Farming fervor, worldly worries, and bus benefits. All this and more in today's letters to the Editor.
The Otematata muster which took place earlier this year. PHOTO: ODT FILES
A townie taking issue with a farmer’s view
Even being a townie I’m first to admit farming is the backbone of this nation and its economy: whether for good or bad, that is the position we are in.
That said, I found Gerrard Eckhoff’s summation of the plight of poor farmers (ODT 24.10.23) almost churlishly petulant.
He may well be right in stating New Zealand native species are possibly doomed with the way things are going, but should that happen it won’t happen in isolation. If he believes in 20-30 years farmers will be fine, even though they may have six months of drought followed by six months of flooding, then the "inconvenience" he alludes to, I suspect, may be slightly more devastating than anticipated.
Environment, farming practices, climate change, conservation and people’s livelihoods and expectations (urban and rural) are all inextricably linked and taking one of those out of the equation doesn’t mean the problem goes away. With his article the words "ostrich" and "sand" come to mind
Graham Bulman
Roslyn
Guns and rockets
Your regular correspondent Gwynne Dyer almost had me convinced that it was a mis-fired "Islamic Jihad" rocket which caused so many deaths at the Al-Ahli Baptist hospital in Gaza city (Who benefits in hospital bombing? ODT 20.10.23).
Then I remembered that the Palestinian resistance only has primitive rockets with relatively low explosive potential, unlike the Israel Defence Forces, which has a generous supply of sophisticated US-made high-explosive bombs and missiles, that can flatten residential apartment blocks in seconds, which is exactly what it has been doing all over Gaza (a tiny enclave about the size of the Taieri Plain).
However, to answer his question (who benefits?) my guess is the vast US military/industrial complex, which president Eisenhower warned the world about in his famous 1961 farewell address.
War is such good business for the US economy, which might explain why the world has to suffer so many of them.
Nigel Yates
Dunedin
There is still no definitive evidence of what caused the hospital blast. — Editor
Subsidy for all?
I can understand the reasons for subsidising bus fares for local people but why are wealthy tourists also being also given this subsidy? If they can afford the air or sea fares then they don’t need rate- and taxpayer subsidies when they catch a bus. Without a subsidy the cost of a bus fare from Port Chalmers to Dunedin is probably in the $30-40 range each way. So we are subsidising the holidays of tour boat visitors by around $2million each year. Add to that all the other tourists who use the buses in Dunedin and Queenstown.
Dick Donaldson
Fairfield
The cost of petrol
The publicity in the run up to the election on the cost of living relating the price of petrol as being a major factor is incorrect when the cost per litre is compared to today’s average hourly wages.
In 1980 the cost a litre was 67c, about 15% of the average hourly wage rate of $4.52. In 2000 it was $1.21 per litre and the average wage was $16.69 per hour, so petrol was approximately 7% of the average hourly wage.
Today the average hourly wage rate is $32, with petrol at $2.90 a litre which equates to approximately 9% of the hourly rate. With modern vehicles being more efficient in the use of petrol, the cost of fuel is no more expensive today than it was 40 years ago when today’s wages are taken into comparison.
Bill Allen
Portobello
If you alter the speed, up the monitoring
There is no point in altering speed limits if there is no monitoring. Police are rarely seen on the roads in Dunedin, while drivers go through red lights, don’t stop at stop signs, speed, use mobile phones while driving etc. There needs to be more police oversight (or bring back traffic officers and let police deal with crime), red-light cameras and speed cameras.
Di Best
St Leonards
Speed costs
Regarding David Tordoff’s letter (ODT 24.10.23). Political opponents in the United Kingdom have in fact been claiming that the cost of reducing speed limits from 30mph (48.2kmh) to 20mph (32.1kmh) in built-up areas of Wales will cost the Welsh economy £4.5billion ($NZ9b) over the next 30 years.
The Welsh government has said the rollout will cost about £32.5million.
This expense was expected to outweigh the estimated £92m annual cost for the National Health Service within Wales.
Data shows the speed-change should prevent about nine deaths and 98 serious injuries in Wales per year.
Another factor worth considering is that London has already reduced speed limits to 20mph.
Consequently, Transport for London has reported "deaths and serious injuries" have been reduced by 24%.
This percentage came from comparing collisions data collected from 2017 to 2019, prior to the 20mph speed limit being imposed, with collisions data collected from 2020 to 2022.
Hayden Williams
Opoho
BIBLE READING: How much better to get wisdom than gold. — Proverbs 16:16.
