Some union members may lie low

Your article on Tuesday notes union membership in New Zealand is low: “87 per cent of employers reported that none of their employees were union members”. Unions, too, note that union membership is not high in this country. But are employers’ data reliable? It’s possible to join a union without your employer’s knowledge, you just pay the fees directly. I’ve done this in the past with a couple of employers who made it clear, implicitly or explicitly, that they don’t like unions. As a casual employee, it seemed likely that my hours would be cut if the employer knew I was a union member.

Karen Tutt, Palmerston North.

Isis Kiwi

This guy is a definite risk to New Zealand if he is allowed back in. In addition, the main beneficiaries, if he does come back, will be lawyers on the gravy train who campaign on his behalf, while the biggest losers will be us, the New Zealand taxpayer. Politicians a while ago voted in a one-night session to up their superannuation, with a law change that was supported without one dissenting vote, funnily enough. So why in this case are they not able to rapidly pass a law that revokes citizenship in such extreme cases? In fact Taylor did just that himself by ripping up his passport. So just finalise the details. Take the lead from the British.

Paul Beck, West Harbour.

Help him

From a country of four and a half million, some of whom may harbour Isis sympathies, only one took himself off to join them. What better chance could we have to show him, and them, that our way of life is to be preferred, than to at least help this man return, then to face whatever his future holds.

M. Evans, Tamaki.

Scooter time

Although I couldn’t say exactly why, I felt instinctively prejudiced against Lime scooters from the outset. In an effort to overcome my closed mindedness I installed the Lime app, had a go and was pleasantly surprised.

One thing that was immediately obvious was that the fact I was paying by the minute created an inner compulsion to try to get to where I was going as quickly as possible. I wonder how many other riders are similarly affected.

Perhaps a better model would be to charge by the kilometre and only roll over to time-based charging when the scooter doesn’t move for a certain period of time.

Of course that won’t stop all poor rider behaviour but it may moderate the tendency of many riders to try to go as fast as possible everywhere all the time.

John Christiansen, Mt Albert.

Road sharing

Jeff Hayward is correct, “The so-called responsible sharing rules are nonsense”. Pedestrians consistently show their inability to share anything. I work in the vicinity of the Fort St, Fort Lane, Jean Batten Place precinct he mentions, so I am very aware of how sharing works in this environment. Almost every day I see groups of pedestrians meandering in front of patient drivers, who wait for the pedestrians to either notice there is a car behind them or wander off the road when they feel like it. The drivers never toot.

For the record, I am primarily a pedestrian and very occasionally a driver.

Lyall Dawson, Sandringham.

Chinese tourists

I fail to understand the concern about the falling numbers of tourists from the People’s Republic of China. They individually spend very little here yet their vast numbers overwhelm many of our attractions making them less appealing to higher-value tourists. The concern can only be about a number to position New Zealand somewhere on a worldwide scale of tourist arrivals. Surely, in terms of income, greater spending is better than greater numbers.

Richard Kean, Ngongotaha.

Selling low

When Jacinda told us the proposed CGT was all about fairness a wave of relief swept over me. For the tax to be fair we should get a tax refund from the Government if we incur a capital loss. So as landlords we can expect a government valuation of our rental sometime in 2021. As Jacinda says, it will of course, be “fair”. So when we sell the rental property after 2021 we will sell in such a way that we get a refund on any loss. We will then factor in any tax we pay on income and sell below the Government’s “fair” price.

Everyone will be happy. We will get a refund of both income tax and CGT and live tax-free for a year. The buyer of our rental property will get a price well below the Government’s “fair” value. And the Government will do what all good socialist governments do. Give money away to a person, in this case me, for doing nothing to deserve it. This would take the form of a tax refund.

Now that’s fair. Thanks Jacinda. Or should I be reading between the lines?

Michael Walker, Blockhouse Bay.

Unwanted work

With a record crop of apples in Hawke’s Bay, 300 to 400 people are urgently needed to pick the fruit. Evidently Hastings District Council and the Ministry of Social Development scheduled a meeting in Hastings to sign up potential workers. Flaxmere has high unemployment so one would expect the meeting would have been packed out. The reality was quite the reverse with not one single person turning up.

One can only surmise that the unemployed of Flaxmere are happier sitting on the couch, and can do this on their unemployment benefit. Can’t help thinking that if the benefit payments were halved people might be keener to work.

A visiting Chinese delegation when told about our benefit system once said “What is unemployment? Have you done everything in your country that needs doing?” The answer clearly is no we haven’t. Maybe it’s time to revisit “work for the dole”? Glen Stanton, Mairangi Bay.

Bolthole warning

Simon Bridges may suggest we have become a laughing stock because of our foreign policy but in the United States, particularly amongst the oligarchs, they all want to come here. I recently watched an interview between Paul Jay on his Real News and Colonel Larry Wilkerson, chief of Staff to Colin Powell. They were discussing the implications of a civil crisis if Donald Trump was indicted and refused to step down and called his people into the streets.

“The institutional architects would have his guts,” Wilkerson said, adding, “I am going to New Zealand”.

Jay replied, “Better do it quickly because the Government is making it illegal for foreigners to buy land to stop billionaires buying up land.” Wilkerson’s riposte was, “Got a ticket, I have some contacts in New Zealand”.

Reference to New Zealand as a bolthole is now so widespread in the US amongst the affluent classes and others, it has become a wry catchphrase even amongst political comedians. Better wake up New Zealand. Len Parker, Ellerslie.

Tax all houses

I have read extensively about the pros, cons and opinions about CGT. Can someone please explain why the family home would be exempt? If such a tax is to be fair, surely our family homes also increase in untaxed value and should be part of a comprehensive CGT. All residential investments should be subject to CGT. After all, our local government makes no rates tax distinction between family homes and rental investments.

Grant Robertson, Milford.

Unfair exemption

While any decisions on capital gains tax are still in the pipeline, discussion is rife and concerns are real. Managing a fair and equitable way to tax iwi multi-owned land may be problematic but this does not mean exempting iwi from the tax altogether. For years now, iwi have been able to trade as charities with profits exempt from tax. This gives them advantages when applying for contracts in the commercial world and for government services. It is unreasonable and unfair. Robin Lieffering, Whangarei.

Antibiotics alternative

I read that drug companies no longer see antibiotic research as profitable. Antibiotic-resistant “superbugs” are the direct result of overuse and kill 700,000 people annually. The vast majority of antibiotics (80 per cent in the US according to the Guardian) are fed to farm animals. Research into an alternative should be paid for by those who’ve caused the problem. Cage eggs and minced beef are too cheap. Ian Swney, Morrinsville.

Submission guidelines

Letters to the editor should be sent to: Private Bag 92198, Victoria St West, Auckland CBD Email: letters@nzherald.co.nz

Letters should not exceed 200 words and must carry the author’s signature, name and residential address. Emailed letters must include a full residential address and phone number, allowing a check on bona fides. Attachments will not be accepted. Noms de plume are not accepted; names are withheld only in special circumstances at the discretion of the editor. Letters may be edited, abridged or discarded.