Letters: Tighter monitoring of gun owners to prevent crimes; Act’s alternative reality; Te Papa tourist fee

Act leader David Seymour – is the party living in an alternative reality?

Letters to the Editor

Police owners to prevent gun crime

We seem to be constantly reading about another shooting escapade.

I am sure the vast majority of guns in New Zealand are not essential for legitimate use. However for whatever reason, there is a perverse desire for many people to own a piece of equipment in many cases originally designed to kill people.

Surely in a small population like ours it is possible to monitor every gun that is legally imported and then have a lifetime monitor of where that gun is at all times?

Random checks on where they are at any time could be carried out, with the transfer or sale of every gun updated on the register. Any gun used in the process of a crime can then result in the registered owner being prosecuted as an accessory to that crime.

Any illegal importation of guns would also need very severe penalties. Hopefully this or a similar policy will be bought in by this Government.

Vince West, Milford.

Gumboots, not dance shoes

Thomas Coughlan does a cautious tap dance favouring National’s voter prospects with his “Glimpse of return to ‘rock star economy’” (Weekend Herald, August 17).

However nowhere does he mention the elephant in the room – climate change. Lauding falling interest rates and tax cuts, he suggests Labour and the Greens will struggle and the Prime Minister should put on his dancing shoes.

The fallout from big cuts to public services like health and education to pay for the tax cuts are mentioned, but not emphasised. The old assumption that voters are mainly interested in short-term self-interest doesn’t factor in the growing realisation we are in an existential crisis through climate change.

More and more voters realise we can’t keep doing business as usual or we will be overtaken by events. The so-called rock star economy under Sir John Key was really a mirage. Increasing economic unfairness, infrastructure failure and climate change are now the big issues.

Christopher Luxon may well need gumboots in two years’ time, rather than dancing shoes.

Jeff Hayward, Auckland Central.

Act living in alternative reality

The Act Party is spending $153 million on charter schools, which would actually do a lot of good in our public schools.

They also want to change our firearm laws back to how they were before the Christchurch mosque attack. It appears that occasional mass murders, as also happened at Aramoana, are acceptable. I wonder if they want to legalise the carrying of pistols too.

Returning the availability of pseudoephedrine to pharmacies is also another retrograde step. There appears to be a large doctrinaire ignorance of reality involved: perhaps David Seymour sees himself as the Kiwi Donald Trump?

I can see some logic in the ideas of Winston Peters or Christopher Luxon, but Seymour seems to live in an alternative reality.

Liz Cameron, Coromandel.

Alcohol reform

The fact that recommendations from Sir Geoffrey Palmer’s report on New Zealand’s liquor laws have taken over 10 years to be put in place in Auckland is a disgrace (NZ Herald, August 16).

Those companies that opposed the changes, going to the trouble of taking their case to the Supreme Court, should hang their heads in shame. As usual, with health issues associated with what they sell, it is always about the dollar, not the wellbeing of their customers.

Cigarettes are another example of this but perhaps they could take a lead in this case by not stocking them.

Gilbert Laurenson, Eastern Beach.

Te Papa tourist fee

It says much to the business acumen of our Tourism Minister Matt Doocey that he fails to appreciate it makes no sense to the New Zealand taxpayer for the Government to drive away tourists, such an important source of income, for the sake of a $35 per head charge.

A holiday to the back benches would be a fitting reward for this daft policy and assertion that this is not increasing the cost of tourism.

Bob Campton, Auckland Central.

Spiritual home

The All Blacks’ 50 games unbeaten over 30 years at Eden Park confirms New Zealand’s national rugby stadium and our spiritual rugby home.

Don’t dare think of moving it, only improving it.

No one can build or buy this legacy elsewhere.

Gary Carter, Gulf Harbour.

State of Grace

With Grace Nweke deciding to play netball in Australia next year, Netball New Zealand has to be on a plane to Australia today to ensure that New Zealand has a team entered in their competition next year.

Netball New Zealand cannot be so short-sighted as to stop New Zealand netball players, who only want to improve their game, from being able to represent the country. The team can be made up of our top players and other top players from around the world who would love to come to New Zealand to live and play netball.

To think that we might be faced again with another season of six teams playing each other for four months is enough to cause dismay for any diehard netball fan.

We supporters deserve better.

Liz Sampson, Mission Bay.