Letters: Drought the excuse, not the reason for water shortage

Photo / Dean Purcell

Sure, in Auckland we have had a drought, but drought is the excuse and not the reason for our current water shortage. The true reason is that for the previous 40 or so years our council has done absolutely nothing to increase our water collection and storage infrastructure.

Over that same 40 or so years Auckland has had a lot of rain. Anyone who has lived here knows that.

But we don't collect and store it as well as we should, and far too much gets wasted.

Yet here we are, with a water shortage caused by a drought, and our mayor and his officials wringing their hands in despair.

Will we ever see people with vision and business acumen seek out the leadership roles in our council instead of those we have, and have had for at least 40 years, who are locked into a mindset of one-year budgets and a three-year election cycle, where the priority once one is elected is to get re-elected?
Phil Chitty, Albany

What the election's really about

Ann David says "a good day dawns ... when most of Parliament is liberal, not conservative" (Letters, July 19).

If Ann David thinks the voters' choice is between "liberal" and "conservative", I don't agree. The real choice seems to be between liberal/conservative and progressive/woke. Online, at least, many liberals line up with conservatives because progressive/woke is so authoritarian and controlling — e.g. censorship, harsh judgment (without a trial) and cancel culture.

The election will really be about whether or not to embrace authoritarianism.
Lily Williams, Waikanae

Donate, don't wait to be taxed

The billionaires who signed a petition wanting to pay more tax have finally realised that life has more value than money during a pandemic. They fear a rebellion of ordinary frontline workers who might refuse to work. An extreme revolution might see them too scared to venture out in case the poverty-stricken workers attack.

How magnanimous of them to offer a bribe. Perhaps they should make an immediate donation to keep the frontline workers motivated to risk their lives rather than waiting to be taxed?
Steve Russell, Hillcrest

Lessons from Latin

Kerre McIvor's article on education ("Credits where credit is due", July 19) is a beautiful marker of the benefits of Latin in high school.

First, by memorising passages, for the examination, she developed the faculty of memory (now largely outsourced to the internet). Then she honed her ability to apply one language to another. Important in an era of diversity.

Second, she studied Julius Caesar, the archetypical strongman.

Third, she became aware of the flow of people and power in the Mediterranean world, as Caesar took his legionnaires into France. Later his successors moved further into Germany and Britain. Such is the current flow of Mediterranean people. Discomforting to northern Europeans, it is inherent in the geography of Europe.

So much learnt by the age of 15. Why does the Ministry of Education want to banish Latin from the curriculum?
Gregory J Thwaite, Auckland

Stick to port plan

I believe that it is no coincidence that a $10,000 report by the Business Chamber of Auckland follows a $2 million report favouring the Manukau Harbour as the next replacement for the Port of Auckland.

The Manukau solution was easily rubbished for practical reasons, but the Firth of Thames should be equally rubbished for environmental reasons. This is an extremely sensitive area with breeding seabirds, many of them migratory, a vast ecosystem of sea life and some aquaculture.

Unfortunately, I suspect a lot of wealthy vested interests want the latter option despite the risks.

Building road and rail links from Pokeno would ruin this wonderful coastline, and ships are a large risk to any environment. We need to keep to the original "Upper North Island Supply Strategy" report by the Ministry of Transport.
Niall Robertson, Balmoral