Stop sending logs out of this country; add value to this resource, writes R Harpur. Photo / Alan Gibson
What NZ needs at this time is jobs — production jobs that give New Zealanders worthwhile work that will provide them and their families with income and a sense of purpose and wellbeing.
Regional-based worthwhile industries will be the key to many folk surviving the next period in our history. Production jobs, not 10-week projects but long-term development.
Our food producers will recover relatively quickly and should be in a position to even expand their industry. The crisis which has threatened the future of small business and some larger ones can be summed up easily: the current trading environment has shortened their margins and they cannot weather the storm.
The tourism industry will need folk to visit locally. Those folk will need income.
Displaced workers deserve steady, well-paid income and a safety net to get them through the coming years. Expanding footpaths sounds great, but it will not sustain us. If we have to have immediate priorities, I suggest free public transport might be a better way to start.
Stop sending logs out of this country; add value to this resource.
The current model of using China or elsewhere as our manufacturing base is foolish for many reasons, not just a severe worldwide health crisis.
R Harpur, Kawhia
I support the lockdown but its implementation needs some fine-tuning. Food supply and other essentials had to be kept open but this has come at a terrible cost to other suppliers in the food chain — the small, independent butchery, fish shop, bakery and fruit and vegetable shops. They are unfairly facing bankruptcy and unemployment while the supermarkets, selling the same products, fill their coffers to overflowing. Can they not be given some relief, such as with the dairies, without endangering the Government's overall objectives?
I know the supermarkets offer an enticing "one-stop" shopping experience but I am appealing to all fair-minded Kiwis to support these small enterprises once the lockdown has been lifted.
Johan Slabbert , Warkworth.
US President Donald Trump is playing the classic Trump game when something goes wrong. First deny any responsibility, then blame someone else for the mistake. Now it's the World Health Organisation for causing the looming social and economic disaster in the US.
He is being supported by his compliant Vice-President, who claims this is a President who demands accountability! He could have added, except for himself!
Trump conveniently overlooks that it was him who first claimed the whole thing was a hoax. Then that it was just a flu and would all be gone by Easter.
This great country is on the verge of an unprecedented disaster and the responsibility for the lack of preparedness, mismanagement, and slow response, lies with one person: Donald Trump.
Vince Ashworth, Morrinsville.
David Seymour may want to rethink his role models for dealing with C-19. Australia has more than 60 deaths due, in part, to a more relaxed regimen. To match that number on a per capita basis new Zealand would have to have about 16 deaths. Which begs the question: how many of those 60 plus, and counting, families in Aussie wish their country had our level of lockdown? As for those that think the country is being turned into a totalitarian state, perhaps they could explain where their right to move about as they wish stops and everyone else's right to stay virus-free begins.
John Capener, Kawerau.
How I would love a nice Indian meal from my local takeaway across the road. I could simply place my order over the phone, and then pop over to pick it up in 15 minutes on a one in, one out basis. Much safer than a visit to my local supermarket.
R Harris, Kohimarama.
I can only surmise that the longest letter in Tuesday's Herald under the heading "Loss of democracy" was published to provoke a reaction. Well here's one.
After possibly the greatest example of clear thinking, followed by a swift response, uncluttered by bureaucracy, assertions such as civil liberties eroded, democracy a thing of the past and police state are abhorrent and at the very least unhelpful in our current situation.
John Norris, Whangamata.
I am disgusted to read that over Easter weekend 622 people were caught breaking the lockdown rules. Of these only 64 were charged! These arrogant sods have no regard for other New Zealanders' lives and no doubt will keep offending. They evidently believe the tiny penalties imposed on some just reflect the tiny risk they think they are to society. Wrong! They are increasing the risk of this pandemic continuing and a further lockdown period being imposed. Why don't police publish their names daily in newspapers so the law-abiding public can identify the lawbreakers. In this state of emergency, any privacy law pertaining to this can surely be overruled.
I. S. Thomas, Cambridge.
The "harvesting" party held by Stonyridge wines was clearly an ill-advised breach of the lockdown rules and the police were correct in closing it down.
However, I support the claim that the harvesting was and is an essential service as if it had not taken place the entire crop would have been ruined.
What I do not understand is why a local blackberry grower is not also considered to be an essential service as without his crop being gathered it will also be ruined.
What is becoming obvious is the regulations implemented at level 4 have not been well thought out, and it is hoped more logical guidelines can be documented for the next pandemic.
Rod Lyons, Muriwai.
Some commentators, such as Mike Hosking, seem to think Jacinda Ardern got it wrong when she put people's lives first, rather than the economy, and took New Zealand into a strict level 4 lockdown. However, she has proven to be correct when you look at the coronavirus deaths in the UK, US and Australia on a per capita basis.
Some people are claiming up to 30 per cent of businesses will not reopen, but that is nonsense. New Zealand is the biggest supplier of agricultural products to China, whose economy is up and running again, so we will have markets to supply. Most small businesses, which have been closed, will have shared their costs with their landlords and suppliers and be able to quickly resume business.
Travel will be restricted to within New Zealand, and maybe soon Australia, so the travel industry will be the only one which will probably experience a 30 per cent shutdown. So a relatively small price for the country to pay in order to ensure its population remains alive and healthy.
David Mairs, Glendowie.
Does your correspondent (re: "Loss of democracy") not understand that it is the very restrictions imposed by moving to level 4 early that have saved lives and therefore avoided the predicted 40,000 victims. Does she not understand that, in a state of emergency, extreme measures will inevitably result in a temporary "erosion of civil liberties" but this is necessary to protect and save lives from a proven and deadly killer. To suggest that the conditions imposed by level 4 have turned NZ into a police state, and the Leader of the Opposition into a compliant bystander is simply misguided and unfair criticism.
Derek Parrott, Mangawhai.
Very level-headed and informative editorial on Tuesday, balancing the many deluded New York think-alike letters #Ain't nothin' gonna break-a my stride, Nobody gonna slow me down, oh no. Confidence that you'll be okay is normally a helpful survival attribute, but won't protect against stupid risk-taking. Social gatherings are rocket fuel for this virus, people need to put on a quality mask to talk to anyone closer than six metres.Jim Carlyle, Te Atatu PeninsulaSigns of savingInstead of widening the footpaths at a cost of millions, how about erecting signs to create a one-way flow, e.g. walk up on the left side and down on the right? Would save millions.
Simon Gough, Warkworth.
On lockdown
A cautionary note to those who ride the Covid 19 lockdown tiger: Your moment of greatest danger is when you dismount.
Frank Buckley, Milford.
Let there be plans for the reduction from Level 4 to Level 3. This must not start until 14 days after the last confirmed case of Covid-19. Any reduction before that point is politics.
P. Garside, Ohope.
On democracy
Loss of democracy? (NZ Herald "You say" April 14.) You must be kidding us. Democracy over death ?
Chris Toh, Greenhithe.
On PM
Whilst acknowledging that the PM is obviously listening to the advice of experts in handling the Covid-19 pandemic, it is however becoming increasingly apparent that she is only accepting the advice of theexperts that she agrees with, as to eliminate this virus is unachievableunless the whole world follows her approach.
Mike Baker, Tauranga
On airlines
Why are returning international airline crew exempt from mandatory testing at our borders?
Ted Partridge, Mangere.
He is not an immediate risk to public safety but still should not be approached.