Time to repair our tourist net

A common observation is that when a fisherman can’t go to sea, he repairs his net. If you take the analogy that New Zealand’s clean green image is the net that entices foreign visitors and their tourist dollars, then the Green Party’s ideas of employing those people recently unemployed in projects around conservation, pest eradication, etc, make a great deal of sense.

Repairing and preparing New Zealand for the longer-term recovery of our tourist trade makes a lot more sense than building more motorways, would employ people used to working outdoors and with a love of the environment and would go a long way to restoring New Zealand to the place we all want it to be.

Bill Morgan, Wha¯nga¯rei.

Basically affordable

Your columnist, Matthew Hooton, writes that a political disadvantage of Universal Basic Income (UBI) is that “Graeme Hart would get the same weekly cash”.

In fact, anyone declaring an income over $70,000 is already getting a benefit of $9080 a year.

A UBI pitched at that level would mean no extra dosh for the rich, and of course superannuitants would not get extra.

UBI is a lot more affordable than it may first appear.

Eric Dutton, Wha¯nga¯rei.

Wage subsidies

Why have so many big businesses with plenty of available funds been able to get wage subsidies during the Covid-19 lockdown?

Take SkyCity for instance. It reportedly took $22 million in wage subsidies during the lockdown. Yet it posted a profit of $144.6 million and sold assets worth some $450 million last year. Nevertheless, it still laid off 200 staff and cut the pay to a further 900 last month. It appears SkyCity could have easily kept on all staff and paid them full wages from its own assets during the lockdown but chose not to.

How many other big companies have also showed such shameless greed? Dividends to shareholders and executive pay should have been cut first, then financial reserves used before sticking their silver cup out to the taxpayer and rattling it loudly.

When the dust settles on this health crisis and the accounts are done I hope all those well-financed big companies who unnecessarily helped themselves to the wage subsidy will be held to account. The emergency funding should have gone to wage earners and small businesses who need it.

Jeff Hayward, Auckland Central.

Election poser

Now that we have apparently cured the health and safety of New Zealand, the bigger battle ahead will be to fix the economic crisis, which is the outcome of the measures to control the pandemic.

With what is going to have to be done,

I wonder whether National and, probably, even Labour really want to win the next election as I believe that whoever wins will be just a one-term government.

Mike Baker, Tauranga.

‘Out of proportion’

Dallas Pendergrast, that “well-known and respected NZ epidemiologist” and coowner of Glenfield Mall, obviously graduated from the same school of medicine as Donald Trump.

Her statement that Covid-19 was “no risk to anybody . . . and had been dramatised out of proportion” makes me (and probably 5 million other New Zealanders) truly grateful she was not invited on to the Epidemic Response Committee.

J Cameron, Ponsonby.

What on earth?

You have to wonder what planet Mayor Phil Goff and the Auckland councillors are on when they are presented with advice that ratepayers will struggle to pay rates this year and yet still proceed with proposals to increase rates by either 3.5 per cent or 2.5 per cent.

They need to get into the real world, tighten their belts like the rest of us and cancel any rate increase by looking more seriously at their spending proposals.

Julie Tyson, Epsom.

Debt millstone

Auckland Council’s latest knee-jerk reaction — the deferring of its rates payments, ignores the elephant stalking its council chamber.

Its financial circumstances, particularly crippling debt, now force the council to squarely confront expensive and unaffordable non-core services.

Starting with payroll reductions, the council must immediately reposition its operations that recognise the new reality.

Larry Mitchell, Rothesay Bay.

Losses and gains

With the closing of our borders, the flood of overseas tourists to New Zealand has dried up — and may well still be no more than a trickle of its former deluge for some time, even when these borders are eventually reopened. We cannot help but feel sympathy for those in this industry who have lost their livelihoods.

However, while we do also understand that tourism is a significant overseas revenue earner for NZ Inc, if we think about it, we will also realise that it is a two-way trade.

Kiwis visiting other countries, are a significant overseas revenue expense for this country.

As a people, we are much more likely to go gallivanting off around the world than are folks from most other countries.

While I appreciate that the data would be tricky to collect and process with any accuracy, it would be interesting to see some financial analysis of the balance (or imbalance) of this two-way trade.

Lindsey Roke, Pakuranga Heights.

Receipt tracing

I am in a one-man bubble and am able to do my own shopping. In level 3, we have for the first time been asked to note down where and when we were, so tracing is easy.

I am surprised that I get constantly asked if I want the receipt for my shopping. I constantly say yes, and explain It contains the shop name, date and time, so it makes tracing easy if needed.

Axel Hansen, Auckland Central.

Water scare

The residents of Auckland have been badly served by Watercare, now demanding water use be severely reduced as reservoirs/catchment areas have reduced to dangerously low levels. The same happened a good few years ago and resulted in the agreements that water from the Waikato River (following treatment) could be used as a back-up supply.

That original agreement is still in place but it would appear the volume that could be taken is at the maximum allowed under the agreement. Why has the CEO of Watercare not sought to have the limit increased? If he had undertaken such action earlier we would not be in the position we are in now.

If the current climate change, i.e. drought, is the new norm, then an answer to our water problems needs to be dealt with quickly. If it is not possible to increase the take from the Waikato River, then an alternative source such as desalination of seawater needs investigation.

For the CEO to be paid $800,000 a year and be faced with this sort of predicament with no contingency plan is unsatisfactory.

The next thing we will hear is that Watercare will be complaining that its profit is down because of reduced water usage.

J R Jones, Mairangi Bay.

Elimination day

Steve Braunias commented ( NZ Herald, April 28) that “we deserve a medal, some souvenir to mark our contribution” to the elimination of the virus. I agree.

May I suggest a public holiday; one day set aside when New Zealand as a nation can take time to reflect on what we did and what it was like?

But what date should we pick?

B Watkin, Devonport.

Under control?

My Oxford dictionary indicates that there is a very fine distinction (if any) in meaning between “elimination” and “eradication”. Most Kiwis would not be able to explain the difference.

I would therefore like to suggest that at the daily briefings, the Prime Minister and Dr Bloomfield stop using these two terms as different concepts, as this creates confusion. “Elimination” is probably the more commonly understood term, and perhaps it could be said that “we appear to have the virus under control” before we get to the stage of being able to say it has been completely rooted out.

Ian Dally, Mt Albert.