Let library open at less than 100pc

Our social infrastructure needs to respond quickly to provide much-needed sociability, after our self-isolation is over. Our beloved library has a crucial part to play in our recovery.

I suspect the present holdup is because Wellington City Council is targeting getting the building up to 100 per cent of the earthquake code.

Some councillors are even suggesting demolition and rebuild. The loss of a much-admired and awarded architectural icon, is in my view, unnecessary and unacceptable.

The council now, with its resources seriously stretched, is unlikely to be able to afford either 100 per cent code remediation or a new build.

I believe the library could be reopened much earlier and at an affordable cost, by settling on achieving, say, two-thirds of the earthquake code.

Most of us probably spend most of our time in buildings less than 100 per cent anyway. Nature shows us what she thinks of our somewhat arbitrary codes by causing the demolition of several 100 per cent code-compliant buildings with the 2016 Seddon/Kaiko¯ ura earthquake.

Our lives are already at risk with road accidents, fires, self harm, and now, to add to the list, pandemics.

The Wellington public deserves more pragmatism from its council. Many would say that this is definitely a case of the ‘‘cure being worse than the problem’’. Roger Walker, Te Aro

Erosion of democracy

LJ Rich (Letters, April 4) accuses me of claiming the Government will use the crisis to establish a dictatorship.

I did no such thing.

Not everyone has LJ Rich’s rosy view of ‘‘trusting the government to do its very best for us all’’.

Like many others I am concerned about the erosion of democracy, the lack of transparency and accountability and the arbitrary and inconsistent use of the widespread powers the Government has taken to itself.

The interpretation of how far one is allowed to go from one’s home for exercise is just a minor example of how vague rules can and will get interpreted in different ways. There need to be clearer rules applied consistently; otherwise people will perceive unfairness and be less willing to co-operate. That is not in anyone’s interest.

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Rules brought down by governments and enforced by their agencies, particularly the police, must be clear, fair, consistent, relevant and have public acceptance to work properly.

Less than that risks public distrust, non- compliance and deliberate disobedience, however well-intentioned our rulers may be.

John Bishop, Karori

Old sporting days

Would it be the end of the world if rugby and all the other professional sports were to become insolvent?

It wasn’t that long ago that most sports were amateur and, looking back, it wasn’t too bad really. We had the All Blacks of course and all the other nations represented, and radio covered it, as did TVNZ on free to air.

The cost of going to a stadium was so reasonable that the entire family could afford to go. The most talented players either got a job running a pub – not so much of a goer these days – but their highprofile status would open doors in the corporate field, or if all else were to fail they could get a ordinary job like the rest of us, who are not paid millions of dollars each year.

So the trendy catchword was ‘‘the brand’’ and all the corporate jargon that went with it. Now the old original model run so well by the NZ rugby union for so many years may need to be revisited. Tony McMaster, Days Bay

Values to serve us well

With Covid-19 it is inevitable the government must play a bigger role at such times. Covid-19 has also shown the value of scientific data, history of earlier medical crises in the country, and of ongoing research and analysis. The fastmoving crisis asks New Zealanders to grasp this and to respond to the need expressed daily by health advisers – Ashley Bloomfield and the teams behind him – and to wait on further assessments and judgments about the country’s isolation and the lockdown.

The country is well-informed, and at the same time is provided with excellent information by major radio news and television, and by thought-provoking, critical journalism in daily newspapers and online sources, an all-important medium (Besieged media, April 6).

Good information is necessary more than ever, but so is widespread community understanding and patience.

We have been there before, as Canterbury’s Geoff Rice (Black Flu 1918) noted: ‘‘The qualities most valuable in a time of stress – courage, practicality, concern for others, fairness, resourcefulness, optimism and good humour – are also those that are now regarded as inherent in the Kiwi character. These are the values we prize as a nation.’’ We can do it again. Claudia Orange, Thorndon

Bastion of open society

It is disturbing that magazines and periodicals were not judged to be essential services or businesses.

But it is even more disturbing that they were seen as nothing but ‘‘services’’ and ‘‘businesses’’ in the first place and that the media’s only recognised function was to disseminate news, as and how the Government deemed necessary.

Such was the language of the PM’s press conferences and the directive itself.

The Government obviously does not recognise the fourth estate as a bastion of an open society, a vital source of scrutiny, a watchdog that speaks truth to power and holds it to account.

Mere days after suspending Parliament they moved to block the print publication of much of the country’s longform and investigative journalism, political and economic analysis and commentary.

As far as I can tell after hours of searching, no other democracy in the world has gone down this path.

When a government is using emergency powers to direct every aspect of personal, economic and cultural life, scrutiny by the media has never been so important. The Government must step in immediately as a caretaker buyer of Bauer’s brands in order to protect their survival (and that of their irreplaceable staff), and must allow these and all other affected publications to resume. Raewyn Brockway, Karori

Protecting our freedoms

Phil Quin (April 6) writes that we ‘‘willingly threw economic prosperity overboard to protect the elderly and sick’’. We most certainly did not. Nor did we have any idea of the likely costs. How could we?

The Government still does not know the likely costs, having said the money was available to carry us through, but then borrowing $25 billion of our future production? I would ponder how long it will take us to repay these costs.

He states we will see the Government playing a bigger role in our economy, and our daily lives. Terrifying prospects. Does he acknowledge a substantial number of thinking people want less government, never more?

Perhaps we need more journalists – inquiring and seeking truth – than reporters. We need our fourth estate to be guarding our country and people from any encroaching of our freedoms. Murray Roberts, Christchurch

Police our own actions

With respect to differing interpretations of lockdown advice, perhaps what needs most clarity is that it is essentially selfpolicing. It is up to the authorities to recognise and address breaches that genuinely risk the health of others.

Ludicrous official advice such as ‘‘don’t stop and chat’’, and epidemiologist Michael Baker’s criticism of driveway parties, simply encourages self-appointed arbiters of others’ behaviour, which ultimately is the antithesis of the prime minister’s invocation to ‘‘Be kind’’. Simon Glover, Paremata

Keep chequebooks open

The Covid-19 lockout makes it abundantly clear how important it is for the elderly to retain the right to use cheques. When confined to their homes and relying on another to purchase goods on their behalf, they at least have the means to reimburse their helper.

Ten per cent of the community do not have a computer or the ability to use internet banking.

The unilateral decision by Inland Revenue to refuse to accept cheques for payments due on April 7 has caused considerable distress, and amounts to abuse of our elderly. Many have been forced to disclose personal details to a third party to meet their obligations and are upset by this needless loss of independence.

MD Wright, Christchurch