Air NZ are simply fishing - there's been little or no consultation with the Flight training providers, nor Links operators. I have to disagree with some of your sentiments on Cadets.It's a myth that some how they're not up to the job. With the correct training they're equal if not better than a DEP with lots of bad habbits and baggage from a 3 rd level TP operator. I would imagine the cadets would enter Air NZ via the Links and then progress onto mainline.
I would also not expect to see any Air NZ cadets for at least 2 yrs.