Whanganui letters: John Key's stance on Covid-19 fear tactics

Former prime minister John Key advocated that liberties of the unvaccinated should be taken away. Photo / Zahn Trotter

Letters to the editor

John Key says the Government is using fear tactics to encourage people to get vaccinated. Was he referring to Professor Hendy's predictions, if only 80 per cent of our population got vaccinated? If so, this was one scientist's calculation and not necessarily the only one - or the Government's. But still worth hearing.

Key advocated that liberties of the unvaccinated should be taken away and used as examples of entry to nightclubs and travel. Is this not fear tactics?

Apart from the daily outlining of positive cases and reminders to get vaccinated I can't recall any fear tactics being applied by our government and health team.

On the contrary many positive and specific incentives have been used to get people vaccinated; the use of vaccination buses being an example.

Key's flippant statement to open up to all and sundry and to allow travel without restriction is both naïve and dangerous and not befitting a man of his stature and influence.

I would have to agree with the statement of a prominent scientist when he said of Key's political posturing: "The only thing I can agree with is the need to get as many people vaccinated as possible".

All not surprising as, in my opinion, in Key's tenure as PM, money and profits were always more important than health and wellbeing given his government's nine-year neglect of our health system and infrastructure.

KEN CARVELL
Whanganui

Key coastal role

John F. Kennedy famously used the aphorism "A rising tide lifts all boats".

This is both figuratively and literally true of the rise of coastal shipping and the future of Port Whanganui with the key role Whanganui looks to play in this future.

The business section of Saturday's Whanganui Chronicle featured an article on the case for coastal shipping that was equally good and bad.

Good in that Andrea Fox makes a compelling case for coastal shipping on the basis of climate change and Co2 reduction (less than 15 per cent of road transport, half that of rail), resilience (if we were trans-shipping containers from port Auckland into port Whanganui the grim front-page stories of supply shortages would be a different story), freeing our cities and highways of heavy trucks and cost savings.

Bad in that it states that coastal shipping in New Zealand today is limited to the Moana Chief owned by Chinese Navigation.

What about the real true coastal ship Anatoki owned by Whanganui company "NZ Coastal Bulk Shipping"?

While it's sad to see the local Whanganui story of Anatoki missing in the Whanganui Chronicle thanks for running the article - it is great to see the compelling case for coastal shipping spelled out.

That underlines the vision and wisdom of Whanganui District Council's advocacy, commitment to, and partnerships for the Te Pūwaha port rejuvenation which I have and continue to strongly back.

JAMES BARRON
Whanganui District councillor

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