NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / New Zealand

Letters to the editor: Housing Available, unequal wealth and population growth

NZ Herald
24 Jan, 2021 04:00 PM7 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Letter writers have reacted to housing available in New Zealand and Kiwis coming back home. Photo / File

Letter writers have reacted to housing available in New Zealand and Kiwis coming back home. Photo / File

Opinion

Housing Available

The housing shortage we are facing has taken a long time to develop, over a decade. The shortage is part of the reason houses are now so expensive.

There is no quick solution because the building industry does not have capacity to further increase supply. More materials, more machinery and more skilled workers are needed for that to happen. However supply has been ramped up to record levels. Sections are not really in short supply, there are thousands of new and infill sites available and properties are now changing hands all over the city to be redeveloped with more dwellings than before and suitable sites are being sold like hot cakes. Help is on the way.

Selwyn Irwin, Glen Eden.

Kiwis coming home

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

I was shocked and disappointed by the article by Cecilia Robinson advocating that the government abandons to their fate Kiwis still overseas, who want to come home.

I don't think this is in the spirit of a true New Zealander. She has obviously not stopped to consider the plight of those of us still trying to get home.

I myself was due to return on Christmas Day. I was informed that my flight was cancelled an hour after the automatic check in.

I had sent all my warm clothes and shoes off to the shipping agent the day before. Now I am living in a house empty of furniture except a single bed and an old sofa. The living room has no curtains and a concrete floor. I am over 70. I am not sleeping well and have had "Covid dreams". I have rebooked to return in March. Thankfully I have wonderful neighbours looking after my house. I wouldn't want Cecilia Robinson as a neighbour. I can cope with my situation but I know there are many New Zealanders of all ages, young families too, who are much worse off situationally, financially and mentally than myself. The author of that article mentions the mental health and isolation of the people in New Zealand without mentioning, and clearly not considering, the plight right now of those of us still abroad.

John Millais, Kawau Island.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Talking sense on border

Finally someone is talking sense! Cecilia Robinson is absolutely correct in her comment in Saturday's Herald.

It is without question now time for the Government to make the very difficult decision but eminently sensible approach to close our borders.

This will allow us to strengthen our border management against the increased transmissibility of these new strains of Covid 19.

If the new strains of Covid-19 get past our borders and into the health system and community of the Team of 5 million it will be catastrophic.

Discover more

New Zealand

PM urges Kiwis to avoid pile-ons: 'Imagine if your family member tested positive'

24 Jan 09:42 AM
Opinion

Stop all returnees until we know the answer

25 Jan 04:00 PM
Opinion

Letters: When did you last buy a book?

26 Jan 04:00 PM
Construction

Du Val seeks $17.5m for new build-to-rent fund

26 Jan 04:00 PM

NZ seems to have been lulled into a sense of complacency but there will be a severe backlash if the new strains get in and we see community deaths and the Government will be held responsible.

Kerre McIvor's comment on her own family's experience was equally relevant and outlined the difficulties around this whole global situation.

Everyone's situation is different, however as Cecilia said "we need to put the needs of the many ahead of the needs of the few".

Robyn Brown, Mt Albert.

Bias in media

Your columnist John Roughan nails it with his piece (Weekend Herald, January 23) about the part the news media plays in polarising views. Many of us have watched with dismay over many years the growing bias in the mainstream media and its spread from opinion pieces to investigative articles and to the news itself.

Far too many people these days preach diversity but not diversity of opinion. They decry racism but use it mainly to shut down any rational debate. They use science, which is never settled, like a religious dogma. Let's see news articles that concentrate on the facts and don't leave obvious questions unanswered. Let's see investigative journalism which doesn't leave out the inconvenient elements. Let's see a variety of well written opinion pieces from across the spectrum.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Stan Rinaldi, Hamilton.

Unequal wealth

John Roughan's column of January 23 was full of valuable insights, but he seems to have misread the economic and cultural dynamic of today's United States.

Let's go back to 1980. Two powerful political thinkers faced each other across the Pacific. One was conservative and pragmatic. Deng Xiaoping wanted to make China great again. The pro-democracy demonstrators in Tiananmen Square (1989) would be brutally swept aside.

The other was a radical, committed to the demented ideology of Ayn Rand. Alan Greenspan didn't need to be elected to political office, because Reagan, and the next three presidents, enthusiastically applied his toxic advice.

The result: 150,000 affluent American households now own more wealth than the bottom 150 million households. Many Americans are baffled. They are constantly told that "the System" is working for them, but their standard of living continues to deteriorate. The "rational" explanations of the "elite" have failed, and so millions of these "forgotten" people have embraced irrationality.

Arch Thomson, Mt Wellington.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Population growth

I agree with Steve Matheson's letter (NZ Herald, January 12) and the subsequent letters from others regarding New Zealand's population growth, and the call for a rethink. In the past 20 odd years, our population has increased by one million, which is a 25 per cent increase. To my knowledge, this 25 per cent increase has been carried out by both Labour and National with no debate, no discussion, and no policy announcement.

Perpetual population growth is not a sensible or sustainable economic policy yet there is almost no questioning of it.

Our greatest advantage is our small population and isolation (as the current pandemic has shown) and it would be good to actually see a political party show some leadership on this issue and at the very least have some public discussion.

Derek Alston, West Melton.

Two-pronged Covid strategy

When Covid started and PM Jacinda Ardern issued our elimination strategy it was, and has been proven to be, a huge success. However, at that early stage no one knew if lockdowns were going to be the answer. Vaccines were the only other path out of the pandemic.

I remember many times Ardern was asked about procuring vaccines for NZ and she just deflected the questions. We really should have a two-pronged strategy. Israel with a similar size population to us did just that, even paying over the asking price for the vaccine and now has almost half its population vaccinated.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

We are just a whisker away from another outbreak given how rapidly the new strains can spread and still we get the same weak excuses.

Dr Alan Papert, Queenstown.

American empire

Contributor Gary Wycherley states (Herald January 20) the American empire is in irreversible decline. Really? Covid-19 denied Donald Trump a second presidential term, his isolationist, protectionist policies questioned.

The Biden administration will engage in global inclusion and revisit the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement which, together with China's participation, could create a formidable trade bloc assisting millions.

Truth and transparency will be restored and democracy ensured the rejection of a fraudulent leader, a luxury lost to many nations deprived of common law and freedom of expression.

Have no fear, US dominance will remain intact.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

P.J.Edmondson, Tauranga.

Rail network

The Auckland to Kumeu/Huapai highway is overloaded now and with continuing development in Whenuapai, Hobsonville, Kumeu/Huapai and now Taupaki it will soon become an absolute nightmare. "Rapid Rail" apart from being pie in the sky is not the answer to anything. More bus lanes and, better still, a proper busway along the NW motorway will help but the suburban electrified rail network needs to be extended to at least Huapai and eventually Helensville.

This holiday period rail shut down should have been used to lower the floor of the Swanson tunnel to allow for electrification. A second tunnel needs to be driven as soon as possible.

Bob van Ruyssevelt, Glendene.

NewsletterClicker
Save

    Share this article

Latest from New Zealand

Talanoa

'I just cried': Heartbroken family seek justice after designer Afa Ah Loo dies in US shooting

17 Jun 07:00 PM
New Zealand

Markets with Madison: America's atomic effort

Herald NOW

Herald NOW: Daily Weather Update: June 18 2025

Jono and Ben brew up a tea-fuelled adventure in Sri Lanka

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from New Zealand

'I just cried': Heartbroken family seek justice after designer Afa Ah Loo dies in US shooting

'I just cried': Heartbroken family seek justice after designer Afa Ah Loo dies in US shooting

17 Jun 07:00 PM

His eldest brother said they were struggling to comprehend their sudden loss.

Markets with Madison: America's atomic effort

Markets with Madison: America's atomic effort

Herald NOW: Daily Weather Update: June 18 2025

Herald NOW: Daily Weather Update: June 18 2025

Premium
Richter scales and fishy tales: When a small earthquake spoiled a day of fishing

Richter scales and fishy tales: When a small earthquake spoiled a day of fishing

17 Jun 06:00 PM
Help for those helping hardest-hit
sponsored

Help for those helping hardest-hit

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP
search by queryly Advanced Search