Letters: Ukraine’s drones are solution for NZ’s defence spending; Auckland’s higgledy-piggledy parking

A Ukrainian drone team working from a frontline bunker near the town of Maryinka, in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region. Photo / The New York Times

Letters to the Editor

Ukraine shows solution to NZ’s defence spending

It is not often I agree with Richard Prebble, however, his article about defence spending (Mar 12) was almost word for word what I was going to write to the Herald.

NZ is too small to even consider fighter jets or ships, we can’t even man the ones we have now.

If we have been using our brains, the war in Ukraine has shown us a way that small countries can defend themselves at low cost. They have made the use of drones an art form and shown that a small country can hit back. Forget about heavy armaments and focus on technology - drones can be made in a garage at home and NZ is known for the number of people who are smart enough to come up with solutions, look at Rocket Lab.

Politicians waste time on overthinking things, we should start a competition to encourage people to come up with ideas. We are fortunate that we are not landlocked, so anyone attacking us cannot come in over land, they have to fly or sail.

The Russians do not send their ships to Sevastopol any longer as they were badly hurt when the conflict started and underestimated the Ukraine. As a matter of interest, the Ukraine were the main providers of technology and military equipment before they were attacked by them.

Tom O’Toole, Taumarunui.

Tough decisions

I like that Prime Minister Christopher Luxon is daring to do what is necessary, even if unpopular.

In contrast, some previous Prime Ministers have chosen to hoard their political capital to maintain high popularity, while doing little worthwhile for NZ. Luxon inherited a heck of a mess and I appreciate him taking tough decisions.

The pundits are speculating about his political future, while the polls reflect some people’s distaste for bad-tasting medicine. While I don’t agree with everything being done, I have found his coalition Government a breath of fresh air compared to the previous lot.

Please PM, stay the course and keep up the good work.

Cliff Hall, Blockhouse Bay.

No trickle

It is not surprising that Christopher Luxon has lost some ground in the preferred Prime Minister polls.

I listen to his weekly interview and he says a great deal, too fast for me to digest what he is actually saying. There seem to be vague promises and aspirations but no solid details.

His main theme seems to be growing the economy but what does this “growth” mean to the general population? What ordinary people want to know is how the Government’s plans will affect their daily lives.

Costs rise, rents rise, rates rise, insurance premiums rise, food prices rise and these rises are passed down to those whose incomes are already stretched to a point where even necessities are unaffordable. Mr Luxon seems to have little empathy for, or interest in, those citizens and his objectives are more directed towards enriching the already wealthy.

It has become clear, over several years, that the promised “trickle-down” effect is a myth.

Anne Martin, Helensville.

Higgledy-piggledy

Why are there two sets of rules, one for central Auckland city and another for the suburbs?

In the city it is a ticketing offence to park on the footpath, whereas in the suburbs we see day after day cars parked on the footpath, between the footpath and the border of parkland and on council berms with not a parking warden in sight.

At weekends the situation is even worse with vehicles parked higgledy-piggledy all over the place including across driveways. Obviously when building consents were granted, especially for suburban apartment developments, there was no consideration given to the provision of sufficient car parking spaces for owners or tenants.

Now Mayor Wayne Brown is considering a vehicle congestion tax, perhaps as an incentive for motorists to use public transport. So can we expect to see even more cars cluttering footpaths, driveways and berms with congestion being shifted to the suburbs as residents resort to bus transport?

Paul Hickford, West Auckland.

Dead wrong

I couldn’t disagree more with correspondent Jock Mac Vicar on lengthy eulogies (Mar 11). Many people will only have known the dearly departed through one facet of their life – a work colleague, someone at the tennis club, the parent of your child’s friend. It is fascinating as a whole new person emerges from the eulogies of other people who have known them in a completely different situation and you leave with a new appreciation, and better understanding, of that person. I do agree however, that brevity is key, but you can’t do justice to someone’s life in two minutes.

Fiona Downes, Hobsonville Point.

Terminate T3

Auckland Transport is proposing to do away with all parking on Onewa Rd to improve traffic flow and construct a shared path (Mar 12). Why not do away with the T3 lane that only 19% of commuters use?

Mark Young, Ōrewa.