Without a trace
It's obviously now time for it to be compulsory for all New Zealanders to use their phones to actively sign in for Covid tracing wherever they go – if not, sign in the old-fashioned pen and paper way everywhere. No sign in – no service, simple.
It really should have been like this all along, but precious few have been doing it due to the lack of compulsion and blind complacency. Heck, our supermarket provides handwashing stations prior to entry but I reckon less than 5 per cent use them.
When an event like today's occurs, how on earth are contact tracers to be able to sort out and prioritise links if next to no one has recorded where they've been?
Perry Foreman, Hamilton.
Quick scan
Thames-Coromandel Mayor Sandra Goudie believes her credit card records are better than a QR scan. A simple explanation she might just understand: Delta is so fast that every second counts.
QR records can instantaneously warn others, especially if Bluetooth is on. Getting credit card details is slower, giving Delta time to stay ahead. It also requires a spend in every store visited but surely that is obvious to a 2-year-old.
That is why Sydney has no chance of catching Covid. It shows why the economic route will never live with Delta.
One hopes a mayor would be more savvy, more community orientated.
Steve Russell, Hillcrest.
Foraging packs
I am ashamed again by the behaviour of my countrymen, who flock to the supermarkets like animals, with no thought for the rest of us, panicking like animals.
Grow up, people.
B Horton, Kohimarama.
Afghanistan failure
The failure in Afghanistan was not just in the past few weeks, it was throughout the 20 years of delusion that any good can come out of a programme of slaughter and destruction. The final days confirmed that delusion in proving that the US and its allies, including New Zealand, had very little knowledge of what they were really dealing with.
We need to rethink what our security is made of, and recognise the need for a solid foundation of relationships that enable us to effectively understand each country that we deal with. I support Gerry Brownlee in engaging with the Taliban, as well as the North Korean and Myanmar governments, and many others that we may not particularly like, to ensure that we can work together on the issues that are really threatening us, like pandemics and climate change.
Gray Southon, Tauranga.
City crime
Drunkenness and violence go often hand in hand. There is an easy solution to make it much better.
Close bars and cafes etc. at 11 o'clock so everyone is home by 12.
A good time after a day of work.
Liquor stores, close at 6, except on late night shopping they can open till 9.
But this is probably too easy to do; things have to be made complicated these days.
D. Hoekstra, Henderson.
Drug law reform
Police commissioner Andrew Coster says, "as long as we have drugs in our community then we will have drug dealers". Well, we will always have drugs in our community no matter what we do.
A more constructive outlook would be, "as long as gangs can make money selling drugs they will do so, and the income makes gang life attractive".
If drugs were supplied free to addicts, along with social and mental health support, gangs would make less money. The money saved by addicts might be spent on food and clothing for kids. And no cartel would smuggle drugs to a country where they were free.
Instead of sticking to the failed policies of a 50-year war on drugs, it's time to try a radical new approach.
Chris Elias, Mission Bay.
There's $400m
The headline (NZ Herald, August 17) declares: "Auckland councillors worried about $400 million transport funding hole". The solution to this deficit lies in the hands of our councillors.
A recent independent council payroll study reports possible $400m to $500m annual payroll savings if Auckland Council merely decided in future to reduce their payroll costs and pay only private-sector-equivalent wages and salaries.
Larry Mitchell, Rothesay Bay.
Whistle stop
The Hamilton to Auckland train is known locally as the "Tokyo Express".
This is in recognition of the lack of spectators on the platforms; or passengers in the carriages.
Rex Foley, St Andrews.
Short & sweet
On lockdown
Lockdown equals failure of vaccine rollout. I despair. A J Morris, Epsom.
I can see now our Mayor Phil Goff wringing his hands in despair at the council's lost income during this latest lockdown while on the other hand increasing the rates take to compensate. Richard Carey, Manly.
On crime
As long as dairies sell tobacco, and cover their windows, there will be robberies. Marie Kaire, Whangārei.
On Alexander
John Turner (NZ Herald, August 17) misattributed a term "great" to Alexander the Macedonian. Great men do not wantonly destroy cities and civilisations - witness his needless destruction of Persepolis. John Waymouth, Belmont.
Alexander conquered Bactria and Sogdia (in Afghanistan) and those provinces then passed to his successors as the Seleucid Empire. The prevalence of the name Sikander in Afghanistan today speaks to the legacy of this "god-king". Zhivan Alach, Brookfield.
On vaccine
What a totally uncomfortable admission by the director general of Health, Dr Ashley Bloomfield, that he is not yet vaccinated. Dr Hylton Le Grice, Remuera
The Premium Debate
Mortgage rates
This is all due to our historic borrowing and the relentless printing of funds to give our economy a sugar hit. The bill is coming, and it will result in economic carnage on an industrial scale. John H.
Tinkering around the edges, solving nothing. Four years of effective inaction addressing affordable homes. Always comes back to leadership, in this case, a lack of it. Greg S.
Trying to manipulate complex free markets never works. Simon D.
Government has just eliminated competition from first home buyers in their Kainga Ora spend up on existing houses. That will make Megan Woods' taxpayer money go a little further. Jan W.
At 28 per cent, New Zealand house prices have risen faster than any other country over the last 12 months. I suggest it is largely due to government spending and Reserve Bank interest rate policies. This has made it very hard for first home buyers and it seems rather unfair to put another hurdle in their paths. Alan K.
At what point at we going to stop punishing the poor for trying to buy a home and start punishing the people that drove up the prices to begin with? I say, all but outlaw investment properties. Outlaw owning more than three homes - enshrine that Kiwi dream of one home and a bach. Mark B.
Dear Labour Party, you portrayed yourself as the party that represents the small person, the poor, the sick and needy, yet now only the rich can buy a house. Well done. Robert S.
