CBD traffic ban ignores too many

In his comment piece on Friday, Simon Wilson admits there is still much to be resolved on the plans to ban cars from Auckland’s CBD and correctly acknowledges that there are a number of people who would be affected.

But in his dream list of 25 trials he persists in promoting the reasons put forward by the Auckland Council and its agencies for removing cars from the CBD. This is consistent with the PR waffle from council sources over the past month.

Nowhere is mention made of the needs of people who have to get to hospitals/ health services, universities/schools, work or ferries, etc. All these plans/dreams of the council ignore those people who regularly have to pass through the city.

To make matters worse the resurrected plans for the pedestrianising of Quay St ignores the fact the Britomart Transport Centre has lost its purpose along with the proposed transformation of lower Queen St into fantasy land.

If the council wants to make plans it should start with consulting regular users.

Roger Bryant, Waiheke Island.

Keep smiling

We are in the busy, stressful part of the year. It is time for everyone to be smiling. It is hard to be grumpy if you have a smile on your face. We are lucky people, we live in a country at peace, no one is invading us or terrorising us.

We are not under a dictator. We have the privilege of every few years voting in or voting out our council and government. The season brings balmy evenings. Keep smiling everyone. Craig Fraser, St Heliers.

Gender identification

Louisa Wall’s piece in the Herald last Thursday misrepresented our position. Speak Up For Women was formed in opposition to the Government’s proposal that the Births, Deaths, Marriages and Relationships Registration Bill be amended to provide that any person can change the sex recorded on their birth certificate with a simple administrative process. There will be no need for any medical evidence, treatment or even a change in appearance.

We believe this will have significant consequences for women and girls, in access to single-sex spaces and services, in meaningful records and statistics, female sports, scholarships and quotas.

The Human Rights Act 1993 recognises these concerns, by providing for discrimination on the grounds of sex, for reasons of privacy, safety and fairness.

We support the rights of transgender people to identify how they wish, without fear of discrimination. Transgender people in New Zealand already have the ability to change the sex on their birth certificates through a Family Court process that involves medical oversight. Speak Up For Women supports the status quo, and supports retention of the sexbased protections under the Human Rights Act.

Jenny Whyte, Speak Up For Women.

Wealth distribution

If 1 per cent of the world’s population own two-thirds of the Earth’s wealth, isn’t it time the other 99 per cent did something about it? Gary Hollis, Mellons Bay.

Work training

We have an underclass, with many unemployed members, some of them socalled “unemployable”. This Christmas will not be a season of cheer for them, but of financial struggle and despondency.

Some are homeless with mental health issues, others are slightly better off but cannot find work.

It is time the Government prioritised its policy-making in the direction of full employment for all, with things like work training more accessible for all.

Society’s suffering class can be reduced and enjoy the economic benefits and selfesteem a job can give. Many social problems would disappear overnight as a result. Murray Dennett, Papatoetoe.

Student achievement

Simon Collins’ brilliant in-depth Weekend Herald article revealed governments have largely achieved the goal of almost all students feeling they have succeeded at school. Perception is reality, so it’s lovely all can be happy school-leavers.

Our country’s escalating shortages of doctors, engineers, and teachers might be attributable to the soft school pathways, like “Experience day tramps”, but who cares so long as young people are happy and not too stressed. Just don’t get sick, or try to get your leaky building fixed for the third time, or expect your child’s teachers to be capable of getting them into med school. Aargh.

Jim Carlyle, Te Atatu Peninsula.

Russian problems

The standoff this week between Ukraine and Russia was possibly orchestrated by Russian President Vladimir Putin, his approval ratings tumbling recently, an election looming. Russia has in recent years committed US$180 billion to military spending, Putin no doubt feels the need to keep the “troops” busy. Add to that expense the sanctions, the recent fall in global oil prices and the economy with domestic output barely exceeding that of California’s is suffering. Sadly, in Russia, long deprived of true democracy, the pain continues. A Russian woman seeking a better life in Budapest once told me, “I like Australians and New Zealanders, they have sunshine in their hearts”. She may have said it all. P.J. Edmondson, Tauranga.

External exams

It was with astonishment I read the former principal of Kia Aroha College in Otara sees exams as a colonial system. I would suggest external exams are a universal system of comparing students fairly. My children were educated in three countries and their exams in their final years in Australia and Sweden meant they could enter their chosen fields at universities in New Zealand or elsewhere.

Without external exams students would have difficulty entering law, medicine, vet science and engineering to name just a few areas. By not giving her students the opportunity to sit external exams and compare their ability with others, the principal has denied her students from entering these pathways.

Judith Browne, Cambridge.

Electric scooters

Do we need a death before the authorities realise non-regulation is a no-no? It was bad enough when pedestrians found themselves sharing the FOOTpaths with cyclists. Since electric scooters arrived it has become obvious they are not subject to any of the rules previously applying to cars, scooters or bikes. Safety concerns suggest cyclists should not compete with cars on the open road. But this puts unprotected pedestrians at risk instead.

The grapevine says ACC claims for scooter accidents began from the very first day. Common sense says if cyclists must by law wear helmets, a scooter rider’s need should be even greater.

While so far they have only been inserted into two cities, it is unrealistic to expect local councils to create acceptable regulations for what will become a national problem. Jeanette Grant, Mt Eden.

Action on climate change

I was delighted to hear Australian school children have gone on strike to demand action on climate change. Good on them for showing more intelligence and gumption than our entire nation in the face of the appalling and urgent threat to all our futures that we call climate change. So far, our behaviour has been pathetic: far from reducing fossil fuel consumption, the grownups in NZ have passively allowed it to rise and rise and rise again.

I hope our own kids are inspired to act on their own behalf too, and that all us parents and teachers will learn a lesson from them. Rose Lovell-Smith, Mt Roskill.

Building homes

First our Government tells us it will import workers to build thousands of homes for NZ families. No mention of the homes to house those extra workers.

Now it will import workers to plant trees. The trees are probably to provide timber to build the homes for thousands of workers who are imported to build houses for the workers who build thousands of homes for NZ families. Now they will need homes to house the tree planters who plant trees to house workers who build houses for NZ families. A pyramid scheme, or has the Government lost the plot? Bob Wichman, Botany.

Iain Lees-Galloway

Karel Sroubek may fear for his life in the Czech Republic, but Iain Lees-Galloway is the dead man walking.

Mike Wagg, Freemans Bay.

Politicians’ foibles

I wonder if your correspondent Jenny Peterson had ever noticed how John Key had “akshully” qualified almost every statement or answer he ever made? Politicians, especially ones you are not fond of, are fair targets for any foibles — in Simon Bridges’ case his pronunciation. Less prominent people will sprinkle their speech with “you know” or “I mean”, completely unaware of it. Better not to let such worry you, for once you start noticing you will “akshully” pick up on “absolutely” everyone, you know.

P. Belsham, Mt Albert.

Security threat

In Friday’s Herald, Spark’s managing director said Huawei should be allowed to bid for 5G upgrade business unless the Government can supply “incontrovertible proof” that it was a security threat. Shouldn’t that be the other way around? If Huawei wants to bid for 5G upgrade business in New Zealand, shouldn’t its owner be able to supply “incontrovertible proof” that it is NOT a security threat?

Richard Brookes, Birkenhead.