Letters: Opposition party, KiwiRail and Public transport

Bowen House, the Beehive and Parliament, Wellington. Photo / Mark Mitchell

The previous week has been one of extremes, while the good people receiving medals for genuinely caring or doing something positive were totally overshadowed by the childish bullies in Parliament on the eve of the Budget announcement. If the Opposition were truly genuine about the state of the nation, then why did they leave it for nine years, making it so hard for the Government to get some traction, because three terms of neglect makes it so much harder to reverse this trend. Then, to top it all off, they accused the current Government of not achieving targets. Luckily, this Government, at present, has generally better communicators, more genuine goals and a much better heart than the current Opposition will ever have with the present characteristics of its members.

Please do not criticise anyone else for picking up your rubbish!

Rene Blezer, Taupo

KiwiRail $1b a good start

The $1 billion investment in KiwiRail announced by Winston Peters is an excellent proactive start by the Government towards reducing carbon emissions and congestion, and developing a safer transport system nationwide.

Rail needs to play a much greater role in moving both people and freight around the country, and the network needs to be extended into forestry regions which have no lines, along with new suburban lines in Auckland.

The proposed line to NorthPort at Marsden Point needs to be supported with extending the northern railhead to Kaitaia, in conjunction with upgrading the line south from Whangārei into a new main trunk route linking the Golden Triangle of Auckland, Hamilton and Tauranga, with a new line to Rotorua and Taupō for forestry, freight and new passenger services.

Isaac Broome, Pukekohe

Public transport push a joke

The Herald on Sunday of June 2 featured an article titled, "Ratepayers shell out for influencers". In the second paragraph it mentions a campaign encouraging people to use public transport. What a lot of garbage. I have emailed the council and Auckland Transport on numerous occasions for a bus shelter or even a seat at the Red Beach shops only to be ignored. Who wants to be standing in the pouring rain in winter or the blazing sun during summer waiting for buses when it is more comfortable in the car? If the AT or council were serious about encouraging people to use public transport they would be more supportive of the public's needs!

I guess our ratepayer money is going to the "Super City" leaving nothing for the likes of bus shelters out in the North Shore suburbs. We did not ask to be included in the Super City, it was foisted on us by Rodney Hide and his gang.

Eric Bennett, Red Beach

Changing gun laws

Rajend Naidu says "he cannot understand why the United States is unable to change its gun laws" (Letters, June 2). I totally and completely understand why it is impossible. The National Rifle Association gave President Trump the equivalent of $42 million (US$28m) for his election campaign and he dare not ever offend them; makes perfect sense.

Murray Hunter, Titirangi

Doomsayers look for worst

The unnerving thing about the peddlers of doom is that many of them actually want bad things to happen. They themselves don't take steps to fix perceived problems but lecture us about what we should do. Give us a break.

John Clements, Orewa

Healthy work habits

Your correspondent Andrew Parsons (Letters, June 2) is fortunate to have been trained in healthy eating by his mother and grandmother. However I was taken aback to read that Mr Parsons and his wife work "around 70 hours per week each", which I interpret as time spent in paid employment, and I wonder if his mother and grandmother would approve of these excessive hours. "Good habits" ideally extend to all aspects of our lives, and overwork damages our physical and mental health.

Andrea Dawe, Sandringham