Letters: Chris Cairns, MIQ, social cohesion and council salary

Chris Cairns played for Nottinghamshire County Cricket team in the 90s. Photo / Getty Images

Opinion

Fond UK memories of Cairns

I was very sad to read of the latest health problem for New Zealand cricketer Chris Cairns.

I live in Nottingham, UK, and would like to relay some of my memories of Chris, when he played for Nottinghamshire County Cricket team in the 90s.

The first time Chris arrived at Trent Bridge, he resembled a long-haired hippy! However, he soon was loved by the members and staff. At that time, I had just joined Notts as a pavilion steward, so I was lucky enough to get to know the players. Chris was always happy to chat to me and the spectators, and we were sad to see him return to New Zealand after a couple of successful seasons. We were all happy when he returned for a second stint, when his performances with bat and ball were even better. On his last day, all the stewards lined up on the pitch as he came off to shake his hand. There was a hint of a tear from him and a few of us.

Next month I will reach 80, and after 22 years, my stewarding days have been over for five years, but Chris rates among the five best players that I have watched at Trent Bridge.

Alan Jones, West Bridgford, Nottingham.

Good and bad of MIQ

Some letter writers claim that MIQ has not been "fit for purpose", when in fact it has done precisely what it has been supposed to do. It has allowed in 200,000 returning Kiwis, while catching and extinguishing hundreds of Covid cases that would have ground our economy to a halt if they'd entered New Zealand. MIQ did a world-leading job of keeping New Zealand safe, but it could and should have operated much more compassionately. Bureaucrats needed to be much more flexible in waving through deserving emergency cases, especially those who were only let in after the media spotlighted the injustices they were suffering.

Much grief would have been saved if there had been just a single MIQ ballot, with everyone in it guaranteed entry. People could then have worked their way up the line as the 2000-per-week capacity was moved through MIQ. That queue would have taken about three months to clear, which is still way short of ideal, but what MIQ did was far worse. They balloted people over and over again, so it was possible to apply over and over again, and to miss out over and over again. That created an understandable crescendo of anger, to the point that the Government has been panicked into throwing the baby out with the bathwater, scrapping the entire system.

Now we have a new scheme, where everyone, and Omicron, will be simply waved into New Zealand without a single PCR test or a single MIQ night. This will be far damaging to the economy and our health than anything that MIQ's ballots managed to do.

Jeremy Hall, Hauraki.

Social cohesion

I was astonished to read Matthew Hooton of all people suggesting the need to rebuild social cohesion — very odd considering that he has been at the heart of constant moves over the last two decades to undermine national unity by deliberately exaggerating any differences and suggesting that New Zealand is riven by cavernous divides.

Hooton suggests that Christopher Luxon could win the next election and then unify the country. But electoral victory with as little as 51 per cent support (including Act), would leave the other 49 per cent out in the cold unless there was a genuine commitment to governing for all. Maggie Thatcher used that triumphalist approach which fomented mass civil disobedience and even riots.

Graeme Easte, Mount Albert.

Only human

Bottom-of-the-barrel interest rates on loans, as any economists worth their salt will tell you, are the fuel that drives housing bubbles which New Zealand continues to have in abundance and is driving further and further out of reach homeownership prospects for first-home buyers, namely the younger generation wanting to raise a family.

As has happened in Ireland, newcomers wanting a house have only the one option and that is to rent, which of course allows those at the top of the property ladder to continue to pile on their ill-gotten wealth. So why does the Government allow low interest rates to continue?

The answer is quite simple: politicians are humans like the rest with all the frailties and flaws that go with that. So as the many politicians have healthy property folios and know their term in office could be short-lived, they continue to promote low interest rates to feather their own nest regardless of the consequences to the younger generation's hopes of homeownership. And why wouldn't they? Like the rest of us, they are only human.

Gary Hollis, Mellons Bay.

Council salary

Thank you to the NZ Herald for publicising the new salary of $630,000 for the Auckland Council CEO, Jim Stabback. This is in excess of $150,000 above the salary for our Prime Minister and more than twice the salary paid to the Mayor Phil Goff ($296,000). Surely the importance and demands of leading our country outweigh any job in local council. No position in central or local government should have a higher remuneration than the Prime Minister.

Thank you also for publicising the way our elected councillors voted. We will remember this when casting our vote in the local body elections later this year.

Peter Jamieson, Titirangi.

Disastrous summer

Waitangi weekend was the last opportunity businesses in the north had to rescue something from this disastrous summer but the Government aided and abetted the sinking of that last glimmer of hope. It started with the disaster around the girl who tested positive and had to sleep in her car. Instead of apologising and taking ownership, the Covid minister Chris Hipkins basically said that anyone going away for the weekend who tested positive would have to stay where they were and isolate at their own cost. Any visions of a busy Waitangi weekend were immediately scuttled.

The Government has neatly slipped out of any compensation for businesses affected by Covid but is doing nothing to get money back into the economy, even the scheduled return of Kiwis from Australia and elsewhere is too late and too slow. October for opening the doors to tourists is too far away as it effectively wipes out yet another summer, simply because it will take time for people to get enough confidence to make travel plans.

The vast majority of Kiwis have played the game to the letter, got their vaccinations and their boosters, now we deserve the opportunity to get on with our lives. The unvaccinated have two simple choices, get vaccinated or get Covid because it will find you and it won't be kind.

Geoff Minchin, Kawakawa.

Stuck in Australia

I found the article by Anne Gibson about the pensioners stuck in Australia with a $16,000 bill a harrowing read. There are numerous issues in the manner this situation has been handled. The various government departments continued to pay their pension even though they knew from passport data they were not still eligible under their grossly unfair rules. Just because someone is not residing in New Zealand they are still paying taxes on their income, including on their pension, and there is no logical reason why they should not continue to receive it. Why should anyone not continue to receive the pension just because they decide to live elsewhere and, in this case who could blame them?

They were unable to return to New Zealand through no fault of their own because the Government decided to close the borders. If the Government had been meeting its primary responsibility for the safety and security of New Zealand citizens, there would have been adequate MIQ space for them and others caught in the same situation.

With the imminent change to self-isolation in this country why did this department decide on a crackdown? The justification cannot be cost as this same Government has made no attempt to recover the millions owed by those who have passed through MIQ or if one were to get critical, the hundreds of millions owed under the student loan programme. I can only assume the Ministry of Social Development decided they had breached a decidedly unkind regulation. A "kind" action would be to repeal this law and make it retroactive to the date they were first elected.

Rod Lyons, Kumeu.

Short & sweet

It's all in the delivery

I much enjoyed Sasha Borissenko's light-hearted delivery of her experiences whilst becoming a householder. Yet she still managed, without politicising, to highlight some of the stumbling blocks on the way.

John Norris, Whangamata.

Right connections

The Ratepayers' Update of February 2022 from Auckland Council proudly announced the opening in 2021 of the Puhinui Station, creating fast, frequent and easy connections to Auckland Airport. The new station connects trains with the electric AirportLink bus service. "This news seems to indicate that there is no need for the extremely expensive light rail construction to the airport and consideration could be given to a heavy rail construction from Puhinui Station to the airport in due course."

Patrick Robertson, Hobsonville.

Divorcing the Crown

Ngarewa-Packer for the Māori Party wants to "divorce" the Crown and all it stands for in a NZ modern liberal democracy. That would surely nullify the existing Treaty in all its forms entirely. What does the Māori Party propose to replace our Westminster system of democratic governance under a new Te Tiriti? Any political party which does not irrevocably make its position completely transparent before the next election is not worth voting for. It's clear where Labour stands.

June Kearney, West Harbour.

The Premium Debate

Rising inflation

You can't shut the world, shut down hospitals, shut down the courts, basically hide under a rock and expect there to be no massive consequences. Anna M.

Inflation here is significantly higher than in Australia [where] 85% of industries have indicated they have difficulty filling jobs, especially construction and health. As we open our borders, the hidden danger is that much higher wages and a thriving economy in Australia will lure away the skills and businesses we need. John Brian J.

Time for the Government to cut spending on housing buy-ups, non-critical roadworks and other pet projects to cool economy. Influx of skilled foreign workers may assist labour shortages and inflation, but materials and the supply chain are set to remain an issue this year. Matt M.

With inflation, the Government response has been that it's all imported, when that is not the case. We have added a layer of inflation all by ourselves! To combat this we need a government that lives within its means and treats tax income as a precious resource to be used efficiently and effectively. Jim S.It's easy to forget how bad Covid was in 2020. Lockdowns and managing borders in NZ protected our healthcare system from, in my opinion, complete collapse. If you think we'd have been better to have let it rip, you'd have a burned-out, depleted healthcare system. Glenn M.