George Solly, aged 7, on a ride at The Easter Show in the Auckland Showgrounds back in 2015. Photo / Jason Dorday, File
Under what authority can the Cornwall Park Trust Board apparently sell off part of the Auckland Showgrounds (Weekend Herald, April 2) for a film studio? The board has been entrusted by Sir John Logan Campbell and his successors to look after this precious large area of public open space in perpetuity on behalf of fellow New Zealanders.
The trust board is not a development company with the power to do a secret deal to sell off part of this scenic gem.
There should be full public disclosure and transparency about how the trust board is conducting its duties on our behalf.
Unwed mothers
Every time St Mary's is brought up in the newspaper or I happen to drive down Great South Rd, Otahuhu, and see the place, it brings it all back. Not for me, but for my sister who was sent there in 1964 and had her baby in 1965.
These girls were treated like the scourge of the earth; told continually how bad and evil they were and made to work as slaves.
At nine months pregnant, she and others were up at 5am, on their hands and knees scrubbing floors, working all day in hard conditions until they nearly dropped and those evil women castigated them continually.
After all these years it is still clear. Our parents who are long gone, were like most in those days, ashamed and sent them off to anywhere they could find.
It was a hell hole, indeed.
Gill Court, Howick.
Campaign coffers
Paula Bennett's fundraising drive (Weekend Herald, April 2) raised $1.8 million for National from some of the more wealthy in our society. She states the givers did so because they care about democracy and it is generous and healthy for politics.
The reason they gave so generously is they want a government in power that will help them increase and retain their wealth as Christopher Luxon has already offered to do by promising tax cuts that favour higher wage earners, and John Key did by abolishing gift duty which now allows one to pass large sums to family members tax-free.
Money equates to power and is an impediment to true democracy.
The more money a party has to spend on publicity and advertising, the greater its chances of gaining power.
David F Little, Maunu.
Putin's goal
John Roughan's piece (Weekend Herald, April 2) on Ukraine is stirring stuff. Quite Churchillian in fact. Unfortunately, the realpolitik of it is that he may as well have finished halfway through the second paragraph, with the words,"will probably settle for some territorial gains and Ukraine's undertaking it will not join Nato".
For that's all Putin wanted; this time. He may well be a psychopathic megalomaniac but he knows he was never going to get all of Ukraine in one hit. He settled for Crimea some years ago. Now he'll settle for a chunk of the East and have another bite later.
And notwithstanding Roughan's fine rhetoric, we, the West, will probably let it happen again.
Mike Newland, Matakana.
Stout resistance
I agree with John Roughan (Weekend Herald, April 2) that Ukraine has passed the test of nationalism by holding back Putin for over a month.
Shakespeare's line from Hamlet "Tis a sport to see the engineer hoist with his own petard" is very fitting.
Putin has got bogged down in the quagmire that is Ukraine. The new Belfast-built NLAWS, mobile anti-tank weapons half the weight of the US Javelins and cheaper, are doing serious damage to Russian tanks. Putin has been forced into retreat for now.
Where he will turn up next is anybody's guess.
He has Crimea, bits of Georgia, and probably won't leave Ukraine without the Donbas bone.
Pauline Alexander, Waiatarua.
Seeking refuge
A letter (Weekend Herald, April 2) suggests our Government should take 450 Ukrainian war refugees instead of the same number from Manus Island because the latter had tried to enter Australia illegally.
The boat people hadn't done anything illegal either, just that the Australian Government was unkind like Poland and Hungary were a few months ago.
New Zealand can afford to help a lot more refugees, especially with our ageing population. The aim of refugees is to survive their ordeal and hope for the generosity of other nations.
The Manus or Ngaru island refugees have been kept in prison-like conditions for more than nine or so years. They were fleeing war-torn countries like Iraq, Afghanistan or Syria.
A lot of them were labelled terrorists even though they hadn't done anything other than seek shelter in another land, just like Ukrainian people are doing now.
Kanwal Grewal, Hamilton.
Impressive Wall
You have to admire Louisa Wall (Weekend Herald, April 2). She has been a tough and highly competitive Member of Parliament, just as she was in sport.
She held her fellow MPs to account and was the morality barometer for the party. She is a class act and wasn't appreciated in the party, which was a pity.
Dave Miller, Matua.
The team of 5 million needs to understand that climate change requires an immediate and radical reduction in the consumption of everything. Andrew Montgomery, Remuera.
Alongside the global use of somethink and everythink, NZ has its very own phenomenon among our younger reporters. It is now commonplace to add an 'h' into words with 'str' giving us reshtrictions, shtructure, shtrong, and more recently, Aushtralia. Fiona Cameron, Green Bay.
As well as removing kerbside parking, why not rip up footpaths and berms to encourage those miserly and selfish perambulators to catch buses or ride bikes? Mark Holms, Mt Roskill.
On one hand, we're smart enough not to be climate change deniers; on the other hand, we can't wait to get flying again. Do we care about floods, fires, droughts, shrinking glaciers, and other disasters? Susan Grimsdell, Auckland Central.
Auckland's four-lane harbour bridge took less than a year for its planners to discover how totally inadequate its carrying capacity was. It would seem Transmission Gully is destined for the same fate. Gary Hollis, Mellons Bay.
What a pain in the proverbial having to get out all the manuals to learn how to reset the clocks in the cars and appliances, etc. For that reason alone, I say dispense with daylight saving. Jock Mac Vicar, Hauraki.
No doubt the funding flowing to National's coffers will be used to attempt to persuade the rest of the community that the fair and decent thing to do is to give the largest tax cuts to those who already have so much. Craig Jensen, Herne Bay.
Government Ministers recently have taken to answering questions in the House by commencing, "good news". One suspects this is just whistling to keep their spirits up. Larry Mitchell, Rothesay Bay.
I'm sure glad my tax isn't going to make more boaties instant millionaires. Good luck to them, whenever the race is. Glenn Forsyth, Taupō.
I bet the same crowd who thinks we should give away our Javelins to Ukraine thought we should have kept the Skyhawks. C.C. McDowall, Rotorua.
Expats can now return - why would they? Dennis Knill, Parnell.
It is time for the Russian ambassador to New Zealand to go home. Perhaps he could look around Bucha or Mariupol on the way and speak with some survivors to see for himself what's fake and what isn't. Ron de Kieviet, Glen Eden.
After trying to impress us all for the last two years, with his knowledge of the complexities of epidemiology, Mike Hosking is the obvious choice to replace Ashley Bloomfield. Richard Alspach, Dargaville
It was very pleasing to read this week of the efforts of Hamish Pryde who, with his bulldozer, may have saved many from severe flooding by diverting the Wairoa River. Mr Pryde, it's people like you that do us all proud. Well done. Paul Beck, West Harbour.
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