Sky won’t nose-dive due to tax

If opinion had been sought from southern US plantation owners before slavery was abolished, can you imagine the arguments against? The pleas that if they had to pay workers, bankruptcy would follow, the economy would be destroyed. My answer to businesses and others who complain they will be disadvantaged by a capital gains tax is that, in the end, fairness has to be the determining factor. If some are getting away with paying a smaller share of the costs of our society, that imbalance should be remedied as best we can. That is the objective of a tax on capital. The sky will not fall.

Susan Grimsdell, Auckland Central.

Christian gift

Easter is not easy to explain. You might say it’s like a gift voucher, paid for by the person who offers it to me. I can decline the gift, or accept it and throw it away or let it rot in my wallet, or I can present it at the store and acquire something I couldn’t have purchased myself. I cannot “purchase” eternal life (I simply don’t deserve it) but the price of my admission has been paid and I can front up with a voucher that’s as good as cash.

Gavan O'Farrell, Lower Hutt.

AT stayed away

A large meeting of over 400 people attended a public meeting in St Heliers relating to Auckland Transport’s plan for traffic management in the suburb. AT representatives did not attend as they were concerned about staff safety and welfare. St Heliers residents who attended were mainly seniors and to infer they would pose a safety risk is an insult and at the minimum deserves an apology. Dissenting views were expressed and no one was attacked or injured.

Craig Fraser, St Heliers.

Out of control

I believe Phil Goff’s belated attempt to pull Auckland Transport into line is little more that pre-election posturing. Goff removed the only elected members of the AT board soon after he became mayor. They were councillors Christine Fletcher and Mike Lee. The board of this euphemistically called “council controlled organisation” is appointed, not elected by the people, so it can hardly been called a democratic body. Nor is it, in any way, directly responsible to the public.

It, like other CCOs (eg, Panuku), is supposed to be accountable to the elected council in some respects but AT’s culture is arrogant and disdainful of the public. The semi-independence of the several CCOs all run by appointed boards is an affront to democracy and the public who pay these people. The corporate-style “local body” imposed on Auckland in 2010 needs a major inquiry and improvement.

A. P. Holman, Northcote Point.

Notre dame

The horrific sight of Notre Dame on fire highlights the dangers our historic buildings are in if fire takes control. Notre Dame was a beacon of light. Its loss cannot be put into words. This isn't just a loss to France, but to the world and it must be an international effort to let Notre Dame rise from the ashes.

S. T. Vaughan, Birmingham.

Death trap

Further to recent criticisms directed at AT, I add one more. Four months ago I lodged a concern about a dangerous stretch of road in Coatesville where there are hidden exits on blind corners coming from both directions. Three weeks later, in early January, a representative rang to say their site assessor agreed there was a high accident risk and signage would be erected to advise traffic to slow. Despite numerous phone calls and lodging yet more reminders, there has been zero action. It’s a death trap waiting. If anybody dies, you can be certain that all involved with the issue will duck for cover.

Sue White, Hobsonville.

Dome Valley tip

If consented by the Auckland Council, its new landfill south of Wellsford will add a massive 450 or more daily return trips to Auckland’s new Northern Motorway and the deadly Dome Valley from 2026. Mostly by heavy trucks. From congestion, road-safety, environmental and the council’s own planning perspectives this is unacceptable.

Meanwhile within 2km of the landfill site, the Auckland-Northland rail line languishes, barely-used. Waste Management is open to waste-by-rail transport. However, KiwiRail says it can’t really help without a rail line upgrade.

Paradoxically, an imminent business case for a rail upgrade by the Ministry of Transport is likely to come up short unless Northport gets some of Ports of Auckland’s freight. Watch Council favour dollars over its own planning principles and rail aspirations there.

Stuart Windross, Scotts Landing.

Too graphic

Anna Murray gave a detailed and mostly positive review of TVNZ’s drama, Bad Seed, in the Herald on Wednesday. I was surprised the reviewer didn’t mention the extremely violent and graphic depiction of murders in episodes one and two. It is possible to show on screen a murderous stabbing has occurred without showing the gory detail. Jeanette de Heer, Remuera.

Already shared

I do not agree with all that Emma Mackintosh writes in her “Share Anzac Day” letter. On the day after the Anzacs, British and French troops landed in the Dardanelles in 1915, the Ottoman Empire began the systematic murder of its Armenian subjects and that continued up to the end of World War I. It is estimated 1.5 million innocent Armenians perished.

The Ottomans allied themselves with Germany because they thought the Germans would easily defeat the Russians, thus allowing the Ottoman army to regain northern countries taken by Peter the Great and Catherine the Great, in particular Dagastan and Azerbaijan.

Kemal Ataturk's magnanimous declaration to respect and care for the Allied fallen is testament to the warrior ethos engendered in wartime. Turkish military personnel do attend Anzac memorial services, particularly the civic services in Wellington and Auckland. I believe this is appreciated by both sides.

Chris Barradale, Parnell.

Police stretched

Some Anzac services are being called off, so many moan about “giving in to evil” and “this is about fallen soldiers, not religious issues” Can everyone get it that it’s only because we have over-stretched, over-tired police? No “pandering” to any group. There simply isn’t a big-enough blue line to protect so many gatherings.

Accepted security protocols are that big events may be targeted after something like the Christchurch carnage so they must be protected to a higher level. If the police didn’t make this stand and something happened, they’d be blamed.

Patience and understanding, folks. It’s not disrespect to Anzacs, it’s common sense. How about thinking of alternative ways to acknowledge those who served?

Anna McDonald, Remuera.

Don’t blame Pharmac

Your headline that 100 women died of breast cancer while a select committee considered a petition on their behalf, was only accurate up to a point, and misled. Yes, those women may well have died in that time, but access to the drug would not have saved their lives; it would have extended them by a few months.

The Ministry of Health is being asked to find many millions from its budget for that brief life extension. Obviously precious, but at the cost of many other worthwhile causes.

The anger of these brave women should not be aimed at Pharmac but at the drug companies. A 2018 technical report from WHO on cancer-drug pricing found little relationship with the cost of R&D and production, concluding “Pharmaceutical companies set prices according to their commercial goals, with a focus on extracting the maximum amount that a buyer is willing to pay . . .”

Pharmac is an ally, not an enemy.

Peter Davis, Professor Emeritus, Population Health and Social Science, University of Auckland.

A vote for Wilson

While I have lived north of the Harbour Bridge for more than 40 years, I am still a Chiefs supporter at heart. I have, however, been captivated by Simon Wilson's weekly commentary on the Blues this season, and couldn't wait to read what he had to say about last Saturday's game. He did not disappoint, it was well worth reading to the very end.

As an outsider, I have found his suggestions for Auckland’s future progressive and insightful. Someone should get him a job where he could put some of those ideas into effect. An election is coming. Mark Vincent, Paparoa.