Letters: Time to toll all motorways; doubts pseudoephedrine’s benefits are ‘enormous’

Readers doubt the Government abolishing Auckland's regional fuel tax is a good idea. Photo / NZ Herald

Letters to the Editor

Removing Auckland’s regional fuel tax is a disservice to motorists and the entire transport industry.

As NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi continues to develop motorways across the country and as these motorways have very expensive maintenance costs, more and more of the national budget for roads is spent in this way. It’s a vicious circle that leaves less and less available for future development for new roads and other transport options.

Quite simply, we must find a better way of funding transport. This is not rocket science and many major cities are doing it today and have been for years. The answer is to toll all motorways and no invention is required - we have the technology and although it’s not here yet, it is readily available and it’s not complex.

In essence, using number plate recognition: all vehicles are tagged when they enter the motorway and tagged again when they exit. This allows a simple calculation of distance travelled, time of day and size of vehicle to determine the toll paid. This amount is then charged to the registration holder so the clumsy system of the Northern Expressway is avoided.

If the people in countries like the Scandinavians, most of Europe, the UK, Australia, the US and others can see the equity of this approach and implement it, then why can we not do likewise?

Rod Lyons, Kumeū.

Go slow on congestion

Now that the coalition Government has removed the Auckland fuel tax intended to finance the cost of reducing congestion on Auckland’s roads and dumped all future development of the most effective way of reducing congestion, which is by using an efficient rail network, Auckland is condemned to going back to having a very basic transport plan.

This will probably involve removing all incentives to reduce the number of cars on the road, such as removing the T3 lanes and encouraging more vehicles containing only one person per vehicle to be using the roads, thus increasing the congestion on Auckland’s roads for the foreseeable future.

Ultimately a government in the future will have to solve the problem of Auckland congestion, but by then it will be a very costly exercise. The current policies show no foresight whatsoever.

David Mairs, Glendowie.

Pseudoephedrine’s cold comfort

Associate Health Minister David Seymour said last week that New Zealanders were “being denied decent cold and flu medication” and that pseudoephedrine’s ”benefits are enormous”.

I am not sure what he is basing his “enormous benefits” statement on. Having worked in general practice for 30 years, during a time when oral pseudoephedrine was available, there has never been decent medication for colds and I certainly didn’t see such benefits in thousands of people who presented with common viral upper respiratory symptoms.

The Best Practice Advocacy Centre, which provides reviews of studies and guidance to GPs on management noted in an article in June 2018 that “pseudoephedrine... may be modestly beneficial in reducing nasal congestion”.

Noting that pseudoephedrine should not be used in children under 6, that it is banned in sport, that it carries significant potential adverse effects, that viral colds are self-limiting and that pharmacists have expressed concern about safety in their businesses (and the myriad other huge issues facing the New Zealand health system), it seems surprising that the Act leader is spending time and energy on this marginally beneficial medication.

Greg Dunn, Hamilton.

Don’t hate No 8

Reading Paula Bennett’s view on the loss of our No 8 wire mentality (Herald on Sunday, February 11), it’s a sad time to be a New Zealander.

We can’t even replace our own gib wall lining after floods without consultants and insurance boffins getting their weight in gold and decades of deliberation.

New Zealanders are now learning “buy the book” - if the book doesn’t say it’s possible, then it’s not possible, but if you No 8 it and it works, expect to be sued in the future for not believing the rules.

Randel Case, Bucklands Beach.

Go down, Simeon

It is Simeon Brown’s turn to says he is going to lead us to the promised land - a new harbour crossing.

Mind you, he has no plans on how to do that, no thoughts on how we might pay for it, except we know he has already killed off any chance of using a targeted Auckland fuel tax.

Perhaps, like Moses, he will part the waters for us? And after all, Joshua led the Israelites to the promised land.

But sadly Brown lacks that kind of vision and powers. All we have is a promise for more cars and buses buzzing across some kind of harbour crossing and joining into an ever-snarling traffic jam.

Neil Anderson, Algies Bay.

Stupendous stadia

It is very peculiar that various groups of the good and great seem to be always coming up with stupendous ideas for various stadia on Auckland’s waterfront.

The latest group are proposing to lease Ngāti Whātua land. If the proposers of this scheme are prepared to finance and develop it without using public money, well and good, otherwise it should be abandoned before these people waste too much money.

The proponents are probably unaware that Phil Goff is no longer mayor and fiscal prudence is the order of the day, with getting sewage out of the harbour a priority. Currently Auckland is burdened with a lot of stupid CCOs, especially Auckland Transport, and should not be looking for new and exciting ways to hurt the citizens.

Neville Cameron, Coromandel.