Letters to the editor: If Aussies get a handle on Covid our tradies will leave in droves

If the Australians can get a handle on Covid-19, our tradies will leave in droves, writes one reader. Photo / File

It appears our tradies are moving to Australia where they're getting more pay and cheaper housing.

Who can blame them? If the Australians can get a handle on Covid-19, our tradies will leave in droves.

Consider this: Many of the houses over there are bigger, much nicer, on bigger sections, have swimming pools and are half the price of New Zealand builds.

Mortgage rates are comparable to those in NZ.

Why is this? It started with the Reserve Bank. It thought that dropping the OCR (thereby dropping mortgage rates) would make houses more affordable.

No, that one decision took away the mum and dad savers' main means of saving for retirement, the term deposit.

Many of them saw property investment as their only other means of propping up their savings. Obviously, that started a feeding frenzy for investors, developers, builders and trade supply companies.

No mercy from any of them. Prices went up and kept on doing so. Just to really put the boot in, our low-value dollar made everything imported much pricier. Look at petrol, fruit, clothing.

There is no road back to where we were, increasing interest back up to 5 per cent will make today's huge mortgages unaffordable.

Perhaps halting immigration will reduce demand for houses to the point that they will get cheaper but don't hold your breath.

Dan Russell
Tauranga

Govt should pick up tab on failed batteries

If this Government is so set on everybody changing to electric vehicles, it might find incentives need to be spread a bit wider, not just purchase rebates.

Perhaps it could show that it really wants people changing to EVs by replacing failed batteries. For new New Zealand-bought vehicles, the Government could pick up the tab when the first battery fails no matter how long it takes.

For second-hand sales, it could pick up half the tab when these units fail, no matter the length of service.

The Government had better get the disposal of these failed batteries sorted out pronto, now, not in three years when they start showing up.

This idea would make me a bit more inclined to dump my gas-guzzling V8 Commodore.

It would certainly prove that lip service from the Government is not all hot air. I think it won't happen in my lifetime no matter how much the Government dreams about it.

I believe there are more pressing things to sort out, such as dealing with our waste.

To get power for all these EVs, how about burning our waste instead of the Government burying its head in the landfill - along with the rubbish.

Kill two birds with one stone.

Rod Petterson
Rotorua