Saving to pay the landlord

Grant Robertson has stated that Labour, like National, will not introduce a capital gains tax. Why not?

When a young family is saving for a home deposit via a bank savings account the interest is taxed, including the portion lost to inflation. With inflation currently greater than the interest banks pay this young family’s home deposit savings are going backwards. However, we have the ludicrous situation where an investor can borrow this money plus more from the bank, buy a house and rent it to this young family who then pay off the investor’s mortgage. The investor can also claim the mortgage interest plus repair and upkeep costs against tax due on the rental income, something a live-in homeowner cannot do. The investor can also reap a tax-free capital gain if sold after five years.

A homeowner buying a second house to rent out is not running a business, just choosing a tax-free form of investment.

Something is massively unfair with our tax system which has helped create our present have/have not society.

David F Little, Whanga¯rei.

Water crisis

The article regarding Auckland’s water woes by Professor David Grinlinton ( NZ Herald, June 9) is 100 per cent correct.

He argues that Watercare, and the council, should have done better to avert what was a foreseeable water crisis. Despite years of warnings from organisations, such as Niwa, and huge yearly increases in population, there seems to have been little effective forward planning, including a safety margin for drought years and the impact of climate change.

WaterCare has had 26 years since the last severe drought in 1993-94 to plan for the security of our water supply; should we experience a similar occurrence, and they have not.

The WaterCare CEO has shown that he is well out of his depth and should be replaced.

B Young, Hobsonville.

No sympathy

I have absolutely no sympathy for Air New Zealand and its management, and neither should anyone else. What other company would get away with taking money off customers for payment of goods or services, failing to deliver the purchased service, refusing to refund the full amount paid, and then crying in public about “poor old me”?

This is a company that has received millions of dollars in Covid-19 subsidies; an almost billion-dollar government loan; enriched its management and shareholders several years ago with a share buyback scheme; and failed at a fundamental level to ensure it had sufficient cash against a rainy day event.

I note that many, many other airlines have made full refunds. A $25,000 refund was made by Emirates without me even asking for one. It was paid into our bank account within a week of the flights being cancelled.

Air New Zealand should be making refunds on the same basis, and failing to do so is completely disingenuous. This is nothing more or less than a corporate heist.

Greg Innes, Mt Albert.

Wheeler dealer

Dennis Trotter’s ( NZ Herald, June 9 ) letter made me reflect on my recent experience with a tourism campervan promotion. Perhaps I should start with the old adage, “If it sounds too good to be true, it usually is.” This was.

The booking confirmation page sent to me also contained a link to the rental agreement; which I read very carefully. As a consequence, I have notified the company concerned by email that I will not be taking up their promotional offer.

In my opinion, reading through the agreement, it was full of “fish-hooks”. One was a daily insurance charge that exceeded the daily hire rate of the campervan. This was not mentioned in the promotion. The personal liability list to the hirer was endless and far too complex to list here.

The company can keep the $1.02 deposit I have paid, but not a cent more.

While I want to support the flagging tourism sector, potential customers need greater transparency when it comes to such promotions.

John Hooker, Rotorua.

Foreign owned

Downer and Fletchers are crying foul over the award of Transmission Gully contracts to “overseas” companies. Neither of these companies can put their hands up as true blue Kiwi companies anymore, both are Australian-owned.

So whoever wins, it’s the New Zealand taxpayer who will be the loser. Whoever wins will still have to employ New Zealand labour but we’ll all be watching yet another bunch of profits flying off to benefit someone else’s economy.

The roots of this can be traced back to Muldoon dismantling compulsory superannuation. New Zealand, subsequently starved of venture capital funding, has struggled to maintain control of its destiny ever since. Banks, supermarkets, DIY megastores, manufacturing, consultancies, farms, dairy companies, land, you name it. All have succumbed to the vast pool of venture capital from Australia, Canada or China.

Can KiwiSaver save us?

Paul Cheshire, Maraetai.

KiwiRail deal

The Government outlines very clearly the requirements/expectations of NZers at level 1 ( NZ Herald, June 9).

I may be stretching the point of level 1 “buy NZ” somewhat, but it seems relevant to me that the KiwiRail contract potentially to be awarded to a joint venture between a South African and Chinese company — with only the “expectation” that they hire NZ workers

— is wrong.

I would suggest the relevant minister should “guide” KiwiRail to review the situation. There’s more at stake than a “cheap” contract. It’s money paid by the taxpayer. If NZ workers lose jobs there’s a large social cost and the deal means taxpayer money goes offshore, yet again.

Julie Nicholls, St Marys Bay.

Not sacrosanct

Contrary to the view of your correspondent V M Fergusson ( NZ Herald, June 9), I have never claimed salaries of local government officials are “sacrosanct”.

I was making the point that salaries of CCO chief executives are set by CCO boards who are not publicly elected.

In recent years, salaries of the CEOs of council and the CCOs have been reduced in response to feedback from the mayor and councillors that these were too high — some still are.

The CCO review currently under way provides a further opportunity to look at staff costs.

Staff earning over $200,000 represent around 1 per cent of all council employees. These salaries are benchmarked against similar public sector entities and private companies and are consistently lower than both.

I am pleased that council and the CCOs have taken significant steps to reduce pay for their highest earners in the face of the Covid-19 crisis. We will continue to find more savings related to staff costs as part of our ongoing review of council’s operational spend.

Desley Simpson, Auckland councillor.

Repeat success

Level 1 and 22 deaths from Covid-19. Sadly, that number counts loved ones lost, but it also represents a remarkable achievement. It took leadership, and the whole of New Zealand co-operating, to achieve such a remarkable result.

The USA has more than 5000 times the number of deaths as New Zealand. Approximately the combined population of Pakuranga, Howick, Botany, Flat Bush and East Tamaki.

Now, another comparison. Our road toll for 2019 was 353 deaths. Sixteen times the number of deaths from the virus. From January 1 to June 8 this year we have a road toll of 123 deaths. And that period includes the lockdown, when there was minimal traffic.

Wouldn’t it be great if we could get everybody to obey the rules, slow down, stop passing on blind curves, signal intention ahead of rather than at the time they start a lane change or turn, and stop tail-gating? Maybe we could mimic our virus success and reduce the road toll for the second half of this year.

Vernon Pribble, Northcross.