Letters: Government right to call for back to basics; doom and gloom and retail confidence

German tourists Carolin Sommer and Lennart Heiderich tracked down a suspected thief after their campervan was broken into in Rotorua.

Letters to the Editor

Bah humbug and back to basics

I haven’t agreed with much that the coalition Government put out in the last year but the news this week was well overdue.

Even Wayne Brown here in Auckland said a few months ago that Auckland needed to go back to basics but then all of a sudden it all went quiet again.

I’m sure most ratepayers would be happy to see measures in place that would force councils to keep rates low. I would. So time to do away with the frivolous spending by councils and local boards.

Let’s get our potholes filled and a nice clean water supply, amongst other things, and concentrate on the basics. Let’s get our streets and roads free of litter again instead of the “reactive” approach that council currently undertakes (which is a cost savings measure anyway).

Let’s keep our parks and reserves clean and tidy and not just around the playground updates or the $20 million playground (as per Hobsonville).

Do we really need music in the parks, movies in the parks and a host of other not really necessary events? Even that $800,000 Christmas tree down by Britomart - was it really necessary?

While you think about that spare a thought for all the unfortunates still waiting for a payout from council regarding their flooded homes in 2023. Close to two years on now and the amount of homes still yellow-carded continues to grow. We wait.

Steve Jardine, Glendowie.

Domino effect

The Grinch is alive and kicking. More doom and gloom - that attitude will not do business and the economy any good.

This Government entered 2024 with a negative attitude - cutting, slashing and burning anything the previous Government had in train. They spoke of nothing else but restraint and conservatism.

While some of this action may have been necessary, the negativity in their words seeped into every business and household. It’s called the domino effect, which is a chain reaction.

Now business will go into 2025 with a lack of confidence and retail sales will further fall because we are also told things are not good. We thrive on positivity and one would have to say there is a complete absence of that from those that lead us.

Reg Dempster, Albany.

Diagnosing diabetes

Helen Petousis-Harris’ article discussed misinformation around Covid vaccine and the threat to our health system because of vaccine resistance (NZ Herald, Dec 17). Misinformation around type 2 diabetes is equally concerning.

It burdens health services enormously, costing as much as cancer and all other illnesses combined. It was rare in 1970, but today 334,000 New Zealanders are affected - a huge upswing in the last 50 years. Alarm bells have been ringing since 2000. Clearly what we are doing is not working.

Misinformation blames your genes. Genetics may predispose a person towards diabetes but 50 years is too short for a genetic cause to be valid.

Misinformation tells us drugs are the solution. While convenient, they do not bring about a cure. They do drop sugar levels, but insulin resistance is the problem.

Misinformation says eating sugars and carbs is okay because they can be ‘balanced’ with metformin or insulin medication. Yet damage from inflammation progresses, and obesity worsens - because insulin enables fat increase.

There are hundreds of reversal success stories. They all involve carbohydrate restriction, along with a whole food diet, good proteins and healthy fats. Increased exercise helps.

There are many doctors, nurses, and pharmacists who understand the illness and the solutions. Research, question, investigate.

Judy Anderson, Remuera.

Police inaction

I’m at a loss for words. The police respond to robbed German tourists with a platitude that reads like a template to be used from Cape Reinga to Bluff (NZ Herald, Dec 19).

“We understand that this offending can have real impacts on victims, and acknowledge it can be distressing to have your vehicle broken into, especially when that vehicle is being used as your accommodation, and we encourage anyone who is victim of this offending to report it to police as soon as possible with as much information as possible.”

What good did that response do for these tourists? What reassurance is there for the rest of us that the police will act when we report a crime?

Chris Marnewick, Bucklands Beach.

Fringe movement

It’s great that David Seymour is spearheading a review of the hairdressing industry to address unnecessary regulations.

However, with a full head of hair he could be considered biased in his assessment of what is unnecessary. Surely there are far better candidates for this job in Parliament that are more obviously suited to being unbiased in their opinion of what is necessary and unnecessary when walking into a hairdressing salon?

Maybe there is also an opportunity here for a bipartisan approach such as having Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi at the forefront (excuse the pun) of this endeavour.

Bernard Walker, Mt Maunganui.