Letter of the week: Frank Davis, Mt Albert
It puzzles me why the Government doesn't apply the same thinking behind our Fair Trading Act to the sales process for housing (Weekend Herald, June 26).
Under the
Fair Trading Act, a vendor has to clearly advertise the selling price for goods and services, however the target selling price for a house is often kept secret, especially when an auction is involved.
The intended effect of this is to push up the price as high as possible.
If we want to reduce house prices a simple solution would be to ban auctions and require the selling price to be clearly advertised.
To quote from the government website: "Under the Fair Trading Act (FTA), you have the right to clear and accurate prices for products and services, and factual advertising."
Why should this not also apply to house sales?
Election result
John Roughan (Weekend Herald, June 26) repeats the fiction: Winston Peters "put the Labour Party into office after the 2017 election… he distorted the election's reflection of public opinion."
Incorrect. Bill English could easily have won the 2017 election, outright. National could have governed alone. All they had to do was offer the voters enough of the policies that the voters wanted. They chose not to.
But wait, there's more. After the election, English and his strategy team could easily have won New Zealand First over to their side. Just compromise a little (Winston would prefer them to the Greens). National could have formed a stable coalition government. They chose not to. And they totally underestimated the new woman, the better craftsman.
Arch Thomson, Mt Wellington.
Prostate tests
Regarding Conor English's article (Weekend Herald, June 26) on prostate-specific antigen (PSA) tests: The extraordinary unreliability of the test and the multiple risks associated with the transrectal biopsies that commonly follow results showing elevated levels of PSA, mean that the PSA test is a very blunt instrument.
Many authorities regard it as worse than useless as a diagnostic tool unless it is done repeatedly over a period of time and shows a sudden elevation. A specific experience is not a useful tool for the formation of policy or even individual decisions any more than "my grandfather smoked all his life and never got sick" is evidence that smoking is not bad for health.
Multiple trials, easy to find online, show no significant difference in 10-year survival between those returning high and low PSA levels.
With the greatest respect, the individual experience and thoughts of a communications specialist are not as worthwhile as the conclusions of researchers who have studied large populations for long periods.
Peter Calder, Westmere.
Balancing risks
In response to Mr English's article (Weekend Herald, June 26) regarding screening and in particular men's health: Firstly, there is no such thing as a WOF for a human. It is a common misconception that the human body can be compared to the "workings of a machine" when biological systems are infinitely more complex.
Secondly, the history of screening is littered with controversy and emotive decision-making. All tests have false positives and false negatives and they need to be put into context for the individual. This raises obvious issues as what to do with an abnormal test result, the PSA being a case in point.
Morbidity caused by unnecessary treatment of a healthy individual can be every bit as bad as that caused by a missed diagnosis. It is often better not to perform a test unless there are clinical indications to do so.
Navigating unbiased and correct clinical information, balancing the risks and benefits, and applying it to the individual in a clinically relevant manner is still best performed by your doctor. I agree that paternalism is dying a much-needed death but we still have your best interests at heart.
Dr Leon Cloherty, Consultant in Intensive Care and Anaesthesia, Whangārei Hospital.
Splitsville, NZ
Jane Phare's article implying the Family Court is the cause of divorce inequality is misplaced. If there are those who have two million dollars to spend on a divorce punch-up, there is little sympathy I can offer. If relationships function, in the end, on dysfunction, it is not the Family Court that is the issue. It is greedy dysfunctional couples who ask the Family Court to unclutter the mess.
We need to take a good hard look at ourselves; what our relationships actually mean to us, and what do we do to minimise losing that relationship. Ultimately if one sees a three-year sojourn of a relationship as a means to financial security at the expense of one's fortune, no matter the size of it, then the relationship game might not be for you.
John Ford, Taradale.
Good call
I believe criticism of Auckland Council (Weekend Herald, June 26) over the closure of sporting pitches due to rain and fears over pitch damage is misplaced. In the case of our kids' soccer games, my understanding is the final decision was made by Northern Region Football. Perhaps they were also worried about thousands of cars heading out in such dangerous driving conditions, I know we weren't looking forward to driving to Pukekohe in driving rain.
Allison Kelly, Mt Roskill.
Donor limits
I believe there should be a limit to the number of children Adam Hooper (Weekend Herald, June 26) or any donor is allowed to produce. Do mums and dads of these children think about the future when their child asks about their biological father?
I think that knowledge could destroy a child.
I think any offspring would have absolute loathing for both biological and foster father and a huge resentment towards the mother.
The screening of a male donor should be more rigorous, the fewer the children including those with his partner, should be viewed as a positive. I also wonder how thorough the psychological assessment of a donor is. While a man may be seen as worthy for the first donations to aid childless people, to go on and on and then take it international appears the mark of an egotist, and surely these are not the genes that should be intentionally replicated.
Glen McKenzie, Avondale.
A quick word
Does the Government plan on making politicians "a protected group" when it introduces its criminalising of hate speech? P. Raine, Auckland Central.
The Defence Force giving the clothing contract to Aussie (Weekend Herald, June 26) is absolutely absurd. How can this Government allow this to happen? Rob Davis, Whitianga.
Rhys Morgan (Weekend Herald, June 26) will likely need a walker or motorised scooter to cross the harbour on a new bridge. A J Petersen, Kawerau.
A pity the Government has been taking flak about the slow vaccination rates; the highly effective Pfizer vaccine has been worth waiting for. Dave Spiers, Henderson.
Peter Webster could not have hit the nail more directly on the head in his letter (Weekend Herald, June 26) "Mud larks". With all that's going on in this post-Covid environment are we really going down that "wrap in the cotton wool society" path? Rob van Houten, Laingholm.
John Roughan (Weekend Herald, June 26) sees a suspected agenda of Māori empowerment. It's clearly a terrible danger for the colonial world that Roughan seems to admire so much. David Cooke, Pt Chevalier.
One can understand the frustration of Alistair Irving of Ōrewa (Weekend Herald, June 26) regarding the promotion of Jacinda Ardern as a top leader, but one can only work with what's on offer. "Aunty" Reg Dempster, Albany.
We commend the editorial "Bridges to better cities" (Weekend Herald, June 26) which calls for a trial using one harbour bridge lane for walking and cycling. Let's trial liberating a lane with the expectation that we can improve the overall efficiency of the network. Bevan Woodward, getacross.org.nz
All a trial could do is either prove or disprove the extent to which such a bridge might be used. There is no point in doing a trial for something that we cannot afford. Andrew Montgomery, Remuera.
Does Adam Hooper (Weekend Herald, June 26) think it reasonable and caring to deliberately father children who will never have, at hand, their biological father? David Tyler, Beach Haven.
The first thing I did after the last General Election was to re-read George Orwell's 1984. I'm sure it would be good preparation for the future direction of New Zealand for our school curriculum to now include this book. Ian Collinson, Remuera.
Money is behind all things these days. Money has taken our Cup. Let not it take our All Blacks. Robert Burrow, Taupō.
Yes, you are right. The photo of cricketers Ross Taylor and Kane Williamson (Weekend Herald, June 26) certainly was "pic of the week". John Willis, Morrinsville.
As an older New Zealand cricket fanatic, currently a UK resident who visits New Zealand regularly, I can now die happy. John Hawk, Surrey, UK.
Two for the price of one? Magnets on teeth for obesity (Weekend Herald, June 26) and for hate speech. Pam Grant, Ōrewa.
Mary Holm's column (Weekend Herald, June 26) was headlined "Pay your taxes with a smile". Unfortunately, IRD prefers money. Nick Hamilton, Remuera.