Political age
Judith Collins and Gerry Brownlee are certainly a blast from the past. The test will be whether they can fit into the new age of politics.
Voters over the years have become disenchanted with continual destructive criticism without being offered reasonable alternatives.
Collins versus Ardern will certainly be an interesting contest, with Collins' abrasive style versus Ardern's intelligence and ability to think on her feet.
The current Government is based on humanitarian principles, while the Opposition has always had an outlook that social equality should be avoided at all costs. This is about whether National is prepared to change its ideology sufficiently and whether it can offer constructive alternatives to the current situation.
Reg Dempster, Albany.
Modus operandi
So National has chosen its new leader and immediately established in the words of Judith Collins its intention to "collectively crush the other lot" and "have the most fun as we take back the country".
Sadly their belligerent language not only reveals their desperation but also their mis-reading of a country that is in recovery, not battle mode.
John Wilkinson, Stonefields.
Best choice
Judith Collins was absolutely the right choice to lead the National Party on every level.
She is tough, resilient, seriously experienced and most of all has had a real job prior to politics.
She has risen like a phoenix from the ashes after Key unjustifiably demoted her.
Her tenacity is unprecedented and now we have a contest and a showdown.
Dave Miller, Rotorua.
Muller Gang
For the past few weeks I've been choking on my oats as I have read Steve Braunias' hilarious satire.
Now it seems that he is not only a great satirist but also an Oracle of Delphi, given the latest changes in the National Party.
Whatever next? I'm keeping my oats warm in anticipation.
Jeremy Dunningham, Napier.
Without a trace
The message on the front page (NZ Herald, July 14) was loud and clear - we should download the Covid-19 tracer app and scan the QR codes to track our movements.
Well, I dutifully downloaded the app when it became available, only to find that there were hardly any QR codes to scan. Anywhere.
Today, I popped into a PostShop to send off a parcel and asked the person behind the counter where the QR code was. They didn't have it.
Another customer standing behind me told me kindly that we didn't need it. This was reinforced by the woman behind the counter - an employee of a government agency.
The somewhat smug complacency is incomprehensible in the face of a virus that continues to rage all around us; our intermittently porous borders, the high infectivity of SarsCov2, asymptomatic transmission, and the devastation to human life.
What does the NZ public need to be educated about Covid-19 - a wave of infections taking us by stealth?
Mee Ling Yeong, Remuera.
Time to skite
Packed skifields across New Zealand over the holiday period pay tribute to the all-conquering Covid-19 team led by Jacinda Ardern and should send a message to world leaders.
Barring any further incidents I can think of very few events in our history that are more deserving of a ticker-tape parade in our major cities.
Gary Hollis, Mellons Bay.
No moor
Your correspondent Brooke Hibberdine (NZ Herald, July 14) has penned the most sensible letter yet on the movement of Auckland's port.
Auckland is a nightmare and an eyesore and the Manukau would be a deathbed after just one decent blow.
Anyone who has stood on the Manukau's southern headland in a 30-knot southwester would testify to that. Let's move North.
Dennis Ross, Glendowie.
Oust 'stralians
To the "501" deportees in Auckland: haere mai, welcome to Aotearoa.
Having crossed the Tasman you now have a golden opportunity to start a new life and to put to rest the fears of you held by some sad segments of our society.
You have had a very tough time but that was in another country much different from this.
After being unfairly detained long after you have served your adjudged sentences and held in isolation here for a while longer, only a very confused person would want to do something that would land you back in prison on this side of the Ditch.
In quarantine you have time to address confusion, time to think and to count up the skills you have - you will all have some - and consider what you have to give rather than take in your new life.
When you can have the courage to resist falling back into the kinds of associations which got you into trouble in the first place and when - as I hope - you are offered full support including work and/or training to allow you to show those skills you can stand tall with us here.
If you can put up with an older man presuming to give advice, please know that I only wish that you be well and happy in the new world that awaits you.
Kia kaha and all the best.
Peter Beyer, Sandringham.
Short & sweet
On Manukau
Brooke Hibberdine's letter (NZ Herald, July 14) makes History 101 reading for any consultant, and Marie Kaire's challenge for Mr Goff to "cross the bar on an ordinary day", the last word. Mary Tallon, Morningside
It beggars belief that the council would spend millions on a report that would even consider the Manukau when advice from a professional user was probably only a phone call away. Derek Paterson, Sunnyhills.
On National
Are we the only country in the world where the top two political parties by percentage votes both have a woman leader? Murray Hunter, Titirangi.\
With many in the business community praising the Labour Government for their economic management to date, and our international credit rating upgrade in 2019 confirmed in May this year, National has a daunting task ahead to convince the country it is better fit to govern. Andrew DuFresne, Port Waikato.
Well bugger me, National might just win with Crusher at the helm. John Ford, Taradale.
On water
Every new house built on its own section should have a water tank. It seems the Auckland Council is not pushing this. Is it because it loves charging us for water? S P McMonagle, Greenhithe.
Watercare should perhaps be given credit for performing at least one important business function consistently well: each month their bill arrives on time, every time. Duncan Simpson, Albany.
On tracing
The Covid tracer proponents need to understand that many of us, particularly the elderly (I'm 94) are not digitally connected to the app-mad world, nor do we have any inclination to go there. Jack Waters, Taupo.