A travel bubble with the Cook Islands is getting closer. Photo / 123RF
Slow bubble
On June 18 Winston Peters said the country was a couple of weeks away from being able to announce an air bubble with the Cook Islands. Two weeks after he said he couldn't tell us anything; it would have to come from the Prime Minister. A week later
Jacinda Ardern said she had instructed officials to investigate what was needed. Then Auckland Airport told us they had nearly finished the changes required. Now we are told negotiations on what is required are nearly finished but it won't be ready for almost four months and all of a sudden they have to include the maritime pathway. If this is how things have been done by this Government it is hardly surprising so many projects have fallen over. What chance they can get this country out of the deepest recession on record? It would be hilarious if it wasn't so serious.
Richard Brown, Manly
Where better
We would all agree that the bubble with the Cook Islands should be opened as soon as possible. Is the Government being over-cautious? This can be a contentious issue. On the one hand there does not seem any reason, providing maritime restrictions are in place, but on the other there is a dangerthat the virus could sneak in, with disastrous results. These results cannot be exaggerated as we only have to look at Victoria. However, we have to make a move in that direction sooner rather than later and where better to do it with than with the Cooks?
Reg Dempster, Albany
Border ideas
The current border controls allow the unintentional import of Covid-19 and it is a matter of time before a new outbreak starts. The rules or protocols must start with the following: No person without a negative Covid-19 test result not older than seven days must be allowed to board a plane en route to New Zealand. On day two all entrants in isolation/quarantine must be tested and if positive be placed in quarantine and the cost becomes theirs. If they cannot afford that they must be placed in army barracks prepared for proper quarantine. On day six all should be tested again and if positive the alternatives for day two testing come into play. If tested negative on days two and six they can be released and considered no risk. The benefits are huge and the potential enormous. The quarantine/isolation period is halved as well as the cost for government. The risk will be almost nil. It also opens up the opportunity to open the borders for people with essential skills, split families, business visits, students, followed thereafter by tourism. We are talking billions and billions and it can turn the country around.
Adriaan Terblanche, Hobsonville Point
Covid cards
Listening to Rob Fyfe, business advisor for the Covid-19 recovery, I get the distinct impression he is frustrated by the lack of progress. He knows opening up to non-Kiwis requires a back-up to avoid another lockdown. Now the Government is in election mode the tactic is to say nothing, do nothing, to rock the boat of zero community transmission and sinking Labour's second term. We need a rapid test and an effective tracking system. We need ideally to get hold of rapid testing kits and Covid cards to open the economy before we sink with the weight of debt.
Steve Russell, Hillcrest
Creeping threat
If there is something positive to be gained, the epidemic has exposed the reality of China's creeping threat to the free world. We can no longer ignore the way they have sought to ignore international treaties and human rights. We must endeavour to support the efforts of our free world community, to resist the aggressive physical and diplomatic effort by the Chinese Communist Party to influence world affairs. Based on some of the letters, there seems to be a basic lack of understanding of the real threat to our democratic way of life that the Chinese Communist Party pose to their own citizens and the world community. With our heavy reliance on China as a major trading partner, we are not in a great position to be as aggressive in our condemnation as some of our bigger allies.
Stuart Morrison, Warkworth
Electric cars
Rob Buchanan is chasing rainbows. It has been calculated that if the UK replaced all its cars with electric it would need about twice the annual global production of cobalt; three quarters of the world's production of lithium carbonate; nearly the entire world production of neodymium; and more than half the world's production of copper in 2018. To make it worse, electric cars are one of the most expensive ways of reducing emissions of carbon dioxide. There are better and cheaper ways of reducing carbon dioxide emissions – switching from coal to gas is effective and cheap and nuclear power is safe and emission-free. The electric car industry exists worldwide only because it is heavily subsidised by taxpayers and other road users.
Bryan Leyland, Pt Chevalier
Toxic batteries
In response to Rob Buchanan's passionate letter, I wonder does he or any others who feel and think as he does know what to do with expired EV car batteries? These cover the entire floor plan of the car and cannot be disposed of in any known way. They are filled with highly toxic components that punish the environment. Furthermore, to build these batteries, child slave labour is used in the countries that mine lithium, a large requirement for EV batteries.
Anthony Browne, Birkdale
Beirut and Hiroshima
It seems an uncanny coincidence that the Beirut fertiliser explosion occurred on the same day as the 75th memorial in Hiroshima for the victims of the US nuclear attack in 1945. The Beirut explosion all but flattened the entire waterfront area of the city, killing at least 160 people. The Hiroshima bomb destroyed most of the city and killed 140,000 people, with many more deaths over years resulting from burns and radiation sickness. The statistics from the two events cannot really be compared, but what we should be mindful of is the devastation and suffering we are able to witness on our television screens from what one reporter called the largest non-nuclear explosion on a civilian population. With the tensions in the geopolitical climate ramping up, it is time for saner voices to be heard.
Paul Judge, Hamilton
Virus puzzle
National's deputy leader Gerry Brownlee finds the official warning that we face a second wave of Covid-19 "puzzling". Perhaps I can assist him. At present, we have no community transmission of the virus. Therefore there are only two possible future scenarios: that we continue to have no community transmission or that we begin to have community transmission. It is not possible for the two situations to exist simultaneously. The virus is not Schroedinger's cat. When we have no community transmission, we can prepare to have community transmission, hope for the best or pat ourselves on the back because we have, in Brownlee's words, "made a big effort on this". I know which option I prefer.
Peter Calder, Westmere
Admission of failure
I have to compliment Fran O'Sullivan's opinion article in Saturday's business section. She is right on the button, from the observation that our Covid-19 response has been less than stellar in a number of aspects, to that nothing of real substance is being done to protect us properly for the future. This government scaremongering about a virus relapse is really an admission of failure to address these issues properly.
Trevor Burgess, Snells Beach
Housing theory
Living in an area where a Labour Government once built 5000 state houses, I have been intrigued as to why the current Government has not been able to keep its promises with regard to new housing for those who need it most. My theory is that this Labour Government's difficulties in keeping its promises with regard to new publicly owned and affordable houses may be due to higher levels of income inequality in New Zealand today. A few months ago I was visiting one of Auckland's most expensive suburbs, Herne Bay, for a regular medical appointment. Searching for a car park, I began to be struck by the number of tradies' vans parked around Herne Bay's residential streets. In one such street - not a very long street - I counted five trade vehicles. Which has made me think, if good money can be made by renovating Mrs Extremely Wealthy's "tired" kitchen, then why would you bother to go work for a government housing scheme?
Rose Lovell-Smith, Mt Roskill
School division
If education is the great equaliser, why are taxpayers having to subsidise socially divisive religious and private schools? Nearly 15 per cent of pupils go to religious-based or private schools according to your public vs private feature. A religious school is still funded by taxpayers but can charge extra fees to cover land and buildings. They are only made to accept 10 per cent non-denominational students and heavily promote particular religious faiths. Privileged private schools get nearly $50 million in government subsidies. Surely everything should be invested in giving every New Zealand student a high quality, rational science-based education. Allowing a school to promote a specific religious agenda only promotes social division. Likewise having private schools only instills a sense of elitism. If education is the bedrock of reason and social cohesion, then surely religious and private schools fly in the face of that.
Jeff Hayward, central Auckland
SHORT & SWEET
On Greens
The Greens, in government with Labour, built less than 500 houses in three years, in spite of all the claims before the last election. Now again, before the election, they say, they will aim to build 10 times this amount in one year, every year. Surely, this is just to check the mental health of the nation. Rod Milne, Taupo
On isolation
We should hire eight cruise ships that hold 1500 passengers each. Park two each in Northland, Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch in the middle of each harbour. Use these for isolation facilities. No security required. This would allow us to process 6000 returnees every week for the foreseeable future.
Eddie Mann, Newmarket
On Lotto
If Lotto does not go this Wednesday, they better force it to 50 million on Saturday and get rid of the damn thing. This extra spending on more tickets is sucking out people's money from other areas for all the wrong reasons.
Glenn Forsyth, Taupo
On teachers
Simon Collins' claims that "private schools can buy the best teachers", "money pays for good teachers" are very misleading. I wonder on what basis does he define "good" or "best" teachers? It would be more correct to say, "private schools can buy more teachers" or "money pays for more teachers".
Irene Bennet, East Tamaki
The boy’s family and friends came together this week to farewell him at his home.