Letters: Erebus, drivers on phones, army inquiry and voter confusion

St Matthews in the City has a permanent memorial to those lost on Erebus. File photo / Brett Phibbs

Opinion

Letter of the week: Glennys Mullane, New Lynn.

There has been much talk about a new Erebus memorial.
There are already two memorials in Auckland - one is a memorial garden in Waikumete cemetery with the names of those who lost their lives and donated seats where people can go and sit in a peaceful place.
The other one is a stained glass memorial window in St Matthews in the City church. It was designed in 1989 by Rena Jarosewitch and it honours the passengers and crew of Air NZ Flight 901 to Antarctica who died on the slopes of Mt Erebus. Grid patterns remind us of computer charts and our present focus on technology. The sharp angles, piercing the white and grey are suggestive of a broken aircraft.
The dense white and grey glass suggests the whiteout conditions and snow of Antarctica.
A superb window by a master craftswoman. Surely there is no need for another memorial at ratepayers' expense?

Phone fines

Ian Riseborough is right that "drivers using mobile phones simply do not care because they know it is highly unlikely that they will get caught" (Weekend Herald, October 19). But added to that fact is the paltry $80 fine is worth the risk as for nearly two years now Hon Julie Anne Genter has flatly refused to increase the fine. When I asked her then to increase it to $150, the same as driving in a bus lane, she replied: "no need, $80 plus points is enough". So just get used to seeing many drivers refusing to drop their phones.
Murray Hunter, Titirangi.

Bombshell admission

Who was it that limited the viewing of the ISAF report by Brigadier Christopher Parsons (Weekend Herald, October 19) to one paragraph only? Why was such limitation put on its viewing by that senior person, who would have known of the report contents?
The conclusion that must be reached is that such senior person intended that Captain Parsons would give a rosy report.
Never mind that the senior officer had compromised Captain Parsons' ability to make the correct report.
Additionally, why did Captain Parsons accept such a task when he would have been fully aware that he was unable to properly understand the reports total significance?
Also, did Captain Parsons raise the issue of the limitations on him with any senior officer?
Finally, the senior officer clearly knew what was in the report. So why was he happy for a lower-ranked officer to issue the false report when he, the senior officer should have done so and then being responsible for the report he then issued?
Dennis Pahl, Tauranga.

Pedestrian hazard

Simon Wilson fills two pages (Weekend Herald, October 19) about the harm caused by cars in the city, in particular, to pedestrians.
But our main problem is something he doesn't even mention.
At least in morning rush hour, motorists are generally alert and courteous - to each other and to pedestrians. Most of the inconvenience, and even danger, walkers face is caused by cyclists and now scooters using the footpath - illegally in the case of cyclists; crazily, not illegal for scooters.
Tim Hazledine, Freeman's Bay.

Sound decision

With the demise of TV3, it would be a good time for Sky to shift Prime to Three. Then, when they show all their programmes, it would be broadcast in 5.1 surround sound instead of just stereo.
Prime has a lot of very good offerings such as Prime Rocks which explores the beginnings/history of rock bands/groups/artists and nothing beats listening to good music than in 5.1 surround sound. Plus, all their good movie offerings would benefit from decent sound. One question I would like answered is: Why is Netflix the only streaming service, apart from Sky, that streams in 5.1 surround sound? They have also upped their streaming rate so now you get Dolby Digital Plus, which is very good.
Ian Summerfield, New Plymouth.

In the gun

I believe Sam Kircher of the Council of Licensed Firearms Owners is wrong on two points (Weekend Herald, October 19). Firstly, I do not believe that intelligent gun owners who have had their semi-automatic rifles confiscated because the major parties cravenly used the Christchurch tragedy to steamroll over their gun privileges will turn around and happily throw their support behind those same parties if only they promise not to do it again. Second, his stated intent to not "cause a huge fuss" guarantees the continued irrelevance of the Council of Licensed Firearms Owners.
When the government seriously wrongs you, that is precisely the time to make a huge fuss.
Greg Beck, West Harbour.

Election changes

Now that the local body elections are over, we have had various media post-mortems on the low voter response. Whilst voter apathy, coupled with a creaking postal system may be blamed, there has been little discussion about the voting process.
Firstly, we as voters, are expected to make our choices based on a photo and the candidates brief policy statement. Unless they have a media profile, it is impossible to make a reasoned judgement call on any candidates' ability to work collegially, to govern wisely, and to represent broadly. It is a process somewhat akin to pinning the tail on the donkey.
Voting for the district health boards requires us to vote preferentially, or to use the official title by single transferable voting. From placing a tick on the mayoral vote and for the local boards, we are suddenly faced with ranking the candidates, as many as you want to, in numerical order for the health boards, that is if you have read the small print. Judging by the total number of invalid votes for the three Auckland health boards add up to 25,582 suggests that thousands ticked boxes instead of numerically ranking them. This assumption supported by the fact the number of invalid votes for the mayoralty and local boards was very much lower.
For our next local body elections we need to have access to more information, which could be accessed from an official website, about each candidate, together with abolishing the illogical and confusing preferential voting for health board candidates.
B B Owen, Bombay.

A quick word

Has the anti-plastic bag brigade worked out how many plastic bags are used every day picking up dog waste? Shouldn't they be focusing on this major problem? Jock Mac Vicar, Hauraki.

The various media must be racking up their frequent flying points shuffling back and forth to Japan. Perhaps they should be donated to the less fortunate? Bruce Tubb, Belmont.

NZ First's leader has said "good riddance" to a number of TV3 staff. No doubt some people will say the same of him after next year's election. A J Petersen, Kawerau.

No one mentions the good that became of colonialism: A lovely, developed country. C Humphreys, Katikati.

Boris de Pfeffel Johnson is so keen on taking control of borders he has introduced a new one - with Northern Ireland. Dennis N Horne, Howick.

I doubt if it has occurred to Auckland Transport that severely lowering speed limits in the city will increase air pollution from vehicle exhausts. John Hampson, Meadowbank.

Can the Hon Phil Twyford explain to us mere Auckland people who are still paying an extra tax on our petrol while the airport light rail system is on hold - where is that money being held? Carol Richardson, Bayswater.

It is blatantly hypocritical of Auckland Council/Auckland Transport to lower city speeds for motor vehicles. Why does their vision of "no deaths or serious injuries" not apply to those on or near e-scooters? Fiona Mackenzie, Stanmore Bay.

Any fleeing driver causing a death should be charged with murder, and any passengers in the car with manslaughter. R R O'Neill, Te Aroha.

I hope the Government will consider helping Three so that we can continue to enjoy healthy competition between news shows. J Hansen, Hastings.

What remains of the SkyCity convention centre should be demolished, At a time of peak exploitation of global resources and a world economy approaching terminal decline, we need another convention centre like a hole in the head. Bill Stevens, Remuera.

In this day and age of climate change hysteria, straw roofing was probably considered best for the environment. Yeah, right. Janet Boyle, Orewa.

Why did the architects at the convention centre not use wool for roof insulation? It's safe, sound proof, a natural fire retardant, easily accessible, not imported, would help our internal economy and is sustainable. Kathy Newman, Mangawhai.

SkyCity is now pumping millions of litres of heavily polluted water into Auckland Harbour.
I call for a rahui to be placed on SkyCity as a consequence of this totally outrageous behaviour. Martin Adlington, Browns Bay.

I see this practice of putting stickers on fruit has now spread to tomatoes. Please stop. Allison Kelly, Mt Eden.

With China offering both low-cost bauxite processing and an insatiable demand for alumina, we just need to get on with helping Southland to find alternative ways of supporting its population. Rio Tinto will go soon anyway. Joy Edwards, Coatesville.