Letters: ‘There’s been a fair bit of nonsense about Auckland’s city centre’ – Wayne Brown

I love the city centre so much that I choose to live here – it is a great place, with great places to visit and great people that you can meet every day.

So here are the facts.

And the future looks even better. Construction disruption is giving way to a revitalised city centre. Projects are close to done, and they’re going to make the city centre more accessible and more attractive than it’s ever been.

The city centre is just getting better.

If you don’t believe the facts, then come and see it for yourself. Have dinner at one of our world-class restaurants, see a show, stay a night… who knows, you might just enjoy it and change your mind.

If you’re not here, then you’re missing out.

Wayne Brown, Mayor of Auckland.

The Herald offered two interesting articles by Retirement Commissioner Jane Wrightson and fellow columnist Jonathan Ayling on financing and education: one on financial education for the young, the other indirectly on the financing of tertiary education.

Wrightson looked forward to 2050, imagining what the financially informed young might have learned. Ayling cast his piece backwards relying on themes from the 1980s’ Roger Douglas, who argued that taxes from the poorly paid, like truck drivers, should not finance the tertiary education of the better off.

There is nothing wrong with looking back. Departed voices could still offer more socially cohesive arrangements. Perhaps a more civilised, more financially educated society could turn from relying so much on extracting its taxes from labour. So the arguments of someone like Henry George (1839-97) for taxing wealth sunk in land could suit us better. Apparently, George Grey, Robert Stout and John Balance took similar stands. Further afield notables like Dewey, Russell and Friedman followed suit.

No doubt some will say that in the present age wealth is sunk in information stores, not land. But look at tax-free Yale with both untaxed land and its comfortable US$40 billion ($67b) endowment. New Haven’s local authorities would prefer a different tax arrangement. But Yale counters by offering fee-free education to the youth of local families.

However, the social arrangements in pockets of the US are far from a useful model for us here. We might look to places in Europe where some publicly funded institutions can offer fee-free education beyond the secondary level. We can only hope that the financially educated 2050 voters in New Zealand will have rejected Ayling’s arguments in favour of a distribution of opportunities, both more just and more efficient.

Nick Park, Ōrākei.

We are told that as life expectancy increases the age of eligibility for Superannuation must necessarily rise.

But life expectancy is not equal across socioeconomic groups. My friendly AI tool suggests the broad difference between blue and white collar workers is three to seven years, although it includes all sorts of caveats and provisos.

Is it not possible to identify occupational groups, income bands and other factors to adjust eligibility to more closely reflect life expectancy?

Steering clear of the shaky ground of ethnicity, modern analytics can surely make progress in this area.

John O’Neill, Dargaville.

I am surprised that Mayor Wayne Brown is still proposing a second harbour crossing at Meola Reef. First, this volcanic reef is protected from development by the outstanding natural feature overlay in the Unitary Plan, and is also an open space conservation zone.

Second, the reef is thin and unstable, and not a suitable foundation for a bridge or causeway, as was established when George Gair was proposing the same “solution” in the 1990s.

Third, a motorway on this route would severely affect the Birkenhead area, and also the Western Springs Reserve, the zoo and MOTAT, and simply shift the congestion to the Northwestern Motorway and the western suburbs.

Surely, with the imminent opening of the CRL, it would be much better to convert the northern busway to a light rail line, with a tunnel across the harbour to the CBD, and with regular feeder buses and increased park-and-ride availability at the various stations on this route. The current capacity of the busway is equivalent to four motorway lanes, and a tunnel would more than double its capacity, thus removing the need for a vehicle tunnel for some years.

Errol Anderson, Ponsonby.

In reply to letters from correspondents Mary Hearn and Frankie Letford on the value of women and Mother’s Day, I agree with both issues very strongly.

First, Mother’s (and Father’s) Day are nothing more than opportunities for retailers to fill their coffers on the premise that proof of love can be bought over the counters of their outlets. Respect is what is needed, not baubles and bangles. Reasonable men understand this and treat women as equals in all aspects of life. Unfortunately, the school that preaches that women should be treated more as chattels, looking after the children and home while the more worthy members of the family bring home the bacon, remains in some quarters. (This has sadly become present in some women’s attitudes towards their own kind when questions of pay parity, leadership, responsibility for the future of the country and so much more arise.)

Above all, we must remember that one thing will always remain absolute and worth thinking about and respecting: without women none of us would be here. Perhaps that in itself is worth all the love and respect we can offer.

Jeremy Coleman, Hillpark.

Once again our “justice” system failed. (Engineer filmed sex worker with their smart glasses, May 14). What justice? And for whom? Certainly not the person filmed. No conviction and no name. It’s no wonder women don’t trust the courts. This is just a huge slap in the face for the person who was brave enough to complain to the police. .

Sue Mercer, Paraparaumu

In response to Gregor Paul’s column regards the three-second transition from one phase to the next, does this apply to the lineout once the ball has been kicked out rather than the three minutes it currently takes? Because currently lineouts take as long as the scrums to be completed before the ball actually begins to move again.

Tom Mravicich, Ngatea.

Thank you for the insightful editorial on the need to talk about death.

We must continue to have discussions on death, because as you say, “death is a universal experience”.

Glennys Adams, Oneroa.