“We need to adopt a whole new mentality now,” Sutherland added. “The psychological approach that we took isn't going to work for Omicron… We can't stamp it out. That’ll take a mindset change.”
Seems like an excellent review to me. Pragmatism will rule – unless a new variant shows up, requiring a new strategy.
In early January, three Americans proposed a plan for the “new normal”: that is, life with Covid-19. The coronavirus, they wrote, should be seen as another circulating respiratory illness – like influenza or respiratory syncytial virus (RSV)… Think of this as ‘mitigation’, it will likely mean success is gauged not via case numbers but by whether the hospitals are swamped or not… South Africa is also pivoting towards a new approach made possible by the fact, as a trio of public health experts write: “The death rate with [the] Omicron wave in South Africa is on track to be approximately one-tenth compared to the Delta wave.”
Two triads already, then the traffic-light system is shown in a picture to make three. The fourth triad to show up is here:
In a recent column Professor Devi Sridhar, the chair of global public health at the University of Edinburgh, wrote of three groups of scientists offering, broadly speaking, three different takes on Covid right now: the ones who’ve always wanted to let it rip, the ones who still believe the dangers are akin to March 2020, and the ones who believe the virus has been tempered by treatments and vaccination, and it’s time to find a sustainable way forward.
Notice how the archetype influences the thinking of the global public health expert. First, to separate out covid scientists into three distinct groups of opinion. Second, to correlate those groups with operational strategies. Third, by implication, public health policies which correlate with those strategies.
Perceptive readers will notice that I used triadic framing myself to make this point! Observing real-world informing of thought processes in communication by reading the subtext will only appeal to discerning readers of course. The value of doing so with regard to how primary numbers shape thinking is that it shifts gnosis from tacit to conscious, making archetypes useful tools to upskill how we do politics…
If I didn't comment on it at the time it would be due to your specification that there was no place in that framing for radical centrists (of which I am one). However, as a political framing of mainstreamers, it is indeed way better than the conventional one. I agree the triad socialist/liberal/conservative is more accurate than the old left/right binary.
a sustainable way forward
That's the gate the sheeple will head for. Seymour & Luxon barking at them will accelerate the flock but I suspect Ardern will be on that bandwagon soon if she isn't already (to avoid being left behind). A new variant would get everyone to focus on the terrain on the other side of the gate!
almost always we tend to conflate the two
Binary thinking is ingrained as our default. Powerful evolutionary pressures drive it: is this solution right or wrong? is this stranger good or evil?
However triads are built into the substructure of life, and they inform us. Time's triad is past/present/future. The binary of sex produces a child – the triad of family. We locate something with our two eyes: focus makes perspective, the thing we focus on forms a triad in our perception to judge position & distance. Walking is binary oscillation but leg connections to body & brain each make functional triads to produce locomotion. I could go on!
I didn't comment on it at the time it would be due to your specification that there was no place in that framing for radical centrists (of which I am one).
Well you missed the bus – comments under that post are now closed.
Obviously, National still can't come up with a leader who shows some signs of competence. The latest singing to the faithful by Luxon shows just how out of touch he is.
His solutions are: "First, we must focus on protecting the vulnerable: those most likely to end up in hospital and ICU.” Of course he has forgotten that from day one, the plan was to avoid the need for massively increased capacity which can’t be provided overnight anyway.
“We should inundate our rest homes and retirement villages with booster shots, and work around the clock getting boosters into vulnerable communities. We should work with and support Māori providers. We should urgently upgrade our ICU capacity."
Has he got evidence to prove booster shots haven't been administered in rest homes and retirement villages? It seems he is behind the 8-ball on that too. Besides, the latest statistics on vulnerability show he may have the wrong target.
Is Luxon unaware that Maori and PI initiatives are now paying dividends despite the revivalist religious money from NZ and overseas having been funneled into anti-vax campaigns targeting those communities?
How does the aspiring PM think our ICU capacity can be increased? The problem he has here is that he doesn't seem to understand that ICU isn't just the provision of beds in buildings. The issue is the staffing of five or more well qualified nurses required for each bed. We have already syphoned off loads of nurses from counties with lower-waged economies and left their health services struggling. Otherwise, we are unable to attract and train sufficient nursing staff to replace natural attrition and staff 'poached' by overseas health systems.
All in all, Luxon isn't proving to be a useful tool in the political toolbox, unless his sole purpose is to keep barking at passing cars.
(Rapid Antigen Tests) are still extremely hard to come by; New Zealand companies are waiting weeks for permission to import them. In Australia and many other countries, you can walk into a supermarket and buy one off the shelf.
This is the first google search for RATs in Australia, no stock. Here's Woolworths, no stock. And Coles, in WA no less, has pulled them from online sale and can't supply stores.
Luxon is either ill-informed and shooting off at the mouth because that's what has got him where he is today, or he is deliberately lying to the New Zealand public.
Also, Covid deaths/million: Australia 118, NZ 10. And this clown wants to throw the borders open because the cheap foreign labour model to which he is so wedded is unable to operate.
Luxon wants a timetable for the the border to be opened for his business mates. But Premier McGowan in Western Australia has decided that the economy is working just fine in WA and so has decided to keep the border closed until 80% have been boosted.
NZ has had the same experience-the economy is doing well despite Covid.
So I suggest the government give Luxon the timetable and certainty that he wants-the border will open (and MIQ will end) when 90% of Kiwis are boosted. Simple.
…..of course all of this may be blown out of the water by the 11am urgent Jacinda/Bloomfield press conference just announced. I guess Omicron is here and we are all going to Red?
You know, Robert, there's talk about Righties getting an easy ride with the moderators on this site. I don't know whether that is true or not, but I have often wondered how your pithy vacuous comments past muster most of the time.
I wrote before to Weka that I was wondering whether the PM would be able to go against her instincts and not call a lockdown. Well, she hasn't, but she's at the border by moving us to a red light setting.
The red light setting will not make an itoa of difference for a number of reasons. Then the PM will have to make a decision about a lockdown.
But for some businesses, red light means they will be closing.
It's also stating the obvious. I didn't know the buck didn't stop with Jacinda, especially when given different advice by different ministries and organisations.
Ok, I'll start the ball rolling. A lock down is a lockdown. People know the score.
A red light setting won't make people ditch an orange light mentality. For them it will be business as usual…apart from becoming more FRUSTARTED as new red light protocols come into force.
Also not true, Blade. Large events cannot go ahead, at all. Hospitality must use vaccine passes to be able to have up to 100 people inside and they must be seated. These are not, "things that can be ignored or done poorly".
''Also not true, Blade. Large events cannot go ahead, at all. Hospitality must use vaccine passes to be able to have up to 100 people inside and they must be seated. These are not, "things that can be ignored or done poorly".
But what about Joe's Diner? Millies nail and sensual massage parlour? A Mongrel Mob funeral…and the man in the street that doesn't give a fuck after two weeks of frustration in the red light setting.
What about fake vaccine passes? A mainframe check is required to know if they are kosher as I understand it.
Of course if the PM was to call a lockdown …ah, then I'm sure that would slow Omicron. Will she…?
The manufactured, overheated, politicised blame will settle there, sure, but your assertion that the decision to implement "red" is down to Jacinda's instinct, rather than an informed, shared, considered process, is a nonsense.
''The manufactured, overheated, politicised blame will settle there, sure,''
Correct. As it should be. She is our leader.
''But your assertion that the decision to implement "red" is down to Jacinda's instinct, rather than an informed, shared, considered process, is a nonsense."
Not only Jacinda's instinct, but Labours caucus as well ( but as released papers have shown, that's not the case with all medical advice, eg Auckland's lockdown). But the bottom line must surely be after the debating is over, and especially if there is contradictory advice, Jacinda must make the call…??? And of course she will go with advice that gels with her instincts.
I don't know of any contradictory advice, Dennis. Apart from Labour ignoring Ashley Bloomfield's advice that Auckland could have come out of lock down sooner, if I remember correctly.
BTW – as a matter of interest – do you believe the red light setting will slow Covid?
do you believe the red light setting will slow Covid?
Complex systems theory says that transitions between stable states are inherently unpredictable, and can happen fast in response to tiny trigger stimulation causing a cascade of effects flowing through the system.
In accord with that, my answer would be that it appears unlikely. However, the red light does change the state of the system itself. The change is from fluid to relatively static. So my answer becomes yes!
The only caveat I would apply to the situation is if community transmission is already cascading – in which case no becomes a more feasible answer. I reckon, therefore, that we won't know for a week or two how effective the red light is.
Crikey, that's a wicked reply, Dennis. I reckon it'll take me six weeks to understand the import of what you have written.
Therefore, let's concentrate on the caveat. Given a negative test result for Covid really means nothing in the scheme of things, and given we already have community spread with maybe many more positive results coming in the next few days, I would have to say your answer would be in the negative for slowing the Omicron spread.
The only factor I haven't considered in this debate is:
How scared are people once they realise we are in paradise lost??
Today at the supermarket I saw full on panic Paracetamol and similar products were gone. Ditto toilet paper and water. Rationing was also in place.
Such people who panic like that are not likely to go around looking to become a Covid statistic.
Crikey, that's a wicked reply, Dennis. I reckon it'll take me six weeks to understand the import of what you have written.
I'll help. Dennis is a self-described radical centrist and his comment there is a good illustration of what that means in action. Analyse from every angle, then finally come up with no decision. And this is why centrists, radical or otherwise, get nothing done.
I saw a tv presenter earlier telling viewers not to panic. She probably is too young to know that traditionally this instruction has always been known to be the best way to start a panic!
So yeah, there'll be some headless chookery happening out there now. Dunno about scared tho. Folks are more likely to hunker down as if it were an actual lockdown, then cautiously doing wait & see the next week or two.
Govt has done ok with both prior waves of covid so people are more likely to trust them than not. Labour's poll rating holding well informs us how powerful this collective mind-set is.
Haven't seen Billy TK jr leading a protest recently – maybe he'll come out & defy omicron to compete with the bishop. Heroic public stands build political reputations…
The red light setting will not make an itoa of difference for a number of reasons.
Yet you haven’t explained those reasons. Not even one.
Had you been watching the press conference, would know the red light setting slows the spread by, among other things, limiting numbers at large events, reenforcing mask wearing rules, and stopping unvaxxed people from gathering in numbers more than 25.
Buy some panadol ibuprophen nasal spray lozenges and green tea. Make a kit of your medical needs and vaccination status. Make a cleaning and rubbish kit with spray/bleach gloves paper towels rubbish bags and masks. Make a sign for the back and front doors. Buddy with a phone friend. Join an online reading site. Keep up the current advice and try not to stress.
My fear is that my workplaces will get shut down as cases inevitably enter them. Fine if there is government support available but, reading between the lines, that seems to have ended.
Well, take a wait and see approach. But yeah, when customers, and staff are all equally sick it might be that leases, fixed costs and the likes will be paid with good intention in lieu of cash.
Once numbers of infections get to a certain level I expect a pragmatic approach to be taken as has been the case in certain jurisdictions overseas an example being in Melbourne where COVID positive HCPs who are barely symptomatic work on the Covid ward if they are happy to do so.
Already done most of that Patricia – it's our emergency preparedness kit plus panadol tissues and masks. We have a well stocked pantry and freezer. Dog has just died so that is one less thing to worry about sadly.
It would seem the Government this time around is promoting the mantra of personal responsibility for everybody. Get a health kit up, batten down the hatches and carry on as usual like the winter flu season. That's all very well and good. What about people who live alone, maybe don't have rellies living close and are reclusive. This will be a classic case of survival of the fittest. What will happen to households who have to isolate for up to a month with family sick. How's that going to work???
As for the children starting the school year, what a crazy idea that is. Omicron will go through the schools like a dose of salts and fell everybody in its path and a large percentage of the kids haven't had their first shot yet.. I am head scratching with the government this time around. They turn Northland orange and probably within two weeks will have to take it back to red.
Finally I wish to say that I personally feel terrible for the front line staff in the hospitals who will have to man the lines and face very ill people and the high chance of becoming very ill themselves. As Randy Newman sang in the song "Take Pity on the Working Man" – its a case of take pity on the health professionals each and every one of them.
I really hope that they announce something like a supplement payment for food for all beneficiaries. There is no way surge pricing will be avoided, and the poor will just go hungry, and hungry makes people angry and angry people lay hands.
Just for once, be savage Labour Party and hand over a handfull of dollars to those that have none.
It would seem the Government this time around is promoting the mantra of personal responsibility for everybody. Get a health kit up, batten down the hatches and carry on as usual like the winter flu season. That's all very well and good. What about people who live alone, maybe don't have rellies living close and are reclusive. This will be a classic case of survival of the fittest. What will happen to households who have to isolate for up to a month with family sick. How's that going to work???
I think we will see more on this in the coming week.
Ardern’s explanation of why bother slowing omicron down: we are a team, some of us are particularly vulnerable, we can look after everyone.
…
When we have a larger number of cases in community, systems looking at the more vulnerable people, identify them quickly, get proper medical assessment and getting the care they need. Scaling up from delta system.
Just watched the PM explain the red switch. I go along with re-using the precautionary principle & agree that one rule for all must prevail until we see how folks are being hit by the spread of the infection. So the sheeple keen to head for the escape gate will have to keep circling in the middle of the paddock a while longer.
I'll be looking for the stats on hospitalisation over the next few weeks. If they don't freak everyone out, pressure to ease the red light back to orange will grow & political opposition will get traction…
Wow its gone Red. Here I was saying its a stupid idea to turn Northland orange only to be returned to Red and it didn't even last two weeks. What a wasted exercise that was.
Fickle finger of fate flicked the switch. Risk management defence kicks in accordingly. Public tolerance will prevail for now I expect. Businesses will wonder if complaining is a good idea. Dunno about folks on holiday. Limbo??
Ms Ardern … BUILD THAT WALL !!! … in fact 2 walls … both plumb through the middle of each Island .. east to west … northern halves of each island become no-go Omicron zones routinely monitored by security forces loyal to the Imperial South … southern halves remain havens of serenity & business as usual … Civilised Ancient Romes to the Uncouth Northern Hordes.
Wellington, Palmy, Napier, Whangers, Masters, Plimmers, Chch, Dunners, Queeners, Timers, Invers … indeed, even Bluffers … Unite !
And while we’re at it … let’s draw up a strategic mutual-holiday partnership with our equally refined cousins in the Australian West.
Weka – I suggest you have a cup of tea and a lie down.
To repeat I was speaking directly to Swordfish in relation to getting his booster
If swordfish is vaccinated under 65-70 (or over and healthy) this variant isn't something swordfish should worry him/herself about to any great degree.
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
[I suggest you pay more attention to guidance from authors. Stay out of that post for the rest of the day – weka]
the point is that it's anyone's personal circumstances.
You said to someone on the internet you don't know,
If you are under 65-70 (or over and healthy) this variant isn't something you should worry yourself about to any great degree.
This is patently not true. Plenty of people have personal circumstances that mean they do indeed need to be concerned and take care. The whole pandemic announcement just made is predicated on that.
This is why you are banned from the post for the day. I don't spend time writing posts so people can drop in random reckons that promote disinformation and/or derail conversations.
You've been here long enough to know how it works.
@weka is now the TS version of the 'whole truth'… Careful, he may ban you for having an opposing individual thought and opinion.
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
[That’s Mr Weka to you. Stay out of that post for the rest of the day. And, count this as a warning: if I see you making shit up about my moderation again, or having a go at me personally, I will ban you. Not for having opposing thoughts but for being a dickhead. I already spent a fair amount of time giving you good guidance the other day on how to present individual thoughts and opinions here. I see that fell on deaf ears, so I’m not wasting any more of my time – weka]
Probably more likely to "provide an opportunity for rest and reflection" for anyone exhibiting stupidity, I'd have thought.; take care, julian!
Edit: I was too slow with my helpful advice!
It's a sad state of affairs, weka. These alerts are becoming more frequent and yes, water levels and nutrient loads are factors. Full and functioning rivers are inured against toxic outcomes like these and the factors that affect those rivers are as you suspect them to be. Rainfall here recently, has been reduced, because of climatic factors, but as you also probably expect, those factors are challenged, depending upon which side of the fence you sit. There are those who want to see a re-nturalising of the rivers and greater restrictions put on water take, and there are those who want to increase that take but compensate by establishing storage facilities for water that falls during other (wetter) seasons. The debate goes on. I pin my hopes on Te Mana o te Wai, but expect climate change to be the real influencer. This probably sounds like political evasion, but hey, it's election year for local government (I jest).
I'm imagining those rivers with catchments full of forests and wetlands and estuaries and aquifers, and less full of farms but still regenag and food forests and ecosystems we have yet to co-arise with.
Breaks my heart though. Murihiku is a wetland.
(if people can't farm without stealing from rivers and aquifers, maybe they should be doing something else).
See how many Omicron cases occur from the Auckland marathon being held today? 8,000 expected to participate. At least they will be registered. I do not know if masks are mandatory. Try running in a mask.
I strongly doubt any runners will be wearing masks. Masks make breathing slightly harder. You get a wee bit less air. For most healthy people that’s not a problem. But you need every molecule of oxygen you can get when you run.
Also, did you know that air weighs about 1.25kg per cubic meter (at sea level). I am often amazed by that, but it explains why wind can be so powerful and damaging when moving at pace.
Oh yes. It is indeed very useful when it is up in the stratosphere. That is between 15 km and 30 km up of course and well past the level at which a human being trying to breath without assistance is going to be alive for very long. If you up there without an oxygen supply you would be dead long before the ozone would hurt you.
Geeza and Muttonbird were of course talking about near sea-level as they were considering people running in the Auckland marathon. There is still some ozone there, mostly from reactions in vehicle exhaust gases. That Ozone is what will hurt you.
I belatedly googled a couple of queries on whether masks affect breathing & received hit after hit from mostly medical sources saying that tests showed exercising in masks was perfectly fine; that they had no deleterious effect on breathing or gas exchange. Even for people with breathing problems like COPD or asthma, cystic fibrosis etc.
A couple noted the psychological impact of wearing masks made some people more aware of their breathing, which we mostly do unconsciously. This made some of them hyperventilate or hypoventilate, both of which cause health problems. One of them had suggestions for how to train yourself not to do this.
But I note after double-checking on YouTube that Olympic athletes competed without masks.
If you're talking about the one on the North Shore, they woke me up around 5am banging around the joint. God knows what they were doing. Then the main hoard thumped past around 6.30 am shouting at one another.
Oops, apparently the banging was the toilet doors. They chose to put them close to my home.
There tends to be a bit of a queue for the dunny in the morning. Running on empty would help. As for the banging doors the runners would have been in a big hurry. I saw that the runs were a symptom of Omicron.
Well folks as if we haven't got enough on our plates to concern ourselves with Omicron has introduced a sister variant. I think somewhere in another life we "must have killed ourselves some chinamen" as my old granny used to quote when shit was hitting the fan. I have no idea where she got this quotation from but it was her idea of karma. Hang in tight and do your best.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) identified more than 400 cases in Britain in the first 10 days of this month and has indicated the latest variant has been detected in some 40 other countries, accounting for a majority of most recent cases in some nations including India, Denmark and Sweden.
There was a report out of Cyprus a couple of weeks ago, but I don't remember where I heard it, that they had detected a new strain they were calling DeltaCron. Presumably a mix of the two.
The new sub variant BA. 2 is outperforming BA.1,it also has an interesting property of reinfection of those who had been previously infected with BA.1.
What I find impossible to accept is that she seems to think that having to postpone a party is equivalent to not being able to get home to see a parent in their last days. Or, and even worse, a child who is dying.
That is nothing like choosing to postpone a big party for a month or two. And yes, I do call it a party. Getting married to someone you have been living with for the best part of a decade and whom you have had children with is a pretty meaningless exercise except to have a big party. Does the fact that you have now married, as opposed to just having been living together for many years actually make any difference?
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
[provide a citation (link and quote) to support the idea that Ardern “seems to think that having to postpone a party is equivalent to not being able to get home to see a parent in their last days. Or, and even worse, a child who is dying”. Or clearly retract. Or take a ban. No, I’m not going to argue about it – weka]
It may make a difference to them, I don't know. But I suspect she is simply giving herself an opportunity to feign empathy in the future.
A very close friend (a fully vaccinated NZ citizen) was refused a priority place in MIQ to firstly visit a dying relative, and then attend the funeral. Meanwhile DJ's waltz in. The 'be kind' bs is wearing very thin.
She seems to think that having to postpone a party is equivalent to not being able to get home to see a parent in their last days.
Ardern said, "I am no different to…thousands of other New Zealanders who have had much more devastating impacts from the pandemic. The most gutting of which is the inability to be with a loved one when they are gravely ill – that will far, far outstrip any sadness I experience".
Alwyn, you take first prize for hardness of heart in these difficult times. And also first prize for spreading misinformation on this particular issue, which is saying something because Blade has been giving everything he has.
My criticism is based on the following statement made by the Prime Minister.
"I am no different to…thousands of other New Zealanders who have had much more devastating impacts from the pandemic. The most gutting of which is the inability to be with a loved one when they are gravely ill – that will far, far outstrip any sadness I experience".
She did, in the second part of that statement qualify her comment but it does not change the fact that she said "I am no different to…thousands of other New Zealanders". She is vastly different to the other people she is talking about. They could not get here to see loved ones. She had to postpone a wedding. There is no valid comparison at all, at least in my opinion. In her case she could get married, essentially immediately, in a Registry Office. She can, if she wants have a great party at a later date.
For the people who couldn't get home to see loved ones there is no second chance. The aren't just delaying something. They are never going to be able to do it.
However the PM compared the two situations when she said ""I am no different to…thousands of other New Zealanders". You are in a different situation. Full Stop.
On the other hand I am happy to be able to withdraw my comments about the PM, or the Department, not having any empathy with the girl from PNG. The spot was made available and she is, with her mother, home to get treatment. There may be problems as the bones had started to mend but they should be able to get around them I'd think. I can't really see that a couple of days delay in issuing the visa was the Departments fault. They really do have to check for the real need to give it.
You have to provide a link and quote to support the, frankly crackpot, idea that the Prime Minister believes postponing her own wedding is equivalent to an expat not being able to attend a family member's funeral.
"So Chris Luxon (and we are assured that there is no ’t’ in either of those names) has at last bestirred himself after a long summer break – but he could hardly be said to have broken a sweat. There can be no easier gig for an opposition politician than to complain that the government has taken too long to do the right thing. We must assume that – apart from doing it sooner – he would have done and be doing nothing different.
So, in one easy press conference, he absolves himself from having anything new or different to suggest or say. Politics must seem to be so simple, after (as he constantly reminds us) running an airline."
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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 ...
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. ...
The Government has delivered on its election promise to provide a financially sustainable model for Auckland under its Local Water Done Well plan. The plan, which has been unanimously endorsed by Auckland Council’s Governing Body, will see Aucklanders avoid the previously projected 25.8 per cent water rates increases while retaining ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters discussed the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and enhanced cooperation in the Pacific with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock during her first official visit to New Zealand today. "New Zealand and Germany enjoy shared interests and values, including the rule of law, democracy, respect for the international system ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop today released his decision on four recommendations referred to him by the Western Bay of Plenty District Council, opening the door to housing growth in the area. The Council’s Plan Change 92 allows more homes to be built in existing and new ...
Thank you, John McKinnon and the New Zealand China Council for the invitation to speak to you today. Thank you too, all members of the China Council. Your effort has played an essential role in helping to build, shape, and grow a balanced and resilient relationship between our two ...
The Government is modernising insurance law to better protect Kiwis and provide security in the event of a disaster, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly announced today. “These reforms are long overdue. New Zealand’s insurance law is complicated and dated, some of which is more than 100 years old. ...
The coalition Government is refreshing its approach to supporting pay equity claims as time-limited funding for the Pay Equity Taskforce comes to an end, Public Service Minister Nicola Willis says. “Three years ago, the then-government introduced changes to the Equal Pay Act to support pay equity bargaining. The changes were ...
Structured literacy will change the way New Zealand children learn to read - improving achievement and setting students up for success, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Being able to read and write is a fundamental life skill that too many young people are missing out on. Recent data shows that ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay says Canada’s refusal to comply in full with a CPTPP trade dispute ruling in our favour over dairy trade is cynical and New Zealand has no intention of backing down. Mr McClay said he has asked for urgent legal advice in respect of our ‘next move’ ...
The rights of our children and young people will be enhanced by changes the coalition Government will make to strengthen oversight of the Oranga Tamariki system, including restoring a single Children’s Commissioner. “The Government is committed to delivering better public services that care for our most at-risk young people and ...
The Government is making it easier for minor changes to be made to a building consent so building a home is easier and more affordable, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on making it easier and cheaper to build homes so we can ...
New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
Good evening – Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
People with an interest in the health of Northland’s marine ecosystems are invited to a public meeting to discuss how to deal with kina barrens, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones will lead the discussion, which will take place on Friday, 10 May, at Awanui Hotel in ...
Kiwi exporters are $100 million better off today with the NZ EU FTA entering into force says Trade Minister Todd McClay. “This is all part of our plan to grow the economy. New Zealand's prosperity depends on international trade, making up 60 per cent of the country’s total economic activity. ...
There are heartening signs that the extractive sector is once again becoming an attractive prospect for investors and a source of economic prosperity for New Zealand, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The beginnings of a resurgence in extractive industries are apparent in media reports of the sector in the past ...
The return of the historic Ō-Rākau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill. The Bill will entrust the 9.7-hectare battle site, five kilometres west ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced 25 new high-speed EV charging hubs along key routes between major urban centres and outlined the Government’s plan to supercharge New Zealand’s EV infrastructure. The hubs will each have several chargers and be capable of charging at least four – and up to 10 ...
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 ...
Even if some students are now just texting on their laptops. Stewart Sowman-Lund writes in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. ...
Councils from Horowhenua, Kāpiti, Wairarapa, the Hutt Valley, Porirua and Wellington City will meet this Friday to work together on a plan for a Greater Wellington region water deal. ...
Renowned musician, advocate, and proud born and raised daughter of Tauranga, Ria Hall, is announcing her candidacy for Mayor of Tauranga and Pāpāmoa Ward for the upcoming election on July 20th. ...
The new Aotearoa histories curriculum is rich with potential. There’s still work to be done, but the education minister’s criticisms about ‘balance’ miss the mark, argues primary school teacher Jessie Moss. In 2015, Ōtorohanga College students presented to parliament a petition signed by more than 10,000 people calling for a ...
For too long our so-called national bird has maintained its stranglehold on the economy of regional New Zealand. Thanks to the fast track legislation, we will have our revenge. Theories abound on what ails New Zealand’s economy. National leader Chris Luxon has posited that we’re negative, wet, whiny, and inward-looking; ...
If building one of Auckland’s possible waterfront stadiums was funded privately, it would need to hold a sold-out Ed Sherran concert every weekday for 25 years. That’s Rob Hamlin’s finding – he’s a senior marketing lecturer at the University of Otago. “It’s not going to happen; forget about it,” he ...
Comment: The debate over the future relationship between news and social media is bringing us closer to a long-overdue reckoning. Social media isn’t trying to kill journalism, because social media has never really cared about journalism. Social media is resolutely in the attention business. News propels some attention — perhaps ...
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“We need to adopt a whole new mentality now,” Sutherland added. “The psychological approach that we took isn't going to work for Omicron… We can't stamp it out. That’ll take a mindset change.”
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/explained/127539299/covid19-nz-new-zealands-omicron-future-explained.
Seems like an excellent review to me. Pragmatism will rule – unless a new variant shows up, requiring a new strategy.
Two triads already, then the traffic-light system is shown in a picture to make three. The fourth triad to show up is here:
Notice how the archetype influences the thinking of the global public health expert. First, to separate out covid scientists into three distinct groups of opinion. Second, to correlate those groups with operational strategies. Third, by implication, public health policies which correlate with those strategies.
Perceptive readers will notice that I used triadic framing myself to make this point! Observing real-world informing of thought processes in communication by reading the subtext will only appeal to discerning readers of course. The value of doing so with regard to how primary numbers shape thinking is that it shifts gnosis from tacit to conscious, making archetypes useful tools to upskill how we do politics…
Perceptive readers will notice that I used triadic framing myself to make this point!
In which case you may enjoy this.
and the ones who believe the virus has been tempered by treatments and vaccination, and it’s time to find a sustainable way forward.
And I would firmly place myself in this camp, but that is not tolerated either.
But otherwise yes – Omicron is increasingly looking like the correct exit ramp, although managing our speed would be prudent.
If I didn't comment on it at the time it would be due to your specification that there was no place in that framing for radical centrists (of which I am one). However, as a political framing of mainstreamers, it is indeed way better than the conventional one. I agree the triad socialist/liberal/conservative is more accurate than the old left/right binary.
a sustainable way forward
That's the gate the sheeple will head for. Seymour & Luxon barking at them will accelerate the flock but I suspect Ardern will be on that bandwagon soon if she isn't already (to avoid being left behind). A new variant would get everyone to focus on the terrain on the other side of the gate!
almost always we tend to conflate the two
Binary thinking is ingrained as our default. Powerful evolutionary pressures drive it: is this solution right or wrong? is this stranger good or evil?
However triads are built into the substructure of life, and they inform us. Time's triad is past/present/future. The binary of sex produces a child – the triad of family. We locate something with our two eyes: focus makes perspective, the thing we focus on forms a triad in our perception to judge position & distance. Walking is binary oscillation but leg connections to body & brain each make functional triads to produce locomotion. I could go on!
lol – the simplest analogy I often reach for in my crude engineering mind is a chair or stool.
Minimum number of legs necessary for stable functioning = 3
That’s why I tend to fall off those bar stools on one leg!!
I didn't comment on it at the time it would be due to your specification that there was no place in that framing for radical centrists (of which I am one).
Well you missed the bus – comments under that post are now closed.
Obviously, National still can't come up with a leader who shows some signs of competence. The latest singing to the faithful by Luxon shows just how out of touch he is.
His solutions are: "First, we must focus on protecting the vulnerable: those most likely to end up in hospital and ICU.” Of course he has forgotten that from day one, the plan was to avoid the need for massively increased capacity which can’t be provided overnight anyway.
“We should inundate our rest homes and retirement villages with booster shots, and work around the clock getting boosters into vulnerable communities. We should work with and support Māori providers. We should urgently upgrade our ICU capacity."
Has he got evidence to prove booster shots haven't been administered in rest homes and retirement villages? It seems he is behind the 8-ball on that too. Besides, the latest statistics on vulnerability show he may have the wrong target.
Is Luxon unaware that Maori and PI initiatives are now paying dividends despite the revivalist religious money from NZ and overseas having been funneled into anti-vax campaigns targeting those communities?
How does the aspiring PM think our ICU capacity can be increased? The problem he has here is that he doesn't seem to understand that ICU isn't just the provision of beds in buildings. The issue is the staffing of five or more well qualified nurses required for each bed. We have already syphoned off loads of nurses from counties with lower-waged economies and left their health services struggling. Otherwise, we are unable to attract and train sufficient nursing staff to replace natural attrition and staff 'poached' by overseas health systems.
All in all, Luxon isn't proving to be a useful tool in the political toolbox, unless his sole purpose is to keep barking at passing cars.
the problem is that luxon represents capital
because of this he is a very limited person
This is the first google search for RATs in Australia, no stock. Here's Woolworths, no stock. And Coles, in WA no less, has pulled them from online sale and can't supply stores.
Luxon is either ill-informed and shooting off at the mouth because that's what has got him where he is today, or he is deliberately lying to the New Zealand public.
Also, Covid deaths/million: Australia 118, NZ 10. And this clown wants to throw the borders open because the cheap foreign labour model to which he is so wedded is unable to operate.
Luxon wants a timetable for the the border to be opened for his business mates. But Premier McGowan in Western Australia has decided that the economy is working just fine in WA and so has decided to keep the border closed until 80% have been boosted.
NZ has had the same experience-the economy is doing well despite Covid.
So I suggest the government give Luxon the timetable and certainty that he wants-the border will open (and MIQ will end) when 90% of Kiwis are boosted. Simple.
…..of course all of this may be blown out of the water by the 11am urgent Jacinda/Bloomfield press conference just announced. I guess Omicron is here and we are all going to Red?
RNZ.
https://twitter.com/craigmcculloch/status/1484982966673866753
Red Traffic Light looming?
I bet the supermarkets are in overdrive.
Buy your toilet rolls now folks. 😉
don't peak too soon 😉
Talkback is saying the country is going Red. Don't know if that's the whole country, or not.
If true, it seems Jacinda couldn't help herself.
Witless comment there, Blade!
You know, Robert, there's talk about Righties getting an easy ride with the moderators on this site. I don't know whether that is true or not, but I have often wondered how your pithy vacuous comments past muster most of the time.
I wrote before to Weka that I was wondering whether the PM would be able to go against her instincts and not call a lockdown. Well, she hasn't, but she's at the border by moving us to a red light setting.
The red light setting will not make an itoa of difference for a number of reasons. Then the PM will have to make a decision about a lockdown.
But for some businesses, red light means they will be closing.
Jacinda, alone and unadvised, went with her instinct, and made this call?
That's a pretty witless comment, in my opinion.
It's also stating the obvious. I didn't know the buck didn't stop with Jacinda, especially when given different advice by different ministries and organisations.
No need to watch a press conference to know a red light setting won't make a difference.
Maybe someone else could explain to you why in a more cogent manner than I am capable of.
You made the claim. It is up to you to back it up, not hide behind your lack of cognitive function.
Ok, I'll start the ball rolling. A lock down is a lockdown. People know the score.
A red light setting won't make people ditch an orange light mentality. For them it will be business as usual…apart from becoming more FRUSTARTED as new red light protocols come into force.
"a lockdown is a lockdown"
"A red light setting won't make people ditch an orange light mentality. For them it will be business as usual"
I'm beginning to understand your claim,
"Maybe someone else could explain to you why in a more cogent manner than I am capable of."
Also,
"a lockdown is a lockdown".
"The red light setting will not make an itoa of difference for a number of reasons. Then the PM will have to make a decision about a lockdown."
"a lockdown is a lockdown".
Robert, you are floundering. Here's what a wrote:
''A lock down is a lockdown. People know the score.''
No room for pleading ignorance under a lockdown. Of, course under a red light setting there’s a myriad of things that can be ignored or done poorly.
Do you understand?
Also not true, Blade. Large events cannot go ahead, at all. Hospitality must use vaccine passes to be able to have up to 100 people inside and they must be seated. These are not, "things that can be ignored or done poorly".
''Also not true, Blade. Large events cannot go ahead, at all. Hospitality must use vaccine passes to be able to have up to 100 people inside and they must be seated. These are not, "things that can be ignored or done poorly".
But what about Joe's Diner? Millies nail and sensual massage parlour? A Mongrel Mob funeral…and the man in the street that doesn't give a fuck after two weeks of frustration in the red light setting.
What about fake vaccine passes? A mainframe check is required to know if they are kosher as I understand it.
Of course if the PM was to call a lockdown …ah, then I'm sure that would slow Omicron. Will she…?
The manufactured, overheated, politicised blame will settle there, sure, but your assertion that the decision to implement "red" is down to Jacinda's instinct, rather than an informed, shared, considered process, is a nonsense.
''The manufactured, overheated, politicised blame will settle there, sure,''
Correct. As it should be. She is our leader.
''But your assertion that the decision to implement "red" is down to Jacinda's instinct, rather than an informed, shared, considered process, is a nonsense."
Not only Jacinda's instinct, but Labours caucus as well ( but as released papers have shown, that's not the case with all medical advice, eg Auckland's lockdown). But the bottom line must surely be after the debating is over, and especially if there is contradictory advice, Jacinda must make the call…??? And of course she will go with advice that gels with her instincts.
I see.
So this,
"it seems Jacinda couldn't help herself."
Was nonsense, as I first noted.
if there is contradictory advice
A scenario in which experts disagree with public health officials would be worth discussing – if evidence of such can be cited!
I don't know of any contradictory advice, Dennis. Apart from Labour ignoring Ashley Bloomfield's advice that Auckland could have come out of lock down sooner, if I remember correctly.
BTW – as a matter of interest – do you believe the red light setting will slow Covid?
do you believe the red light setting will slow Covid?
Complex systems theory says that transitions between stable states are inherently unpredictable, and can happen fast in response to tiny trigger stimulation causing a cascade of effects flowing through the system.
In accord with that, my answer would be that it appears unlikely. However, the red light does change the state of the system itself. The change is from fluid to relatively static. So my answer becomes yes!
The only caveat I would apply to the situation is if community transmission is already cascading – in which case no becomes a more feasible answer. I reckon, therefore, that we won't know for a week or two how effective the red light is.
Crikey, that's a wicked reply, Dennis. I reckon it'll take me six weeks to understand the import of what you have written.
Therefore, let's concentrate on the caveat. Given a negative test result for Covid really means nothing in the scheme of things, and given we already have community spread with maybe many more positive results coming in the next few days, I would have to say your answer would be in the negative for slowing the Omicron spread.
The only factor I haven't considered in this debate is:
How scared are people once they realise we are in paradise lost??
Today at the supermarket I saw full on panic Paracetamol and similar products were gone. Ditto toilet paper and water. Rationing was also in place.
Such people who panic like that are not likely to go around looking to become a Covid statistic.
I'll help. Dennis is a self-described radical centrist and his comment there is a good illustration of what that means in action. Analyse from every angle, then finally come up with no decision. And this is why centrists, radical or otherwise, get nothing done.
Dennis, this is meant to be light-hearted.
I saw a tv presenter earlier telling viewers not to panic. She probably is too young to know that traditionally this instruction has always been known to be the best way to start a panic!
So yeah, there'll be some headless chookery happening out there now. Dunno about scared tho. Folks are more likely to hunker down as if it were an actual lockdown, then cautiously doing wait & see the next week or two.
Govt has done ok with both prior waves of covid so people are more likely to trust them than not. Labour's poll rating holding well informs us how powerful this collective mind-set is.
Haven't seen Billy TK jr leading a protest recently – maybe he'll come out & defy omicron to compete with the bishop. Heroic public stands build political reputations…
Dennis is the man.
Yet you haven’t explained those reasons. Not even one.
Had you been watching the press conference, would know the red light setting slows the spread by, among other things, limiting numbers at large events, reenforcing mask wearing rules, and stopping unvaxxed people from gathering in numbers more than 25.
https://twitter.com/NZedAUS/status/1484997560901464064
Buy some panadol ibuprophen nasal spray lozenges and green tea. Make a kit of your medical needs and vaccination status. Make a cleaning and rubbish kit with spray/bleach gloves paper towels rubbish bags and masks. Make a sign for the back and front doors. Buddy with a phone friend. Join an online reading site. Keep up the current advice and try not to stress.
My fear is that my workplaces will get shut down as cases inevitably enter them. Fine if there is government support available but, reading between the lines, that seems to have ended.
Well, take a wait and see approach. But yeah, when customers, and staff are all equally sick it might be that leases, fixed costs and the likes will be paid with good intention in lieu of cash.
Once numbers of infections get to a certain level I expect a pragmatic approach to be taken as has been the case in certain jurisdictions overseas an example being in Melbourne where COVID positive HCPs who are barely symptomatic work on the Covid ward if they are happy to do so.
It'll depend what workplace your in I suppose.
Already done most of that Patricia – it's our emergency preparedness kit plus panadol tissues and masks. We have a well stocked pantry and freezer. Dog has just died so that is one less thing to worry about sadly.
Oh that is a shame Matiri. We have one old cat. Yes being as prepared as you can be is one thing we can do.
It would seem the Government this time around is promoting the mantra of personal responsibility for everybody. Get a health kit up, batten down the hatches and carry on as usual like the winter flu season. That's all very well and good. What about people who live alone, maybe don't have rellies living close and are reclusive. This will be a classic case of survival of the fittest. What will happen to households who have to isolate for up to a month with family sick. How's that going to work???
As for the children starting the school year, what a crazy idea that is. Omicron will go through the schools like a dose of salts and fell everybody in its path and a large percentage of the kids haven't had their first shot yet.. I am head scratching with the government this time around. They turn Northland orange and probably within two weeks will have to take it back to red.
Finally I wish to say that I personally feel terrible for the front line staff in the hospitals who will have to man the lines and face very ill people and the high chance of becoming very ill themselves. As Randy Newman sang in the song "Take Pity on the Working Man" – its a case of take pity on the health professionals each and every one of them.
I really hope that they announce something like a supplement payment for food for all beneficiaries. There is no way surge pricing will be avoided, and the poor will just go hungry, and hungry makes people angry and angry people lay hands.
Just for once, be savage Labour Party and hand over a handfull of dollars to those that have none.
I think we will see more on this in the coming week.
from https://thestandard.org.nz/going-red/
They're suggesting a neigbourhood buddy system.
Public Health Units in the DHB are tasked with doing interviews with and then providing support for people who have symptoms onwards.
I see lots of gaps, but I wouldn't characterise this as survival of the fittest or the govt saying it's on personal responsibility.
Post is up on the current announcement re omicron outbreak and the move to the Red Traffic Light.
https://thestandard.org.nz/going-red/
Just watched the PM explain the red switch. I go along with re-using the precautionary principle & agree that one rule for all must prevail until we see how folks are being hit by the spread of the infection. So the sheeple keen to head for the escape gate will have to keep circling in the middle of the paddock a while longer.
I'll be looking for the stats on hospitalisation over the next few weeks. If they don't freak everyone out, pressure to ease the red light back to orange will grow & political opposition will get traction…
Wow its gone Red. Here I was saying its a stupid idea to turn Northland orange only to be returned to Red and it didn't even last two weeks. What a wasted exercise that was.
yep, but made for good daily entertainment.
Fickle finger of fate flicked the switch. Risk management defence kicks in accordingly. Public tolerance will prevail for now I expect. Businesses will wonder if complaining is a good idea. Dunno about folks on holiday. Limbo??
unlikely to be a few weeks. We're in a good position to slow the outbreaks, so the first peak may be some time away.
Red is not particularly onerous other than for large gatherings.
.
Ms Ardern … BUILD THAT WALL !!! … in fact 2 walls … both plumb through the middle of each Island .. east to west … northern halves of each island become no-go Omicron zones routinely monitored by security forces loyal to the Imperial South … southern halves remain havens of serenity & business as usual … Civilised Ancient Romes to the Uncouth Northern Hordes.
Wellington, Palmy, Napier, Whangers, Masters, Plimmers, Chch, Dunners, Queeners, Timers, Invers … indeed, even Bluffers … Unite !
And while we’re at it … let’s draw up a strategic mutual-holiday partnership with our equally refined cousins in the Australian West.
Weka – I suggest you have a cup of tea and a lie down.
To repeat I was speaking directly to Swordfish in relation to getting his booster
If swordfish is vaccinated under 65-70 (or over and healthy) this variant isn't something swordfish should worry him/herself about to any great degree.
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
[I suggest you pay more attention to guidance from authors. Stay out of that post for the rest of the day – weka]
mod note.
No problem – I am out of here for the foreseeable future – happy blogging
I suggest you get off your high horse before you fall off it.
Obviously, swordfish has good reason to worry about access to the booster.
https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-14-01-2022/#comment-1851432
I was unaware of swordfishes personal circumstances – very understandable that he/she is more anxious in that situation.
The outpatients clinic in wellington will be providing advice on the best time he/she should be getting a booster.
the point is that it's anyone's personal circumstances.
You said to someone on the internet you don't know,
This is patently not true. Plenty of people have personal circumstances that mean they do indeed need to be concerned and take care. The whole pandemic announcement just made is predicated on that.
This is why you are banned from the post for the day. I don't spend time writing posts so people can drop in random reckons that promote disinformation and/or derail conversations.
You've been here long enough to know how it works.
@weka is now the TS version of the 'whole truth'… Careful, he may ban you for having an opposing individual thought and opinion.
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
[That’s Mr Weka to you. Stay out of that post for the rest of the day. And, count this as a warning: if I see you making shit up about my moderation again, or having a go at me personally, I will ban you. Not for having opposing thoughts but for being a dickhead. I already spent a fair amount of time giving you good guidance the other day on how to present individual thoughts and opinions here. I see that fell on deaf ears, so I’m not wasting any more of my time – weka]
mod note.
Probably more likely to "provide an opportunity for rest and reflection" for anyone exhibiting stupidity, I'd have thought.; take care, julian!
Edit: I was too slow with my helpful advice!
Robert, what's the deal with toxic algae in the Southland rivers? RNZ had it on the broadcast news, but no update on their website yet.
Is this water flows as well as pollution? Are farmer takes from the rivers affecting flows or is it climate related?
Link broken on the Whitestone information
https://maps.es.govt.nz/index.aspx?app=summer-swimming
broken links on others too.
It's a sad state of affairs, weka. These alerts are becoming more frequent and yes, water levels and nutrient loads are factors. Full and functioning rivers are inured against toxic outcomes like these and the factors that affect those rivers are as you suspect them to be. Rainfall here recently, has been reduced, because of climatic factors, but as you also probably expect, those factors are challenged, depending upon which side of the fence you sit. There are those who want to see a re-nturalising of the rivers and greater restrictions put on water take, and there are those who want to increase that take but compensate by establishing storage facilities for water that falls during other (wetter) seasons. The debate goes on. I pin my hopes on Te Mana o te Wai, but expect climate change to be the real influencer. This probably sounds like political evasion, but hey, it's election year for local government (I jest).
I'm imagining those rivers with catchments full of forests and wetlands and estuaries and aquifers, and less full of farms but still regenag and food forests and ecosystems we have yet to co-arise with.
Breaks my heart though. Murihiku is a wetland.
(if people can't farm without stealing from rivers and aquifers, maybe they should be doing something else).
See how many Omicron cases occur from the Auckland marathon being held today? 8,000 expected to participate. At least they will be registered. I do not know if masks are mandatory. Try running in a mask.
I strongly doubt any runners will be wearing masks. Masks make breathing slightly harder. You get a wee bit less air. For most healthy people that’s not a problem. But you need every molecule of oxygen you can get when you run.
🙄 *atom of oxygen
You were right the first time. Oxygen exists in the atmosphere as O2, a diatomic molecule.
Thanks. I didn’t know that. 👍🏼
Also, did you know that air weighs about 1.25kg per cubic meter (at sea level). I am often amazed by that, but it explains why wind can be so powerful and damaging when moving at pace.
Nope. Didn’t know that. That’s a lot heavier than I’d have said if asked to guess.
😎
Plus a very, very small amount of Ozone where there are 3 Oxygen atoms in the molecule. That is a very nasty little beast.
Yet ozone allows us to be on this planet else we'd be fried by the incoming radiation.
https://www.un.org/en/observances/ozone-day/science
There's a philosophical discussion in there somewhere about the use of context when fact pronouncing……
Oh yes. It is indeed very useful when it is up in the stratosphere. That is between 15 km and 30 km up of course and well past the level at which a human being trying to breath without assistance is going to be alive for very long. If you up there without an oxygen supply you would be dead long before the ozone would hurt you.
Geeza and Muttonbird were of course talking about near sea-level as they were considering people running in the Auckland marathon. There is still some ozone there, mostly from reactions in vehicle exhaust gases. That Ozone is what will hurt you.
Oxygen and carbon dioxide need to be within the required limits for breathing.
I belatedly googled a couple of queries on whether masks affect breathing & received hit after hit from mostly medical sources saying that tests showed exercising in masks was perfectly fine; that they had no deleterious effect on breathing or gas exchange. Even for people with breathing problems like COPD or asthma, cystic fibrosis etc.
A couple noted the psychological impact of wearing masks made some people more aware of their breathing, which we mostly do unconsciously. This made some of them hyperventilate or hypoventilate, both of which cause health problems. One of them had suggestions for how to train yourself not to do this.
But I note after double-checking on YouTube that Olympic athletes competed without masks.
I have given it a thought how frontline health workers manage wearing a mask all day and dart from patient to patient. What if no air conditioning?
I would agree that hypoventilation or hyperventilation affects breathing.
If you're talking about the one on the North Shore, they woke me up around 5am banging around the joint. God knows what they were doing. Then the main hoard thumped past around 6.30 am shouting at one another.
Oops, apparently the banging was the toilet doors. They chose to put them close to my home.
There tends to be a bit of a queue for the dunny in the morning. Running on empty would help. As for the banging doors the runners would have been in a big hurry. I saw that the runs were a symptom of Omicron.
Sounds like an early night required for you Anne.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/covid-19-omicron-new-sub-variant-under-investigation-as-it-sweeps-europe/YVTZXUISAZFSFVSWJV6WNBIAJA/
Well folks as if we haven't got enough on our plates to concern ourselves with Omicron has introduced a sister variant. I think somewhere in another life we "must have killed ourselves some chinamen" as my old granny used to quote when shit was hitting the fan. I have no idea where she got this quotation from but it was her idea of karma. Hang in tight and do your best.
Yes, looks like this is a competitive strain too. Too early to say more than that.
There was a report out of Cyprus a couple of weeks ago, but I don't remember where I heard it, that they had detected a new strain they were calling DeltaCron. Presumably a mix of the two.
The new sub variant BA. 2 is outperforming BA.1,it also has an interesting property of reinfection of those who had been previously infected with BA.1.
https://twitter.com/yaneerbaryam/status/1484888801155723269?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1484907570380877825%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es2_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fpublish.twitter.com%2F%3Fquery%3Dhttps3A2F2Ftwitter.com2Fyaneerbaryam2Fstatus2F1484907570380877825widget%3DTweet
Jeez, that'll spook a few folks I reckon.
A head start to receiving unwanted Covid news just might be an advantage.
What I find impossible to accept is that she seems to think that having to postpone a party is equivalent to not being able to get home to see a parent in their last days. Or, and even worse, a child who is dying.
That is nothing like choosing to postpone a big party for a month or two. And yes, I do call it a party. Getting married to someone you have been living with for the best part of a decade and whom you have had children with is a pretty meaningless exercise except to have a big party. Does the fact that you have now married, as opposed to just having been living together for many years actually make any difference?
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
[provide a citation (link and quote) to support the idea that Ardern “seems to think that having to postpone a party is equivalent to not being able to get home to see a parent in their last days. Or, and even worse, a child who is dying”. Or clearly retract. Or take a ban. No, I’m not going to argue about it – weka]
It may make a difference to them, I don't know. But I suspect she is simply giving herself an opportunity to feign empathy in the future.
A very close friend (a fully vaccinated NZ citizen) was refused a priority place in MIQ to firstly visit a dying relative, and then attend the funeral. Meanwhile DJ's waltz in. The 'be kind' bs is wearing very thin.
Ardern said, "I am no different to…thousands of other New Zealanders who have had much more devastating impacts from the pandemic. The most gutting of which is the inability to be with a loved one when they are gravely ill – that will far, far outstrip any sadness I experience".
Alwyn, you take first prize for hardness of heart in these difficult times. And also first prize for spreading misinformation on this particular issue, which is saying something because Blade has been giving everything he has.
When you 3 clump together like this, the word, "clot" comes to mind.
mod note.
My criticism is based on the following statement made by the Prime Minister.
"I am no different to…thousands of other New Zealanders who have had much more devastating impacts from the pandemic. The most gutting of which is the inability to be with a loved one when they are gravely ill – that will far, far outstrip any sadness I experience".
She did, in the second part of that statement qualify her comment but it does not change the fact that she said "I am no different to…thousands of other New Zealanders". She is vastly different to the other people she is talking about. They could not get here to see loved ones. She had to postpone a wedding. There is no valid comparison at all, at least in my opinion. In her case she could get married, essentially immediately, in a Registry Office. She can, if she wants have a great party at a later date.
For the people who couldn't get home to see loved ones there is no second chance. The aren't just delaying something. They are never going to be able to do it.
However the PM compared the two situations when she said ""I am no different to…thousands of other New Zealanders". You are in a different situation. Full Stop.
On the other hand I am happy to be able to withdraw my comments about the PM, or the Department, not having any empathy with the girl from PNG. The spot was made available and she is, with her mother, home to get treatment. There may be problems as the bones had started to mend but they should be able to get around them I'd think. I can't really see that a couple of days delay in issuing the visa was the Departments fault. They really do have to check for the real need to give it.
Oof, hate to be you right now, alwyn.
You have to provide a link and quote to support the, frankly crackpot, idea that the Prime Minister believes postponing her own wedding is equivalent to an expat not being able to attend a family member's funeral.
Either that or retract.
Best of luck!
BY BRYAN GOULD
AN EASY GIG
"So Chris Luxon (and we are assured that there is no ’t’ in either of those names) has at last bestirred himself after a long summer break – but he could hardly be said to have broken a sweat. There can be no easier gig for an opposition politician than to complain that the government has taken too long to do the right thing. We must assume that – apart from doing it sooner – he would have done and be doing nothing different.
So, in one easy press conference, he absolves himself from having anything new or different to suggest or say. Politics must seem to be so simple, after (as he constantly reminds us) running an airline."
Give Bryan a break. He is getting rather old and starting to ramble a bit.
Charming.
https://twitter.com/GlennJeffrey8/status/1485038040930451456
Being an anti may be hereditary. I'd pick the parents were definitely anti education back in the day.