The Northern Express Herald
Letters to the Editor

Letters: Maybe NZ should spend less on defence and roads and fund a quality intercity rail service

Letters
NZ Herald
The Green Party wants to extend intercity rail, including passenger services. That would include extending the Te Huia line – which runs between Auckland, Huntly and Hamilton – to Tauranga.
The Green Party wants to extend intercity rail, including passenger services. That would include extending the Te Huia line – which runs between Auckland, Huntly and Hamilton – to Tauranga.

NZ needs to make intercity rail a priority

In Golders Green, London, vendors had a quick response when any shoppers complained about the high cost of items such as a Harris Tweed jacket.

They would say: “forget about the price, feel the quality, feel the quality”.

The Greens have come up with a very imaginative proposal to upgrade intercity rail. It has been costed at a little over $4 billion.

The Prime Minister has dismissed the proposal because of the cost. But this Government has committed New Zealand to spend $9b on new defence spending. Also, this Government would prefer to spend huge amounts of money on roads.

Few critics have told us that the money that we may spend on intercity rail is our money. All taxpayers give a portion of their income to the IRD. So why not spend less on defence and roads? And if we could claw back some of the $2.9b in tax relief for landlords, we would have the money to upgrade intercity rail.

Most working democracies have an efficient rail system that moves freight and passengers. New Zealand needs a great intercity rail network.

Johann Nordberg, Paeroa.

A warning from the past

I read this quote from Robert Reich, secretary of labour under former United States President Bill Clinton, at the weekend and felt it was very relevant to us in New Zealand.

Reich was prescient when by 1994, he warned that the US was “on the way to becoming a two-tiered society composed of a few winners and a larger group of Americans left behind, whose anger and whose disillusionment is easily manipulated”.

He explained: “Once unbottled, mass resentments can poison the very fabric of society, the moral integrity of a society. Replacing ambition with envy, replacing tolerance with hate.

“Today the targets of … that rage are immigrants and welfare mothers and government officials and gays and an ill-defined counter-culture. But as the middle class continues to erode, who will be the targets tomorrow?” Sounds familiar doesn’t it?

Viv Allen, Freemans Bay.

Political embarrassment

The Mill Rd project is at the crux of political incompetence. This roading project has been kicked for touch so many times it has become an embarrassment.

Roading progress is necessary. When politicians cloud this progress to gain votes, it only ends in delays and cost overruns. Mill Rd needs fixing. Can someone just get on with it?

John Ford, Taradale.

KiwiSaver improvements

I am not opposed to Act’s proposal to provide tax relief for KiwiSaver members. However, I wonder whether there is another way to make the policy even more effective.

Rather than simply making KiwiSaver earnings tax-free, why not allow employees to claim a tax deduction on their own KiwiSaver contributions, subject to an annual cap? This would reduce the effective cost of saving for retirement while limiting the impact on Government finances.

If we want New Zealanders to take greater responsibility for their retirement, we should make it easier and more rewarding to save their own money. Tax relief on KiwiSaver contributions would do just that.

Simone Leung, Half Moon Bay.

Close alignment

Political economist Dr Jason Hickel argues that US support for Israel must be understood within a longer history of opposing Arab nationalism, pan-Africanism, and movements seeking control over their own resources and economies.

He says this is not simply about national interests, but also about empire, strategic power, and who benefits from the region’s labour and wealth.

Hickel sees Israel as a key US ally in limiting liberation movements and destabilising neighbouring states, leading them to spend heavily on defence rather than development.

He argues that continued US military support for Israel, despite the devastation in Palestine and accusations of genocide, reflects strategic interests and the interests of the capitalist class.

The long US embargo on Cuba provides another example of economic pressure against a Government the US opposes. This raises questions about how consistently the US and other Western governments, including our own, apply human rights principles.

Perhaps our coalition Government’s failure to impose sanctions on Israel reflects its close alignment with US policies and, by extension, the Israeli Government.

Dana A. Patterson, Ōneroa.

Cruel punishment

Death sentence to Christa Pike? Exodus 20:13, Thou shalt not kill. It is right there in the Bible.

When a Government does that, how can they claim to be Christian? This form of punishment is inhumane and cruel, especially after dragging the process out over 30 years.

Time to live up to better laws than that.

Frank Olsson, Freemans Bay.