Move the port to the Manukau

It is generally agreed that the Ports of Auckland would be best located away from the central city to free up the waterfront for beautification.

Relocation would tick a lot of boxes such as eliminating the need for large trucks to travel through the city to and from the port, the need to construct a dedicated goods train line and transporting imported cars. The waterfront could then be developed with parks and beachfront as well as a cruise ship hub.

The Thames river in the UK has two ports, Tilbury and Sheerness, so it could be worth investigating the possibility of deepening the Tamaki River and relocating the port at Seaside Park and Highbrook. The Panmure Bridge would need to be higher to allow ships to pass under or construct a tunnel under the river.

The ultimate would be to revive the idea mooted near the beginning of last century to construct a canal to link both harbours, The port could be located just south of the airport with a rail link from Puhinui to both the port and airport. However, the cost may be prohibitive.

The Manukau is the best location for the port. Graham Russell, Pukekohe.

Keynes revival

As reported by Brian Fallow (Herald , August 15) Robert Wade, with his Sir Frank Holmes lecture, merely promoted the current gloomy world outlook as a continuing inevitability, noting that the bottom 60 per cent of US citizens have seen no increase in real wages since 1980.

This telling date, the point at which Friedman-ite economic theories began to overtake those of Keynes worldwide, surely says it all.

The 50 years (1930-1980) saw the greatest true increase in standards of living for that 60 per cent around the globe, including New Zealand.

The socialist principles that the late 30s conservatives named “applied lunacy” truly lived up to the response to that derogatory appellation “applied Christianity”.

I feel Wade and his students at the LSE could do the majority of humanity a favour by taking another hard look at Keynes’ principles to find a way of rejigging them to suit today’s circumstances.

A sliding tax scale which meant that spare wealth came into the purview of experts employed by democratic governments instead of being left in the realm of philanthropy would be a great start in my opinion.

Juliet Leigh, Pt Chevalier.

Westgate roads

The article on the proposed and ongoing developments at the Westgate centre (Herald, August 19) makes no mention of the total dysfunctional supposed roading improvements in the original Westgate shopping centre.

Access to this popular western shopping centre is deteriorating by the day. And what little access is available is rapidly getting dangerously deeply potholed through sheer overuse.

The sooner this shambles is sorted out the better for the consumers and the local businesses, which are suffering badly through a major downturn in sales.

Already a major area of this shopping centre is up for sale or has been sold.

Eric Strickett, Henderson.

Best by half

Shame on this week’s sports writers for leaving out the pocket-sized genius. I have watched All Black tests since the Colin Meads era and I can unequivocally state there has never been a better New Zealand halfback (or international for that matter) than Aaron Smith.

His fierce retrieval of the ball from rucks and tactical bullet pass to his backs, his niggling of the opposing halfback and try-saving and tactical kicks from behind the scrum near his own line and all over the paddock, his miraculous ability to crop up at the exact moment to score from his hard working forwards makes him the best in the world by a country mile and — along with Richie Mo’unga, Brodie Retallick, Beauden Barrett, all X factor players — will give us the edge.

If we are to bring the World Cup home, Aaron Smith — more than any other player in this All Black team — will be the reason.

Gary Hollis, Mellons Bay.

Transfer station

I was pleased Greg Hollis dropped off his used fencing materials at the Seagull reuse shop in Thames.

This is a win-win with fewer materials in the landfill — someone able to buy needed goods at a reasonable price, plus reduced transfer station fees for Greg.

However, this is not a Thames Coromandel District Council service. It is a not-for-profit community organisation set up to reduce waste to landfill, to provide employment, for affordable goods to the community and for waste recovery reduction education.

Denise Lyon, Thames.

Mystery ads

I wonder how many advertisers actually get value for their money? Several current ads are so intent on their entertaining storylines that the viewer is left wondering what message was intended.

Specifically, the invisible male driver musing about “my car, my rules” comes across as encouraging the disregard of speed limits. Also, the woman who sits quietly in a carpark while pretending to be stuck in traffic, is just creating a role model for people who lie and evade their responsibilities.

Neither ad reflects the Kiwi values we used to take for granted and neither has an obvious link to any advertiser.

Jeanette Grant, Mt Eden.

Climate alarm

Mark McCluskey berates “climate alarmists” and isn’t “listening any more to anti plastic bag warriors” (Herald, August 19). Eminently sensible. Expert scientists, who volunteer their time to write the IPCC reports, warn us we have 12 years to formulate a plan to decarbonise the world economy.

Is he listening to them?

Dennis N Horne, Oxford, UK.

Democracy in the US

Reading Ernest Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises, written in 1926, I noted numerous references to H L Mencken, an American writer, essayist, satirist et al.

Fascinated by his influence on some of the characters, I googled him to find this — written in 1920 — among many wonderful quotes:

“As democracy is perfected, the office of President represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. On some great and glorious day, the plain folks of the land will reach their heart’s desire at last and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.”

Steve Jones, New Plymouth.

Hybrid legacy

Simon Wilson’s article painted a picture of clean cars for the wealthy NZ new car buyers and dirty older cars for the ordinary folk (Herald, August 16).

The Clean Car Standard will subsidise clean cars and discourage imports of used gas-guzzlers. But Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV) technology will result in unintended consequences.

For example, the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV, a 2.3 tonne SUV with a 2 litre engine, is good for towing the boat or transporting the wha¯ nau. The theoretical range of 54km using its on-board battery would qualify it for the clean car subsidy making it no more expensive than a regular hybrid SUV. The dual-fuel capability avoids range anxiety or large batteries, whilst enjoying EV benefits. PHEVs tick all the boxes for the new car buyer in NZ.

Ten years on, those PHEVs, plus used PHEV imports, would likely dominate the NZ fleet with half their lives still to run as secondhand $20k cars. By then, the ageing batteries would be giving smaller electric-only ranges to those users who could be bothered to plug in to consume expensive retail electricity every night. Fast charging a PHEV is uneconomic now. Most ordinary motorists would operate older PHEVs as hybrid petrol-only SUVs.

Steve Goldthorpe, Warkworth.

Crime and families

A Herald editorial (August 13) outlined the increasing incidence of juvenile crime. Sociologists have hypothesised but rarely identify the emergence of the “fractured family” as a likely cause of this social issue.

Too many children today are denied protection, guidance, discipline, enlightenment. An adolescence of the 50s recalls families intact, parental guidance the norm, crime unknown.

The expansion of social policies which have compromised traditional family structures and values may be the cause. Almost every social issue we confront stems from a dysfunctional home environment and a neglected child.

P J Edmondson, Tauranga.