Businesses deal with extra staffing costs on Boxing Day. Photo / NZME
Surcharge rip off
Boxing Day at the supermarket checkout: ‘Sorry sir, your groceries will cost you an extra 15%’.
At the service station: ‘there is a 15% surcharge for filling your tank’.
Imagine the outcry! What a rip off!
All these businesses incur additional staff costs during public holidays yet do not add a surcharge.
Cafes and restaurants, however, are legally entitled to add such a surcharge.
It is not compulsory, however, and businesses that value their customers’ loyalty should refrain from doing so.
Ray Gilbert, Papamoa Beach.
Quote of the year
I must take issue with correspondent Bernard Walker’s claim (NZ Herald, Dec 24) that the New Zealand quote of the year was ill-considered.
There are three valid reasons.
Firstly, the quote was one made in New Zealand with no prerequisite that it had to be made by a New Zealander. Secondly, surely in our war-torn, politically corrupt, climate change-ravaged world, there’s a place for a little levity in what is supposed to be a season of joy and hope. And thirdly, I’d bet it gave many more people a smile, as it did me, than one of the other contenders, our Prime Minister telling us how “wealthy and sorted” he is.
Pepper is a great choice and has given us a little ray of sunshine in an otherwise grey and gloomy time. Merry Christmas everyone.
Jeremy Coleman, Hillpark.
Housing problems
It is not only Auckland where infill housing is causing problems for delivery trucks as mentioned by Gary Hollis (NZ Herald, Dec 24).
In Ōmokoroa, a suburb 25 minutes (on a bad day an hour) north of Tauranga, affordable housing was built.
The streets are so narrow, with people using the single-car garage as a bedroom, the fire brigade had a meeting with occupiers saying that if there was a fire on any of the streets, they would be unable to attend.
Now the occupiers park on grass verges. Some of the subdivisions being built now do not have grass verges, nor garages.
Councils should stipulate to developers that streets should be made to accommodate emergency vehicles.
Wendy Galloway, Ōmokoroa.
Role of tax in woes
I can agree with Heather du Plessis-Allan (Herald on Sunday, Dec 22) up to a point.
However, one of our main economic problems comes about due to National giving election tax cut lures.
As a landlord owning several rentals, why did Christopher Luxon give a mortgage tax refund to investors buying existing homes to rent out?
This is not a normal business in a business sense as nothing is manufactured, built, serviced, retailed, repaired, etc.
All that happens is an investor utilises the capital gain on another property as a deposit to buy another existing home. Borrows the balance and has the tenant pay off the mortgage, thus helping push up prices of existing homes for live-in buyers.
We should be helping first-home buyers into their own homes and restricting the investor tax breaks to new builds only - thus increasing the supply of homes.
We should also follow the economic policies of the Nordic countries not America. Plus take the Treasury’s advice and institute a capital gains tax and further economic reform.
David Little, Whangārei.
Blame the voters
Correspondent Paul Beck (NZ Herald, Dec 24) is correct to lament that this country needs better healthcare services and infrastructure. But putting the blame on politicians is too easy and a cop-out.
At the last election a majority of voters went for unsustainable tax cuts, knowing full well they would be paid for by overall spending cuts.
It’s about revenue, pure and simple.
Either we are a society that thinks as a whole or we’re just competing individuals out for ourselves.
Only when voters stop buying into short-sighted greed at elections and embrace full tax reform will we have the resources to properly fund good public services and infrastructure in this country. That means no more avoiding proper capital gains, wealth and inheritance taxes like Australia and most OECD nations have.
We have only ourselves to blame for this current imposed austerity and growing wealth imbalance. Politicians are the salesmen, we are the buyers. We get the government we vote for.
Jeff Hayward, Auckland Central.
Holiday traffic
At the risk of being seen as a moaner, I’ll be staying home until the holiday rush is over.
Traffic on the highways is always a nightmare. Those who traverse State Highway 1 once a year during this period need to reapply for their licence, quite frankly.
SH1 is not the place to assume this is a normal rush-hour crawl one might be used to.
I did traverse SH1 on Sunday, however, and I must congratulate the NZ Transport Agency for their recent work between Taupō and Tīrau. I did not see or feel one pothole on both legs of my trip.
John Ford, Napier.
Place to be passed
Looking at recent correspondence about the NZTA closing passing lanes, I suggest a change of mindset.
A passing lane is not to allow the lead-footed among us to arrive 15 seconds earlier, hopefully without collecting a Darwin Award.
It is for those of us not in such a hurry to slow down and let themselves be passed, avoiding having to pull off the road every few minutes to let motorista impatiens through.
Closing passing lanes restores the need to continually look for pull-ins for slower drivers, particularly campervans.
They are not always slower because of the vehicle these days; as you age, you lose the need for speed, not least because a sudden stop can leave you wearing half your crockery and will scare the dog. It is also virtually impossible to spot a pull-in in time if you are doing more than around 70.
So if you’re not in a hurry, think of these lanes as a place to be passed, rather than a place to pass. Then you will see why NZTA’s experiment will not need repeating. Otherwise – foot hard down, eyes shut and SMILE.
Mike Diggins, Royal Oak.
Good start in life
On the bus there was a 2-year-old in a pushchair, with her grandmother.
As we trundled along the grandmother pointed out the picture on the window showing who the front seats were for – a wheelchair, a dog, a child “like you”, said the grandmother.
She described all these things and asked the child about them. Then the grandmother quietly sang Jingle Bells and the child sang along, with hand gestures, laughing and having a wonderful time.
It’s clear that the child will do well in life, and it has nothing to do with NCEA, just an adult talking to the child, paying attention to her, enjoying her company.
Susan Grimsdell, Auckland Central.
A family who witnessed the incident said it caused disruption and fear.