Dr Ashley Bloomfield, Director-General of Health speaks with media at the National Library. Photo / Mark Tantrum
The energy of those calling for an immediate shift to level 1 would be far better spent on ensuring the work schemes made possible by the Recovery Budget are implemented at speed.
Is it time for the head of MBIE to front media conferences
like Drs Bloomfield and McElnay have done so brilliantly during the initial (health) stages of this crisis? The economic recovery now needs to receive the same scrutiny that the health response has been subjected too.
Peter Kelly, Glendene.
It's worrying to see the National Guard being deployed to quell unrest in Minnesota. It's highly likely that some of the protesters will be armed, unlike the poor students at Kent University who were viciously shot at and killed by the National Guard, a bloody outcome seems inevitable. No one has ever been charged over that murderous incident. Armed police? We don't want that.
I wonder if China's Secretary of State is going to protest to the USA and interfere over the suppression of democracy amid the USA's own 'One country two systems' rule of law? (One for affluent whites, another one for non white people).
Paul Cheshire, Maraetai.
Several Herald contributors recently suggested NZ is no longer an egalitarian society. Instead they claim neo-liberalism holds sway causing unequal economic and educational opportunity and is the root cause of social disparity and poverty.
Try explaining all this to Tauranga's Patrick Lam, baker and six times winner of the national supreme pie award. A child survivor of the Cambodian "killing fields", an adolescence confined in a Vietnamese refugee facility. Despite his early deprivation he brought aspiration, a work ethic but vitally his willingness to adapt, almost a prerequisite for many newcomers.
Regardless of differing perceptions of our economic direction, opportunities abound. A shining light, our very own Jacinda Ardern, plucked from obscurity to become the nation's leader, a face now familiar to a global audience.P. J. Edmondson, Tauranga.New hire hitchWould Todd Muller's suggested policy of $10K paid to an employer for a new hire mean that employers hold off taking on a new employee until after the election?Jenny Manson, Cockle Bay.
With all of the suggestions on saving Auckland's dwindling water supply, one glaringly obvious one appears to be the reliance upon domestic dishwashers which as well as being completely unnecessary as a 'must have' household gadget, also consume vast amounts of water and power, when said chore can be achieved far quicker and with greater economy by simply mucking in.
Peter Cook, Lynfield.
Why are our police being sent to incidents with firearms? That is not the Kiwi way. Soon we will be seeing shootings and protests like in America.
Police should only be armed in the most dangerous situations where perpetrators display violent behaviour and are armed. Make NZ great again not a battlefield!
Marie Kaire, Whangārei.
As an avid supporter of the National Party I have been very surprised at the reaction of many of your correspondents and journalists on the elevation of Todd Muller to the leadership. I can only deduce from the high level of vitriol and spite towards this man's democratic right to express his views, that they see him as a threat.
I well remember the 1975 campaign with all the commentators predicting a Labour win with an increased majority, only to be unceremoniously turfed out of power by a landslide. It could happen again.
W.J. Wills, Mount Maunganui.
Yet another important trading weekend slips by for the hospitality industry while the Government sits on its hands. With only one active case of Covid-19 in the country, trading restrictions remain for a sector struggling to even come close to breaking even.
The Government seems oblivious to the mounting damage it is doing to the economy. The threat from the virus is now minute and restrictions on economic activity are impossible to justify.
However, a Government of the left will always relish a position of control over people's lives and be reluctant to relinquish it.
Too hard, too late and too slow to release restrictions will be identified as to what deepened the economic abyss that will take decades if not generations to recover from.
As some commentators have already suggested, 30 years of sound economic management have been flushed away in a matter of weeks. The damage did not need to be so extensive.
George Williams, Whangamata.
Fran O'Sullivan's recent column "Enough is enough — the time for level 1 is now" is dangerous nonsense. To write that "ideology is standing in the way of NZ getting back to business" shows how little she understands epidemiology. Covid-19 still exists in NZ. It hasn't magically disappeared. If we open one day too soon, we all face the high risk of a second wave of the virus, hich will require us to revert to level 4 lockdown and add years to the economy's recovery time.
The Government has allowed filmmakers back into the country but under strict quarantine restrictions. Many New Zealanders appear to not understand even level 2 conditions.
In the past week, I have visited a restaurant where there was no hand sanitiser, no tracing log of patrons and I was served by three different waiters.
Another business had no hand sanitiser and, while it had a tracing log, only two of the eight people on the premises filled it in.
Gerry Beckingsale, Torbay.
Fran O'Sullivan says the Prime Minister is following blind ideology in not taking the country to level 1 immediately. It ignores the science the Government has followed that has sustained our safety to date. The statement that it is time to politically bank the Covid disaster and get New Zealand fully back to business, reduces a worldwide health disaster to a single line on the balance sheet.
Should Covid appear again, would like-minded people be prepared to pledge to forego medical assistance to protect health workers?Alan Johnson, Papatoetoe.Rebuilding economyIn Friday's Herald, Simon Wilson wrote about the centre-right's inability to rebuild the economy after for example, the 1987 crash.
A Labour government was in power from 1984 to September 1990, with David Lange, Geoffrey Palmer and Mike Moore as Prime Ministers. Have a Go Todd!
Kevin Powell, Pāpāmoa Beach.
Your correspondent Jonathon Cole believes the NZ bubble should be extended to Hawaii which has had the longest decline of any cases in the USA, and no new cases for "several days".
Rarotonga has had zero cases of Covid 19. Period. It has had no visitors from other countries for months and its beleaguered economy relies hugely on a resurgence of NZ tourism. So with NZ now having just one active case of Covid 19, travel restrictions between the two countries should be lifted immediately.
Sorry Hawaii, stand in the queue behind the Cook Islands and Australia.
Brent Cooper, Coatesville.
We don't need the America's Cup but we do need public toilets. Why are we supporting this rich man's plaything while cutting library services? Auckland Council show us a transparent business case for supporting this boat race with visitor numbers reflecting our changed circumstances.
Andrew Kincaid, Greenlane.
I am intrigued as to why residents in Orewa ( NZ Herald May 25 and 29) are so against the Skypath cycleway, and feel the money should be spent on the water crisis.
Both projects are important for public health. We all have our part to play in the future of Auckland by reducing water usage and easing pressure on our roads.
Alison Feeney, Remuera.
Covid-19 is being used as a smoke screen to cover Auckland Council's incompetence, bloated remuneration and staffing. They are using it to justify cutting nearly non-existent essential services, core projects such as water, paving and sewerage while pushing for increased rates. Apparently we have a choice.
The over-remunerated CEO of Watercare gave us the same ultimatum. No mention of his utter failure to do his job. Same water costs with the same outcome or greater costs to prevent this happening again. He needs to be removed immediately as do many unnecessary council staff and many salaries reduced to an acceptable level — the council should start there first.
Graham Hansen, Howick.
Two others are still trapped in a vehicle at the scene on SH22.