Sun story positive, not negative

April nearly had its moment in the sun (May 2) was disappointingly negative. It stated ‘‘Wellingtonians have missed out on one of the sunniest Aprils in nearly a century’’. Where is the ‘‘positively Wellington’’ in this article?

Imagine if we had all been ‘‘locked down’’ inside with rain and gloom all around us. Instead, we have been able to go for walks (taking the correct precautions, of course), get the garden into shape, do that overdue spring cleaning and maintenance on the house and/or sit in the sun and read and relax. Carla Wild, Karori

The police commissioner is right in his approach to the roadblocks around some small communities. They are there to protect the vulnerable from those who want to break the lockdown rules.

These roadblocks are very appropriate and sensible local initiatives, which National, with its private enterprise mantra, should applaud.

Andrew Coster can see the strategic and community value in them and police are co-operating with locals in their joint operation. He should be given congratulations for his foresight and sense – not criticism.

Simon Bridges facetiously quotes Law School 101 to call these road blocks illegal. Can he please tell us what LS101 says about operations under a state of emergency?

It is also concerning that several National MPs jumped on to this bandwagon of their leader. I suspect it is because the most of the roadblocks are in small Ma¯ ori communities in the north.

So once again the National Party is trying to play the race card which, for this opportunist party, goes right back to Robert Muldoon, a low point in leadership in this country. Shame on them.

Can they stop their mock moaning and indignation, and just get in behind the Government to support the fight against Covid-19, as the rest of the populace is doing so admirably.

Russell O Armitage, Hamilton [abridged]

It seems to me this Government is encouraging racial division in this country by allowing, under level 3, those who identify as Ma¯ ori to create roadblocks, and attend funerals in high numbers.

If other New Zealanders attempted such things they would be moved on by the police. When will the lesson from

history be learnt? If you discriminate between citizens based on ethnicity you are asking for trouble!

Brandon Holman, Paraparaumu

I thoroughly agree with Verity Johnson (Keep your hair on, we’re doing just fine, May 1). It’s pointless to dwell on whether we should or should not have managed the lockdown in the same way as Australia. That’s assuming that we’re not planning to repeat it.

Something we could more usefully look at is what we can learn from the way the virus has disrupted the way we do things. For example, how long does it take to audit a public health procedure? Weeks? Not if it’s a review of the contact tracing system, which was recently done by Dr Ayesha Verrall in little more than a day.

How long does it take to get a building renovation started? Months? Not if the renovation is converting a hospital room for intensive care. Or how long does it take to arrange a payout from Work and Income? A very short time in the case of the wage subsidy.

Do the processes used by public systems in New Zealand really need to take as long as they usually do? Perhaps the changes wrought by response to Covid-19 are a learning opportunity.

David Wright, Wellington

Your article on fast food queues (April 30) raises a challenging question for New Zealanders. This newspaper previously reported concerns about the viability of GP practices during the lockdown because of falling patient numbers.

Could the absence of fast foods and the falling number of patients at GPs be related? This might, at first glance, seem unrelated, but given that fast foods are a major contributor to obesity and poor health, particularly amongst poorer communities, it is not inconceivable that there is a direct relationship.

The challenge for Dr Ashley Bloomfield and his colleagues is to explore this coincidence, which if confirmed would be the basis for a world-leading health policy shift – no more fast foods.

Prof Geoffrey Horne, Roseneath

TJ Grant and Bryan Tong (Letters, April 22 and 30) discuss whether to ban freedom camping.

The issue is really about campers’ toilet facilities and the broad definition of the containment of waste that the blue ‘‘self-contained’’ stickers attempt to indicate.

Motor homes are equipped with a proper indoor toilet complete with seat and flush. No problem.

The budget offering of stationwagons and minivans, however, provide an ‘‘optional porta-potti’’ (I quote a rental website.) Regulations are bypassed as renters are given a discount if this potti is returned unused.

Problem! Those of us who walk along the Hinemaiaia River by Lake Taupo¯ have seen these alternative ‘‘freedom campers’’ who, in spite of their blue stickers, prefer to defecate on the riverside paths and leave used lavatory paper for all to see. This is usually a few metres from the pristine river.

Conclusion: budget companies offering these fake ‘‘self-contained’’ camping options are the ones that should be banned.

Lilias Bell, Ngaio

The Aotearoa/New Zealand film industry has a great international reputation and is another area for greater production of national income.

Considering how the Lord of the Rings trilogy has attracted millions of tourists to our country, now is the time for Government and industry leaders to financially invest in this area, creating interesting film and audio and apps for the online tourist, to help attract real tourists once our borders open again, and providing in the meantime free advertising and motivation (from online ‘‘likes’’) for our injured hospitality sector to get up off its knees.

Jane Carter, Wainuiomata [abridged]

The lack of live sports on Sky Television is a hardship for an avid sports fan but I have to commend Sky for showing some of the great All Blacks and Black Caps matches of the 1980s and later. It is especially good seeing cricketers from that era who were greats at that time.

It was interesting to see the infamous underarm match with Australia again, and it shows the value of having neutral umpires and the review system now.

The glaring errors by the umpires with the Snedden catch and the Hadlee lbw would have been overturned and the underarm incident would have probably not been necessary.

The commentary highlighted that Richie Benaud was by far the fairest and most unbiased of the match callers.

Brian Hearfield, Wadestown

It was refreshing to see the evils of globalisation being canvassed this time from Winston Peters (April 30).

Roger Douglas opened up this pleasant land to the international free market in the 80s, and successive governments until now have not corrected it. Peters refers to the use of foreign factories and the closure of factories here. Levin has lots of them.

But I grieve for hardworking Kiwis who can’t buy a house of their own to live in because they have been priced out of the market by foreign investors.

A week or two ago a commentater in this paper was advocating opening us up to foreign capital again. Heaven forbid!

I don’t agree with everything that Peters says, but in this he is right. It is the function of any government worth the name to protect the people.

In this case it is protection against exploitation of the vulnerable by the powerful – those with industrial might and a surplus of cash in other countries. Selwyn Boorman, Waikanae