Cyclone Gabrielle has devastated Esk Valley. Photo / Warren Buckland
Letter of the week: Johann Nordberg, Paeroa
Past events such as the 1951 Waterfront Strike and the 1981 Springboks tour split the country. However, after the enormous damage caused by Cyclone Gabrielle, our country has come together. Families who have lost everything have been given a place to stay. Food and clothing provided. Many lessons have been inflicted upon all of us. Marae were a godsend to many people who lost everything. Substantial monies should in the future be provided to marae so that they can be there for all those in need. Civil Defence must also receive increased funding. The Armed Forces provided much-needed assistance and must be given substantial extra funds to cover the cost of helping the community if and when a similar tragedy strikes. This tragedy has opened our eyes to the need for better planning. But the really good thing that has come out of this tragedy is that the NZ people are not selfish. We are a caring people. We will support those who have lost everything. Charity begins at home and so those who are well off should give serious thought to just how they can support the victims of this tragedy.
Power imbalance
The current horrendous Gabrielle cyclone has emphasised that, without electricity, the clever electronic stuff is impotent, useless - literally “powerless”. One cannot communicate, pay bills, check bank accounts, get information - our little old battery radios come into their own. But still we are urged to knuckle down and become slaves to the mighty electronic world. Once, during a power outage, I sallied forth in search of coffee but the town was closed without the electricity needed to operate tills and automatic doors. A little vege shop was open so I could at least do some shopping. The lady weighed my potatoes, carrots, onions etc. on a manual scale and totted up what I owed with a bit of paper and a pencil. Primitive but it worked. Anne Martin, Helensville.
Urgent works
Auckland Transport certainly know how to get its priorities right. We have just had the worst weather event in living memory, with catastrophic consequences across the North Island, resulting in a National Emergency declaration. Across the greater Auckland region we have many roads closed or damaged as a result of storm damage, to an extent that we have never seen before. In spite of this, of far greater importance it would seem, is to start the installation of a speed camera on Mill Rd, Bombay. In attendance were 10 vehicles, including a digger, together with 10 workmen and hundreds of road cones. It goes without saying that our local community is left speechless. Auckland Transport cannot use the excuse that the job was already scheduled. In a time of crisis such jobs can be rescheduled, to more essential things, surely. Bruce B Owen, Bombay.
Cheek by jowl
I have to agree with James McCormick (Weekend Herald, February 11) about high-density housing. I live in Pakuranga and our surroundings have become total building sites. There were 26 homes in our street, excluding the odd one that had been subdivided. Nine normal-sized sections have now been subdivided, including over the road from me. Opposite my home two quite nice homes were demolished on two very steep sections and are being replaced by 16 three-storey townhouses. No grass, no trees, no room to move. Probably no room to park either. How can this be good for our community? Trish Heikoop, Pakuranga.
New entrants
Steven Joyce (Weekend Herald, February 11) claims we have “poorer and poorer results in our schools...” and that “officialdom is dumbing us down”. Thus he implies that current government policies are causing this. The facts do not support his thesis. The biggest reason for decline in our educational overall results is mass imigration which has meant immigrants whose educational standards are lower than NZ’s having an impact on our overall measures of educational standards. Mass immigration happened during the nine years Joyce was a minister in the Key/English National governments. We have not had those levels of immigration since. Kevin Menzies, Onehunga.
Ka pai, David
I join your columnist John Roughan, (Weekend Herald, February 11) in commending David Seymour for fully embracing the essence and spirit of the Waitangi Day celebrations with his speech spoken entirely in te reo Māori. It took considerable personal courage to do this, particularly when it can be safely assumed that a good many of his more traditional, some might call them hidebound, ACT supporters must have been left spluttering in their tea cups. Larry Mitchell, Rothesay Bay.
Same message
My te reo is fairly nonexistent but, if somebody wrote me a short speech in Māori and sat down with me and explained what it is saying, I could deliver it convincingly, with a good accent. It would be a stunt. Seymour’s actual views on things Māori are expressed in his desire for a referendum on the Treaty. Everyone knows where that would lead. It would open Pandora’s Box of racism equivalent to Brash’s 2004 Orewa speech. Seymour’s Waitangi speech is just a statement of Act’s core values: individual rights trump the public good, small government, low taxes. Does John Roughan (Weekend Herald, February 11) realise what he’s saying when he conjectures that Seymour might get the “backlash vote” that Winston Peters usually gets? How would that be good for Māori? Charter schools are just a stalking horse for privatisation of education, which Act does believe in. They don’t achieve anything which can’t be achieved under the state system. Gavin Kay, Remuera.
With these floods, it’s starting to sound as if urban sprawl isn’t so bad. Rob Harris, Dannevirke.
The opposition to Three Waters went quiet all of a sudden. Paul Cheshire, Maraetai.
Has anyone seen the Mayor of Auckland or is he still hiding down a drain? Someone should tell him Gabrielle has shot through and it’s time to come out. Cyrus Pipe, Howick.
It certainly is a shame that it takes a disaster to bring out the kindness in people. Greg Cave, Sunnyvale.
With the catch-and-release policy extended to ram raiders over recent months, it is only to be expected that looters will be expecting the same kindly treatment. Rob Elliott, Kohimarama.
It is the job of weather forecasters and Civil Defence to warn of impending storm damage power cuts but it has been the long-term government failure to put this vital infrastructure underground that leaves power supply at the mercy of the winds and rain. Hugh Webb, Huntington.
Authorities declared that when the full impact of climate change impacts on earth the two safest countries to be would be Switzerland and New Zealand. Cyclone Gabrielle has just put paid to that myth. Gary Hollis, Mellons Bay.
Mortgage forbearance is a banking term that sounds generous but is not, interest still accrues during that time. Come on banks, make the offer to all your customers free of interest for a term of 180 days. John Fenton, Devonport.
It seems the Māori Development Minister is better placed to explain co-governance over Three Waters (WH, Feb. 11) when in his broadcasting portfolio, he couldn’t explain why merging TVNZ and RNZ was a good idea. James Archibald, Birkenhead.
Many of the present Cabinet were in the Labour Governments that introduced the policies that they have just “flipped” on. Should Labour win the next election, would there be a second “flip” to reintroduce all those policies? Mike Wells, Kawerau.
“First Security said they immediately notified the Department of Corrections and the NZ Police when the prisoners broke out.” That they think this constitutes mitigation, as if there were alternatives, speaks volumes as to their incompetence. Doug Hannan, Mt Maunganui.
Some balloons have escaped from a kid’s birthday party and now the Air Force of the West is after them. Sivaswamy Mohanakrishnan, Mt Roskill.
At least with America so busy shooting at UFOs, they’ll have less time to shoot at each other. Mary Hearn, Glendowie.
Could anyone tell me whether that bright yellow thing in the sky hovering over Auckland is a Chinese spy balloon? Gerald Payman, Mt Albert.
OPINION: New Zealander reflects on delivering speech at St James' Palace.