Last night as part of my preparation for the Epidemic Response Committee, I provided the Prime Minister with a complete picture of my activity outside my home during Alert Level 4.
That included the fact that on the first weekend of the Alert Level 4 lockdown I drove my family approximately 20 kilometres from our house in Dunedin to Doctor’s Point Beach for a walk.
This trip was a clear breach of the lockdown principles of staying local and not driving long distances to reach recreation spots.
As the Health Minister it’s my responsibly to not only follow the rules but set an example to other New Zealanders.
At a time when we are asking New Zealanders to make historic sacrifices I’ve let the team down. I’ve been an idiot, and I understand why people will be angry with me.
I’ve apologised to the Prime Minister for my lack of judgement and offered her my resignation.
In the interest of full disclosure, since the lockdown began I have also driven my family to a walking track approximately 2 kilometres from our house for a walk and gone for occasional runs, all of which were local and within the rules, and one bike ride which is already in the public domain.
“Yesterday evening the Health Minister advised me of his trip to a beach during the lockdown and offered his resignation,” Jacinda Ardern said.
“Under normal conditions I would sack the Minister of Health. What he did was wrong, and there are no excuses.
“But right now, my priority is our collective fight against COVID-19. We cannot afford massive disruption in the health sector or to our response. For that reason, and that reason alone, Dr Clark will maintain his role.
“But he does need to pay a price. He broke the rules.
“While he maintains his Health portfolio, I am stripping him of his role as Associate Finance Minister and demoting him to the bottom of our Cabinet rankings.
“I expect better, and so does New Zealand,” Jacinda Ardern said.
Ardern must be furious. Not only did Clark blatantly breach Level 4 rules and Ardern's requests (of the public), he seems to have sat on this since last Thursday. If he only informed Ardern last night as he states that's just about as bad as breaching the lockdown rules.
As Clark says, he’s been an idiot and has let the team down.
Hey Pete, what are your thoughts on Simon Bridges driving up and down the country and his apparent attitude that he's entitled to and he's going to keep doing it?
Well yes, that particular activity is indeed more likely to spread around whatever it is he's ailing from.
But in this particular thread I'm interested in exploring the difference in attitudes between one party that says 'shit, I screwed up and I've learned from it' and another party that says "I'm entitled and I'm gonna keep doing it'.
'shit, I screwed up and I've learned from it' – four days after the story started to come out requiring the Minister of Finance and Prime Minister to cover for him and make misleading if not false statements about his availability.
It was a series of screwups. In an interview on RNZ this morning Clark was still fudging around, saying he made "an error of judgement” – he made a series of errors of judgements – and saying after the bike ride blew up he “went back and discovered something else”.
Four days later he discovered his voice and told Ardern. That's put Clark's party in an embarrassing situation at time they need to be working on some big stuff.
Clark's competence as Minister of Health remains questionable.
Why don't you awnser Andre's question @ 1.1 Pete G?
In case you missed it:
… what are your thoughts on Simon Bridges driving up and down the country and his apparent attitude that he's entitled to and he's going to keep doing it?
And might I add:
Organising a photo op. in the middle of a supermarket with the store owner and a staffer and standing less than a metre away from both of them.
Reckon that's good role modelling? Don't you think as leader of the National Party he should apologise and offer to step down?
Lets face it mate even if you and your fellow trolls can’t:
If you apply the rules strictly to one senior politician then you have to apply the rules equally as strictly to all senior politicians.
"Clark's competence as Minister of Health remains questionable."
Which is as it should be and remains unchanged for all Ministers. Any Minister is of course also a politician, and needs to set a good example – and in that Clark failed, but there is nothing to indicate that his competence in the role of Minister of Health has changed due to his breaches of guidelines relating to travel. One of the areas where I think the government as a whole has excelled is in accepting scientific advice; the political dimension was placing saving of life and providing support to get through necessary lockdown – other countries have given greater political weight to "business as usual" Clark's mistake was essentially that he did not act as a responsible and good example. For that he is being rightly vilified.
I think there's an argument for key people to front up in person dealing with the pandemic. Some are doing that in Wellington, including Ardern, Robertson and a number of officials and police.
And despite some questions here I think that Leader of the Opposition is a key role, especially at a time of substantially increased Government powers.
But travelling back and forward from Tauranga to Wellington by car is an obvious risk and sends bad signals.
I think if Bridges deems his job in Wellington is important enough then he should have based himself in Wellington for the duration of the lockdown. That may have required one trip to get there.
As per Clark, when so many restrictions are put on all our lives, politicians must be seen to doing similar and not making their own rules.
But this is largely a diversion from today's topic started here. Minister of Health is one of the most critical jobs in the country right now, or at least it should be. Bridges has made himself look bad, Clark has made the Government look bad.
Do you think Clark's dumbfuckery (beach trip much more than the drive'n'bike episode) and the subsequent fallout has actually damaged the response to the crisis?
Personally I kinda think the actual result from a high profile person breaking the rules in a way that is very unlikely to increase risk or cause actual harm and can legitimately be viewed as trivial, but nonetheless getting slapped pretty hard for it, will likely have the actual result of reinforcing the idea that the rules are to be taken seriously.
All I see is one death, hospitals not at peak, good communication from the Govt, a competent leader, people making an effort, and a few whiners on the sidelines. Just my view.
Really have no sympathy let the heard sort it out, he was quite willing to let the old and sick die. I know you will all jump on me for saying this but I hope the Tory bastard dies a slow lingering death.
[You knew what you were saying was bad but you did it anyway!? If you want to keep your commenting privileges here, I would not make these kinds of utterly wrong judgement calls again, if I were you. No more warnings – Incognito]
Oh yes must not say nasty things about the tory bastards how many disabled deaths do they say they are responsible for, from memory about 130,000. Thousands living on the streets, shit wages and god help you if you have mental health problems but no don't call a spade a spade. just sit back and have another glass of wine and go tut tut.
You cannot hold the current leader of a party responsible for the decisions which were made by other PMs of that party.
Johnson has not been the PM for that long and a lot of his leadership hours have gone into Brexit. He was democratically elected. Now he has a double whammy with Covid-19, politically and personally.
Everyone is going to be affected with the repercussions of Covid-19.
No one likes to see the disabled, the homeless, the unwell or those not earning enough struggling.
Johnson is in ICU and you need to pull your head in and not blame him directly and reflect on your vile words.
I intend to not reply to you again over this topic.
Wow. Has he got any co-morbidities? How old is Boris?
I read an account of COVID-19 from a UK based friend of mine of Facebook and it sounds freaking awful. He is a fit young guy in his late thirties and was badly hit. His wife also caught it and she was fine though, almost aymptomatic. He says his kids didn't catch it but IMHO they probably did, but were totally asymptomatic.
Co-morbidities aside, once on a ventilator there is only a 30% chance of getting off it alive (just heard that from Chris Martenson update for today).
If he is lucky he will be given Vit C/Chaga mushroom/zinc/quercetin, but due to the vicious response any request will be met with this is unlikely. Could be that he has some kind of advance medical directive that might turn this situation for him, but otherwise it looks bad.
It is my understanding that when a person's heart rate, blood pressure and breathing are an issue, these are reasons for an ICU admission in regard to Covid-19.
I read an old study done in 1984 that Vitamin C assists with water on the lungs and that 80% who have pneumonia recover if they have as little as 250 mg per day. Quercetin is a good antihistamine.
I think the high death rate is once they are intubated(?) as in have the tube put down their throat, as that requires all sorts of sedation and catheters and renal support etc etc
Is Genghis Can't setting up Dr Fauci to be the fall guy? The narrative certainly seems to be getting set to paint Fauci as the deep state operative trying to underhandedly undermine the MAGAmoron Glorious Leader.
Hey Andre. Some of us have long since realised the futility of criticizing those on the right…its kind of like blaming a dog for barking or a cat for hunting. It's just who they are and what they do and an integral part of their nature.
The last National MP who could legitimately claim a functioning moral compass was Waring.
Simon is a special case, really special, and his unfortunate deficits are for his party to manage.
Those on the left should, perhaps, show that we expect a higher standard from our elected representatives. Especially those who are at the forefront of a crisis.
While I'm of the view that Clark's drive'n'bike ride was in a broad grey area, his newly disclosed beach trip is clearly outside of guidelines. He has properly offered to resign, and the Prime Minister had made a measured response to that offer.
I get it that you want his head on a pike and are disappointed that hasn't happened, but it looks to me like your view is grossly distorted by your personal circumstances.
Go ahead and give up on the lot of them, if you sit down and honestly consider how things change under different governments in the circumstances and timeframes those different governments operate under and reach the conclusion that there genuinely is no difference.
But from my perspective, there is a clear difference in outcomes even while I'm disappointed in the glacial pace of progress. So my opinion is extremely low of those who do give up and then spend their time trying to undermine those who do have their hearts in the right place and are trying to do worthwhile things, however ineffectually.
No sympathy for Clark from me. Anyone can stuff up, but Politics 101 says you get in front of it, fess up, minimise the damage. The bike ride – mistake, minor story, finished. But that was the time to come clean about anything else. He didn't. That's incompetence.
So the PM has basically sacked him on a suspended sentence. Good.
"Clearly, New Zealand has gone quickly – but how early have we gone in comparison with other countries? Newsroom has compared New Zealand's response to that of six other countries that are similar in size, population, culture or region."
Yes Pat. A very interesting analysis. A must read. Seems to show NZ did the right thing and has the strongest case therefore for emerging post Level 4 into "normality."
Shame they didn't present the numbers in terms of per 1000 or some such. Raw numbers don't mean too much when populations and population density are so varied.
Yes, that's bizarre. All their graphs are raw numbers, so obviously NZ with its tiny population is going to be lower than everyone else, and obviously that doesn't mean anything other than that we have a small population. The cases and deaths per mil population in Pat's worldometer link is the relevant comparison figure.
not obvious at all…the tracking is from initial infection and its growth pattern….population size is only relevant in that analysis in the ultimate total numbers not r nought
That would be true if there were equal numbers of infection starting points in each country. But higher populations are generally correlated with higher numbers of travellers and therefore higher numbers of starting points brought in from outside.
the initial infection starts at one..or possibly a small cluster (flight or ship)…its path once identified is the critical factor…that may be impacted by pop density or lifestyle factors but not population size.
our initial detected infection was a single individual….as was the case in other countries. Now whether there were other undetected cases is likely however the data projects the pattern of growth from that point and it is the pattern that is key.
About half of our cases (I don’t have the exact numbers at hand) was brought into the country. The other half is close contacts. Only 2% appears to be community spread. With the number of travellers dropping off, the growth was highly likely to level off too.
true enough and also likely the case for other countries….but what measures countries put in place are the main differential factor, certainly in similar environments
Yeah that's fair. And Sweden and Aus have such different patterns that even dividing them by the relevant proportion would still have them significantly higher – and worsening – than NZ.
Especially if you take them as all charts should be taken – we're "roughly the same as" Singapore, rather than succumbing to the urge to read it as an actual scorecard that says "we're doing better than everyone". All things considered, we're handling it a bit better than most (touch wood). Good on the govt.
They do have a number per million so you can compare. Also some such as the uk and Sweden are only testing those in hospital. This means they are grossly under reporting. Looking at number of deaths gives a better comparison and idea of numbers.
The link Pat provided https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/ has a table that can sorted by population factor. It's an excellent resource – one I've been watching for a while now.
Shortages of ventilators get the publicity. But putting someone on a ventilator requires a hefty supply of some heavy-duty substances and those are running short too. But there's been less attention to boosting the supply and cranking up the production might be even more difficult.
A great summary Macro. Yet his recent approval rating of his handling of Covid is up at about 47% and disapproval about 37%. (Don't remember where I read that.)
Pretty sure that is an outlying poll ianmac. While there was a little softening in disapproval after he belatedly changed tack from complete denial to some acceptance of danger facing the country that is slowly wearing off as the daily mismanagement of the crisis continues. It probaly also coincided with the final approval of the $1T “rescue” package
I think the poll you might be remembering is this one
This was the IBD/TIPP poll which gave him a 48% approval as opposed to a 44% disapproval rating. However, if you have a look at the myriad of polls run across the US on that question you can see that in almost all cases his disapproval rating is higher than his approval.
The running average of approval/disapproval by fivethirtyeight has him still at around 50% disapproval – the most favourable of his "presidency" but there are signs of growing disapproval in recent days. The running average takes a few days to reflect this trend.
When the virus final hits the states with predominant MAGAT* support I think even the most fervent Trumpkin will begin to have doubts.
I did see a funny reply on Twitter, that Bridges has slow internet coz he asked for it to be split into smaller increments, to keep it under the threshold.
I also use some spray on shopping that arrives in my flat – usually in paper bags that have not been used before. I leave most of it untouched for several hours, or put things that need to go in the fridge in bags I already have.
The virus does weaken over time, and most of it dies after a few hours. It can last on plastic and stainless steel up to 2-3 days.
I wash my hands a lot and wipe down stuff that can easily be wiped – but I think leaving things untouched for several hours, overnight, or for days (depending on what it is) is probably the way to go.
In case anyone else was wondering why the proportion of probable to confirmed cases rose significantly in recent days, it's because they have changed definitions and testing criteria.
If you're in a bubble with someone that's infected and you start showing symptoms, you're now unlikely to be tested and you're automatically listed as probable and basically considered confirmed for the purposes of follow-up and treatment.
Let's acknowledge it. If the Democratic Party had decided to anoint Sanders as the 'electable' one after the Nevada caucus, he would now have just as commanding a lead in delegates as Biden currently enjoys. 'Electability', or otherwise, was never an inherent attribute of the candidates themselves, it was a narrative constructed about them by people with agendas. In the case of the establishment Democratic Party, that agenda was to protect their existing wealth and future income streams from corporate donors against the threat of the Sanders policy programme. And now it all unravels as Trump's approval ratings increase (like all 'wartime' leaders) and Biden's manifest unfitness for the job becomes clear. Average bloke Joe Rogan with an extremely popular podcast now says he can't support Biden and would vote for Trump.The Democratic Party responds by blaming everyone other than themselves. Krystal and Sagar discuss here. Can you ever trust affluent, socially liberal centrists to do the right thing?
1.) Could you provide some evidence to back up your contention that Joe Rogan is a "racist misogynist"?
2.) Quoting Bernie out of context like "Paulina" has done is to grotesquely misrepresent him. "Paulina" sounds very like another liar, Elizabeth Warren.
Joe Rogans not a racist or a misogynist. You just disagree with him so you label him as such. He actually pretty good and has destroyed far more conservatives than he has liberals and socialists.
I'm sick of politicals using out of context messages to label people things. The left is as bad as the right on this.
Jacinda’s Easter Bunny’s essential occupation status has made a number of overseas media outlets. The comments section in one of the US ones was so full of praise for her. How they envy our good fortune.
A touch of brilliance from her to have a little bit of humour at this time.
I note that the National Party is going to absolutely do their best/worst to get elected….I believe DPF's April fools "joke" wasn't – simply a trial run of blatant lying targeting identified groups as a trial run for the election. I believe "third rail" dirty politics will be active in the election – big time.
The National Party has lots of money to spend on the election ( CCP donations? ). I see two "fluff" articles in The Guardian one written by Bridges ans the other by what appears to be a fawning sycophant of the National Party where among other things we get told that Labour and National are both like the US Democrat Party among many other bizarre assertions . Now I do not believe this was at the The Guardian's initiative and I am disappointed the articles were not marked as paid advertorials. A National Party happy to throw money buying space in a nominally left publication to try sow confusion and disinformation is a measure of how far they will go.
Then you have the National Party's media boosters – the Tova's , Hosk's Garner's and all yodeling "gotcha" every few minutes while they pretend ignorance of and have no interest of the garbage that the National Party gets up to.
Despite the fact that the borders to NZ should have been closed weeks ago, if for no reason other than that this virus was extremely unusual and puzzling to virologists ,Jacinda is still "thinking" about implementing quarantine at the border.
On http://www.20min.ch today there is an article saying that a cat and a tiger in the Broncs zoo , New York , have become infected with Covid 19…
“Thinking” doesn’t mean flicking a coin ad nauseam but collecting information, considering options and consequences, making decisions that are evidence-based, planning & preparing, et cetera.
I mean, from my understanding of applying the precautionary principle, and especially given the apparent seriousness of covid, shouldn't that be the question?
Depends on what the “it” is. From where I’m sitting and from what I know, border control has to tighten if and when we go down to a lower Alert Level and attempt to some level of ‘normalisation’. Otherwise, it would be like mopping up water off the floor while the tap is still running. The Devil is in the detail, as always. Jumping up & down demanding “just DO IT!” is not helpful.
the logistics of housing, feeding and monitoring thousands of people, rolling numbers over time. Not saying it can't be done, but it's not a small thing either. eg if the police do the monitoring, they will have to be taken off other duties.
Last time I looked we were quarantining anyone coming in with symptoms. Non-symptomatic people with appropriate self-isolation plans were checked and allowed to self-isolate. From memory the ratio was something like 1500 to 4,000 (someone can check that).
So make the logistics fit capacity? Limiting inbound flights would achieve that. With "half the world" in lock-down, why or how are people still flying anyway?
I would have stopped all incoming flights at the beginning and been done with it. Stuck in Azerbaijan? k.
Hmm I guess there are maybe some folks (quite a few) who are kinda glad I'm not NZs dictator in charge or some such 🙂
Arden just said there were tens of thousands of NZers travelling overseas at the time they started putting restrictions on the border.
The govt has an obligation to NZ citizens and residents, they can't just lock people out without a very good reason. A good reason might be an active epidemic that was killing lots of people here where there was no good way to prevent people coming in from not making that worse. Putting in a three tier system for Kiwis coming home seems entirely reasonable given the overall elimination strategy, and given they're increasing stringency over time as they are able to.
Bloomfield has just said that around half of the new cases are coming from existing clusters, and that not many are coming from new arrivals. Looks like the number of border cases has dropped a lot.
Bloomfield has just said that around half of the new cases are coming from existing clusters, and that not many are coming from new arrivals. Looks like the number of border cases has dropped a lot.
That’s good news. It is the community spread that we need to watch.
That's just silly. There are hundreds of thousands of people all around the world who were stuck because of the speed of developments overtoo their ability to move. They couldn't just jump on the nearest flight to getback 'home.' In NZ there were two hundred thousand foreign tourists, and another four hundred thousand temporary workers who weren't at 'home'. If their countries did what you suggested, they would be stuck here presenting an enormous potential health problem, let alone being exceptionally cruel. There aren't any easy answers.It's far better for all people 'stuck' in places like Azerbaijan or New Zealand to get back to their real 'homes' in a safe and humane way.
There are hundreds of thousands of people all around the world who were stuck because of the speed of developments overtoo their ability to move
uh-huh. And?
Sorry. But my sympathies wouldn't really have been lying with some tens of thousands of people from NZ who were able to hob nob around the world – many or most of whom would have had ways and means – I'm sure they'd have been fine. And if any needed consular assistance or whatever, then fine – such assistance could have been provided.
As for thousands here from other countries, they could have left or stayed according to their preference and their country's policy around inbound flights. (Don’t quite get your health problem angle.)
Meanwhile, tens of thousands of people with no ways or means were on the streets right here in NZ with no home to go to.
So…tens of thousands extending their stay abroad so that a virus (or further instances of) wasn't introduced into the country, versus tens of thousands right here in dire need of shelter and protection from a virus. Hmm. Hard one.
Those abroad could have come back in dribs and drabs (availability of seats means tested perhaps?) in line with border capabilities set around quarantine measures.
btw – Wonder how many PMC types took last minute flights out of NZ just to avoid lockdown? I bet there's a few. Which is fine. But quarantine rules "since forever" have been that you can leave a quarantined area whenever you want and at the drop of a hat. Re-entering? Not so willy-nilly on that front, aye?
Well Janet you might be cleverer than Jacinda but have a look on Newsroom where they chart NZ success compared to that of similar sized countries. Even so easy to read graphs.
If NZ brings in compulsory quarantining,it will have to be done more carefully than here in Australia, which brought in compulsory quarantining for all people flying in to international airports 10 days or so ago. (but not for Queensland residents driving acrossthe border from NSW where there is definite evidence of community transmission – just 'self-isolation for 2 weeks'. My partner and I are in the 4th day of a compulsory quarantining in a Brisbane hotel after flying in from Auckland last Friday with 20 others (half kiwis, half Aussies). Our 'home' is a nearby boat. We were crammed into a bus from the airport sitting close together within the 1.5m Aussie physical distancing rules. All OK since in the hotel, but it is not set up for self-contained living. That means that although we have been quarantined, we are still exposed to doubtful food and supplies from outside which is dropped outside our door. We clean what we can, but how do we know who has been handling it? We could be infected ourselves. Also, anecdotal reports about young quarantiners having parties in their hotel corridors and even waiters serving glasses of wine (in Sydney). None of these issues are insurmountable, but it does mean that just switching over to blanket quarantining isn't easy. Some proper planning has to go into it.
Some people are being put up in 5 star hotels at the expense of the Government. Most of these rooms will not have anything but a coffee maker/hot water jug.
If NZ does the same for international arrivals, they should put them up in serviced apartments that have a small kitchenette.
Very good point, Indiana. Seld-contained motels with kitchenettes are far better and a lot cheaper than the sort of useless 5 star swanky hotels like the one that we arein. The quarantining must go both ways if ALL incoming passenegrs are to be quarantined, not just those withsymptoms or do not have prope self-isoation plans as is the current policy in NZ. if you can cook yourself you can order stuff from Countdown or whoever and ake sure you can clean what you order and not get infected.Also, the quarantining must be policed (with kindness – we are not criminals!) otherwise it will be a farce.
Hotels are probably much easier to manage logistically, but the meals thing is really important, including for families with kids. Can't live on toast and coffee for very long.
3 meals a day provided. Pretty crappy, but we won't starve. The point is we don't know who is preparing it – looks like it has been contracted out to a 'cheap' caterer. If it wasn't for the circumstances, we wouldn't think about it, but as we can't see or talk to the caterers or trust them to be virus free, we are basically sitting ducks!
The hotels that are offering quarantine faciities for the different state governments are closed to other guests so everything is closed down including their own kitchens. We haven't seen anyone since we got into the room. Can't get out or open the window. The food is left in bags outside the door and we have to wait for 10 seconds before retrieving them. We are not complaining, just emphasising that these circumstances are exceptional and everyone around the world, especially those in charge, are on a steep learning curve, so a bit of tolerance needed if things aren't perfect from the start.
"…these circumstances are exceptional and everyone around the world, especially those in charge, are on a steep learning curve, so a bit of tolerance needed if things aren't perfect from the start."
Spain, which has the biggest cluster of COVID-19 infections outside the U.S., will introduce universal basic income “as soon as possible” as part of its efforts to combat the economic effects of coronavirus, Economy Minister Nadia Calvino said on Sunday. Critically, the scheme is expected to be rolled out indefinitely.
so if spain feels that this is what is needed, so its good. As in germany where the government is picking up large parts of pay cheque by letting companies put people on Kurzarbeit aka short work (20hr) so that they keep staff and have their staff ready for when the country goes back to normal.
Three National MPs physically travelled to Wellington for their committee meeting today. Shane Reti from Northland, Louise Upston from Taupo and Simon Bridges from Tauranga.
Jesus, if this isn't flat out abuse of the wage subsidy scheme. Imagine being one of the only businesses allowed to still operate and you pretend you're on hard times.
Talk about diversions, we have a contributor wishing someone would die. Now our PM didn't have the foresight to Ask her Min of Health if there were any other instances of poor decision making, our Min of Health kept from the PM that he went on another trip as it wasn't evident to him until he reviewed his actions (my words) and we get what some National MP's have done. Take ownership of flaws/screw ups.
What many here IMO don't understand. People Vote for our PM, NOT Labour, People Vote for National NOT Simon Bridges.
"Now our PM didn't have the foresight to Ask her Min of Health if there were any other instances of poor decision making …"
Pretty sure that's exactly what she asked him and why he fessed up. In these situations its normal to ask if there are any other similar instances and also to ask for the Ministerial diary to be checked.
When he was asked by the PM when the bike ride emerged (I take it he was questioned ) this didn't trigger any recollection of his actions over the last week. Not having any idea what an MP/Minister includes in their diary, but I wouldn't think that such a trip would be included into his diary (as it was family related). Most of us know what the rules are and I gather all (But a few idiots/privileged) when in doubt take the conservative (I know many here don't like this term 😱) approach. i.e. when in doubt … don't – The ramification are too great.
The trip to the beach wouldn't have been in the diary, H, but hours put aside for personal matters would have been noted. That is, it wouldn't say what he did, just that he was off the clock for x number of hours. My presumption is that he was asked to fill in the blanks and when he thought back through his movements he realised he'd done more than just go out on the bike. At least he had the guts to be honest, and to tender his resignation. Plenty would have tried to bluff it out.
The Supreme Court’s Republican majority, in a case that is literally titled Republican National Committee v. Democratic National Committee, handed down a decision that will effectively disenfranchise tens of thousands of Wisconsin voters. It did so at the urging of the GOP.
The case arises out of Wisconsin’s decision to hold its spring election during the coronavirus pandemic, even as nearly a dozen other states have chosen to postpone similar elections in order to protect the safety of voters. Democrats hoped to defend a lower court order that allowed absentee ballots to be counted so long as they arrived at the designated polling place by April 13, an extension granted by a judge to account for the brewing coronavirus-sparked chaos on Election Day, April 7. Republicans successfully asked the Court to require these ballots to be postmarked by April 7.
All five of the Court’s Republicans voted for the Republican Party’s position. All four of the Court’s Democrats voted for the Democratic Party’s position.
This decision has far reaching implications for the forthcoming Election in November which could well be held under similar conditions as the current State Election in Wisconsin. Furthermore the current election includes election of a State Supreme Court appointment. The importance of this is further explained in the article here:
It’s also worth noting that, if Wisconsin had free and fair elections to choose its state lawmakers, Evers would most likely have been able to work with a Democratic legislature to ensure that Tuesday’s election would be conducted fairly. In 2018, 54 percent of voters chose a Democratic candidate for the state Assembly. But Republicans have so completely gerrymandered the state that they prevailed in 63 of the state’s 99 Assembly races.
There is far more at stake in Wisconsin, moreover, than one state Supreme Court seat. Wisconsin could be the pivotal swing state that decides the 2020 presidential election. The question of whether Donald Trump or Joe Biden occupies the White House next year could easily be determined by which man receives Wisconsin’s electoral votes.
I had been thinking that cleaning grocery items with bleach was going too far with shopping caution. It's enough of a juggling act getting it all from the trolley to car and home without the frozen or chilled stuff overheating and getting a weird consistency. Really rethinking that tonight.
Kids (finally) settled down, I wasn't up to much thinking so went on YouTube. A new episode of an old favourite: WTFIWWY. Which does mock people for clicks; yes, but they often fully deserve the derision, and there is a rule against covering stupidity that results in injury to others. But it didn't prove much respite against the pecking of the Crow this time.
The show's a week out of date by the time it gets out of Patron exclusivity, but not often addressing serious current issues, so that doesn't matter much to me. The toilet-seat lickers were bad enough, but this guy!
Warning – you may feel a strong desire to claw your own eyes out rather than view this:
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 ...
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 New Zealand Herald reports – Stats NZ has offered a voluntary redundancy scheme to all of its workers as a way to give staff some control over their “future” amidst widespread job losses in the public sector. In an update to staff this morning, seen by the Herald, Statistics New Zealand ...
On Werewolf/Scoop, I usually do two long form political columns a week. From now on, there will be an extra column each week about music and movies. But first, some late-breaking political events:The rise in unemployment numbers for the March quarter was bigger than expected – and especially sharp ...
David Farrar writes – The Herald reports: TVNZ says it is dealing with about 50 formal complaints over its coverage of the latest 1News-Verian political poll, with some viewers – as well as the Prime Minister and a former senior Labour MP – critical of the tone of the 6pm report. ...
Muriel Newman writes – When Meridian Energy was seeking resource consents for a West Coast hydro dam proposal in 2010, local Maori “strenuously” objected, claiming their mana was inextricably linked to ‘their’ river and could be damaged. After receiving a financial payment from the company, however, the Ngai Tahu ...
Alwyn Poole writes – “An SEP,’ he said, ‘is something that we can’t see, or don’t see, or our brain doesn’t let us see, because we think that it’s somebody else’s problem. That’s what SEP means. Somebody Else’s Problem. The brain just edits it out, it’s like a ...
Our trust in our political institutions is fast eroding, according to a Maxim Institute discussion paper, Shaky Foundations: Why our democracy needs trust. The paper – released today – raises concerns about declining trust in New Zealand’s political institutions and democratic processes, and the role that the overuse of Parliamentary urgency ...
This article was prepared for publication yesterday. More ministerial announcements have been posted on the government’s official website since it was written. We will report on these later today …. Buzz from the BeehiveThere we were, thinking the environment is in trouble, when along came Jones. Shane Jones. ...
New Zealand now has the fourth most depressed construction sector in the world behind China, Qatar and Hong Kong. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 8:46am on Thursday, May 2:The Lead: ...
Hi,I am just going to state something very obvious: American police are fucking crazy.That was a photo gracing the New York Times this morning, showing New York City police “entering Columbia University last night after receiving a request from the school.”Apparently in America, protesting the deaths of tens of thousands ...
Winston Peters’ much anticipated foreign policy speech last night was a work of two halves. Much of it was a standard “boilerplate” Foreign Ministry overview of the state of the world. There was some hardening up of rhetoric with talk of “benign” becoming “malign” and old truths giving way to ...
Graham Adams assesses the fallout of the Cass Review — The press release last Thursday from the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls didn’t make the mainstream news in New Zealand but it really should have. The startling title of Reem Alsalem’s statement — “Implementation of ‘Cass ...
This open-for-business, under-new-management cliché-pockmarked government of Christopher Luxon is not the thing of beauty he imagines it to be. It is not the powerful expression of the will of the people that he asserts it to be. It is not a soaring eagle, it is a malodorous vulture. This newest poll should make ...
The latest labour market statistics, showing a rise in unemployment. There are now 134,000 unemployed - 14,000 more than when the National government took office. Which is I guess what happens when the Reserve Bank causes a recession in an effort to Keep Wages Low. The previous government saw a ...
Three opinion polls have been released in the last two days, all showing that the new government is failing to hold their popular support. The usual honeymoon experienced during the first year of a first term government is entirely absent. The political mood is still gloomy and discontented, mainly due ...
National's Finance Minister once met a poor person.A scornful interview with National's finance guru who knows next to nothing about economics or people.There might have been something a bit familiar if that was the headline I’d gone with today. It would of course have been in tribute to the article ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – Throughout the pandemic, the new Vice-Chancellor-of-Otago-University-on-$629,000 per annum-Can-you-believe-it-and-Former-Finance-Minister Grant Robertson repeated the mantra over and over that he saved “lives and livelihoods”.As we update how this claim is faring over the course of time, the facts are increasingly speaking differently. NZ ...
Chris Trotter writes – IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in acknowledgement of electoral victory: “We’ll govern for all New Zealanders.” On the face of it, the pledge is a strange one. Why would any political leader govern in ways that advantaged the huge ...
Bryce Edwards writes – The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill ...
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 10:06am on Wednesday, May 1:The Lead: Business confidence fell across the board in April, falling in some areas to levels last seen during the lockdowns because of a collapse in ...
Over the past 36 hours, Christopher Luxon has been dong his best to portray the centre-right’s plummeting poll numbers as a mark of virtue. Allegedly, the negative verdicts are the result of hard economic times, and of a government bravely set out on a perilous rescue mission from which not ...
Auckland Transport have started rolling out new HOP card readers around the network and over the next three months, all of them on buses, at train stations and ferry wharves will be replaced. The change itself is not that remarkable, with the new readers looking similar to what is already ...
Completed reads for April: The Difference Engine, by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling Carnival of Saints, by George Herman The Snow Spider, by Jenny Nimmo Emlyn’s Moon, by Jenny Nimmo The Chestnut Soldier, by Jenny Nimmo Death Comes As the End, by Agatha Christie Lord of the Flies, by ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Have a story to share about St Paul’s, but today just picturesPopular novels written at this desk by a young man who managed to bootstrap himself out of father’s imprisonment and his own young life in a workhouse Read more ...
The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill English, Simon Bridges, Steven Joyce, Roger Sowry, ...
Newsroom has a story today about National's (fortunately failed) effort to disestablish the newly-created Inspector-General of Defence. The creation of this agency was the key recommendation of the Inquiry into Operation Burnham, and a vital means of restoring credibility and social licence to an agency which had been caught lying ...
Holding On To The Present:The moment a political movement arises that attacks the whole idea of social progress, and announces its intention to wind back the hands of History’s clock, then democracy, along with its unwritten rules, is in mortal danger.IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in ...
Stuck In The Middle With You:As Christopher Luxon feels the hot breath of Act’s and NZ First’s extremists on the back of his neck and, as he reckons with the damage their policies are already inflicting upon a country he’s described as “fragile”, is there not some merit in reaching out ...
The unpopular coalition government is currently rushing to repeal section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act. The clause is Oranga Tamariki's Treaty clause, and was inserted after its systematic stealing of Māori children became a public scandal and resulted in physical resistance to further abductions. The clause created clear obligations ...
Buzz from the Beehive The government’s official website – which Point of Order monitors daily – not for the first time has nothing much to say today about political happenings that are grabbing media headlines. It makes no mention of the latest 1News-Verian poll, for example. This shows National down ...
It Takes A Train To Cry:Surely, there is nothing lonelier in all this world than the long wail of a distant steam locomotive on a cold Winter’s night.AS A CHILD, I would lie awake in my grandfather’s house and listen to the traffic. The big wooden house was only a ...
Packing A Punch: The election of the present government, including in its ranks politicians dedicated to reasserting the rights of the legislature in shaping and determining the future of Māori and Pakeha in New Zealand, should have alerted the judiciary – including its anomalous appendage, the Waitangi Tribunal – that its ...
Dead Woman Walking: New Zealand’s media industry had been moving steadily towards disaster for all the years Melissa Lee had been National’s media and communications policy spokesperson, and yet, when the crisis finally broke, on her watch, she had nothing intelligent to offer. Christopher Luxon is a patient man - but he’s not ...
Chris Trotter writes – New Zealand politics is remarkably easy-going: dangerously so, one might even say. With the notable exception of John Key’s flat ruling-out of the NZ First Party in 2008, all parties capable of clearing MMP’s five-percent threshold, or winning one or more electorate seats, tend ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is ...
Luxon will no doubt put a brave face on it, but there is no escaping the pressure this latest poll will put on him and the government. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political ...
This is a re-post from The Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler In the wake of any unusual weather event, someone inevitably asks, “Did climate change cause this?” In the most literal sense, that answer is almost always no. Climate change is never the sole cause of hurricanes, heat waves, droughts, or ...
Something odd happened yesterday, and I’d love to know if there’s more to it. If there was something which preempted what happened, or if it was simply a throwaway line in response to a journalist.Yesterday David Seymour was asked at a press conference what the process would be if the ...
Hi,From time to time, I want to bring Webworm into the real world. We did it last year with the Jurassic Park event in New Zealand — which was a lot of fun!And so on Saturday May 11th, in Los Angeles, I am hosting a lil’ Webworm pop-up! I’ve been ...
Education Minister Erica Standford yesterday unveiled a fundamental reform of the way our school pupils are taught. She would not exactly say so, but she is all but dismantling the so-called “inquiry” “feel good” method of teaching, which has ruled in our classrooms since a major review of the New ...
Exactly where are we seriously going with this government and its policies? That is, apart from following what may as well be a Truss-Lite approach on the purported economic “plan“, and Victorian-era regression when it comes to social policy.Oh it’ll work this time of course, we’re basically assured, “the ...
Hey Uncle Dave, When the Poms joined the EEC, I wasn't one of those defeatists who said, Well, that’s it for the dairy job. And I was right, eh? The Chinese can’t get enough of our milk powder and eventually, the Poms came to their senses and backed up the ute ...
Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is higher than for any other mayor ...
Buzz from the Beehive Pharmac has been given a financial transfusion and a new chair to oversee its spending in the pharmaceutical business. Associate Health Minister David Seymour described the funding for Pharmac as “its largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff”. ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its ...
TL;DR: Here’s my top 10 ‘pick ‘n’ mix of links to news, analysis and opinion articles as of 10:10am on Monday, April 29:Scoop: The children's ward at Rotorua Hospital will be missing a third of its beds as winter hits because Te Whatu Ora halted an upgrade partway through to ...
span class=”dropcap”>As hideous as David Seymour can be, it is worth keeping in mind occasionally that there are even worse political figures (and regimes) out there. Iran for instance, is about to execute the country’s leading hip hop musician Toomaj Salehi, for writing and performing raps that “corrupt” the nation’s ...
Yesterday marked 10 years since the first electric train carried passengers in Auckland so it’s a good time to look back at it and the impact it has had. A brief history The first proposals for rail electrification in Auckland came in the 1920’s alongside the plans for earlier ...
Right now, in Aotearoa-NZ, our ‘animal spirits’ are darkening towards a winter of discontent, thanks at least partly to a chorus of negative comments and actions from the Government Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on ...
You make people evil to punish the paststuck inside a sequel with a rotating castThe following photos haven’t been generated with AI, or modified in any way. They are flesh and blood, human beings. On the left is Galatea Young, a young mum, and her daughter Fiadh who has Angelman ...
April has been a quiet month at A Phuulish Fellow. I have had an exceptionally good reading month, and a decently productive writing month – for original fiction, anyway – but not much has caught my eye that suggested a blog article. It has been vaguely frustrating, to be honest. ...
A listing of 31 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 21, 2024 thru Sat, April 27, 2024. Story of the week Anthropogenic climate change may be the ultimate shaggy dog story— but with a twist, because here ...
Hi,I spent about a year on Webworm reporting on an abusive megachurch called Arise, and it made me want to stab my eyes out with a fork.I don’t regret that reporting in 2022 and 2023 — I am proud of it — but it made me angry.Over three main stories ...
The new Victoria University Vice-Chancellor decided to have a forum at the university about free speech and academic freedom as it is obviously a topical issue, and the Government is looking at legislating some carrots or sticks for universities to uphold their obligations under the Education and Training Act. They ...
Do you remember when Melania Trump got caught out using a speech that sounded awfully like one Michelle Obama had given? Uncannily so.Well it turns out that Abraham Lincoln is to Winston Peters as Michelle was to Melania. With the ANZAC speech Uncle Winston gave at Gallipoli having much in ...
She was born 25 years ago today in North Shore hospital. Her eyes were closed tightly shut, her mouth was silently moving. The whole theatre was all quiet intensity as they marked her a 2 on the APGAR test. A one-minute eternity later, she was an 8. The universe was ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park in collaboration with members from our Skeptical Science team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is Antarctica gaining land ice? ...
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. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi, and Mema Paremata mō Tāmaki-Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, will travel to the Gold Coast to strengthen ties with Māori in Australia next week (15-21 April). The visit, in the lead-up to the 9th Australian National Kapa haka Festival, will be an opportunity for both ...
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 ...
The coalition Government will not proceed with the previous Government’s plans to regulate residential property managers, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I have written to the Chairperson of the Social Services and Community Committee to inform him that the Government does not intend to support the Residential Property Managers Bill ...
The Government has announced an independent review into the disability support system funded by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston says the review will look at what can be done to strengthen the long-term sustainability of Disability Support Services to provide disabled people and ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has attended the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva and outlined the Government’s plan to restore law and order. “Speaking to the United Nations Human Rights Council provided us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while responding to issues and ...
The Government and Rotorua Lakes Council are committed to working closely together to end the use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua. Associate Minister of Housing (Social Housing) Tama Potaka says the Government remains committed to ending the long-term use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua by the ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay heads overseas today for high-level trade talks in the Gulf region, and a key OECD meeting in Paris. Mr McClay will travel to Riyadh to meet with counterparts from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). “New Zealand’s goods and services exports to the Gulf region ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford has outlined six education priorities to deliver a world-leading education system that sets Kiwi kids up for future success. “I’m putting ambition, achievement and outcomes at the heart of our education system. I want every child to be inspired and engaged in their learning so they ...
The new NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) App is a secure ‘one stop shop’ to provide the services drivers need, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Digitising Government Minister Judith Collins say. “The NZTA App will enable an easier way for Kiwis to pay for Vehicle Registration and Road User Charges (RUC). ...
Whānau with tamariki growing up in emergency housing motels will be prioritised for social housing starting this week, says Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka. “Giving these whānau a better opportunity to build healthy stable lives for themselves and future generations is an essential part of the Government’s goal of reducing ...
Racing Minister Winston Peters has paid tribute to an icon of the industry with the recent passing of Dave O’Sullivan (OBE). “Our sympathies are with the O’Sullivan family with the sad news of Dave O’Sullivan’s recent passing,” Mr Peters says. “His contribution to racing, initially as a jockey and then ...
Assalaamu alaikum, greetings to you all. Eid Mubarak, everyone! I want to extend my warmest wishes to you and everyone celebrating this joyous occasion. It is a pleasure to be here. I have enjoyed Eid celebrations at Parliament before, but this is my first time joining you as the Minister ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced Pharmac’s largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff. “Access to medicines is a crucial part of many Kiwis’ lives. We’ve committed to a budget allocation of $1.774 billion over four years so Kiwis are ...
Hon Paula Bennett has been appointed as member and chair of the Pharmac board, Associate Health Minister David Seymour announced today. "Pharmac is a critical part of New Zealand's health system and plays a significant role in ensuring that Kiwis have the best possible access to medicines,” says Mr Seymour. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Siobhan O’Dean, Postdoctoral Research Associate, The Matilda Centre for Research in Mental Health and Substance Use, University of Sydney After several highly publicised alleged murders of women in Australia, the Albanese government this week pledged more than A$925 million over five years ...
Political parties have now fully disclosed the donations they received last year - with National getting more than double the cash of any other party. ...
A Pacific regionalism expert has called out New Zealand's Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters for withholding information from the public on AUKUS military pact. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Richard de Grijs, Professor of Astrophysics, Macquarie University Bruno Scramgnon/Pexels All systems are “go” for tonight’s launch of China’s next step in a carefully planned lunar exploration program. Placed on top of a powerful Long March 5 rocket, the Chang’e 6 ...
National returned a massive donation the day after a Newsroom story linked the donors to a property being investigated for operating unlawfully as a migrant workers’ hostel. The party’s 2023 donation filings, released on Friday, show it returned a $200,000 donation from Buen Holdings on August 23. That was the ...
Pacific Media Watch New Zealand has slumped to an unprecedented 19th place in the annual Reporters Without Borders World Press Freedom Index survey released today on World Press Freedom Day — May 3. This was a drop of six places from 13th last year when it slipped out of its ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Joshua Black, Political Historian and Administrator Officer, Australian Historical Association, Australian National University Australia has had its fair share of public record-keeping controversies in recent years. Some have been mere farce, as in the case of two formerly government-owned filing cabinets (containing ...
Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light (HWPL), a United Nations-affiliated organization dedicated to fostering peace through civilian-led initiatives, has issued a statement in response to the escalating conflict between Israel and Iran. ...
A poem by Tessa Keenan, from AUP New Poets 10. Mātou These days we are a photograph; one of a farm strewn with cows that used to be bright harakeke or swamp. The kids point at it and say the sun sits behind a smudge (left by someone at Christmas); ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan (Faber & Faber, $25)The masterful Irish writer ...
Marriage and civil union statistics record the number of marriages and civil unions registered in New Zealand each year, and divorce statistics record the number of divorces granted in New Zealand each year. Key facts Marriages and civil unions In ...
Marriage and civil union statistics record the number of marriages and civil unions registered in New Zealand each year, and divorce statistics record the number of divorces granted in New Zealand each year. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lennon Y.C. Chang, Associate Professor of Cyber Risk and Policy, Deakin University Taiwan stands out as a beacon of democracy, innovation and resilience in an increasingly autocratic region. But this is under growing threat. In recent years, China has used a variety ...
In this excerpt from her new memoir, Dame Susan Devoy remembers her turn as star contestant on the 2022 season of Celebrity Treasure Island. The most anxious time of every day was pre-elimination, when you knew this could be your final day on the show. I felt such contradictory emotions, ...
A week that began in triumph ended in an all-too-familiar disaster for the Green Party. Duncan Greive asks if there’s something in the mission that breaks its best and brightest. A long, strange week for the Green party began with a fantastic poll result. On one level this is hardly ...
By Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific journalist Vanuatu’s former prime minister and opposition MP Ishmael Kalsakau has stepped down — just two days after he confirmed he was the rightful opposition leader. Kalsakau, MP for Port Vila, confirmed to ABC’s Pacific Beat, and the Vanuatu Daily Post on Thursday that he ...
What’s to blame for the coalition’s choppy start? Six months in, and the mojo meter is in the doldrums. A new poll would put National out of power and sees its leader, Chris Luxon, sliding in popularity. How much is it about policy, how much coalition management and a perception ...
The striking report goes far beyond the proposed repeal of the Oranga Tamariki Act’s Treaty of Waitangi provision, and its impact should be felt far beyond the unique circumstances of the claim it addresses. Earlier this week, the Waitangi Tribunal released an interim report on the government’s proposed repeal of ...
The world has been experiencing a productivity slowdown, from which New Zealand has not been exempt. COVID-19 temporarily boosted labour productivity, but more recently, productivity has retreated. The overall trend since 2007 has been one of slow productivity ...
What’s more wasteful than spending $315k on syrup and machine maintenance? Trying to drum up a controversy about it.Cast your mind back to the pre-pandemic idylls of 2019. A “rat” was a disgusting rodent and not a self-administered plague test; the sixth Labour government was in power; and the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Fitz-Gibbon, Professor of Social Sciences, Faculty of Arts, Monash University, Monash University Ken stocker/Shutterstock In the wake of numerous killings of women allegedly by men’s violence in 2024, thousands of Australians have joined rallies across the country to demand action ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Henry Cutler, Professor and Director, Macquarie University Centre for the Health Economy, Macquarie University Oleg Ivanov IL/Shutterstock Waiting times for public hospital elective surgery have been in the news ahead of this year’s federal budget. That’s the type of non-emergency surgery ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Konstantine Panegyres, McKenzie Postdoctoral Fellow, Historical and Philosophical Studies, The University of Melbourne Amna Artist/Shutterstock One of the earliest descriptions of someone with cancer comes from the fourth century BC. Satyrus, tyrant of the city of Heracleia on the Black Sea, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Rose, Professor of Sustainable Future Transport, University of Sydney LanaElcova/Shutterstock Electric vehicles are often seen as the panacea to cutting emissions – and air pollution – from transport. Is this view correct? Yes – but only once uptake accelerates. Despite the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Giselle Natassia Woodley, Researcher and Phd Candidate, Edith Cowan University There is widespread agreement Australia needs to do better when it comes to gender-based violence. Anger and frustration at the numbers of women being killed saw national rallies over the weekend and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Graham, Lecturer in Economics, University of Sydney Mark and Anna Photography/Shutterstock As home ownership moves further out of reach for many Australians, “rentvesting” is being touted as a lifesaver. Rentvesting is the practice of renting one property to live ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sukhmani Khorana, Associate Professor, Faculty of Arts, Design and Architecture, UNSW Sydney Netflix The new season of Heartbreak High is garnering mixed reviews. Critics are writing about the racy story lines, comparing it to other coming-of-age series about teenage relationships and ...
Bob Carr intends to launch legal action against Winston Peters and Julie Anne Genter is facing a second allegation of bullying. Both sucked the air out of an announcement on education, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in ...
In 1995, Sally Clark went out on her own in a bold and unorthodox attempt to join an illustrious group of equestrian riders conquering the world. In the days of glovebox road maps, brick cell phones, and the hit song How Bizarre, Clark refused to follow Sir Mark Todd, Blyth ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ben Beaglehole, Senior Lecturer, Department of Psychological Medicine, University of Otago niphon/Getty Images The number of people accessing medication for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in Aotearoa New Zealand increased significantly between 2006 and 2022. But the disorder is still under-diagnosed and ...
To celebrate the start of New Zealand music month, we look back at the best local tuneage that managed to weasel its way into Hollywood productions. There’s nothing quite like the thrilling zap of recognition when New Zealand weasels its way into a glamorous Hollywood production. Crack open a Tui ...
People trust other people more than institutions. So how can the media gain that trust through journalists without losing what’s important about the institution? Anna Rawhiti-Connell reflects on two years of curating the news for The Bulletin.Amonth ago, armed cops descended on my neighbourhood as calls to “lock your ...
Opinion: PFAS – per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances – are a class of thousands of man-made chemicals used widely in everyday consumer items such as textiles, packaging, and cookware, popular for their water, grease and stain-repellent properties. However, the very properties that make PFAS so attractive to manufacturers are also what ...
NONFICTION 1 The Last Secret Agent by Pippa Latour & Jude Dobson (Allen & Unwin, $37.99)’ This is the hottest book in New Zealand, number one with a bullet in its first week, selling more than any overseas title, and demand is so huge that it’s already been reprinted. A ...
Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A,DIV,A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp'); Got a good quiz question?Send Newsroom your questions. The post Newsroom daily quiz, Friday 3 May appeared first on Newsroom. ...
A warning – suicide is discussed in this podcast New Zealand’s own long-running soap Shortland Street doesn’t hesitate to kill off its much-loved characters. But would TVNZ dare to kill off our favourite soap? That’s the fear as times get tough in television – even though it’s been pointed out ...
Essay: If the Crown harms children, how do you hold it accountable? Analysis by Aaron Smale in light of the Waitangi Tribunal court decision. The post The Crown versus Māori Children appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Asia Pacific Report A West Papuan resistance leader has condemned the United Nations role in allowing Indonesia to “integrate” the Melanesian Pacific region in what is claimed to be an “egregious act of inhumanity” on 1 May 1963. In an open letter to UN Secretary-General António Guterres, Organisasi Papua Merdeka-OPM ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra A key part of the Albanese government’s political strategy is to fill the news cycle with its presence and messaging. Ministers are deployed to the maximum, even when they’ve little to say. This week ...
Recent extreme weather events showed the importance of a well-functioning insurance system, says Commerce and Consumer Affairs minister Andrew Bayly. ...
By Jo Moir, RNZ News political editor, and Craig McCulloch, deputy political editor New Zealand’s Labour Party is demanding Winston Peters be stood down as Foreign Minister for opening up the government to legal action over his “totally unacceptable” attack on a prominent AUKUS critic. In an interview on RNZ’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christian Brakenridge, Postdoctoral research fellow at Swinburne University, Centre for Urban Transitions, Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute The Conversation, Gorodenkoff/Shutterstock People have a pretty intuitive sense of what is healthy – standing is better than sitting, exercise is great for overall ...
The Wellington-based Reserve Force soldier is now almost three years into his New Zealand Army career with 5th/7th Battalion, Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment. ...
"The Government needs to release the review immediately as this reckless approach to change risks disjointed decision making and creates more distress and uncertainty for staff," Fitzsimons said. ...
By Koroi Hawkins, RNZ Pacific editor Jeremiah Manele has been elected Prime Minister of Solomon Islands, polling 31 votes to 18 over rival candidate and former opposition leader Mathew Wale with one abstention. The final result of the election by secret ballot was announced by the Governor-General, Sir David Vunagi, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Priestley Habru, PhD candidate, public diplomacy, University of Adelaide Former foreign minister Jeremiah Manele has been elected the next prime minister of Solomon Islands, defeating the opposition leader, Matthew Wale, in a vote in parliament. The result is a mixed bag for ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Shaun Eaves, Senior Lecturer in Physical Geography, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington Jamey Stutz, CC BY-SA How often do mountains collapse, volcanoes erupt or ice sheets melt? For Earth scientists, these are important questions as we try ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael Flood, Professor of Sociology, Queensland University of Technology Shutterstock Most young adult men in Australia reject traditional ideas of masculinity that endorse aggression, stoicism and homophobia. Nonetheless, the ongoing influence of those ideas continues to harm men and the people ...
Statement from David Clark
Statement from the Prime Minister on Dr David Clark
Ardern must be furious. Not only did Clark blatantly breach Level 4 rules and Ardern's requests (of the public), he seems to have sat on this since last Thursday. If he only informed Ardern last night as he states that's just about as bad as breaching the lockdown rules.
As Clark says, he’s been an idiot and has let the team down.
Hey Pete, what are your thoughts on Simon Bridges driving up and down the country and his apparent attitude that he's entitled to and he's going to keep doing it?
For me his obvious electioneering in supermarkets is of more concern.
Well yes, that particular activity is indeed more likely to spread around whatever it is he's ailing from.
But in this particular thread I'm interested in exploring the difference in attitudes between one party that says 'shit, I screwed up and I've learned from it' and another party that says "I'm entitled and I'm gonna keep doing it'.
'shit, I screwed up and I've learned from it' – four days after the story started to come out requiring the Minister of Finance and Prime Minister to cover for him and make misleading if not false statements about his availability.
It was a series of screwups. In an interview on RNZ this morning Clark was still fudging around, saying he made "an error of judgement” – he made a series of errors of judgements – and saying after the bike ride blew up he “went back and discovered something else”.
Four days later he discovered his voice and told Ardern. That's put Clark's party in an embarrassing situation at time they need to be working on some big stuff.
Clark's competence as Minister of Health remains questionable.
I was meh about the bike ride but the 20 kms to the beach . Dumb fucker needs sacking when it's over.
“..fudging around..”
If you think that was fudge then I’m not asking you to do any baking for me.
Why don't you awnser Andre's question @ 1.1 Pete G?
In case you missed it:
And might I add:
Reckon that's good role modelling? Don't you think as leader of the National Party he should apologise and offer to step down?
Lets face it mate even if you and your fellow trolls can’t:
If you apply the rules strictly to one senior politician then you have to apply the rules equally as strictly to all senior politicians.
Before you pile in with troll accusations I suggest you read down the thread.
"Clark's competence as Minister of Health remains questionable."
Which is as it should be and remains unchanged for all Ministers. Any Minister is of course also a politician, and needs to set a good example – and in that Clark failed, but there is nothing to indicate that his competence in the role of Minister of Health has changed due to his breaches of guidelines relating to travel. One of the areas where I think the government as a whole has excelled is in accepting scientific advice; the political dimension was placing saving of life and providing support to get through necessary lockdown – other countries have given greater political weight to "business as usual" Clark's mistake was essentially that he did not act as a responsible and good example. For that he is being rightly vilified.
Is he in breach of his own Ministries advice?
Like this announcement from the National Party?
That's been covered here: Two Bubbles Bridges’ Big Day Out
I think there's an argument for key people to front up in person dealing with the pandemic. Some are doing that in Wellington, including Ardern, Robertson and a number of officials and police.
And despite some questions here I think that Leader of the Opposition is a key role, especially at a time of substantially increased Government powers.
But travelling back and forward from Tauranga to Wellington by car is an obvious risk and sends bad signals.
I think if Bridges deems his job in Wellington is important enough then he should have based himself in Wellington for the duration of the lockdown. That may have required one trip to get there.
As per Clark, when so many restrictions are put on all our lives, politicians must be seen to doing similar and not making their own rules.
But this is largely a diversion from today's topic started here. Minister of Health is one of the most critical jobs in the country right now, or at least it should be. Bridges has made himself look bad, Clark has made the Government look bad.
Do you think Clark's dumbfuckery (beach trip much more than the drive'n'bike episode) and the subsequent fallout has actually damaged the response to the crisis?
Personally I kinda think the actual result from a high profile person breaking the rules in a way that is very unlikely to increase risk or cause actual harm and can legitimately be viewed as trivial, but nonetheless getting slapped pretty hard for it, will likely have the actual result of reinforcing the idea that the rules are to be taken seriously.
Nice to see Pete George and the MSM finally got something at their level of comprehension.
Not nice to see it took Clark 4 days to comprehend what he has done and front up to the PM.
All I see is one death, hospitals not at peak, good communication from the Govt, a competent leader, people making an effort, and a few whiners on the sidelines. Just my view.
And a very reasonable and fact-based view it is, I Feel Love.
Just heard on RNZ Boris Johnson moved to ICU.
The awful thing with Covid-19 is that day 7-10 it can seriously affect the lungs.
Really have no sympathy let the heard sort it out, he was quite willing to let the old and sick die. I know you will all jump on me for saying this but I hope the Tory bastard dies a slow lingering death.
[You knew what you were saying was bad but you did it anyway!? If you want to keep your commenting privileges here, I would not make these kinds of utterly wrong judgement calls again, if I were you. No more warnings – Incognito]
I find your comment to be unacceptable and the last sentence to be inappropriate.
Herd and not heard. I am not the greatest speller either.
What an horrible thing to hope for. One of the more disgusting comments I have ever read on here.
Here is hoping you and your family never are on the receiving end of what you are so happy to hope happens to others.
Not others just HIM.
Your comments say far more about you than anything else.
Oh yes must not say nasty things about the tory bastards how many disabled deaths do they say they are responsible for, from memory about 130,000. Thousands living on the streets, shit wages and god help you if you have mental health problems but no don't call a spade a spade. just sit back and have another glass of wine and go tut tut.
Refer to my comment above..
What you said was personal and disgusting. Not just nasty or calling a ‘spade a spade’.
from your reply it seems you are still quiet ok with your comment. Perhaps you should reflex on that – because in no way was it acceptable.
You cannot hold the current leader of a party responsible for the decisions which were made by other PMs of that party.
Johnson has not been the PM for that long and a lot of his leadership hours have gone into Brexit. He was democratically elected. Now he has a double whammy with Covid-19, politically and personally.
Everyone is going to be affected with the repercussions of Covid-19.
No one likes to see the disabled, the homeless, the unwell or those not earning enough struggling.
Johnson is in ICU and you need to pull your head in and not blame him directly and reflect on your vile words.
I intend to not reply to you again over this topic.
See my Moderation note @ 12:19 PM.
I hope he recovers, learns from the experience and becomes less of a prick.
Boris Johnson has been moved to ICU.
Link please
Edit: Don’t worry I have it
https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2020/apr/06/coronavirus-live-news-boris-johnson-admitted-to-hospital-as-trump-again-touts-hydroxychloroquine
Boris Johnson moved to ICU, – The Independent
Wow. Has he got any co-morbidities? How old is Boris?
I read an account of COVID-19 from a UK based friend of mine of Facebook and it sounds freaking awful. He is a fit young guy in his late thirties and was badly hit. His wife also caught it and she was fine though, almost aymptomatic. He says his kids didn't catch it but IMHO they probably did, but were totally asymptomatic.
His mental age or his real age?
Co-morbidities aside, once on a ventilator there is only a 30% chance of getting off it alive (just heard that from Chris Martenson update for today).
If he is lucky he will be given Vit C/Chaga mushroom/zinc/quercetin, but due to the vicious response any request will be met with this is unlikely. Could be that he has some kind of advance medical directive that might turn this situation for him, but otherwise it looks bad.
Hes 55…and ICU dosnt necessarily mean ventilator as I understand it.
"BBC political correspondent Chris Mason said the prime minister was given oxygen late on Monday afternoon, before being taken to intensive care.
However, he has not been put on a ventilator."
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-52192604
yes just read that…though is 2 hours old….cant see anything newer
Yep, also latest news I found, too.
It is my understanding that when a person's heart rate, blood pressure and breathing are an issue, these are reasons for an ICU admission in regard to Covid-19.
I read an old study done in 1984 that Vitamin C assists with water on the lungs and that 80% who have pneumonia recover if they have as little as 250 mg per day. Quercetin is a good antihistamine.
RNZ just reported that he was conscious but on a ventilator.
I think the high death rate is once they are intubated(?) as in have the tube put down their throat, as that requires all sorts of sedation and catheters and renal support etc etc
Wow. Being on a ventilator is no small thing. It's literally 50/50 stuff for him right now if that's the case.
Apparently Dominic Raab looked white as a ghost when addressing the media. He of course will know more than us.
Can't help thinking Johnson has always underestimated this thing. Now he's got first hand experience of what it can do.
Is Genghis Can't setting up Dr Fauci to be the fall guy? The narrative certainly seems to be getting set to paint Fauci as the deep state operative trying to underhandedly undermine the MAGAmoron Glorious Leader.
https://www.salon.com/2020/04/06/are-trump-and-his-allies-setting-up-dr-fauci-as-the-pandemic-scapegoat/
When will Trump learn to work with people associated with the White House who know so much more than he does?
I saw what you raise in the link on Aljazeera TV on Sunday.
Fat chance of that!
What, and break a continuous 73 years of unrestrained narcissism reinforced by being encapsulated in a protective cocoon of paid suckups?
Hey Andre. Some of us have long since realised the futility of criticizing those on the right…its kind of like blaming a dog for barking or a cat for hunting. It's just who they are and what they do and an integral part of their nature.
The last National MP who could legitimately claim a functioning moral compass was Waring.
Simon is a special case, really special, and his unfortunate deficits are for his party to manage.
Those on the left should, perhaps, show that we expect a higher standard from our elected representatives. Especially those who are at the forefront of a crisis.
Or do we give up on the sorry lot of them?
While I'm of the view that Clark's drive'n'bike ride was in a broad grey area, his newly disclosed beach trip is clearly outside of guidelines. He has properly offered to resign, and the Prime Minister had made a measured response to that offer.
I get it that you want his head on a pike and are disappointed that hasn't happened, but it looks to me like your view is grossly distorted by your personal circumstances.
Go ahead and give up on the lot of them, if you sit down and honestly consider how things change under different governments in the circumstances and timeframes those different governments operate under and reach the conclusion that there genuinely is no difference.
But from my perspective, there is a clear difference in outcomes even while I'm disappointed in the glacial pace of progress. So my opinion is extremely low of those who do give up and then spend their time trying to undermine those who do have their hearts in the right place and are trying to do worthwhile things, however ineffectually.
No sympathy for Clark from me. Anyone can stuff up, but Politics 101 says you get in front of it, fess up, minimise the damage. The bike ride – mistake, minor story, finished. But that was the time to come clean about anything else. He didn't. That's incompetence.
So the PM has basically sacked him on a suspended sentence. Good.
So the PM has basically sacked him on a suspended sentence. Good.
No third time.
Maybe some MPs need to be electronically monitored. Then the full extent of the overstepping will be known. This could be done randomly.
"Clearly, New Zealand has gone quickly – but how early have we gone in comparison with other countries? Newsroom has compared New Zealand's response to that of six other countries that are similar in size, population, culture or region."
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/2020/04/06/1117839/how-does-nzs-covid-19-response-stack-up-to-overseas
Forget the politicking
Yes Pat. A very interesting analysis. A must read. Seems to show NZ did the right thing and has the strongest case therefore for emerging post Level 4 into "normality."
Shame they didn't present the numbers in terms of per 1000 or some such. Raw numbers don't mean too much when populations and population density are so varied.
that info available here…
https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/
We can criticise the minutiae of our response but I know where Id rather be right now
Yes, that's bizarre. All their graphs are raw numbers, so obviously NZ with its tiny population is going to be lower than everyone else, and obviously that doesn't mean anything other than that we have a small population. The cases and deaths per mil population in Pat's worldometer link is the relevant comparison figure.
They're not all way out of line.
Ireland is 4.9 million
We're roughly 5.0 million.
Norway is 5.4 million
Singapore is 5.7 million
Denmark is 5.8 million
But yeah, Israel (9.2M), Sweden (10.3M) and Australia (25.7M) really need to be scaled otherwise the comparisons are kinda useless.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_and_dependencies_by_population
not obvious at all…the tracking is from initial infection and its growth pattern….population size is only relevant in that analysis in the ultimate total numbers not r nought
That would be true if there were equal numbers of infection starting points in each country. But higher populations are generally correlated with higher numbers of travellers and therefore higher numbers of starting points brought in from outside.
the initial infection starts at one..or possibly a small cluster (flight or ship)…its path once identified is the critical factor…that may be impacted by pop density or lifestyle factors but not population size.
Our initial infections did not start with one. There are multiple clusters with independent initiating infections.
our initial detected infection was a single individual….as was the case in other countries. Now whether there were other undetected cases is likely however the data projects the pattern of growth from that point and it is the pattern that is key.
About half of our cases (I don’t have the exact numbers at hand) was brought into the country. The other half is close contacts. Only 2% appears to be community spread. With the number of travellers dropping off, the growth was highly likely to level off too.
true enough and also likely the case for other countries….but what measures countries put in place are the main differential factor, certainly in similar environments
oh…and timing…we went earlier than most
Yeah that's fair. And Sweden and Aus have such different patterns that even dividing them by the relevant proportion would still have them significantly higher – and worsening – than NZ.
Especially if you take them as all charts should be taken – we're "roughly the same as" Singapore, rather than succumbing to the urge to read it as an actual scorecard that says "we're doing better than everyone". All things considered, we're handling it a bit better than most (touch wood). Good on the govt.
I’d say luck comes into it too, and our geographical isolation.
True true.
They do have a number per million so you can compare. Also some such as the uk and Sweden are only testing those in hospital. This means they are grossly under reporting. Looking at number of deaths gives a better comparison and idea of numbers.
The link Pat provided https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/ has a table that can sorted by population factor. It's an excellent resource – one I've been watching for a while now.
Be careful going down that track…
This is one of the funniest political interviews ever.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/2018741784/coronavirus-health-minister-admits-second-lockdown-breach
Not sure it's so funny when he's the Minister of Health. But I take your point.
Strange times indeed….Winston in the best interaction with the media possibly in his long career….
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/2018741786/coronavirus-government-charters-flight-for-kiwis-in-peru
The impossible can happen
Shortages of ventilators get the publicity. But putting someone on a ventilator requires a hefty supply of some heavy-duty substances and those are running short too. But there's been less attention to boosting the supply and cranking up the production might be even more difficult.
https://www.vox.com/2020/4/6/21209589/coronavirus-medicine-ventilators-drug-shortage-sedatives-covid-19
A great summary Macro. Yet his recent approval rating of his handling of Covid is up at about 47% and disapproval about 37%. (Don't remember where I read that.)
Pretty sure that is an outlying poll ianmac. While there was a little softening in disapproval after he belatedly changed tack from complete denial to some acceptance of danger facing the country that is slowly wearing off as the daily mismanagement of the crisis continues. It probaly also coincided with the final approval of the $1T “rescue” package
I think the poll you might be remembering is this one
https://www.investors.com/politics/americans-back-president-trump-on-coronavirus-crisis/
This was the IBD/TIPP poll which gave him a 48% approval as opposed to a 44% disapproval rating. However, if you have a look at the myriad of polls run across the US on that question you can see that in almost all cases his disapproval rating is higher than his approval.
https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/trump-approval-ratings/?ex_cid=rrpromo
The running average of approval/disapproval by fivethirtyeight has him still at around 50% disapproval – the most favourable of his "presidency" but there are signs of growing disapproval in recent days. The running average takes a few days to reflect this trend.
When the virus final hits the states with predominant MAGAT* support I think even the most fervent Trumpkin will begin to have doubts.
*MAGA Trumpkin
Perhaps this could also apply to David Clark.
🙄
I think the horse has died Pete but you keep flogging it anyway.
Are you on a retainer Pete?
although not an essential service he can work from home.
Pete is a retainer.
And Simon Bridges and the Lady from Taupo.
I did see a funny reply on Twitter, that Bridges has slow internet coz he asked for it to be split into smaller increments, to keep it under the threshold.
A rough timeline from The Guardian of events leading up to Johnson’s admission to hospital.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/apr/06/the-strange-lead-up-to-boris-johnsons-admission-to-hospital
I don't know that Demonic anticipated the virus moving through this part of the herd.
I see NW is now banning reusable bags in store, personally we haven't been using them during the lockdown.
Instead I've been taking the washing basket to the supermarket, leaving it in the car, but packing the groceries in it.
A washing basket can handle quite a bit of weight and it's easy to wash or wipe down after use.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/120836693/new-world-shoppers-asked-to-leave-reusable-bags-in-the-car-during-lockdown
Edit, I also spray all the groceries with anti bac spray before returning home, call me paranoid, but it makes me feel safe 🙂
What are people supposed to do when they don't have a car?
Been wiping all shopping with soapy water, unsure if that's reasonable or paranoid…
You are not alone in having had to change your shopping habits.
A record for me changing any habit, (supermarket shopping).
People have stopped bumping into each other.
I also use some spray on shopping that arrives in my flat – usually in paper bags that have not been used before. I leave most of it untouched for several hours, or put things that need to go in the fridge in bags I already have.
The virus does weaken over time, and most of it dies after a few hours. It can last on plastic and stainless steel up to 2-3 days.
I wash my hands a lot and wipe down stuff that can easily be wiped – but I think leaving things untouched for several hours, overnight, or for days (depending on what it is) is probably the way to go.
In case anyone else was wondering why the proportion of probable to confirmed cases rose significantly in recent days, it's because they have changed definitions and testing criteria.
If you're in a bubble with someone that's infected and you start showing symptoms, you're now unlikely to be tested and you're automatically listed as probable and basically considered confirmed for the purposes of follow-up and treatment.
https://www.msn.com/en-nz/news/national/what-are-probable-cases-and-why-are-they-rising/ar-BB12emuK?li=BBqdg4K&ocid=mailsignout
Very sensible. It saves wasting a test.
Let's acknowledge it. If the Democratic Party had decided to anoint Sanders as the 'electable' one after the Nevada caucus, he would now have just as commanding a lead in delegates as Biden currently enjoys. 'Electability', or otherwise, was never an inherent attribute of the candidates themselves, it was a narrative constructed about them by people with agendas. In the case of the establishment Democratic Party, that agenda was to protect their existing wealth and future income streams from corporate donors against the threat of the Sanders policy programme. And now it all unravels as Trump's approval ratings increase (like all 'wartime' leaders) and Biden's manifest unfitness for the job becomes clear. Average bloke Joe Rogan with an extremely popular podcast now says he can't support Biden and would vote for Trump.The Democratic Party responds by blaming everyone other than themselves. Krystal and Sagar discuss here. Can you ever trust affluent, socially liberal centrists to do the right thing?
A racist misogynist is just an average bloke?
https://twitter.com/TrefaultPaulina/status/1220779595110109184
1.) Could you provide some evidence to back up your contention that Joe Rogan is a "racist misogynist"?
2.) Quoting Bernie out of context like "Paulina" has done is to grotesquely misrepresent him. "Paulina" sounds very like another liar, Elizabeth Warren.
Joe Rogans not a racist or a misogynist. You just disagree with him so you label him as such. He actually pretty good and has destroyed far more conservatives than he has liberals and socialists.
I'm sick of politicals using out of context messages to label people things. The left is as bad as the right on this.
Jacinda’s Easter Bunny’s essential occupation status has made a number of overseas media outlets. The comments section in one of the US ones was so full of praise for her. How they envy our good fortune.
A touch of brilliance from her to have a little bit of humour at this time.
Be Warned
I note that the National Party is going to absolutely do their best/worst to get elected….I believe DPF's April fools "joke" wasn't – simply a trial run of blatant lying targeting identified groups as a trial run for the election. I believe "third rail" dirty politics will be active in the election – big time.
The National Party has lots of money to spend on the election ( CCP donations? ). I see two "fluff" articles in The Guardian one written by Bridges ans the other by what appears to be a fawning sycophant of the National Party where among other things we get told that Labour and National are both like the US Democrat Party among many other bizarre assertions . Now I do not believe this was at the The Guardian's initiative and I am disappointed the articles were not marked as paid advertorials. A National Party happy to throw money buying space in a nominally left publication to try sow confusion and disinformation is a measure of how far they will go.
Then you have the National Party's media boosters – the Tova's , Hosk's Garner's and all yodeling "gotcha" every few minutes while they pretend ignorance of and have no interest of the garbage that the National Party gets up to.
He was sucking up large to farmers in the farmers weekly this week . 1st time of ever seen wandering bridges in that paper.
Thought he was not going electioneering during the crisis!!?
Despite the fact that the borders to NZ should have been closed weeks ago, if for no reason other than that this virus was extremely unusual and puzzling to virologists ,Jacinda is still "thinking" about implementing quarantine at the border.
On http://www.20min.ch today there is an article saying that a cat and a tiger in the Broncs zoo , New York , have become infected with Covid 19…
https://www.20min.ch/wissen/news/story/Haustiere-koennen-sich-doch-mit-Corona-infizieren-17059973
Stop thinking Jacinda . just DO IT!
“Thinking” doesn’t mean flicking a coin ad nauseam but collecting information, considering options and consequences, making decisions that are evidence-based, planning & preparing, et cetera.
Is there a good reason not to do it?
I mean, from my understanding of applying the precautionary principle, and especially given the apparent seriousness of covid, shouldn't that be the question?
Depends on what the “it” is. From where I’m sitting and from what I know, border control has to tighten if and when we go down to a lower Alert Level and attempt to some level of ‘normalisation’. Otherwise, it would be like mopping up water off the floor while the tap is still running. The Devil is in the detail, as always. Jumping up & down demanding “just DO IT!” is not helpful.
the logistics of housing, feeding and monitoring thousands of people, rolling numbers over time. Not saying it can't be done, but it's not a small thing either. eg if the police do the monitoring, they will have to be taken off other duties.
Last time I looked we were quarantining anyone coming in with symptoms. Non-symptomatic people with appropriate self-isolation plans were checked and allowed to self-isolate. From memory the ratio was something like 1500 to 4,000 (someone can check that).
Numbers from five days ago
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12321689
See Koff's comment below about logistics.
So make the logistics fit capacity? Limiting inbound flights would achieve that. With "half the world" in lock-down, why or how are people still flying anyway?
I would have stopped all incoming flights at the beginning and been done with it. Stuck in Azerbaijan? k.
Hmm I guess there are maybe some folks (quite a few) who are kinda glad I'm not NZs dictator in charge or some such 🙂
Yes , especially the self-indulgent ones that chose not to hurry home but have the expensive holiday they paid for some time ago !
Arden just said there were tens of thousands of NZers travelling overseas at the time they started putting restrictions on the border.
The govt has an obligation to NZ citizens and residents, they can't just lock people out without a very good reason. A good reason might be an active epidemic that was killing lots of people here where there was no good way to prevent people coming in from not making that worse. Putting in a three tier system for Kiwis coming home seems entirely reasonable given the overall elimination strategy, and given they're increasing stringency over time as they are able to.
Bloomfield has just said that around half of the new cases are coming from existing clusters, and that not many are coming from new arrivals. Looks like the number of border cases has dropped a lot.
Good comment!
That’s good news. It is the community spread that we need to watch.
Thanks for the commonsense answer weka.
That's just silly. There are hundreds of thousands of people all around the world who were stuck because of the speed of developments overtoo their ability to move. They couldn't just jump on the nearest flight to getback 'home.' In NZ there were two hundred thousand foreign tourists, and another four hundred thousand temporary workers who weren't at 'home'. If their countries did what you suggested, they would be stuck here presenting an enormous potential health problem, let alone being exceptionally cruel. There aren't any easy answers.It's far better for all people 'stuck' in places like Azerbaijan or New Zealand to get back to their real 'homes' in a safe and humane way.
There are hundreds of thousands of people all around the world who were stuck because of the speed of developments overtoo their ability to move
uh-huh. And?
Sorry. But my sympathies wouldn't really have been lying with some tens of thousands of people from NZ who were able to hob nob around the world – many or most of whom would have had ways and means – I'm sure they'd have been fine. And if any needed consular assistance or whatever, then fine – such assistance could have been provided.
As for thousands here from other countries, they could have left or stayed according to their preference and their country's policy around inbound flights. (Don’t quite get your health problem angle.)
Meanwhile, tens of thousands of people with no ways or means were on the streets right here in NZ with no home to go to.
So…tens of thousands extending their stay abroad so that a virus (or further instances of) wasn't introduced into the country, versus tens of thousands right here in dire need of shelter and protection from a virus. Hmm. Hard one.
Those abroad could have come back in dribs and drabs (availability of seats means tested perhaps?) in line with border capabilities set around quarantine measures.
btw – Wonder how many PMC types took last minute flights out of NZ just to avoid lockdown? I bet there's a few. Which is fine. But quarantine rules "since forever" have been that you can leave a quarantined area whenever you want and at the drop of a hat. Re-entering? Not so willy-nilly on that front, aye?
Well Janet you might be cleverer than Jacinda but have a look on Newsroom where they chart NZ success compared to that of similar sized countries. Even so easy to read graphs.
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/2020/04/06/1117839/how-does-nzs-covid-19-response-stack-up-to-overseas?utm_source=Friends+of+the+Newsroom&utm_campaign=fe1d7d9b0c-Daily+Briefing+03.4.20_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_71de5c4b35-fe1d7d9b0c-95522477
If NZ brings in compulsory quarantining,it will have to be done more carefully than here in Australia, which brought in compulsory quarantining for all people flying in to international airports 10 days or so ago. (but not for Queensland residents driving acrossthe border from NSW where there is definite evidence of community transmission – just 'self-isolation for 2 weeks'. My partner and I are in the 4th day of a compulsory quarantining in a Brisbane hotel after flying in from Auckland last Friday with 20 others (half kiwis, half Aussies). Our 'home' is a nearby boat. We were crammed into a bus from the airport sitting close together within the 1.5m Aussie physical distancing rules. All OK since in the hotel, but it is not set up for self-contained living. That means that although we have been quarantined, we are still exposed to doubtful food and supplies from outside which is dropped outside our door. We clean what we can, but how do we know who has been handling it? We could be infected ourselves. Also, anecdotal reports about young quarantiners having parties in their hotel corridors and even waiters serving glasses of wine (in Sydney). None of these issues are insurmountable, but it does mean that just switching over to blanket quarantining isn't easy. Some proper planning has to go into it.
yep, this.
Can you cook in your room?
Some people are being put up in 5 star hotels at the expense of the Government. Most of these rooms will not have anything but a coffee maker/hot water jug.
If NZ does the same for international arrivals, they should put them up in serviced apartments that have a small kitchenette.
Very good point, Indiana. Seld-contained motels with kitchenettes are far better and a lot cheaper than the sort of useless 5 star swanky hotels like the one that we arein. The quarantining must go both ways if ALL incoming passenegrs are to be quarantined, not just those withsymptoms or do not have prope self-isoation plans as is the current policy in NZ. if you can cook yourself you can order stuff from Countdown or whoever and ake sure you can clean what you order and not get infected.Also, the quarantining must be policed (with kindness – we are not criminals!) otherwise it will be a farce.
How are you managing food atm then?
Hotels are probably much easier to manage logistically, but the meals thing is really important, including for families with kids. Can't live on toast and coffee for very long.
3 meals a day provided. Pretty crappy, but we won't starve. The point is we don't know who is preparing it – looks like it has been contracted out to a 'cheap' caterer. If it wasn't for the circumstances, we wouldn't think about it, but as we can't see or talk to the caterers or trust them to be virus free, we are basically sitting ducks!
ooh, that's not good. You think it's not the normal hotel kitchen staff?
The hotels that are offering quarantine faciities for the different state governments are closed to other guests so everything is closed down including their own kitchens. We haven't seen anyone since we got into the room. Can't get out or open the window. The food is left in bags outside the door and we have to wait for 10 seconds before retrieving them. We are not complaining, just emphasising that these circumstances are exceptional and everyone around the world, especially those in charge, are on a steep learning curve, so a bit of tolerance needed if things aren't perfect from the start.
"…these circumstances are exceptional and everyone around the world, especially those in charge, are on a steep learning curve, so a bit of tolerance needed if things aren't perfect from the start."
thread
https://twitter.com/DavidVidecette/status/1246785553900724224
The Aussie High Court has just quashed George Pell's sex abuse convictions. No reasoning given yet.
boys will be boys?
'Murica
https://twitter.com/zellieimani/status/1246952030855364614
No sew face mask.
https://archive.li/leYFe/acf2b4c2270a644d63c8fe69d4b0b8e1fc9635a7/scr.png
Saw on 1 News Cardinal Pell has had his conviction quashed.
My thoughts go out to the person who tried to seek justice for having been offended against and that they have been second guessed.
Another consequence of sexual offending is that a conviction can be appealed. There needs to be stringent checks and balances for such appeals.
Now's the time.
Spain, which has the biggest cluster of COVID-19 infections outside the U.S., will introduce universal basic income “as soon as possible” as part of its efforts to combat the economic effects of coronavirus, Economy Minister Nadia Calvino said on Sunday. Critically, the scheme is expected to be rolled out indefinitely.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/isabeltogoh/2020/04/06/spain-to-roll-out-permanent-universal-basic-income-soon/#1df26d05316f
I wonder if that fits within the current EU framework?….I suspect it cannot
The EU pretty much said ' Do what you must to keep your people safe'. so yes, it can.
https://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/en/french-foreign-policy/europe/news/article/european-solidarity-in-the-face-of-covid-19
so if spain feels that this is what is needed, so its good. As in germany where the government is picking up large parts of pay cheque by letting companies put people on Kurzarbeit aka short work (20hr) so that they keep staff and have their staff ready for when the country goes back to normal.
Thats a good point
Ardern explains the three phases.
around -24m mark of the livestream
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/413652/watch-live-number-of-new-covid-19-cases-drops-to-54
Three National MPs physically travelled to Wellington for their committee meeting today. Shane Reti from Northland, Louise Upston from Taupo and Simon Bridges from Tauranga.
What's Shane Reti's excuse? The pidgeons take too long to fly?
Maybe the broadband National claim to have delivered for us wasn't so hot. Even in National seats.
Steven Joyce must resign.
Hope Reti runs into Hone's roadblock.
Waiting for the week long chorus from the media,.
Arrogant fuckwits.
And that explains why none of them were terribly keen to have a go at Clark about the issue at Committee today.
Probably treating it like a party caucus thing. Leader has to do the disciplining.
Who will discipline Bridges?
This is one aspect of being in the opposition where you can ride it out.
So Reti and the Taupo person drive all the way to Wellington to go to a Zoom meeting???
I see you do not mean zoom to Wellington, you mean zoom in Wellington.
I cannot see anyone from Taupo on the Epidemic Response Committee.
Louise Upston is the MP for Taupo.
tracking spread.
https://twitter.com/comingupcharlie/status/1247330309525274624
Jesus, if this isn't flat out abuse of the wage subsidy scheme. Imagine being one of the only businesses allowed to still operate and you pretend you're on hard times.
Shame on these operators.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/120876197/new-world-stores-will-withdraw-claims-for-wage-subsidies
the city ones are taking the piss. Some of those small town four squares probably need it though, the drop in tourism will be hitting them hard.
Talk about diversions, we have a contributor wishing someone would die. Now our PM didn't have the foresight to Ask her Min of Health if there were any other instances of poor decision making, our Min of Health kept from the PM that he went on another trip as it wasn't evident to him until he reviewed his actions (my words) and we get what some National MP's have done. Take ownership of flaws/screw ups.
What many here IMO don't understand. People Vote for our PM, NOT Labour, People Vote for National NOT Simon Bridges.
"Now our PM didn't have the foresight to Ask her Min of Health if there were any other instances of poor decision making …"
Pretty sure that's exactly what she asked him and why he fessed up. In these situations its normal to ask if there are any other similar instances and also to ask for the Ministerial diary to be checked.
When he was asked by the PM when the bike ride emerged (I take it he was questioned ) this didn't trigger any recollection of his actions over the last week. Not having any idea what an MP/Minister includes in their diary, but I wouldn't think that such a trip would be included into his diary (as it was family related). Most of us know what the rules are and I gather all (But a few idiots/privileged) when in doubt take the conservative (I know many here don't like this term 😱) approach. i.e. when in doubt … don't – The ramification are too great.
The trip to the beach wouldn't have been in the diary, H, but hours put aside for personal matters would have been noted. That is, it wouldn't say what he did, just that he was off the clock for x number of hours. My presumption is that he was asked to fill in the blanks and when he thought back through his movements he realised he'd done more than just go out on the bike. At least he had the guts to be honest, and to tender his resignation. Plenty would have tried to bluff it out.
"Plenty would have tried to bluff it out."
Like, for four days?
No, like Simon.
and the fullah from Northland and the Dame from Taupo.
The horse is still dead and you still can't stop flogging it can you Pete?
To assist those who don't understand the concept of keeping within your bubble
ps Hope the EPL has completed (Liverpool win BUT more important another team escapes relegation)
West Ham, Villa and Norwich.
heh
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EU9ilqOX0AE_VVa?format=jpg&name=small
Thanks for being awesome, Honor Blackman.
Just lost the reply buttons again. Tried shift+F5 as advised the other day, and nothing changed.
Edit: Posting this brought them back.
American democracy is in deep trouble .
https://www.vox.com/2020/4/6/21211378/supreme-court-coronavirus-voting-rights-disenfranchise-rnc-dnc
This decision has far reaching implications for the forthcoming Election in November which could well be held under similar conditions as the current State Election in Wisconsin. Furthermore the current election includes election of a State Supreme Court appointment. The importance of this is further explained in the article here:
Judith offers advice to Bubbles Bridges and the National Party road rebels gang.
https://www.twitter.com/JudithCollinsMP/status/1247442485338460160
I had been thinking that cleaning grocery items with bleach was going too far with shopping caution. It's enough of a juggling act getting it all from the trolley to car and home without the frozen or chilled stuff overheating and getting a weird consistency. Really rethinking that tonight.
Kids (finally) settled down, I wasn't up to much thinking so went on YouTube. A new episode of an old favourite: WTFIWWY. Which does mock people for clicks; yes, but they often fully deserve the derision, and there is a rule against covering stupidity that results in injury to others. But it didn't prove much respite against the pecking of the Crow this time.
The show's a week out of date by the time it gets out of Patron exclusivity, but not often addressing serious current issues, so that doesn't matter much to me. The toilet-seat lickers were bad enough, but this guy!
Warning – you may feel a strong desire to claw your own eyes out rather than view this:
https://www.google.com/amp/s/metro.co.uk/2020/03/23/man-licks-toiletries-supermarket-asking-scared-coronavirus-12441271/amp/