Letters: Pandemic reaction, mosque memorial, airport route and foreign students

A woman wearing a face mask walks across an empty intersection in Wuhan in central China's Hubei Province. Photo / Chinatopix, via AP

Opinion

Letter of the week: Russell Herbert, Bucklands Beach

The world's governments' reaction to the pandemic shows what can be done if politicians really want to take action.
The action to close borders, stop people travelling, reducing the number of planes flying and slowing economies probably matches what is really needed to reduce carbon emission growth to meet global warming targets.
The coronavirus shows we can make drastic changes in a desperate situation but clearly, globally it's not hot enough for any significant drastic reaction yet.
Perhaps politicians need to be asked about why are we so slow to react to something equally, or more, life-threatening.

Rural renaissance

Tourism is stuffed and international education is stuffed.
Now is the time for this Government to stop their orchestrated programme to hamstring our farming community as once again this sector of our productive economy will be this nation's saviour.
Roger Bale, Pukekawa.

Mosque remembrance

I was touched by Simon Wilson's short piece on the front page (Weekend Herald, March 14) regarding the Christchurch mosque shooting a year ago. It takes one to know one.
Having been married to a Kiwi for 40 years, I have nothing but love and admiration for this nation. Thank you Simon for such kind words and to the Herald for reporting this unfathomable calamity.
There is no alternative to respect, kindness and love. Deep down, we are all one. Peace be upon all creation. Salam. Shalom, Kia kaha.
Ahmed Asgher, Oratia.

Railroaded again

R Anderson (Weekend Herald, March 14) doesn't go far enough. The reality is that there is no evidence that a tram line or a railway to the airport is needed.
The excellent SkyBus bus service is suffering from a shortage of passengers and the convenient door-to-door service offered by SuperShuttle could carry many more passengers. To my knowledge, these services are unsubsidised. Every ride on a train is subsidised by more than $15.
Sadly, it is not the first time a government has decided to squander huge amounts of taxpayer money on a project that has not even been the subject of a feasibility study to establish whether or not it is needed and how big the subsidies would need to be.
Bryan Leyland, Pt Chevalier.

Courage to speak

Merilyn McAuslin nourishes public discussion about overseas students with real information about the dodges of some of the agents who arrange enrolment (Weekend Herald, March 14).
McAuslin is rightly concerned about being considered xenophobic.
Fear of denunciation by woke zealots is now widespread. People need to be brave, like McAuslin, and speak truth to illegitimate and ruthless woke power.
Gavan O'Farrell, Lower Hutt.

Phil Gifford (Weekend Herald, March 14) is the latest to ask why shouldn't there be concerts at Eden Park. The answer is because it is surrounded by houses, and there are three other stadiums in Auckland that can handle major outdoor concerts without upsetting the lives of the neighbours.
The previous Weekend Herald also gave a full page to an article on Eden Park, with Gregor Paul putting forward a very strange theory advocating that New Zealand Rugby should buy Eden Park. That won't happen, but it would save the ratepayers the burden of propping up the ailing facility.
Eden Park wants concerts because it is nearing bankruptcy as a sports venue. The reason for this situation is poor attendance, with Blues games not even attracting a 50 per cent audience. This is the cumulative result of the poor spectator experience in a stadium that is too big for most of the rugby games held there, and the distance many of the seats are from the players.
If the massive public investment in the ground prior to the 2011 Rugby World Cup had changed it to a dedicated, rectangular football venue, things might have been very different. But the compromise cricket/rugby shape is no good for anyone.
Tony Waring, Grey Lynn.

Ardern's ordeals

There were two articles in Saturday's paper (Weekend Herald, March 14) about our Prime Minister. The first, by Claire Trevett was a thoughtful recap of the devastating mosque attack in Christchurch a year ago, praising Prime Minister Ardern's support of the mosque victim's families, and of her efforts through the Christchurch Call, to get international co-operation for efforts to combat terrorism.
By contrast, Audrey Young's article seemed negative and speculative, with the implication that PM Ardern's only gift was emotional intelligence. The headline, "New type of leadership needed from Adern" was astonishing.
I imagine that many New Zealanders, whatever their political allegiance would recognise the bravery, intelligence and resourcefulness of our young Prime Minister who has had to deal with two unimaginable crises. She deserves the help and support of the whole country at this difficult time.
Lucy Lamb, Epsom.

Spare kings

The book review in Canvas (Weekend Herald, March 14) headlined "Sex, Death, Hunger" perhaps provides more evidence for the need to keep Latin going.
The reviewer refers to the King of England who reigned from 1509 to 1547 as Henry XIII. To the best of my knowledge, there have only been eight Kings with the name Henry and of course the correct Roman numeral is VIII. The ironic thing is that the error has appeared not once, or even twice but eight (i.e. VIII) times.
For those non-Latinists i.e. is a common Latin abbreviation used in English meaning "that is". It stands for "id est".
Greg Cave, Sunnyvale.

A quick word

We haven't heard from Paula Bennett or Judith Collins for a while. I wondered whether they are all right. Philip N Rama, Auckland Central.

Panic buying is necessary because people are panic buying all the goods that normal shoppers come to buy when they need them. Gerald Payman, Mt Albert.

University leaders would prefer to take advice from diplomats over health experts. One has to question the former group's reasons whereas the latter's are for the safety of the greater number. Liz Schollum, Cambridge.

Why are we still allowing big groups gathering like church, school, etc? We should shut down for two weeks to really eliminate Covid-19. Chris Toh, Greenhithe.

Who is monitoring the people self-isolating? There are lots of people out there with no common sense and will not do as they are told. Jenny Petersen, Kawerau.

How ironic that all those captains of industry and promoters of free unfettered business are waiting with bated breath for "socialist Jacinda" to use taxes to protect their bottom lines. John Capener, Kawerau.

How can one member of a group living together isolate? Rob Walker, Howick.

The poor and the unemployed are more likely to suffer from the effects on the economy. A lengthy price-freeze, perhaps up to a year, on staple foods such as bread and milk, flour, eggs, etc must be quickly imposed. Dennis Pennefather, Te Awamutu.

The election in September should be abandoned until after this crisis, to enable both politicians and journalists to be proactive in working with the government and health services through this difficult time. Niall Robertson, Balmoral.

Are we heading towards a postponed 2020 General Election? Simon Watson, Forrest Hill.

Anybody feel like kayaking to the Antarctic right now? They say it's kind of safe, picturesque and secure at this time of year. No self-isolating either. Rex Head, Papatoetoe.

We already have concert venues at Mt Smart and Western Springs, which would both lose out financially to Eden Park if concerts were consented, disadvantaging ratepayers. Alex Donald, Mt Eden.

Wouldn't it make sense if the Herald changed its bi- weekly travel sections to puzzle pages? We can't go anywhere but need things to do. V. Hall, Whangaparaoa.

I have enough toilet paper. Crisis averted. John Ford, Napier.