covid-19
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Won’t someone think of the business owners?
Written By: - Date published: 12:04 pm, October 24th, 2021 - 174 comments
This week Judith Collins was reported to be close to tears. But not about the possibility of a significant number of deaths but by the prospect of business closures.
Mad Tuesday
Written By: - Date published: 7:58 pm, October 22nd, 2021 - 15 comments
NZ Government is jumping at the deep end by re-opening schools on Tuesday.
Friday will change Us As Citizens
Written By: - Date published: 8:04 am, October 22nd, 2021 - 210 comments
While we may have been lifted out of martial lockdowns and some rights have been reinstated in limited form, we have surrendered to another more pervasive power. The power of big data.
National’s plan – open and be damned
Written By: - Date published: 9:43 am, October 21st, 2021 - 71 comments
Yesterday National released what feels like take 16 of its Covid response plan, this one focussing on business interests and setting a hard timeline for reopening. But getting significant details wrong and rehashing failed policies previously tried in England has dampened its effect.
Covid and kindness
Written By: - Date published: 10:16 am, October 20th, 2021 - 127 comments
The vaccine is a bloody useful tool, not a panacea. This is a long crisis that requires us to pay heed the bigger picture.
Get Ugly
Written By: - Date published: 9:20 am, October 20th, 2021 - 94 comments
Kindness will not get the country to meet its Covid vaccination goals. It is time to change the tone.
Jacinda Ardern: Tear Down This Wall
Written By: - Date published: 11:18 am, October 17th, 2021 - 109 comments
In the coming months Fortress New Zealand will be dismantled. What will take its place?
Don’t be lax, get your vax
Written By: - Date published: 10:07 am, October 16th, 2021 - 43 comments
Posted for the big drive today for vaccinations for news and comments. Image borrowed from Waipareira who are doing great work out west.
Why Can’t We Do More?
Written By: - Date published: 8:44 am, October 16th, 2021 - 35 comments
The Government’s dramatic action taken over the past 18 months to respond to Covid and the population’s overwhelming support suggests that it should be taking similar drastic action to address poverty and climate change.
Time for Auckland to go back to level four?
Written By: - Date published: 7:55 am, October 15th, 2021 - 114 comments
With daily Covid infection rates in Tamaki Makaurau increasing it may be time for the Government to consider a short sharp lockdown to try and arrest this increase and to let vaccination rates improve.
Goudie blunders again
Written By: - Date published: 8:46 am, October 14th, 2021 - 176 comments
Thames Coromandel mayor Sandra Goudie who previously admitted not scanning where she goes has been at it again, this time stating that the Pfeizer vaccine is not good enough for her and she will be waiting for the Novovax vaccine to be available before she gets vaccinated.
David Seymour is all class
Written By: - Date published: 8:35 am, October 12th, 2021 - 71 comments
David Seymour suggested that suburbs where the vaccination rate hit 90% should be allowed extra freedom. But an analysis suggests that the wealthiest parts of Auckland, including Remuera and Epsom would qualify, whereas the poorer parts of Auckland would struggle to qualify.
More Promises from Prime Minister Morrison
Written By: - Date published: 1:03 pm, October 11th, 2021 - 14 comments
So, the Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison is preparing for a November resumption of international air travel.
Covid D day
Written By: - Date published: 8:38 am, October 11th, 2021 - 159 comments
Some big decisions are due to happen today. What happens to Auckland’s Covid status? Should the lockdown level be reduced or should the Government think about putting it back up?
Gender split is interesting in latest poll
Written By: - Date published: 10:49 am, October 7th, 2021 - 30 comments
The latest Roy Morgan poll was run between August 30th and September 26th. The headline results of Labour/Greens with 55% (increase by 3.5%) against opposition National/Act/Maori parties on 41% (up 0.5%) were good enough. But they also showed the gender split.. Women are deserting the right.
Gut Feeling and Common Sense
Written By: - Date published: 10:30 pm, October 6th, 2021 - 42 comments
With clear information people can and should be expected to make optimal and sub-optimal choices & decisions.
Holding our covid nerve
Written By: - Date published: 9:31 am, October 6th, 2021 - 48 comments
and keeping the faith.
That our covid response is not working out perfectly doesn’t mean we or the government are failing. What we need more of at this point are stories about ‘what if things work out’. Not in a Pollyanna or return to BAU sense, but that we can still be ok. We need strong narratives of what that might be like, us being ok despite the pandemic.
Right now Sonny Fatupaito is an essential worker
Written By: - Date published: 8:28 am, October 6th, 2021 - 125 comments
News that the head of Waikato’s Mongrel Mob chapter was given an essential workers exemption to travel to and around Auckland recently has attracted derision from the usual quarters. But right now Sonny Fatupaito’s help is essential.
Priorities?
Written By: - Date published: 7:54 pm, October 3rd, 2021 - 16 comments
Is setting priorities just a matter of resources?
Who are these angry Aucklanders?
Written By: - Date published: 10:31 am, October 3rd, 2021 - 243 comments
This weekend there have been two attempts to undermine the current Auckland Covid lock down. Brian Tamaki’s was not the most ludicrous.
Goodbye Gladys
Written By: - Date published: 11:20 am, October 2nd, 2021 - 41 comments
Mike Hosking’s go to female Politician Gladys Berejiklian has resigned in disgrace after the Independent Commission against Corruption announced a formal inquiry into her involvement in preferential grants given to organisations in her former boyfriend’s seat from which it is alleged he attempted to receive a commission.
Covid does not give a fuck about your plans
Written By: - Date published: 11:20 am, September 30th, 2021 - 31 comments
This week we have seen reckons from John Key, Act and National on how we should be loosening up Covid lockdown restrictions. Yesterday’s 45 new cases shows how dangerous it is to think that dealing with Covid is a simple management exercise.
This turkey is struggling cooped up in a bubble
Written By: - Date published: 6:21 pm, September 29th, 2021 - 78 comments
Turkeys don’t vote for Christmas but Kiwis do, don’t they?
Government introduces law to assist tenants
Written By: - Date published: 8:59 am, September 29th, 2021 - 19 comments
Barry Soper and the Property Council are up in arms about proposals to ensure that all commercial tenants should only pay a fair proportion of their rental if their use of the premises has been affected by responses to the Covid pandemic.
Smug hermit king
Written By: - Date published: 9:44 am, September 27th, 2021 - 127 comments
John Key has doubled down on his claims that Aotearoa is a smug hermit kingdom and claimed that it is imperative that international travel is eased although he is fine with all other restrictions to stay in place.
Key’s baaaack
Written By: - Date published: 9:35 am, September 26th, 2021 - 273 comments
John Key is back and has described New Zealand as a smug hermit kingdom for daring to so far achieve something no other western nation has been able to accomplish, holding back Covid and preventing thousands of deaths.
Fearmongering or telling it how it is?
Written By: - Date published: 5:14 pm, September 25th, 2021 - 29 comments
42 is not the meaning of life and 13 is not an unlucky number.
The Golden Ticket
Written By: - Date published: 7:00 am, September 24th, 2021 - 110 comments
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern claimed yesterday that a very high vaccination rate in New Zealand would represent a “golden ticket” and make level 4 lockdowns redundant. What could that mean that’s positive for New Zealand?
The more difficult end to the vaccination programme
Written By: - Date published: 8:26 am, September 23rd, 2021 - 204 comments
The country is reaching an interesting stage in the vaccination programme where reluctant vaccinees will have to receive the jab to make sure that we reach herd immunity.
Why did the chicken cross the road?
Written By: - Date published: 9:58 pm, September 21st, 2021 - 26 comments
Government has taken a ‘calculated risk’ with opening up Auckland somewhat tonight.
Lockdown decision – which way will it go?
Written By: - Date published: 9:00 am, September 20th, 2021 - 171 comments
Cabinet meets today to decide on the future of the lockdown levels in Aotearoa and more specifically on Tamaki Makaurau. Which way will it go?
- I was asked to come up with my top 5 Aussie films of 2024. It was a difficult task
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ari Mattes, Lecturer in Communications and Media, University of Notre Dame Australia Late Night With The Devil. Maslow Entertainment Marketing is critical to the success of commercial films, and companies will often spend half as much again on top of the ...1 week ago - Interactive: What Earth’s 4.54 billion-year history would look like in a single year
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Francisco Jose Testa, Lecturer in Earth Sciences (Mineralogy, Petrology & Geochemistry), University of Tasmania The Conversation As a kid, it was tough for me to grasp the massive time scale of Earth’s history. Now, with nearly two decades of experience as ...1 week ago
- Public service cuts: ‘Rough’ months ahead for those out of work
Laid-off public servants have been slogging it out on a months-long job hunt, and for some that will continue into 2025. ...1 week ago - Māori ‘under siege’ in 2024, must fight back in 2025 – Ngarewa-Packer
Te Pāti Māori has had to adopt a new way of debating, operating and even thinking in Parliament in response to the Government’s “onslaught” against te ao Māori, co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer says.In an end-of-year interview with Newsroom, the Te Tai Hauauru MP reflected on how 2024 has differed from her ...1 week ago - The real story behind the Government’s maths narrative
Opinion: The latest Trends in International Mathematics and Science report was announced earlier this month, yet it didn’t get the flurry of media attention and political hand-wringing that typically accompanies these announcements. This might be because it presented good news, or you could argue, no news; the results paint a ...1 week ago
- Pretty much every common nut in Aotearoa, reviewed and ranked
At long last, The Spinoff shells out for a nut ranking. The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying members we have to continue telling these kinds of stories. Please read our open letter and sign up to be a member today. It recently came to The Spinoff’s attention ...1 week ago - What it’s like to be made redundant by the Ministry of Education
I was one of hundreds of people who lost my government job this week. Here’s exactly how it played out. The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying members we have to continue telling these kinds of stories. Please read our open letter and sign up to be a ...1 week ago
- Why can’t I pick up my own dropped phone on a plane?
Summer reissue: One anxiously attentive passenger pays attention to an in-flight safety video, and wonders ‘Why can’t I pick up my own phone?’ The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying members we have to continue telling these kinds of stories. Please read our open letter and sign up ...1 week ago
- Juggernaut: The ghosts of 1984
Summer reissue: Why do those Lange-Douglas years cast such a long shadow 40 years on? The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying members we have to continue telling these kinds of stories. Please read our open letter and sign up to be a member today. First published June ...1 week ago
- Newsroom daily quiz, Monday 23 December
Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp');Got a good quiz question? Send Newsroom your questions.The post Newsroom daily quiz, Monday 23 December appeared first on Newsroom. ...1 week ago
- Govt walks away from infrastructure alliance
The Government’s social housing agency has backed out of a billion-dollar infrastructure alliance that would have built about 6000 new homes in Auckland – less than 18 months after signing a five-year extension.Labour says the decision to rip up the contract and sell off existing state houses could lead to ...1 week ago
- Daily crossword, Monday 23 December
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- Tauranga Whai transition from pretenders to champions
An unrelenting faith in “swift transition” has driven Tauranga Whai to their first Tauihi Basketball Aotearoa championship. At a boisterous Queen Elizabeth Youth Centre, the visiting Tokomanawa Queens were blown away 90-71 in the final.Whai led by 20 points at halftime as their urgent movement and unflinching faith in three-point shooting from anywhere ...1 week ago
- Vanuatu quake: Warnings as bad weather threat looms for Port Vila
By , New Zealand’s Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) says impending bad weather for Port Vila is now the most significant post-quake hazard. A tropical low in the Coral Sea is expected to move into Vanuatu waters, bringing heavy rainfall. Authorities have issued warnings to people ...1 week ago
- Signs of the hīkoi: More than just ‘words on cardboard’
The placards seen at the Hīkoi mō Te Tiriti conveyed "huge kōrero with immediacy", expert says: "People know the power of the word." ...1 week ago
- A final Ode to .. King Luxon
Cosmic CatastropheThe year draws to a close.King Luxon has grown tired of the long eveningsListening to the dreary squabbling of his Triumvirate.He strolls up to the top floor of the PalaceTo consult with his Astronomer Royal.The Royal Telescope scans the skies,And King Luxon stares up into the heavensFrom the terrestrial ...1 week ago
- A hater and an enthusiast review The Royal Free by Carl Shuker
Spinoff editor Mad Chapman and books editor Claire Mabey debate Carl Shuker’s new novel about… an editor. Claire: Hello Mad, you just finished The Royal Free – overall impressions? Mad: Hi Claire, I literally just put the book down and I would have to say my immediate impression is ...1 week ago
- Survive to 25 (December, that is)
Christmas and its buildup are often lonely, hard and full of unreasonable expectations. Here’s how to make it to Jesus’s birthday and find the little bit of joy we all deserve. Have you found this year relentless? Has the latest Apple update “fucked up your life”? Have you lost two ...1 week ago
- All I want for Christmas is modern day slavery legislation
Despite overwhelming public and corporate support, the government has stalled progress on a modern day slavery law. That puts us behind other countries – and makes Christmas a time of tragedy rather than joy, argues Shanti Mathias. Picture the scene on Christmas Day. Everyone replete with nice things to eat, ...1 week ago
- Israeli-American historian describes attacks on Gaza as ‘war of annihilation’
Asia Pacific Report “It looks like Hiroshima. It looks like Germany at the end of World War Two,” says an Israeli-American historian and professor of holocaust and genocide studies at Brown University about the horrifying reality of Gaza. Professor Omer Bartov, has described Israel’s ongoing war on Gaza as an ...1 week ago
- NZ govt plans to make ‘heavy handed’ change to free speech rules for universities
The New Zealand government coalition is tweaking university regulations to curb what it says is an increasingly “risk-averse approach” to free speech. The proposed changes will set clear expectations on how universities should approach freedom of speech issues. Each university will then have to adopt a “freedom of speech statement” ...1 week ago
- Caitlin Johnstone: Where does the aggression really begin?
Report by Dr David Robie – Café Pacific. – COMMENTARY: By Caitlin Johnstone New York prosecutors have charged Luigi Mangione with “murder as an act of terrorism” in his alleged shooting of health insurance CEO Brian Thompson earlier this month. This news comes out at the same time as ...2 weeks ago
- OECD Report Highlights That More Is Needed
This report reflects that gap in our dealings overseas, and it shows that legislators, the public sector and businesses need to walk the talk. ...2 weeks ago - Government quietly scraps waste minimisation policies
The government has quietly cancelled plans to improve recycling and roll out a kerbside food scraps composting scheme. ...2 weeks ago
- MEAA welcomes News MAP funding ‘leg up’ for Australian journalism
Pacific Media Watch The union for Australian journalists has welcomed the delivery by the federal government of more than $150 million to support the sustainability of public interest journalism over the next four years. Combined with the announcement of the revamped News Bargaining Initiative, this could result in up to ...2 weeks ago
- Transmission Gully partnership breakdown will not hurt future public-private partnerships, Infrastru...
The roads partnership unravelled under a confidential settlement this week, meaning NZTA will now finish off what it had said was incomplete work. ...2 weeks ago
- Funding cuts to charity particularly felt over Christmas period
The number of people seeking help from Lifeline is expected to increase by 10 to 20 percent over Christmas. ...2 weeks ago
- Nelson Hospital conditions ‘unbearable’ – staff
One worker says the building is decrepit and falling down around them. ...2 weeks ago
- The Secret Diary of .. Luxon at Xmas
MONDAY“Merry Xmas, and praise the Lord,” said Sheriff Luxon, and smiled for the camera. There was a flash of smoke when the shutter pressed down on the magnesium powder. The sheriff had arranged for a photographer from the Dodge Gazette to attend a ceremony where he handed out food parcels to ...2 weeks ago
- Stand by for cricket’s Smash Palace
It’s a little under two months since the White Ferns shocked the cricketing world, deservedly taking home the T20 World Cup. Since then the trophy has had a tour around the country, five of the squad have played in the WBBL in Australia while most others have returned to domestic ...2 weeks ago
- Early-onset dementia under the microscope
Comment: If we say the word ‘dementia’, many will picture an older person struggling to remember the names of their loved ones, maybe a grandparent living out their final years in an aged care facility. Dementia can also occur in people younger than 65, but it can take time before ...2 weeks ago
- Keeping the pirates at bay: Should the Australian ‘Blocking Order’ case prompt a discussion in N...
Piracy is a reality of modern life – but copyright law has struggled to play catch-up for as long as the entertainment industry has existed. As far back as 1988, the House of Lords criticised copyright law’s conflict with the reality of human behaviour in the context of burning cassette ...2 weeks ago
- ‘We were as famous as Tom Cruise’: Craig Parker on 90s Shortland St fandom
As he makes a surprise return to Shortland Street, actor Craig Parker takes us through his life in television. Craig Parker has been a fixture on television in Aotearoa for nearly four decades. He had starring roles in iconic local series like Gloss, Mercy Peak and Diplomatic Immunity, featured in ...2 weeks ago
- ‘I prioritise the mission, not my health’: Adam McGrath’s perfect weekend playlist
The Ōtautahi musician shares the 10 tracks he loves to spin, including the folk classic that cured him of a ‘case of the give-ups’. When singer-songwriter Adam McGrath returns to Kumeu’s Auckland Folk Festival from January 24-27, he’s not planning on simply idling his way through – he wants the late ...2 weeks ago
- The rescue dog bringing joy to Christchurch retirement homes
Alex Casey spends an afternoon on the job with River, the rescue dog on a mission to spread joy to Ōtautahi rest homes. Almost everyone says it is never enough time. But River the rescue dog, a jet black huntaway border collie cross, has to keep a tight pace to ...2 weeks ago
- Fiji pro-Palestine nativity scene exposes Gaza as ‘hell on earth’ at Christmas
Asia Pacific Report Fiji activists have recreated the nativity scene at a solidarity for Palestine gathering in Fiji’s capital Suva just days before Christmas. The Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre and Fijians for Palestine Solidarity Network recreated the scene at the FWCC compound — a baby Jesus figurine lies amidst the ...2 weeks ago
- Vanuatu quake: ‘Our shop was flattened like a deck of cards’
By 1News Pacific correspondent Barbara Dreaver and 1News reporters A number of Kiwis have been successfully evacuated from Vanuatu after a devastating earthquake shook the Pacific island nation earlier this week. The death toll was still unclear, though at least 14 people were killed according to an earlier statement from ...2 weeks ago
- How diplomats have broken the law in NZ – and what happened next
A handful of foreign diplomats have misbehaved during their time here - and not all of them have been brought to justice. ...2 weeks ago
- Swim schools report sinking enrolments as downturn deepens
Being able to swim is often considered a life skill, but tough economic times are forcing many families to pull their children out of lessons. ...2 weeks ago
- ‘There will be deaths because of this’ – Warning over Health NZ IT cuts
A West Coast IT worker is warning patients will die as Health New Zealand aims to slash its data and digital staff. ...2 weeks ago
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