Letters: Time for politicians to work together on 100-year plans; our Covid response; and democracy

The Interisland ferry Aratere heads out of Wellington. Photo / Marty Melville

LETTER OF THE WEEK

Jim Quinn (NZ Herald, December 27) hit the nail squarely on the head with his summing up of the debacle of Kiwi Rail and State Highway 1 across the Cook Strait, with a 337 per cent change in directorship in the past decade. This also applies to our democratic system of government, where our MPs play the Alice in Wonderland tea party game of “all move around one in the seats of Parliament House”.

Given as a classic example of the “all move around one” action of Cabinet roles within the past two governments (right- and left-wing) during a six-year stint in Parliament, the percentage of changes must far exceed that of the directorship seen in KiwiRail with three years’ learning and three years’ planning and very few project completions. No wonder our dismal state of infrastructure and economy in NZ is in crisis.

No one minister or party is in the driver’s seat long enough for long-term goal achievement in any infrastructure before everyone moves around once more. Our system of constant change of legislation, trial and error, ignorance and failure to futureproof policies, pass and repeal legislation, planning and costing and never reaching implementation is causing New Zealand to slide backwards instead of moving forward.

NZ’s politicians seriously need to stop sniping at each other and playing the “blame game” and sit around the table together for the advancement of all. Agree to a permanent plan, stop tossing the balls up in the air and praying for solutions, use reputable expert consultants and contractors and build for at least the next 100-200 years.

Older NZers have workable household items from the last century in their homes. Roads and rail built with pick and shovel, homes have stood for centuries and lasted longer than our modern infrastructure built in the past decade. Build it once and build it right!

Marie Kaire, Whangārei.

Recognising our fallibilities

The acuity with which Ron Emmerson reflects on life in the year in review (NZ Herald, December 26) is worthy of his amazing talent. Like all good satire, Emmerson exposes human frailty and idiocy and allows us to laugh at the caricatures, but we should also be alarmed at the underlying sentiments reflected in the cartoons. Redemption lies in recognising our fallibilities as human beings and making efforts to improve. If we remember that “mankind is made up of two kinds of people: wise people who know they are fools, and fools who think they are wise”, as a human race we might just muddle our way through.

Mary Hearn, Glendowie.

Covid: Sweden v NZ

In his article “Country needs to break this economic cycle,” (NZ Herald, December 27) Richard Prebble makes a comparison in death rate changes between Sweden, where there was no Covid-19 lockdown and New Zealand. According to World Bank data both countries’ crude death rates have returned to pre-Covid levels. However, in 2020 Sweden had a rise from 9 per 1000 population to 10 while in New Zealand it dropped from 7 per 1000 population to 6. Covid-19 deaths per million population in Sweden have been 2587 whereas in New Zealand there have been 1063. Based on these figures the lack of lockdown in Sweden was catastrophic.

Alexander Simpson, Nelson.

Trials allow risk

Those bemoaning the reintroduction of 90-day employment trials clearly have no experience as an employer or of inadvertent employment decisions that cost tens of thousands of dollars to reverse. Employers recognise the need to train but some employees hide their laziness, drug habits, lies and attitude problems until their first few weeks in the job. A 90-day trial lets employers take a risk that might leave an otherwise good hire on the shelf of unemployment.

Stewart Hawkins, St Heliers.

Democracy at work

I read Vaughan Bidois’ opinion piece (NZ Herald, December 27) with some scepticism. In my view, he seems to have considered only one side of the argument. The “world view” ignored is this: In a democratic society, policies put up by political parties are evaluated and voted upon by the people of that country. In this instance, the significant majority of our population voted for the parties that stood on a platform of correcting the imbalance that had existed.

Many New Zealanders of non-Māori ethnicity choose to learn to understand and speak Māori - and good on them.

However many had no idea what most of the government departments (local and central) did or the services they were delivering given that their names were meaningless when shown in a language that approximately 84 per cent of the population didn’t understand.

Place names in Māori are not now - and never will be - an issue. But others make no sense at all - the ministry for digitising government being one obvious example. (great idea by the way).

New Zealand has through the “pendulum dynamic” corrected the excesses of the past six years - and now the spoken and written language that New Zealanders understand has made a most welcome return - thanks to democracy. Perhaps Bidois might now choose to think the whole issue through with a determination to explore the concept of “balance”.

The recent change to government policy to use English as the primary language is not a retrograde step, rather it is pure logic and common sense.

Roger Hawkins, Auckland.

Communism is not our ally

One must agree with S. Mohanakrishnan (NZ Herald letters, December 27) that India is a good future trading partner for New Zealand. However, one must fully and loudly disagree that China is “not an existential threat” to New Zealand. China itself and her people may not pose a direct peril to New Zealand, but communism does. So far as I am aware, socialist China is still dominated by a one-party ideological dictatorship with an appalling human rights record. Communism seeks to dominate the globe and subvert all activities to the interests of their political party agenda. That seems like a threat to our democratic existence to me. Taiwan and South Korea, not communism, are our allies in the North Pacific.

Abdullah Drury, Hamilton East.

What about wealth distribution?

I am sure David Mairs (NZ Herald, December 28) is correct when he says that the median wealth per Kiwi adult is $202,410, but he failed to ask the most important question: How many Kiwi adults actually have that amount of wealth? My granddaughters are now both adults but they do not have that amount of wealth and I’m sure an increasing number of adults do not. Wealth distribution is at least as important as the so-called median, and New Zealand - like most western countries - fails on that measure. Poverty only exists because the rich are allowed to monopolise wealth.

Ian Pashby, Montsenelle, France.

A QUICK WORD

Has Watercare, the University of Auckland and/or the Cawthron Institute done any research on where the more than 200 million litres of raw sewage from the Parnell sinkhole ended up? Perhaps the Waitematā Harbour swimmers and fish and bird species are still swallowing and digesting it?

Bruce Tubb, Devonport.

I would expect more from Richard Prebble (NZ Herald, December 27) than a comment littered with straw-man statistical arguments. His comparison of Swedish and NZ mortality rates either utilises devious language and self-serving, meaningless interpretation of selected statistics or is flat-out wrong. NZ has had a greater population-weighted increase in deaths over the past two years, but the deaths pale in comparison to the increased number of deaths suffered in Sweden in 2020, and a greater proportion of our loved ones are still alive today due to the Government’s management of the pandemic.

Dr Jonathan Chen, Tauranga.

I read in Don Brash’s opinion piece (NZ Herald, December 23) that China was never an expansionist military power. Perhaps Brash should read a little more history. Who lost the battle of Talas in 731 AD, in what is now Kazakhstan? Why does a map of the Chinese Qing Empire of 1789 show it extending into Kyrgyzstan, and four other countries there paying tribute? And running northeast into Manchuria as far as Sakhalin Island? What happened to the Dzungarian people in 1758?

Dave Nevin, Kamo.

There are always unsung heroes with tragedies across the world. On the evening of the Tangiwai disaster, a number of farmers in the Mangamāhū area were out in their rubber dinghies collecting bodies from the swollen and raging Whangaheu River. The bodies were taken to my father’s woolshed. To this day I am unaware if this has been reported.

Jude Collins, Ellerslie.

What tosh from Richard Prebble (NZ Herald, December 27). Rabbiting on about a range of issues he has no answers for, just like his past record. This is the man who with his Douglas-era conspirators destroyed NZ Rail along with the many strong institutions that were the backbone of a growing NZ economy. I wouldn’t let him advise on lollipop duties outside a school, let alone an educational structure. The only thing he has right is a need for a break from the negativity ... including his.

Stuart Perry, Hāwera.

Ball in play time at the last Rugby World Cup was officially 34 minutes plus a few seconds out of the total 80 minutes. Compared with rugby league and football this is a disgrace. We do not pay to watch paint drying.

Larry N. Mitchell, Rothesay Bay.

What a brilliant opinion piece in the Herald (December 27) by Jim Quinn on governance at Kiwi Rail. You could not find a more compelling demonstration why governments should not allow politics to become involved in the ownership and operation of major commercial enterprises.

Phil Chitty, Albany.

Jim Quinn, an experienced CE and executive manager and inaugural CEO of KiwiRail, writes how the excessive churn in directors on the KiwiRail board, 337 per cent, impacts on the chance of success of long-term projects; as do changes in government I suspect. And he’s right, it would. But also, if this is the norm for this particular company, surely successive board members were and are aware of this. Or are they somehow all naive about the impact of excessive board churn and government politics.

Bernard Jennings, Island Bay.

Simon Wilson (NZ Herald, December 26) blames an increasing road toll on Kiwis not buying into the “road to zero” campaign. However, the changes have made driving harder, intersections are trickier, lanes merge out of the blue, multiple road signs etc causing major distractions.

Steve Dransfield, Karori.

Opposition leader Chris Hipkins says he is not sure why Labour lost the election. One reason could be that some of the politicians haven’t learned to be humble knowing that they are in the government only because of the voters.

Mohammed Yakub, Mangere East.

Martin Luther King jnr, soon before he was assassinated, said, “Darkness cannot defeat darkness, only light can do that.” And “Hate cannot defeat hate, only love can do that.” Oh, that people in Gaza and Israel would learn from King Solomon (Shelomoh), the wisest person who ever lived. “If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat; if he is thirsty, give him water to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head, and the Lord will reward you.” (Pr 25:21,22)

Nigel Mander, Upper Hutt.