Caution on move to level 1

I think Winston Peters moved into very worrying territory when, in stating that we should be in level 1, and the Australian/NZ travel bubble should be in effect, he also sought to undermine the science advice of the Ministry of Health. ‘‘They are risk-averse,’’ he claimed.

We have few tools to fight the coronavirus for the next three, possibly five years: border control; contact tracing and isolation; and the four levels of social isolation.

Underpinning these tools, is society’s confidence in them and that the scientific advice is sound. It is a dangerous step to attempt to weaken that confidence and therefore our few tools, to tout electoral advantage as he was doing.

As for the travel bubble, Australia is far from ready. The last two weeks are telling: Australia, 158 cases and no days with zero cases, compared to 12 cases in New Zealand (six if historic cases are excluded) and 10 days with zero cases. In New South Wales in the last fortnight, 14 of the 18 local infection cases are community transmission. Exactly as predicted, their slightly lighter lockdown is giving a much longer tail.

As the Queensland premier stated, she was ‘‘not opening the border with NSW while Covid-19 is rampant in that state’’.

Good advice for us all to follow, I believe.

Vince Dravitski, Carterton

Level 1 and taxes

With NZ First’s current low polling, and Labour at an all-time time high and paddling well in Covid-19 infested waters, it’s not surprising that Winston Peters is now starting to drill a hole in their waka.

Whilst I’m usually not enamoured by anything Peters says or does, I think he is absolutely right that a move to level 1 should have occurred this week.

By blindly accepting Dr Bloomfield’s expert advice (naturally made with an abundance of caution), it seems the Government hasn’t considered the longerterm social and economic consequences that will result from another month’s delay.

Peters will be hoping to gain traction in the polls over his point of difference with the Government. However, if he is as concerned as he says about the state of the economy and the ensuing debt mountain, then perhaps he should consider the younger generations who will be making the sacrifices. They will be paying higher

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taxes due to the debt, rising unemployment, and the cost of supporting the elderly on National superannuation.

Now seems a perfect time to introduce broad-based wealth and capital gains taxes to alleviate this burden from wage and salary earners. How say you, Mr Peters?

Mike Jarvis, Paraparaumu Beach

Footpath widening

It defies belief that Wellington City Council can carry on with a total waste of ratepayers’ money building an illconceived and poorly designed widening of the footpath from Carlton Gore Rd southwards during this national emergency. Rates increases are coming, watch this space.

Further, it is even more concerning that the overgrown footpath between Island Bay and Owhiro Bay is being left unaddressed after three years of this matter being raised with several ward councillors and the mayor on many occasions. In some places it is down to 600mm in places, especially on the straight adjacent to the car park.

This is a busy walkway, especially at weekends and people have to step out on the road just to pass let alone carry out personal separation.

Have council officers not realised that there have been 120-plus heavy sludge tankers passing there 24/7 since January? Does it need a coroner’s recommendation after a death to spur action?

I have certainly kept my correspondence in case it is required at a future date. Rod Page, Island Bay

Quakes and trams

Where does Ross Macfarlane (Letters, May 28) get his information from, regarding tram tracks and earthquakes?

Fact 1: the Christchurch tramway suffered very little track damage from one of the strongest earthquakes to have ever hit a populated area, and the tourist tramway reopened while CBD building sites were still being cleared of rubble.

Fact 2: even in 1931 the more lightly built Napier tram tracks were unscathed, and trams stranded by the failure of the power supply (and the collapse of buildings holding up the overhead wires) were towed back to the depot by tractor.

Fact 3: in 1989 the San Francisco trams and other rail transit were up and running the day after the Loma Prieta earthquake, while some damaged main highway structures took years to repair (or be demolished and replaced by a tramway).

Fact 4: Wellington is virtually the only city in the world to have a main ‘‘lightrail-like’’ rail transit system which doesn’t penetrate its CBD – the home of 77 per cent of its economy – and pays the price in congestion and poor regional access. Nonsensical sham or ‘‘trackless’’ trams (which actually need quite expensive infrastructure) won’t fix that. Brent Efford, NZ agent Light Rail Transit Assn, Aro Valley

Ross Macfarlane doesn’t seem to know much about either quakes or trams.

The connection between Queensland and KiwiRail is sharing an unusual trackgauge, so existing designs of high-speed passenger train are available to KiwiRail. Today’s trains run from Auckland to Wellington in under 12 hours, and highspeed trains in perhaps seven or eight hours.

They could be an attractive climate emergency solution if sleeping-cars also ran overnight, as a high-capacity, lowcarbon alternative to flying.

Transport delays after an earthquake are inevitable, but railways are much more easily repaired than roads, as Kaikoura saw after 2016.

Light rail is a well-established, highcapacity public transport option, chosen for Wellington by Let’s Get Wellington Moving.

The French are leading experts, with over 20 modern systems opened since I visited Strasbourg in 1994.

Light rail is almost certainly the cheapest option for reliving congestion on Wellington’s grossly overloaded Golden Mile.

Trackless trams are another unproven form of guided bus. They may prove reliable in a decade or so, or they may share the fate of several other guided bus systems: ripped out and replaced with light rail. Starting with light rail is cheaper.

Kerry Wood, Wellington

Bridges cartoon

I was appalled at Simon Bridges on a number of counts and am delighted he is off the airwaves.

But he is a human being with feelings. Why does Jim Hubbard continue to post insulting cartoons about him?

The latest, on May 28, has not the slightest element of humour and is plainly unkind at a time when even on public roads we are exhorted to ‘‘be kind’’?

Bridges is at a very low point; the talented Hubbard needs to move on.

Marg Pearce, Porirua

Life or the economy?

Picture two people screaming abuse at each other across a street. A passerby remarks: ‘‘They’ll never agree ’cos they’re arguing from different premises.’’ Is our current political debate like that?

In the Covid-19 pandemic, Labour has made preserving life the priority. National is saying, the crisis is over. How can we get the economy going?

If Labour wants to win the election, it must come up with economic policies as effective as its Covid-19 management. National, for its part, needs to show that it cares about people and their health, not just, Trump-like, about dollars and cents.

Do we prefer a caring and compassionate government over one that is fixated on money? In September we shall know.

Raymond Pelly, Hataitai