It’s surely ironic that councillor Ken Turner sits fuming in his car waiting at traffic lights (he could leave his car at New Lynn and catch a bus or train) so he can race home to be among trees and birds in Little Huia. It’s surely only right and fair that central city residents and visitors will be able to share a little of the same.
Samantha Cunningham, Henderson.
Maga madness
What next in our current plunge into right-wing populism with the vigilante-style citizen’s arrest law changes (Feb 27).
Forget about headlocks, why not allow armed shopkeepers to simply shoot suspected shoplifters? Issue school kids with Tasers to deal with bullying and teachers with electric cattle prods for unruly students?
Even make it mandatory for every householder to have an assault rifle to deter burglaries, or at least a handgun.
While we are at it, if speeding means more productivity, let’s remove all speed limits on the roads too.
Better still, get your retaliation in first. Maga madness isn’t just happening in America it seems.
Jeff Hayward, Auckland CBD.
Stop the slop
Regarding the “vegan” meal provided at Spotswood College containing beef mince (Feb 27), not only did the meal contain meat, it was horrifying to count up to 20 additives on the label.
Why is the Government feeding our NZ youth processed food? What was wrong with good plain mince and three vegetables fed to generations of Kiwis since colonial times? Young New Zealanders need fresh produce with the proportion of fresh fruit and vegetables at least 50% .
They do not need emulsifier 471, antifoam, acidifier 450, preservatives 202/211, food acid 330, sulphides, stabilisers, flavours, anti-caking agent 535, caramel colour 150d and other additives and chemicals for lunch.
A total diet of processed food is the reason so many of our children are unhealthy and obese today. If David Seymour really cared about our children’s brains, health and education he would supply real food, not processed cheap $3 slop.
Why are parents allowing their children to be fed chemicals for lunches or are they simply unaware of the content of the cheap food?
Marie Kaire, Whangārei.
City of Snails
Mark Thomas, MD of urban technology business Serviceworks and a director of the Committee for Auckland, writes of a smarter way of funding Auckland’s future highlighting the Hiwa Centre, the $320 million largest recreation facility in Australasia (Feb 27).
Hiwa demonstrates how a long-term investment can pay off, saying Auckland will continue to struggle replicating such an investment unless it adopts a smarter way to develop and fund assets the growing city needs.
Serviceworks are smart city experts providing solutions to assist cities, governments, businesses and other organisations working with a network of partner agencies in the Asia Pacific. They benchmark against other smart cities like Melbourne. The Committee for Auckland reports on the state of Auckland, benchmarking Auckland’s international performance and I encourage Aucklanders to sign up for its newsletters.
We wondered where the smart strategic planners for Auckland were – and here they are, hiding in full sight. Now Mayor Wayne Brown needs to ensure that Auckland Council is engaging with these organisations in a meaningful and productive way.
We must turn Auckland back from a “City of Snails” into a “City of Sails”.
Gary Carter, Gulf Harbour.
Seeing red
Green co-leader Chloe Swarbrick espouses the end of privatisation. She wants a socialistic society for New Zealand (Feb 27).
There are a couple of questions. How would the farmers, the backbone of this country, react to becoming serfs? Would our entrepreneurs continue to invest in business?
Would this ideology halt the current massive exodus of our budding go-getters who may not return and so benefit other countries. Perhaps the Greens should look at the socialist successes of the former USSR, Myanmar, North Korea, and others. The Greens should go back to being “green” and not “red”.
Ian Doube, Rotorua.
