During high inflation, the Government can expect a windfall from GST revenue on all goods, including our food. Photo / Supplied, File
We are one of the few countries in the OECD that doesn't offer at least a concessionary rate of GST on food.
Both Australia and the UK have no GST on food, and even the high-tax countries in Scandinavia and Europe have reduced GST rates on food. For example, Germany's GST rate is 19 per cent, but only 9 per cent on food.
The Government will have a windfall on GST revenue due to inflation. The latest fiscal update forecasts an additional $2.6 billion in additional GST revenue every year.
Why would a centre-left government not consider a zero rate on food when it can recover the loss in revenue?
Ease the pain at a difficult time when its citizens face high inflation and significant interest rate hikes.
At crossed porpoises
I've enjoyed biking around and seeing so many Whale Tales sculptures, their downward dive highlighting the plight of the Bryde's whale, endemic to the Hauraki Gulf.
They are there to draw attention to the "wider environmental crisis in our waters", as reported by Joanna Wane (Canvas, April 23). Very little is known about the rare Bryde's whale and the Hauraki Gulf right on our doorstep. Yet one thing we do know; the Hauraki Gulf eco-system is in a perilous state.
At the same time, Ports of Auckland has consent to dredge 2.5 million cubic metres of sediment over 35 years to allow massive container ships into our city. The dumping ground proposed is off Cuvier Island, in an area deemed acceptable because munitions were previously dumped there.
A recent PhD study has discovered this as a gathering area for Pseudorca. What else? We don't know.
The Ports of Auckland admitted in 2015 freight operations will eventually outgrow our inner harbour. Even the mayor has accepted that time has come.
Establishing a regional deep-water port, such as Northport, is now critically urgent not only for the future sustainability of the nations' freight but also for the health of our Hauraki Gulf.
Julie Stout, Narrow Neck.
Time to get happy
The series started in the Weekend Herald, (April 23), highlights our search for happiness. The world, unfortunately, feels like a very unhappy place right now.
Two essential components should be included in the quest - gratitude and hope. Gratitude for what we have, not what we don't have, and hope we can secure a better future for generations to come.
There are many complex factors in mental wellbeing and happiness, but a start in attaining those, particularly for our younger generation, is to ditch our obsession with social media. It's a vacuum of nothingness that can bring out people's worst instincts and make us feel bad about our presumably pitiable lives.
It's been well-documented that so many societal ills have been amplified by Covid, and meaningful resolutions could take years, so what do we do now?
Life isn't a Disney fairy-tale, but do the small things that affirm our humanity. Listen, love, and show empathy and respect. Because the inverse of that is Putin, Kim Jong Ung, and other megalomaniacs in training, and a world where hate and despair dominate.
Mary Hearn, Glendowie.
Cornwall Park governance
Aucklanders have been rightly dismayed by the prospect of losing the Showgrounds, particularly to some movie moguls.
The trustees operate partly under a 1908 trust deed which requires the land on which the Showgrounds sits to be used to generate income for the park. The same is true for the surrounding residential properties that contribute two-thirds of the trust board's income.
Unhappily, the trustees are stuck between the legal obligation to get a decent rental return, and the strong wish of Aucklanders to retain the Showgrounds.
The trust has a very modest income and this is going to get worse as inflation overruns the trust's income from its residential leases where the rent is fixed for 21 years.
These issues cannot be resolved by fiddling. The governance structure put in place in the early 1900s needs to be updated to transfer decision-making from unaccountable trustees to Auckland Council, accountable to the electorate in the normal democratic manner.
This elected body has the resources to manage the park well and make decisions that respect the wishes of Aucklanders and protect the park assets for future generations.
Failure to get governance right puts the whole park at risk.
Terry McFadgen, Greenlane.
Climate of fear
Imagine the outcome had science met the same opposition to public health measures that greeted smoking and global warming. Why have crackpot views of the Covid-19 pandemic failed to take hold?
First, television showed armies carting away corpses, to be stored in refrigerated containers. Odd and strikingly immediate.
But so are severe and widespread storms, floods, droughts, and fires. So where's the urgency to act - what John Roughan (Weekend Herald, April 16) dismissed as "panic" when writing about Covid?
The explanation is vested interests. The oil industry used the tobacco companies' playbook: lie and confuse the public. With Covid, science and pharmaceutical companies were on the same side.
Christopher Luxon has promised to build more motorways, protect farmers, and maintain high cow numbers.
Like the man in Soho, who put the handle back on the water pump that was spreading cholera, he believes the old ways are best.
Dennis Horne, Howick.
Loss of sense
I applaud the letter from Wayne Menzies (Weekend Herald, April 23) suggesting a "Commissioner for Common Sense", but the role, or department, used to exist in many successful companies and organisations. I suspect it no longer does.
The official title for the UK professional body, was originally The IWSOM, (Institute of Work Study, Organisation & Methods), later changed to the Institute of Management Services, also in NZ. This also covered the alternative departmental title of Industrial Engineering.
The role of the profession was to seek the most efficient methods and systems and also to challenge suggested projects before approval. Sadly, although an IE degree was one of the most sought after in Japan, NZ has never really embraced the role, which is often the practical application of common sense.
The profession in any format has never ever been listed on the NZ Occupational Priority List, which therefore doesn't allow in those such as myself, who prefer the job title of Productivity Specialist.
A single commissioner isn't required. An understanding of genuine productivity and how to achieve it is.
Ray Green, Birkenhead.
All this talk of war crimes; War is the crime. Don Mikkelsen, St Andrews.
When will Harry learn that by continually throwing mud at the Royal Family, he is continually losing the ground he stands on? Lorraine Kidd, Warkworth.
Sylvia Burch is absolutely right to get rid of Queen's Birthday (Weekend Herald, April 23). It is a total farce as she was born in April. Murray Hunter, Titirangi.
I don't agree with Richard Carey (Weekend Herald, April 23) that Putin is a bigger threat than global warming. Putin, thank goodness, is mortal. Global warming is not. Tony Sullivan, St Heliers.
Unfortunately, Will Menzies (Weekend Herald, April 23), good sense is no longer common. Even a commissioner for such could not be found. John Beach, Sydenham.
I agree with both Clare Trevett and Mike Munro's critiques of Christopher Luxon (Weekend Herald, April 23. I have always maintained that businessmen don't make good politicians. John Capener, Kawerau.
Whereas it was reputed that Gerald Ford could not walk and chew gum at the same time, it seems that Christopher Luxon cannot talk and think at the same time. Neal Henderson, Bucklands Beach.
After a long weekend in Auckland, and a visit to see the dinosaur, thank you Auckland Museum for allowing New Zealanders to see this wonderful creature. Wendy Galloway, Ōmokoroa.
It is clear Steve Braunias (WH, April 23) doesn't like the Arise church nor its former senior pastor, but his views could have been expressed in measured terms without resorting to calculated profanity. Anthony Mercer, Howick.
The first-up elimination of Sonia Gray and Aaron Gilmore from Dancing with the Stars is understandable as Sonia has been calling the wrong Lotto numbers for most of the population ever since she took the job. Reg Dempster, Albany.
News that the waiting time for a passport has doubled, suggests that the predicted exodus in search of greener and less hostile pastures is under way. Larry Mitchell, Rothesay Bay.
Seasonal litter: Autumn leaves and face masks. Gary Andrews, Mt Maunganui.
The key to an authentic life: Look inside your past and present; forgive yourself and others and honestly repeat the aspirational mantra, "I am what I am and I like me." John O'Neill, Whangārei.
Dr Maia Hetaraka: 'Cultural competence' should evolve into genuine cultural understanding.