Letters: Safe investments, Michael Wood, voting age, civics lessons, He Waka Eke Noa, and the property buy-back scheme

Safe investments?

I find it inconceivable that people are happy to invest their fortunes with someone over the phone. I also agree that banks (NZ Herald, June 8) should be far more vigilant than it
seems they are. What is a safe financial investment anyway? There have been plenty of high-profile, legitimate investment firms go belly-up, such as Hanover, et al. Money under a mattress only gathers dust, not much else, but it might just be the most sensible and safest of options in this era of brazen internet fraudsters.

John Ford, Taradale.

Lost link

I live in the Coromandel and have done permanently for the last 15 years. Things are not easy here at the moment and it looks like our problems with roading will be with us for quite some time. The now ex-Minister for Transport Michael Wood has been a light in the dark with all the politicking going on with the help we need to restore our vital State Highway 25a. The amount of shares he had in Auckland Airport holds no sway with things at the airport but, at this time, his influence on our issues does. He is leading our road to recovery. To remove him for a shareholding that has no significance in the scheme of things is political nonsense.

Nigel Bufton, Pauanui.

No justification

Thomas Coughlan (NZ Herald, June 7) writes not so much a commentary but more a “justification”, making a case to retain the current Minister of Transport in spite of the fiasco around his non-disclosure of airport shares and potential conflict of interests. We now find the minister was told 12 times to relinquish his shares and 12 times he replied he would do so or was in the throes of doing so. We now find he did not do so after nearly two years and the Cabinet Office failed to advise anyone that, because of this issue, he had a potential conflict of interest. This is the second time in as many months there has been a serious seemingly co-ordinated effort to deceive the public when these things had been known for some time to be a misrepresentation of truth. Coughlan’s final “justification” that “even very serious allegations of conduct seldom deflate otherwise popular governments” will interestingly be tested soon.

Paul Schon, Browns Bay.

Taking off

Labour Minister Michael Wood neglected to sell shares in Auckland Airport despite being told repeatedly that he should do so. Had he sold them in January last year, he would have received $6.88 per share. Today, they are worth $8.62, a profit of $1.74 a share, or around a 25 per cent increase in value. Nice work if you can get it. I wish my small share portfolio had done as well. And does nobody see the irony in a leftist, former union official buying shares? Good on him. Welcome to the capitalist class, Michael.

David Morris, Hillsborough.

In a fix

I feel really sorry for Chris Hipkins. Throughout the Covid pandemic, under Jacinda Ardern, he earned the name of “Mr Fix-it” as he was called upon to take on some tough jobs. Now, in the few months he has been our Prime Minister, he is having to deal with so many problems to do with his MPs he isn’t getting a fair go at doing the top job. The latest debacle, the selling of Michael Wood’s airport shares, should have been sorted out before Hipkins became PM, as Wood was first told to sell his shares in November 2020. Unfortunately, Hipkins is the one having to deal with the effects of that not happening.

Lorraine Kidd, Warkworth.

Rational thought

Democracy is indeed in danger. Clyde Scott (NZ Herald, June 7) is right about the lack of civics teaching in secondary schools, especially if the voting age is lowered. At one time it was taught in primary schools. Why no longer? Michael Neil deplores the decimation of arts and humanities in our universities (NZ Herald, June 6) which are now more like training centres for professions such as medicine but no longer lead in critical and rational thinking. Without civics in schools and tertiary education in arts and in humanities, many become dupes of so-called social media. No wonder voting is on the wane.

Geoff Barlow, Remuera.

Little knowing

It’s been said before and will be said again – and as Clyde Scott reminded us (NZ Herald, June 7) “The public (read 16-year-olds) have been so poorly taught (in civics) that their knowledge base is insufficient for the proper exercise of democracy”. When that is corrected by the inclusion of civics in the senior curriculum, then there would be more widespread support for 16-year-olds getting a vote.

Allan Spence, Waiuku.

Winds of change

National is pulling its support of He Waka Eke Noa, saying it is dead in the water, but really to try to stem agricultural support for the Act Party. Ironically, this very action will probably drive more support to ACT. It is already part of the Act refrain, “you have to vote Act to keep National honest, they can’t be trusted not to flip flop”. Act has a point, National has pulled out (flip-flopped) with accords on housing in Auckland, it was against and then not against free prescriptions, it wants to improve and repair infrastructure, but doesn’t want to spend more. The list goes on. It would be a brave man to try to predict the election result in October, but I am prepared to predict that Act will make significant gains, and mainly at the expense of National. For that, National has only itself to blame. Leadership is not just about following the weathervane, it’s about pointing the direction and then leading the way there.

Richard Alspach, Dargaville.

Farm support

Christopher Luxon’s reneging with Labour on farmer’s pricing emissions is just another admission he is not interested in climate change. He’d rather catch the cockies’ votes than encourage them to pay for emissions. And all this after the weather catastrophes farmers have had to cope with.

Rex Head, Papatoetoe.

Prop wash

Suggest selling all the Auckland Council’s Airport Shares and create a furore. Then agree to sell half of them which was what they always wanted in the first place and everyone is expected to think they have won.

Bruce Tubb, Devonport.

Coast is clear

Engineers have said the most sustainable way to transport goods and people around New Zealand is via coastal shipping. Our roads and rail will always be fragile due to our underlying geology and tectonic forces that the land is subjected to regularly. Going back to coastal shipping will require a big cultural shift. However, the climate emergency will force these shifts whether we make positive decisions or not. I wondered whether your Infrastructure supplement (NZ Herald, June 7) was sponsored by the Road Transport Forum due to the neglect of this important and viable transport option. Investment in people, wharves, and ships is required.

Jeanette MacDonald, Mangere Bridge.

Overwhelmed homeowners

In reply to the letter from Ian Swney (NZ Herald, June 7) regarding the “poor investments” and potential buyouts for those homeowners whose properties were affected by flooding. I can assure him that, in most cases in West Auckland, these properties were purchased by young couples/families as first homes. They are not investment properties. They completed due diligence, spoke to the neighbours and council officials regarding the possibility of flooding. They purchased in areas close to work and did not over-commit themselves with huge mortgages. Their only mistake was allowing the council and government to continue intensive housing developments with outdated infrastructure. I invite him to come and view some of the properties in Ranui which never flooded in the past 30 years, yet have flooded multiple times in the past two years since huge developments were completed nearby, whose stormwater has been permitted to drain into local streams.

Richard Murray, Henderson.

Short & sweet

On voting

Why are we worried about 16- and 17-year-olds voting? Only the really interested few would bother to vote anyway. Rosemary Balme, Howick.

On Wood

Would he ask his wife 12 times to do anything? Mike Wells, Kawerau.

Why should Mayor Wayne Brown sell Auckland Council’s airport shares? Minister Michael Woods didn’t sell his. Phil Chitty, Albany.

What does “stood down” really mean? Less work, same pay? I hope not. Chris Parker, Campbells Bay.

On supermarkets

Excuse me if I have zero sympathy for supermarkets and their security issues while they continue to rip us off to the tune of a million dollars a day and even some of their specials are phony. Richard Irwin, Te Atatū South.

On drugs

Max Harris writes in support of drug law reform, Amen to that. Drug use is a social issue; not a crime, which requires significant investment to remedy. Steve Dransfield, Karori.

The Premium Debate

Mike Hosking: Government making a hash of crime and justice

Still getting over Ginny Andersen being asked about the dirt bikers being rounded up by police in Otara over the weekend and her answer: ” I haven’t caught up with that story yet.“She didn’t know, she didn’t even see it on any news coverage. Welcome to the ministerial expectations of a Labour Government. I challenge any Labour supporter to endorse this as acceptable for a minister of the crown which by the way is a privilege. Maybe deflect it by saying Christopher Luxon has no personality or he is a starchy shirt kinda guy. How low has Ardern/ Hipkins / Wood / Robertson etc taken our great little country? Paul E.

It’s not a case of fully endorsing Labour. More a case of endorsing them over National/Act. Roger B.

Worse still is Ginny Anderson’s response when asked about the current ram raid problem: ”It’s a complex issue”. Honestly, who makes these ministerial appointments? Valle L.

The biggest crime will be if Labour ends up stealing the election and get back in handing us another three-year sentence. Robin F.

They won’t “steal” the election, if they win it will be because people voted to put them and their friends in power. Kathy A.

The big trouble here is the courts and their inability to impose a deterrent on children committing crimes – there was a saying about “don’t do the crime if you cannot do the time” but for those under 18 there seems to be no possible “time”. We need to have a penalty that can be given to underage repeat offenders even if only home detention or maybe cleaning up trash on the weekends. John H