Resume Christchurch services
The cancellation of KiwiRail’s orders for new Cook Strait ferries gives the Government an opportunity to change direction on our Interisland ferries.
It is crazy for the traffic from Picton ferries to burden the 335km of roads between Picton and Christchurch.
Ferry services between Wellington and Lyttelton were suspended because of repeated peak-time union strike action, but times have changed and strategic considerations make reinstatement of these services compelling.
Most certainly, there would be considerable capital investment required, but this would be offset by a huge reduction in South Island road traffic.
Hugh Webb, Hamilton.
Fuelling ferry debate
I was wondering if only fossil-fuelled cars are on Finance Minister Nicola Willis’ radar when planning a new set of ferries to link the country with the mainland.
She doesn’t envisage a Ferrari, and now we’re going to go off and see whether there are any good reliable Toyota Corollas available to cut costs. But I see no mention of a car powered by renewable fuel?
Rob Buchanan, Kerikeri.
Vapes versus smoking
People protesting the raging smoking debate need to keep a perspective on the argument.
Just look around your neighbourhood and see how many vape stores have enveloped your region. Schools are struggling to stem the proliferation of adolescents sucking in a toxin we know very little about. To assume vaping is any better, and not demand the same restrictions on it, is narrow-minded.
The best we can do is discourage as best we can; smoking numbers are at their lowest in decades. To expect it to be eliminated, as suggested, is just not workable.
John Ford, Napier.
What does equal mean?
I listened to David Seymour recently who said that we all have equal opportunities in this country and choose our own conditions of life, and whether we prosper or not is of our own choosing.
His belief sounded quite plausible at first glance - until you think about it.
If you are lucky enough to be born into a loving family in a “good” area, and have access to “means”, then you probably will be “equal”.
But there are a lot of ifs there that Seymour and his followers prefer not to be informed of, and that is their choice.
A duty of any government - call it Nanny State if you like and David Seymour is part of one now - is to adjust social conditions in order to create equal opportunity as far as possible. Healthy competition is good as long as it is healthy.
Selwyn Boorman, Waikanae.
Christchurch for capital
I have an idea. Let’s move our capital city to Christchurch. Too much traffic in Auckland. Too many earthquakes in Wellington. And bring back coastal shipping so we can ferry goods directly between Tauranga and Lyttelton. Possibly the politicians might even enjoy their weekends in Wānaka or Hanmer .
If we can have satellite-based connections, we can work anywhere, can’t we?
Oh no, is there a problem about power supply? The sun still shines in Christchurch, and solar panels are pretty easy to install anywhere. Even on ships.
Mary Wark, Karaka.
Ideology arguments
How many people in favour of repealing current smoking legislation in the interests of “personal responsibility” also complained about policies driven by ideology in the previous Government?
Morgan L. Owens, Manurewa.
Immigration numbers
Australia is cutting its immigration numbers because like New Zealand, its cities are full, accommodation is short, and employment for low-paid jobs is on the downturn.
Now in NZ, we have welcomed almost 130,000 migrants in the past year. Where are they living? New Zealand already had a housing crisis, a congestion crisis and is also heading for a downturn in unemployment.
Why is Immigration New Zealand allowing migrants in before they have employment? I see one young migrant had applied for 30 low-paid positions since her arrival. And yet we have a gross shortage of specialist medical staff, engineers, specialist teachers, and construction workers at the high pay scale end of the employment sector.
New Zealanders we should have been future-proof training for the past 20+ years. Where is the common sense and logic in policy making and why are New Zealand officials so poor at checking numbers required?
Marie Kaire, Whangārei.
Working class
There seems to be a protest about something every day for just about anything nowadays. What do these protesters do on their day off? Go to work?
Bernard Walker, Pāpāmoa.
