Death, taxes and finding the devil in the detail - Letters to the Editor

It’s a somewhat irrelevant game politicians play, unless you’re waiting in ED for hours, but when Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s history of accidentally distorting figures is mentioned (the infamous up to $250 per family, for example) and how we’d be bowel testing more, have more cancer drugs, more EV chargers and wouldn’t be borrowing to pay for landlords and tax cuts, you lose trust because the devil is in the detail.

Do you believe it or not, or vote on gut instinct? Well, yes and no: it’s not easily verified, like a Trump promise to end a war in one day. That’s bravado and easily dismissed, so we’re being taken as naive car buyers being sold the virtues of a secondhand dunger with a tweaked odometer.

Blink, and the smoke and mirrors cloud reality. It’s pointless asking an economist – this is the game of life. You pay for what you get, more or less sooner or later.

Steve Russell, Hillcrest.

Flights of fancy

I am normally a follower and admirer of Gregor Paul and his rugby expertise, but I must take serious issue with him on the dangerously low Embraer flyover in Cape Town.

To call the New Zealand reaction “hysterical, fear-mongering and pious outrage” is in complete disagreement with virtually the entire aviation community, of which I am one. Experienced captain and formation pilot Vaughn Davis correctly summed it up this week with expert comment far from hysterical, and I need to point out to Gregor and those who agree with him (mostly South Africans) several issues which he clearly ignores.

At such a low height, there is no margin for error or unseen events, such as birdstrike, fireworks, antennae perhaps, or turbulent downdrafts caused by the airflow over the stadium.

The risk far outweighed the result.

It was a very sloppy quasi-formation, with the lead aircraft lower and slower than the No 2, which is not “highly trained and rehearsed” formation practice.

The lead aircraft started a climb over the stadium into the following overtaking aircraft, causing it to veer sharply right.

This type of formation manoeuvre cannot be practised in an airline simulator, contrary to Airlink’s protestations. Most pilots would agree that having three senior captains on the flight deck of an airliner can be very risky, not safer, because of possible authority ambiguity and abnormal crew dynamics.

We find it incredible that the South African Civil Aviation Authority would approve a 50ft flyover above a stadium, as this would not be approved in most countries even over a runway at an airshow. Maybe it didn’t approve it, which could be why they are pulling the flight data recorders.

Sorry Gregor, you are a very good rugby journalist, but you know little about flying.

Mark Easson (retired Captain), Greenhithe.

Political courage, not illusions

I heartily endorse the sentiments expressed by John Molloy (Sept 4). He hits the nail on the head: political parties are treating the electorate like short-sighted consumers rather than citizens invested in New Zealand’s future.

Prioritising brief political wins, such as “no new taxes” pledges or arbitrary spending caps, is an abdication of leadership when our core public services face systemic crises.

As Molloy rightly notes, we cannot expect a functional healthcare system, resilient climate infrastructure, or a prepared Defence Force if parties continuously starve the Crown of revenue just to buy votes. Relying on the naive assumption that no future economic or environmental shocks will hit us is dangerous.

It is time for voters to demand structural courage and realistic funding models from our leaders, rather than comfortable illusions. Thank you, John Molloy, for calling out this race to the bottom.

Jonathan Sinclair, Auckland Central.

Moving-on orders

Justice Minister Goldsmith is pressing on with his move-on order bill, disappointed with other parties who want a more reasonable approach to the homeless individuals, concentrating management on any bad behaviour. Goldsmith still has no proposal about where to move the homeless.

As he wants this bill passed before the election, I wonder whether he understands that the voters will consider giving him his move-on orders for such poor empathy?

Gary Carter, Gulf Harbour.

Of Premier concern ...

Perhaps Labour’s request that the Government “come clean” about the bill for the Premier House upgrade (Aug 30) may arise from a premonition that its leader will occupy that property after the election.

This shows commendable forward planning, a quality which seemed lacking the last time Labour was in power. One example was the KiwiBuild fiasco, incorporating a promise of 100,000 affordable homes in 10 years, which proved to be unattainable.

Another irony related to all this is that Chris Hipkins was once responsible for approving security upgrades and repairs at Premier House that were reportedly going to cost millions. Given that Hipkins already has some knowledge of how expensive the refurbishment is likely to be, and the difficulty his Government had in fulfilling KiwiBuild promises, it would seem that Labour and its leader are not very well qualified to criticise anyone in the areas of construction and refurbishment.

Bernard Walker, Mt Maunganui.

Air NZ loss

How can Qantas record a $1.5 billion profit and Air NZ lose $336 million?

Air NZ really needs investigating.

The company has the benefit of virtually no opposition on the domestic market, which Qantas doesn’t enjoy, and still Air NZ loses money.

Jock Mac Vicar, Hauraki.