Pressing on
Correspondent Peter Calder (NZ Herald, November 16) is right when he says that the old Kiwi life we have been blessed with and enjoyed for so long is now over.
It is said that the only thing constant in life is change. So it is with the advent of
Covid, climate change and whatever else lies ahead for humanity as a whole. None of us know how long the ever-mutating Covid virus will be with us or how lethal it will become, nor what undetected, unknown viruses may lie under the ever-decreasing permafrost of the Northern Hemisphere waiting for their chance to run riot around the globe as they are uncovered.
All we can realistically achieve is a new, more flexible mindset in a constantly changing world and adapt our ways to embrace each change as it comes. To believe we can do anything else to return to the good old days is naive.
We must look ahead, the past is gone. Sad but true.
It's time to move on.
Jeremy Coleman, Hillpark.
Free lodgings
It surely is nothing less than scandalous to learn that the Government has failed to recover $36 million of MIQ fees - and that's only the reported amount, probably the tip of the iceberg.
This is what happens when people stupidly run a "be kind to bad apples" type of an operation. In the end, those bad apples are allowed to end up dictating to the majority with absolutely no fear of official retribution or accountability.
But it all has to be paid for in the end by the long-suffering taxpayers. Enough is enough.
It's a real shame that we don't have a capable opposition party waiting on the wings.
Paul Beck, West Harbour.
Smile and waive
It seems as though sense has prevailed at long last on better ways to monitor the Auckland border once opened.
One wonders if one suggestion that spot checks may be taken with very heavy fines imposed for those breaking the rules will be successful or will end up just like MIQ with their billing failures amounting to over $36m.
So many fines are either not paid these days or are paid directly or indirectly by the state or taxpayers if you like because of poor management or because so many "offenders" simply cannot afford to pay.
Alan Walker, St Heliers.
Utterly motivated
Shane Jones' utterances (NZ Herald, November 16) criticising Ashley Bloomfield and other aspects of the Government's pandemic response would have left many with a burning question: where has his voice been for months now since Te Tai Tokerau's "dismal" jab rate has been apparent?
He has the mana; he is well known and a person of influence. He could have used his status long ago to speak from his own "pulpit of truth" to urge and cajole his fellow Northlanders to get vaccinated and avoid the drastic increase in infections that he sees coming as a result of border reopenings.
Among Northlanders, he was well aware of the "large rump of indifference or marginalisation". Perhaps it is too cynical to suggest that politics might be at play here and that NZ First is sowing the seeds of a hopeful comeback?
It is to be hoped that Jones had the unvaccinated of Te Tai Tokerau at the heart of his concerns and that his outbursts were not simply political manoeuvring.
Diana Walford, Greenlane.
Rewarding the errant
Once again our Government is too soft in allowing those who have chosen not to be vaccinated, be placed on "paid leave" for a month. And then we will "discuss it".
These workers and so-called professionals have had more than plenty of warning to even get one dose. Yet, by procrastinating, they are being rewarded with a month of paid leave or on alternative duties. Where is the safety factor? Where is the justice and reward for those who have fulfilled their obligation to become vaccinated?
It would appear that those who choose not to follow the mandated rules get rewarded with extensions and those who follow the mandates get a mere "thank you" from the officials.
Many people are still being bribed, cajoled into vaccination and now are being rewarded with extension promises for not doing so. One rule for the errant and another for the compliant. I would refuse to work with those not jabbed.
No jab, no job, and no u-turns from Government.
Marie Kaire, Whangārei.
