Letters: Eden Park, housing supply, medical student, returnees and the TPP

Eden Park is the logical choice for the main central stadium in Auckland, writes one correspondent. Photo / Greg Bowker, File

Roar of the crowd

Finally, a person in the Auckland Council who is actually thinking logically about the stadiums (NZ Herald, November 10) in our city. Thank you Nick Hill, the new Auckland Unlimited chief executive.
It has been blindingly obvious to most of us that we do not need another expensive stadium built when we already have three. Having Eden Park as the central one is a "no brainer" as it is the best and largest stadium in the country. Money has already been spent on upgrading it and it is a fantastic venue.
I think that we probably still need one more smaller one for second-tier sports – probably Mt Smart as it has more covered seating and is not reliant on the motorway system for getting there, with rail being so handy.
Clearly this will anger the very small proportion of people who live around Eden Park, but the stadium was there long before they moved into that area.
Although the parking situation around Eden Park is not great, over the past few years, the public transport system, ie rail and buses, have pretty much got it sorted with buses actually dropping off people in the parking area, with a short walk of maybe a couple of hundred metres from the trains.
A great deal of money has been spent on Eden Park. Let's make that money work for the city.
Trish Heikoop, Pakuranga.

Unlimited spending

Auckland Unlimited? I don't think, even though the council seems to think ratepayers' pockets are.
Hill declares he will support Eden Park for concerts. Apparently residents who will be affected will be sacrificed for what is "right for Auckland". But whose Auckland? Has he forgotten Eden Park residents are Auckland?
He argues his role is to "grow the economy". We have all been oversold that old dog ear of the economic value of sporting and concert events. The bigger the event, the higher percentage our rates go up.
Come back to earth Auckland Council, your wax wings are melting in the sunlight of reality. We have a boat race of three teams we may not even be able to see, and a ratepayer $63 million bailout of Eden Park as a testament of pie-in-the-sky sporting economics. We have more people sleeping on streets and our city looking uglier and dirtier and more chaotic than ever.
Most of us just want to get on with our lives quietly, efficiently and without undue hassle and expense - a concept Auckland Council cannot hear above its own excessive noise.
Russell Hoban, Ponsonby.

Out of Eden

Has the Auckland Council gone mad? Another executive, Nick Hill, wants to close down Mt Smart and North Harbour stadiums. They are homes to the Warriors and the Tuatara baseball team.
What would happen in the event of three codes games clashing at the same weekend, or if Eden Park was for some reason unavailable?
Eden Park is privately owned. What is the Auckland Council doing throwing $63 million of ratepayers' money at it - $10 million with no strings attached?
Does the council gather revenue, other than rates, from the owners?
Who cares if Eden Park closes. I'm sure the locals would love to see it go.
It would be better to throw the millions of dollars at council-owned venues.
Miles Hayward, Beachlands.

Disturbing choice

I find it bizarre that Auckland Council's recent appointee Nick Hill has followed his comment that Auckland needs only one "rectangular football" stadium by suggesting, from the three main options, the worst choice of all.
Eden Park is in the middle of a residential area, whereas Mt Smart Stadium and Albany Stadium are well away from homes. They are places where unlimited concert and events can be enjoyed without inflicting loud noise on thousands of people trying to get to sleep in their own homes. Overseas, new stadiums get built in places well away from homes – think the new Perth Stadium, and Centurion Park near Johannesburg – and Auckland should make its stadium priority a location that does not disturb its local suburb.
Jeremy Hall, Hauraki.

Greed over good

I think Phil Goff has his rose-tinted glasses on (NZ Herald, November 10). He thinks the housing supply is a lovely, balanced Friedman thing.
So the non-owner occupiers (short term speculators) will hold on to their properties when the market stalls?
When they perceive the top of the cycle, they cut and run, causing the other extreme to the bubble they caused.
Developers, builders and homeowners are left holding their overvalued babies. Nothing personal, of course, just greed.
Non-occupiers should have to use their equity to build new houses as well as owning older stock.
David Patterson, Raumati Beach.

Operation intrusion

"Misunderstandings, assumptions, missed opportunities" writes Nicholas Jones (NZ Herald, November 10) of the University of Otago report into an alarming breach of patient rights, let alone security, ethics and trust at Wellington Hospital.
The "senior staff member" first approached and the "cardiothoracic surgeon" are different people, thus it is the former who would have understood that the "aspiring CT surgeon" was in fact a builder's apprentice. The two do not compare notes.
Why did the student deliberately mislead by her wording in the email to the surgeon? There is no misunderstanding there.
It is also noted that patient permission is usually sought for non-essential staff to be present in a theatre. Did the surgeon seek permission from their patient? If not, they too have breached the patients' rights - another misunderstanding ?
Shame on you University of Otago for painting such a gentle picture of an appalling breach. And shame on you Capital & Coast DHB if you accept this report.
Catherine Moorhead, Pt Chevalier.

Difficult times

Unfortunately, not every returnee or traveller will be able to be accommodated at the time they choose (NZ Herald, November 11) due to the Covid-19.
It has been a cruel virus for many in terms of illness, business and being unable to reach out to family at crucial times.
Five million Kiwi endured total lockdown to enable relative freedom and minimum deaths that we have in comparison with the rest of the world.
We need to continue to remember the sacrifice all those in NZ at the time made for this to happen and continue to exercise patience and kindness towards each other.
Marie Kaire, Whangarei.

Trade bullying

Thank you to Professor Jane Kelsey, for her in depth view (NZ Herald, November 10) on America wishing to rejoin the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).
I am in agreement with her on the consequences of letting the US back on to the negotiating table.
President Eisenhower warned of the growing presence of a "military industrial complex", before he left office in 1961.
This "complex" has grown to include major banks and financial institutions, the arms manufacturing industries, most large American pharmaceutical industries and major food producers.
This unity is solidified by some board directors, having seats on the boards, in all of the above mentioned.
One only has to look at how Canada, with their lumber exports, and Mexico, have been treated in their own trade agreements with the US. We would be well advised not to let them back in.
This "complex" is a "powerhouse bully" and will stop at nothing to get an advantage, sometimes in a threatening manner.
NZ and the other signatories to the TPP will be on the losing end, should America get their way. Don't let them back in.
John Walker, Mission Bay.

Well read

Dick Brass is quite right (NZ Herald, November 9) in saying that Trump's authoritarianism looks like a mixture of patriotism and new-found national purpose at home but more shocking and even scary to clearer overseas eyes.
The reason for that, I suggest, is that so many Americans decry anything which they see as anti-Trump as "fake news".
New Zealanders are among those who are blessed with quality, professional news services. Newspapers such as the NZ Herald also run enlightening articles by the quality American newspapers such as the Washington Post and the New York Times on the very clear dangers that Trump poses.
What a shame that many Americans do not read quality newspapers. A high percentage of them are evangelicals (20 to 25 per cent) who, as pro-Trumpers, have an extremely flexible morality.
Of course New Zealand has those who are unable to differentiate between reliable news sources and fake news outlets too, but I would like to think that most of us have an informed worldview.
Roger Fea, Papamoa.

Short & sweet

On property

No Capital Gains Tax. No wealth tax. How about resurrecting the old Stamp Duty on purchases of property excluding first time buyers and new builds? L Harvey, Titirangi.

On election

The question may now well be how much havoc Donald Trump in his last two months in office can put in the way of Joe Biden. Multiple lawsuits already under way may just be the start. Gary Hollis, Mellons Bay.

Let's face it - we love seeing a person, who made his money firing others on TV, being fired himself. Rob Buchanan, Kerikeri.

The TV news showed groups of Biden or Trump supporters. Biden supporters wore masks and Trump supporters didn't. That says a lot about the mentality of each group. J. Hansen, Hastings.

After Covid-19 another great killer in the US is guns. Good luck to Joe Biden for dealing also with that, especially with Trump fans. Geoff Barlow, Remuera.

On student

If a medical student has a "misunderstanding" as to whether a builder's apprentice mate can walk in and observe an operation for three hours, then I do not have confidence in her becoming a doctor and would not want any chance of her being near me during an operation. P. Salvador, Hobsonville.

The student should be disallowed from finishing her medical training and unable to graduate, the registrar should have to do a year of extra training and the dean should consider resigning. Ann Shields, Meadowbank.

On MIQ

Like Tigger in Winnie the Pooh, some quarantine returnees have posh preferences. Hing Yu, Pakuranga Heights.