Two more weeks
The word on the wire i.e. nearly everyone you speak to, is that December 1 is when Auckland will be "free" from Covid restrictions. That is another two weeks.
Whether a hairdresser, manicurist, gym operator or cafe operator, for the most part these are sole operators; with many overheads.
Every day counts/hurts, with loss of custom on top of the 16 weeks thus far with this lockdown and bringing despair/closures.
Give these people a break and open ASAP. If the plan is to free up on December 1, Why not Monday, November 15, Tuesday the 16th?
The people making these decisions are all collecting regular income with little pain.
Those extra weeks will be appreciated.
Garry Donoghue, Shelley Park.
We'll take her
We, in Australia, have been fed stories this week in our media about the declining popularity of your prime minister.
If Jacinda Ardern ever feels unloved and in need of a new fan base, please could she come to Australia. We desperately need a new prime minister. The sooner the better.
My recent T-shirt purchase shows a map of New Zealand with the words: "We want what they're having".
I wear this proudly at every opportunity.
H Berry, Ballina, NSW.
Travel restrictions
My sister lives on a rural property at Karaka, South Auckland. Her son and family live at Ngaruawahia, just an hour down the southern motorway, but she cannot visit her family.
She has a good friend who lives in Hamburg, Germany, who is arriving in New Zealand in January, spending seven nights in MIQ in Auckland, before flying to Palmerston North to see her son's family. This is her second trip in a year.
Does it seem fair that she can come halfway around the world to see family and my sister cannot go one hour down the motorway?
Wendy Galloway, Ōmokoroa.
Hell's bells
I regularly walk the many excellent walkways throughout the Howick ward, and am very appreciative when cyclists use a bell. I always thank them if they do. However, these cyclists are very much in the minority.
The potential dangers of cyclists approaching silently from behind are obvious, and the risk is heightened by those cyclists who appear to be training for the Tour De France.
Dave Ronson, Pakuranga Heights.
Built out
The new building intensification of Auckland is the wrecking ball. It will become the most unliveable city in the world.
The sound of birdsong will be replaced by the sound of chainsaws, then silence. Green streetscapes will be replaced by concrete for cars.
The balance between the natural world and our suburbs will be seriously diminished. Mental wellbeing will be compromised.
Any reasonable person must surely see this as complete madness.
Suzanne Mexted-Dykes, Rotorua.
Cleaner coal
It is encouraging that world leaders at COP 26 have agreed to move towards reducing the amount of coal being used around the world "eventually'".
Meanwhile, we are merrily importing over one million tons each year of low-grade coal from Indonesia. This is mostly brought in to Auckland and then trucked through Parnell and down the Southern Motorway to Huntly. This averages around 70 truck movements every day.
It is unfortunately inevitable that due to our generation balance, the use of coal at Huntly is going to continue for a number of years. This is not helped by the Government's strange decision to ban further exploration for Natural Gas, a far cleaner fossil fuel.
Bearing this in mind, it would seem logical to import a higher grade of cleaner coal and have this discharged at Tauranga for shipment by rail to Huntly. The infrastructure is already in place and coal is an ideal cargo for rail.
Just a thought for our politicians to ponder as they are driven round in their (partly coal-fired) electric limousines.
David Weston, Maraetai.
Lost in time
Very sad to read that Megan Markle, at only 40 years, is already suffering memory loss.
It sounds quite bad as she seemed to have forgotten a lot of details. So young.
Probably as a result of all the bad treatment she received in the UK.
Jock Mac Vicar, Hauraki.
Short & sweet
On mandates
Sure, some adjustments will be needed initially at schools and hospitals, etc, but then it will become business as usual with these vaccine protesters' efforts dispatched to "bin 13" and our children a lot healthier and smarter as a result. Alan Walker, St Heliers.
On patrol
Our tired and overworked police on Auckland's border patrol should be given some form of relief, perhaps by our politicians on a rotating roster system. Gary Hollis, Mellons Bay.
On protest
The protest to gridlock Auckland's roads reminds me of a George Carlin quote, "think of how stupid the average person is, and realise half of them are stupider than that". Huw Dann, Mt Eden
The anti-vax crowd are the sort of people who would insist on a right to leave the lights on during an air raid. Peter Culpan, Te Atatū Peninsula.
On masks
Apart from their safety aspect, masks enable us to appreciate just how much beauty our eyes convey. John Norris, Whangamatā.
On hesitance
Have those who have not yet got vaccinated because "they don't know what is in the vaccine", paused to consider that neither will they know about the drugs and techniques employed to keep them alive should they end up in hospital or intensive care? Cam Calder, Devonport.
The excuse of unvaccinated prison staff that they haven't had enough time to process and listen to the information out there" makes one wonder where they've been in the last two years. Pamela Russell, Ōrākei.
The Premium Debate
Vaccine pass problems
Yet another example of how this government has squandered our natural advantages against Covid. Anyone could have locked down this isolated, sparsely populated country. But doing anything else has seemed completely beyond this PM and her team.
Sadly, we are all now paying the price for their incompetency. It could and should have been avoided. John C.
The Ministry of Health seem clueless. Just as well they are not going to be responsible for running of all NZ's Health services after the centralisation. Oh, wait... And what are the chances that the debut of the software, developed in a rush, and required for 5 million people in order to enter premises, travel domestically and enjoy hospitality, will go without a hitch? Tracey E.
The Ministry are a bureaucracy who have their share of mishaps. But I see the timing as due to Ardern's philosophical reluctance. Some wiser heads must have convinced the Government of the necessity. Simon F.
So many tech-savvy people wanted to help and this stonewall Government didn't want to know. This should have been in place by now, another slow uptake on top of the slow vax rollout all adding to the extension of crippling effects on Auckland business and the knock effects felt around the country. Paul E.
It seems that this is now the critical issue that is delaying us moving on to the traffic lights system, lifting restrictions for vaccinated people and opening up the Auckland and Waikato borders. The weekly costs of this delay are high. It's incredible this wasn't sorted six months ago. Sue J.
If the existing vaccine record system is anything to go by it will be a shambles. The government loves using its RealMe web site and that will cause even more delays and frustrations. It won't end well. Russell P.
