Letters: Opportunities arise for bigger defence bang for buck; why didn’t Aucklanders take heed of weather warnings?

The P-8A Poseidon fleet at RNZAF Base Ohakea. Photo / Bevan Conley

Letters to the Editor

Defence upgrades

The recently released Defence Capability Plan includes a proposal to replace the RNZAF’s ageing Boeing 757 transport aircraft with two new planes. Once of the likely contenders is the Boeing 737 MAX, which is a near relative of the P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft already operated by the RNZAF. There would be synergies in operating two similar types of aircraft for aircrew training, operating procedures, spare parts.

One of the outcomes of the increasingly bitter trade dispute between America and China is that Chinese airlines have been ordered by China’s Government to stop purchasing Boeing aircraft. There are likely to be Boeing 737 MAX aircraft already on the production line destined for Chinese operators. Should this trade dispute remain unresolved and even possibly deteriorate further, clearly there could be possibilities for New Zealand to purchase two new aircraft at a very reasonable price. While it is probably too early to proceed down this track, this may present as an opportunity to get a bigger bang for our defence buck.

Murray Dear, Hamilton.

Harbour crossing

The Sydney Harbour Bridge is 92 years old and unlike Auckland’s Harbour Bridge is not at the end of its lifespan but is undergoing a renewal process, by which modern engineering techniques will ensure its continued service to Sydney for another century or more.

It begs the question: have we explored all engineering possibilities of restoring Auckland’s Harbour Bridge, including a visit to Sydney to find out what such a renewal process involves?

Gary Hollis, Mellons Bay.

Weather warnings

Aucklanders say severe weather alerts were too little too late. Who are these Aucklanders?

Doesn’t anyone take notice of weather warnings? For a number of days last week print media warned of an Easter weekend storm. TV weather forecasts did the same as did the various online news channels.

MetService had been promoting the message online efficiently as this organisation always does. Come on Aucklanders, get with it and act responsibly.

John Mead, Greenlane.

Russia-Ukraine war

President Trump is indicating a withdrawal of the US from any further engagement with the Russia-Ukraine conflict. What a stunning capitulation and such a craven reversal from his pre-election boast that he would settle the war “within a week”.

Any claim he might formerly have had of being the free world’s leader can now be consigned to the scrapheap.

Larry Mitchell, Rothesay Bay.

Easter Sunday

On Sunday I received a sad reflection of the direction our lovely city is moving in. I went to check my mailbox and looked across the road at St Matthew’s church. I was disappointed to see two security guards standing at the main entrance. In today’s world, do we need guards outside our churches on one of Christianity’s holiest days? I am not a religious person but must admit it was not a sight I expected to encounter.

Dick Ayres, Auckland Central.

Rieko Ioane

Thanks Leinster Rugby for taking Reiko Ioane off our hands so that the selectors can look for a proper centre. Reiko is a fantastic winger but he is and never will be a decent centre. It is a complete mystery why the All Blacks have persevered so long with Reiko when anybody with a vague understanding of rugby could see he was out of his depth at centre and the ABs attack was suffering. Let’s hope someone puts their hand up and shows how a good centre distributes the ball.

Jock MacVicar, Hauraki.

Motor sport

Why is the Auckland Council wasting our ratepayer taxes on motorsport. They tell us we need to use our cars less for the environment and they spend ridiculous amounts of ratepayer taxes on cycle and bus lanes to encourage us to save the planet. They then turn around and throw millions of dollars at motorsport, which is incredibly bad for the environment. And now the speedway organisation is taking Auckland Council to court. How much of our ratepayer taxes is that going to soak up? Utter madness. While our governments, central and local, are spending our hard-earned taxes on planet mitigation policies, all motorsport should be curtailed, not funded and supported.

DJ Saunders, Howick.