Max Purdy, Remuera.
Wealthy interests
The constant refrain of “growing the economy” is our leaders’ euphemism for prioritising the wishes of wealthy interests over the wellbeing of the majority.
This tired argument is still being imposed on us by a government which clearly has little interest in improving anything apart from the income of its supporters. New ideas are nowhere in sight.
Greed is the driving principle as they impose more and more cruel and unjustified policies on our hapless population. Environmental and human wellbeing is being undermined on a daily basis.
As Jeff Hayward rightly says, it’s time for voters to wake up and pay attention – or this ugly situation will worsen.
Vivien Fergusson, Mt Eden
Dangerous driving
Interesting to see (NZ Herald, December 24) Old North Road, Waimauku listed as one of the country’s most dangerous roads.
I travel this road frequently. It is a narrow, rural road with steep, winding sections and hairpin bends. The “dangerous” aspect concerns drivers who use it as if it were a highway, demanding their right to drive at 100km/h, tailgating, overtaking recklessly.
I suspect this is also the case with other “dangerous” roads.
Anne Martin, Helensville.
Surely the Government has more important things to do than talking about raising the speed limit on some highways to 110km/h?
I thought they were trying to keep road deaths down? At 110km/h, a car is travelling about 30m a second, which is too fast for most drivers.
That extra 10km/h could be the difference between life and death.
Jock Mac Vicar, Hauraki.
Religious freedom
People in New Zealand can express their views on just about anything without fear of retribution. A case in point is Jane Livingstone’s comment (Letters, December 21) about Pope Francis condemning surrogacy, but “presumably there’s a dispensation for Mary, Mother of God”. Many Catholics might even admit that it is a clever quip yet still be offended, but would leave it at that knowing full well that Livingston has the right to her own opinion. This is the way it should be.
However, this is not the case in the many countries of the world where religious autocracies rule and ridiculing any aspect of the religion, especially a woman doing so, is punishable by imprisonment or even death. If Livingston lived in some of these religiously autocratic countries, she would be subject to strict dress codes, limited education and restricted movement outside the home.
Hopefully Livingston appreciated the freedom she has in this country when her letter was published.
Bernard Walker, Mt Maunganui.
Weather worries
The very heavy rain forecast for Auckland on Christmas Day never came as it was very fine and warm all day, so we had our family Christmas lunch outdoors. Hooray!
Then I was woken at 2am on Boxing Day to the sound of very heavy rain falling on the roof for a few minutes. Then at 5.30am, the weather was fine with blue skies again, similar to Christmas Day.
I certainly am not complaining, but I just wonder why very heavy rain in Auckland seems to come overnight and not during the day? Does anyone know why?
Murray Hunter, Titirangi.
My concern is the increasing use of negative and/or gaslighting language for weather reporting, such as a “risk of thunderstorms”, or Aucklanders being “warned to take umbrellas”.
Why is a normal thunderstorm a risk? And why is there warning for a city to take action for normal rain?
I haven’t used an umbrella for decades, even when the weather was frequently more severe as a norm, including smaller street flooding, and I didn’t have transport. Please lower the urgency and deploy severity when it is warranted: for serious threats.
Chris Payne, Hobsonville.
