Fugitive father Tom Phillips and his three children, Jayda, Maverick and Ember.
Fugitive father is no Robin Hood
Kenneth Lynch’s inane letter proves conclusively there are people in New Zealand who can be fooled into believing anything (HoS, Jun 16).
No wonder so many people in this country fall victim to financial scams. Mr Lynch chooses to blithely ignore the facts that Tom Phillips has clearly broken the law in a number of ways including ignoring court orders, being wanted for questioning for an armed bank robbery, alleged theft of vehicles and a bicycle, and smashing a storefront.
An excellent role model for his children who he’s denying access to their mother, appropriate healthcare and education. I think not.
Mr Lynch joins the ranks of people including family who think Tom Phillips should be left alone and that he’s done nothing wrong. That has about the same level of intellect as people who think gangs don’t manufacture and supply drugs, steal and intimidate members of the public etc.
Murray Brown, Hamilton
Crime and firearms
I am not sure if it was an intentional coincidence, but both front pages of the Weekend Herald and the Herald on Sunday (Jun 16) featured stories that had a strong focus on Alfa Carbine firearms.
Saturday’s paper reported that Matua Parkinson admitted travelling to Auckland in June 2022 where he paid $10,488 in cash for five Alfa Carbine rifles of varying calibres, and $450 cash for parts from two Gun City stores.
At the time of these sales, red flags should have been raised by the Gun City stores concerned — firstly for the large amount of cash involved, and secondly for the number of firearms being purchased by one person. Surely there must be a moral, ethical or legal requirement to report such matters raised by these red flags to the police?
The second article on Sunday states that Alfa Carbine firearms are highly prized in the underworld and that two have been found by the police in Lake Taupō and they are now checking to see if these firearms are connected to last month’s Ponsonby Rd shooting.
Is it too long a straw to suggest that these two front-pages articles may well have more in common than meets the eye?
Randal Lockie, Rothesay Bay
Not a crim? Pardon?
Your correspondent who calls Tom Phillips a “Robin Hood variant-type criminal” and hopes that he can be given a “free pardon” for his behaviour/crimes doesn’t seem to understand why he is being called a criminal, or why a reward is being offered for information that leads to his arrest.
Phillips’ behaviour, being in hiding with his three young children for two and a half years, is bizarre and amounts to child abuse. Along with that, there are other alleged crimes attributed to him.
He needs to be found for the sake and wellbeing of the children so they can be returned to their mother and the wider family.
Following Kenneth Lynch’s train of thought, should Phillips get the $80,000 reward if he turns himself in, as well as being pardoned?
Lorraine Kidd, Warkworth
‘C-list’ successes
I would probably not have made Christopher Luxon’s latest mission, but, in light of his rating of past participants, I thought a few observations might be appropriate.
I joined a mission Mike Moore took to Europe just after the wall came down. Air Force One broke down on its way there, so nothing much has changed except why business and others were there. No one expected the Government to deliver a business strategy, but what we needed was a Brand NZ promoter and someone who might understand the best platform off which business could grow its exports to this region.
Business identified opportunity and made its own success. There were business leaders there who made their own success over time and not to the beat of a politician’s point-scoring.
I also visited the United States with Helen Clark, who knew she wasn’t there to do business, but was there to help business do more. Craig Norgate and Chris Liddell were there along with other “C-listers” — our role was to leverage off the opportunity our PM could make in her promotion of the NZ brand, and she did it well.
From time to time we have stars that shine and we leverage off those stars — let’s remember that and keep it that way.
In Luxon’s role as CEO of Air New Zealand, he was the leader of talent, and as the PM of NZ he has an opportunity to lead NZ business talents and allow them to leverage off the platform his Government may provide that will help them export more.
For the businesses that get the opportunity to travel or take advantage of other Brand NZ promoters (academics, sport, etc) their game is a long one. The extra Air NZ seats from Japan or Rocket Lab successes claimed as fruits of the mission are already successes in place. What will help NZ are the successes we get tomorrow.
Michael Barnett, Karaka
Booze farce
Minister for Mental Health Matt Doocey, in typical National Party modus operandi, is not supportive of increasing the alcohol levy to even match the rate of inflation, but committed to reducing alcohol harm. His commitment is worth half a cent on the price of a can of beer. So passionate?
He wants a thorough assessment of all harm reduction programmes first, but must align with our priorities — “Nat speak” for we need to “delay” any action and kill it. That would harm alcohol donors. Once the report is in, nothing will be done, never has been.
Look at the 2014 Ministerial Forum on Advertising and Sponsorship report for instance. They shelved it, still gathering dust. We’ve had the 2010 Sir Geoffrey Palmer report as well and the 2016 mental health report. Nothing done.
The alcohol industry doesn’t pay $9.1 billion to the cost of alcohol harm — $3.2b total in excise and GST. Why does alcohol get kid-glove treatment?
To repeat the same reviews and expect a different answer is obtuse: increase price, reduce availability and reduce marketing — three key planks of Professor Doug Sellman’s 5+ solution.
Alcohol is the most dangerous drug for harm to others and triggers most crime, according to the Police Commissioner.
The truth is all parties support the key instigator of crime by being “soft on alcohol”. It makes an absolute farce of National’s law-and-order policy, though.
Steve Russell, Hillcrest
Maintaining planes
Our premier transport of state is provided by two elderly RNZAF Boeing 757 aircraft.
According to some, these planes are as temperamental as an old Ford Model T compared with those provided in other countries for this function, right?
The President of the United States flies in the famous Air Force One, a designation used when he is aboard one of the two Boeing 747 planes kept for this purpose.
And guess what, the President’s aircraft first took to the skies two years before ours. Provision of the means to impeccable maintenance, not age, is the key to reliability.
Alan Smail, Murrays Bay
The crash involved two vehicles on SH1 near Jellicoe Pt around 7.45pm.