I was an elected person on the Waitemat\u0101 DHB at the time and saw this happening. People were actively recruited for vaccination, often using inducements such as money, vouchers or gifts. This is inimical to informed decision-making by the consumer.<\/p>\n
Given that vaccination was being offered to healthy, young people, there was even more responsibility to ensure that participants were aware of the risks and benefits, and were able to make their own decisions without being influenced or pressured to do so.<\/p>\n
Within that context, the mandates operated as a source of pressure and should have been more restricted.<\/p>\n
That is what we need to learn when looking at New Zealand\u2019s performance during Covid.<\/p>\n
If people had been able to freely make their own decisions on vaccination, there would not be the same case to answer.<\/p>\n
Sandra Coney QSO.<\/p>\n
Trump\u2019s hypocrisy<\/p>\n
If ever the world needed proof of the hypocrisy of the President of the United States, he has offered it for all to see in his speech following a potential threat on his life, when he beseeched fellow Americans to \u201crecommit with their hearts to resolving our differences peacefully\u201d.<\/p>\n
A classic example of the proverb, \u201cDo as I say, not as I do!\u201d<\/p>\n
Brian Milestone, New Plymouth.<\/p>\n
Anzac services<\/p>\n
It was wonderful that Anzac Day services around the country were so well attended, and that so many young people were there paying their respects. <\/p>\n
Seeing the red poppies worn as a symbol of remembrance always brings to mind the moving poem In Flanders Fields, written by Canadian physician Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae during World War I. Learned years ago in high school, unfortunately, with the passing of time only the first two lines are easily recalled! But how powerful they are.<\/p>\n
Lorraine Kidd, Warkworth.<\/p>\n
On dawn parades<\/p>\n
Another Anzac Day has passed and it was good to see the number of people who came for the dawn parade. Auckland Museum was magnificently lit up as we approached some time just after 5am.<\/p>\n
However, it seems as if the dawn parade has become more of a performance and less of a service of commemoration.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s have some words from someone addressing the nature of the Anzac tradition and what it means in today\u2019s world.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s have a hymn that we are all encouraged to sing.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s make it clear we should all sing the national anthems of New Zealand and Australia.<\/p>\n
Times change but some things deserve to stay, affirming the tradition and mana of the dawn parade.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s keep Anzac.<\/p>\n
Christine Tyler, Devonport.<\/p>\n
Make the boat faster<\/p>\n
We won the America\u2019s Cup by focusing solely on \u201cthe things that made the boat go faster\u201d.<\/p>\n
Liam Dann (April 26) writes of New Zealand\u2019s \u201ccrucial productivity issues\u201d and he is correct in saying that we are \u201cjust talking about increased productivity but the country is still going backwards\u201d.<\/p>\n
All of our major future economic decisions by all political parties must be made contingent upon them speeding up \u201cour boat\u201d and significantly increasing our nation\u2019s lagging productivity. <\/p>\n
Larry N. Mitchell, Rothesay Bay.<\/p>\n
Rugby time-wasting<\/p>\n
Wasn\u2019t it great to see the powers that be deciding to try to speed up the rugby and stop time-wasting at stoppages? <\/p>\n
It started well but now the refs look like they have given up and the players are just wasting time as they always did.<\/p>\n
Every stoppage results in a long break when someone goes down injured as water boys and medical teams all run onto the field.<\/p>\n
When was the last time a penalty for time-wasting was awarded?<\/p>\n
Jock Mac Vicar, Hauraki.<\/p>\n
No cover for Auckland<\/p>\n
Christchurch now has a covered modern stadium, as does Dunedin.<\/p>\n
Why is it that these South Island cities with smaller populations can provide facilities that Auckland cannot?<\/p>\n
Garry Wycherley, Awakino.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"I was an elected person on the Waitemat\u0101 DHB at the time and saw this happening. People were…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":400237,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[95,1975,8996,8607,2837,71,12027,12782,29546,19133,5971,117,111,43,139,69,6777,61,56936,3270,6923,1316,2963],"class_list":{"0":"post-400236","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-zealand","8":"tag-and","9":"tag-at","10":"tag-consent","11":"tag-covid","12":"tag-during","13":"tag-from","14":"tag-learn","15":"tag-lesson","16":"tag-letters","17":"tag-looking","18":"tag-need","19":"tag-new","20":"tag-new-zealand","21":"tag-news","22":"tag-newzealand","23":"tag-nz","24":"tag-performance","25":"tag-to","26":"tag-vaccinations","27":"tag-we","28":"tag-what","29":"tag-when","30":"tag-zealands"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/400236","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=400236"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/400236\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/400237"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=400236"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=400236"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=400236"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}