New Zealand hasn't built any new hydro power stations because we have run out of suitable sites. Photo / Richard Robinson, File
Your correspondent Neil Anderson (NZ Herald, April 12) accuses the power companies of paying fat dividends and therefore having no funds to invest in new power stations. Not quite.
The power companies have built some new generation (although no hydro because by now we have run out of
suitable sites).
However, the shortage has to do with the wholesale market, which the industry nicely set up for itself in the mid-90s.
The industry deliberately keeps investment tight for two reasons.
Firstly, nobody wants to build new power stations, which then would be used only sporadically. It is more profitable to sell less electricity at times, but at a higher price.
Secondly, the expensive-to-run thermal stations set the price for all generation. Were sufficient renewable energy available, the price for all generation would drop. Hence the industry's brinkmanship.
The power industry is one of only two industries where productivity has fallen during the last two decades. This is because of all the well-paid paper pushers and spin doctors. Instead of a unified and coordinated system, we now have four power generators and umpteen retailers for a population half the size of a European city. Go figure.
K. H. Peter Kammler, Warkworth.
Derek Cheng's commentary on the lack of information on the roll out of Covid-19 vaccination is both timely and well-argued. If the Ministry of Health is able to track and publicly report each day's Covid testing down to the last digit, we have to assume there is an ulterior motive in its failure to similarly track and report the number of jabs each day.
The only way to avoid accusations of cover-up is to be completely transparent. The Government risks losing public confidence by failing to report.
Gavin Ellis, Lynfield
The ongoing sporadic porosity of our border and the feeble efforts of the Labour administration in vaccinating all frontline workers in a timely manner are inexcusable.
Coupled with the glacial roll out of vaccines to the general population, government ineptitude and complacency are placing New Zealand's hard-won, Covid-free status under significant threat.
Cam Calder, Devonport.
Your correspondent Greg Cave's (NZ Herald, April 13) defence of the delay in our vaccinations ignores two important issues.
Firstly, many of us want the vaccine now to be able to travel overseas.
Secondly, without the vaccine, we all remain exposed to catching Covid from all the unvaccinated - including our own quarantine workers.
We were promised that the Government had a fast and early approach to vaccinating New Zealanders, and it is clear the present programme is not up to schedule.
Janie Weir, Newmarket.
Last night, my elderly mother and her friends were plunged from the sublime heights of an uplifting St Matthew Passion performance at the Auckland Town Hall into the pits of payment machine hell in the Civic Car Park afterwards.
There was only one machine working that they could find and a queue that took more than 30 minutes. The machine had a sign declaring it was not taking notes and when they got closer, they discovered that there was a sticking plaster (what a metaphor) over the coin slot, so cash was not an option at all.
The mainly elderly crowd was struggling with the credit card payments and some were vowing never to park there again.
I hear from friends that this is far from an isolated incident, but an ongoing problem over many weeks and after many shows.
This type of unnecessary stress puts older citizens off participating in events in town, which is unfair and isolating.
Many have been decades-long stalwarts of the Auckland arts scene, which certainly can't afford to lose such patronage in these challenging times. Auckland Transport needs to do its bit and sort this maintenance out immediately.
Virginia Cattell, Hobsonville.
A problem I see with light rail is that it runs down the centre of the road. For passengers to get on and off they will have to cross the traffic lanes and to do this lights will be installed at each bus stop.
Think what this will do to traffic flow. It will just cause congestion.
As it is, I see buses each morning with two, three, or four passengers - but sometimes none - so the buses are just a nuisance.
Arthur Moore, Pakuranga.
Emma Mackintosh (NZ Herald, April 12) has rather an inflated view of New Zealand's influence in the world. She attributes the end of the Vietnam War; of apartheid; of the French Pacific nuclear tests all to people who march up and down the streets of New Zealand cities.
We withdrew our forces from Vietnam in line with American troop reductions, which was logical since the US had pressured us to join up, albeit reluctantly, in the first place. The South African Government was brought to its knees by sanctions where New Zealand would have had little leverage at all. The French Government simply moved its tests underground. The New Zealand view that the testing was in our "backyard" was risible in French eyes since New Zealand could hardly lay claim to a backyard of thousands of miles. French Polynesia was actually France's backyard with deputies sitting in the French Parliament.
None of my senior students attended the Fridays for Future march, though they would have sympathised with the cause. Perhaps they understood what realpolitik is.
New Zealand is good at virtue-signalling but has only moral clout, a bit like the Pope. And how many divisions has he?
Warwick Gibbs, Mt Albert.
Following up on your report on the Iran Nuclear Deal, there are disturbing noises coming from Washington.
The US Special Envoy to Iran, Rob Malley, spoke a week or so ago about reinstating the 2015 deal as it was, without addressing its flaws.
One law is its failure to contain Iran's ballistic missile programme. Iran has built up an extensive arsenal. As it develops its own long-range missiles, it has further destabilised the region by giving its proxy in Lebanon, Hezbollah, more than 100,000 rockets and missiles.
As the US revisits the deal, the trajectory for the future is crucial. It's beginning to look like the US is about "to be played". It will be dangerous to simply appease Iran.
If the flaws are not addressed (limited duration of key nuclear restrictions, the monitoring regime, and Iran's belligerent conduct in the region), many of the Sunni Arab nations and Israel will, with good reason, be very concerned - about their sovereignty, and given the nuclear dynamic, their existence.
Because of the ballistic missile programme, the nuclear threat - when it crystallises - will not be limited to the region.
The next few weeks will be crucial.
Ian Dunwoodie, Lower Hutt.
The noisy cycling lobby's call for a lane on the Auckland Harbour Bridge to be dedicated to pushbikes is complete madness. The vast majority of cycling is recreational.
When surveyed many cyclists say they will ride their bikes to and from work, so the cycling lobby believes this will result in fewer commuter cars on the road. There has been an increase in cycling, including commuter cycling, and that's great. However, it's from such a low base that it's almost meaningless in terms of saving the planet.
The numbers of cyclists on city roads and cycleways during weekends compared with during weekday rush hours makes it obvious that it's recreational cycling that's increasing. And the number of cars with cycle racks on their roofs or towbars demonstrates that many cyclists cart their bikes somewhere to pursue their recreation, thus adding to greenhouse gases.
I'm not anti-bicycle. For several years, long before cycling became fashionable, I rode my bike to and from work every day. But for many commuting by bicycle is impracticable as well as uncomfortable. A Sunday morning ride is a totally different matter.
Jon Addison, Milford.
I have an issue with TV One's news presenters when, after each commercial break, they say "welcome back". Why "welcome back"? I haven't been anywhere.
It's them who up and left. I'm still here on my sofa, just as I was when they bailed on me five minutes ago.
I wish they'd stop trying to blame me for these irritating breaks in our dialogue.
Keith Berman, Remuera.
It is puzzling how one can purchase bananas from Ecuador 11,000km away at $2.70/kg; oranges from the US 12,500km away at $4/kg; mangoes from Peru 11,000km away at $2.49 and even grapes from Australia 2500km away at $7/kg; but our favourite kiwifruit, from just down the road 100km away, costs up to $9/kg.
It's difficult to understand why they are so expensive while trying to support local.
Robert Forrester, Botany Downs.
On trees
The Western Springs Forest is a clear example of the Auckland Council leading the charge of destruction. Mandy Elliott, Westmere.
On Philip
Enough of the bowing, scraping and forelock pulling within the theatre of international mourning. The world has other far more important things to take up its care and concern. Russell Hoban, Ponsonby.
On India
Most of the complainants wanting to return to New Zealand from India have travelled after advisories were issued, warning them of the risk. To blame the Prime Minister is like "biting the hand that feeds them". Hugh Webb, Hamilton.
On news
If the media, from the BBC down, reported fewer calamities and more constructive measures to reduce the uncontained, socio/economic/environmental damage caused by incompetent governance, then that would arouse the public to demand sensible, honest governance. Kenneth Lees, Whāngārei.
On show
If anyone wants to take a break from the worries of the world right now, then go to the show Chicago: High School Edition, put on by the performing arts team at Selwyn College. Diane Jones, Ōmokoroa.
On Te Huia
Two cheers for the Waikato District Council's initiative in trialling a commuter train service to Auckland. Three cheers when they realise it goes both ways. Plenty of Aucklanders would board a train to Hamilton for a car-free day out to visit friends. Nora West, Waiheke Island.
On gangs
Head Hunters gang pad targeted in shooting... I'm not sure that there is a criminal offence here. Andrew Montgomery, Remuera.
Each day on The Great New Zealand Road Trip, we catch up with a noteworthy Kiwi.