Ardern cautioned that the traffic light system was likely to remain in place for the winter to combat not just Covid, but the return of the flu, following two winters where the flu has been kept largely at bay thanks to Covid measures.
"As our border opens, we approach winter, with the potential of more illness, we need to ensure our health system can manage a heavier burden," she said.
"As our border opens, we approach winter, with the potential of more illness, we need to ensure our health system can manage a heavier burden," she said.
not hard to understand.
Do we have stay in covid restrictions because the added pressure of opening the border?
According to the latest WHO data published in 2018 Influenza and Pneumonia Deaths in New Zealand reached 905 or 3.47% of total deaths. The age adjusted Death Rate is 8.30 per 100,000 of population ranks New Zealand #167 in the world.
This is disingenuous. The reason we have so few covid deaths is because of the government's pandemic response. The one you don't like and want changed. If we had no vax mandates, like the flu, we'd have more covid deaths. If we had had no lockdowns or restrictions on gatherings, we'd have had more covid deaths. Why you would want to compare NZ deaths is beyond me.
Hangon, so your alternative is a RAT every time someone goes to the cinema or the pub or even Subway? You're suggesting that's more workable than a pass?
Because if it's not as workable, fewer people will use it, so the only real answer is "yes".
In one day I might get lunch near my work, then after work go on a dinner and movie date.
That's a nasal swab for work, for lunch, for dinner, and for a movie, in one day. And for lunch I might be out of there before the test result comes back.
That's maybe half an hour or an hour out of the day if we have to wait for test results, compared to an hour and a half over the past year for the vaccine, you really think that would be more acceptable and followed by ~90% of the population?
Also, I think the same fools who refuse a vaccine will refuse the RATs anyway.
I'm involved with a local thatre, I know we're down to half capacity but that's a shitload of nasal swabs for the front of house staff to document.
That's a nasal swab for work, for lunch, for dinner, and for a movie
Lunch tends to be a takeaway or made at home. Dinner, you can have at home same with watching a movie. And in this current time of widespread covid, coupled with the rate of inflation, I betting that is what most are doing. Some even work from home.
So yeah, IMO more acceptable. And of course, more acceptable than on going jabs and segregation.
So 95% of the population should stay at home or have multiple nasal swabs a day because a few % of arseholes refuse 3 vaccinations? Even 6 jabs would be trivial to the tests over a single week.
That's your idea of a solution that will be more acceptable to the population than the current system, is it?
Or is it just some fantasy that the rest of the country will willingly stick cotton buds up their noses several times a day to placate the [apparently dwindling] morons shitting on parliament grounds?
My vax details have been required twice so far today. This is not particularly unusual for city workers. If you want me to sniff cotton buds that often, you'll need to cover them in cocaine. And I doubt many of the millions of people who already have a pass will find multiple tests per day to be more acceptable than using the pass.
Also, I wouldn't trust the residents of camp crazy to start huffing the buds, either. They'll just start talking about how it's scratching their brain or something.
Call it "segregation" all you want. It's like a "freedom" tattoo on one's forehead: self-labelling whackos are more convenient than the ones who look reasonable at first glance and try to suck one into their bullshit.
And I doubt the millions of people many of who already have a pass will find multiple tests per day to be more acceptable than using the pass.
That's the thing. Our pervious discussion was past tense. We have now moved on. And as you say, "millions of people" now have a pass, thus this wouldn't apply to them.
And you think if last year the choice had been "you've got the vaccinations, so do you wave a pass or stick a cotton bud in your nose 2-5 times a day just so you can share a pub or movie with someone who is unvaccinated and might have a false negative", most people would have taken the pass?
My son had two negative rat tests, went for the nasal swab and was positive. So you would have him going "Oh I'm fine" after those rat tests? 80% reliability is not good enough really, but when testing gets overwhelmed it's all we will have. So yes we might have Delta Omicron and 'Flu. Influenza.
The PM and Cabinet on Health advice will always be cautious and try to learn from overseas experience. We benefit by that. This is patently obvious that all the health mandates were required to avoid deaths in large numbers.
2m distancing, masks, vaccination passes to show where we may have come in contact or given it to someone else, plus medical prep and home prep and isolation may be needed for a few months. Good luck to us all.
The reason we have so few covid deaths is because of the government's pandemic response.
As I remember (correct me if I'm wrong) it was the lockdowns and closing of the borders that were largely responsible for keeping the spread down, thus lowering the deaths, We've seemed to have moved on from that.
So you agree but could not bring yourself to say so……shame. Trying to split hairs/count the number of angels dancing on the pinhead.
Your reckons are rapidly losing credibility, you seem to have lost your detachment.
In the meantime 'people' presumably infiltrators moved concrete blocks so protestors vehicles could be moved from the Stadium to the protest site. As you seem to have contacts at the protest could you let us know when the protest organisers will be publicly condemning the infiltrators/provocateurs
I'm going down shortly as one of the key requirements is that you wear a hearing aid* and I do, so I could be an ideal agent provocateur.
* from allegations that an infiltrator was active in the protest, turns out the guy was wearing a hearing aid. Doh!
You do not understand sarcasm, analogy, or forms of irony and take everything literally don't you?.
Are you not aware that the protestors have blamed infiltrators for throwing faeces and a burning liquid. Of course this was the protestors who did this.
All I was saying that bearing that in mind that the protestors said it was infiltrators who threw the faeces I was waiting for them to say it was infiltrators who moved the blocks. Of course this was the protestors who did this
NB the protestors threw the faeces etc and the protestors moved the blocks.
Are you not aware that the protestors have blamed infiltrators for throwing faeces and a burning liquid.
Apparently, they say the burning liquid was friendly fire (via the police) pepper spray.
Last I heard, the police can't rule that accusation out.
But yes, there has been talk of infiltrators re the car charging incident (I see the driver has name suppression) human waste, and a number of other acts of misbehaviour.
Did you see the photo of the cop supposedly (on the frontline) wearing the Knuckle-duster? It's on Clay Drummond's Facebook page.
Bizarre reckons, that NZ tenants prefer cold damp housing, not warm, dry housing.
I didn't say that,
I said isn't allowing people the right to decide what standard and relating price they are willing to pay not better protecting them opposed to forcing them into higher standard, thus potentially higher rent accommodation?
Makes as little sense now as it did then. We don't want people having to price point themselves into unsafe housing ……fullstop.
Authoritarian much?
I believe people would prefer to make their own decision when it comes to the accommodation they rent.
Moreover, not every home that fails to meet Government standards are unsafe. I live in one and I'm sure there are many other private home owners that do. Isn't dictating to renters (via requirement on their landlords) yet not to private home owners classist?
Here is something else to ponder. Making rentals comply or forcing them out of the market couldn't have resulted in a benefit to the higher end of the market (via reducing the bottom end of the market) could it? Do you think?
What about the people who have no choice? Who need to take whatever is offered? Do they deserve safe housing?
As for taking housing out of the bottom end of the market, what happens to those houses? How many are left vacant, as opposed to being sold for someone to live in? Because it looks to me like that would free up another house, so who moves into that house? What happened to their house? Eventually the chain of transactions will free up a rental.
But there's a basic problem in using "what ifs" with zero evidence to argue against fixing a known problem (in this case, that many poor people live in unhealthy homes because that's all they can afford and there is no incentive for unscrupulous landlords #notallLandlordsHonest to keep their dwellings up to standard): a hypothetical example is not an argument against resolving many real examples of a known problem.
Those people have a choice too. They may need to take whatever is offered, but they have a choice whether or not to actually take it.
As for taking housing out of the bottom end of the market, what happens to those houses? How many are left vacant, as opposed to being sold for someone to live in?
That was exactly my point. If you are a renter, you can't live in it but if you own it, you can.
Is that not only hypocritical but also classist?
How many are left vacant, as opposed to being sold for someone to live in?
For someone to live in it they would have to own it or make it compliant. Both would result in it being remove from the bottom end of the rental market.
Many poor people live in unhealthy homes because that's all they can afford…
Yes, many poor people live in unhealthy homes because that's all they can afford. Why would you support a unscrupulous Government forcing them into a higher standard home, thus a potentially more expensive home, which clearly they can't afford? Shouldn't they be given the choice to decide for themselves?
The incentive for unscrupulous landlords to keep their dwellings up to standard is it justifies higher rent. There will, of course, be some that don't but I'm sure (because I know some) that some tenants prefer the trade off – ie lower standard, lower relating rent.
Those people have a choice too. They may need to take whatever is offered, but they have a choice whether or not to actually take it.
Well, it's that or homelessness. Love the way the dude who's claimed to be "more left than most" here starts by arguing "take it or leave it" is a choice when the item is a need, then claims that slumlords have an incentive to improve their property.
And McDonalds has an incentive to produce foie gras burgers, but for some reason finds more profit in selling millions of standardised burgers a day. 🙄
Not necessarily. They could and should be looking elsewhere. Who only looks at one home when in need of a home?
"Take it or leave" it is a choice when the item is a need
It is a choice.
Alternatively, what if it were the potential cost barrier in a higher standard/Government standard home preventing this need being fulfilled? Are you comfortable with that?
Not all substandard homes/flats are necessarily considered "shitty"
And would have provided an alternative for those that wanted a cheaper option.
I know people that were totally happy with their lower standard but far cheaper home. They could have rented a home of higher standard but preferred to have the extra money in their own pockets as they were saving to buy a home. Others were just as happy to have the extra money to maintain a higher lifestyle.
Labour, via their Healthy Homes standards, robbed people of being able to make that choice.
I live in a lovely home. Elevated with all day sun. New kitchen, bathroom, laundry, with a large stacker door off the lounge leading to the main (I have two) elevated deck overlooking the lovely gully.
The point is and it is not classist, authoritarian or whatever 'in' world you are trying to slip in, is that renters should have a range of rentals to choose from, at all price points, and ALL of them should meet healthy homes standards.
It matters not what homeowners live in, our tolerance is borne of being able to choose whether to upgrade or not.
Our rental stock should be healthy, we want healthy people and healthy children as healthy children learn more quickly and education is a key to having a set of different choices than their parents may have faced.
Setting out in the world as a child or a working person is made easier if our homes are a warm dry refuge for us to come home to.
The point is and it is not classist, authoritarian or whatever…
If you are a renter, you can't live in it but if you own it, you can. Is that not only hypocritical but also classist?
Renters should have a range of rentals to choose from, at all price points, and ALL of them should meet healthy homes standards.
See the discussion up above. Labours Healthy Homes standards robbed renters of the lower end choice.
So do you now agree renters should have a choice?
Our rental stock should be healthy, we want healthy people and healthy children as healthy children learn more quickly…
Healthy homes tend to come at a higher rental cost, with the higher rent robbing families of funding for food and bills such as heating costs. No good being in a higher standard home if it's overcrowded, or you can't afford to turn on the lights, heater, and buy decent and sufficient amounts of food. Or worse, left homeless because all the cheaper (before standards) rentals are now gone. Leaving some now living in garages or worse. It's counter productive to being healthy.
It's OK if you can afford it but high rents are a big issue for some. Hence, they deserve the right to be able to make their own choice. One sizes fits all solutions seldom works for everyone.
Sounds like your mates have been dropping poison in your ear. You seem very unclear about seasonal illnesses, the role of vaccines as a preventative and public health matters generally.
Why are you "xxxxx" new normal? Is that supposed to be a quote from somewhere? If so you have not linked.
Hospitals generally like people to be vaccinated against preventable illnesses and influenza vaccines have been around for many years. Many of those eligible by age or where it is desirable because of their health status do not get vaccinated for some reason (possibly cost?). Many workplaces either offer reimbursement if someone goes privately or have vaccination days en masse where the Drs come to the workplace.
Yes well I guess once bitten twice shy, if you recall, with the respiratory syncytial virus when the cases shot up when people were able to go to Aus last year. I think one of the Akl hospitals was very crowded with sick babies. I know Wellington also had its share.
It had been kept at bay with the lockdowns and closed borders.
I guess the same would apply to influenza as well. The injections that ae usually available in March/April are usually based on what is raging around in the last Northern hemisphere winter. So I guess they may be forecasting a the influenza virus coming in once the borders are opened up a bit more.
I wish people (incl PM!) would not call influenza the flu, especially when people with heavy colds also call their cold 'the flu'.
RSV is severe for children especially it overflowed Starship in short order. Worse than Covid for the young by a long shot. Not great when you're older I had a run in with it… took a while to get clear of it partially my own fault.
One thing I have observed for a long time since Labour won the 2017 election, and which has crystallised over the last two weeks of the anti-vax protest, it the propensity of the rabid right to support and endorse literally any behaviour as long as it might damage a left wing government.
All values are thrown out the door and they will cosy up to any and all lunatics if they think it might score a point against the majority Labour government and Jacinda Ardern.
Knowing no shame, they will hop into bed with violent offenders, racists, p-addicts, anti-vaxxers, Winston Peters, conspiracy theorists, white supremacists, and gang members.
Previously all these people would have been the target of their relentless attacks, but if it is politically advantageous, they will court all comers without batting an eyelid.
Knowing no shame, they will hop into bed with violent offenders, racists, p-addicts, anti-vaxxers, Winston Peters, conspiracy theorists, white supremacists, and gang members.
Yes funny how people have found new 'buds' at the protest!
Searching for the elusive voters (the faded out politicians) and ways to beat the Government up with their reckons (everyone else) .
Flu season may or may not be as bad as feared, the Australians, about time they got something right ) have surmised that Influenza B Yamagata, on of the four strains targeted may have died out thanks to Covid and mostly mask wearing. Take that Winston, on the wrong side again.
That is appalling. She should take it further and the hospital should have perhaps offered to get her a health advocate …..they are around the hospital.
I thought CCDHB was taking a sterner approach after reading this.
Reporting that labs have already reached practical capacity (long before the 58,000 with surge to 70,000 threshold). Apparently this theoretical total was based on a misunderstanding (because so many tests are now positive, the 'batch' capacity they had when most results were negative – no longer works & therefore each sample must be processed separately)
Looks as though they'll only be processing tests for essential workers and people presenting to hospital.
Government needs to either change the testing requirements (currently at 5 days for close contacts, regardless of symptoms) or roll out RATs to a much greater extent (and to places other than the overwhelmed testing centres).
As one mum said on FB today, "No, I'm not going to put my kid who is already miserable with a temp and a sore throat into a hot car and wait 4 hours in a queue at a testing centre"
Do you know how this relates to publishing locations of interest. The ones in Otago seem a long time ago. The last one in Queenstown was 13/2/22, and Dunedin 16/2/22. Has this system broken down?
The publishing is only as good as the info given to the contact tracers by the Covid patients.
These dates have always had a bit of a lag. If covid sufferers are not scanning or keeping their own diary then it becomes a matter of tracking back, somehow. I understood that they are only tracking/contact tracing where outside places with a potential to spread outside the immediate environs so flights, bars, restaurants, schools not inter or intra families.
I don't think the system is broken, just adapted to the realities of this very infectious virus
I don't really get that. If Otago has continually rising cases (they doubled today compared to yesterday, today's new cases were 455 in SDHB), then why is the last location of interest in Dunedin nearly ten days old?
SDHB's last update on their website was from a similar time. So I have no idea where the outbreaks are other than the ones they started reporting a few weeks ago (Dndn, Queenstown).
Reply to Weka … as cases increase the MOH have said they will move away from identifying locations of interest. I can't remember where I read this but it was in the last few days – possibly RNZ or when i was googling "Phase 3 covid NZ". There was a piece on TV1 news too I think. Can't link sorry but will try and find a phrase.
Hi Weka, yes we are near where QLD was 2 weeks ago. They now have 6000 plus cases and 29 deaths. Their testing also got overwhelmed and at first they did not have enough rat tests and prices skyrocketed. Scomo famously said he wouldn't stop businesses making a profit. At least the worried well off can't corner the rat tests here. They will be used for essential workers.
A disabled person's view of the Wellington occupation.
"Never though have I and other New Zealanders seen or witnessed anything like the right-wing inspired, influenced and led occupation that has paralysed our nation's capital for almost a fortnight now. They have been supported by a range of people from alt right and far right causes whom, in their wake, have drawn a considerable number of otherwise previously apathetic or even some otherwise progressive people in with their nonsensical and dangerous anti-vaccination theories.
Despite the range of causes that have brought this otherwise disparate group of people together – leading to some perturbing and confusing messaging along the way – the one thing they seemingly want is freedom from the government's Covid-19 rules.
For disabled people like myself, this freedom would mean the end of reasonable restrictions which have saved potentially not only my life but the lives of thousands of disabled people and people with health conditions nationwide who would otherwise have succumbed to Covid-19."
Thankyou for that link Robert. As someone who has been disabled for a long time due to arthritic conditions, I can relate to the writer. It has got to the stage when I no longer watch the 6pm news due to the incandescent rage I feel every time I see the so-called protesters.
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Yesterday I received come lovely feedback following my Star Wars themed newsletter. A few people mentioned they’d enjoyed reading the personal part at the beginning.I often begin newsletters with some memories, or general thoughts, before commencing the main topic. This hopefully sets the mood and provides some context in which ...
April 30 was going to be the day we’d be calling Mum from London to wish her a happy birthday. Then it became the day we would be going to St. Paul's at Evensong to remember her. The aim of the cathedral builders was to find a way to make their ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – Can’t remember the last book by a Kiwi author you read? Think the NZ government should spend less on the arts in favor of helping the homeless? If so, as far as Newsroom is concerned, you probably deserve to be called a cultural ignoramus ...
Eric Crampton writes – Grudges are bad. Better to move on. But it can be fun to keep a couple of really trivial ones, so you’re not tempted to have other ones. For example, because of the rootkit fiasco of 2005, no Sony products in our household. ...
A new report warns an estimated third of the adult population have unmet need for health care.Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāHere’s the six key things I learned about Aotaroa’s political economy this week around housing, climate and poverty:Politics - Three opinion polls confirmed support for PM Christopher Luxon ...
Today is May the fourth. Which was just a regular day when my mother took me to see the newly released Star Wars at the Odeon in Rotorua. The queue was right around the corner. Some years later this day became known as Star Wars Day, the date being a ...
Buzz from the Beehive Much more media attention is being paid to something Winston Peters said about former Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr than to a speech he delivered to the New Zealand China Council. One word is missing from the speech: AUKUS. But AUKUS loomed large in his considerations ...
Is the economy in another long stagnation? If so, why?This is about the time that the Treasury will be locking up its economic forecasts to be published in the 2024 Budget Economic and Fiscal Update (BEFU) on budget day, 30 May. I am not privy to what they will be ...
The annual list of who's been bribing our politicians is out, and journalists will no doubt be poring over it to find the juiciest and dirtiest bribes. The government's fast-track invite list is likely to be a particular focus, and we already know of one company on the list which ...
In the weeks after the October 7 Hamas attacks on Southern Israel I wrote about the possible 2nd, 3rd and even 4th order effects of the conflict. These included new fronts being opened in the West Bank (with Hamas), Golan … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – It is one of the oldest truisms that there is never a good time for MPs to get a pay rise. This week’s announcement of pay raises of around 2.8% backdated to last October could hardly have come at a worse time, with the ...
David Farrar writes – Newshub reports: Newshub can reveal a fresh allegation of intimidation against Green MP Julie-Anne Genter. Genter is subject to a disciplinary process for aggressively waving a book in the face of National Minister Matt Doocey in the House – but it’s not the first time ...
The Treasury has published a paper today on the global productivity slowdown and how it is playing out in New Zealand: The productivity slowdown: implications for the Treasury’s forecasts and projections. The Treasury Paper examines recent trends in productivity and the potential drivers of the slowdown. Productivity for the whole economy ...
Winston Peters’ comments about former Australian foreign minister look set to be an ongoing headache for both him and Luxon. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for subscribers features co-hosts and , along with regular guests on Gaza and ...
These puppet strings don't pull themselvesYou're thinking thoughts from someone elseHow much time do you think you have?Are you prepared for what comes next?The debating chamber can be a trying place for an opposition MP. What with the person in charge, the speaker, typically being an MP from the governing ...
The land around Lyme Regis, where Meryl Streep once stood, in a hood, on the Cobb, is falling into the sea.MerylThe land around Lyme Regis, around the Cobb that made it rich, has always been falling slowly but surely into the sea. Read more ...
Photo by Jari Hytönen on UnsplashIt’s that new day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when and I co-host our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm. Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream for our chat about the week’s news ...
Buzz from the Beehive Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters was bound to win headlines when he set out his thinking about AUKUS in his speech to the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. The headlines became bigger when – during an interview on RNZ’s Morning Report today – he criticised ...
The Post reports on how the government is refusing to release its advice on its corrupt Muldoonist fast-track law, instead using the "soon to be publicly available" refusal ground to hide it until after select committee submissions on the bill have closed. Fast-track Minister Chris Bishop's excuse? “It's not ...
As pressure on it grows, the livestock industry’s approach to the transition to Net Zero is increasingly being compared to that of fossil fuel interests. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / Getty ImagesTL;DR: Here’s the top five news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above ...
The Green Party is welcoming the announcement by the Minister Responsible for RMA Reform Chris Bishop to approve most of the Wellington City Council’s District Plan recommendations. ...
David Seymour has failed to get the sweeping cuts he wanted to the free and healthy school lunch programme, Labour education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
Hon Willie Jackson has been invited by the Oxford Union to debate the motion “This House Believes British Museums are not Very British’ on May 23rd. ...
Green Party MP Hūhana Lyndon says her Public Works (Prohibition of Compulsory Acquisition of Māori Land) Amendment Bill is an opportunity to right some past wrongs around the alienation of Māori land. ...
A senior, highly respected King’s Counsel with decades of experience in our law courts, Gary Judd KC, has filed a complaint about compulsory tikanga Māori studies for law students - highlighting the utter depths of absurdity this woke cultural madness has taken our society. The tikanga regulations will compel law ...
The Government needs to be clear with the people of the Nelson Marlborough region about the changes it is considering for the Nelson Hospital rebuild, Labour health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall said. ...
Ministers must front up about which projects it will push through under its Fast Track Approvals legislation, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
The Government is again adding to New Zealand’s growing unemployment, this time cutting jobs at the agencies responsible for urban development and growing much needed housing stock. ...
With Minister Karen Chhour indicating in the House today that she either doesn’t know or care about the frontline cuts she’s making to Oranga Tamariki, we risk seeing more and more of our children falling through the cracks. ...
The Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
A new standalone Social Investment Agency will power-up the social investment approach, driving positive change for our most vulnerable New Zealanders, Social Investment Minister Nicola Willis says. “Despite the Government currently investing more than $70 billion every year into social services, we are not seeing the outcomes we want for ...
Check against delivery Good morning. It is a pleasure to be with you to outline the Coalition Government’s approach to our first Budget. Thank you Mark Skelly, President of the Hutt Valley Chamber of Commerce, together with your Board and team, for hosting me. I’d like to acknowledge His Worship ...
Your Excellency Ambassador Meredith, Members of the Diplomatic Corps and Ambassadors from European Union Member States, Ministerial colleagues, Members of Parliament, and other distinguished guests, Thank you everyone for joining us. Ladies and gentlemen - In diplomacy, we often speak of ‘close’ and ‘long-standing’ relations. ...
The Therapeutic Products Act (TPA) will be repealed this year so that a better regime can be put in place to provide New Zealanders safe and timely access to medicines, medical devices and health products, Associate Health Minister Casey Costello announced today. “The medicines and products we are talking about ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop, today released his decision on twenty recommendations referred to him by the Wellington City Council relating to its Intensification Planning Instrument, after the Council rejected those recommendations of the Independent Hearings Panel and made alternative recommendations. “Wellington notified its District Plan on ...
Rape Awareness Week (6-10 May) is an important opportunity to acknowledge the continued effort required by government and communities to ensure that all New Zealanders can live free from violence, say Ministers Karen Chhour and Louise Upston. “With 1 in 3 women and 1 in 8 men experiencing sexual violence ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government will be delivering a more efficient Healthy School Lunches Programme, saving taxpayers approximately $107 million a year compared to how Labour funded it, by embracing innovation and commercial expertise. “We are delivering on our commitment to treat taxpayers’ money ...
New research on the impacts of extreme weather on coastal marine habitats in Tairāwhiti and Hawke’s Bay will help fishery managers plan for and respond to any future events, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. A report released today on research by Niwa on behalf of Fisheries New Zealand ...
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Winston Peters will lead a broad political delegation on a five-stop Pacific tour next week to strengthen New Zealand’s engagement with the region. The delegation will visit Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, and Tuvalu. “New Zealand has deep and ...
There has been a material decline in gas production according to figures released today by the Gas Industry Co. Figures released by the Gas Industry Company show that there was a 12.5 per cent reduction in gas production during 2023, and a 27.8 per cent reduction in gas production in the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins tonight announced the recipients of the Minister of Defence Awards of Excellence for Industry, saying they all contribute to New Zealanders’ security and wellbeing. “Congratulations to this year’s recipients, whose innovative products and services play a critical role in the delivery of New Zealand’s defence capabilities, ...
Welcome to you all - it is a pleasure to be here this evening.I would like to start by thanking Greg Lowe, Chair of the New Zealand Defence Industry Advisory Council, for co-hosting this reception with me. This evening is about recognising businesses from across New Zealand and overseas who in ...
It is a pleasure to be speaking to you as the Minister for Digitising Government. I would like to thank Akolade for the invitation to address this Summit, and to acknowledge the great effort you are making to grow New Zealand’s digital future. Today, we stand at the cusp of ...
New Zealand is urging both Israel and Hamas to agree to an immediate ceasefire to avoid the further humanitarian catastrophe that military action in Rafah would unleash, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The immense suffering in Gaza cannot be allowed to worsen further. Both sides have a responsibility to ...
A new online data dashboard released today as part of the Government’s school attendance action plan makes more timely daily attendance data available to the public and parents, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. The interactive dashboard will be updated once a week to show a national average of how ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced Rosemary Banks will be New Zealand’s next Ambassador to the United States of America. “Our relationship with the United States is crucial for New Zealand in strategic, security and economic terms,” Mr Peters says. “New Zealand and the United States have a ...
The Government is considering creating a new tier of minerals permitting that will make it easier for hobby miners to prospect for gold. “New Zealand was built on gold, it’s in our DNA. Our gold deposits, particularly in regions such as Otago and the West Coast have always attracted fortune-hunters. ...
Minister for Trade Todd McClay today announced that New Zealand and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will commence negotiations on a free trade agreement (FTA). Minister McClay met with his counterpart UAE Trade Minister Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi in Dubai, where they announced the launch of negotiations on a ...
New Zealand Sign Language Week is an excellent opportunity for all Kiwis to give the language a go, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. This week (May 6 to 12) is New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL) Week. The theme is “an Aotearoa where anyone can sign anywhere” and aims to ...
Six tertiary students have been selected to work on NASA projects in the US through a New Zealand Space Scholarship, Space Minister Judith Collins announced today. “This is a fantastic opportunity for these talented students. They will undertake internships at NASA’s Ames Research Center or its Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), where ...
New Zealanders will be safer because of a $1.9 billion investment in more frontline Corrections officers, more support for offenders to turn away from crime, and more prison capacity, Corrections Minister Mark Mitchell says. “Our Government said we would crack down on crime. We promised to restore law and order, ...
The OECD’s latest report on New Zealand reinforces the importance of bringing Government spending under control, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The OECD conducts country surveys every two years to review its members’ economic policies. The 2024 New Zealand survey was presented in Wellington today by OECD Chief Economist Clare Lombardelli. ...
The Government has delivered on its election promise to provide a financially sustainable model for Auckland under its Local Water Done Well plan. The plan, which has been unanimously endorsed by Auckland Council’s Governing Body, will see Aucklanders avoid the previously projected 25.8 per cent water rates increases while retaining ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters discussed the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and enhanced cooperation in the Pacific with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock during her first official visit to New Zealand today. "New Zealand and Germany enjoy shared interests and values, including the rule of law, democracy, respect for the international system ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop today released his decision on four recommendations referred to him by the Western Bay of Plenty District Council, opening the door to housing growth in the area. The Council’s Plan Change 92 allows more homes to be built in existing and new ...
Thank you, John McKinnon and the New Zealand China Council for the invitation to speak to you today. Thank you too, all members of the China Council. Your effort has played an essential role in helping to build, shape, and grow a balanced and resilient relationship between our two ...
The Government is modernising insurance law to better protect Kiwis and provide security in the event of a disaster, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly announced today. “These reforms are long overdue. New Zealand’s insurance law is complicated and dated, some of which is more than 100 years old. ...
The coalition Government is refreshing its approach to supporting pay equity claims as time-limited funding for the Pay Equity Taskforce comes to an end, Public Service Minister Nicola Willis says. “Three years ago, the then-government introduced changes to the Equal Pay Act to support pay equity bargaining. The changes were ...
Structured literacy will change the way New Zealand children learn to read - improving achievement and setting students up for success, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Being able to read and write is a fundamental life skill that too many young people are missing out on. Recent data shows that ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay says Canada’s refusal to comply in full with a CPTPP trade dispute ruling in our favour over dairy trade is cynical and New Zealand has no intention of backing down. Mr McClay said he has asked for urgent legal advice in respect of our ‘next move’ ...
The rights of our children and young people will be enhanced by changes the coalition Government will make to strengthen oversight of the Oranga Tamariki system, including restoring a single Children’s Commissioner. “The Government is committed to delivering better public services that care for our most at-risk young people and ...
The Government is making it easier for minor changes to be made to a building consent so building a home is easier and more affordable, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on making it easier and cheaper to build homes so we can ...
New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
Good evening – Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
People with an interest in the health of Northland’s marine ecosystems are invited to a public meeting to discuss how to deal with kina barrens, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones will lead the discussion, which will take place on Friday, 10 May, at Awanui Hotel in ...
Kiwi exporters are $100 million better off today with the NZ EU FTA entering into force says Trade Minister Todd McClay. “This is all part of our plan to grow the economy. New Zealand's prosperity depends on international trade, making up 60 per cent of the country’s total economic activity. ...
There are heartening signs that the extractive sector is once again becoming an attractive prospect for investors and a source of economic prosperity for New Zealand, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The beginnings of a resurgence in extractive industries are apparent in media reports of the sector in the past ...
The return of the historic Ō-Rākau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill. The Bill will entrust the 9.7-hectare battle site, five kilometres west ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced 25 new high-speed EV charging hubs along key routes between major urban centres and outlined the Government’s plan to supercharge New Zealand’s EV infrastructure. The hubs will each have several chargers and be capable of charging at least four – and up to 10 ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Leah Williams Veazey, ARC DECRA Research Fellow, University of Sydney DavideAngelini/Shutterstock In the 2007 film The Bucket List Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman play two main characters who respond to their terminal cancer diagnoses by rejecting experimental treatment. Instead, they go ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mohan Singh, Professor of Agri-Food Biotechnology, School of Agriculture, Food and Ecosystem Sciences at the University of Melbourne., The University of Melbourne Tanja Esser/Shutterstock Australia’s vital agriculture sector will be hit hard by steadily rising global temperatures. Our climate is already ...
The Acumen Edelman Trust barometer reported that New Zealand’s political trust score now sits below the global average, a topic explored in a recent discussion paper by Maxim Institute. ...
Greenpeace Aotearoa executive director Russel Norman says, "The Fast-Track Bill is the most damaging piece of environmental legislation any Government has introduced in living memory. People are angry, and it’s time to march." ...
The school lunches programme has been retained – and will be extended to some preschoolers. So how is it going to cost $107 million less? To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. The minister with many hats David Seymour wears a number of hats, but this week ...
“Show us the bird,” I found myself muttering at times while reading Hard by the Cloud House by Peter Walker, a deeply thoughtful, often hilarious, at times rambling – but somehow delightfully so – search for the story of a big bird. But not just any bird: the bird. This ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jack Marley, Environment + Energy Editor, UK edition DPVUE .images/Shutterstock Your home was probably designed for a climate that no longer exists. As long as humanity continues to burn fossil fuel, padding the heat-trapping blanket of gases in Earth’s atmosphere, the ...
A senior lawyer has filed a complaint about tikanga becoming a required law school module. Law lecturer Carwyn Jones explains what he’s getting wrong. “…the first law of Aotearoa, a law that served the needs of tangata whenua for a thousand years before the arrival of tauiwi.”– Ani Mikaere ...
In 2019, an Auckland woman woke up from surgery to find that she had undergone a treatment she didn’t consent to. She tells Alex Casey about her experience. From her very first period at the age of 14, Laura experienced “debilitating” levels of pain that forced her to withdraw from ...
Comment: Concerns about the state of the economy are creeping up to the top of firms’ list of challenges. That’s evident in both surveys and the tone of our recent client discussions. Skimming the past few weeks of eco-news, it’s not hard to see why. – Retail card spending fell ...
Opinion: Could former co-leader James Shaw still make a difference to working with National? The post How the Greens could be contenders appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Opinion: What if we got rid of our existing drug laws and replaced them with a new law that legalised and carefully regulated all psychoactive substances, from cannabis to MDMA, methamphetamine and LSD to magic mushrooms? And which also included legal drugs such as alcohol and nicotine. “Wow,” you might ...
In the gloom following director-general Al Morrison’s job cuts in 2013, the Department of Conservation restructured its operations arm. Eleven conservancy districts were whittled into six new “conservation delivery” regions, under which the Rēkohu/Wharekauri/Chatham Islands area, comprising 40 scattered islands more than 800km east of Christchurch, was tethered to the ...
One of th e country’s top litigation lawyers says New Zealand is seeing a lift in court action between companies. Chapman Tripp partner Justin Graham, who oversees a team of around 80 litigation specialists, says the courts are now so log-jammed that it’s taking over two years to get cases ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The Albanese government is talking up the crucial role of gas as a transition fuel “through to 2050 and beyond”. In a gas strategy to be released on Thursday, the government envisages the fuel’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Next week the government will again next try to get its legislation through to deal with non-citizens who won’t cooperate with efforts to deport them. The bill, which the opposition and crossbench refused to rush ...
A long-term project that will set out an alternative vision for Aotearoa that looks beyond the narrow confines of the policy straight jacket adopted by successive governments. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Bree Hurst, Associate Professor, Faculty of Business and Law, QUT, Queensland University of Technology TK Kurikawa/Shutterstock A much-awaited report into Coles and Woolworths has found what many customers have long believed – Australia’s big supermarkets engage in price gouging. What started ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Daniel Ghezelbash, Associate Professor and Deputy Director, Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law, UNSW Law & Justice, UNSW Sydney The Albanese government wanted to avoid an inquiry into its migration amendment bill. The report, handed down yesterday by a senate committee that ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Joo-Cheong Tham, Professor, Melbourne Law School, The University of Melbourne Lobbying is at the heart of government. Who has access to and influence over key government officials shapes the decisions governments make – and how they make them. The ability to influence ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Myfany Turpin, Associate Professor, Ethnomusicology, Linguistics and Ethnobiology, University of Sydney The act representing Australia at this year’s Eurovision contest has sadly not qualified for the grand final. Yet for Zaachariaha Fielding and Michael Ross, the duo that makes up Electric Fields, ...
In announcing changes to the school lunches programme, David Seymour said kids would no longer be served ‘woke’ foods. To clear up any confusion, The Spinoff has compiled a guide to the wokeness levels of some common food items. Apple = NOT WOKE Avocado = WOKE Avocado, smashed = EVEN ...
The Minister Responsible for GCSB and the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security have been notified of this review, and have been provided a finalised Terms of Reference. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Minglu Chen, Senior Lecturer, Government and International Relations, University of Sydney Robert Way/Shutterstock As the past few years have illustrated so clearly, the Australia-China relationship is complicated. As such, it is crucial for Australians to develop a more nuanced understanding of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mariana Campbell, Research Lecturer, Conservation, Charles Darwin University Marilyn Connell Australian freshwater turtles are facing an alarming trend. Almost half of these species are listed as vulnerable, endangered or critically endangered. The Mary River turtle (Elusor macrurus) is one of Australia’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Debbie Passey, Digital Health Research Fellow, The University of Melbourne Algorithms have become integral to our lives. From social media apps to Netflix, algorithms learn your preferences and prioritise the content you are shown. Google Maps and artificial intelligence are nothing without ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Josephine Barbaro, Associate Professor, Principal Research Fellow, Psychologist, La Trobe University Unsplash We’ve come a long way in terms of understanding that everyone thinks, interacts and experiences the world differently. In the past, autistic people, people with attention deficit hyperactive disorder ...
PNG Post-Courier Papua New Guinea’s deputy opposition leader James Nomane has accused the government of “reckless economic management” that has forced devaluation to manage loan repayments in foreign currency and placate the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Prime Minister James Marape “must stop lying to the people of Papua New Guinea”, ...
Welcome to The Spinoff Bookseller Confessional, in which we get to know Aotearoa’s booksellers. This week: Jane Arthur, author of Brown Bird, and former bookseller at Good Books.The book I wish I’d writtenI have been working on not comparing myself to others. On accepting that what I can ...
The final decision on the Wellington District Plan makes it official: High-density housing is legal across most of Wellington. Housing minister Chris Bishop has announced his decision on the Wellington District Plan, approving a series of amendments to radically upzone most of Wellington, allowing tens of thousands of new townhouses ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards – Democracy Project (https://democracyproject.nz)Political scientist, Dr Bryce Edwards. “Follow the money” is the classic directive to journalists trying to understand where power and influence lie in society. In terms of uncovering who influences various New Zealand political parties and governments, it therefore pays to ...
RNZ News As Israel presses ahead with strikes in Rafah and seizing the Rafah crossing from Egypt, aid agencies are sounding the alarm of a “catastrophic humanitarian situation”. Rafah was “significant” because it was the only part in Gaza that had not been terribly damaged by the conflict, United Nations ...
With funding set to be scrapped for the Hamilton-Auckland commuter train, Te Huia enthusiast Georgie Dansey argues for it to be thrown a lifeline. It’s 5.45am and the chain of my crappy old bike falls off slugging up the one hill in Hamilton. I contemplate yeeting the bike into the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anna Cooke, Honorary Fellow, School of the Environment, The University of Queensland We feel ecological grief when we lose places, species or ecosystems we value and love. These losses are a growing threat to mental health and wellbeing globally. We all see ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Shauna Brail, Associate Professor, Institute for Management & Innovation, University of Toronto A shift to hybrid and remote work continues to affect worker presence in Toronto’s downtown.(Shutterstock) Downtown Toronto, the core of Canada’s largest city, continues to reel from the lingering ...
Responding to an Auditor-General's report slamming failures in the administration of the 2023 General Election, Taxpayers’ Union Policy and Public Affairs Manager, James Ross, said: ...
Productivity apps now make up a big chunk of the software market. But do they work? And why do they all have AI integrations?Despite being firmly on the record as a physical planner fan, I sometimes dream of something better than my pretty diary and its scrawled, ugly, interior ...
The Taxpayers’ Union says the Beehive need to lead by example, following reports of more than $50,000 spent upgrading video conferencing equipment and furniture in the Prime Minister’s office. Taxpayers’ Union Campaign Manager, Connor Molloy, ...
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Wow!
It seems in Jacinda's "new normal" covid restrictions will be kept in place to deal with the flu.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/covid-19-omicron-jacinda-ardern-plots-path-to-end-of-some-vaccine-mandates-but-warns-omicron-wave-will-hit-first/T5WKTX7MHCF3A6XKJOG63TUSUI/
not hard to understand.
It seems our health system tends to be overwhelmed most winters.
Do you think this is going to be the solution in our "new normal" going forward?
Don't know what you are basing that on, but obviously this year we will have increasing cases of flu on top of covid. Again, not hard to understand.
I don't believe in new normal. I think we are in a period of long adaptation.
We don't know what will happen with omicron or the next variant in NZ. Learning how to behave appropriately seems key.
On reports like this: https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/335368/winter-ills-fill-hospitals-we-simply-haven-t-got-the-space
Will long adaptation merely be the "new normal"?
Do we have stay in covid restrictions because the added pressure of opening the border?
Smh… we going to mandate flu vax as well?
Apparently, it kills more. So who knows what our "new normal" will look like going forward.
what are you basing that on?
https://www.worldlifeexpectancy.com/new-zealand-influenza-pneumonia#:~:text=According%20to%20the%20latest%20WHO,Zealand%20%23167%20in%20the%20world.
Wait a couple of months. Hopefully you'll be right.
This is disingenuous. The reason we have so few covid deaths is because of the government's pandemic response. The one you don't like and want changed. If we had no vax mandates, like the flu, we'd have more covid deaths. If we had had no lockdowns or restrictions on gatherings, we'd have had more covid deaths. Why you would want to compare NZ deaths is beyond me.
I didn't state a reason. I merely suggested – apparently, it kills more. And provided a link for you.
A question for you? If we had no vax mandates but testing had to be used instead of passes would we have had more deaths?
Hangon, so your alternative is a RAT every time someone goes to the cinema or the pub or even Subway? You're suggesting that's more workable than a pass?
Because if it's not as workable, fewer people will use it, so the only real answer is "yes".
I'm asking as it would IMO be more acceptable than on going jabs and of course, the segregation.
Additionally, what the actual impact would be on deaths?
As for more workable, it will have its flaws just as passes.
Dude, seriously?
In one day I might get lunch near my work, then after work go on a dinner and movie date.
That's a nasal swab for work, for lunch, for dinner, and for a movie, in one day. And for lunch I might be out of there before the test result comes back.
That's maybe half an hour or an hour out of the day if we have to wait for test results, compared to an hour and a half over the past year for the vaccine, you really think that would be more acceptable and followed by ~90% of the population?
Also, I think the same fools who refuse a vaccine will refuse the RATs anyway.
I'm involved with a local thatre, I know we're down to half capacity but that's a shitload of nasal swabs for the front of house staff to document.
Lunch tends to be a takeaway or made at home. Dinner, you can have at home same with watching a movie. And in this current time of widespread covid, coupled with the rate of inflation, I betting that is what most are doing. Some even work from home.
So yeah, IMO more acceptable. And of course, more acceptable than on going jabs and segregation.
Don't fucking tell me what my lunch tends to be.
So 95% of the population should stay at home or have multiple nasal swabs a day because a few % of arseholes refuse 3 vaccinations? Even 6 jabs would be trivial to the tests over a single week.
That's your idea of a solution that will be more acceptable to the population than the current system, is it?
Or is it just some fantasy that the rest of the country will willingly stick cotton buds up their noses several times a day to placate the [apparently dwindling] morons shitting on parliament grounds?
I was suggesting in general. In this current time of widespread covid, coupled with the rate of inflation.
And of course, more acceptable than on going jabs and segregation.
By the way, the rest of your dribble failed to sway me
To whom? You think 90% of the country will prefer to sniff cottonbuds for the crazies at parliament rather than show a pass?
From my experiences and vast conversations, segregation didn't go down well with many.
It has split families and friends apart.
The protest and the hatred against the protesters is another example of this country starting to tear apart.
Jacinda needs to quickly address this before it goes any further.
Unfortunately, I don't believe she will.
My vax details have been required twice so far today. This is not particularly unusual for city workers. If you want me to sniff cotton buds that often, you'll need to cover them in cocaine. And I doubt many of the millions of people who already have a pass will find multiple tests per day to be more acceptable than using the pass.
Also, I wouldn't trust the residents of camp crazy to start huffing the buds, either. They'll just start talking about how it's scratching their brain or something.
Call it "segregation" all you want. It's like a "freedom" tattoo on one's forehead: self-labelling whackos are more convenient than the ones who look reasonable at first glance and try to suck one into their bullshit.
Just a wee toot helps the cotton bud go in.
https://twitter.com/DrEricLevi/status/1477057391212449793
fark we're not supposed to stick 'em in our ears but that shit looks freaky as hell.
wait, we can do the swab ourselves?
weka
I was thinking onsite for oversight. Workplace etc
Some countries just throw a RAT at you and say "call us if you get a positive". Dunno about NZ.
That's the thing. Our pervious discussion was past tense. We have now moved on. And as you say, "millions of people" now have a pass, thus this wouldn't apply to them.
I call it segregation because it is what it is.
And you think if last year the choice had been "you've got the vaccinations, so do you wave a pass or stick a cotton bud in your nose 2-5 times a day just so you can share a pub or movie with someone who is unvaccinated and might have a false negative", most people would have taken the pass?
You're dreaming.
And as for "segregation" – lols. Get real.
My son had two negative rat tests, went for the nasal swab and was positive. So you would have him going "Oh I'm fine" after those rat tests? 80% reliability is not good enough really, but when testing gets overwhelmed it's all we will have. So yes we might have Delta Omicron and 'Flu. Influenza.
The PM and Cabinet on Health advice will always be cautious and try to learn from overseas experience. We benefit by that. This is patently obvious that all the health mandates were required to avoid deaths in large numbers.
2m distancing, masks, vaccination passes to show where we may have come in contact or given it to someone else, plus medical prep and home prep and isolation may be needed for a few months. Good luck to us all.
The jab isn't 100% either. And people can be asymptomatic, hence not know they are sick. Furthermore, the pass (so I hear) is easily exploited.
Yes, we have moved on. Time to allow the unvaccinated the right to be tested. The risk seems (IMO) largely comparative to passes.
Apparently, contact tracing is also changing. And apparently, so are the border restrictions.
Are you aware that the protest has now become a location of interest? For visits on Sat/Sun
Over 5000 new cases reported today
205 in hospitals around NZ.
More figures/details at 1.00pm.
From Hipkins/Bloomfield Press conference at Noon on Phase 3 Omicron that comes in to force tonight 24/2/22. .
As I remember (correct me if I'm wrong) it was the lockdowns and closing of the borders that were largely responsible for keeping the spread down, thus lowering the deaths, We've seemed to have moved on from that.
So you agree but could not bring yourself to say so……shame. Trying to split hairs/count the number of angels dancing on the pinhead.
Your reckons are rapidly losing credibility, you seem to have lost your detachment.
In the meantime 'people' presumably infiltrators moved concrete blocks so protestors vehicles could be moved from the Stadium to the protest site. As you seem to have contacts at the protest could you let us know when the protest organisers will be publicly condemning the infiltrators/provocateurs
I'm going down shortly as one of the key requirements is that you wear a hearing aid* and I do, so I could be an ideal agent provocateur.
* from allegations that an infiltrator was active in the protest, turns out the guy was wearing a hearing aid. Doh!
I didn't disagree with that notion to begin with. Your reckons are rapidly losing credibility.
I heard it was the protesters that moved concrete blocks.
Good grief…..
You do not understand sarcasm, analogy, or forms of irony and take everything literally don't you?.
Are you not aware that the protestors have blamed infiltrators for throwing faeces and a burning liquid. Of course this was the protestors who did this.
All I was saying that bearing that in mind that the protestors said it was infiltrators who threw the faeces I was waiting for them to say it was infiltrators who moved the blocks. Of course this was the protestors who did this
NB the protestors threw the faeces etc and the protestors moved the blocks.
Comprenez vous?
Are you not aware that the protestors have blamed infiltrators for throwing faeces and a burning liquid.
Apparently, they say the burning liquid was friendly fire (via the police) pepper spray.
Last I heard, the police can't rule that accusation out.
But yes, there has been talk of infiltrators re the car charging incident (I see the driver has name suppression) human waste, and a number of other acts of misbehaviour.
Did you see the photo of the cop supposedly (on the frontline) wearing the Knuckle-duster? It's on Clay Drummond's Facebook page.
You should back that up with detailed stats.
Or perhaps it's like one of your other bizarre reckons, that NZ tenants prefer cold damp housing, not warm, dry housing.
I didn't say that,
I said isn't allowing people the right to decide what standard and relating price they are willing to pay not better protecting them opposed to forcing them into higher standard, thus potentially higher rent accommodation?
You failed to reply.
Makes as little sense now as it did then. We don't want people having to price point themselves into unsafe housing ……fullstop.
Authoritarian much?
I believe people would prefer to make their own decision when it comes to the accommodation they rent.
Moreover, not every home that fails to meet Government standards are unsafe. I live in one and I'm sure there are many other private home owners that do. Isn't dictating to renters (via requirement on their landlords) yet not to private home owners classist?
Here is something else to ponder. Making rentals comply or forcing them out of the market couldn't have resulted in a benefit to the higher end of the market (via reducing the bottom end of the market) could it? Do you think?
What about the people who have no choice? Who need to take whatever is offered? Do they deserve safe housing?
As for taking housing out of the bottom end of the market, what happens to those houses? How many are left vacant, as opposed to being sold for someone to live in? Because it looks to me like that would free up another house, so who moves into that house? What happened to their house? Eventually the chain of transactions will free up a rental.
But there's a basic problem in using "what ifs" with zero evidence to argue against fixing a known problem (in this case, that many poor people live in unhealthy homes because that's all they can afford and there is no incentive for unscrupulous landlords #notallLandlordsHonest to keep their dwellings up to standard): a hypothetical example is not an argument against resolving many real examples of a known problem.
Those people have a choice too. They may need to take whatever is offered, but they have a choice whether or not to actually take it.
That was exactly my point. If you are a renter, you can't live in it but if you own it, you can.
Is that not only hypocritical but also classist?
For someone to live in it they would have to own it or make it compliant. Both would result in it being remove from the bottom end of the rental market.
Yes, many poor people live in unhealthy homes because that's all they can afford. Why would you support a unscrupulous Government forcing them into a higher standard home, thus a potentially more expensive home, which clearly they can't afford? Shouldn't they be given the choice to decide for themselves?
The incentive for unscrupulous landlords to keep their dwellings up to standard is it justifies higher rent. There will, of course, be some that don't but I'm sure (because I know some) that some tenants prefer the trade off – ie lower standard, lower relating rent.
Well, it's that or homelessness. Love the way the dude who's claimed to be "more left than most" here starts by arguing "take it or leave it" is a choice when the item is a need, then claims that slumlords have an incentive to improve their property.
And McDonalds has an incentive to produce foie gras burgers, but for some reason finds more profit in selling millions of standardised burgers a day. 🙄
Not necessarily. They could and should be looking elsewhere. Who only looks at one home when in need of a home?
It is a choice.
Alternatively, what if it were the potential cost barrier in a higher standard/Government standard home preventing this need being fulfilled? Are you comfortable with that?
Am I comfortable with the possibility of your made up problem compared to the actual situation where rentals are so scarce landlords can demand "CV"s?
Totally.
If taking a shitty flat that will make you ill otherwise you will be homeless is "a choice" to you, that's fucked up. Capitalism is fucked up.
No made up problem. Merely the actual outcome of the Healthy Homes standards in a hot market.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/southland-times/127136141/healthy-homes-contributing-to-rent-rises-property-manager
Not all substandard homes/flats are necessarily considered "shitty"
And would have provided an alternative for those that wanted a cheaper option.
I know people that were totally happy with their lower standard but far cheaper home. They could have rented a home of higher standard but preferred to have the extra money in their own pockets as they were saving to buy a home. Others were just as happy to have the extra money to maintain a higher lifestyle.
Labour, via their Healthy Homes standards, robbed people of being able to make that choice.
It also robbed landlords of their power to be slumlords.
The number of people who choose to live in hovels is insignificant if one person is forced to "choose" between a hovel and outright homelessness.
Just because you chose to live in squalor doesn't mean everyone else has to.
I live in a lovely home. Elevated with all day sun. New kitchen, bathroom, laundry, with a large stacker door off the lounge leading to the main (I have two) elevated deck overlooking the lovely gully.
It just isn't at full Government standard.
But I'm very happy with it.
Zoom again.
The point is and it is not classist, authoritarian or whatever 'in' world you are trying to slip in, is that renters should have a range of rentals to choose from, at all price points, and ALL of them should meet healthy homes standards.
It matters not what homeowners live in, our tolerance is borne of being able to choose whether to upgrade or not.
Our rental stock should be healthy, we want healthy people and healthy children as healthy children learn more quickly and education is a key to having a set of different choices than their parents may have faced.
Setting out in the world as a child or a working person is made easier if our homes are a warm dry refuge for us to come home to.
If you are a renter, you can't live in it but if you own it, you can. Is that not only hypocritical but also classist?
See the discussion up above. Labours Healthy Homes standards robbed renters of the lower end choice.
So do you now agree renters should have a choice?
Healthy homes tend to come at a higher rental cost, with the higher rent robbing families of funding for food and bills such as heating costs. No good being in a higher standard home if it's overcrowded, or you can't afford to turn on the lights, heater, and buy decent and sufficient amounts of food. Or worse, left homeless because all the cheaper (before standards) rentals are now gone. Leaving some now living in garages or worse. It's counter productive to being healthy.
It's OK if you can afford it but high rents are a big issue for some. Hence, they deserve the right to be able to make their own choice. One sizes fits all solutions seldom works for everyone.
Sounds like your mates have been dropping poison in your ear. You seem very unclear about seasonal illnesses, the role of vaccines as a preventative and public health matters generally.
Why are you "xxxxx" new normal? Is that supposed to be a quote from somewhere? If so you have not linked.
Hospitals generally like people to be vaccinated against preventable illnesses and influenza vaccines have been around for many years. Many of those eligible by age or where it is desirable because of their health status do not get vaccinated for some reason (possibly cost?). Many workplaces either offer reimbursement if someone goes privately or have vaccination days en masse where the Drs come to the workplace.
https://www.influenza.org.nz/
It would be the very worst of situations to be unvaccinated for Covid and for influenza and get both together or close together.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/461974/easing-of-restrictions-to-begin-well-beyond-omicron-peak-ardern
Thanks always good to have a source, link or citation.
Where are you getting that from? This is highly unlikely for the general population.
Just because the traffic light system functions very much on a vaxxed unvaxxed basis regarding people you can put in a venue for example.
I need to look up the flu stats in the UK to see what the trend is. Whether to be more guarded against the flu or Covid.
Yes well I guess once bitten twice shy, if you recall, with the respiratory syncytial virus when the cases shot up when people were able to go to Aus last year. I think one of the Akl hospitals was very crowded with sick babies. I know Wellington also had its share.
It had been kept at bay with the lockdowns and closed borders.
I guess the same would apply to influenza as well. The injections that ae usually available in March/April are usually based on what is raging around in the last Northern hemisphere winter. So I guess they may be forecasting a the influenza virus coming in once the borders are opened up a bit more.
I wish people (incl PM!) would not call influenza the flu, especially when people with heavy colds also call their cold 'the flu'.
RSV is severe for children especially it overflowed Starship in short order. Worse than Covid for the young by a long shot. Not great when you're older I had a run in with it… took a while to get clear of it partially my own fault.
I need to look up the flu stats in the UK to see what the trend is. Whether to be more guarded against the flu or Covid.
One thing I have observed for a long time since Labour won the 2017 election, and which has crystallised over the last two weeks of the anti-vax protest, it the propensity of the rabid right to support and endorse literally any behaviour as long as it might damage a left wing government.
All values are thrown out the door and they will cosy up to any and all lunatics if they think it might score a point against the majority Labour government and Jacinda Ardern.
Knowing no shame, they will hop into bed with violent offenders, racists, p-addicts, anti-vaxxers, Winston Peters, conspiracy theorists, white supremacists, and gang members.
Previously all these people would have been the target of their relentless attacks, but if it is politically advantageous, they will court all comers without batting an eyelid.
Yes funny how people have found new 'buds' at the protest!
Searching for the elusive voters (the faded out politicians) and ways to beat the Government up with their reckons (everyone else) .
This is a government that encourages diversity. And who knows- maybe getting off the internet and discussing different views will increase tolerance
Flu season may or may not be as bad as feared, the Australians, about time they got something right ) have surmised that Influenza B Yamagata, on of the four strains targeted may have died out thanks to Covid and mostly mask wearing. Take that Winston, on the wrong side again.
https://twitter.com/wekatweets/status/1496375066187427841
That is appalling. She should take it further and the hospital should have perhaps offered to get her a health advocate …..they are around the hospital.
I thought CCDHB was taking a sterner approach after reading this.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/461954/covid-19-ill-protesters-urged-to-stay-away-from-hospital
Hard on the nurses, but management and the security team need a way better system than this.
Reporting that labs have already reached practical capacity (long before the 58,000 with surge to 70,000 threshold). Apparently this theoretical total was based on a misunderstanding (because so many tests are now positive, the 'batch' capacity they had when most results were negative – no longer works & therefore each sample must be processed separately)
Looks as though they'll only be processing tests for essential workers and people presenting to hospital.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/covid-19-omicron-outbreak-what-phase-3-of-response-plan-will-look-like/NP5Z4VAN2N2RCJRWX3ZF7YUXSI/?fbclid=IwAR26fimJX63nhsC54UV4sEUxk5JRrUkxqj_IodTHZp1k2hKgoaYWeWuFOdc.
Government needs to either change the testing requirements (currently at 5 days for close contacts, regardless of symptoms) or roll out RATs to a much greater extent (and to places other than the overwhelmed testing centres).
As one mum said on FB today, "No, I'm not going to put my kid who is already miserable with a temp and a sore throat into a hot car and wait 4 hours in a queue at a testing centre"
yikes, that's not good.
Do you know how this relates to publishing locations of interest. The ones in Otago seem a long time ago. The last one in Queenstown was 13/2/22, and Dunedin 16/2/22. Has this system broken down?
The publishing is only as good as the info given to the contact tracers by the Covid patients.
These dates have always had a bit of a lag. If covid sufferers are not scanning or keeping their own diary then it becomes a matter of tracking back, somehow. I understood that they are only tracking/contact tracing where outside places with a potential to spread outside the immediate environs so flights, bars, restaurants, schools not inter or intra families.
I don't think the system is broken, just adapted to the realities of this very infectious virus
I don't really get that. If Otago has continually rising cases (they doubled today compared to yesterday, today's new cases were 455 in SDHB), then why is the last location of interest in Dunedin nearly ten days old?
SDHB's last update on their website was from a similar time. So I have no idea where the outbreaks are other than the ones they started reporting a few weeks ago (Dndn, Queenstown).
Reply to Weka … as cases increase the MOH have said they will move away from identifying locations of interest. I can't remember where I read this but it was in the last few days – possibly RNZ or when i was googling "Phase 3 covid NZ". There was a piece on TV1 news too I think. Can't link sorry but will try and find a phrase.
thanks. I didn't think we were there yet.
Hi Weka, yes we are near where QLD was 2 weeks ago. They now have 6000 plus cases and 29 deaths. Their testing also got overwhelmed and at first they did not have enough rat tests and prices skyrocketed. Scomo famously said he wouldn't stop businesses making a profit. At least the worried well off can't corner the rat tests here. They will be used for essential workers.
It's been broken since Omicron arrived it moves to fast, even flights were getting notified 6-7 days after the fact.
A disabled person's view of the Wellington occupation.
"Never though have I and other New Zealanders seen or witnessed anything like the right-wing inspired, influenced and led occupation that has paralysed our nation's capital for almost a fortnight now. They have been supported by a range of people from alt right and far right causes whom, in their wake, have drawn a considerable number of otherwise previously apathetic or even some otherwise progressive people in with their nonsensical and dangerous anti-vaccination theories.
Despite the range of causes that have brought this otherwise disparate group of people together – leading to some perturbing and confusing messaging along the way – the one thing they seemingly want is freedom from the government's Covid-19 rules.
For disabled people like myself, this freedom would mean the end of reasonable restrictions which have saved potentially not only my life but the lives of thousands of disabled people and people with health conditions nationwide who would otherwise have succumbed to Covid-19."
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/on-the-inside/462126/a-disabled-person-s-view-of-the-wellington-occupation
Thankyou for that link Robert. As someone who has been disabled for a long time due to arthritic conditions, I can relate to the writer. It has got to the stage when I no longer watch the 6pm news due to the incandescent rage I feel every time I see the so-called protesters.
Cheers. Good link.
Annual migration of mandate breakers to Dunedin brings multiple super spreader events.
This years fresher flu is different and not a reason for pox parties.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/coronavirus/127866057/police-stop-covidpositive-party-as-cases-rise-rapidly-in-dunedin
https://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/bars-reminded-dancing-not-allowed
https://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/now-not-time-party-hundreds-gather-lookout