Taking flight
I went to book a flight to Brisbane around November 7, and the cheapest one-way airfare Air NZ had was $1000. I thought I'd be smart and "quasi-book" myself to get as far as seat selection to confirm, hopefully, that the flight was near full and that was the reason for the preposterous cost.
Alas no, three-quarters of the seats were still available. There could be a bundle of excuses, like plane rotation, staff shortages, etc. But if the plane is flying, why not fill it up?
I will now book a Qantas flight on the same day for $465.
I am an Airpoints Gold member, and even paid a few hundred dollars more for a trip to Europe in May to support my national carrier.
Greg Foran has an outstanding record as a businessman, but I'd suggest he rethinks what looks to be an effort to recover a couple of years of losses in what appears to be one year.
Then his countrymen and women won't have to go to the dark side to get across the Ditch, let alone places like Hawaii and other parts of the world where they are significantly more expensive than other carriers.
Andrew Harford, St Heliers.
Long view
Congratulations to Wayne Brown for successfully becoming the Mayor of Auckland. While his victory was significant in the majority he achieved, at the next election he will be getting close to 80 years of age.
This new mayor will not fix Auckland's issues in three years.
Auckland deserves younger and visionary mayoral candidates who look ahead to guiding Auckland for at least two terms, if not longer, supported by councillors equally visionary. Auckland has huge potential and, with the right leadership, can really be a super city. Come on Aucklanders, start taking pride in your city.
Organisations, corporates, and other like-minded citizens get together and take up the challenge and the baton from a respected senior citizen.
Auckland needs you.
David Morrison, Leigh.
Mandated powers
Mayor Brown has a mandate to change stuff in Auckland. That's what he promised and that's what the people who voted for him expect. Undoubtedly there will be some legitimate objections to what he wants to do and they should be listened to and their proponents respected.
But there will also be bureaucratic, passive resistance to some of the changes. Based on the "Yes, Minister" principle, "We're here permanently, you're only here for three years, we only have to delay and by then you'll be gone."
Council staff have to remember Brown, for better or worse, represents the will of the people. Council staff are public servants; now is the time to remember what the public has said and make the changes that Mayor Brown wants.
Nick Hamilton, Remuera.
Tracking freight
There are some misunderstandings regarding moving the Port of Auckland's business to Northport. Firstly, a lot of people do not realise that most of Auckland's exports go via the Port of Tauranga as well as a lot of imports, especially empty containers.
Each day, seven trains carry the equivalent of about 50 truckloads each way between Auckland and Tauranga. Glen Stanton (NZ Herald, October 10) was suggesting all of the projected Northport tonnage would be on trucks over the Brynderwins.
KiwiRail is now in the final stages prior to building a branch line from Oakleigh to Northport. At the very least, the cars need to be imported via Northport and railed to Auckland and that part of Auckland port could then be developed with greater potential. It has been estimated that this might put about $100 extra on a car, worth between $20,000 to $70,000.
Most major cities in the world have moved their ports to more practical places. The container part of Ports of Auckland has some time left to run, but rail needs to be developed to supply the port from inland ports to reduce trucks from being anywhere near the central city.
Niall Robertson, Balmoral.
Keeping track
I read with concern about the closure of great chunks of our rail system for proposed upgrading.
But wait a minute. Haven't we had closures and absurdly low speed limits for urgent repairs starting about 2018?
I am encouraged by and want to underline the letter from Richard Dawn (NZ Herald, October 12). If track can be re-laid at the rate of 1.6 km per night, why not do this here also?
We used to have resident engineers and inspectors on our rail system, but they would have been seen as a cost, not an investment.
Ted Phythian, Remuera.
Riding roughshod
A classic example of AT waste is the new bi-directional cycleway at Mission Bay.
During "consultation", the community and bike advocates explicitly stated they did not want this. Citybound riders said they would not use it as they have to cross live traffic lanes to enter and exit it: instead, the desired option was painted unidirectional lanes on each carriageway.
This has resulted in ripping up the road and pavement for the whole of Mission Bay "village" and won't do anything to fix the main danger: noisy, speeding hoons in their pratted up, polluting vehicles
Andrew Parsons, Mission Bay.
On the ground
Bernard Orsman's reporting of Mayor Brown's comments on Pukekohe and Karaka (NZ Herald, October 10) has motivated me to comment.
Market gardeners in Pukekohe and other soil-rich areas struggle to make a living from commercial growing.
So, it is financially viable to sell their land and live a less stressful life, for health's sake.
The purchaser chooses to build housing on the land, as it is financially more viable.
The blocks of crowded houses with no car parks in parts of Karaka were built by developers to sell, designs not chosen by prospective residents.
With the shortage of affordable housing in Auckland, those houses can house more people, in smaller, less expensive blocks.
Karaka Harbourside and Lakes residents do have a local bus service which begins and ends at the nearest train station on the southern line, Papakura Station.
Janice Lowe, Karaka.
Short & sweet
On voting
If, as a citizen of Auckland with a responsibility to contribute to civic matters, you failed to vote in the local elections, you have forfeited the right to criticise any activities involving Auckland Council and the CCOs. Vicky Williamson, Bucklands Beach.
On football
The Australian football team is presently competing in Asia Football Confederation (AFC) U17 and U20 tournaments. It's time for New Zealand Football to consider leaving Oceania Football Confederation and joining their Asian counterparts. Tiong Ang, Mt Roskill.
On reaching
What's with all this "reaching out" going on lately? Doesn't anyone "contact" or "get in touch" with people anymore? Colin Nicholls, Mt Eden.
On emissions
When a single return flight to New York burns about 200,000 litres of fuel, how does one equate this with sheep grazing on the hill country in New Zealand? Richard Sayer, Katikati.
If all the emissions from the Labour Government were being taxed and paid for by the people of New Zealand, the country would be bankrupt. Graham Fleetwood, Botany Downs.
On Fboys
Come on TVNZ, please use the state-funded coins to educate young people on respecting themselves and their communities. Helen Mackereth, Ōrewa.
The Premium Debate
Why farmers oppose the emissions plan
Unbelievable that such significant costs are being imposed on farmers when the inevitable result will be an increase in the cost of food. The cost of living is high enough without making it worse. Anthony W.
Why in God's name is this Government apparently hellbent on killing off an industry that produces about 70+ per cent of national income? In doing so it will kill off many rural communities and rural servicing towns. Both will have enormous negative financial and environmental impacts on all New Zealanders. Is NZ prepared to pay this price for virtue-signalling? Andrew R.
Just another ill-thought-out proposal by this Government. It will cost the nation billions for absolutely no gain. They are so obsessed with a baseless ideology with the sole objective of claiming we are doing our bit. John M.
Our farmers are the most efficient in the world and the idea of moving production to other countries because they are being penalised is plainly ridiculous. This government is being driven by ideology and virtue-signalling on this issue and it is so wrong when global food supplies are under threat. The effects on rural towns could be devastating and I heard Damien O'Connor say on TV this morning the models they are using are not reliable anyway. Time to stand up New Zealand. Fortunately, we get to vote next year and we can stop this lunacy. Ian U.
At the same time, we are covering our productive land with housing in Pukekohe. We are building housing with no commitment to community gardens; this shows no concern that our future generations can learn to feed themselves. Where are the Greens on this?
Any discussion on climate change is shut down by name-calling: "climate change deniers". Is this helpful or just? Sara M.
"Driving as much consensus as possible." The thought pattern behind producing a statement like this is telling. Katrina H.
