Forum Archive Index - February 2003

["Capitalist" <capitalist@paradise.net.nz>]

Forward for those interested in this debate.

>>Thankyou for your support thus far of our efforts to get the Government to allow an inclusive and open debate of the issues surrounding the proposed Air New Zealand / Qantas buy-in deal.

It is unfortunately now completely obvious that the Government intends to take not a blind bit of notice of either common sense (e.g. NZ tourism is expanding - Australian tourism is contracting), or public opinion (e.g. Michael Cullen himself has acknowledged that 90% of NZers are against the deal).

In fact Finance Minister Hon Dr Michael Cullen has now gone far further, and as the lead article currently linked in the news section of the http://www.debateairnz.org.nz website indicates , he is now proposing a Trans Tasman Commerce Commission merger in case the two regulatory authorities , the ACCC and our own NZ Commerce Commission, come to divergent conclusions.

The Commerce Commission has the task of looking out for New Zealand national interest when Australian companies wish to take over New Zealand ones!

Hon Dr Michael Cullen quite obviously has a unique notion of New Zealand National Interest and whether it needs protecting by a New Zealand regulatory body!!!!

In the face of such Government attitude it is clear that the time for action to oppose this deal is now.

Consider the following:

- As a consumer next time you look to fly around the country you will have no choice of fares. Six months ago the "standard" Auckland -Wellington fare was $775. Today the fare it is $250.

- If you are a corporate with a large travel bill what will happen when the day comes to renew your travel deal with Air New Zealand or Qantas? Will you be able to go to Qantas if Air New Zealand decides to squeeze your d iscount?

- If you are involved with a sports organisation or charity, how likely is it that Air New Zealand is going to do its best to keep your custom once it has become a monopoly? Have you ever noticed that Australian banks do not sponsor high profile NZ sports teams that compete against Australian teams... which are often bank supported.

- If you supply services to Air New Zealand or Qantas or receive some form of support from either airline, will it be impacted by their no longer competing, or Qantas withdrawing entirely?

Therefore - at a meeting on Jan 28th the coordinating committee for Debate Air New Zealand decided to change the name of this lobby group to "SAVE AIR NEW ZEALAND" to better reflect the current aims of the organisation - namely to stop the proposed Qantas takeover of Air New Zealand.

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WHAT WE WANT YOU TO DO

As a result of our name and objective change we have cleared the list of names of people who signed on as supporters for DEBATE AIR NEW ZEALAND. Thanks everybody! You were a very impressive list of people.

...SIGN ON AGAIN

We have done this because we have no wish to misrepresent your support for our new aims, but we encourage everybody who supports our new objective to sign on again

You can do so here:

http://www.scoop.co.nz/cgi-bin/sqgbook.pl?_config=talkinganz

...MAKE A SUBMISSION

Perhaps the most urgent response we want you to make (other than signing back on with us) is to make a submission to the Commerce Commission. The deadline for submissions is St Valentine's Day, February 14th.

We have developed a kit to assist people to make a useful contribution to the Commerce Commission process. You will find this at:

http://www.debateairnz.co.nz/#submit

Elsewhere on this page you will also find heaps of background material on the proposed deal (including the full application to the Commerce Commission) and interesting current news reports on the deal.

Our legal advice indicates that your submission to the Commerce Commission will be most effective if you concentrate on personal concerns related to your own business, personal or organisational participation in the Air T ravel market.

 

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Regards

Mark Blumsky Co-convenor For Save Air New Zealand

Email: mark@creativehq.co.nz