Letters: Charlotte Bellis, Ukraine crisis, parklands, deferred operations, and light rail

Charlotte Bellis with her partner Jim Huylebroek in Kabul, Afghanistan. Photo / AP

Letter of the week: Emma McIntosh, Birkenhead

Charlotte Bellis (Weekend Herald, January 29) is a highly trained, highly intelligent, strong and brave young woman. She has obviously had to use her wits to survive and has the ability to access information and communicate this with skill. With her desire to return to her home country, she would have made herself aware of opposing parties' negative attack strategies and seen this as an opening for her much wanted/needed move to return through MIQ. She turned down, it seems, a time period given to her and then found difficulty finding another. In this situation, she would feel left with no other alternative than to use her well-rounded skills in pleading her case using journalistic know-how and her well-known personality. She got front page, and the predicted cry from the Opposition calling foul.

MIQ is not perfect, the Government is not perfect, but neither are we. It's why we need dispassionate people who handle all these calls from overseas New Zealanders wanting to come home. Each and every one of them is important. In the end it has to be as fair as possible. After all, in a dire situation, wouldn't we pull out all the stops and use our talents, if we could, to come home?

Sabre rattling
You report (Weekend Herald, January 29) that US President Biden has revised his programme of war in Ukraine from January until February.
You may wish to note that neither Putin not Zelensky, the protagonists, are expecting war - despite the best efforts of Britain and the US to get one going.
It should further be noted that there are fractures within Nato, with President Macron of France and Chancellor Scholtz of Germany making appointments separately to confer with Putin. Recently, a large business delegation from Italy visited Russia, suggesting that Italy does not foresee war.
Why should New Zealand be interested in those machinations? China and Russia are allies in all but signatures on paper. A war in Europe will have Chinese ramifications, noting that China has already voiced support for the Russian position and torn a strip off Secretary of State Blinken for suggesting otherwise.
We consider ourselves part of the Collective West, but China is a market that we cannot afford to antagonise.
G. N. Kendall, Rothesay Bay.

Cherished legacies
High-worth New Zealanders and local iwi may wish to consider giving something back to their communities and remind them of their childhoods by purchasing - for their local authority and/or the Department of Conservation - coastal and inland campground and caravan parks throughout New Zealand.
The same philosophy could be applied to privately owned and administered racecourses and golf courses.
They would be classified as recreation reserves under the Reserves Act 1977 to ensure their protection in perpetuity and be their living legacy.
Bruce Tubb, Devonport.

Waiting for Covid
I have just accompanied my partner to a post-op hospital check-up. In chatting with the surgeon, he said he was sick of sitting around twiddling his thumbs. All elective surgery had been cancelled to keep the hospital ready for an avalanche of Omicron cases.
He said a lot of his elective surgery was day-stay or, at the most, an overnight stay. As he said, the powers-that-be could cancel elective surgery within 24 hours, if the said avalanche occurred.
His orthopaedic surgeon co-workers are in the same boat.
Christine Tate, Eastern Beach.

Beaten track
While the prospect of a new light rail system from Auckland CBD to the airport (Weekend Herald, January 29) will be a boon for inner-city dwellers, of what benefit will it be to those south of the city? With the ever-snowballing population growth in the Franklin and Waikato districts and the subsequent increase in commuters from these areas - already in the thousands daily, many of whom work in the airport precinct - consideration should have been made to accommodate the needs of all, not just the chosen few. Everyone living within a 100km or so distance from Auckland CBD must surely be afforded the same, if not preferential, opportunities to ease their own daily burden and that of our roading networks as those who already live within a 15km radius of their destination?
Jeremy Coleman, Hillpark.

Paid in full
I'm a true supporter of light rail (Weekend Herald, January 29). I'm not a supporter of being told that it will be partly paid by taxes and partly by borrowing. Who pays back the borrowing, Mr Robertson? The taxpayer.
As a taxpayer I want to know approximately what it will cost, not be told by Mr Robertson I have no right to know. Given his limited understanding of borrowing and repayment, I do not trust his judgement.
Auckland needs it, therefore we have find a way of paying for it. To do that we need a quote. Simple economics really, practised by all adults.
Christine Barnes, Parnell.

Streetcar desire
I love the concept of a gloriously green Dominion Rd (Weekend Herald, January 29).
We've travelled on modern light rail in Dresden and Basel which transport the mundane to new heights. Some of us will remember the charm of trams in Auckland and Wellington.
It's never too late to fall back in love.
Mary Tallon, Little Huia.

A quick word

If only Charlotte Bellis had been a valuable DJ instead of being a pesky journalist. Neville Cameron, Coromandel.

This Government is repeatedly inept and one has to wonder if it's on purpose. Janet Boyle, Ōrewa.

There are many more deserving people than Charlotte Bellis, she who can very well take care of herself in all situations. Victoria Mackay, Titirangi.

It should be pointed out to all the critics out there that they are still alive to complain thanks to what the Labour Government and Jacinda Ardern have done to date. John Capener, Kawerau.

Three Waters is a fait accompli, according to Phil Goff who is relying on a downpayment of $127m from Labour to offset Council's shortfall in running costs for this year. June Kearney, West Harbour.

The Finance Minister states Government will fund the $15 billion Auckland light rail tab, when surely he should actually be saying taxpayers from all over New Zealand? Mike Baker, Tauranga.

Are the many disbelieving expressions of incredulity over the Government's plans for the Auckland-airport light rail project, merely a surrogate for their judgment of the Government itself? Larry Mitchell, Rothesay Bay.

Interestingly, John Roughan (Wekend Herald, Jan. 29) claims some validity for his opinion because his dentist expressed the same. Would he have quoted the dentist if he/she had said the opposite? John Capener, Kawerau.

So, Elon Musk and the Space X rocket open up the possibility of a lunar solution to humanity's garbage problem. The future looks bright. Jeffrey Langford, Belmont.

The National Party is having its retreat. Retreat is the right word. A new leader but still the do nothing, oppose everything party. Frankie Letford, Hamilton.

Only those who work or live in the CBD think it is the "central" anything. The majority of Aucklanders regard it as just somewhere overpriced to go to eat or for a concert if they bother to go at all. Derek Paterson, Sunnyhills.

As the rest of the world waits anxiously over the ever-widening rift between the US and Russia, we down here in New Zealand are hotly debating whether Mr Potato Head should be non-gender specific. Unbelievable. Chris Tompkins, New Plymouth.