Right call on planes

I congratulate Acting Prime Minister Winston Peters for his measured response to questioning of the coalition Government’s decision to buy four Poseidon long-range aircraft for $2.3 billion. The decision is intended to meet various needs over the next few decades.

As a small nation sandwiched between China and the United States we have our own interests which are not those of either the United States or China. Mr Peters has demonstrated a capacity to speak with authority stretching back to our antinuclear stance of the 1970s, coupled with an up-todate understanding of China’s priorities; in his words, ‘‘she has been around for 3000 years’’.

He is also displaying a statesmanlike manner very different from the Winston often seen in the past.

Ken Findlay, Island Bay