Decommissioning the Marsden Point refinery, south of Whangārei, left New Zealand with just one domestic liquid CO2 supplier before that too closed down. Photo / Michael Cunningham
Market failure
First, there was a shortage of aviation fuel due to a bad batch of imported product. Flights were affected and rationing introduced for a while. There was no backup due to the closure of the Marsden Point refinery. Now there is a shortage of CO2 gas, used in everything from beverages to hospitals, again linked to closure of the refinery. No one knows what will come next. These failures are the result of New Zealand’s and both major political parties’ rigid adherence to the notion that the market is the answer to our economic woes. What is missing is a collectivist New Zealand Inc approach which would have prevented such pitfalls. This is not to advocate for a planned socialist economy. Instead, successful east Asian economies such as Japan and South Korea have managed to adopt aspects of centralised control to ensure the success of their market economies. In these countries the closure of a sole refinery would have needed to be approved by a powerful government ministry which would have identified the downstream ripple effects of closure. Solutions would have been found that did not involve closure. It is time to abandon our Messianic devotion to the free market.
Gehan Gunasekara, Stonefields.
Hole in one
I’m surprised there haven’t been any reports on a pothole repair machine developed by a British construction company, JCB. It can repair a pothole in minutes at a cost of around $60. It cuts, crops, and cleans the damaged area without specialist equipment or manpower. In a demonstration the machine took 13 minutes 9sec to prepare a 12sq m of damaged roadway ready for sealing material to be laid. An experienced manual repair gang took 1hr 19m. The machine cleared three years of pothole repairs in Britain in four months. By now, I assume our on-to-it, fast decision-making Government has told NZ Transport Agency to order at least six machines. (My wife just chipped in, “that’s for Hillsborough Rd alone”).
David Morris, Hillsborough.
Leased resistance
It is rather ripe for Erica Stanford (NZ Herald, January 16) to be complaining about the Ministry of Education paying the lease on the now known-to-be earthquake-prone Mātaurangi House, given when the Ministry moved into the building. There are two important pieces of information we need to consider. First, the fact that the Ministry moved into the building in 2016, strongly suggests that was when the lease was negotiated. Second, the lease isn’t cancellable. We have a situation in which a non-cancellable lease was negotiated on National’s watch for a building with a low seismic rating. The headline “Big bill for empty education HQ” suggests that this building’s concrete floors would collapse in a severe earthquake, something that a Government that had been through the Christchurch earthquakes should have been more alert to. We face a big bill now, because National was asleep at the wheel. Criticism of leaving the lights on is totally valid, as any worker who acts responsibly would turn the lights off when finished. But complaining about the lease is totally invalid given the available information.
Jonathan Godfrey, Māngere.
Stumping up
Minister Stuart Nash has said there is no need for an official inquiry into forestry practices in Tairawhiti, despite the call by the Environmental Defence Society. He said the forestry companies “just need to sit down with key stakeholders and understand how to operate better”. Really? They have had five years since the last major cyclone in mid-2018 to do that and nothing has happened. Grant Dodson, president of the Forestry Owners Assoc has also been interviewed and offered little in the way of forming “best practices” or doing anything constructive aside from saying that some “manuals” had been written. He was at pains to point out the historical nature of the region and saying how erodible the area was - still no solution. So, why does Nash think these forestry companies will sit down and talk with key stakeholders when, after the storm in 2018, it took one of the major players almost five years to take responsibility? Time to put your big boy boots on before the next storm/cyclone hits the area.
Stephen Jardine, Glendowie.
Fueled again
It has me puzzled. In 1990, oil was US$88 per barrel (NZ$147 at the 1990 exchange rate) and we paid 96 cents per litre of petrol at the pump. Adjusted for inflation, those numbers equate to NZ$314 per barrel and NZ$2.04 per litre in 2023 dollars. Today, oil is US$80 per barrel, or NZ$124 at the current exchange rate, yet petrol averages $2.60 per litre and is soon to be $2.85 per litre when the Government’s fuel excise duty cuts are reversed at the end of March. Doing the sums and adjusting for inflation, oil is two and a half times cheaper than it was in 1990 but petrol is not. Somehow since 1990, the price of petrol in NZ, relative to the price of the oil it is distilled from, has increased by 250 per cent. Someone is having a laugh; maybe the fuel companies, or maybe the Government - probably both - but certainly not me.
John Denton, Eskdale.
Russian energy
Contributor P J Edmondson (NZ Herald, January 16) has claimed that the effect of the Ukraine war will be to cripple the economy of Russia. Unfortunately, that view is unlikely to be proven correct, because Russia is now developing huge new markets for its energy and other products in Asia, especially India and China whose economies will soon be the two biggest in the world, and the world’s largest pipeline system is currently being built in Siberia to achieve this shift in the market. Instead it is the EU countries whose economies run a real risk of being crippled, as they no longer have access to well-priced Russian energy, and are being forced to purchase expensive US energy products which could ultimately cause a partial de-industrialisation of Europe.
David Mairs, Glendowie.
Soldier prince
It seems unlikely that the millions who read Prince Harry’s tell-all book or listen to his interviews will see him as occupying the moral high ground. I am reeling from his open admission that he killed 25 Afghani “fighters” from the relative safety of his Apache helicopter. He has no regrets: “They were chess pieces off the board, bad guys eliminated before they kill good guys.” As he points out, he was trained to “other” the enemy and not see them as people. What Harry sees as a chess game of targeted killing, others might describe as an assassination mission. The establishment said he had breached a military code. Apparently, it is okay to kill but not to display the kill notches on your belt. Afghanistan was subjected to two decades of war, causing tens of thousands of casualties, and now the country faces a horrific humanitarian crisis. I cannot see how the British forces in Afghanistan could be the “good guys”. Back in the 1960s, Buffy Sainte-Marie sang about the Universal Soldier, the one who gives his “body as a weapon of the war”, who cannot avoid the blame for “without him all this killing can’t go on”.
Maire Leadbeater, Mt Albert.
Holding fire
The Ukraine war is escalating dangerously. You could say that this was an avoidable war; Nato the USA, and the EU are as responsible for the war as Russia, and Ukraine is paying the heaviest price. The possibility of Nato troops on its border was a red line for Russia. It is doubtful that Western leaders consult their foreign affairs specialists on Ukraine in the US state department and EU in the lead-up to the war. The only Western leader calling for pragmatism in talks with Russia before the war and today is Emmanuel Macron of France. Now, we have a proxy war – the military might of the West vs Russia, with consequences including a nuclear strike that nobody can predict. It is time for a ceasefire and serious negotiations with a face-saving result for Russia and a good outcome for Ukraine.
Kushlan Sugathapala, Epsom.
Fatal flaws
Isn’t it time that Waka Kotahi was more transparent about the real causes of motor accidents on our roads? Why is the public not provided with the statistics on how many vehicles involved in accidents are in unsafe condition with mechanical faults, bald tyres and modifications, etc? How many of these vehicles are unwarranted? How many accidents are due to driver impairment through alcohol and drugs? How many accidents on our roads are attributable to bad road or weather conditions? The one statistic that Waka Kotahi will never publicly divulge is the number of accidents on our 110km highways. The reason for this is that it might undermine their assertion that speed per se is the cause of accidents. In the meantime, thousands of taxpayer dollars are spent on silly advertising campaigns with mindless catchphrases like “the road to zero” and “it takes everyone to get to no one”. Let’s have some real statistics.
Stephen Alpe, Birkenhead.
Barging in
Over the past five or six years, there has been talk of moving the Auckland Port. One of the reasons is to free up valuable space on the waterfront used to store imported cars for three or four days. Some say move the Port to Manukau - but the bar is too dangerous; then to Thames - the cost of constructing a port is too expensive, plus too far away to redirect containers, etc. Then there is Whangārei, but the cost to upgrade the rail and roads is too expensive. All these consultants have cost the Auckland ratepayers millions of dollars. But wait, why hasn’t anyone considered the water? If the Port was moved to Whangārei the cars could be transported by electric-powered car ferries to Auckland, up the Tamaki River, under the Panmure bridge, to say the end of Gabador Pl, Mt Wellington. Very handy to Carr & Haslam, who transport most of the cars. The transporters can then distribute to the dealers, most of whom are in South or West Auckland. This would then free up the waterfront and take these transporters out of the CBD, freeing up our motorways. For this consultation I won’t charge, and hopefully this will give Wayne Brown another point of view and will not increase my rates. The ferries could be owned and run by Auckland or leased to an entrepreneur company. A win-win for everyone.
Murray Wright, Remuera.
Art’s sake
It’s a pity the Mayor’s comments on the Art Gallery have focused so much attention on that organisation to the neglect of arts in this city as a whole. With its astonishingly vibrant and diverse arts scene, Auckland is the arts capital of this country: music, theatre, writers’ festival, outdoor sculpture, Māori, Polynesian and Asian arts and others provide a far better range than anywhere else. Yet, in recent times I have never heard any councillor or mayor speak with any pride about what we have.
Roger Hall, Takapuna.
Performance bonuses
A J Petersen (NZ Herald, January 17) suggests establishing base MP salaries of NZ$100,000 and then providing performance-based bonuses “subject to their ability”. This is a huge mistake as it will create a flock of toadying “yes men” beholden to the subjective notions of the bonus providers. It is the stuff of authoritarianism. That a bonus system leads to ingratiating behaviour by those seeking maximum bonus has been demonstrated in a cult article - “A Theory of ‘Yes Men’” by C. Prendergast in the prestigious American Economic Review. His point is that those seeking large bonuses curry favour rather than giving expertise-based advice. Imagine giving Donald Trump such leverage over staff in the US Civil Service.
Robert Myers, Auckland Central.
On beaches
I find it surprising that Coopers Beach in the Far North does not rate a mention as New Zealand’s Best Family Beach. Bob Vartan, Coopers Beach.
On housing
I understood the purpose of the Government’s housing dictates was to promote intensification within walking distance of main transport routes and near the city and town centres. Last time I looked, Orewa and Birkenhead were a long way from the nearest town centre and there was no railway line anywhere near them. John Burns, Balmoral.
On servants
Most waste expenditure is the fault of public servants who operate on a no-care and no-responsibility basis. They all enjoy a sinecure and are never sacked, no matter how incompetent. They regard their political masters as temporary and take little notice. Neville Cameron, Coromandel.
On Parton
Daron Parton’s cartoon “scrambled eggs without eggs” (NZH, Jan. 17) reminds me of Peter Sellers’ spoof travelogue “Balham, Gateway to the South” where at the El Morocco Tea Rooms “honey’s off, dear”. Still funny after more than 60 years. Ray Gilbert, Pāpāmoa Beach.
On forestry
Slash is washed out of forests. Hillsides slip over roads. Rivers flood choking farms, etc. If forestry owners have to pay for the clean-up, do the owners of the hillsides or the owners of the river pay as well? G Spencer, Pukekohe.
Residents battle against Auckland housing intensification
Auckland has been my delightful home for all of my seven decades. I was born in the city and have never considered living anywhere else, until now. I despair at what the leafy suburbs will look like in 30 years’ time, with wall-to-wall cheaply built boxes and no trees but overgrown berms. Perhaps it’s just as well I won’t be here to see it. I’ve certainly had the best of it. Brian M.
Rule one: Do not buy a property in a city, or conurbation near a city, and expect the area to remain unchanged. Rule two: If in doubt refer to rule one. James S.
There are already enough high-intensive zones near commercial areas in Auckland to provide all projected housing needs. We do not need the whole area to be zoned for three-storey, high-intensive building. A healthy place to live means keeping green space. Apart from it not being needed to ensure sufficient housing, schools, roads, water and wastewater, electricity infrastructure will not cope with the intensification. Richard C.
These three-storey monstrosities 1m from fences with no plants/grass, and no car parks, are hated by most Kiwis. So why has democracy not prevailed? Geoff N.
It has. If people weren’t buying them, they wouldn’t be being built. I think “most Kiwis” might relate to people you know as opposed to a statistically representative sample of Aucklanders. Many Kiwis are recent immigrants from countries that do high-density housing extremely well, e.g. parts of Europe and Asia, and bearing in mind over 50 per cent of people in Auckland weren’t born in NZ it’s safe to say that a lot of Kiwis in Auckland are more than happy to live in housing like this. Sandra M.
To me the most telling phrase is the developer’s complaint that the original plan to build 201 properties “is not economically viable”. Well bad luck, you should have paid more attention to the accuracy of your original costing of the job. This is ghetto-fication by stealth. If you’ve blown your calculations put the land back on the open market. Sally H.
