Opting out

Ahead of my appointment with my GP this week, I popped into the practice and asked them whether or not they were opting out from giving the Community Services Card discount. They are.

What an insult from the Government to card holders who have waited patiently all year for this election promise to be implemented. The silver lining is that it will draw attention to the reality of this administration’s extraordinarily sloppy policymaking, a situation woefully under-reported in the daily press this year, but something which anyone who has been watching events unfold in the house will already be aware of.

Expect reality to bite for more people in the New Year. Raymond Shepherd, Strowan blaming all males for the crimes of a few, will ever change New Zealand society until we tackle the elephant in the room: alcohol abuse, which is behind much of the crime committed by both men and women in our great country.

We all, regardless of gender, need to change our attitude towards beer, spirits, and alcohol. As for decorum and taste in clothing – we all know some people have it, and some people need to learn it.

Peter Simmonds, Riccarton surround our planet.

Predictions from the aviation and tourism industries claim that current figures will double by 2035 – 800 billion litres a year – all squirting noxious gases into the sky.

Fewer people flying is the only viable solution – not a popular option with most of us but I’d like to think that I’d left a liveable planet for my grandkids and great-grandkids. Ted Clarke, Cashmere