As cars turn into fatties, on yer e-bike

Each week I turn to the section with a kind of horrible fascination. I marvel at the glorification of the SUV in all its bloated variations and the way we have accommodated and normalised these vehicles in the city to the detriment of more vulnerable road users. They overflow parking spaces and encroach onto cycle and traffic lanes when parked on the side of the road. They reduce sight lines. They have a high environmental impact. Clearly we have a vehicle obesity problem here. Their main function seems to be as a signifier of male power just as chest thumping once did.

But wait? What’s this on the last page? An article about e-bikes. Thanks AA. For city dwellers, an electric bike is practical for most urban trips and an electric cargo bike will take the kids to school and carry the supermarket shopping. As it says on page 30, join the e-bike movement. Barbara Grace, Grey Lynn.

Not in prime beed

In his letter “Diseased beef” on Saturday, Norman Murray got it wrong. As a beef/ grain farmer in the Waikato, I hope to set the record straight. Prime beef does not come from dairy cattle but beef cattle aged 18 months to about two and a half years. The breeds are Angus, Hereford and more, including cross-breeds. Dairy cows when sent to the works are aged two to about 12. Those cattle, which include cattle with Mycoplasma bovis, go to the works as well. Their meat is generally exported to be used in burgers and the like, and China buys a lot for stir fries. So you won’t be getting any “cheap steaks” and it is not “dumped in the ground”.

No one knows when Mycoplasma bovis came here. By the time it showed up, cattle had been shifted to many farms. A lot of prime beef (about 70 per cent) is born on dairy farms, then reared by beef farmers. Dairy farmers mate their cattle once a year. Cows that do not get in-calf early are often mated to beef breeds. The progeny are the white-face black or whiteface red animals. Just about all Friesian bulls are kept too. So, no, dairy farmers do not send all their calves to the works as media and animal-rights activists would have you believe. Bruce Turner, Cambridge.

Single use?

With all the talk about abolishing singleuse plastic bags in favour of bags made of cloth or other material, does the general public really know what they are going to do without the plastic ones?

Look inside any wheelie-bin and see the number of plastic bags used for collecting rubbish. What will we use when they are gone? Plastic bags have so many uses that we will be sorely pressed to do without them.

What are the alternatives? For years, US supermarkets have offered “paper or plastic” bags at the checkout, why not here? Mountains of waste paper are thrown out every day. Robin McGrath, Forrest Hill.

Nurses’ pay

Here’s hoping DHB nurses hold firm in their demand for the substantial pay rise they deserve. Nurses start on $47,000. Midwives and teachers with degrees start at around $49,000, ACC case managers $50,00. But wait for it, the police starting salary is $56,000. Why? Because the police have an effective union? Because 81.1 per cent of police are male? Because nurses are perceived as handmaidens and being too dedicated to walk away from their patients? Probably a combination of all factors.

I understand that at one stage police and nurse salaries were comparable given the similar responsibilities and stresses that each profession faces, but over the last decade or so, parity has been completely eroded.

It is time for the kind of pay jolt which nurses received in 2004-5 when Laila Harre led a successful pay equity claim. The most recent offer from the DHBs is as insulting and cynical as all the offers and reluctantly accepted settlements over the past 14-15 years.

I have experienced a very successful and happy career in a wide variety of roles as a nurse for 32 years and I am concerned that because of the continuing poor pay, working conditions and perceptions of nurses, the profession will struggle to attract and retain good people for the wonderful employment and training opportunities on offer. Marion Howie, Epsom.

Rubbish plans

Councillor Hulse’s piece on zero-waste yesterday was rubbish. For example, to say that waste management involves “many moving parts” is meaningless. A zero waste target is unattainable, so pointless. Reducing waste will not change the climate. Private contractors in Rodney have been doing a great job for years.This is the first I’ve heard of “wide consultation” on the topic. Worst of all, Hulse assumes the council has a “leadership role” in our lives. She must be dreaming. John Clements, Orewa.

Zero waste

Buzz words driven by philosophy rather than reality have always been around politics. We are subjected almost daily to audacious and fantasy targets such as the elimination of child poverty, a zero road toll by 2020 and 100,000 affordable new homes in the next 10 years. The latest Auckland City goal is zero waste by 2040. The current proposal to increase Auckland City rubbish collection bins from two to three is a classic example of the disconnect between reality and dreams. Bruce Eliott, St Heliers.

Airport a disgrace

Mike Hosking is quite correct. Auckland Airport, always boasting of its high standards, offers anything but. The long distances to be walked unaided and consistently announced publicly, are a disgrace compared with other modern international airports. As are the unsatisfactory lack of air bridges, and use of high, dangerous stairs as the alternative. A frequent 12-year dialogue with successive Auckland Airport chairmen and CEOs as to huge problems for the mobility-challenged within their airport — 10 per cent of any group at any time — simply falls on disinterested and deaf ears. It is high time an understanding of such deficiencies was addressed with a sense of urgency, so that the comfort and safety of passengers become more important than dollars. Hylton Le Grice, Remuera.

Better than most

I absolutely disagree with Mike Hosking, “Auckland Airport a national disgrace”. I have been through a number of airports in the last two years: Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Adelaide, Abu Dhabi, Brussels, Singapore, Heathrow, Bologna, Rome, Stockholm, Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban, and yes, I flew out of Auckland and returned to it every time.

Auckland offered a far superior service to all of them, save for our Stockholm experience where they didn't bother with a customs desk to check our passports and we were out the gate in 10 minutes. Our last return to Auckland late at night saw us out the gate in 20 minutes.

When arriving travel weary and grumpy in Auckland, the airport has never disappointed us and we've been made to feel welcome back at home. So what's MIke’s problem? Bad coffee in business class? Dr C. G. Marnewick, Bucklands Beach.

Gender ambitions

I read over the weekend the fine stories of lives being saved by the rescue helicopter service. I was thinking of donating to the cause when I noticed the accompanying advertising — a 7-year-old girl desires to be a cheerleader when she grows up, another wishes to be an actor, while their boy peers wish to be pilots and policemen. I could also mention the issues of lack of diversity and inclusion but that would be too much for the marketers to take, in I guess. How very disappointing in 2018. Pam Dougal, Torbay.

Referendums should bind

Labour have stated they plan on holding a combined referendum on Act's End of Life Bill plus the Greens’ Legalise Cannabis Bill. Andrew Little states they will be nonbinding as New Zealand does not traditionally hold binding referendums. As it will cost in the realm of $20 million. What is the point of holding one if it is non-binding on the Government? Past surveys already give an indication of the percentage of the populace that support or reject both bills. A new survey would give a fairly accurate indication of the current support for both bills at a minute fraction of the cost of a referendum.

All referendums should be binding. What right have Andrew Little and a few unqualified MPs sitting in Parliament to override the wishes of the majority of New Zealanders, especially if there is a clear majority for or against? David F. Little, Whangarei.