As this year comes to a close I would like to thank the staff at the Chronicle for the positive theme in the local news and editorials that you have kept up over the last 12 months.
It is far too easy to continually fall into the trap of conveniently "grabbing headlines" by emphasising negative news (as the larger metropolitan dailies do) without headlining balanced positive (good things) that are happening.
I look at our local Wanganui papers with the coverage you are giving to sports, innovations, education, the arts, feel good stories, acknowledging those many unsung community workers that show us that we can all have pride in saying "I live in Wanganui."
Keep up this high standard and I look forward to the continued progress of our town.
R WATT
Saint Johns Hill
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May I offer my congratulations through your column to Speaker of the House, Trevor Mallard, for ejecting the Jewish terrorist, Jesus, from the daily entreaties to non-provable beings in order to somehow guide Parliament's legislative agenda through the working day? Such a decision of course has been centuries if not millennia overdue.
I challenge any government of any country in the recorded history of mankind to empirically prove such entreaties have been doomed to be divinely worthwhile.
Jesus of course has a track record of having highly questionable moral values.
For example he endorsed the actions of his spiritual father God (residing in which galaxy or multiverse?), who was responsible for the slaughter of thousands in the Old Testament (what happened to "Thou shall not kill?"), endorsed slavery, rebelled against his physical father Joseph and was violent and run amok in the Jewish temple in Jerusalem. And to believe that Christian religious public relations over millennia has tried to maintain that this terrorist is perfect? (A definition of the concept of perfection needed here).
I believe Trevor Mallard has made the correct decision. However I do propose some alternatives. Firstly entreaties to a plate of sausage rolls or other similar comfort food at the commencement of a parliamentary session. Indulgence in such will enable our MP's to be in a convivial sated mood to pass legislation of benefit to us all. Secondly I suggest they make entreaties to Kim Jong Un of North Korea and Donald Trump of the United States on alternative days just in case either of these madmen decide to run amok. We will then have proven ourselves as a nation to have been pragmatic in guaranteeing our future security. Both leaders at the moment are proving more morally pragmatic than the 2000 year old legacy of the terrorist Jesus.
What a low threshold we have descended to as a species in terms of moral rectitude!
PAUL EVANS
Parkdale
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Megan Woods' warning to fuel companies ("NZ Fuel Prices soar" 7 December) is somewhat jejune.
Much has been made of recent price increases at the pump, which have pushed the average cost of a litre of petrol to above $2. The usual culprit is weakness in the NZ dollar, which has slipped against the US greenback. A less-recognised factor is the Government's increased share of the per-litre cost.
Her ministry's own website (www.mbie.govt.nz) lists the various levies, taxes and excise duty on petrol. For 91 unleaded fuel, the Government's take amounts to 66 cents a litre plus GST. When combined with GST, the total contribution to the public accounts is 93 cents per litre: nearly 50 per cent of the pump price. When you add company tax on the "swingeing" profit, the Government take is probably higher.
If you deduct these levies from the pump price, petrol (which has been around for millennia and has to travel halfway around the world) is much cheaper than milk (a locally-produced commodity of recent vintage). For example, Countdown sells a 330 ml pack of milk for about $1.10 plus GST: roughly the same price as petrol but a third of the volume.
This is not to say that the public gets a lot of benefit from these duties, levies and taxes. As well as discouraging wasteful use of a precious resource, they go to pay for the cost of accidents, public transport, roads, and health-related costs from air pollution.
Oil companies have been notorious for cartel-type practices admittedly. Before condemning them for "massive" price swings, however, Ms Woods should acknowledge the previous Government's 50 per cent increase in the rate of GST in October 2010. It is unlikely, of course, that the Commerce Commission will do anything except issue empty threats. If it were not for the revenue from fuel, the State would have to source extra revenue directly from taxpayers or slash spending. Politically that would pose much more of a challenge than taxing consumers.
JOHN GILLESPIE
Durie Hill
