This could fix the shortfall in rentals

One of the reasons working people in Wellington struggle to find a home is that Airbnb is taking over houses and flats. In fact, Airbnb locks up 14 per cent of all housing in some cities, creating a huge problem for working Kiwis.

New Zealand definitely has a homerental problem, but it’s one that’s quickly and easily fixed. The solution is to make Airbnb illegal in non-shared accommodation – that is, legal only within a homeowner’s residence. Any separate flat or apartment would be reserved for a normal long-term tenancy. Checking the Airbnb website would make enforcement of the law very easy, with severe penalties for offenders.

Hotels, motels and backpackers’ hostels exist to cater to visitors, along with B&Bs where the owners are the hosts. This law change would return rental accommodation to working people. Neil Harrap, Wellington

In-home visits

No time to care? (Jan 20), which states that care workers have little time to socialise with the elderly, brings to mind that the organisation Age Concern has an accredited visiting service for the elderly, offering friendship and companionship, with a visit from a volunteer on a regular basis, which I recommend.

Charles Reddish, Christchurch

Thanks to reduced funding, home-care visits to elderly New Zealanders are becoming fewer and shorter, even though they are absolutely necessary.

This is not surprising, as the elderly have been unpopular for a while. Their superannuation and old-age pensions are increasingly attacked, even though they are harvested by retirement villages; they are now popularly blamed for climate change; contempt for them is expressed openly, even by some politicians; and the only time their dignity is mentioned is in the context of euthanasia.

The diversity movement believes in a strict dualism: it celebrates youth, so it must vilify its opposite. It’s all part of woke’s utterly ruthless ‘‘out with the old (ideas, institutions, people), in with the new’’.

Gavan O’Farrell, Waterloo

Homecare workers for the elderly are now screwed to a ruthless to-the-minute timetable. How did this pinch-penny exploitation occur under a Labour government running a huge budget surplus? I hear the wing-beats of electionyear chickens coming home to roost. Phillip Rex Robinson, Christchurch

Email: letters@dompost.co.nz

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Show some originality

Tell David Seymour that ‘‘MAGA’’ (for ‘‘Make Aotearoa Great Again’’) is not ‘‘a bit of fun’’. Not only is it plagiarism but it demonstrates complete lack of originality and a lack of imagination.

What is the matter with our political parties? National got into trouble by hijacking a composer’s music and some years back Labour used a photograph of an American family to explain what its budget policy ‘‘means for you’’. Winston Peters, doing a fine imitation of the American national clown – Trump – by scrambling facts, came up with the idea that he is ‘‘Chinese’’. If you want my vote, show some originality.

Colin Wilson, Lower Hutt

Leave RNZ alone

It is concerning (if reports are correct) that someone is intending to not only axe RNZ Concert but also mess with RNZ National.

Over the past few weeks I have been enjoying Eva Radich’s music selection (and I don’t normally like jazz) on Concert. And I always look forward to Matinee Idle as the hosts tend to find very obscure music to fit the daily theme.

I prefer RNZ because there is no commercialisation. Most items I listen to are well researched (although the afternoon panel is probably not in that category).

But the thought of RNZ newsroom being amalgamated with TVNZ leaves me wondering which entity will influence who. I would hate to have Morning Report or Checkpoint reduced to soundbites. Kara Lipski, Newtown

The Department of Conservation has removed the concession to Gannet Beach Adventures (GBA) permitting this company’s access to the reserve at Cape Kidnappers (Gannet tours stop over cliff safety, Jan 20).

In the meantime, Hastings District Council has allowed the reopening of the beach to the public, under the safeguards of warning notices about the possible hazards involved from the unstable cliff face.

But not GBA. Because it is the only regulated concessionaire active in accessing the gannet colonies via the beach, the company is prohibited from carrying out its, till now, lawful business of transporting tourists by tractor-hauled trailers to view the gannet colonies during the October to April season.

The owner of GBA has always been fully conscious of the fragility of the cliff face and, I would venture to suggest, knows better than anyone the risks and where the danger lies.

It is unjust that GBA is denied access whilst the public can sally forth under the safety net of the hazard warning signs installed at Clifton.

Richard Waterer, Havelock North

We must be hopeful

Hear hear, Ollie Langridge (No choice but to care, Jan 21), succinctly put, and frighteningly so right. So many people I know say ‘‘there’s nothing we can do that will make a difference, China will keep polluting, USA are in denial, Australia is still mining coal, etc’’.

But we can’t simply ignore it and do