Letters: Grace Millane, maths exam, Erebus, boomers and Ports of Auckland

British tourist Grace Millane, 22, was killed on December 8 in Auckland. Her killer was convicted of murder after a three-week trial. File photo / supplied

Opinion

Grace tragedy

Many of us are deeply moved by this tragedy.
Details have now emerged of the assailant's personality. There are many who continually tell stories about themselves to try and impress others and/or to extract sympathy. Superficially, they are usually polite and have cultivated an image that hides deep insecurity.
Many don't kill but they are a pain and embarrassment to be around and to hear of, and they seem to never change. One learns to notice these things and not to believe too much that you are told; something that never leaves you.
What has happened is every parent's nightmare, that a loved child will travel overseas and may not come home alive.
Grace was in South America before coming to New Zealand and she would have had to watch herself there.
Our hearts go out to her family. We cannot imagine what pain this has caused them, and hope in time they can settle and obtain some degree of peace.
John Canty, Wadestown.

Memory of Grace

So Lizzy Marvelly thinks the justice system desecrated Grace's memory (NZ Herald, November 25). Her comments absolutely bristle with indignation.
Grace will be remembered as a vibrant, intelligent young woman whose life was cut short by an atrocious act, not by aspects of her sex life.
The malice Marvelly shows towards the justice system is misplaced. The trial and all it encompassed got the right result.
Lorraine Kidd, Warkworth.

Exam question

My daughter was one of the year 12 students left devastated by the Level 2 maths examination last week. She had prepared well for the exam, doing the last five years past papers as preparation, and getting a tutor in to work through these with her.
They had also worked through these past papers in class and no doubt their teachers had structured their teaching around the previous years questions in terms of preparation for them to be able to understand how to tackle the questions they were to be presented with in the external exam.
I would just like to know what the point was therefore to completely change the format/style of questions resulting in possibly only a very small percentage of students being able to even start to answer the questions? Are we as a country not supposed to be supporting children at school to tackle STEM subjects?
Engineers New Zealand is running programmes at schools to try encourage children to study STEM subjects, how will some nameless and faceless people setting undo-able maths exams to try prove they are smarter that Year 12 students help us as a country get the people we so desperately need into these careers?
Jonathan Shamrock, St Johns.

Flight path

Your correspondent Gerard Willemsen (NZ Herald, November 26) disputes Justice Mahon's finding that the Erebus disaster was caused by Air NZ briefing the pilots that the flight path lay in McMurdo Sound (as, in fact, it did) and then shifting it at around 2am on the morning of the flight by 27 miles so that it crossed Mt Erebus, and never telling the pilots.
There were five on the flight deck. All five believed they were looking at the entrance to the safe McMurdo Sound, which the pilots had been briefed on. In reality, they were looking towards Mt Erebus, which had been made invisible by the Antarctic feature known as whiteout.
If the pilots had known of whiteout, then they would never have descended into this typical whiteout situation.
Air NZ knew all about whiteout, but made the considered decision to conceal its existence from the pilots.
Stuart Macfarlane, Remuera.

History redacted

In regard to the discussion in your paper regarding the removal of exotic trees from Mt Albert so as to revert to some "imagined pre-civilised state", as Bob Culver (NZ Herald, November 25) has observed, is there any truth in the rumour that the National Library is going to follow this example and remove from its shelves all "exotic literature" including Shakespeare, St Paul and, of course, Charles Darwin?
Dr W R H Ramsay, Kerikeri.

Okay, generations

I totally agree with your correspondent Marie Kaire (NZ Herald, November 25) regarding "boomers". We used to walk to our local school, take our bottles to the shop to recycle for 4c. Pack our own lunch with paper wrapping and plastic bags were so scarce my mother washed the pea packet and hung it on the washing line.
I worked my butt off and bought a house at 37 which I am still paying off.
There is nothing to be gained by slagging off entire generations. I would never rubbish millennials, the elderly, gen X.
I work with all ages, in particular young people and they are amazing, but also look after my disabled parents who are luckily not put out to pasture for being incapacitated. Abusing anyone, anywhere based on age and generation is not only poor manners it is also ignorant.
Sam Cunningham, Henderson.

Money riddle

In his excellently informative article (NZ Herald, November 20), Peter Lyons wrote: "The original function of most central banks was to act as "lenders of last resort" if banks stuff up their lending. This is what many central banks did during the GFC. They flooded their financial sectors with easy money. Their actions likely prevented another Great Depression.
"But it hasn't solved the age old riddle at the heart of economics. Cheaper money in the past decade has likely been the main driver of asset price inflation in property and shares."
This "age old riddle" was solved decades ago. Trouble is, the power of the bankers is so great, no government has had the boldness to implement the solution, which removes the bankers' power to create money, and institutes a sovereign money banking and monetary system. One of the most prominent people advocating for this is the chief financial and economics commentator for the Financial Times of London, the economist Martin Wolf.
Another prominent advocate for a sovereign money banking and monetary system is Professor Joseph Huber, who gives a very good explanation online of what is entailed, and how to switch from the present system in which 98 per cent of the money supply is created as debt by banks.
Peter J Morgan, Milford.

Keep the port

Wouldn't it be ironic if Sir John Key and Helen Clark joining forces with New Zealand First in calling for Ports of Auckland business to be moved to Northport actually resulted in a more acceptable move to Port of Tauranga instead?
The undue haste to move Ports of Auckland without any comprehensive or cohesive replacement plan for the site being publicly revealed (or consulted on), other than having seasonal cruise ships berth there, creates suspicion that the site is being lined up for private interests to develop and control as has happened on a large swathe of land at the Viaduct. Or that waterfront stadium Trevor Mallard nearly succeeded in imposing upon us re-emerging on port land.
If the ongoing Auckland convention centre cost overruns combined with general bad luck are any indication of what happens when politicians push politically motivated infrastructure agendas, we all need to start worrying now.
Coralie van Camp, Remuera.

Move now

Forty or so years ago, Auckland mayor Sir Dove-Myer Robinson suggested a rail system in Auckland which at the time was estimated at around $4 million. But Auckland City Council and the Government procrastinated for so many years, it is now estimated to cost $4.5 billion.
Let's make the decision now, not in 40 years when it's too late, move the Ports of Auckland. Good on Sir John Key and Helen Clark to back such a move. Let's do what many countries worldwide do and sell the land with a 21- or 99-year lease.
Murray Wright, Remuera.

Another option

Correspondent Julie Stout (NZ Herald, November 26) claims to have analysed all of the options available to relocate Auckland's port such as moving to Tauranga, moving to Northland, or leaving it where it is.
However, she has left out the most economically and environmentally suitable option of all which is to move the port to another location within the Auckland region. The most economic and pollution-free method of delivering goods to Auckland is to unload the container ships as close to the centre of Auckland as possible.
She has ignored the fact that her preferred option of moving the port to Northland would result in much higher freight costs to ship goods to and from Auckland where at least 90 per cent of the goods will be destined for. And the trans-shipping of goods to and from Northland will dramatically increase the congestion and pollution for the country.
Some people claim there won't be an increase in costs to the people of Auckland because goods currently being shipped via Tauranga don't cost any more. But that situation only exists because there is a port in Auckland so Tauranga has to absorb the increased costs if it wants the business. But as soon as there was no port in Auckland, Tauranga and Northland would be charging the consumers in Auckland all of the increased cost to trans-ship the goods which over the years will amount to billions of dollars.
We just need to follow the examples of London and Sydney who have relocated their ports within their city regions.
David Mairs, Glendowie.

Short & sweet

On port

One good reason for not shifting the Ports of Auckland: Sir John Key thinks it's a good idea. Gary Hollis, Mellons Bay.

Is it worth investigating the costs of dealing with the Manukau bar? Janie Weir, Newmarket.

I only hope that the Whangārei train line will reflect the inevitable direction of the 21st and 22nd century and be electrified, carrying cargo and people. Rob Buchanan, Kerikeri.

On court

I don't know which is more disgusting in this country - the violent crime against women or the court proceedings that follow. Richard Irwin, Te Atatu South.

On Erebus

Many people still do not know that Justice Mahon's findings on the cause of the crash were upheld by both the NZ Court of Appeal and The Privy Council. In the end, this is what counts. Wayne Sullivan, Henderson.

On measles

Concerning with the measles problem in Samoa, I wonder if I am the only person wondering about the restrictions on passengers and flight crews returning from the Island nation? Bob Wichman, Botany.

On priorities

No matter how far we advance in technology and tolerance, for as long as our gods are pleasure and power, heartbreaking headlines will highlight our hubris. Stephen Bayldon, Mt Roskill.

On Santa

Santa's downfall is just the tip of the iceberg. Last year the Girl Guides were banned from selling their biscuits and next year some other tradition will be thrown to the wolves. Brent Innes, Milford.