One thing we could believe in
When the fund was needed it was gone (Plunder, Feb 23). My parents weren’t interested in insurance and didn’t see the need for much, but they did pay the earthquake and war damage insurance because they had to and they believed it would protect them if a disaster like an earthquake happened.
I grew up confident that we would all have our houses replaced if they were damaged in an earthquake. It was one thing I could believe in with certainty, especially since this generation inherited the fund built up by our parents, who hadn’t had a significant earthquake that called on the funds they had paid in.
That is why I was perplexed at the amount of time and anxiety experienced by people in Christchurch in getting their houses rebuilt. I always believed that, no matter where in New Zealand it happened, the funds for earthquake repair would be at our fingertips; that is why we paid the EQC levy in our insurance, as had past generations. Plundering this fund amounts to government theft, a bit like the spending of our retirement fund for Think Big projects.
Teresa Homan, Upper Hutt
Missed the bus
Does Greater Wellington Regional Council’s governance group have robust risk management and quality assurance plans and proper audit procedures in place for the contracts it lets? Does it know the difference between quality control and quality assurance?
It doesn’t appear that way when it says: ‘‘NZ Bus were aware that additional services would be provided from 4 February and they said they could deliver. We know this because NZ Bus signed off on the additional services.’’
Any team and governance group letting contracts using public funds should understand how robust quality assurance plays a critical function before letting a contract or signing off any variation.
The council has well and truly missed the bus and it is unfortunate, to say the least, that it has caused so much transport angst for so many.
GWRC, sort out your contracting processes, or ask for some help. Don’t try the blame game on social media to try and paper over the gaping governance cracks.
G Williamson, Waikanae
Well said, Dave
Well said, Dave Armstrong (Town Hall should be councillors’ priority, Feb 26).
They should simultaneously abandon plans to spend many millions of ratepayers’ dollars on lengthening the airport runway, demolishing and revamping the popular Frank Kitts Park, and building a convention centre.
Ratepayers, present and future, are not endless sources of money. Councillors, please act accordingly.
J Chris Horne, Northland
Now for Paglia
I was amused by reactions to the recent appearance in New Zealand of Jordan Peterson. All we need now, and in double quick time, are visits from Camille Paglia, Mark Steyn, and Roger Scruton.
Nothing gives me greater pleasure than seeing Marxists and ‘‘liberals’’ pirouetting about in paroxysms of outrage. Rex Benson, Northland
Caged baboons
It was disappointing to read of the deaths of the four baboons at Wellington Zoo (Baboons euthanised at zoo, Feb 25).
But really, what did they expect, keeping four mature, healthy males in a confined space, so foreign to their natural way of life, for so long?
How long would four mature human males keep a positive social structure, if similarly confined for several years? I reckon they would be lucky to last a year.
Marjorie Noel Galvin, Thorndon
Power of London
Bill Sheat (Letters, Feb 25) points out that Wellington Electricity is owned by a Chinese company, and asks if there is any other capital city in the world whose electricity lines are foreign-owned.
The answer is yes: London’s electricity is wholly owned by Electricite de France, a French government entity.
Brian McGlinchy, Island Bay