Massive queues at Auckland airport after both domestic and international flights were canceled due to weather Photo / Supplied, File
Massive queues at Auckland airport after both domestic and international flights were canceled due to weather Photo / Supplied, File
Letters to the Editor
Flight of fancy
The mayor is ahead of himself (NZ Herald, March 30) in his determination to sell the airport shares. The city has held shares since becoming a public entity and now with its diluted holding of 18 per cent doesn’t think it should have a director representative. Iwould think a stake would warrant a say in its growth and importance to the city. Brown talks of the lack of a dividend for three years but the airport has had little revenue over the period that Covid was ravaging the economy. Any dividend would be an insult to the business capital structure; dividends flow from profits. The airport has been allowed to get away with the unplanned building of a shopping mall, moving gates that now entail the elderly and disabled walking at least 15 minutes to access, and misplaced parking facilities due to haphazard development. The city must have a voice in our gateway to the world and remember that it is primarily a service facility to enable air travel. It is a large employer which surely has some interest to the city. If the city sells, I believe there will be conflict between the entities in the years to come.
Peter Burn, Gulf Harbour.
Unconscionable war
The recent visit by Xi Jinping to Moscow was chilling and disappointing. Whereas the two leaders had met before the war, on the eye of the Winter Olympics, one could argue that Xi Jinping might not have realised the impact of the impending war. But after a year of gruesome war (borderline genocide), with Russia carpet-bombing cities, resulting in atrocities such as at Bucha and abducting children, the recent visit means he condones this war. There can be no truce while Russia occupies parts of Ukraine. Russia and China should lose their veto and permanent member status in the UN Security Council. Certainly, members who unilaterally engage in war (unless they are fairly defending their sovereignty) must lose their status. Meanwhile, our foreign minister was in China during this visit. Instead, we should be rapidly reducing our economic trade with China. This will mean higher costs and we (like Western nations) need to accept that this is part of our war effort to support Ukraine. Bottom line: Nato has to help Ukraine stop this illegal invasion and supplying weapons only will not suffice.
How refreshing to read of the common sense approach of Dr Audrey Tan (NZ Herald, March 29) to the teaching of mathematics. As a maths tutor of primary and intermediate students for more than 30 years, I have witnessed the steady decline of basic mathematical skills since the introduction of the NZ Numeracy Project. This project delayed the teaching of the four arithmetic operations using the column method until the student had mastered the newly-introduced, confusing and laborious strategies. This resulted in many children being unable to add or subtract large numbers after five or six years at school. The column-based methods should be taught first. Once mastered, alternative strategies could be introduced for more able students. China and Singapore regularly top the Pisa rankings in mathematics. Would it be too hard for New Zealand to adopt their methods of teaching?
The letter (NZ Herald, March 31) from Alison Kelly is correct in my experience. The change in teaching pedagogy was not supported (for maths, at least) by those of us who are professional mathematicians or maths teachers. I was then president of the New Zealand Mathematical Society. I can report we opposed the proposal to have maths as a trial subject for the modular approach embedded in “unit standards”, among other things which would reduce content. I served, in this capacity, on a ministerial advisory group for around 30 years: a group of professionally-qualified mathematicians and teachers. We unanimously opposed this. The ministry rejected our recommendations and asked us to resign. They went ahead anyway. Sadly, we are reaping the results of this approach. I worked in England for a couple of years and did not see them adopting this kind of methodology.
Graeme Wake, Professor of Industrial Mathematics, Whangaparāoa.
Abject failure
As usual, the teacher unions have criticised National’s back-to-basics education policy. Every time the unions hear the words standards and testing, they go into a panic. The neoliberal approach to education adopted in the last 23 years has failed students. This is reflected in the appalling attendance rates across the country, and NCEA testing last year showed 54 per cent failed writing, 42 per cent reading and 43 per cent maths. Schools need to have clear standards of knowledge to achieve at each year level and national testing is the only way to measure this. At the moment we have no standardised testing until Year 11. It is far too late then to find out that our children are failing.
If employers are really serious about gaining, training and retaining quality staff (as in the example of Queenstown) the hospitality sector, together with the council, should pool resources and build a hostel or two to house workers. They could charge a nominal rent to cover power, maintenance, water, etc. Some orchardists supply worker accommodation in the North Island, especially on the East Coast. Tobacco, hops and pip fruit farmers in Nelson in the 20th century always had basic baches for workers and never had worker shortages. Stop whinging and provide some DIY Kiwi solutions.
Marie Kaire, Whangārei.
Queenstown residents protest rental availability in the city causing widespread homelessness. Photo / Otago Daily Times
Over it
Matthew Hooton’s article (NZ Herald, March 31) on the Government’s announcement of a second harbour crossing in Auckland made me laugh out loud. He writes as if it will actually happen, when in reality it is a political announcement in an election year. This Government has very ably demonstrated that it has difficulty with delivery of major public works projects. No doubt the first $100 million spent on this project will go to consultants and all we’ll have to show for it will be a couple of road cones on the beach at Mechanics Bay, and a matching pair on the wharf at Devonport. This Government can’t be trusted to deliver a pizza, let alone a multi-billion dollar infrastructure project.
Stephen Schulz, Sandringham.
Getting around
Having looked at the four proposed access options to the Auckland CBD, I am amazed at the lack of new ideas, also, why do the planners think we all need to get to the CBD? Surely there are enough lawyers, accountants and civil servants in the North Shore, Henderson and Manukau, along with all those people working from home, to service most needs. There are also hospitals, courts and liquor outlets to fill most people’s needs. I lived in Auckland for many years and would point out to planners that the need for getting across Auckland was far more in need of working on. And dare I suggest planners get off their bottoms and try getting around the suburbs - not just to work, but also to visit friends. And has anyone looked at more and smaller-type ferries around the harbour, with pontoons, to counter the shallows and the tides? These might move a few people to venture out of their cars. In the meantime could we look after the bus drivers and, if the contract situation is to improve, maybe the legal people need to look at the failure to supply the service, and sue.
Sheelah Chalklen, Whaingaroa.
Integrated inclusions
In reply to Quentin Miller’s letter (NZ Herald, March 31) regarding Integrated Schools, there are also Anglican Schools that have become integrated. To name just a few: Taranaki Diocesan School for Girls, formerly named St Mary’s Diocesan School for Girls in Stratford, Taranaki - which I believe was the first, as it happened in my first year at the school 46 years ago. Additionally, Woodford House in Havelock North, Hawke’s Bay and Whanganui Collegiate School. They also have scholarships that can be applied for. Like fully-private schools, sometimes extended family help out with school fees.
Katherine Scott, Epsom.
Limited scope
Samantha Murton’s article (NZ Herald, March 31) raises questions about the declining health of our communities and the role of our GPs. Modern medicine has successfully improved mortality outcomes over the last 100 years. However, we are now told our children will live shorter lives, due to an explosion in lifestyle-related chronic diseases. In my opinion, our GPs fail to provide the solutions required to reverse this trend. Instead, they are focused on prescribing drugs to manage symptoms, rather than understanding the root cause. In my experience, there is a lack of curiosity and slow adoption of the evolving science amongst our medical profession. GPs are trapped in a cycle of watching patients’ health decline, while following the “best practice” drug prescription guidelines. There’s an important role for medical specialists as described by Dr Murton. There’s also a desperate need for lifestyle medicine that is well-documented to reverse type-2 diabetes and dramatically reduce co-morbidities. There’s no better time to get back to root-cause medicine. Nutritional biochemistry and lifestyle medicine should be a mandatory part of the curriculum and continuing education credits, rather than ridiculed as alternative health.
Susan Birch, Exercise and Nutrition Specialist, Kawerau.
Foisted language
How ironic that Rex Head (NZ Herald, April 3) references “the average Kiwi”. Does he not know that “Kiwi” is a Māori word? I expect that when the white settlers first started arriving, the “average Kiwi” at the time (Māori) didn’t much appreciate having English foisted on them. Thousands of indigenous languages have been lost through colonisation, let’s make sure te reo Māori isn’t one of them.
Allison Kelly, Mt Eden.
Attention span
My wife and I decided to walk across Māngere Bridge as a first. We were very impressed; lots of parking on the Māngere township side, a wide concrete walkway, very smart boat launching facilities, good seating, even fishing rod holders evenly spaced along both sides. The one major disappointment was there were no rubbish bins to be seen anywhere. One can only assume a large amount of rubbish finishes up in the tide.
G H Butler, Mt Roskill.
Short & Sweet
On gender
So, violence against women is okay if it is perpetrated by bearded, burly, or buff biological males as long as they identify as women? K A Benfell, Whanganui.
With apologies to Sammy Fain and Paul Francis Webster, revisers of classic works might consider “Love is a many-gendered thing”. Norm Murray, Browns Bay.
So Mt Taranaki is to be granted the same legal rights as a human. What if it decides that, as a cis gender mountain, it wants to transition into a valley? That would be devastating to tourism. Alex Findlay, Pukekohe.
On protests
Isn’t it amazing how so many minority groups, protesting against this and that, result in the majority being affected? This, surely, is not democracy. Alan Walker, St Heliers.
On Emmerson
Rod Emmerson’s cartoon of a couple of good Kiwi blokes in a spot of bother (NZH, Mar. 31) was priceless. Lorraine Kidd, Warkworth.
Illustration / Rod Emmerson
On CBD
A camel has been described as being a horse designed by a committee. Under that description, Queen St would surely be one. David Bentham, Browns Bay.
On phones
Queensland has just announced that if caught using a cellphone whilst driving, the fine will now be $1168. The NZ fine is $150. Wendy Galloway, Ōmokoroa.
Our economy is entirely dependent on export earnings which in turn fuel domestic consumption and economic confidence. The major component of our export income is generated by the primary/forestry/fishery sectors, tourism has yet to recover and is a fickle beast at best, being captive of the whims of the travel market. Our primary producers are being hounded out of business by rising input costs, and unachievable compliance demands of this Government. That export goose is being slowly but surely cooked. Where precisely does this leave our “robust economy“? It is illusory. New Zealanders are entitled to some honesty from Government and the Reserve Bank as to the true nature of our national financial health. Andrew R.
What about tackling the grossly bloated, often overpaid white-collar public sector? Oh but that won’t happen because they’re mostly on the Labour payroll and there’s an election coming up this year. Once again, the private sector is going to have to shoulder the burden. Simon N.
I’m in my 50s, worked fulltime since 16 - now, after 20 years with my employer, they have closed my branch and I have no option but to take redundancy. This is a scary time for me ahead with the forecasts not looking good. Lyn M.
Been through this redundancy twice in my working life. Both happened in the same industry. After the third time I decided to have a complete change and went into a growth industry and never felt better. It is not a nice feeling to wake up in the morning with no job to go to and trying to stay positive, but it will change. Some things work out for the better. Michael E.
A very bleak winter ahead for thousands, but with costs still rising across the board there appears to be no light at the end of the tunnel for quite a while. With the big money splash on the 1st of the month, I say inflation is going to be controlling our lives for some time to come and I agree with Liam that the pain is only at the beginning. David S.
