Caring Kiwis
On Tuesday afternoon, after some 17 years in New Zealand, I had my first breakdown on the open road. To the young man in the maroon Honda who stopped and offered to help, to a young lady who inquired if I would like her to wait with me, to the young gentlemen who offered assistance and were so pleasant and willing, and to others who offered to help, thank you.
What kind people New Zealanders are, they really do care about each other. Thank you all, you are a credit to this great little country.
Lawrie Winquist, Forrest Hill.
Summit closures
As a daily user of Cornwall Park and the Maungakiekie volcanic cone, I fully support Maunga Authority's plans to close off traffic to the summit. I and the many other people who enjoy walking, running and cycling up the mountain dislike the fumes and the traffic while we enjoy the beautiful scenery and clean air.
Allowing traffic to the summit is indeed a safety risk. This is a unique taonga for all of Auckland and we should respect it. I would support car access to those with disabilities.
Rosalind David, Epsom.
Dairy damage
Congratulations to Malcolm Lumsden for his concise response to an accusation that dairy farmers are the single cause of the pollution in our waterways. However, he farms in Ohinewai, in the top half of the greater Waikato basin, which is ideal land for dairying.
I don't count myself as a greenie but I do care about the environment and every time I visit Northland, Hawkes Bay, the Canterbury Plains, the Mackenzie basin and central Otago I see large dairy herds grazing on land clearly unsuitable for dairying. The constant irrigation and raised nitrate levels through faecal contamination makes me cringe.
Removing dairying from the areas mentioned and implementing methods that add value to the raw product would be much better for the economy and the environment.
This could result in the public having a more positive attitude towards dairy farmers operating sustainably on land most suited to making milk. But dairy farmers and Fonterra don't seem to have grasped this yet.
P. Monk, Manurewa.
Stubborn state tenant
Niki Rauti has lived in a subsidised social home for decades. She has made no effort to contact her landlord who has offered her five homes, including one 650m down the road and less than 12 months old.
That land area can contain 12 more houses for New Zealand families, whether they are private or social is meaningless, they are for New Zealand families.
Social housing is to support people to get back on to their feet to be productive citizens. Niki is fighting for herself against new houses being built. The majority of locals continue to be amused by the busing-in of university student protesters and Unite members as they, the locals, go off to work.
Tiumalu Peter Fa'afiu, Panmure.
Sport from NZ on Air
Winston Peters now wants sport free to air, following closely in David Seymour's footsteps for the Rugby World Cup, although Seymour's plan called for possibly more uncontrolled, drunken mayhem than Peters'.
Making sport free-to-air demeans all of New Zealand, lowers our collective IQ to a bare minimum and points out to the world that we have nothing to offer it except yet another saleable hooker and a side of lamb.
Rex Fausett, Auckland Central.
Dangerous President
Several Herald correspondents have expressed disquiet or even disgust at the media coverage of Donald Trump's rise to the White House. They either imply or say Trump is a victim of media bias.
From personal experience I know the media seldom report things in a clear and unambiguous way. However one only needs to look at extended interviews with Trump to conclude he has serious problems.
Trump is clearly someone with a severely distorted view of reality.
He is dangerous, and only a fool would not be fearful about what damage he is likely to cause.
Tony Ramsay, Glenfield.
