It is a shame Kiwibank has not given a much longer lead-in time to the proposed changes, writes Gillian Dance. Photo / File
It is disappointing Kiwibank is leading the charge in withdrawing cheques from banking services.
Kiwibank was formed especially to meet the needs of local communities. It was promoted as a people's bank and has attracted a large number of people who are now in their very senior years.
It is a shame Kiwibank has not given a much longer lead-in time to the proposed changes. It might still be possible for it to do this. Perhaps the Minister for Seniors, Tracey Martin, and Winston Peters, the Government Shareholding Minister, might be able to ask them to consider a deferral for another few years.
While many senior people are very able to use computers and smartphones and have arranged automatic payments for regular bills, not all people do.
Many senior people rely on cheques to pay small, one-off donations and annual payments. And many like the independence of managing their own payments even using cash if they choose.
Telephone banking using their bank's 0800 number is an option offered to make payments and Auckland Grey Power has had a Kiwibank manager offer free coffee morning groups or individual tuition.
The only other option is for people to open accounts with banks committed to continue offering cheque services.
One does not necessarily have to close one's Kiwibank account, although many people may be tempted to express their feelings. At the moment it seems the Taranaki Savings Bank is one bank that has said it will keep its cheque services.
Gillian Dance, president, Auckland Grey Power.
As I was looking at the yellow sky in Auckland the other day, knowing the reason for it was the devastation from the bush fires in Australia, I couldn't help but be incredibly saddened that the Tūpuna Maunga Authority (TMA) want to cut down thousands of trees on the Auckland volcanic maunga this year.
Trees in a city that has declared a climate emergency. Trees in a city that is striving for ways to deal with climate change. The hypocrisy of it beggars belief.
Leave the trees alone.
Jason Valentine-Burt, Avondale.
With reference to Dianna Roberts' letter (Herald, January 8), the details she cites from the TMA plan are now agreed to be no longer correct. The actual number of individual trees classified as pests on Ōwairaka is seven trees — not 183.
The rare and endangered birds that feed on them and nest in them need them and don't care about their ancestry.
A further 185 of the 267 mature trees are to be felled on Mt Roskill — that's 70 per cent. In this age of climate crisis every tree stands between us and the advancement of human extinction.
With catastrophic events like the mass destruction of forests in Australia this is only more urgent and important.
We understand and accept that the Auckland maunga are managed by the TMA, but Auckland Council, Phil Goff, Jacinda Ardern, Eugenie Sage, Conservation Department and Forest and Bird, amongst others, need to express concern that the previous stated intention and methods of the TMA are already outdated and acknowledge that the replanting is woefully inadequate and badly executed. Whether cut down or burned down, the result of no more trees is the same. Human beings are accelerating our own demise by our inaction and lack of ownership. Without action for trees, acts like the ban on plastic bags are a worthless publicity stunt for the global stage and New Zealand's position on the global stage is a fraud.
Tony Elvey, Avondale.
Based on the 1.7 tonnes of meth seized last year selling for $500/g, as reported yesterday, I estimate that equates to $888.5 million, or the total income of 28,809 Kiwis (on a minimum wage).
Do we know how much was actually sold in NZ? Fifty or maybe a hundred times that much? Not a bad income for the drug dealers considering it's tax free.
I'm not an economist but I have a fair grasp of the concept that money spent on things that provide employment and social services, such as education and health, provides benefits to us all.
Surely we should expect our political leaders (all of them) to prioritise war on drug dealers and gangs. Apart from the inestimable harm these leeches cause to the individuals they prey on, are they also crippling our growth and development?
Seonaid Grimmett, Kaiwaka.
Mary Hackshaw (Herald letter, January 4) uses a regular tactic of climate-change deniers by pointing out carbon dioxide makes up only about 0.03 per cent of our atmosphere — 300 parts per million (ppm).
But this ignores CO2's extremely powerful and useful effect on the Earth's temperature, acting like a thermostat to maintain a reasonably stable temperature in which life as we know it has evolved. The Earth's mean surface temperature hovers about 14C, whereas without the so-called "greenhouse gases" our world would be unliveably cold.
Too little CO2 in our atmosphere and we freeze: Below about 200 ppm and the world goes into an ice age. Too much and we cook: Neighbouring planet Venus has an atmosphere composed almost entirely of CO2 (96.5 per cent) and a surface temperature of 467C.
But Mary also overlooks the dramatic increase in atmospheric CO2 during our lifetime. It was 300 ppm decades ago when I was at school — this year it passed 407 ppm, and is projected to exceed 500 ppm well before mid-century. Such levels of C02 have not been seen on Earth for millions of years and will lead to far higher temperatures than we and our food sources are adapted to.
Graeme Easte, Mt Albert.
Lindsay Dalziel's and David Mairs' letters of January 7 make interesting reading.There is definitely a lack of experience with this current Government, lead by a Prime Minister who has no understanding of finance for a start.
If our country is achieving economic growth it is despite this Prime Minister's efforts. BusinessDesk has noted that unless oil and gas are discovered in commercial quantities in the Great South Basin by OMV, then NZ will need to import product at great cost both in dollar terms and environmentally.
A.J. Petersen, Kawerau.
Again we see the issue arising of people using cellphones while driving and the ineffectual punishments meted out to those offenders. If our Government is serious about stopping this ongoing and sometimes deadly practice, I have a couple of suggestions.
For a first offence, the immediate roadside forfeiture and destruction of the device being used. This would give the user a less painful and/or crippling taste of the inconvenience of starting their lives over again, much like that experienced by the victims of their selfish behaviour. For a second offence, same as above with the added deterrent of a lifetime driving ban.
If all this sounds a bit harsh, perhaps we should consider whether someone willing to risk these punishments is someone we really imagine has the sense or wit to deserve a licence to drive what potentially becomes a lethal weapon in their hands.
Jeremy Coleman, Hillpark.
Your encouragement to talk about climate change finally indicates its seriousness. As individuals, we are urged to realise our own responsibility and ability to improve our behaviour towards this.
Bold leadership decisions also must be made. Lack of courage to acknowledge continuing worldwide population growth is compounding every problem linked with our degrading environment. Could NZ show leadership and powerful commitment by cutting immigration to genuine refugees only, and reconsider its relentless push for more tourists? Focus is required on quality of life for us all above our destructive growth obsession.
If only we would take advantage of the opportunities which abound within an environmental revolution.
Dianne McKinnon, Morrinsville.
Your "Beyond Reach" article does not mention the low interest-rate disaster.
Low interest rates caused the 2008 crash. Fixing that apparently required further lowering of interest rates.
The answer: Print money. Mugabe had been going for a while. Bernanke and his mates joined in and initially it seemed it would work. But it is easier to start printing than stop.
Capital gains tax didn't work in this environment anywhere else in the world so why would it work here? House prices have gone up wildly. But it is not only that. Olympic memorabilia, Banksy doodles and pretty much any other asset you can think of goes up. It makes no sense to work any more. No point in educating the kids. Just send them out to borrow money and buy non-productive assets.
We are trapped in a low-interest environment where the value of money is declining rapidly, taking with it wages and consumer prices. If we raise interest rates to sensible levels, restoring the value of money, the bubble will burst. We don't save like the Japanese. They saved their way out of their collapse. We cannot get out of this because we don't save.
Bill Macky, Bayswater.
On passports
Your report that the NZ passport has slipped in the international rankings, which you claim is "bad news" for NZ travellers, is nonsense.
The difference in the number of countries which are visa free for the top ranking country (Japan) and New Zealand is 0.04 per cent.
David Nicholson, Karori.
On dates
Your correspondent Alan Tomlinson is incorrect when he states that when BC ended 1 AD started. What actually happened was that 0 AD started. For example the day a child is born it becomes zero years old. Modern mathematicians count from 0 to 9 not 1 to 10.
Dr Brian Earnshaw, Mt Roskill.
On houses
So the government's plan to improve housing availability is to oversee the biggest quarterly hike in Auckland house prices since 2017 ?
Robert Burrow, Taupo.
On Emmerson
What is it with Rod Emmerson's disdain for Aussie PM Scott Morrison? He would do better to highlight the heroic efforts of the firefighters.
R Cluley, Mt Roskill
Emergency services were called to the scene about 8.30pm.