Letters: Dump road user charges, The farmers will cope, World leaders? Big deal

Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown says expensive cycleways are not a good investment. Photo / Alex Burton

I was surprised to read Chloe Swarbrick and Wayne Brown had agreed to work together to see the port’s car operation moved from Bledisloe Wharf given that neither have the slightest idea where it should go. Any move to Northport, for instance, will take longer than their political tenures as a new MPI/ Customs bonded area as well suitable RORO (roll on, roll off) facilities will need to be constructed and KiwiRail will need to be funded to build specialist car wagons and purchase additional locomotives unless hundreds of trucks are to travel the route from the port to Auckland adding to, not reducing, emissions and road damage. I presume Wayne Brown has spoken to KiwiRail regarding the securing of land to provide a rail terminal in Auckland so vehicles can be unloaded pending final delivery. These two have made no suggestion as to who is going to foot the bill.

Gavin Baker, Auckland

Do the math on New North Rd

Three thousand homes in a small area with an average of three people living in each = 9000 x average x 2 cars = 18000 vehicles trying to park and trying to access Great North Rd from Carrington Rd. New North Rd = Chaos.

Alan Gray, Auckland

Dump road user charges

The high cost of diesel increases transport costs which fuels inflation. Maybe now would be a good time to remove the road user charges. The decreased revenue would give Auckland Transport an excuse for not fixing the potholes.

Chris Elias, Mission Bay

High praise for Letele’s request for crim to help out foodbank

Former boxer Dave Letele runs the Brown Buttabean foodbank in Manukau, which was robbed of produce worth at least $10,000.

How I admire Dave Letele who has asked police if the person arrested for the robbery of his foodbank can serve their community service working at the foodbank.

The Ministry of Justice could learn a great deal from him.

Margaret Neill, Matamata

The farmers will cope

I don’t know what planet Paula Bennett and Heather du Plessis-Allan were on when the news about the farmers’ climate tax was announced. Paula rants on about meat and dairy products becoming unaffordable. Hello? These products have been unaffordable for a very long time and red meat is now a luxury along with cheese and butter for low income families. Methinks Paula is being paid too much. And as for Heather, as long as it is something to do with Labour, she will bash it with a big stick. They forget that a farmers’ group agreed with the government’s decision. They will cope, they are supposed to be ingenious Kiwis. Who said they had to plant pine trees, they can plant nut trees or fruit trees etc.

Tom O’Toole, Taumarunui

Forget planning, act now

John Mackintosh (Letters, October 16) may be correct that our contribution to global warming is virtually insignificant but what about the local impacts? How about the practice of cutting down trees next to waterways to expand pasture/produce growth per paddock which allows stock to walk right up to and sometimes into waterways where they empty their bowels? The Waikato River is a dairy wasteland and the Canterbury groundwater is no better. I don’t care about the rest of the planet at the moment. I want clean rivers to swim in and coastal shellfish I can safely eat. We don’t need a plan to prepare for change, we need to change now and it needs to be local.

J McCormick, Gisborne

World leaders? Big deal

So, our leader says we are going to lead the world in decreasing our methane emissions. Big deal. I can assure Jacinda Ardern that the world simply does not care at all about that. Most don’t even know who we are or even where we are. Only our farmers care because they are going to have to pay for it. And I care because my food will soon cost more. And because of our tiny carbon footprint, on a worldwide basis, these new taxes on our farmers will achieve nothing.

Michael Walker, Blockhouse Bay

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern with Auckland's skyline behind her - the city she needs to win back. Photo / Sylvie Whinray

Watch TV Jacinda, it’s gold

If ever you needed proof that NZ is wasting its time trying to be environmentally friendly, you only have to watch the programme Gold Rush on TV3, which is about Americans and Canadians destroying the environment for a few grams of gold. Just look at the way they destroy the landscape and the massive carbon footprint that they create with all the huge machinery they run to scour out the landscape for literally a few specks of gold .Jacinda and all the rabid climate change people should watch this programme to see how the big nations are totally ignoring them.

Jock MacVicar, Hauraki

Smoke and mirrors season

In parliament on Tuesday, Brooke van Velden, deputy leader of Act, instigated an emergency debate on the state of hospital care in NZ triggered by the report on Middlemore Hospital.

Despite the forewarning of Italian hospitals unable to help Covid patients in March 2020, her party has always advocated for opening the borders; the transtasman bubble kerfuffle that brought Delta, and way back in December 2021, despite Omicron taking off in November. Her precious concern is now at last finally appreciated. One recent death was all it took to convince her to finally be incredibly concerned about the underfunding and undervalued doctors in A&E. It must be election year. Political click baiting, duplicitous concern and the smoke and mirrors season is back.

Steve Russell, Hillcrest

Cop this, here’s an idea

Crime is rampant. Homicides also. Domestic violence has never been more enthusiastically practised. Ram raids are the latest craze among 11 to 15-year-olds. Sexual abuse is registered, and not responded to, nationwide. Burglaries are responded to, sometimes. Perhaps. And then there’s traffic offences to be policed. Speeding, and drunk/drug driving. And cellphone use while driving is a universal pastime. The police do have a lot on their plate. Too much, perhaps? Here’s an idea. Why not have a separate police force (we could call them “Traffic Officers”) to look after traffic – so the police can concentrate on real crime? Oh, hold on. We did have them once upon a time, didn’t we? The National government abolished them in 1992 to “cut unnecessary spending”, in Ruth Richardson’s ruthless “Mother of all Budgets”.

Clyde Scott, Birkenhead

Fergies top Remuera tractors

Farmers arriving at the Beehive in mega-Remuera tractors, which according to farmers costs $1200 to fill up in protest of the government’s climate change initiative, is hardly a convincing way of crying poor. Clapped out rusted pre-war Fergusons might have been a better way of swaying the public to their cause.

Gary Hollis, Mellons Bay