Entrust, the majority shareholder of Auckland electricity provider Vector is being eyed for sale. Photo / Mark Mitchell, file
John Deyell (NZ Herald, August 29), noted that Entrust is not owned by Auckland Council and cannot be sold.
In fact, the asset of Entrust (75 per cent of the electricity lines company Vector) was formed in 1922 from the electricity operations of all Auckland councils when
they were merged as the Auckland Electric Power Board. It was an elected board, voted for by its consumers and very much a public and council asset.
In 1992, Minister of Energy John Luxton determined the asset would be controlled by five private individuals pending privatisation, with the Auckland Energy Consumer Trust having minority representation. That ended six years later in 1998, with the lines still not privatised, when Auckland was blacked out and the AECT (whose trustees were likewise elected by its consumers) came to control the asset in substitution.
The council's role as originator and enabler of the asset continued to be recognised in its being the underlying owner of the AECT. Thus, the AECT (now called Entrust) is a temporary mechanism for managing the council's asset, worth some $2 billion.
With the same flick of the pen used by Luxton, full ownership could easily revert to council by the early termination of Entrust, the council might pay the dividend to the consumers and prudently borrow against the asset to assist the finances and infrastructure that Auckland now needs. It is time for Entrust to go.
John Collinge, St Mary's Bay.
The Prime Minister's anger over the dedicated Covid-19 response team's suggestion of blanket testing all South and West Auckland residents doesn't make sense.
If we are to live with Covid-19, and it is becoming increasingly obvious that we will, the focused Covid-19 testing in South and West Auckland suburbs where the cluster is centred is the very model of how a dedicated response team should operate.
In fact, that is exactly what New Zealand needs. Should Covid-19 crop up anywhere in New Zealand, such a dedicated and experienced response team should be immediately ready and available in one of the new Hercules or an available helicopter transporter to respond and close the borders for appropriate testing and quarantining in that region as necessary.
Gary Hollis, Mellons Bay.
Your article "Premium rooms raise concern" (NZ Herald, August 31) raised my ire.
My mother was placed in a rest home in Tauranga because she had suffered a stroke. She had multiple sclerosis, was wheelchair-bound, was being tube-fed, and had a colostomy bag. She was placed in a premium room because they had no other rooms, and was charged extra for an ensuite she could never use and did not require.
Guests did not use this room, they used the public toilet in the corridor.
At the time, I felt it was incredibly wrong for my mother to be charged this premium. My mum was in that rest home for quite some time before my father finally took her out of it, feeling that the benefit of her returning home, with him looking after her, far outweighed the quality of care she received at the home.
He was correct, and she lived out her remaining days in the comfort of her home with the man she loved.
Stephen Lasham, Onehunga.
The Government is using money to support the economy and, as Grant Robertson says, every dollar is "borrowed" money. This sounds scary until you realise that most of us borrow vast sums of money to sustain a lifestyle, starting with hundreds of thousands to make sure we have a house to live in.
Most of our repayments consist of interest. Ordinary people will one day have to repay the capital amount but governments don't. When government bonds mature, they just adjust the interest rate and roll them over.
Future generations will not have to find billions of dollars at some point in time. They will simply keep paying the interest which currently is about 2 per cent. Two per cent of $50 billion is $1 billion. Considering that NZ's GDP in 2019 was $204 billion, 1 billion is almost insignificant.
If the economy recovers and improves, the interest rate may go up, but we will be more prosperous and the interest due then will still not be too burdensome.
It's time to stop talking about this generation piling up debts for generations to come.
Susan Grimsdell, Auckland Central.
I wish to congratulate Peter Cook (NZ Herald, August 31) on his excellent letter concerning the necessity of having the Christchurch gunman serve his sentence here in New Zealand. His reasoning is very sound.
Why should Australia be expected to pick up the costs of a sentence imposed in New Zealand for offences perpetrated here? That the Deputy PM is peddling the idea reminds me of another political leader who claimed he could charge a neighbouring country for a wall he wanted to build. Has Mr Peters thought of the precedent his ill-conceived idea would set? Would Australia then expect us to pay the imprisonment costs for all offenders of apparent NZ origin before unceremoniously shipping them back here? Where would it stop?
The cost to the NZ taxpayer of imprisoning this offender each year is probably quite minor in the overall scheme of things that the taxpayer funds. In any case it is the price of taking a civilised approach to crime and punishment. I therefore think it is money well spent.
Derek Bean, Hillsborough.
For some, Waiheke is not a paradise, with a total of 48 off-licence liquor outlets on our small island. The Auckland District Licensing Committee has decided in its wisdom to grant another licence to a Surfdale fruit and vege shop which sits snug between two bars, our schools and an alcohol rehabilitation/recovery centre five minutes walk away.
The alcohol inspectors gave a firm no to granting a full liquor licence to this shop.
This deprived area is part of the many alcohol/drug addiction issues on island.
Once again those with few resources, all working and elderly volunteers, have to dig into their pockets and challenge this decision, made by those to whom we pay our rates.
We also pay in our rates for the Auckland Council Whānau Internal Strategy to Minimise Alcohol-Related Harm 2016.
I am dismayed, aghast, that the ADLC has deigned to disregard totally the now recognised awareness of the harm and great cost to our young and poorer communities of more booze barns.
Mary Elsmore-Neilson, Onetangi.
Could the mayors of the country please advise if your city is happy for Aucklanders to come and spend their dollars in your town?
It is only fair that if we are booking airfares, accommodation, restaurants etc that we know in advance which cities would like our money or those that would rather that we do not travel to their area.
I, for one, would like to know in advance if and where I am welcome in New Zealand.
Brenda Barnes, St Heliers.
I'm writing this letter in high praise of our Auckland Hospital. My husband was taken there 10 days ago in the last stages of cancer.
After two days, he was sent to the Matatapu ward on the 11th floor. The staff from the doctors, nurses, tea ladies, cleaning staff were all absolutely wonderful.
They represented Auckland's population wonderfully, from every country, colour and creed. I loved them all. There are so many ratbags out there that we hear about daily, then you meet these beautiful people, you have all renewed my faith in mankind.
Susan Lawrence, Meadowbank.
When I went to school, I was taught that there were 13 weeks in a quarter.
According to our weather forecasters there are only six weeks in a quarter. They try to tell us that spring starts on September 1. Not so, it starts on August 7. If we follow their predictions, summer would start on December 1, leaving just three weeks until the longest day of the year, December 21.
If we follow their rule, summer would finish in early January. Surely that can't be true.
Vern Tuck, Tauranga.
Your columnist Philip McKibbin (NZ Herald, September 1) supports the statement that "tax is love" and argues that the wealthy should be taxed at a much higher rate.
Many people support him, believing that a wealthy person is anyone with $100 more than what they themselves have.
The resultant shock when they discover that such a tax policy would also scoop them into the net of those defined as "wealthy" is interesting to behold.
The reality is that New Zealand is a low-wealth society, and even taxing the truly wealthy at 100 per cent would raise insufficient funds to make any real difference to the Government's finances.
Peter Lewis, Forrest Hill.
On health
What an excellent article by Peter Davis (NZ Herald, August 31): an insightful summary of what is going on - and not - in our public health system in this pandemic era. A must read for those who follow the issues closely. B Darragh, Auckland Central.
On speed
With all the hoo-ha criticising the police for introducing a zero tolerance for those drivers who exceed the speed limit, it becomes obvious that no one has bothered to ask these drivers why they wish to exceed the speed limit? Dick Ayres, Auckland Central.
On Hosking
I fully support Mike Hosking's right to express his opinions, even if they are wrong. Warwick May, Manurewa.
On Wong-Tung
If Judith Collins can't control her own 3 score and 4 years old husband, caught posting tedious Trump-like remarks about the PM, I am wondering if she could ever control the country, contain its Covid spread, confront climate change and community cholesterol while fostering racial harmony... and trying to uplift our intellects? Rob Buchanan, Kerikeri.
I think the behaviour of Judith Collins' husband is despicable and childish. She should tell him this is not the correct behaviour for someone in his position and is not helping her in any way. John Laing, Drury.
On masks
The Government wants us to wear masks out in public, at the same time the police are spending $10 million on a facial recognition system. Disconnect between advice and expenditure? Nick Hamilton, Remuera.
On love
Phillip McKibbin invites us to vote for love and suggests introduced mammalian pests are not morally responsible for environmental degradation, implying methods to control them should not be used. Are not our native birds, amphibians, reptiles and invertebrates even more deserving of love? Keith Woodley, Pokeno.
On voting
Fabulous letter from Ron Hoares (NZ Herald, August 28) suggesting raising the voting age to 74 and rightfully poking fun at the absurd push to lower it to 16. Ross Nielsen, Half Moon Bay.
The woman was shaken by the incident.