Letters: Forget fines for street racers – take their cars instead; private sector sets shaky example for Kāinga Ora

A vehicle doing a burnout at a street-racing gathering in Tauranga in April. Photo / Cameron Childerhouse

Letters to the Editor

Hit street racers where it hurts

Whilst supporting the recent crackdown on anti-social street racers, I wonder how successful issuing infringement notices to the offenders will actually be? I would suspect that a number of them already have unpaid fines, so the addition of another one will make little difference to them.

I believe the most beneficial thing to do would be to automatically impound all offending vehicles for a period of 30 days, during which time the offenders would be required to pay any overdue fines before they are released.

I am sure that the police have significantly better things to do than chase idiots basically making fools of themselves and disturbing the lives of innocent people.

Mike Baker, Tauranga.

Land isn’t the problem

Where is the evidence for the assertion by correspondent Stephen Holden (NZ Herald, July 2) that a reduction in land costs will “make owning a new home more achievable for all of us”?

Auckland built an average of 13,000 new homes per year over the past five years. Given that the Unitary Plan already has capacity for up to 900,000, we must have enough zoned land for at least the next 30 years of housing growth. How then will increasing the amount of residential zoned land increase either the number of homes being built or their affordability?

Auckland’s housing affordability problem is caused by a lack of houses being built, not a shortage of residential-zoned land upon which to build them.

John Burns, Balmoral.

Public v private sector

Phrases like “concerns about financial performance and governance”, “financial situation very worrying”, demands for the board to be “refreshed” and calls for “a plan to eliminate losses”: one could be forgiven for momentarily thinking that the report on Kāinga Ora was written for Fletcher Building.

Add in the disclosure of a “$180 million hole just six months after giving an update” in the Fletcher results, as well as the string of liquidations in private sector construction companies, and one must be a bit sceptical about claims that private sector involvement in Kāinga Ora will be a panacea for improved performance.

Eric Skilling, Milford.

Poor in the firing line

The poor will be hurt the most by congestion charges and many will be forced to take alternative routes, for example those through Panmure to Kohimarama along Auckland’s waterfront, which are already bumper-to-bumper in peak hours and guaranteed to double their time and further deplete their already meagre incomes.

Meanwhile, for the wealthy, a congestion tax will make a mere blip on their earnings.

Gary Hollis, Mellons Bay.

Flooded by streamers

I completely agree with your editorial about streaming (NZ Herald, July 1). I also think streaming is having a negative effect on the streamers.

In the old days, studios took their time when making movies. They had no real urgency to rush them. Then, when the movie came out, it was a big event. However now, if Disney and Netflix stop making movies, they lose subscribers and market share. So they rush production.

This leads to movies that aren’t that great and to the consumer being overwhelmed with choice. Just look at Marvel. With Disney dropping new Marvel movies and TV shows constantly, some fans say the magic of the franchise has worn off. I would also be cautious about watching Disney’s new Inside Out 2 in cinemas. How long until it’s released on Disney+?

Robert Clarke, Albany.

Democracy in peril

American politics continues to amuse, bemuse and petrify all in one noxious mix, exemplified by the presidential debate.

I felt shame and a good deal of pain for my birth country watching one villainous President and one vacant one debating shallow rather than substantive issues that Americans care about.

Yes, democracy is in peril, and just to correct the armchair pundits (particularly the Aussie media) – Biden is the presumptive nominee and he can only be replaced if he agrees to it. At the Democratic National Convention in August, this could potentially lead to an open convention where multiple candidates would compete for the nomination. Extremely challenging, because the Democrats would be working on a compressed timeline and trying to raise donor funding for a candidate who has three months to convince a sceptical American public to vote for them.

Do we get the Government we deserve? Possibly, but whilst the US becomes humorous fodder for late-night talk shows, the outcome could very well make the rest of the world weep, except for Russia and North Korea.

Mary Hearn, Glendowie.

Biden’s best option

Surely Joe Biden and his family can see that he can secure his legacy in American history by standing aside from the presidential race and not ending his career in decrepitude and ignominy? Everyone would honour him for doing so.

Ian Dally, Royal Oak.