Mass strikes are planned for this week across the public sector. Photo / Sylvie Whinray
Striking doctors
Simeon Brown is only partly correct when he says that the striking doctors, nurses and teachers are acting unethically towards their employers and their patients and pupils. It goes deeper than that. All those miscreants consider themselves to be professionals.
Professionals consider themselves to be bound to exercise their professional skills at all times in the interests of the people they serve. Every day they are on strike is a day of unprofessionalism and a day irretrievably lost in the education, care, treatment and recuperation of their pupils and patients.
Shame on them.
Peter Newfield, Herne Bay.
Climate change
I was dismayed to read in the letter by Hylton Le Grice in Saturday’s Herald that climate change is a natural phenomenon happening over millions of years and has nothing to do with man’s evolution on this earth.
What he fails to mention is that the change he speaks of happened very slowly over millions of decades – whereas what is being observed today is rapid climate change over a few decades due to man’s burning of fossil fuels.
To not recognise this fact is to mislead due to ignorance or malice.
Dudley Greenaway, St Heliers.
Scientific consensus
It must be very gratifying for Hylton Le Grice to be so sure of how our climate is changing. It certainly takes away the onus on us to change our behaviour, while also taking the pressure off governments across the world to free up those powerful oil, gas and coal companies.
Hylton calls this overheating a “natural phenomenon”, telling us it has been like this for millions of years. What concerns me though is how quickly our planet has changed in 50 years.
It’s also astounding the confidence he has to question the 98% of climate change scientists who see it as the most dangerous human-influenced disaster we are heading toward, pointing not to cliff face, but at the introduction of fossil fuels. With our future planet becoming warmer and warmer and our young despairing of a future, should we give space to these deniers?
Emma Mackintosh, Birkenhead.
Speeding fines
A polite suggestion: when driving around built-up areas, practise travelling and sticking at or below 50km/h. For some, this will prove a novel experience, but get used to it, for soon, with increased fines coming, speeding could prove very costly.
Larry Mitchell, Rothesay Bay.
All Blacks depth chart
Liam Napier’s assessment of the All Blacks’ depth and best starting team is an excellent deep dive into the evolving team selections. One spanner in the works could be Beauden Barrett.
It seems Barrett’s right leg is causing difficulty as he has passed over the kicking duties. Coach Scott Robertson will have to use Ruben Love to spell Damien McKenzie and would call on the New Zealand XV first five Rivers Reihana in case of injury.
I would like to see a follow-up article by Liam on the All Blacks’ bench, strategy and tactics. A suggestion to win the last quarter – put Sam Darry on for Scott Barrett and have Ardie Savea take over as captain. Communications with the referees will improve and the chances of cards will reduce.
Gary Carter, Gulf Harbour.
Fonterra sales
It is not often that I support Winston Peters but I totally agree with his present stance on Fonterra. Their decision to sell Anchor butter and Mainland cheese is gutless and uninspired. They should be trying to increase their share of the world butter and cheese market, not flog it off.
If our sportspeople had the same attitude to world competition, the All Blacks would be ranked 23rd, we would never have won the America’s Cup, we would have won no gold medals at the Olympics and McLaren cars would not exist.
Shame on you, Fonterra. You have really let the side down. And shame on you, New Zealand farmers, for letting them make the sale.
Mike O’Sullivan, Parnell.
Public transport
In a recent letter to the Herald (Oct 15), retired Professor of Urban Design and Planning Dr Dushko Bogunovich commented on Mayor Brown’s focus on Auckland’s Transport needs, specifically his plans for “choosing its future”.
Missing from Bogunovich’s or any other current transport planning is a solution to next “street level” servicing of public transport needs. I refer to the provision of street by street servicing of small unit feeder bus routes conveying commuters to the transport hubs.
Without these vital first and lower level services, a gap exists in our transport system, particularly for the elderly due to the large walking distances from suburban homes to existing main transport routes.
Larry. N. Mitchell , Rothesay Bay.