Protesters march down George St on in Sydney over the weekend. Anti-lockdown and anti-vaccination activists gathered in cities across Australia. Photo / Getty Images
Protesters march down George St on in Sydney over the weekend. Anti-lockdown and anti-vaccination activists gathered in cities across Australia. Photo / Getty Images
Opinion
Aussies better get Covid grip
Perhaps those desperate to see loved ones in Sydney could spread the word to relatives and friends there that if they all went into proper lockdown instead of 15,000 unmasked people protesting in the CBD, shouting and spreading the virus ,that they would have no community cases and the bubble could then open. With the current behaviour it will be many months before this will be achieved at enormous risk of impending deaths. Marie Kaire, Whangārei.
Big day goes off track On Saturday, Auckland Transport held an open day to show off its new railway station at Puhinui. However, the gloss was somewhat taken off when it was discovered the eastern entrance was blocked off. No warning of this was made in the propaganda advertising this occasion. The first indication was the lone and embarrassed security guard profusely apologising and redirecting visitors to the other side of the station. This involved a circuitous route-march of close to 1km, there and back. No fun for the hordes of families with young children and pushchairs on a cold winter day. Nor for old-timers like myself. Is this stuff-up another symbol of the indifference, high-handedness and aloofness with which Auckland Transport treats its patrons? Nigel Shaw, Clover Park.
Farmers shun responsibility The farmers' protest should be viewed within the context of a mechanised and chemical industrial agriculture that has in the past 70 years become increasingly intensified. Farming is now part of the industrial revolution which has been extended into the countryside and the reality is that the family farm has disappeared and the owner is more the manager of an agricultural enterprise that employs workers than being the traditional solo farmer. This increased intensification on the land has led to environmental degradation and now the industrial agriculture sector is being required to be fiscally responsible for it but reject this requirement to be responsible citizens, so now revolt. Edward Noel Eyre, Ranui.
Animal-lover hypocrisy It is bemusing the relationship people have with the other sentient beings on our planet. The outpouring of love, care and affection for a baby orca is something that the thousands of bobby calves etc, which will be slaughtered in coming months, will never know. It's repugnant hypocrisy. Ken Duffin, Papakura.
Fill demand for meat There was a good news article last week showing how costly our red meat is. The demand worldwide for our meat is still strong, therefore our Government should be right behind our farming industry, not suppressing it. Plan to fill the demand, as other countries will, and it will bring our local costs down also. Glenn Forsyth, Taupō.
How to free up MIQ places If returnees from Victoria are permitted to quarantine at home for three days and then have a Covid test, why can't fully vaccinated Kiwis returning from abroad do the same? It would free up MIQ places for the thousands trying to return home. Suzanne Service, St Heliers.
A man wearing a face mask walks past a shop in Sydney's CBD. New Zealand has paused the travel bubble with Australia for at least eight weeks. Photo / Getty Images
Truth on overseas workers Can this Government be honest and tell overseas workers here on short-term essential work visas they are not wanted? Stop the pretence of caring and end their misery. Let them return to the countries they were lured from with the false promise of a road to residency. Let's stop the farce of Kris Faafoi mumbling about what they are looking at doing. These workers can then return to their families and New Zealand can accept we failed them as we struggle without teachers, doctors, nurses, engineers and carers. Our hypocrisy will soon be known worldwide and we can bask in the isolation and staff shortages we deserve. James Archibald, Birkenhead.
What will replace petrol tax? Does our transport minister really believe that vehicles on the road will diminish in the years to come? As NZ's population grows, on-road traffic will grow with it. As EVs grow in popularity, better infrastructure is going to be needed, along with more stations to charge these EVs. Going by recent "shovel-ready" projects being cancelled, I assume the reason the Government is cancelling new road projects for the future is it hasn't yet decided the new tax to pay for future infrastructure once the petrol tax is obsolete due to EVs' popularity. With its coffers running dry subsiding the same vehicles that are earning us less in road tax income, something has to suffer. Please can Jacinda Ardern's ministers stand on their own two feet on important transport issues and stop bowing and scraping to the Greens, with whom she had no need to enter into any coalition? Giles Stewart, Paparoa.
Coverage slips gear For arguably the most important and most anticipated road cycling race for many a year, the TV coverage of the Olympic event disappointed. Missing were many of the presentational features of other recent road cycle classics. Absent were reports in real time of road gradients, rider and peloton average speeds as well as a total lack of "go pro" views directly off the cycles of prominent riders. Considering the eye-watering budget for these Games, skimping on this premiere event's TV coverage was hard to understand. Larry Mitchell, Rothesay Bay.
Risks weren't considered I have only a modicum of sympathy for the operations manager from Henderson (Weekend Herald, July 24) who — despite knowing he "has a heart condition" — went to Sydney for "an overnight trip" last month and is now stuck there complaining "I'm disgusted with our Government". He and his company failed to consider the risks they were taking when he chose to go to Sydney. The day before the businessman left New Zealand there were already 124 locally acquired (community transmission) Covid-19 cases in New South Wales, the Bondi cluster had grown to 11, and the state's Premier was expecting restrictions across Sydney to be extended. Given those circumstances, what type of company or CEO (or rocket scientist) says, "Let's send our man to Sydney"? Nigel Roberts, Wilton.
Trump starts trend It seems to have started with Donald Trump, who decided not to accept the election in the US. Since then we have the prime minister of Samoa refusing to step down, and now, one of your articles outlines that a CEO is refusing to leave her role. I have read, too, that Bolsonaro of Brazil may refuse to step down if he loses an election. How bizarre, what a changed world we live in! If this trend is not nipped in the bud, then who knows what might happen next? Jim Air, Birkenhead.
Fashionable complaints While it seems to have become fashionable to complain about the Covid-19 vaccination rollout, it's worth remembering that I and thousands of other Kiwis have choice in where we live. While I know many who have come back to New Zealand since Covid, I know of none who have left. While a recent correspondent to the Herald (July 23) claimed to have waited half an hour for his jab, the millions who have died and are still dying didn't get the choice of having one. As a point of interest, my vax card shows my first jab being given at 1.02pm — my appointment time that day was 1pm. Mark Nixon, Remuera.
Greece is the word Maybe it is time to relocate the Olympic Games back to where they began, Greece. A permanent Olympic city in Greece would do away with the scrambling of countries competing with each other to host the Games. By relocating back to Greece, it would probably be a great relief to many countries who really can't afford to hold them or are basically unsuitable or controversial. And Greece is already a tourist destination well located to receive visitors. A permanent base for the Games would be better able to be policed. For those who say Greece can't afford to build an Olympic City, perhaps it could be funded by every country taking part in the Games. Cheaper by far in the long run (pun not intended). James Gregory, Parnell.
Short & sweet
On linguistics To further enhance our country's love and use of indigenous language, would it not be a good and generous idea for our commentators to have a go at using the Japanese equivalents of kia ora etc? Andrew McAlpine, Herne Bay.
On protests Mass protests against Covid restrictions and anti-vaccination campaigns may be examples of Darwin's natural selection at work. Martin Adlington, Browns Bay.
On sweets A friend told me the other day he no longer followed Short and Sweet. Sick of it, he said. I went in to bat for the Herald, and then the penny dropped. Turns out he was talking about Shortland Street. Said I was clearly going deaf as well as daft. Dean Donoghue, Papamoa Beach.
On Emmerson If cartooning was an Olympic event, Rod Emmerson would have to be a top medal contender. Consistently good ideas beautifully drawn. Neil Marsh, Sandringham.
On masks Can we dispense with masks on public transport? Many don't wear them and no one, apart from one single bus driver I travelled with, ever insists that passengers wear one. If you can't be bothered enforcing laws, don't pass them. Rex Fausett, Central Auckland.
I used to work in this sort of project in the UK. The companies or agencies doing such work are obligated to pay business loss compensation based on accounts before the work started. Shame NZ law doesn't require the same level of respect and proper procedure. Marcus A.
What a disgrace. These businesses will be the life blood of this area once the work is finished yet this light rail project has strangled them. Why was funding not provided for all affected businesses similar to the Covid response? Rachel H.
Calculate the loss by taking an average of the last three years before the project started and pay them. I would be happier my tax dollars went there than on a cycle way over the bridge. Mehernosh K.
It's terrible to see this archetypal Italian family restaurant close down. I recall Antony's father running the Da Vinci way in the early 80s at the top of Queen St. We have also seen the Mai Thai restaurant in the same vicinity close down after over 30 years for the same reason. The tragedy is there is no point in these businesses commencing a class action against the bureaucracy given their bottomless pit of cash to defend the case. The arrogance of the "suits" in not offering compensation appals me. Gary W.
Why is it taking so long to build this — it's only 3.5km long. Other countries can build subway and other mass transit systems of far greater scale, complexity and length and in a much shorter time. London is building an entire new subway line, the Elizabeth Line, in about 12 years and it's 21km long. The CRL has already been going for five to six years. David N.
