I don’t intend to have a major splo about the Covid-19 issue which unfortunately is still with us and now Omicron is confirmed as present. But I would say this...
Like prominent science experts, I am concerned how many Omicron cases are emerging at the border. Too many are testing positive on day one and a pause is necessary until more suitable pre-arrival tests are undertaken. Some, I’m told are even buying negative test results before they leave their country of temporary residence.
I also think schools should not open until as many as possible 5-11 year olds are vaccinated. Get on with it, I say. It’s a worry how many overseas kids are in hospital with Omicron, including under-one-year- olds.
HOUSING: MAYBE 'LODGERS FOR CODGERS' WOULD HELP?
The cost of housing, and the inability of young couples to buy a first home, is getting right out of control. I partly blame the four major overseas banks, who each made more than a billion dollars profit last year. Our government should get control of our own bank, Kiwibank, build affordable homes and sell some by equity sharing. There are lots of young couples earning $100,000 between them, who can service a reasonable mortgage, but have no show of saving $100,000 deposit for a $700,000 home, and then secure and repay a $600,000 mortgage.
They may, however, be able to put down $50,000, secure a $200,000 mortgage, and own half a house, with the government retaining half, and a right of further purchase as the couples’ circumstances improve.
Another quirky possibility is for empty nesters living in large houses with spare bedrooms might take in young people as both companions and boarders. This is the premise of the British programme now on TV, 'Lodgers for Codgers'. A lot of learning can take place both with the young and the old. Any innovative ideas are worth trying.
We can’t go on with young people saving thousands of dollars, only to find house prices are escalating at twice the amount they are saving. It’s not only dispiriting, it’s morally wrong. A left leaning government should be able to fix it.
CARCINOGENIC GLYPHOSATE STILL ENDANDERING OUR LIVES
I have been banging on about the dangers of glyphosate for several years, but nothing seems to change.
Recently I was incensed to find my berm outside my house had been sprayed. We are on the no-spray council list, or are supposed to be. My understanding is that that illustrious independent body, answerable to no one - Auckland Transport - is responsible for road and berm control. I have been repeatedly assured by council, including councillor Pippa Coom, that glyphosate is being “phased down”.
This is an intractable problem when the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA), refuses to ban it from use in New Zealand. Why would they, when they take their advice from the US EPA, a reputedly corrupt organisation which in recent years has been using former tobacco lobbyists to argue for glyphosate maker Monsanto that glyphosate is safe.
Meanwhile many enlightened countries have banned Roundup, the product most likely to include glyphosate, and law suits have cost Monsanto millions of dollars as courts find against them. Now, Bayer, the German company which bought glyphosate from Monsanto for 63 billion dollars, CASH, is being sued right, left and centre, around the world.
There are Aucklanders who are vulnerable to chemicals including glyphosate getting sick after berm spraying. It’s only a matter of time before someone sues the council for its use, as well as owner Bayer. I have tried several times to get an answer from council why my berm was sprayed, unsuccessfully. I’m threatening to sue them.
WESTERN SPRINGS FOREST
Last week I walked through the forest (the tracks are good) to see how the newly planted natives are faring. Most are still alive, but very dry. It will be way beyond my lifetime before any real restoration of a native forest actually occurs. It’s a shame, but relitigation of the pine removals is pointless. We have to move on. But what an error of judgement was made by our local board.
It is also shameful that council has not stopped trees being cut down all over Auckland, partly as a result of National’s weakening of the Resource Management Act when they were in power.
There is still, as Greta Thunberg has said, a lot of 'blah blah blah' about climate change and too little action.
THE WAITEMATA LOCAL BOARD IN 2022
Last year was anything but a vintage year for the Waitematā Local Board. This was particularly disappointing because democracy was threatened on a number of occasions.
Perhaps it was unfortunate for the Board that they struck two such intractable issues - the Western Springs Pine Forest and the Erebus Memorial. I was pretty involved with the Forest issue, not so much the Erebus Memorial, and I remain convinced that the Board erred seriously against public opinion on both issues.
I don’t know if Dove Myer Park can be spared the Erebus Memorial or not, but I do know the pine trees have gone for ever from Western Springs and we must move on.
I sincerely hope the Board can redeem itself this year, and recover lost public support. There are unlikely to be two such controversial issues about this year, but the Board needs to recalibrate how it deals with the public, and focus hard on genuine democratic rule, with plenty of real community consultation - no more decision-making by caucus behind closed doors. I think there is plenty of ability among members, and a modicum of understanding of what went wrong last year and how the Board can function in a more democratic and conciliatory way.
There is, however, one issue that needs careful consultation this year - the restoration of the Leys Institute building. I spoke with local heritage expert, Alan Matson, who emphasised that there are many options for what and how a remediation could take place. He believes it will be a real test of whether the Waitematā Local Board can or will, be more democratic this year.
Keep an open face, I say, and use the expertise of local people, and wide consultation, and 2021 will soon be forgotton.
Good luck - you deserve it.
CLIMATE CHANGE AFFECTING NEW ZEALAND AND THE ENTIRE WORLD
Just a few final words on climate change - it’s been a hard topic to grasp, so much of it happening in other parts of the world outside our ken. Now, however, it’s beginning to hit home, and our government must act. Seven of the last ten years have been the hottest in New Zealand’s history. Just as I write this, a tsunami from the Tongan volcanic eruption has hit Tutukaka in Northland and destroyed a number of boats. A giant fire in the far north has devastated thousands of hectares of land including important wet lands and habitats for rare animal species.
If it’s not fires, it’s floods. If it’s not floods, it’s serious draught. Food shortages are threatening famine all over the globe. Vaccine shortages are hindering control of Covid-19 outbreaks in third world countries, while several greedy western countries are touting fourth and fifth boosters, while some countries haven’t managed even half their populations with one jab.
We don’t have a particularly positive year ahead, but we have to do our best - all of us, individually.
We must avoid the trap that US environmental expert Gus Speth worries about when he says, “I used to think the top environmental problems were biodiversity loss, eco-system collapse and climate change. But I was wrong. The top environmental problems are selfishness, greed and apathy and to deal with them we need a spiritual and cultural transformation and we scientists don’t know how to do that.“
Good spotting to those who note I have used that quote before in the Ponsonby News, and I may do again. It seems to me to encapsulate the social and political aspects of climate change as well as the science.
Is it simply a matter of man waking up to the fact that his days on this planet are seriously limited if drastic action is not taken. I might not see Armageddon but my kids or their kids almost certainly will unless some drastic u-turns are taken.
Once Covid-19 has gone or is under control, our government has serious work to do socially as well as economically. I hope they are up for it. (JOHN ELLIOTT)
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Published 4 February 2022