Good public transport is needed

Russell Morrison wants to know why we want to discourage motorists from using Transmission Gully through a toll (July 3). The answer is we don’t know what to do with all the cars that would otherwise flood Wellington at the southern end.

Rather than putting effort into a road-pricing strategy, as Mr Morrison suggests, we need to put money into making a really attractive public transport system. Ironically, that would make the new motorway much more useful. Jenny Clark, Paeka¯ka¯riki Previously, tolling has been used to advance the construction of roads which did not meet benefit/cost rules. The rules were avoided by the public/private partnership arrangement which allowed Transmission Gully to proceed, despite a poor benefit/cost ratio and a higher overall cost than the standard approach funded solely by government.

Now the NZTA says tolls should be used “to shape demand” on the new Gully road, to discourage its use. This logic is cockeyed and questions management’s competence.

In addition to national and regional fuel taxes, tolls further increase road users’ bills. The lower socio-economic groups will suffer most, the increasingly advantaged wealthier won’t be affected. The money not only will be used to improve roads, but for public transport, cycleways and walkways. Road users will have little say as to how their money is spent. The payment situation has become distorted.

New rules are needed that consider tolling and all other ways of taxing the public, such as fuel taxes, road user charges, congestion charges and rates. They must have regard for who benefits from transport infrastructure, and who should pay. Tolls may be appropriate on both the Gully and coastal route to avoid a rat run. Mike Williams, Tawa

Marxism’s march

Congratulations to Karl du Fresne for outing the conspiracy of cultural marxism in our society (June 28).

From the responding letters it is clear there are Marxist sympathisers in our midst who do not want pushback against their ‘‘slow march’’ to divide and dominate society. From Marx who said, ‘‘Communism abolishes eternal truths, it abolishes all religion, and all morality’’, it is not surprising that we should be concerned about Marxist influence in our institutions, given communist history.

Cultural Marxism has eroded national pride and religious influence. It has broken down the family and traditional values and degraded gender and biology. Marxism works to destroy what is good, and make society in its own image. Such is its hubris. Craig Richardson, Te Aro

The NCEA review

The editorial (July 3) wants to wait for “due process” and the results of the consultation into NCEA, but the proposals of the advisory group suggest the minister has already decided to “dumb down” NCEA by halving the credits required. John Wilson, Johnsonville

I had to laugh heartily and sardonically reading the comments of National leader Simon Bridges about school principals, that ‘‘they are at the coal face so they know our education system and know what’s good for our children and young people’’ (July 2).

Really? Perhaps I missed him expressing these types of sentiments in the days of National Government ministers of education between 2008 and 2017? I am thrilled he realises it now. Mark Johnson, principal, Greenmeadows School, Napier

It is beside the point whether the 40 Auckland principals who criticised the Government’s review process of NCEA are “traditional in their thinking” as Education Minister Chris Hipkins alleges (July 2).

The point is these principals are acting responsibly by asserting their right to be consulted and heard as a representative professional voice in education. Of course they won’t represent the view of “all principals and teachers”. But how can that be expected when there is no distinct canvassing of such views?

Under the current process, the very voices of those tasked with implementing and managing any NCEA changes are drowned in a deluge from every Tom, Dick and Harriet with an opinion. That is the point the Auckland principals are making. What, then, are the principals and teachers in greater Wellington and elsewhere doing? Do they see themselves as practitioners and participants with a strong collective voice through their associations, or merely individual bystanders on the sidelines of this major qualification shift? Trevor Williams, Khandallah