Erosion and slips can be seen after Cyclone Gabrielle on the hill country of the East Coast near Herbertville. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Broken land
Clearly, we’ve done a lousy job of taking care of the land. Foreign owners care little about the effects of logging practices on local lives, livelihoods, and property. As long as regulations allow a corporation to pass its costs along to others, nothing will change. Thousands of families have been forced from their homes never to return. The land they “own” and have a mortgage on is worthless. No one will buy it; no one will insure it. Land should never have become an object of speculation. No one should make money without adding value. Both lead inevitably to income inequity. Social problems, crime and political instability follow. The people who fail to recognise this are generally the beneficiaries of this broken system. We must pay the true cost of everything we do and buy. Our relationship with the land should become one of moral stewards to a fragile ecosystem. The least future generations can expect, is that we leave our land in better shape than we found it.
Ian Swney, Morrinsville.
No less
Mathew Hooton (NZ Herald, February 24) could not be more wrong in advocating for New Zealand to abandon climate change mitigation and focus only on climate adaptation. With accelerating climate change, things can and will get even worse. Governments around the world have so far been pretty timid in their responses to climate change - largely because of noisy claims that real climate action would brake or even stall their economies. If only the world had got serious about climate change decades ago we would now be in a better situation. In 2006, Nicholas Stern (a leading economist, not a scientist) advised Maggie Thatcher that a very modest progressive reduction in energy use per capita (possibly just 1 per cent each year, but starting immediately) was essential in order to avoid having to make much more severe cuts in future decades. Unfortunately, we have collectively failed to reduce our emissions, and in most cases, they have increased - for example in New Zealand today they are up 20 per cent on 1992 when we signed up to the Kyoto Protocol. There are economic limits but we can and must do more.
Graeme Easte, Mt Albert.
Define wind
This paper reported the CEO of Air NZ claimed the company is not price gouging but admitted “tailwinds” had helped the company with making a profit. “Tailwinds” were not defined or described. Would price gouging describe it?
G. Keith Overend, Bellevue.
Devastation widespread
Neil Woods of Aratu Forests (NZ Herald, February 24) says he understands the public is “upset”. The public and all those affected are devastated. Woods also states “200 people of ours would be out of work immediately”. Why aren’t they being paid to clean up the mess? The company should be buying, and using all the time, mulchers to get rid of the slash as they go about their normal work and especially now. If Woods reads the letter (NZ Herald, February 22) from Bruce Tubb of Devonport, hopefully, he will realise the good of mulching slash. It has benefits to horticulture, garden centres, and the making of wallboard and paper as Canada does. Aratu and other forestry companies should be doing that automatically.
Ruth Winter, Birkenhead.
Rugby strategy
Thanks for the very good piece by Gregor Paul (NZ Herald, February 23) on NZ Rugby CEO Mark Robinson, and the All Black Coach, the respected Ian Foster. If you’re planning to fail in some sport in a World Cup bid you can probably do no better than to follow the NZ Rugby Union’s example. In this case the NZRU’s strategy seems to be to destroy the confidence (and reputation) of the coach it has appointed specifically to lead the All Blacks in this 2023 challenge, by currently publicly planning his replacement after the cup, regardless of that outcome. That’s a superb way at this critical time to attack the morale of both the coach, and, as we are realising, of the team itself. And to give this dismal strategy the best chance of success just as the NZRU does, you should also run a rumour mill keeping your coach in ignorance. In practical terms, for the first time since 1987 (since 1905 really) it seems the NZRU does not wish the All Blacks to be the best in the world.
E Richard Leary, Browns Bay.
Dangerous upkeep
I am paying $1000 more this year for my rates and “you” my oh-so-careful Auckland Council expects me to cut the grass and clear the road gutters outside of my house You have to be joking. There is no way I can get out there with my Zimmer frame. I’ll probably get my head knocked off by passing traffic.
Bob Jessopp, Massey.
Incoming cones
One can surely sympathise with councils when everyone seemingly wants an upgrade to the waste and stormwater pipe system, only for this to become a no-win situation because, when it starts, there will no doubt be complaints about the disruptions caused by road cones again. One or the other?
Alan Walker, St Heliers.
Shot tower
It was not Cyclone Gabrielle that “claimed” the CAC shot tower, but instead a collection of factors. Auckland Council allowed a developer to subdivide the small portion of land on which it stood, leaving no public access to it and with no continuing provision made for rates to be paid. Articles claiming that the tower was built for hunters, (omitting to mention the needs of the military, 1914 as the construction date provides a clue. The earliest shotguns designed for combat were trench shotguns, issued in World War I); the current political incorrectness of the word “colonial”; and the harsh treatment by officials of tenants in surrounding apartments, whipping up a frenzy of panic. All these things contributed to its downfall. It is very sad that a Category 1 Heritage building, soundly constructed, has been destroyed to satisfy revisionists of history. Gabrielle was a mere convenience. How is it that it was reported that MBIE rather than Heritage NZ approved of the demolition?
Janice Cheeseman, Epsom.
Off track
The decision and timing of the announcement by Michael Wood that the $15 billion light rail project to Auckland airport is going ahead smack of a besieged transport minister desperate for attention and positive affirmation. Did the minister take into account the recent weather events that have devastated the upper North Island roading infrastructure? That the Cook Strait interisland ferry service is in complete disarray. That Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency has failed to fix the pothole problem that has angered road users nationwide for a long time. Given Auckland City’s geographical spread, this commuter service from the CBD will be of limited use to the majority of Auckland residents. Auckland’s roads are at near capacity and virtually gridlocked for much of the day and sadly a light rail system to the airport will do nothing to mitigate this problem. There continues to be a very concerning disconnect between reality and the Beehive.
Bruce Eliott, St Heliers.
Bureau draw
Some 30 years ago I was involved in a successful effort to persuade the then Auckland City Council to provide assured and continued funding and premises for the city’s Citizens Advice Bureaus. This enabled them to devote their full resources to helping those in need. Auckland Council’s current proposal to cut or reduce that funding will penalise those who need help the most, and can only increase the workload of already over-extended council staff. Over many years, Auckland’s CABs have been very successful in providing a service unavailable elsewhere to people who don’t know how to access much-needed assistance. This is hugely necessary after the recent flooding in various parts of the city, and I beg the mayor and councillors to reconsider the current proposal.
A C Howell, Glendowie.
Ignoblist blow
First, Enid Blyton. More latterly Roald Dahl and Ian Fleming. I dread to think who might be next. “Forsooth, would the barbarous villains their swords draw ‘gainst the Bard’s fair fancies, comedic and dark? But soft, hark their footsteps drawing near with intentions vainglorious and ignoble.”
Maria Carbines, Hillsborough.
On cyclone
Cyclone Gabrielle derived from the Biblical “Gabriel’s horn” which was blown to signal judgment day. When you consider the approaching climate Armageddon, it couldn’t be more appropriate. Gary Hollis, Mellons Bay.
On slash
The only official inquiry should be into the role of Stuart Nash and his responses to forestry practices. Steve Jardine, Glendowie.
On Dahl
Are Shakespeare and the Bible next? Wendy Tighe-Umbers, Parnell.
On cricket
As one of only three bowlers who have bowled out an entire team on the international stage, Ajaz Patel’s absence from the current test side is nothing short of scandalous. Jeremy Dunningham, Napier.
On roads
Auckland doesn’t need a light rail. Coromandel, Gisborne, and Hawkes Bay need heavy roads. Why can’t we get our priorities right and forget fanciful dreams and wot-ifs? Ian Doube, Rotorua.
On football
Do the Football Ferns need “The Professor” Wayne Smith - to lend a hand? Andrea McCartney, Thames.
Landlords say residential rentals almost unviable
Just watch UK. They had interest deductibility removed a few years earlier than us. Then in 2022, their rent increased by more than 20 per cent. One major reason was there were 35,000 fewer rental properties on the market. Many landlords had to sell because they could not pay the extra taxes. I believe we are repeating the same story. This year will be the year of rental increase for NZ, yet it will still be unavailable for landlords to hold rental properties. The only hope is for the National to remove the silly Labour non-deductibility policy. Otherwise, it will be a lot more pain for everyone landlords and renters. Peilin Y.
I built two brand new homes rather than buy. After owning them a number of years, given the changes, I have sold both. They were purchased by homeowners. Two fewer rentals on the market. Warren B.
And two more homeowners who don’t have to rent then. Tash B.
For some reason, the current Government and parts of the community see landlords as almost evil and exploiting the community. It’s part of Labour’s envy ideology, always has been. Long-term capital gains cannot be used to pay a mortgage or provide an income based on the money invested in rental property. Most landlords look after their tenants and all that is happening right now is that Labour is creating disincentives to people owning rental properties and thereby places for people to live. Ian U.
For some reason, the National Party sees landlords as people who should be allowed to exploit the poor. It’s part of their capitalist ideology. Grayson R.
‘This is about a bigger sort of commitment that we have to te reo Māori.’