Ukrainian refugees
The unfolding horror of the Ukrainian refugee situation in Europe is a stark reminder of my plight 70-odd years ago in Germany when my Ukrainian parents were desperate to avoid being repatriated to certain death in the Russian-controlled Soviet Union.
Our family wandered from one "displaced persons" camp
to another before New Zealand gave my family a safe haven, for which I am eternally grateful.
Growing up, I would listen to the horrific tales Ukrainian refugees related, their sufferings during the Holodomor of 1933, and the forced labour in the Siberian gulag.
These horrors by these so-called Russian liberators have touched every family in Ukraine. For that reason, they fight for their freedom and sovereignty. Death is preferable to abject slavery in Putin's barbaric Russian peace.
My parents taught me the Ukrainian language and to be proud of my Ukrainian heritage, as well as a love for New Zealand and its people, who showed us such generosity on our arrival in 1950.
I am now too old to physically make a contribution to the cause. Instead, I offer a modified quote from Winston Churchill: "Mr Putin, you do your worst and the Ukrainian people will do our best."
Alec Oleh Krechowec, Glendene.
Fair hearing
Now that the debris has been swept away and the protesters at Parliament are scattered, what have we learned? Apart from the obvious - that violence is ugly and soul-destroying, is the knowledge that people don't talk anymore. They scream, they ridicule and they throw projectiles, but communication seems to be a forgotten concept.
Not all the protesters were tinfoil hat-wearing conspiracy theorists. Some may have lost their jobs because of mandates and were feeling marginalised and ignored. A pandemic in its third year can wear the spirit down; fear and anxiety can erode our best instincts. We need to talk, but more crucially listen respectfully and calmly. It might be frustrating but not fatal, and it is the cornerstone of a civilised society.
New Zealand is a civilised society, but we're going to have to work harder to maintain and enhance open dialogue.
To do less could culminate in what happened on January 6, 2021, at the US Capitol. As an American, I still find it shameful and heart-wrenching.
New Zealand is better than that.
Mary Hearn, Glendowie.
Subsequent houses
If I decided on Government policy, I would require all the banks to impose much higher lending requirements on any second or subsequent house purchase by a customer so that the housing policy of having as many families as possible owning homes could be realised.
Housing has become the go-to smart investment by rewarding housing with guaranteed tax-free capital gains. The Government controls the Reserve Bank and can legislate the changes required. The banks are also making record profits despite the pandemic. They can stand a profit haircut and deserve one immediately.
Dennis Pahl, Tauranga.
Retrograde policy
National Party leader Christopher Luxon's focus on lower taxes and therefore more money for the "haves" makes it clear that his party is deeply committed to looking after people like himself, who are wealthy and own a lot of property.
This is not progress. It's a huge step backwards. We have massive inequality and a climate crisis to attend to.
Surely we deserve something better than this if we are ever going to make our country a better place.
Vivien Fergusson, Mt Eden.
Economic stimulus
While neither agreeing nor disagreeing with Christopher Luxon's tax rate plans, what I can contribute is that reducing the tax rate does not necessarily mean that hospitals etc cannot be funded, as is asserted by some.
The most important thing is the amount of tax dollars collected that enables necessary services to be provided by the Government. High tax rates do not necessarily mean providing the biggest amount of tax dollars as high tax rates can constrain economic activity. The less activity, the less there is to tax, the fewer tax dollars available to provide the necessary services. Conversely, if tax rates are lower, greater economic activity may result from which a greater amount of tax may be collected. It's a fine balance.
Ross McCarthy, Glendowie.
