Letters: OCR increase, fruit trees, Gabrielle recovery

Finance Minister Grant Robertson and Reserve Bank Governor, Adrian Orr. Photo / Mark Mitchell, File

I’m staggered to see comments on what the Reserve Bank will do with regards to increasing the Official Cash Rate. Some commentary is to reduce the amount of increase, some to delay, whilst some even predict a decrease in the OCR. Adrian Orr has confirmed he is attempting to engineer a recession and he has achieved that, house prices have fallen, inflation is falling and, to some extent, the madness has disappeared from the markets. The Reserve Bank was far too aggressive in raising rates and the catalyst is in probably more businesses failing than needed. Sure, a large number of businesses were trading beyond their means, however, I do think the Reserve Bank has achieved its goal and we were all coming to terms with the process. Enter Mother Nature and the destruction and devastation of the last few weeks. Now is not the time to put the knife in by raising interest rates. Throw the engineering tools and corporate hard hat into the skip bin, and show leadership and compassion from within.

Reece Jones, Waimauku.

Giving back

Corporate New Zealand has been gifted an opportunity to demonstrate genuine leadership by helping those in flood-ravaged regions. Some, like Chris Quin and his Foodstuffs Team have just been outstanding. They didn’t need to be asked, they just got stuck in. We’ve got banks that have made huge profits and other multinationals like IBM and Unilever, just to mention a couple, that do very well out of this country. Every single CEO of a corporation has now been given an opportunity to stand up and demonstrate true leadership. Will they? The banks could start by forgiving the mortgage debt owed by people who have had their houses destroyed.

Boris Sokratov, Campbells Bay.

Fruit bowled

I am saddened by the lack of “common sense” that the people in charge at Housing NZ or now Kainga Ora, seem to suffer from. I am often at the properties at Western Springs to help with community work and I have witnessed on many occasions that when a tenant moves out, in come the crew who cut down all trees and get rid of all plants, native or not. On one property, there were two good size feijoa trees and a small persimmon tree, all on the sides of the yard and not in the way. In come the “clean up” crew and chop down all the trees, to the ground, the two feijoa trees covered in feijoas which the old tenants used to share with their neighbours as an abundance of fruit on both trees. The privet trees are often left and they cause headaches and bad for asthmatics. Go figure. Does common sense not prevail? Why would you put someone in these places who can’t afford their own place and deprive them of a fruit tree providing healthy fruit to them and their family? Is this not utter stupidity?

Carolyn Ravlich, Remuera.

Kainga Ora responds

Without knowing the address of the Kāinga Ora property, we are unable to provide a definitive answer. Wherever possible, we now try to retain established trees, including fruit trees. We also now have a policy that gives guidance on how we manage mature trees. We recommend only removing a tree in the following circumstances: The tree is diseased, it is damaging the property or infrastructure, or it is causing health and safety issues for residents or if it is not possible to design new builds around existing trees. At our redevelopment sites where we have established trees, one of the first things we do in the plan and design process is to get professional advice or an arborist’s assessment because we want to keep trees if they’re in good health. We know larger or mature trees provide many crucial environmental benefits, including contributing to biodiversity and air quality, reducing the impact of climate change and mitigating stormwater runoff. It is for those reasons that we try to retain established trees where possible.

Alec Tang, director – Sustainaility, Kāinga Ora – Homes and Communities.

Scared but grateful

On Tuesday last, I went to work, outside of Hastings at 7am, after it rained all night. By daylight, rivers were at levels never seen. I did not see home for two days, stranded and unable to return. I am better off than many, six days without power though is challenging; not to mention travel is severely restricted, limited petrol and food supplies. I did not see TV, or a newspaper for days, but that really did not matter. I, we, are grateful to so many to finally get power back; to not feel isolated. Being isolated was a scary place to be. Normal will take some time, but to anyone who has helped Hawke’s Bay during the past seven days, thanks heaps.

John Ford, Taradale.

Impressive response

It’s fashionable to criticise central and local government as being slow and bureaucratic. But this week we’ve seen just how good it can be, everyone from the Prime MInister down being fast, nimble and responsive. It’s particularly impressive given its sheer scale and we’re used to overseas disaster responses being slow and clunky. Sure, it wasn’t perfect but given the sheer scale of the disaster that’s to be expected. We should all be proud and thankful.

Peter Lee, Hillcrest.

Defence Force personnel being thanked for delivering essential supplies to communities isolated by Cyclone Gabrielle near Hastings. Photo / NZ Defence

Off the rails

The damage wrought by the massive storms of the past three weeks provides a perfect opportunity for the Government to cancel the light rail project in Auckland and to reallocate that budget to rebuilding and, in some cases, relocating roads and other infrastructure in Northland, Coromandel, Tairawhiti and Hawkes Bay. The light rail project does not enjoy massive support from Aucklanders and is eye-wateringly expensive. I, therefore, feel confident that the majority of Kiwis would see this as a highly appropriate use of resources to get these regions back on their feet.

Ian Dally, Royal Oak.

In the field

In its current format, Three Waters will be an abject failure. Why? Because it is based on the construction of a large top-level bureaucracy, focused on procedures and capital works. But many of the impacts of the recent flooding and cyclone have been caused by insufficient maintenance of waterways, the reduction of capacity of flood paths caused by tree and miscellaneous vegetation on riverbanks and flood plains, and blocked bridges and culverts. This is a maintenance cost. In the 1960s and 70s, there were Catchment Boards that, along with the Water and Soil Division of the Ministry of Works, employed specialists, field staff, and equipment focused on flood and stream management. These organizations are gone and all Labour can think to do is to fill the gaps with bureaucrats. The National proposal to replace the Three Waters appears to recognise the problem and refocus it on a practical solution.

Mac Rickard, Huapai.

House in order

One critical dilemma faces us following the recent disastrous flooding. We must re-evaluate with brutal honesty whether NZ’s increasingly demanding multiple taxes and other financial actions towards climate change mitigation are making any difference to our own, or the world’s climate. This includes a large annual multimillion-dollar payment to the UN climate fund, some of which is distributed to China, the world’s largest carbon polluter, but strangely labelled a developing country. Instead, when overall post-flood resources will be at under extreme pressure for years to come, we should think that “charity begins at home”, and immediately re-designate our central government climate change expenditure towards local bodies so that they can tackle NZ’s grossly deficient infrastructure. Totally inadequate stormwater drainage, and extraordinarily neglected maintenance of this in so many towns and cities, is nothing short of a national disaster.

Hylton Le Grice, Remuera.

Due credit

Well done to ASB for donating $2 million to the Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund. This amount is a drop in the bucket for any of the main banks’ bottom lines but will have a big impact on the ground in flood-stricken areas. I encourage Westpac, ANZ, and BNZ to follow suit and also donate $2 million each.

John Deyell, Ellerslie.

Watchful eyes

It’s hard to avoid the observation that there are many more security personnel policing our street corners and shops. Since these individuals actually have limited executive powers, their main function is one of deterrence, implying that customers are viewed as potentially likely to misbehave. In a country that prides itself on upholding personal liberties, I don’t like the presumption. Social problems need to be dealt with at a more grassroots level. Not to mention increasingly sophisticated electronic surveillance available to businesses, often operating in enclosed areas, but I feel in a less intrusive way.

Ellie Carruthers, Grey Lynn.

Missing Welch

When I was in legal practice, the Auckland District Law Society used to hold an annual conference weekend alternating between Whitianga and Rotorua. Because accommodation was at a premium, attendees had to share twin rooms. The invitation to attend used to offer the option of saying who to share with. I always asked to share with Raquel Welch. Needless to say, I never got her. When I couldn’t attend one year, my wife happened to find a postcard with Raquel Welch on its face. A few days later, I received the postcard, purportedly from Raquel, regretting she couldn’t attend that year.

Alan Jenkinson, One Tree Hill.

Short and sweet

On legends

My grandson and his family in Wellsford have been without electricity for several days. It was restored yesterday - he says they are “overjoyed” and the emergency workers are “bloody legends”. I suspect thousands of people around the country feel the same about all the “bloody legends” working to repair the damage in the community. Anne Martin, Helensville.

On Labour

Shane Te Pou criticises Christopher Luxon for having no policies. Why would he release them eight months out from an election? Labour hasn’t. Steve Dransfield, Karori.

On Luxon

It is looking possible that the anointment of Christopher Luxon as National leader will rate with the flag referendum as one of John Key’s rare missteps. Alan Johnson, Papatoetoe.

On inclusivity

Roald Dahl’s books are going to be rewritten to be “inclusive”. Why don’t the “inclusives” write their own books? Ian Doube, Rotorua.

On forestry

A lot of storm damage (including the annihilation of bridges) came about as a direct result of the lax practices of the logging industry. All that logging debris should be cleared up by whoever created it. John Neave, Melville.

The constant reference of forest waste as slash only serves to minimise the issue. Full-sized logs washed down waterways can hardly be termed slash. Alan Penney, Silverdale.

The Premium Debate

Hipkins hardly puts a foot wrong in his first 25 days

The thing is, he only has to turn up and put on a hi-vis vest to do better than his dire achievements in his former roles in police, education, and the vaccine and MIQ palaver. It’s a miserable indictment on us if a few pics of Chippy sloshing through some mud in his wellies allow us to forget the last five years. John K R.

So true but what are the other options? National has no solid policies. Maureen C.

And Labour? What policies has it announced? Are any left or are they all “on hold”? Glenn S.

National needs to get policy out quickly now. The playing field, and goalposts have changed. I can see an early election for Labour to capitalise on. I think Luxon needed to keep his powder dry but the last few months changed that thinking. Andrew G.

Absolutely not. Labour will just rip it all off and shape their policies accordingly. National will have to wait until Labour announces theirs - they need to hit with their policies announcements rapidly after Labour (within an hour). Mark W.

Labour has just shelved theirs and National is still polling right with them without releasing any policy. Think about that for a second. Wait until National does release policy, Labour will be floundering. Mark Y.