Letters: Waterview Tunnel cameras, euthanasia, dredging disgrace and healthier culture

Waterview Tunnel. Photo/File

I am a senior medical practitioner. I work in Australia and New Zealand.

Recently it was reported in the New Zealand Herald that $2.5 million in fines had been collected over eight months for speeding infringements recorded by the cameras at the entry to the Waterview Tunnel. There is no warning sign advising of speed cameras there.

I have passed through the tunnel on numerous occasions and received a single infringement notice.

Within the tunnel I have not observed anyone to be exceeding the speed limit.

I have driven over the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney, on numerous occasions. There are points on this highway that are deemed hazardous — and motorists are warned to slow down or be fined. This is responsible policing as it is effective in changing driver behaviour.

It is not responsible policing to place cameras at hazard points and simply record that around 30,000 motorists have entered at a speed that is deemed hazardous.

It is madness and represents gross dereliction of duty.

Andrew Montgomery, Remuera

Life is sacred

Paul Little's column ("End of Life Choice Bill is alive", June 30) requires response.

In strong terms, descending to insulting attack on people of faith who oppose the bill, he states that "aggressive religious-based opposition is keen to speak for the whole population in letting superstition overcome sense and sensitivity".

Nearly 4000 years of Judeo-Christian tradition teaches that each human life is sacred, and has inviolable dignity. Reason alone tells us that human life is special and we have duty to protect one another.

That duty is especially strong when dealing with those weakened and vulnerable. Once we abandon these values — once society accepts a hierarchy or pecking order of human life — all rights and protections that follow from these luminous principles are lost.

Whatever its motives and means, direct euthanasia consists of a person killing a person. It is morally unacceptable.

Those whose lives are diminished or weakened deserve special respect. Sick or handicapped persons should be helped to cope with life.

Alex McNaughten, Takapuna

Dredging disgrace

In 2019, the proposal to dump millions of tons of toxic tailings/dredgings in the pristine waters near Great Barrier Island is a public disgrace. Sir Dove-Myer Robinson and the other champions of the Hauraki Gulf would be turning in their graves. There has to be a better way.

Bruce Tubb, Belmont

Healthier culture

As an avid reader of Niki Bezzant's weekly column, I noticed a change in tone and an almost frustrated energy in last Sunday's article (July 7).

I applaud her for standing up for the nation's wellbeing, since that is clearly all she is trying to transmit.

Her frustration comes at a time when a younger generation is noticing how the older alcohol, salt and sugar culture has to change, if ever we want to become less sick at older age and put less pressure on our already stretched health system.

The fact that drinking beyond moderation was part of our sporting culture and an, albeit "escapist", form of unwinding or destressing, does not take away from the fact that this ridiculous pastime has to stop, before the majority of New Zealanders is sick, purely from ingesting (as she calls it) a harmful toxin.

I'd give Niki a 10 of 10 for trying.

René Blezer, Taupō

Flu deaths

It is a very bad year for flu deaths in Western Australia. A 2-year-old boy's death was among the year-to-date fatalities of 48 people, compared to only four deaths this time last year. Of the 48, 14 died in one week alone. In another week seven died. A number of deaths were in retirement homes, where it is very easy to infect other residents. So are our retirement homes safe from multiple flu cases? WA has only half the population of New Zealand, so how many flu deaths will we have in 2019?

Murray Hunter, Titirangi