Have you been in a hospital recently? In 2024, I was in
Auckland Hospital. There were holes in the walls, broken and missing toilet seats, blood on the floor and urine on the toilet seats.
Last week I was in the Greenlane Clinical Centre. Mould on the ceiling in the xray department, dirty floors etc.
The level of basic hygiene is shocking in establishments serving vulnerable immune compromised patients.
Successive governments have allowed the buildings to run down to the point where major rebuilds or major renovations are required.
All parties need to agree on a way forward to ensure our health system doesn’t collapse altogether due to neglect over decades.
Kathryn Bailey, Freemans Bay.
Lobbyists and government
If big tobacco, big emitters and big alcohol keep costing us big time, we need to know if this is corrupting our governments.
There’s nothing wrong with lobbyists and nothing wrong with governments considering their advice. The problem exists when the connectivity between lobbyists and who they lobbied gets lost in the ether.
This coalition is making a habit of severing the links. First, with heated tobacco products, the lobbyist evaporated without trace. Then, with Fonterra and Z Energy, the paper disappeared into thin air.
The links are important. Climate change affects us now, and smoking costs us dearly in health costs.
This is another case of NZ being an outlier. How much longer will it be before the public trust evaporates, or has it already? It’s so blatantly obvious, it reeks.
How many lobbyists become MPs? Nicole McKee was a gun lobbyist, and David Seymour was the only MP who voted against Jacinda Ardern’s gun legislation after the Christchurch mosque massacres. Lobbyists are MPs and vice versa.
Steve Russell, Hillcrest.
Bledisloe tests
Gregor Paul sets out the options for Anzac Day Bledisloe Tests being considered by NZR and RA. Once again, it’s all about the money, not the fans. The answer is simple – play two games each year, one in Australia and one in New Zealand, one of which is the Anzac Day Test, switching countries each year. Fans will fill stadia for the one test in country each year. The six nations keep its ticket demand by playing the other five nations only once each year.
Gary Carter, Gulf Harbour.
Ruthe right to withdraw
The decision of Kiwi runner Sam Ruthe and his coach Craig Kirkwood to withdraw him from the 2026 Commonwealth Games is disappointing but correct.
This decision would not have been taken lightly, but the teen sensation has shown great maturity and his coach good guidance of his protege.
Attempting the Games in Edinburgh and, soon after, the U20 World Championships in Oregon, shortly after coming back from injury, would have risked re-injury.
Ruthe is only 17 and, to place undue pressure on him, while not fully fit, could also affect his confidence and risk burnout.
This athlete/coach partnership could reflect the great partnerships of yesteryear, such as former world record holders and Olympic gold medallists Peter Snell and John Walker, who had shrewd and knowledgeable coaches in Arthur Lydiard and Arch Jelley, respectively.
Ruthe and his coach are thinking long term, and can afford to do so. This kind of shrewd thinking by coach and athlete could usher in another golden age of New Zealand middle-distance running. Both are making sure this happens.
Bernard Walker, Mt Maunganui.
Public servants
Under the last Government, the public service sector expanded considerably. The cost increased, but there have been no commensurate improvements.
Those opposed to a slight reduction in the number of civil servants must want the country to continue to live beyond its means.
In addition, we should reduce the number of politicians to save money. Any objectors?
Chris Elias, Parnell.
No ‘good’ Budget
Has there ever been a universally accepted “good” Budget?
It seems to be the Opposition’s position to try and rip the Budget to pieces, no matter what.
Then there are all the services that didn’t get the handouts they wanted.
Why can’t people at least recognise that some moves in the Budget are universally beneficial? It can’t all be bad.
Jock MacVicar, Hauraki.
Intriguing viewpoint
It is intriguing to see the comment in the HOS by Casey Costello, referring to her relationship with her approximately “a dozen” staff. “We’ve always come back to the fact ….. that I’m the one that [could] be unemployed next year,” she says.
In fact, it’s more than intriguing. Has this coalition minister not heard of what is going on around her in the public service?
Judy Lawry, Pukekohe.
Happy birthday, harbour bridge
Happy 68th birthday for yesterday to the Auckland Harbour Bridge. A tireless guardian of the Waitematā, working without pause, without holidays, without complaint, with aching joints in your retirement years.
May you endure with calm strength until the day the construction gods of tomorrow decide your long‑awaited relief before you crack under pressure
Chris Mann, Mt Albert.