Letters To The Editor

Rural & Lifestyle Consultant with Property Brokers Darfield

• 30 yrs Sheep & Beef Livestock Agent • 15 yrs Dairy Livestock Agent • 6 yrs Rural & Lifestyle Real Estate

Please phone Grant 027 345 9262

68 South Tce Darfield, 7510 grantm@pb.co.nz

The informa on and opinions published are not necessarily those of the Malvern News proprietor. The final approval of le ers for print, rests with the editor. Le ers to the Editor should be no more than 200 words in length. Le ers to the Editor won’t be considered for publica on without the writer’s name (given and surname) and area of residence (not address) also being printed. Le ers wri en using a pseudonym, are unable to be published.

To the Editor: In response to the letter from Allan Thorne (issue April 29th). I acknowledge the grounds maintenance has not been satisfactory at the Hall and the Reserve. During the handover process from the Council’s Hororātā Reserve Management Committee to the Council’s Reserves Team and its contractor, the maintenance has not been at the standard that we or the community would expect. The mowing, weed spraying and other maintenance has now been completed and an ongoing maintenance schedule will be in place, ensuring the grounds are maintained to the standard we would expect.

Douglas Marshall, Selwyn District Council Property Group Manager.

To the Editor: Australian inflation hits 20 year high as fuel, food and home building all rose, according to Reuters. UK inflation rate is expected to rise to above 7%, a 30 year high affecting housing, food and petrol. USA inflation 8%, again with rising food, petrol and housing costs. The war in Ukraine is also being blamed. So, I find it disingenuous for Nicola Grigg to imply in her columns that these rising costs which are happening here are only the fault of our Government. I respectfully suggest she does a little more research. Inflation and rising costs are a worldwide problem, whether that fits in with Miss Grigg’s narrative or not.

Sherlee Sadler, Darfield.

The News contacted Selwyn MP, Nicola Grigg for an instant response in regards to the above letter. To the Editor: I agree with the writer that some of the drivers of inflation are global, but domestic factors are the major contributor. Inflation was already nearly double the top end of the Reserve Bank’s target rate in December, two months before the Ukraine invasion. That’s largely a result of the massive increase in spending, and the Government’s refusal to allow more workers to enter the country despite record labour shortages. As a result, we have inflation that is higher than the vast majority of our trading partners. Those countries are equally as impacted by the same pandemic and the same war, but our inflation is worse. Now at 6.9%, it’s higher than in Australia (5.1%), Singapore (5.4%), Japan (1.2%), and Canada (6.7%). The most recent data also shows domestic (non-tradable) inflation is at 6%, so we know this isn’t just global factors. Underpinning all of this is Labour’s unprecedented spending spree, which I would argue has achieved very little. Spending is up a staggering 68%, but Kiwis are not seeing a 68% improvement in outcomes – far from it. We’re spending $5 billion more in education, but have seen worse attendance and academic achievement outcomes, $1.9 billion on mental health, but no improvement in access to services, $1.7 billion in law and order, but violent crime is up, ram-raids and shootings are increasing, and gang membership has exploded, $6.8 billion more a year on benefits, despite record job vacancies and labour shortages. This is not the Government’s money, this is taxpayers’ money. The Government should be treating it as carefully as Kiwi households and businesses do their own.

Nicola Grigg, MP for Selwyn.