Terry Sarten: Cutting corners will be back to bite us

SHAKER: News of substandard steel mesh being used in earthquake-strengthening slabs looks like more penny pinching.

WE ARE rapidly developing a national identity as the land of the long white lie.

The "100% Pure" brand has taken a hammering as we debate whether wadeable water is acceptable and safe drinking water can be assured and, with every news item, comes more evidence that we are a nation of shysters and shortcut cowboys.

The latest example is finding that steel mesh for concrete reinforcing used in many new buildings does not meet the earthquake code. This is deeply troubling, particularly for the shaken citizens of Christchurch.

How it is even possible that the seismic mesh in some of the rebuild is not up to the required strength standard is almost beyond belief. This comes alongside a rash of dodgy imported electrical wiring, unsafe safety glass and roofing tiles being used in Auckland that do not meet building standards.

What is this? Is this now a part of our so-called "No8 wire culture" that we build shonky houses on the cheap to maximise profits by using poor quality materials, then walk away from the results, taking no responsibility for the consequences?

A number of developers have gone bust recently, leaving a trail of debts and unsafe buildings behind them for someone else to pick up the pieces.

For some this must be a sort of sad deja vu experience. Those affected by the leaky building scandal, which even now is still being litigated, have been the fall guys for the cowboy ways of shortcut construction.

Either we have learned nothing from that, or we are just a nation of shysters that deems it OK to rip off others? Why would you choose the cheapest materials, pocket the profits and walk away unless you felt that the outcome was someone else's problem?

This notion of rapacity in business is evident in the way power company charges rise in winter when, of course, people need to keep warm. It costs no more to generate so why? Because they can. Why do airfares rise in the school holidays? Because they can. It's all about taking every dollar you can get in the short term. This effect is evident in aspects of tourism as well, with overseas visitors being taken for very expensive rides. Eventually this will deter tourists who already regard us as an expensive place to visit.

There are examples where this lesson has been learnt - one being at Zealandia bird sanctuary in Wellington.

A while ago they raised their entry price, visitor numbers plummeted and the budget was losing its feathers at an alarming rate. They decided to cut the price and, hey presto, more people came and they made money. The economic logic of keeping prices reasonable and "selling" quality with a view to the long term does work.

We do seem to have cornered the market in boom and bust. Exhibit A: Dairying - The paddocks were awash in white gold and borrowing millions to purchase huge farms and convert was all the rage. Now some will be counting their losses as the bottom falls out of the milk bucket.

This will be the same with house sales when the inevitable sudden collapse will cripple many an over-geared mortgage. The banks are milking this business for every penny they can get right now and, as current record profits show, they will not be the ones losing their homes when the crunch comes.

- Terry Sarten is a writer, musician, satirist and opinionator - feedback: tgs@inspire.net.nz