Spend money on the living
I, and others, are upset that millions are being spent on recovery at Pike River, and now more is wanted. We have the living who are dying for the want of treatment or medicines.
Tragedy occurred with unanswered questions, but will recovery bring those who have passed back, and what is the likelihood of prosecution and conviction in the future? Will it have any meaning for any other than those directly affected, or the PC brigade who need to feel guilt until someone is blamed?
If it were shown one or more of those killed were directly responsible, what then?
If those who push for this recovery were asked to speak to the ill, dying and their families, would they say recovery is more important than the living?
The extra money would be better spent on medicine now. Declare the mine a grave site and memorial for all time. Ensure what we know already is used for better safety now and in the future.
Ian Blake, Picton
Rainforest loss
Thankfully the Amazon and other rainforests which are being cut down at ever increasing rates are not on the same planet as us, otherwise all the trees we plant would be of no advantage, would they?
William Stronach, Invercargill
NZ First failings
No doubt Tracy Watkins (‘‘Is this the beginning of the end of the Winston Peters political era?’’, Editorial, January 26) is correct to surmise many NZ First were appalled by Peters’ decision to go into a coalition with Labour, alongside the unhinged leftists within the Green Party.
NZ First has also lost former supporters, including myself, for other reasons: agreeing to the United Nations Global Compact for Migration sent all the wrong messages: additionally, NZF stood by as a new bureaucracy to foster the Treaty industry was created, and the pork-barrel politics being practised by the pompous Shane Jones is unacceptable.
Personally speaking, and I write as the former chair of a Christchurch electorate, the big issue is that NZ First is not speaking up as Andrew Little and Kelvin Davis work towards destroying the credibility of the criminal justice system in an attempt to reduce Ma¯ ori imprisonment rates. Not only has Peters lost my support, I will now be campaigning against him.
Bruce Anderson, Christchurch
Vaping dangers
As I understand it, vaping was introduced as a way to get people off nicotine. Now I see that many who’ve never smoked are vaping and totally addicted.
How long before someone launches a product to puff on to help the vapers quit? I scratch my head in total disbelief how this ever came about.
Oh, hold on, someone’s making money out of it.
Robert (Bob) Bicker, Auckland
MPs and property
Lora Mountjoy (Letters, January 26) needs to contact IRD if she know which politicians are not paying tax when selling properties. There is a brightline test and people have discovered constant selling of houses generates IRD interest.
Helen Stewart, Darfield
Card ‘nudging’
It’s interesting to see that New York City is to make it illegal for local businesses to refuse to accept cash (‘‘Cashless business banned’’, World, January 26). In doing so it joins Philadelphia, San Francisco, and the state of New Jersey. Even the mighty
Amazon.com, one of the businesses in the vanguard of the so-called ‘‘cashless society’’, will be forced to accept real money.
Perhaps we need a similar regulation in New Zealand. There seems to be an active move by some banks and businesses to discourage the use of cash, and to nudge customers over to cards. Merchants in particular laud the switch since customers with the card seem inclined to spend more freely than those with cash, via a process known as ‘‘painless extraction’’. The pain is deferred until the statement arrives, when buyer’s remorse may set in.
Credit/debit cards can create an illusion of wealth, but they rapidly revert to useless pieces of plastic in the event of an environmental catastrophe such as an earthquake or a fire, or if there is even a hiccup in the internet or disruption of the power supply that cuts off the service.
Ian Badger, Christchurch
Cricket warning
The Black Caps’ tour of Australia was disastrous, and cricket great Glenn Turner was absolutely correct when he stated captain Kane Williamson had far too much say when it came to the selection of our test team.
When winning the toss, Williamson put the Australians in to bat first. The golden rule in cricket is that whoever wins the toss should bat first up.
When the cricket season is over we need to have a good look at our coaching and captaincy. Otherwise we’ll be in for some horrible hidings from other nations.
Tom Stephens, New Plymouth
On letters
It may surprise Danna Glendining that rather than