A pinnacle of truth

Dave Armstrong has reached the pinnacle of satirical truth with his column ‘‘Captain Luxon meets unexpected turbulence.’’ The decline of National’s credibility began with John Key’s laissezfaire approach to politics. The world continues to be threatened by totalitarian regimes, and it exposes the damage perpetrated in ignorance by Helen Clark when she removed the RNZAF air strike capability. Key had promised to address this, but there was no restoration of our sovereign air defence asset. The challenge made by the Save Our Squadrons (SOS) group to invoke the protections of the Defence Act were further sabotaged by a flaky ruling by the High Court; that it was ‘‘up to the Minister of Defence to decide which aircraft he armed.’’ Even if this met the letter of the law, it met neither the intent of the Defence Act, nor any informed interpretation of its intent.

There was plenty of expertise available to advise the court. Minister of Defence Burton’s decade long association with the peacenik Taupo Peace Group made his appointment about as appropriate as appointing an anti-vaxxer Minister of Health.

Specialised military aircraft are designed to best meet operational success, while minimising risk to the crew. There was no other aircraft type that the minister could effectively arm, and even High Court justices should recognise that, if they were focused facts rather than the letter of the law.

Hugh Webb, Hamilton film they grow the strawberries through, back into the soil for the next year’s crop. This means that in successive years of cultivation the plastic gets chopped up into smaller and smaller pieces, enhancing the breakdown process which eventually could end up as invisible microplastics in the soil that grows a food crop for human consumption.

The Waikato District Council claim it is the responsibility of the Waikato Regional Council and vice versa. Other relevant Govt departments also duck for cover and pass the buck.

Most people are aware of the micro plastics, caused by the breakdown of plastic pollution in the sea, getting into the fish food chain.

These micro-plastics are increasingly ending up in the fish we eat. I certainly will not buy those big red commercially grown strawberries for this reason alone, not to mention the chemical sprays and artificial growth enhancers commonly used.

Bernie Haskell, Hamilton