and a very short fuse, as evidenced by his reaction to the teachers college students last week. He also reveals a very deep reluctance to debate Rogernomics or any other controversial matter with the man in the street In spite of the "over-exposure,” I am frankly enjoying his campaign and cannot wait until August 15 to see the “proofs” when, hopefully, he will not enjoy the same success as in the 1984 "snap” election. — Yours, etc., H. HUGHES. August 2, 1987.

Sir, —The politically motivated campaigns designed to stir up fears about crime are likely to do a great deal more harm than good. Frightened people are afraid to go to the assistance of the police. Frightened people become reluctant to give evidence in court. While spending time in the United States, where crime levels are very serious, I have seen a number of violent incidents. It was very noticeable that people wanted simply to disappear as quickly as possible from the scene, for fear of getting involved. But, then, New York City had around 2000 murders last year, compared with about 60 in New Zealand. (The population difference is less than a factor of three.) To fight crime here, cooperation should be fostered, encouraging active assistance from citizens to police. However, cooperation requires a constructive attitude that builds confidence and not fear. Unhappily, people with political motives are not inclined to be constructive. — Yours, etc., J. P. PENNY. August 2, 1987. Sir,—R. J. Pawsey (July 28) is to be congratulated on his letter about the economic nonsense talked by some politicians. Instead of talking about lowering the exchange rate and inflation simultaneously, why can Mr Bolger not be frank and say: “We believe some lowering of the N.Z. dollar is essential to help exporters to survive. We admit this will increase prices, including the price of local meat, but our policy of removing GST from basic foods will reduce the impact of this?” As for ordinary voters, they have grown up in a welfare State and seem to have forgotten the connection between their own prosperity and that of the general economy. If Mr Lange had said: “In our first term we have closed a third of the country’s factories. We want another three years to complete the job of bankrupting New Zealand’s farms and factories,” one wonders whether it would have significantly affected the opinion polls. — Yours, etc., MARK D. SADLER. 29, 1987.