Letters: COP26, opening up, leaving Auckland, eateries and hair salons, and Three Waters

A man walks on a pathway that is partially submerged due to the rising sea levels in the village of Sidogemah, Central Java. Photo / Dita Alangkara, AP

Opinion

Look to ourselves
At COP26 in Glasgow, all eyes are on the world leaders, expecting a miracle.
To be sure, not enough action has been done in the past to reduce the greenhouse gases but to fade out all these coal-powered generating plants will take decades and the power cost will go through the roof.
Now what actions are the people taking? I can see, while waiting at the bus stop car, after huge car going past and most have one passenger. I can see people sitting in their car in the supermarket car park with the engines running while the shopper is inside. I see shoppers putting one or two avocados in a paper or plastic bag, plus many other vegetables which do not need to be bagged. I see thousands of takeaway coffee cups being used every day. These should have at least one dollar surcharge with the money going to clean up the environment. Why not bring your own cup like a concerned citizen should do? The list goes on and on. Don't expect miracles from the governments if you cannot change your own habits.
Siegfried Jordan, Royal Oak.

Holding ground
Despite the reasons why we need to attain 90 per cent vaccination being accentuated by government and health professionals over and over again, there is continual criticism and cries to remove all restrictions.
Are we so selfish that, as long as I don't get the virus, to hell with everyone else? As an Aucklander, yes, I am fed up with being locked up but I know that if we open the borders Covid will stretch its long tentacles to every city town and country road.
How will I feel then when death from Covid is a fact of everyday life?
It has been very hard for business in Auckland and tourism in the rest of the country has suffered because Aucklanders and overseas tourists are not there, but there is nothing more final than death.
We are nearly out of the tunnel so let's hold our ground and be thankful we are not cold in the ground or ashes in a jar on the mantelpiece.
Reg Dempster, Albany.

Deterrent needed
Auckland and the Waikato are being held to ransom by a small group who are defying Covid-19 restrictions and vaccination requests that the vast majority accept on the basis of the greater good. Indirectly, the entire country is affected.
The simple reason is because they can, and they know from experience that the consequences of misbehaving are minimal.
New Zealand is very good at making laws, regulations and rules, but not so good at having meaningful penalties. We also tend to ignore infractions, referenced by the number of motor vehicles that are neither registered or display WOF. A judiciary that believes a cuddle fixes all, doesn't help.
It is time for change, and the catalyst could be the issue of the vaccination passport and its use when Aucklanders are able to leave lockdown before Christmas. My theory is that significant consequences are a deterrent and reduce the need to have blanket policing policies.
Let the borders open for the holidays for those with a passport and randomly select one in 10 vehicles for close scrutiny.
I would suggest an instant fine of $5000 per person and 28-day vehicle confiscation would deter all but the most foolhardy.
Murray Reid, Cambridge.

Hard to swallow
The Prime Minister, when announcing Auckland is moving to level 3 step 2, has dismissed allowing al fresco dining despite its success in the UK. Why? "It wouldn't be fair on hospitality outlets who can't provide such amenities."
What is actually being said is the Government would rather penalise all Auckland cafes, restaurants and pop-ups, rather than provide a lifeline for a significant number of them. Where is the logic that allows 25 to eat together outdoors but not when provided by a business that would be required to apply far stricter safety guidelines? I continue to be dismayed by the decision-making process going on at the moment.
John Harmsworth, Warkworth.

All left outside
The problem with the politics of "equity" is that often it results in equitable failure; it is the politics of the lowest common denominator.
The Prime Minister spoke from instinct when she explained why outside dining is still not permitted in Auckland, despite its proven very low risk of spreading Covid. She said that it was because not all hospitality businesses can offer outside dining and therefore it would be "inequitable" to allow some such businesses to open but not others. This is the essence of equitable failure.
Even a mediocre government, if it were less instinctively driven by the politics of equity, would have realised that allowing some businesses to save themselves is better than preventing any from doing so.
A government driven by the politics of aspiration, on the other hand, would have instructed officials at national and local level to ensure all hospitality businesses that wished to do so would have the option to set up their tables on the pavements or roads. It would have given those officials one week to make the necessary arrangements. And it would have done that 12 weeks ago, when Auckland's lockdown began.
Richard Grant, Ellerslie.

Future-focus
Minister Nanaia Mahuta is trying to future-proof three of our piped infrastructures. We are dreaming if we think sewage, stormwater and water supply structures are an asset to councils. They are just a liability.
We have massive population growth from ex-pat refugees and foreigners clamouring to join us in our South Pacific refuge. Funding to meet this demand for services is more than current ratepayers normally will tolerate. There is no fairy to fund this growth problem. We are all going to have to pay one way or the other.
This is a problem for all growth centres like Tauranga, Auckland or Wellington. Besides growth, we also face extra costs to provide spare capacity for when droughts and floods get worse.
Ratepayers are not renowned for supporting an increase in rates for current problems, let alone for some events in the future. This is illustrated by the shambles of Wellington and Auckland infrastructures.
Unless all of us change, this is our future too. We should welcome some management structure, more removed from elderly and whinging ratepayer influence, and that is more focused on what lies ahead.
Basil Graeme, Tauranga.

Dubious improvements
Wayne Brown's article (NZ Herald, November 8) on Three Waters raises excellent questions.
I'd love to hear of any recently appointed government body which has delivered a cheaper and more efficient service – of any sort. Government bodies naturally attract empire builders who measure success by how large they can build their empires and how many highly paid consultants and experts they can involve in their endeavours. As Wayne notes, "costs up and standards down".
A regulatory body that has the power to oversee and enforce water quality standards with the present suppliers would suffice. It doesn't need to be large and could be based in Wellington (to keep the politicians happy), but it could be located anywhere in New Zealand.
The aim to improve water quality is commendable, but Three Waters, as it is presently envisaged, isn't going to do it.
Bill Boyle, Ōrewa.

What you wish for
If Covid infection levels rise exponentially around our country once all the restrictions are lifted, I hope people will remember a couple of things. First, it is what Aucklanders particularly have been badgering the Government for, demanding this to be done so we can all go out for dinner and/or crowd the shops again. Second, if the virus does take hold, it will not be the Government's fault. It it has done everything in its power to keep us all safe.
That fault will lie squarely at the feet of those who, despite all the science and despite the fact that doing so will help the whole country rebound from the last weeks and months of lockdowns, still refuse to be vaccinated and also thosefolk who demand their "freedom".The selfish actions of the few will dictate the future for the many.
Two old sayings come to mind. Look before you leap, and be careful what you wish for.
I just wish us all a safer, virus free future and all it takes to achieve it.
Jeremy Coleman, Hillpark.

Access issues
Correspondent Patricia Guptill (NZ Herald, November 8) considers that some on benefits and living in remote areas are finding it difficult to pay for petrol to travel to a vaccination station and, accordingly, are being demonised.
Surely these people must, to get food and other essential supplies, travel to a supermarket; these are located in towns where there are most likely also vaccination stations? Perhaps the stations should be in supermarket carparks?
There will be valid reasons for failing to vaccinate, but reasonable access would rarely be one of them.
John Billing, New Plymouth.

Short & sweet

On quarantine
I have no pity for Kiwis moaning about quarantine rules when we have just done four months, hard labour, isolation. Rex Head, Papatoetoe.

I am amused at the National Party's call for an immediate end to MIQ. If we'd followed their previous position, we'd still be building a purpose-built MIQ facility in Waiouru. Roger Laybourn, Hamilton.

On teachers
Many of the teachers refusing to be vaccinated are doing so because they object "to being told what to do" - somewhat ironic, given that's what they do daily for a living. Fiona McAllister, Mt Maunganui.

On Auckland
As Covid, inevitably, spreads around the country, Aucklanders and their vaccine uptake will be a safer bet than many of the inhabitants of the places they visit. Colin Nicholls, Mt Eden.

On restrictions
It's absolutely ridiculous that I can open my bookshop at level 3.2 but my neighbours can't open their cafes and hair salons. Wendy Tighe-Umbers, Parnell.

On cases
Surely the most important piece of information regarding the numbers of new cases is whether the people have been vaccinated or not. Similarly with numbers of people in hospital. Susan Grimsdell, Auckland Central.

On birds
My vote for the bird of the year is the Scarecrow. Donald Macculloch, Remuera.

The Premium Debate

Expensive electricity

Well said. The present situation will become unsustainable. A number of providers all with expensive CEOs and managers. All trying to make a profit with little investing. A market where there is an incentive to make power scarce, to push the price up. Too many companies when 3 would do. We are only 5 million that's a small city overseas. Paul C.

A good read. What about encouraging time-of-use metering as I'm sure most of the population have smart meters by now? This would make heat pump users at dinner time upset, but we need to reward people who use shoulder or night power more. I'm sure electric cars will make peak power problems worse if lines companies don't incentivise better network tariffs. We have a night store heater on night rates and hot water on off-peak tariffs with 2 different ripple channels, which I think should be lower rates than they are to encourage a move. Karl V.

The author forgot to mention the middlemen introduced during the reforms. Apparently they were the ones who were supposed to ensure the consumer got a good/fair deal. All they do is sit in an office filled with computers and unnecessarily click the ticket on the way through. They generate/produce absolutely nothing except revenue for themselves. Ross H.

I think New Zealand in general is scared to do anything that might affect the environment. We love clean hydro but I can't imagine if someone wanted to build a new dam like Pukaki or Manapouri it would never be allowed. Let alone an oil refinery or airport. Richard B.

What is preventing our Labour Government from following this advice and appointing a single buyer (SB) to ensure our electricity costs consumers less and saves millons for the country? Robert B.

"Preconditions are it must be free from government interference and its recommendations must be independently reviewed." Labour does not like that bit, they want to control everything. Jim K.