Plea for competence

The ‘‘independent panel’’ that examined electoral ‘‘reform’’ might have kicked off by seeking to discern exactly what the country really wanted from its ‘‘parliamentary representation’’.

Ever since we acceded to the woke crowd’s clamour for ‘‘fairness’’ in parliamentary representation and were thrust into the fatuous nonsense of MMP, we’ve endured countless instances of ambition-driven ‘‘representatives’’ possessed of low-on-the-scale capabilities.

‘‘Parliamentary representation’’ solely ought to mean the electing of the most competent minds, capable of determining the country’s needs and steering its direction. It shouldn’t result in anything like the fallback result of MMP – a chamber overblown with inepts, ideologues and unqualified party hacks.

Voting age is yet another thing because developing mature judgment takes time. Even at 21 it was barely workable. But voting at 18 has been stultifyingly emotional and nowhere near remotely pragmatic. To lower it to 16 would be utterly off the page.

Jim Cable, Nelson