Letters: PM's handling of pandemic demonstrates lack of understanding

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has, in my opinion, demonstrated a lack of understanding of the intrinsic link between a healthy economy and a healthy society.

"Health over wealth" is the cry I've been hearing lately, but no surprise it's coming mostly from the people who have the least to lose from it.

Yes, the elderly and vulnerable should be quarantined and cared for, but to lock everyone down and undermine an entire economy is in my view, to say the least, questionable.

I believe we're going to find that the fallout from this lockdown will prove much more deadly than any virus.

An economy isn't just about financial wealth - it's about the everyday business of life, responsibility and the freedom to make a living.

Besides, what happens if there's a resurgence or another virus? We lock down again and completely destroy what's left?

The hype and hysteria behind much of the Government policy regarding Covid-19 in my view indicate just how much our PM believes that "Government is the answer."

What an insult. After spending billions of dollars in taxpayer money and hacksawing the economy, New Zealand is going to be left with a very high toll. (Abridged)

Kerry Bowden
Matua

Wood-first benefits

The article on the wood-first campaign focused largely on the economic benefits of central and local governments and the private sector adopting a "wood-first" policy for new buildings but only fleetingly referred to environmental benefits.
These are, however, substantial and have the capability of making a significant contribution to the goal of a zero-carbon economy.

Scion Research has estimated that an additional 31.2 million tonnes of carbon could be stored by 2050 if 70 per cent of New Zealand's exported logs were instead further processed into longer-lived harvested wood products prior to export.

Sustainably harvested wood used in construction can store carbon for a long time, decades and even centuries, depending on the building's lifespan.

It has been widely accepted that using wood instead of alternative construction materials greatly reduces greenhouse gas emissions and fossil fuel consumption during the product manufacturing and building construction stages.

In addition to lowering emissions, building with wood stores carbon sequestered by trees when they were growing.
In my view, however, there needs to be a much higher level of understanding of the environmental and economic advantages of building in timber.

Alan Bickers
Tauranga

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