To get you warmed up, here's a selection of letters to the editor from today's Herald. Do you agree with our correspondents? Or are your hackles raised? Well, have your say! (Please note comments will be moderated before publication. Comments may be edited, abridged or discarded.)
Anzac Day no time for prejudice
Surely the upcoming Anzac Day is a time to commemorate all war dead, without prejudice to victors and vanquished. Wouldn't it be the time for all creeds to stand shoulder to shoulder and be one of us? Let me hear the clarion call for all New Zealand Muslims, inclusive of men and women, to gather at all commemoration sites in defiance of covert threats.
Mark Holms, Piha.
Day to stand up
Is cancelling many Anzac Day services because of a potential threat truly the way to honour those who charged a beach under murderous machine-gun fire? These men had a high chance of being killed, yet charged regardless. More than 100 years later, we cower at the thought someone might attack one of these services. Hardly a fitting way to honour those who died for our right to remember their sacrifice.
Kent Millar, Blockhouse Bay.
Anti-car
A recent article about the Quay St Crawl and a letter about the proposed changes in St Heliers seem to have completely missed the point. Auckland Transport's sole criteria for change are: does it (a) increase congestion or (b) remove car parks or (c) both. When will Aucklanders finally stand up to AT and demand an end to this behaviour?
Dr. M. B. Spencer, Auckland Central.
Re-examine prejudices
Rather than talk about Islamophobia which is currently a headline, let us talk about prejudice which is preconceived opinion not based on reason or actual experience.
Prejudice has raised its ugly head on numerous occasions in this country and has a very wide scope including all levels of society. Some are fairly obvious, like being poor is of your own making, racism or intolerance of someone who does not conform to your beliefs. One's upbringing makes a huge difference to the way we think and deep seated prejudices can remain for our lives.
The media covers a huge spectrum of good and bad behaviour but it is our choice of how we want to use that information. The Christchurch tragedy is a reminder that we could all have a prejudice gained not by experience but by the influence of others' opinions. Now could be a good time to re-examine these prejudices and consider their justification.
Reg Dempster, Albany.
Eden Park
Simon Wilson's analysis of the stadium situation was looking on track in Saturday's paper when he said that Eden Park "... will never be a great venue ... a cobbled together collection of stands". This is a vital point, often missed by John Tamihere and other politicians and bureaucrats who tend to sit in the best seats. The fact is, it is an awful stadium for watching football, with most of the seats too far from the action, and the lack of atmosphere has reduced Blues crowds to filling just 20 per cent of the seats.
But then in Sunday's edition Wilson went off track and said the Warriors should move to Eden Park, citing the poor state of Mt Smart as the reason. Warriors fans are just fine with Mt Smart, a rectangular footy stadium that keeps us all close to the players, and the fans let the club know a couple of years ago they did not want to move to Eden Park.
Don't sentence the Warriors to the same slow Eden Park death as the Blues.
Tony Waring, Grey Lynn.
Fair tax
If the Government is serious about reducing poverty and actually fixing the housing crisis, it needs to implement a major change to the entire tax system and not just tinker timidly around the edges. To create fairness across the board there needs to be a comprehensive capital gains tax where each person declares all income, irrespective of source, and pays tax the same as everyone else.
There needs to be a land tax to discourage land banking and an inheritance tax on estates valued over $1 million. GST should be replaced with a financial transactions tax and income tax levels should be binded to multiples of the medium income, with the first $20,000 income tax free.
Doing this will help address property speculation and put more money in the hands of those who need it most, directly stimulating the local economy, creating more jobs and ultimately leading to more revenue for the Government.
Isaac Broome, Pukekohe.
Signs shifted
Why have all the sign-bearing metal poles on footpaths been shifted in from the kerb? In some cases these poles are in the middle of the footpath. Who decided this? Has this "disease" spread all across Auckland or is it confined to the Mt Albert/Mt Eden Local Board area?
Is there a new bylaw that says that all electric scooters keep to the outer edge of these poles? Perhaps one is coming.
Street rubbish bins have been hit with the same "disease".
Gillian Dance, Mount Albert.
