Letters: Under-16 social media ban does not go far enough

She is right that we need to work on the providers – and there we have a problem. The research suggests we are at the same point now in linking social media and dopamine addiction that we were in the 1950s when linking tobacco and lung cancer. Big tobacco fought regulation – big social media will, too. These are careless people in that they know the effects and simply don’t care about them. Like big tobacco, they will do anything to protect their turf.

A ban does indeed not go far enough. Education and addiction support is also needed, just as with tobacco and, quite possibly, with alcohol. However, a ban for the right reasons is the only start we have.

Mike Diggins, Royal Oak.

I was surprised to learn (or maybe I wasn’t) of the recently revealed MP “entitlements” as regards their housing benefits.

In the case of NZ First MP Andy Foster, I find it difficult to swallow the fact that after buying a house in Wairarapa last year he “moved” from his permanent residence of 26 years in Wellington to the new home.

For this move he received an additional $36,400 – tax-free – allowance - but still resides in the house in Wellington. No doubt he is not the only one.

I was also bemused to learn that for every $1 the MP puts into KiwiSaver, Internal Affairs, or the taxpayer, puts in $2.50. No wonder the Government’s books are not in a happy state. It is high time that all MPs’ entitlements and benefits become totally transparent and accountable. It’s an election year – let’s vote for honesty.

Ian Doube, Rotorua.

I commend the Labour policy to cap public transport. It is a meaningful and universal subsidy, which includes the working and non-working population. This policy will also reduce climate pollution, benefiting everyone.

Nishi Fahmy, Avondale.

If the cost of the Labour party’s transport cap is the stated $65 million and the average commuter will save a stated $1200 per annum, then based on this, only 54,000 commuters will benefit from the announced policy.

As there are considerably more commuters than this in just Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch, it appears quite obvious that the cost of the proposal is significantly greater than what has been stated. Maybe Labour can explain this apparent anomaly?

Mike Baker, Tauranga

Jonathon Ayling’s article on New Zealand’s nuclear debate is to be applauded for daring to question New Zealand’s blind adherence to anti-nuclear shibboleths that have paralysed any serious debate on the subject since 1987.

NZ’s blind opposition to anything nuclear has led to a vacuum of serious consideration of nuclear power for generation purposes, or the use of nuclear power as a propulsion option.

Well done, Jonathan, you have cracked open the door to a debate that has been closed for many years.

Tony Lewis, Takapuna.

With Coca-Cola NZ reporting a record $109 million profit, obviously more and more Kiwis are consuming this product. This translates directly to more and more obesity, diabetes and hospital admissions.

At the last election Labour promised to introduce a “Sugar Tax” to help reduce this epidemic. Let’s hope when they get around to announcing policy that they include this again. If they do, they will definitely get my vote.

Glen Stanton, Mairangi Bay.

According to the World Bank and its “Open Data” source, over the past 10 years the UK, Australia and New Zealand respectively have only spent 2.1%, 2.0 % and 1.2 % of their annual budgets on Defence.

This must be seen in the light of this week’s resignation of the British Defence Secretary John Healey, over his Government’s refusal to achieve anywhere near their target.

There is at least relative unanimity amongst this group of three Western nations that the threats to their individual security have not diminished.

With New Zealand lying a distant third in the spending stakes, by not even coming close to a target of over 3% of its GDP spent on Defence, we can expect that this issue will be a hot topic for our November elections. Or will it?

Larry Mitchell,

Rothesay Bay

Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown has decided on a rates rise of close to 8% for the Auckland Region.

The reason for this high amount, he states, is to “pay for the Central Rail Link” (CRL).

If I was an Auckland ratepayer, I would be fuming. The question needs to be answered that after all this time, it will be open “later in the year”. Surely they can do better than that?

Come on Aucklanders, wake up, demand this information - you have been paying for the CRL for years.

David Hallett, Mount Maunganui.

If there is a better sports spectacle to watch than the current NBA series of the Knicks v Spurs, then I cannot possibly think what that might be.

Down 29 points in game 4, up 2 to 1 in the series, the Knicks somehow tip in the 1-point winner to go 3 to 1 up with just 1.2 seconds to play. The greatest comeback in NBA history.

Larry Mitchell, Rothesay Bay.

Israel’s attack on Palestinian refugee camps in Tyre demonstrates even more the hypocrisy of a people who suffered so calamitously under Nazi rule. Were no lessons learned, for example, from the Warsaw Ghetto when the Jewish inhabitants actually fought back against their oppressors?

The Palestinians and Lebanese are fighting against a coloniser as legitimately as Ukraine is against Russia, or the Allies against Nazi colonisation of Poland and Czechoslovakia.

My maternal grandparents fled Lebanon to avoid the rapacious Ottomans; now it’s against an equally opportunistic coloniser from whom tens of thousands of people must flee.

Jeffrey Buchanan, Cheviot.

By 2035, solar, wind and batteries will generate 80% of the world’s electricity, leaving coal, oil and gas in the margins.

Only Donald Trump and his sorry followers imagine that LNG has any future in the electricity generation mix.

Huntly Power Station has a stockpile of 600,000 tons of coal in case of a dry-year emergency. The price of solar, wind and batteries continues to plunge. There will never be a requirement for pumped hydro storage. Who wants to support spending billions for an LNG terminal that will be worse than useless?

John Caldwell, Howick.

I suggest the slice of Antarctica is renamed ‘The Plateau formerly known as Prince’.

Chris Thompson, Rothesay Bay.

America threatens to take over Iran oil, ‘like they did in Venezuela…’ And we support these bullies?

It is hard to work out if the whole world is in on this; or if peace, love, harmony, and equality is going to be a figment of our imagination, forever.

Glenn Forsyth, Taupo.

Another quantity of meth stopped at Auckland customs, and Paul Williams says, “every incident like this represents significant community harm prevented’. It doesn’t. Numerous shipments escape detection, and there is always ample supply. Pointless.

Chris Elias, Parnell.