Artist impression of light rail in Auckland.
Letter of the week: Getting Auckland back on track
Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown has had an epiphany and would now like to discuss light rail for Auckland at about 20 per cent of that proposed under the Labour plan.
I imagine much of the saving is dumping the exorbitant cost of the proposed underground section of the line and getting rid of overpriced consultants. It is heartening that our mayor is looking at overseas examples of how Auckland can do better than local consultant proposals which have become a gravy train over the last six years.
Taking a route through the previous Auckland Labour heartland of Mt Albert and Mt Roskill to and from the airport/city may not be the top priority by volume however.
What are Auckland’s transport priorities by area, by volume user, in order, with estimated costs?
And then what can Auckland afford, put into a timeline? We all would like to see these answers please.
Yes, it is a good idea to discuss all this with the new Government too as it will help if all are on the same track.
Gary Carter, Gulf Harbour.
Police powers
National are still claiming that they would “boost police powers to enable warrant-less searches to find guns held by gang members”. That’s a very strange thing to claim when you consider the police already have these powers.
The current version of these powers is in the Search and Surveillance Act 2012 which the then National Government introduced and, by the time it passed its third reading, Mark Mitchell was an MP. The previous version was in the Firearms Act which Mitchell, as a former police officer, was required to know about. Mitchell has no excuse for not knowing about those powers.
The fact warrant-less searches have been used has been frequently mentioned in reports by the Herald. Perhaps more frequently than the National Party’s promise to enable warrant-less searches has been scrutinised by the media. Promising to introduce something that you already introduced into law indicates a level of incompetence deserving of far more scrutiny than it has thus far.
Jonathan Godfrey, Māngere.
Calling our bluff
Ukraine has now received the US’s ATACMs medium-range missiles. A mere handful of the long-expired 27-year-old missiles have been used to great effect, destroying Russian attack helicopters on the ground.
This comes after a year of denying their utility and handwringing about possible escalation risks of supplying them. Caution may appear sensible — just a month ago, the Russian foreign ministry said supplying these missiles would cross a “red line” and make the US “a party to the conflict”. Yet now the New York Times reports Putin has now simply downplayed their significance, and moved on. We have been deterred by the bluffs of an aggressor who can simply go home.
Western inability to learn that there are no real escalation risks to helping Ukraine defend itself would almost be funny if the delays did not come at the cost of thousands of Ukrainian lives.
Scott Pollok, Mt Wellington.
Comings and goings
Let’s hope the new Minister of Tourism will put a flea in the collective ears of the CEO and Board of Auckland International Airport.
What is nothing less than an absolute debacle for incoming and outgoing passengers will do nothing for our tourist industry. I flew into San Francisco a short time ago. From the time the aircraft wheels touched the tarmac to the time I was standing outside the airport with baggage was about 40 minutes. That included taxi-ing. It can be done.
Janet Boyle, Ōrewa
Gang solution
It’s no surprise a prominent Mongrel Mob president has claimed “National’s gang policies are devastating”. Overnight they saw a change in government, and could see the easy ride they’ve had with a soft on crime government.
The message gang members should take from this is law-abiding New Zealanders have every right to feel safe going about their daily lives, and it’s the antisocial and violent behaviour of gangs that has greatly diminished this feeling of safety.
National’s police spokesman Mark Mitchell’s response was succinct: “There’s a simple solution though. Leave the gangs at once.”
Lorraine Kidd, Warkworth.
Treaty referendum
A referendum on the Treaty of Waitangi is viewed by some as divisive and counter-productive. What is it about gauging public opinion that is so threatening? Surely finding out how Kiwis feel about an important issue is central to our democracy. And just as surely, willful ignorance of public opinion is the death of democracy.
Andrew Tichbon, Green Bay.
Economic priorities
Why is there so much discussion on spending a fortune on a new stadium in Auckland? Surely in these tough economic times we have far more important things to discuss and on which to spend our money? For example our sewerage and drainage systems.
Jock Mac Vicar, Hauraki.
Divide and rule
Since the election I have evidenced in the letters column leftist voters crying into their coffee.
When the books are opened and the true state of our huge indebtedness is revealed it’s going to be horrific. With 65 years on this planet there is one thing I have evidenced that’s consistent, left-wing administrations borrow heavily and spray out money like there’s no tomorrow.
Aside from the economy two other things stick in my gullet, division by race and division by “vaccination” status. I made a personal choice to not have my body injected with a hastily contrived and poorly tested “vaccine”. I allowed my staff to make their own choices. The real shame is how the unvaccinated were callously treated as second-class citizens and all parties present in Parliament were all in on treating them appallingly.
I gave my electorate vote to National, but gave my party vote to a well established multi-racial party that treats the unvaccinated with respect.
Robert Taylor, New Plymouth
Chris Hipkins in 2017 held summit meetings in Auckland and Christchurch on what should be the foundation of future of learning in our schools, at which 1400 attended at a cost of $3.1m. The conclusion was education should be based on creativity, well being and family (whānau) community participation. Since then it would be fair to say — indeed in the 17 years preceding it — the quality of education has been in freefall. The missing cornerstones of all education arising from such meetings should have been striving for excellence, gaining academic knowledge and rigour. Until such qualities are restored in our schools, education’s freefall will gather pace. Gary Hollis, Mellons Bay.
With reference to Sir Bill English’s comments on page A5 of Wednesday’s Herald — here’s hoping that all the bright-eyed National newbies on the front page of Tuesday’s Herald don’t get “Yes Minister”ed like all the 2020 bright-eyed Labour newbies. Fiona Downes, Hobsonville.
The article headlined “The NZ Police trial, DNA and ‘genetic informants’ — are we ready?” by Paige McElhinney on Thursday, raises concerns about the possible suggested misuse of DNA information by police. While we have sympathy for the cold cases that may be solved, there is surely a principle here that private information provided for one specific purpose (genealogy) may not be used for another (crime investigation). As Paige also points out the entire family tree becomes the focus of a criminal investigation in a police trawl for information, with no opportunity for consent. Recommendations by the New Zealand Law Commission, 2020 re DNA-based legislation must be implemented. Tim Jerram, Glendowie.
The concept of building on land that may flood is crazy. That consents can’t be revoked shows huge legal problems. Every person is surely entitled to live in their home without fear. The essential concept must be that of being “failsafe” where no matter what events transpire, your house must be safe. Living in a house that will flood if anything, like pumping, fails is a dreadful concept and must be prevented. Neville Cameron, Coromandel.
The people defending Chris Luxon’s $60 a week food bill because it was for him and not his family are delusional at best. As a 60-year-old bloke living alone, I reckon he must be eating noodles. Just $60 per week? What a crock. Jim McCormick, Gisborne.
There will never be peace in the Middle East as long as the United States pledges to “forever stand with Israel”, as President Joe Biden has just announced on his current trip to Israel — unless the United States also gives the same pledges to Palestine. Israel and Palestine will have to learn to live together in peace. David Mairs, Glendowie.
Police arrested 20 Greazy Dogs members over alleged meth crimes in Bay of Plenty.