An Eastcliffe Retirement Village resident says they were willing to resolve the situation without legal action but letters and phone calls have been ignored. File photo / Doug Sherring
As one of the affected residents of Eastcliffe Retirement Village, I appreciate Andrea Fox's article (NZ Herald, June 28). An important point I would like to add is that completion of the new building is well over two years away.
I was approaching 90 when that was first offered and I am now 91. Having already been moved twice, I made the decision to buy into a new village. This of course meant raising more finance because, after 12 years at Eastcliffe, values are now very different.
Yes, Ngati Whatua were paying for rental accommodation but in two cases the landlords died and the beneficiaries wanted to sell, requiring the occupants to move again. Such uncertainty for elderly people, through no fault of their own, is unacceptable.
We have been willing to resolve the situation without legal action but letters and phone calls have been ignored. It is sad to see that this generation of Ngati Whatua consider their commercial interests ahead of wellbeing for the elderly.
Pauline Levie, Meadowbank.
Every petrol price rise from the oil companies goes unremarked, while every time petrol rises when the fuel tax goes up we get excited headlines like your one today, "Petrol rise '$45 hit' for motorists" (NZ Herald, July 1). But it's hardly a "hit" when those tax rises are recycled to pay for transport infrastructure, benefitting motorists. Those rises also generate more employment for the transport construction industry, which in turn sees money recycled back into our economy. On the other hand, we get absolutely nothing in exchange for increased prices paid to oil companies. That money is simply shipped offshore, never to be seen again.
Petrol price rises have been a fact of life since, well, forever. Let's remember that government-driven rises come straight back to all of us, and that oil-company-driven rises come back to none of us.
Jeremy Hall, Opaheke.
As a former supporter of New Zealand First, I have been on their side and voted for them since Winston first started the party.
I would like to say that he has not supported the pensioners and lower income people of New Zealand by allowing the Government to increase the tax on petrol again (NZ Herald, July 1).
This will increase the cost of transport and everyone's cost of living. Also the increase will add to the GST on petrol and transport, increasing the cost of living more. They have increased the cost of living for the people who can afford it the least.
Having been a worker who paid the top tax rate on part of my income when I was working full time, I think that the Government should be taxing the high earners more, rather than costing those kiwis who can not afford to pay this ridiculous increase in the cost of living.
John Laing, Drury.
I was saddened to observe Judith Collins so distressed by her father's death 25 years ago NZ Herald, June 27), particularly because the experience moved her to change her stance on the End of Life Choice Bill before Parliament.
For 30 years many of us have worked, throughout New Zealand, to improve access to palliative care.
That work needs ongoing support and funding to prevent families experiencing death in such a way it leaves heartache, regret and sorrow as the dominant memories of our loved ones.
Perhaps instead of supporting euthanasia as the answer Ms Collins could consider supporting the extension of hospice/palliative care.
Judith Macready, Warkworth.
In his plea to MPs to reject the Seymour bill, John Roughan makes a great deal of sense (NZ Herald, July 1).
He rightly points out that whatever conditions the bill is initially limited to, it will later expand - this has happened even in Oregon owing to a widened interpretation of its provisions.
This is the reality of Seymour's apparent confession to reduce his bill to terminal illness, which by the way is not defined in the bill - an extraordinary omission which itself leaves the door wide open to a liberal interpretation of the term.
As long as he can get the bill over the line, he will not care how apparently restricted it is. Once enacted, the passage of time would do its work and in Roughan's words, this right would be extended by "remorseless logic".
I join Roughan in his deep concern about the message this bill sends to those already marginalised by their physical or mental health challenges. As he perceptively writes, these Kiwis already know they are a burden to others.
"Being a burden" was a reason given by over half of those requesting death in Oregon. It would be New Zealand's shame if this came true in our country.
Paula Salisbury, Hamilton.
With the delays and cancellations Auckland rail commuters are facing every weekday due to the poor condition of the tracks (NZ Herald, June 25), Auckland Transport and Transdev need to stop putting the blame squarely on KiwiRail and take some share of the blame themselves.
With ongoing increases to the timetable, particularly with running later into the evening, KiwiRail has been left with very little time to carry out maintenance work between the last train at night and the first train in the morning.
Auckland Transport and Transdev need to take a reality check and decide whether running near-empty trains late at night to cater for a handful of people is worth it at the expense of inconveniencing thousands of people with unreliable timetables during the day.
T Gray, Dannemora.
The (US) Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, an independent research group, estimates converting intersections with traffic lights to roundabouts reduces all crashes by 37 per cent and crashes that involve an injury by 75 per cent.
It would seem that Auckland's preference for traffic lights is for some reason other than safety.
David Jorgensen, Auckland Central.
In the 1960s the trucking firms went to the National government to change the tonnage of the freight trucks, from 35 tonne to 50 tonne.
The roading engineers of the time said our roads would not take the extra weight. Over time they would break up the roads. But Muldoon passed it through parliament.
Now most of our roads are breaking up and are in a bad state of repair. The best thing that could be done is to lower the tonnage of the trucks and put freight back on the railway.
Patrick Hickey, Devonport.
Samuel Johnson noted, 260 years ago: "Promise, large promise, is the soul of an advertisement." This also applies to political advertising.
The NZ Labour Party promised 10,000 affordable homes per year if elected to government. US President Donald Trump has promised to cure cancer if re-elected next year.
What should we conclude from these large promises? If a politician of any flavour tells you that it is raining go outside and check for yourself.
Malcolm Bell, Forrest Hill.
The objection to the term "life saving" referring to expensive drugs for otherwise terminally ill people by Patrick Frengley (NZ Herald, June 28) is somewhat disingenuous.
Of course expensive drugs are only 'life-extending' but, then, so is the operation maybe required after a car accident or indeed the fitness and exercise regime undertaken by some people.
Everything undertaken by humans can only be life-extending as we haven't yet discovered the magic eternal life pill.
What, I think, is the more pertinent question is why are we spending 23 million dollars attempting to recover bones from Pike River mine, or giving rich Asian countries more than 100 million dollars a year in aid instead of funding life-extending (and yes, expensive) drugs for our own people?
Max Miller, Red Beach.
The NZ Herald has periodic references to couples having difficulty conceiving. Low blood selenium levels prevent conception, as was shown with sheep on Taupo and Rotorua farms a long time ago. Pine plantations, not so dependent on selenium levels, were established instead of animals.
Selenium in NZ soils varies from low to very low. The plants, vegetables, fruit, grains, meat, milk, eggs and fish, together give us a range of selenium levels, 90 per cent lying between 0.45-1.45 mcrmol/lt. These figures are shown on report forms of selenium tests.
Anybody can pay $45 and have their selenium level measured. The necessary range for optimum health, 1.6-1.9 mcrml/lt. was published in The Lancet by Professor Margaret Rayman of Surrey University, UK.
The figures show that few people in New Zealand have satisfactory levels. This shows up as infertility, miscarriages, endometriosis, lung prostate and bowel cancers, eczema, asthma, cold sores and more.
The fast way to change this situation is to buy organic selenium capsules, costing less than $20/year. After about two months, when blood levels become adequate, more pregnancies are successful.
For optimum health, selenium is required for everyone in many parts of the world. The healthiest country is Japan, with high selenium and iodine levels from their natural diet.
David Walpole, Tauranga.
On ANZ
What idiot/s would purchase a residential property for $7.5 million dollars then sell it several years later, when it's estimated rating valuation is $10.75 million dollars, for $6.9 million dollars?
D B Kennedy, Hillsborough.
On rockets
I am not happy that an American-owned company is launching military satellites from New Zealand. Is this actually legal?
Rod McMahon, Birkenhead.
On G20
It was galling to see the crown prince preening himself and taking the stage at the G20 summit given the gruesome Khashoggi killing, for which he is single-handedly responsible.
Steve Lincoln, Botany Downs.
On EVs
A $60 fine for parking in an EV charging space might seem an acceptable risk for someone desperate to park. Knowing that their car could be towed would not.
Dave Fisher, Howick.
On e-scooters
Never-mentioned e-scooter faults: You need a large strong hand for safest braking and slowing down increases wobbling.
Brian John Evans, Mt Eden.
On Cabinet
Jacinda's opening of the Cabinet cutlery drawer confirmed what we've known for ages: there's not a sharp knife among her lot.
David Williams, Glendowie.
On honey
It is of concern that synthetics added to honey only came to light due to a whistle blower. Makes you shudder thinking of what else is going on undetected.
Pim Venecourt, Torbay.
On trucks
On a recent trip to Europe there was a noticeable absence of large, multi-axle trucks on the road. Perhaps this was to protect the roads.
Graham Steenson, Whakatane.
It's understood a NZDF aircraft and multiple helicopters are involved.