Watch this space — another company will bolt
YOUR article regarding two (and more?) senior Scott Technology employees relocating to Auckland (ODT, 19.10.20) — what nonsense.
The chief executive refers to easier access to travel from Auckland after Covid19. Is he suggesting he needs to fly to faroff places with two or three hours’ notice? If so, I think he should attend a course in time planning immediately, as to use this to justify his location is complete nonsense.
It probably takes only an hour or two more to connect to international flights from Dunedin. If he lives on the the North Shore, the difference is minimal to get to Auckland Airport.
In the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s, similar rationale was used to move the many successful Dunedin head offices to Auckland as soon as a new chief executive who lived in the north was appointed.
The Dunedin directors went along with that as they could join the big time and mingle with the power brokers in Auckland — they soon were replaced on the various boards by the old boys’ network based in Auckland.
The examples are many. Then the many Dunedin professional suppliers — auditors, accountants, legal professionals, sharebrokers, and so on — all lost the support business and hastened Dunedin’s decline as a major financial city.
The current Scott situation will soon have the same outcome. Ask the chairman and the major Dunedin shareholder about the future of
Scott’s head office.
My opinion is within 12 months, it will be in Auckland, to the detriment of our city.
N. Smith Maori Hill
Cannabis
THE New Zealand Medical Journal’s cannabis editorial misleads.
Claiming regulation of cannabis will be a net gain for public health implies a calculation of the full risks and benefits, yet as the Chief Science Advisor’s specialist panel noted, cannabis regulation is too new to assess several outcomes critical to this equation.
While the authors flag some key risks of increasing commercial cannabis availability and normalising use, they speculate the proposed regulatory controls will reduce health and social harm. Ronji Tanielu delivered an important reality check for such optimism, reminding us how poorly the communities most impacted by addiction are served by regulation of alcohol and gambling.
Should cannabis regulation proceed, these communities will need real legal guarantees that ensure their wellbeing always comes before commercial interests, or a law that excludes a forprofit industry entirely.
Steve Randerson
Auckland
Faith column
GREAT ‘‘Faith And Reason’’ article by Dr Andrew Shepherd (Opinion, 16.10.20). I particularly enjoyed the way he posed questions rather than supplied answers.
My thoughts lead me to ask: What is the difference between a right and a privilege? Is life itself a right or a privilege? Are what we call rights only applicable to humans? What rights apply to all life?
Rowan Peters
Carterton