People blame the Government for all the ills that we face today, completely forgetting the fact they are there because the public voted them in.

The MPs will always go with opinions of the mass - to do otherwise means they will be out of office.

The question is what does the flag mean to you? It cannot be humanity, because some have many houses, while others have none and have little chance of doing so on less than a living wage.

The Salvation Army is the only one of many church organisations leading the charge for change. Where are the others We have 250,000 children below the poverty line, which means building bigger and better prisons for the forgotten and neglected. About $150,000 for each prisoner per year - who pays that? Getting back to our flag, if we cannot claim to stand for humanity, the answer must be inhumane and proud of it.

Ron Chamberlain, Otumoetai.