Ruben Love of the Hurricanes scores a try during the Super Rugby Pacific final. Photo / Photosport
Tax the rich slogans
With the recent elevation of Elon Musk to trillionaire status, tax the rich demands are back, mirrored by our own Green Party with their wealth tax plans and #TaxTheRich slogans.
What intrigues me is who, in NZ, are the rich, the proposed fount of this tax revenue?
Is it the 119 people on the Rich List, like the Mowbrays, Beck or Hart who risked all to build businesses from scratch, employing thousands of people in NZ and worldwide? People whose wealth is tied up in their companies, and who live overseas for the most part where no NZ tax net would reach.
Or is it the 100,000 locals who earn more than $180,000 per year, 1% of taxpaying Kiwis, who pay 20% of all income taxes now?
Or the 500,000, 10% of us, who earn less than $110,000 but already contribute over 50% of the tax take?
Could those who want to tax the rich please specify exactly who they are. Or are the rich simply “anyone who has more money than me”?
John Denton, Eskdale.
Envious tax policy
The Green Party are currently announcing tax policies for their election campaign.
I thought a very simple tax policy for the Greens would go something like this:
1. Find someone who has something.
2. Take it off them.
3. Find someone else to give it to.
Phil Chitty, Albany.
Prison muster
I am surprised that Peter Davis expresses surprise that New Zealand has a high prison muster and a low crime rate.
Because more criminals are in jail, then obviously they are not committing crime outside. It should be obvious to anyone that we are doing something right.
Neville Cameron, Coromandel.
Super rugby storm
Nice work, Hurricanes. I thought I was reading a scorecard for a minute there in the Sunday paper, from the first day’s play of a game of cricket at the Basin Reserve!
Glenn Forsyth, Rangatira Park.
Yellow and black backline?
After the category 5 Hurricane storm that was unleashed in Wellington onto the Chiefs, Dave Rennie could perhaps have the easiest job ever to pick an All Blacks side.
Just invite the Hurricane team to rugby headquarters, get them to remove their yellow shirts then hand each a black jersey. Job done.
Paul Beck, West Harbour.
Laidlaw‘s impressive coaching
Comparisons between Dave Rennie, coach of the All Blacks and Clark Laidlaw, coach of a triumphant Hurricanes side will be inevitable.
Based on the intelligence, wit and wisdom of Laidlaw’s post-match comments after Saturday’s Super Rugby final, it’s the Scotsman who is the hands down winner.
We go now into the period of just 15 months before the cup is played for, with an All Blacks coaching set-up that fails to inspire. It might have been very different if Laidlaw was boss.
Larry Mitchell, Rothesay Bay.
Attacking flare returns
What an amazing Super Rugby final, no one, no one saw that score coming. So that’s what the All Blacks could look like. Attacking flare to burn.
The fans were treated to an incredible match by the top rugby players in the country. A well-deserved victory Wellington and the lower North Island will celebrate for many years to come.
The All Blacks selectors have told us they know their 34 players, but I can’t help but think some high scoring wings are looking pretty good. As well as Ruben Love of course.
This is going to be a memorable All Blacks year with plenty of must-watch games coming up. We will enjoy.
Gary Carter, Gulf Harbour.
Shane Jones’ spending
Surely the actions by this politician in overspending $30,000-plus dollars on a four-day junket is, in my opinion, nothing more than theft from the public purse and so should be investigated through the criminal justice system such that it is in New Zealand.
It is plainly despicable and the cartoon by Rod Emmerson on Sunday sums it up perfectly. Get rid of him.
Linda Beck, West Harbour.
Fancy-dress candidates
Despite Britain and ourselves having very different voting systems, one aspect of their system that we might like to adopt is the manner in which election results are conveyed, with all of a constituency’s candidates lined up on one stage.
This provides the opportunity for a classic photo like that in Saturday’s Herald where the byelection winner, Labour’s Andy Burnham, is sandwiched between Count Binface, whose face is a rubbish bin, and another candidate dressed in full fox garb.
Peter Jansen, Mission Bay.