Pouring money into weapons is possibly the most unintelligent and immoral thing any nation could do at this stage of our planet’s history.
Lucy Lamb, Royal Oak.
Call for law and order
If a society doesn’t have law and order, it has nothing.
The laws of the land are there to maintain order. Without order, society slowly sinks into chaos.
Those who, for whatever reason, choose to flout the law must be brought to order. A civilised society requires the courts to hand down adequate sentences that not only punish the criminal but also remove them from society, thus preventing them from repeating their crimes (at least while incarcerated).
When the Government of the day reduced the prison population by 30%, it caused a tsunami of crime to sweep across New Zealand, from ram raids to drug dealing.
Let’s start having sympathy for the victims, and stop making excuses for the criminals.
Chris Parker, Campbells Bay.
Ardern saved lives
Dame Jacinda Ardern’s recently published book seems to have unleashed a torrent of criticism about her, mainly to do with lockdowns and ruining the economy.
The focus of her actions has been conveniently forgotten, which was to save lives.
History tells us that the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918 killed at least 8500 people in New Zealand out of a population of one and a half million at the time. If, during Covid, minimal measures were taken – as in 1918 – the death toll in New Zealand would have been 30,000-plus.
Ardern’s strict measures put our low death rate on a par with those of South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan, and Australia did pretty well, too.
By June 2020, the United Kingdom had 60 times our death rate, the United States 33 times our death rate, Belgium 83 times, Italy 55 times. Those paragons of democracy, Denmark and Norway, had higher death rates than ours, too, 10 and four times, respectively. Sweden, whose head epidemiologist famously eschewed lockdowns, had 44 times our death rate.
Whatever else Jacinda did, her lockdowns and social distancing programmes saved thousands of lives. The alternative, championed by more than a few business leaders, was to carry on regardless, heedless of infections and deaths.
Dave Spiers, Henderson.
Informative and insightful
Congratulations to the Herald for publishing Thomas Coughlan’s piece on Jacinda Ardern (June 14). It’s the most balanced, informative and insightful I have seen across all media.
This is why I still read the Herald – to find out what’s going presented without fear or favour, not to have my prejudices massaged or alarmed by edgy and often poorly evidenced opinion pieces.
Peter Davis, Kingsland.
Time for fresh leadership?
Adrian Orr resigned after failing to secure over $1 billion in Reserve Bank funding – up from around $750 million.
Critics say he mishandled pandemic-era monetary policy, fueling inflation and responding too late with rate hikes that led to recession. Staff numbers ballooned from 225 to 660 during his tenure. All this came while the country faced economic hardship.
National criticised his reappointment (the board is responsible for making the decision, but Grant Robertson agreed with it) for not being limited to a one-year review.
The acting governor is now under fire for lacking transparency about Orr’s departure. Maybe it’s time for fresh leadership at the bank.
Ian MacGregor, Greenhithe.
Russia’s WWII role
In response to the Weekend Herald/New York Times article “The man whose weather forecast saved the world″ (June 14), Germany only had 25% of its forces in the west facing England, while 75% of its forces fought the Russians in Russia.
Horrendous bloody battles were fought with staggering suffering and loss of life.
On their way to victory, the Russians liberated the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland, then won the terrible Battle for Berlin, Hitler committed suicide, the Germans surrendered totally on May 8.
Geoff Hansen, Hatfields Beach.
Correction: This letter initially stated incorrectly that the D-Day invasion by the Allies in Normandy on June 6, 1944, came after the death of Adolf Hitler, who committed suicide on April 30, 1945.
The mighty USA
Is the “mighty USA” the same USA run by an internationally loathed megalomaniac, where gun violence is part of everyday life and where many of their citizens think an atlas is a brand of stove?
Laurence Mallon, Te Atatū.
