F-22 article should never have got off the ground
While everybody is fully entitled to have an opinion on everything, there are some opinions that are so completely unreasonable that they do not deserve to be given space in such an important media outlet.
Grant Kitto experienced the loss of many of his friends and associates during the Afghanistan war but to claim it was the fault of Lockheed Martin and that no fighter planes should ever be displayed to the public is ridiculous (ODT via RNZ 23.1.26).
A fighter plane is a fighter plane and what the F-22 being considered to be the most lethal has got to do with "being inappropriate for display in this day and age" is justified by claiming these particular machines some how "embolden and encourage the US forces". Really?
Compounding such a spurious argument, Prof Jackson of the University of Otago, argues we should not allow the US to display the technology when we invite them in the first place.
To further claim that two jet planes will "come with an immense environmental toll" by causing "huge environmental impacts from huge amounts of carbon emissions", the professor failed to ever mention thousands of delegates that attended the 12-day COP 30 Climate Conference in Brazil which generated tonnes of CO₂ emissions.
How the editorial staff considered publishing such an interview on an event with such huge support and huge enjoyment is difficult to understand.
Environmental monitoring
The chief executive of the NZ Minerals Council (Opinion ODT 26.1.26) said that "any water that leaves a mine site ... must meet appropriate regulations which are monitored by local authorities". In the case of Santana’s gold mine, that would be the Otago Regional Council: we all know how useless it is.
In the ODT (24.1.26), the Department of Conservation says up to 100,000 lizards need to be protected in the area of Santana’s mine. Don’t let Doc near them. The lizards can run fast on their own.
ORC and Doc are bottomless pits for ratepayers’ and taxpayers’ money and have proved hopeless at carrying out many of the tasks they are charged with.
Jobs and mines
Prof Tim Hazeldine’s analysis of the Santana gold project (Opinion, 21.1.26) misses the employment information in Benje Patterson’s economic analysis in the government’s Fast Track website: Central Otago gained 1800 new jobs annually from 2014-24 whereas Santana projects a permanent workforce of 300-500 jobs.
This debunks Prof Hazeldine’s assertion that Santana’s workforce demand would squeeze existing jobs. Many of these are seasonal, casual, or otherwise precarious, and averaged $68,904 a year in 2024, whereas the indicated average income of a Santana job is double that, $140,300 a year.
But Prof Hazeldine won’t have anyone getting a fulltime, long-term job at twice their present income — he prefers locking up the deposit for some unspecified hypothetical future benefit.
He should also discount his negatives about overseas ownership by 40%, because New Zealanders own 40% of Santana.
Certainly a mineral deposit differs from these assets because once it is mined it is gone.
However, the variety and penetration of existing overseas control of the New Zealand economy makes objecting to 60% overseas ownership of Santana somewhat pious. Nevertheless, there would be less overseas control of New Zealand assets if our feckless governments did not chronically disadvantage industrial investment by favouring tax advantages for unproductive trading in houses.
Trump a supremely ignorant faux tough guy
I'd like to have a say about US President Donald Trump, Mr Tackney (Letters 24.1.26).
No, Trump is not, nor will he ever, standing up for the West. Trump will stand up for Trump, but only behind an army of lawyers or street hoodlums.
I and many others familiar with his history know he is a pathological narcissist and liar. He cares only for himself and what will enrich him monetarily or egotistically.
I know the Biden administration had serious failings in controlling the borders. I can also say statistics show Obama and Clinton deported many more illegals than Trump ever has.
They did it without filling the streets with masked, poorly trained, Dirty-Harry-wannabe thugs. They did it without shooting, injuring and terrorising people and dumping them in holding pens, illegals or not.
Trump is a faux tough guy who uses others to do his fighting. He idolises the worst elements, be they heads of state or Mafia dons.
He is a perfect example of the Dunning-Kreuger syndrome. His ignorance is supreme.
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