Alan Hall leaving the Supreme Court after his conviction for murder was quashed. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Alan Hall's acquittal is a failure of the justice system alright, but not as the Supreme Court and most commentators want us to believe. This was a failure by design.
The New Zealand adversarial system is unlike the inquisitorial system most European countries use, which aims to find the truth. The New Zealand adversarial system is about "winning" a case.
No wonder some police detectives and prosecutors who want to notch up another "win" for their career at all costs cross the line. After that, the system closes ranks.
This is the reason we have so many more wrongful convictions. Luckily, we don't have the death penalty anymore, so the victim lives to tell the sorry tale.
Driving madness
I have been visiting New Zealand recently from Australia. New Zealand is a country of friendly people and beautiful landscapes.
But the worst drivers I have ever encountered.
I am not sure how we managed to finish the journey alive. From extreme tailgating to refusal to let drivers into lanes. Overtaking bays are the worst. As the lane runs out, drivers accelerate like maniacs to stop you from entering the traffic. It is truly appalling. Changing speed limits won't help. There needs to be a serious reeducation on how to drive.
In Sydney, as a lane runs out, I don't ever have to look in the mirror (although, of course, I do) just turning on the indicator is enough to let traffic give you space to move in.
It is very sad that a country of lovely people become outrageously dangerous maniacs behind the wheel. It totally spoilt our experience of driving through this beautiful country.
Anthony Williams, Sydney, NSW.
Green dream
Your correspondent Niall Robertson (Weekend Herald June 4) seems to be theorising about a fantasy world. I am reminded of Coleridge's pleasure dome in the poem Kubla Khan. While making some valid points about building too many roads, deforestation, and destruction of the natural environment, Robertson neglects to mention overpopulation of the planet, and the reality that almost all human societies rely on fossil fuels for energy and the production of necessary material goods.
The green political parties around the world are like the tail trying to wag the dog, quite successfully it seems. However, renewable green energy is vastly insufficient to generate enough reliable electricity to sustain modern economies. Reality will come back to bite them in the backside when electricity becomes unaffordable and is cut off.
Unless Robertson wants to return to the dark ages, then the net-zero carbon emission policy by 2050 should be abandoned.
We are already facing an environmental calamity, so that is nothing new. Exhorting politicians to make changes, and expecting them to have the ability to make those changes, is promoting a fantasy like Kubla Khan's pleasure dome.
Joseph Hamblett, Hamilton.
Fair's fear
The Business NZ advertisement (Weekend Herald, June 4) clearly shows that employers are scared to move out of employer-dominated wage negotiation over the old way of "here is our offer, too bad if you do not like it".
The Fair Pay Agreement (FPA) balances the power and, if employers wish to give better wages and conditions, they have the right to offer that in any situation.
The productivity-leading-to-wage-increases rubbish argument has been trotted out for years. Employers control their system, they failed to take the necessary steps and employee training, with lower-level employees suffering.
The FPA will give employers the push they need to improve. The employees will, in the meanwhile, get the appropriate wage levels.
Stop whining employers, do your job properly.
Dennis Pahl, Tauranga.
Stock cars
Gwynn Compton's insinuation (Weekend Herald, June 4) that Norway has BEVs because oil made it wealthy does not refute Simon Wilson's argument: If you want change in a system
where the allocation of resources is driven by profit, the state must intervene.
First, plan. Second, incentives. Third, penalties.
New Zealand's emissions from both transport and farming are too high. We spend (or lose) 7 billion importing oil and we earn (or gain) 20 billion exporting dairy.
So what goes first, cars or cows?
Dennis Horne, Howick
Light sentence
Regarding Abraham Sovea (Weekend Herald, June 4), if our courts ever wanted to send a message about what is and is not acceptable on our roads and in our society then this man, who does not seem to give a crap about anyone else, should have been given 17 years to life with a minimum of 17 before parole is considered.
It is going to make it very difficult for the courts to impose sentences any longer than this for the recent spate of gang shootings, as they would only warrant a charge of discharging a firearm in a public place as no innocent has been killed - recently.
James McCormick, Gisborne.
Not working
As an avid recreational cyclist and occasional motorcyclist, I well know the terrors of people turning right across your path. It really is the stuff of nightmares.
Reading about this scenario playing out in a tragic motorcycle accident in Taranaki (Weekend Herald, June 4) was awful. My heart really does go out to the family.
What caught my eye though was the use of the term "work vehicle". How does a person who has never had a licence and has been banned from driving anything on any NZ road ever come to have a "work vehicle"?
I hope that WorkSafe is bringing the appropriate charges. Even if the perpetrator was self-employed so it was actually both a "work vehicle" and his own vehicle, he is responsible under the law for both his own safety and that of others if he uses the vehicle to conduct any business activity.
John Christiansen, Mt Albert.
Lost vote
I will not be voting in the next local-body election. I have not voted since the National/Act government forced an amalgamation into one vast conurbation of the four cities, which had evolved from the 28 boroughs.
At least the North Shore City counsellors lived in the area and knew of its problems. Now we have faceless, highly paid bureaucrats making city-wide decisions without any knowledge or regard for local conditions.
If they are going to ignore the local boards, which are supposed to have some input, how is my vote going to be of any use to the city?
With its huge majority, the Labour Government could do something useful for Auckland and dissolve back to the four entities we had before.
David Speary, Northcote.
The Queen has presented an image of stability even while the control her great-great-grandmother had established over the planet dribbled out of Britain's hands. Wesley Parish, Tauranga.
Being tall can increase your risk of multiple diseases - study. Being wide is also risky. Andrew Montgomery, Remuera.
Men's money has defeated women's rights yet again in the defamation case against Amber Heard brought by a former partner. Genevieve Forde, Hillcrest.
Kenneth Lees (WH, June 4) correctly points out that MMP does not satisfy all the requirements of a democratic electoral system. As Arrow's Theorem shows, such a thing is mathematically impossible, so MMP is just like every other system in that regard. Morgan L. Owens, Manurewa.
Joe Biden and Donald Trump are running equally at 45 per cent support. So the winner of the 2024 election, as it stands, is a toss-up. Gary Hollis, Mellons Bay.
New Zealand can show how to solve all the world's problems by introducing legislation that disincentivises creating babies, thereby addressing the earth's pre-eminent problem. Jim Carlyle, Te Atatu Peninsula.
Economists and the Minister of Finance have been too bullish in forecasting a soft landing for our debt-laden economy. The pigeons are roosting and they bring with them a pile of economic guano. Larry Mitchell, Rothesay Bay.
When your house has been peppered with bullets, would you rather have a prime minister that wants to be kind to gangs or one that wants to outlaw them? Graham Fleetwood, Botany Downs.
We should all, quite rightly, applaud our Prime Minister both for the kudos she received during her trip to America. On the other hand, it is extremely sobering to reflect on the fact that the same country idolises the Kardashians. Philip Lenton, Somerville.
Given teachers were mandated for Covid vaccination, their essential role, and the heightened risk of Covid infection faced in their work environment, they should be among those eligible for a second booster, and mandatory mask-wearing should be reintroduced in primary schools. Victor van Wetering, Mt Albert.
Happiness is a choice, so choose to be happy, albeit with many unmet needs and personal problems. The worst thing a depressed person can do is to give their problems undue attention. Tiong Ang, Mt Roskill.
Something rare and beautiful has happened. It will remain in my memory as the highlight of my life: A tradesman called me back after I left a message on his phone. K H Peter Kammler, Warkworth.
The cacophony of gunshots ringing out over Auckland has caused me to reflect; perhaps we should import some Chinese policemen? It would be then interesting to study the rates of recidivism. M J Walmsley, Paeroa.
Do you suppose that many Americans have not got the faintest idea that they will never, ever, achieve meaningful gun control laws while they keep voting for Republicans? Robert Finley, Howick.
Anyone who is paid to do a job should be excluded from being awarded an honour for it. Teresa Mayo, Freeman's Bay.
Has the management of rugby and cricket ever considered that the reason for small crowds might be the loud intrusive music? Jock Mac Vicar, Hauraki.
Police appeal for information as to the whereabouts of Black Power member Toa Pitman.