On Q+A the other day two items were covered while I was watching: Smoking and same sex marriage.
A poll taken over the phone of 1000 will never give a true indication of what view the general public have on a particular subject it is a random unscientific way of doing such a poll. The only true poll would be a referendum. Harold Wilson learnt that lesson by going to the electorate on the result of a poll and was soundly thrashed.
When such programs are presented on TV I am not interested in the view of the presenter. The presenter is there to present the show, that's all. I don't need see his emotions and his absolute anti antagonism to a particular subject. Presenters are not there to try to influence the view of the voter, they have to learn that. I suspect this particular presenter would even be anti joy and happiness.
The view that every smoker smokes him/herself into the grave is an absolute nonsense as all us older folk know from the days when nearly everyone smoked. None of us would be here today if that was the case. Many smokers are moderate smokers they don't always habitually have a fag hanging from the corner of the mouth.
Now we have some group of idiots wanting to ban sugar. What will be next on the agenda of the joy police in this country? I doubt if the pro among us for anything that these lunatics want to ban will rise up against these sociopaths until the supreme idiot wants to ban sex then you will see the males of NZ rise as one man and join the fray to stop such a ban. I use the word rise loosely of course.

Alastair Bourne, Bethlehem.