I think it's good that he is getting his point of view out there in more depth, but two letters of approval from unnamed New Zealand developers (who likely want to employ the same cheap labour practices) is hardly a ringing endorsement.
The other studios who put their salary information forward had starting salaries in the $38-45k range. Their letters were being used to get the INZ to move from their initial guidance of $60k, not as some ploy to establish a new lower baseline in the industry down at $35k.
Of course, any studio is free to offer any position for minimum wage or higher, so could try an entry level for programmers of $35k or even less. But I think you'd struggle to scale that with quality candidates given how many options they have both inside and outside the games industry.
