The coronavirus is active beyond New Zealand's borders. Photo / AP
Respect quarantine rules
With the right of residents to return to New Zealand also comes responsibility to the rest of us who made the sacrifices to be Covid-free. All cases of Covid have come from managed isolation. For the protection of all of us, quarantine must be respected. The
penalty for breaking it should not only be the full weight of the law, but also the total cost of isolation for that person. Some people are refusing tests, apparently. It should be a condition of return that everyone must agree to be tested. Anyone refusing after reaching New Zealand should be charged full quarantine costs – extending for however long it is necessary to keep them isolated.
Trish Jenner, Bayswater
Universal ideals
Jacinda Ardern describes the ideas of being a team, being kind and staying at home as expressing a single value: whanaungatanga. "It's kinship, pulling together. We showed the world a New Zealand value that we have learned from Maoridom." The Maori word is great if it sums up all those values and most New Zealanders would be happy to use it. But I am concerned by her statement that we have learned these values from Maoridom. Indeed Maori showed these values during the lockdown. But so did European, Pasifika, Chinese, Indian and all the other New Zealanders who have developed these moral standards as individuals. They learned them from their families, their schools, their friends and their wider community. Most cultures value these universal ideals. New Zealanders of all ethnicities showed the world that in a crisis we are capable of pulling together.
Wendy Innes, Remuera
Paying for quarantine
Tom Hunter (August 4) considers it unfair that his daughter should pay for quarantine to come to New Zealand from England for his 50th wedding anniversary. I am a Canadian citizen (New Zealand permanent resident) having resided and worked here for over 40 years. I will be going to Canada in early September for three months to spend time with my 95-year-old mother. I fully expect to pay for my quarantine when I return. Does Tom Hunter believe that citizens/residents should be able to come and go for any purpose during these difficult times and not contribute to the cost of their quarantine upon arrival in New Zealand? I can understand a waiver of quarantine fees for those returning to support dying family or to attend the funeral of a close family member. Otherwise, costs should be borne by those choosing to visit, or leave and return. If Tom Hunter's family are unable to pay for the quarantine fees then we are lucky to be living in an age where his daughter can join in via Skype etc.
Christiane Russell, Katikati
Where's the sense?
Last month 7085 new residence applications were granted to new immigrants and nearly 10,000 people were granted applications to move here in the past two months alone while we are paying for quarantine for anyone arriving. I thought that Immigration would have stopped granting new immigrants resident permits at this time while we pay for the quarantine of New Zealand citizens and long-term permanent residents who want to return. Who is co-ordinating policy and actions between government departments? New immigrants will be competing with the rest of us for jobs, houses, schooling, transport, water, hospitals, doctors and all infrastructure at a time when many people are losing their jobs and homes. Is this sensible? Surely we should not be granting residence permits to applicants outside New Zealand while we need to pay for their quarantine for them to arrive and while New Zealanders are losing their jobs.
Jan Gillespie, Ōtāhuhu
More fines
The introduction by police of 24 "unmarked vehicles nationwide in a bid to reduce deaths and injuries on the road" is sheer humbug. How will unmarked cars reduce deaths and injuries? What they will do is increase the number of fines imposed on unsuspecting motorists. To reduce deaths and injuries we need deterrents, not penalties after events that may result in deaths or injuries. Some European countries have effective deterrents in road signs warning of radar cameras and life-size cutouts of policemen beside roads.
Alan McWilliam, Clive
Land of opportunity
We read daily about inequality, how individuals do well and others do not. We are very fortunate in New Zealand that we live in a society that provides opportunities, there are plenty of societies where such opportunities do not exist and they are not to be envied. To take advantage of the opportunities our society offers it helps to have good values, a good education and the ability to work, ideally work hard. These three prerequisites most often mean you will succeed or do well. A nice smile also makes a huge difference. Even then, success is not guaranteed as too often individuals think they know everything, they never learned to listen, and this is most often a recipe for failure. Seeking advice and listening provides the basis for good decision-making. Knowing everything and knowing nothing, often linked, both guarantee failure. Knowing something is essential to at least understanding the options and making good decisions, otherwise we end up engaging consultants who are expensive and often know less. While our society provides opportunities, it must also look after those who falter, who do not do well, and in these cases the right housing and income support are basic essentials. This is a very small price to pay to preserve our economic and political freedoms. While inequality unquestionably exists, there are no miracle cures; good values, a good education, being prepared to listen and having the desire to work, provide the best starting point.
Murray Higgs, Parnell
Status quo insufficient
Professor Mary Cannon makes a good point regarding the dangers associated with using cannabis before the age of 15. The status quo however is that anyone with the money can buy cannabis with no restriction on age or mental stability. Legalisation will at least apply a R20 restriction. Professor Cannon also claims that legalising something always creates more use. However, that is patently false. Through effective education campaigns, drink driving is at its lowest levels, fewer people smoke tobacco than ever before and most pertinent to Professor Cannon, legalisation of cannabis in Canada has in fact reduced usage among young people. Cannabis will always be there and so will the patients Professor Cannon cares for. No amount of head-in-the-sand approach is going to change that. Better to legalise, manage and tax to fund effective education campaigns and people like Professor Cannon in their endless task of helping those affected by any drug.
Kent Millar, Blockhouse Bay
Need for controls
Imagine the chaos and danger - not to mention the loss of tax revenue - if beer, wine and liquor sales, i.e. the alcohol industry, were not controlled by the state. The age of drinkers, the quality and strength of the product, the behaviour of the suppliers, the marketing, driving under the influence ... all need and get regulation, though many people still drink irresponsibly and so face consequences. This is what legalisation of the cannabis industry (and why not other drugs?) is about. Under-15-year-olds already can access cannabis and we know it is not good for them, as the Dunedin study shows. But state control of the industry is the way to start making important changes to this behaviour while allowing those over 20 to choose a product less harmful than alcohol.
B Darragh, Auckland Central
Stark difference
Reviewing how the two main parties envision the future a stark difference emerges. On one hand is National, wanting to put our kids into hock to build vast highways throughout the upper North Island. Labour, for their part, is investigating a massive pumped-hydro scheme at Lake Onslow which would, in effect, create a "battery", doubling the size of New Zealand's electricity capacity, improving practicality of wind and solar, and placing a hard cap on electricity prices. Covid has taught us that we cannot know the future, but what we do know is the internal combustion engine will not dominate it; but electricity will. We are at a historical turning point where new technologies are overwhelming old ones. In that context, National's plan is like someone inventing the world's biggest steam engine, just when Henry Ford is on the point of perfecting the assembly-line. Don't we need to be smarter than that?
Pete Tashkoff, Henderson
Effort needed on emissions
Your correspondent David Gibbs holds the view that because New Zealand's emissions are low on a worldwide basis and as such, "not causing catastrophic climate change" we don't need to do much about the issue. This is a commonly expressed belief and warrants further debate. The pollution of the atmosphere is caused by the actions of the world's population as a whole. On a per-capita basis this varies widely. New Zealand's per-capita emissions are relatively high when compared with other countries. Perhaps we should do more, not less. Also, 20 per cent of total worldwide emissions are derived from countries of New Zealand's size and smaller. This is too big an amount to ignore. Now is the time when we must look to ourselves individually and collectively to do what is required and not wait for other countries or individuals to make the effort. If we all wait, nothing will happen. David suggests the cost to New Zealand to meet our Paris Agreement commitments will be astronomical, but if this is the case it will also apply to many other much larger countries as well.
David Tyler, Beach Haven.
Better access needed
Viv Beck, Heart of the City chief executive, supports events that bring people into the city and acknowledges the need to "create a great place that people want to come to". Under the "Access for Everyone" plan, Auckland Transport and Auckland Council "are making changes on Queen Street .....to prioritise those walking, cycling and using public transport". Sadly, some recent changes work directly against these goals. For many years special buses have travelled from the suburbs to bring people to the Town Hall for the excellent concerts performed by the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra. This service reduces the number of private cars entering the city and also facilitates continued concert attendance for those who may no longer drive. Previously these buses have been able to park directly outside the main Town Hall entrance enabling the passengers, many of whom are elderly, to descend safely to the footpath. After the concerts the buses have returned so passengers can board them with minimum difficulty. This ease of access has now been curtailed by the installation, on the roadway, of permanently fixed white flexible poles. Passengers are now faced by a precarious descent or a walk to and from a bus stop some considerable distance away. The current situation is not conducive to welcoming people to our wonderful, vibrant city. It is to be hoped that the white poles are a temporary measure only.
Helen Higgott, Papakura
SHORT & SWEET
On TikTok
As TikTok is given little option but to sell its US operations to a US corporate, like Huawei before it, allegations that either is a Chinese Government spy platform now look even more like a smokescreen to disguise some plain old-fashioned US "free-market" protectionism.
M. Evans, Tāmaki
On Lotto
I agree with your correspondent, Alan Boniface, that Lotto should be capped at $20m and any surplus allotted amongst the lower divisions. Two weeks ago, I fluked five numbers on one line (one being the bonus)! Woohoo! I looked it up to see I only received $50! Five numbers out of seven and to only get $50 is pathetic. Time Lotto had a big overhaul.
D. Peters, Tuakau
On tracing
The current tracing system is a joke so no one uses it. We will definitely have future pandemics so hopefully government is working on a system that can be turned on and off as needed. Without it we have no scientifically based control.
I MacGregor, Forrest Hill
On recovery
The Government borrowed a massive $50 billion for its Covid-19 recovery plan in a bid to save almost 140,000 jobs. Unfortunately it has become a slush fund to socially, engineer support for the upcoming election.
Neil Hatfull, Warkworth
On prohibition
Kate Hawkesby wonders why we would be so "dumb" as to legalise cannabis. Perhaps because prohibition not only doesn't work, it actually makes any problems worse.
Ian Sheen, Ōtaki
On prisoner cost
The mosque shooter should be sent back to Australia to serve his sentence. They are quick to deport New Zealand offenders. Why should New Zealand taxpayers fork out millions just to keep him safe in prison? That is money that could be far better spent on housing the deserving homeless families!
Marie Kaire, Whangarei
On familiarity
I'm not surprised that the Prime Minister doesn't call the Leaders of the Opposition by their first names, they are never around long enough to get on a first-name basis.
Tony Barnett, Pukekohe