Truly honoured
It must surely be time that the eligibility criteria for inclusion in the NZ Honours to be reviewed.
Many of the recipients are being rewarded/recognised for simply performing their generously paid full-time job.
Surely that is what an employee is expected to do?
Current awardees in the legal profession have chosen that field as their professional career and are financially rewarded. Why must they receive an honour for performing the task for which they were employed?
Similarly, professional sportspersons are paid to participate and (hopefully) excel in the sport of their choice. Those who do excel and win are recognised by their respective sporting code administrators or the Olympic Committee with medals or awards. Why must they be rewarded again in our Honours system?
Is this a case of gilding the (already generously paid) lily again?
There is, however, an army of unpaid volunteers who work tirelessly to assist those less fortunate. It is time that these "unsung heroes" are given recognition.
It wouldn't take too much effort to identify those who are really worthy of recognition and include them in our Honours system.
Paul Boswell, Pakuranga.
Co-governance discussed
The concept of co-governance needs clarification and debate. It is, at the very least, misunderstood or confusing to many and downright threatening to some - especially on the political right, surprisingly, as John Key, Bill English and Chris Findlayson played a part in its early institution.
The problem seems to be that it is being equated with the notion of Māori ownership or control of a resource, traditionally not "owned" even though it is often commercially exploited by certain vested interests.
I gather co-governance does not mean Māori suddenly have equal, or worse, dominant rights but it does seem to mean that Māori want a bigger say (a "co-say") in how the resource gets used and cared for.
Let's face it, many of our waterways (and irrigated, over-fertilised farmland) have degenerated. The needs of the general public get overlooked while industry is prioritised. Too many short-sighted decisions have been made, and new players are needed to ensure greater safety and sustainability of these resources.
That's what co-governance means to me. Naive? Simplistic? We need more discussion.
B Darragh, Auckland Central.
Dream team
In my considered opinion, it's time for a reshuffle of duties at the Beehive. In addition to being Prime Minister Jacinda should take over Foreign Affairs. Then, after buying a new plane, immediately get on it and tour the world promoting Aotearoa New Zealand. First stops: Australia, China and India. After that our neglected Pacific neighbours, Fiji, Samoa and Tonga. Then start to work on South America and on to Europe and the UK.
Ardern is immensely popular in almost every country and undeniably an excellent orator and communicator. In my view, her talents are wasted here. Her deputy, Grant Robertson is well qualified to run the day-to-day affairs of the country in her absence and sort out the cost of living and other domestic financial matters. Nanaia Mahuta can then concentrate on her other portfolio of Local Government and try and sort out the Three Waters debacle. This will be the best use of our leaders' talents and will be immensely beneficial for the future prosperity of our nation.
Glen Stanton, Mairangi Bay.
Bureaucratic rule
Of the many benefits civilisation has given us, probably the greatest has been the bureaucrat. New Zealand once had a large and sufficient bureaucracy, built up by the first Labour Government starting in the 1930s.
This large bureaucracy gave us the planning needed, the pipes beneath and the wires above and the roads to get there, to guarantee every New Zealander had a house to live in.
Further, the bureaucracy organised training sufficient doctors and nurses to staff our hospitals. During the huge baby boom, which ran until the 1960s, new mothers had 14 days post-birth rest and to learn to breastfeed. Bureaucrats organised and built our public transport system. Trains, trams and buses carried our goods and people cheaply and - more importantly - safely.
Right-wing ideologues fought to kill off the rapid rail from Whangaparaoa to Howick through Kumeu and south to Papatoetoe. Congestion now costs us $1.3 billion every year.
We need to build up our bureaucracy again so that we can plan our hospital staffing, our police force and our public transport needs and get everyone housed again.
Mark Nixon, Remuera.
AT travails
Shane Ellison thinks (NZ Herald, June 6) Auckland Transport "is on its way". Yeah, right.
My husband and I, both 70, went to catch the train Wednesday afternoon. The mobile AT app showed the southern line to Britomart was not running. A 15-minute call to AT confirms it doesn't know what is happening.
Catch a bus from outside Epsom Library, but the outer link to Newmarket has been cancelled. Number 30 bus is coming in 5 minutes; it arrives 20 minutes late. Get off at 277 to catch the Inner link with our two suitcases to discover that the route has been changed.
Instead of going to Britomart, it goes through Parnell, via the university to the Civic.
Get off and run to catch a red bus down Queen St and run to the Ferry Building - nearly run over at crossing. Miss the ferry to Waiheke by one minute.
Retreat to McDonald's for a coffee and apple pie and catch the 3pm to Waiheke, then bus to our house with a short walk.
A three-hour, 10-minute nightmare from Epsom to Oneroa by AT. "On its way" to a disaster.
Maryrose Morgan-Coakle, Epsom.
Russian stand-off
I am bemused. It's around 100 days since Putin threw the Russian army into an unnecessary and useless war. I am not surprised that Putin's peers are thinking about replacing him (NZ Herald, June 6).
Shortly after the invasion, I wrote to the Canberra Times, pointing out that Ukraine wasn't going to be a pushover (WWII history lesson), and that Putin would not last as a consequence. In a country where the army has traditionally played a massive role in managing the country, the one thing the Russian army cannot tolerate is being humiliated by Russia's leaders.
The Russian elite should know by now, that making peace with Ukraine is of vital national importance for Russia. The sooner Russia makes peace with Ukraine, the less likely the Russian periphery will seek its own fortune.
If you want to know my sources, well, thankfully Tolstoy, Gogol and Platonov are dead so Putin cannot send them off to Siberia to atone for the crime of doubting him.
Wesley Parish, Tauranga.
Response provoked
Your editorial (NZ Herald, June 7) stated Russia invaded Ukraine without provocation.
Yes, the war is inexcusable and a tragedy for all those involved. However, it did not happen out of the blue. Russia looked at Nato expansion to its borders as a provocation. Many warnings have been given by informed Western commentators that Nato creep will be viewed by Russia as a provocation.
Anyone interested in researching events leading up to the invasion will find heaps of evidence of provocation.
James Gregory, Parnell.
Crude politics
We are all aware of the cynicism of politicians, but the EU has recently taken it to a new level. In order to "stick it to Putin" as they say there, sanctions have been introduced against importing crude oil from Russia (with a few exceptions).
However, said crude oil, if "laundered" through Indian refineries and delivered as refined products, is apparently acceptable.
Russia still sells to India at a healthy margin, albeit at a discount to Brent Crude, and India will apply a healthy mark-up as a purely commercial deal.
Add in the cost of tankers as against pipelines, and the suffering EU citizen will be paying through the nose in higher prices so the politicians can look good.
G. N. Kendall, Rothesay Bay.
Two regimes
Ancient Greek philosopher Socrates who was lauded by the Oracle as the wisest man in Greece said: "The unexamined life is not worth living". Why recall that utterance here?
Rightfully, the whole world condemns the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Simultaneously, a small but significant section of humanity glorifies an empire that invaded 178 countries, by the admission of its prime minister.
It slaughtered millions of innocent populaces and plundered their wealth.
What seems to be missing is any true self-examination of its deeds as a country or a society.
Is the glory worth the fanfare?
S. S. Rajan, Huntington.
Platinum memory
The celebrations to mark the Platinum Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II's reign this year reminded me of her coronation ceremony in 1953 and the attendance at that ceremony of Queen Salote of Tonga.
Queen Salote travelled from Tonga for the ceremony and took part in the procession. It was wet that day and Queen Salote was offered a covered carriage to travel in the procession but she declined the offer and travelled in an open carriage.
This and the fact that she was over 1.8m in height made her stand out.
I was in primary school in Fiji at that time. One of my jobs was to read the Hindi newspapers to my grandfather. I remember that Queen Salote's attendance at the coronation ceremony was well covered with photos in the newspapers.
Philip N Rama, Auckland Central.
Short & sweet
On nurses
If many of our most valuable nurses transfer to Australia, it will be a matter of too Little too late; and National need not get sanctimonious, it is part of the problem. Hugh Webb, Huntington.
New Zealand can afford to equal the rates paid in Australia. Andrew Montgomery, Remuera.
On trees
I see the Government is providing a grant to plant 35,000 trees at 40 schools (NZH, June 6). Perhaps it could start its tree boosting programme by stopping the planned destruction of the trees on Mt Albert/Ōwairaka. Michael Walker, Blockhouse Bay.
On farming
In response to Owen Jennings (NZH, June 7), stop objecting to paying all the costs associated with carrying out your business. Ian Swney, Morrinsvile.
Farming is not carbon neutral and farmers can no longer just do what they like. The land, rivers and atmosphere belong to all of us. Dennis Horne, Howick.
On boosters
Perhaps the confusion over booster shots could have been avoided if we'd followed the advice of overseas experts who recommended calling it a three-shot vaccination rather than two shots and a booster. Glennys Adams, Oneroa.
On honours
And the OBE for services to the letters-to-the-editor section of the NZ Herald goes to... C. C. McDowall, Rotorua.
The Premium Debate
Ministry of Health Covid data questioned
Where is the Auditor General in all of this? There needs to be a full and robust Royal Commission on all of our Covid response and, in the interim, the Auditor General should be providing ongoing transparency and reporting on all major expenditure. "We give Parliament and New Zealanders an independent view about public sector performance and accountability." Or is this happening and the reports are being buried or hidden from the public? Emma C.
One starts to wonder whether the $120 million fund, allocated on October 22, 2021 (to accelerate Māori vaccination rates and support communities to prepare for the implementation of the new Covid-19 Protection Framework) has met its objectives or achieved any tangible outcome? This fund was implemented in two phases, phase two was underway in early November 2021. Albert C.
When you get right down to it, does any of this matter? Everyone has had ample time and opportunity to get vaccinated and a booster shot. We've all made choices and we all have to live with them. This is needlessly politicised. Erik P.
It does matter. It shows the Government manipulated data to suit its narrative. It also shows the Government spends taxpayers dollars without any real results. Mark Y.
The Ministry of Health should have just been given the resources it needed to complete the task and had an interdependent monitoring group put in place. What we got was a dog's breakfast because a number of groups (government included) kept jumping in using it as political currency to push their wheelbarrows. Katrina H.