Chris Bishop goes woof woof on variant ‘B.1.1.7’

Written By: - Date published: 1:26 pm, December 28th, 2020 - 43 comments
Categories: chris bishop, chris hipkins, covid-19, health, national, same old national, uk politics - Tags:

I realise that this would normally be our silly season, but it seems a bit macabre with such an awful and predicable death toll running overseas in the northern winter. But nothing really excuses Chris Bishop for being a complete dickhead in barking for immediate offshore testing for travellers from the UK. It is pointless. Thank god that the government are a bit more sensible. They’re instituting an extra test at our border.

Yes – I know that part of the role of an ineffectual opposition is to try to bristle themselves up like any other canine to look bigger than they really are. It is all part of the ridiculous game of democratic politics. Only tolerable because no-one has managed to come up with anything more stable that doesn’t have regular revolts or human triggered famines.

But I’d have to say that for me, outright stupidity should be off the table – even for MPs.

There is a new strain of Covid19 B.1.1.7 being reported from some parts of the UK that appears to have an increased speed of transmission statistically. That rate is estimated between 40% and 70% more than the current dominant strains in the UK. It also doesn’t appear to be any more deadly than the existing strains. We probably won’t know for certain on either factor for months because that will require a pile of lab and statistical analysis to distinguish it against the other background factors – like winter, a rural correlation and staying indoors.

A selected for variant isn’t abnormal for this disease. It has happened before as anyone who looks at the variant maps or data. There is a very accessible outline in the Reuters article that I pulled this image from.

covid-19 variants frequency global
Reuters: How the novel coronavirus has evolved

While it is a slow mutating disease compared to something like influenza, the sheer number of infections means that it has ample opportunity to select from variants that have better abilities to reproduce. The virus is likely to recombine individual attributes between different strains when they are mix in together in a host.

Dr Zania Stamataki, Viral Immunologist, University of Birmingham, said:

“The emergence of different coronavirus strains a year after SARS-CoV-2 first jumped to humans is neither cause for panic nor unexpected. Mutations will accumulate and lead to new virus variants, pushed by our own immune system to change or perish.

“This virus doesn’t mutate as fast as influenza and, although we need to keep it under surveillance, it will not be a major undertaking to update the new vaccines when necessary in the future. This year has seen significant advances take place, to build the infrastructure for us to keep up with this coronavirus.”

Science Media Centre: “expert reaction to the new variant of SARS-CoV-2

But apparently Chris Bishop just likes barking at cars. From New Years Eve with the political tactic of ‘viewing with alarm’ this was reported..

National’s Chris Bishop said the government needed to respond to the new strain by introducing pre-departure tests for arrivals from the UK. Photo: RNZ / Dom Thomas

Bishop said the government needed to respond to the new strain by introducing pre-departure tests for arrivals from the UK.

“No one is saying that it’s a silver bullet, it’s not something that’s going to magically eliminate Covid overnight, but we think it’s an important part of a suite of tools that can be used to make sure our border response is as top notch as possible,” he said.

Bishop said the situation in the UK was another example of why the government should introduce a ‘traffic-light system’ to grade the risk of incoming travellers.

“That would allow a much more intensive regime for people coming from the UK for example, compared to people from Australia. That’s what people like Professor Baker and others have been calling for, and I think it’s really now time to look at implementing that,” Bishop said.

RNZ: “Covid-19 at border: National calls on government to address concerns over new strain

Woof woof from the shaggy dog… I thought we’d gotten over this idiotic politicking crap now on Covid-19.

Basically that has to be one of the most mindless and outright stupid assertions that I’ve seen from even a National politician for a while. Sure the CDC in the USA has done it. But that is a country that is currently still controlled by a narcissistic idiot who can’t be briefed and who has been dispersing similar fools throughout the federal systems – including documented and attested disruptive political interference in the CDC.

Basically what would be the point of a test? It takes time to get a test that doesn’t have a high probability of getting a high false positive or negative. It takes days after infection for the virus to have a viral load that would even show up in a test.

Just going to get the test involves a significiant risk of picking up an infection. That is the whole point of having lock downs like those currently in operation in the UK – it reduces the probability of transmission.

This is followed by hanging around airports with other potentially infected people waiting for planes. Then days upon days of flying in confined spaces with a lot of other potentially infected people and waiting for transfers at other airports before they arrive here.

Currently we seem to be getting most of the covid-19 cases detected here in MIQ in the day 3 tests, but they’re coming out of treatment pretty fast as well. But given the transit times that are currently prevalent for most multi-hop flights from origin to border seems to indicate that it is likely they picked up the infection in transit (BTW: I’d love to see some more useful analysis of that than the reporters are currently reporting).

So what is the point of doing the the test in the UK? Anyone rational would just isolate themselves as much as possible before boarding a plane rather than going for a test (and increasing their risk of being infected). They’d watch for their own symptoms and get tested if they had some.

After all that is just rational. Who’d want to be caught in transit with Covid-19 and turfed off the plane into isolation and possible death in a foreign country. Especially with the current costs of travel insurance. If they are asymptomatic then they’re almost as likely to not test positive because their viral load just hasn’t risen high enough to hit the thresholds of the tests.

This morning a more rational response was announced by the government. I had to amend my post to remove the same suggestion. Have earlier tests at our border (something we should have done a while go anyway).

New variants of Covid-19 has led the government to introduce a third test for people travelling from high risk countries like the United Kingdom and United States.

Currently everyone who travels here is tested on day three and 12 of their quarantine stay.

From midnight on 31 December, all returnees from higher risk countries will be tested on their first day as well.

Minister for Covid-19 Response Chris Hipkins said returnees would also be required to be in isolation or quarantine in their allocated room at a facility until their initial test had returned a result.

“This means if the result is positive they will be transferred to a quarantine facility effectively several days earlier than under the standard two-test regime,” Hipkins said in a statement.

“We’ve been monitoring overseas developments very closely, and, like many other countries, New Zealand has heightened concerns about the new variants of the virus and their potential to spread more rapidly, and the ongoing high rates of infection in some countries.”

He said asymptomatic people were arriving at the border and being picked up in day three testing – so the new day one test would ensure results as soon as possible.

“It will also help us identify earlier anyone who sat close to them on flights,” he said.

“Our 14-day managed quarantine and isolation regime is providing one of the strongest border defences anywhere in the world. These additional requirements for returnees from higher risk countries will provide extra safety for people working in the facilities and greater assurance for New Zealand generally.”

The government was also looking at the option of pre-departure testing for UK arrivals to New Zealand.

RNZ: “More Covid tests for arrivals as new strains emerge

Perfect for everything except for

  1. Do the day one test for everyone. There is no point in increasing the complexity of the system. Getting your sinuses probed three time is going to be no more obnoxious as having it happen twice or even once. We could also do with better data about the progression of the disease in arriving passengers and crew.
  2. Focus any pre-departure ‘option’ on what do we do as vaccines become more available. Don’t waste time on pointless and meaningless activities that are only useful for academic research and the airline and airport industries.
    If the flight industry want to know the levels of infection in transit and the operational changes required to diminish it – then they can do that themselves. After all it is what they must do before they’re able to be regarded as a means of transport rather than simply being the plague carriers. They’re also the experts in shoving hosts together to share diseases globally – (opps) managing mass international transits.
  3. Ultimately suppressing this pandemic is going to rely on being able to reduce transmission between regions of varying resistance to the disease and its variants so suppression can be done locally. So we go back to the smallpox suppression techniques. Proof of vaccination before entry. Widespread vaccinations.

But I guess that National are the same old national. Their heads still seem to be far too embedded up their own arses to even become an effective opposition. It would have taken a moments thought to come up with what Chris Hipkins announced today, and it would have made them look prescient and ahead of the ball. Instead it mad Chris Bishop look like a shaggy dog stupidly chasing a car for no apparent reason – again.

43 comments on “Chris Bishop goes woof woof on variant ‘B.1.1.7’ ”

  1. SPC 1

    Bishop said the situation in the UK was another example of why the government should introduce a ‘traffic-light system’ to grade the risk of incoming travellers.

    No need, given Singapore and Hong Kong have blocked transit flights from the UK and reduced the flow from the UK.

    • lprent 1.1

      Well there is that as well (should have thought of that myself).

      From memory that was done well before the dishonourable opened his mouth. A good question to ask.

      But are we still getting flights direct from Doha and Dubai? It appears so from Auckland airport arrivals.
      https://www.aucklandairport.co.nz/flights

      • SPC 1.1.1

        Just as well, at least there is some hope for those trapped in the UK lockdown.

        There might be a case for an Air New Zealand flight for those without housing (hard to book using the public library etc during a lockdown), or otherwise some form of emergency aid via the embassy.

        • lprent 1.1.1.1

          I saw somewhere that the gov was urging people to get on the register of kiwis in the UK.

          I suspect that could be a possible mercy flight list.

  2. SPC 2

    Minister for Covid-19 Response Chris Hipkins said returnees would also be required to be in isolation or quarantine in their allocated room at a facility until their initial test had returned a result. “This means if the result is positive they will be transferred to a quarantine facility effectively several days earlier than under the standard two-test regime,” Hipkins said in a statement.

    It's in the right direction as an approach to a more infectious threat. (I would have moved to room isolation for the first week, but that could be a next step).

  3. SPC 3

    So what is the point of doing the the test in the UK? Anyone rational would just isolate themselves as much as possible before boarding a plane rather than going for a test (and increasing their risk of being infected). They’d watch for their own symptoms and get tested if they had some.

    I completely agree, and have long wondered why Baker advocates for such pre testing. Getting the test and then getting to the plane are the two risks taken to get here. And those getting tested would be going to places frequented by locals with symptoms getting checked (so its either coronavirus or flu they might be catching by being there). They get a negative test result, but get infected just before getting the flight. It's a move in the wrong direction.

    At least the queue for the vaccine will not be populated by those already inflected.

    • Incognito 3.1

      I completely agree, and have long wondered why Baker advocates for such pre testing.

      Here’s your answer, take it or leave it:

      Otago University epidemiologist Michael Baker told Morning Report the pre-flight test is one of two moves he supports. The other is that anyone travelling to New Zealand from a list of countries with large COVID-19 outbreaks should go into quarantine for a week beforehand.

      If their pre-flight test was positive, they would need to delay their departure to New Zealand by a month while they cleared the virus.

      It would be an alternative to closing the borders to certain countries, Baker said. All travellers would still undergo the two weeks in isolation and two COVID-19 tests on their arrival.

      “The goal here is not to stop every case, it’s to reduce the number arriving in New Zealand which puts a strain on our system.

      “This is all about probability, it’s about decreasing the risk of anyone getting through this managed isolation system in New Zealand.”

      https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/travel/2020/10/coronavirus-epidemiologist-michael-baker-calls-for-pre-flight-quarantine-for-some-travellers.html

      It was not hard to find …

      • SPC 3.1.1

        Your point?

        Those in high spread nations are already self-isolating before flying out? However they run the risk of getting infected getting to and through airports etc.

        We cannot run quarantine in other nations, so what does this even mean?

        • Incognito 3.1.1.1

          My point? None, zilch, nada.

          It’s Baker’s point, which is what you were wondering about, apparently.

          I did say, take it or leave it, because some lazy commenters here have a ‘funny’ habit of going after the one who provides helpful links that can be found without much effort if they would actually look for them …

          • SPC 3.1.1.1.1

            Gee, I wonder how I knew Baker had advocated for pre testing before Bishop, if I had not already read media accounts.

            And what is Baker's point?

            Not even Bishop is silly enough to call for a weeks quarantine overseas, he realises he might be asked what that's about. Who knows?

            • Incognito 3.1.1.1.1.1

              Of course, you are very well informed and now you also don’t have to wonder any longer why Baker advocates for pre-testing. My job is done, again 🙂

              Oh, I see, you found another point by Baker to quibble about. Why don’t you take it to the COVID-19 Technical Advisory Group and tell them that you think Baker is “silly” and why? He seems to rub a few others here the wrong way too because ‘he’s in the media so often’ 🙁

              https://www.health.govt.nz/about-ministry/leadership-ministry/expert-groups/covid-19-technical-advisory-group

              • SPC

                now you also don’t have to wonder any longer why Baker advocates for pre-testing.

                If you had followed the thread discussion … I was agreeing with LPrent that pre testing made no sense as it increased the probablity of people arriving infected.

                So you have no idea what quarantine overseas meant either. Maybe it is what he calls waiting a month after a positive test result – but who knows? Media do not explain it.

                As for TAD, meh. The government and MOH have put him the Team B noise category on this issue – they are only moving now because of the more recent increased transmissibility factor – and the first day testing and room isolation until a test result assists with that (for mine I would have a first week room isolation for those from nations of this strain, but the government action is a good move).

                • Incognito

                  So you have no idea what quarantine overseas meant either.

                  That was not your question @ 3, was it? I’ve done the donkey work for you once, haven’t I? Now it’s your turn to do your own homework, isn’t it?

                  If you had followed the thread discussion …

                  😀

                  ‘kay, Baker is “silly” and “noise”, righteo 😉

      • Drowsy M. Kram 3.1.2

        Thanks Incognito – that's clear. To take the pressure off MIQ staff/facilities, NZ could close its borders to (or adopt more restrictive travel policies for) ‘high-risk’ countries, or insist on precautions designed to decrease the proportion of returnees who are infected. Obviously those precautions won't be 100% effective, but they would be better than nothing IMHO.

        Ho-ho-hotel: How to have Christmas in quarantine

        • Operational capacity across managed isolation and quarantine (MIQ) facilities is 4500 rooms.
        • All rooms will be occupied on Christmas Day
        • The total number of people through all 32 MIQ facilities since March 26 is 87,996.
        • There are currently 5401 people in managed isolation facilities and 97 people in quarantine.
        • SPC 3.1.2.1

          or insist on precautions designed to decrease the proportion of returnees who are infected

          Would pre testing do that? The reduction in flights back from the UK is already doing it to some degree.

          Hipkins has for now decided on a new first test on the first day of arrival and isolate returnees to rooms until the result comes back.

          • Drowsy M. Kram 3.1.2.1.1

            Would pre-testing decrease the proportion of returnees who are infected?

            Probably (IMHO), but I could only guess at how great that decrease would be. If it was (say) more than a 50% decrease, then maybe it would be worthwhile, but it’s not for me to judge – best to ask MIQ staff working at the ‘coalface’.

            • SPC 3.1.2.1.1.1

              Whereas I think pre testing would in fact increase the numbers arriving infected.

              Most people in high spread nations are isolating and only risk catching the virus going to the airport, or if required to have a negative test result – getting it and then arriving at the airport infected (those at testing stations are usually there because they have symptoms) becomes a danger to others at the airport and on the plane etc.

              • Drowsy M. Kram

                Whereas I think pre testing would in fact increase the numbers arriving infected.

                I'm not following your reasoning. It's possible that individuals could be infected during testing, or at some time between testing and a negative result being returned (no negative result, no flight), or between the negative result being returned and boarding a plane, or during the flight itself.

                But the only additional risk from pre-testing is the test itself – this could even be done without leaving one's home, and so incur minimal additional risk.

                And, if it was me, I'd be taking every precuation not to get infected from well before the pre-flight test until I arrived in NZ, i.e. every step of the way.

                • SPC

                  If people could be tested from their home fine without risk of associating with those with symptoms, then fine. But otherwise pre testing is dangerous to them and then to us.

                  • Drowsy M. Kram

                    Has the risk of contracting COVID-19 during the go-to-whoa standard testing process been estimated? If the risk is significant then this estimate could be quite important.

                    For example, in the USA & UK, two countries with relatively high rates of infections, there have been ~3 COVID tests carried out for every 4 people, which is about three times the testing rate in NZ.
                    https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/

                    • SPC

                      One known is that those isolating, without symptoms, would be taking a risk going out to do anything, let alone with being those with symptoms being tested.

                      And yeah, going to get tested because of similar cold/flu symptoms during winter has its risks of increasing spread of coronavirus and the cold/flu. And they do not get the benefit of contact tracing because spread has overwhelmed their tracing system.

                      On the other hand, one reason so many US hospitals have ununsed antibodies is that people arrive too long after infection (they just self isolate until they get sick enough to be hospitalised) for them to be used effectively. For those who do get very sick that's a pity.

                    • Incognito []

                      https://www.who.int/influenza/surveillance_monitoring/updates/latest_update_GIP_surveillance/en/

                      My ‘point’ is, read it, if you like, especially the first two bullet points, and draw your own conclusions.

                    • Drowsy M. Kram

                      @Incognito (8:40 pm) – thanks, if I'm intepreting that WHO link correctly then the actual risk of infection associated with testing is likely to be small and probably well worth it for the detection, tracing and containment that wouldn’t be possible without testing.

                    • SPC

                      The best regime is the car-park drive in (PPE health workers do the test) and those tested are in their own cars.

                      And the testing regime works best in conjunction with an operational tracing system (not overwhelmed by high levels of spread).

                      But if there is high spread, an overwhelmed tracing system, and people have to use public transport to queue at indoor testing locations, in say London, and people can self-isolate …

                  • Drowsy M. Kram

                    But if there is high spread, [and] an overwhelmed tracing system, and people have to use public transport to queue at indoor testing locations, in say London, and people can self-isolate …

                    Yes SPC (@11:09 pm), please go on… if those conditions are met, does the risk of infection increase to the extent that it outweighs the benefits of testing? That's what I'd like to know. Do you know? If so, then please share your evidence. Perhaps there are reports of testing centres acting a superspreader ‘events’?

                    • SPC

                      Testing is to manage the pandemic spread and identify the cause and treatment of those who are sick.

                      If those with symptoms are not sick and can self isolate (no work issues) and cannot support the track and trace system (already at lockdown levels) by getting tested (note there is no current anti-body availability in the UK for those with pre existing conditions)…

                      For us the pertinent case is the Kiwi without symptoms who has been isolating while waiting for a flight and has little recent contact with locals.

                  • Drowsy M. Kram

                    Just for discussion.

                    ~88,000 people have been through NZ’s MIQ facilities since March 26. Of those, 430 (roughly 1 in 200) tested positive for COVID-19. [Does anyone know how many cases were picked up in the day 3 test?]

                    Frontline MIQ workers might prefer a lower number – who could blame them? And, since COVID-19 cases in MIQ facilities represent the greatest risk of another outbreak in NZ, trying to lower that number while MIQ facilities operate at or near capacity is a no-brainer.

                    I'm speculating that pre-flight testing would roughly halve the number of positive tests in MIQ facilities. We’ll have a better idea of whether that’s reasonable once the additional day 0/1 test for returnees from the (high-risk) UK and USA has been in place for a while.

                    https://covid19.govt.nz/updates-and-resources/latest-updates/additional-covid-19-tests-for-returnees-from-higher-risk-countries/

                    Pre-flight testing is available in NZ, in the US, and elsewhere.

                    What travelers should know about COVID-19 testing before boarding a plane

                    Traveling around the U.S. these days is no longer just a matter of hopping a flight. Because of the nationwide surge in COVID-19 cases, almost a dozen states now require airline passengers to quarantine for 14 days as soon as they touch down.

                    To encourage passengers to brave these obstacles — as well as to boost their sagging revenue — major U.S. airlines are offering preflight COVID-19 tests. The tests are voluntary and cost anywhere from $70 to $150. Some tests can be done at home, while others are available at the airport. Results are provided in a few days.

                    Airlines offering tests still require passengers to wear a mask, observe social distancing rules and practice other safety measures. Each carrier has a slightly different process for administering tests, but all encourage passengers to be tested within 72 hours of boarding. Here's what what you need to know about different airlines' coronavirus testing services.

                    Is Covid-19 testing the way to restart travel? Grades are mixed so far.

                    Airlines and tourism organizations around the world say testing is the answer and are rushing to make it happen, opening test sites at airports, adding test results to passenger records and offering flights only for tested passengers. The World Travel and Tourism Council, along with business and airport groups, on Monday called on governments to open borders with testing to reduce risk rather than waiting for vaccines to end the pandemic. The state of Hawaii, which reopened to travelers with rigorous testing requirements, says it works.

                    “This is save-the-industry important,” says Nick Careen, a senior vice president at the International Air Transport Association, which represents 290 airlines in 120 countries. “We need to start flying now. Border restrictions need to be removed or we will start seeing more airlines fail.”

                    But already there are problems and concerns with travel-related testing. Two passengers with negative Covid-19 tests likely infected five others on the same 18-hour trip in September from Dubai to Auckland, New Zealand, according to a scientific study of the incident published in November by the government-run Institute of Environmental Science and Research, based in Wellington.

                    • lprent

                      [Does anyone know how many cases were picked up in the day 3 test?]

                      Not exactly. However it does appear to be high. (arbitrarily picks a day) on 18th December the cases were as follows Two on day 12 testing. The other eight on day 3.

                      Media release
                      18 December 2020

                      There are 10 new cases of COVID-19 to report in managed isolation in New Zealand since our last media statement on Wednesday. There are no new cases in the community.

                      Two previously reported cases have now recovered. The total number of active cases in New Zealand is 51. Our total number of confirmed cases is 1,754.

                      • One case arrived on 4 December from Netherlands via Singapore. This person tested positive at routine testing around day 12 and has been transferred to the Auckland quarantine facility.
                      • One case arrived on 5 December from Italy via the United Arab Emirates. This person tested positive at routine testing around day 12 and has been transferred to the Auckland quarantine facility.
                      • Two cases arrived on 10 December from the United States. These people tested positive at routine testing around day 3 and are now in quarantine in a facility in Christchurch.
                      • Two cases travelling separately arrived on 12 December from India via the United Arab Emirates. They both tested positive during day 3 testing and have been transferred to the Auckland quarantine facility.
                      • One case arrived on 13 December from Germany via the United Arab Emirates and Malaysia. This person tested positive at routine testing around day 3 and has been transferred to the Auckland quarantine facility.
                      • One case arrived on 13 December from the United Kingdom via the United Arab Emirates. This person tested positive at routine testing around day 3 and has been transferred to the Auckland quarantine facility.\\
                      • One case arrived on 13 December from the United Kingdom. This person tested positive at routine testing around day 3 and has been transferred to the Auckland quarantine facility.
                      • One case arrived on 13 December. This person’s travel itinerary is still being confirmed. This person tested positive at routine testing around day 3 and has been transferred to the Auckland quarantine facility.

                      The airlines already select out people who are travelling and obviously sick.

                      If I had to bet, I’d guess that probably most of the day three positives picked it up on the transit. That is because the usual time from infection to infectious is between 3 and 5 days. It is to make sure that transit caught covid-19 has time to get to a high enough level to trigger the day three test.

                      The same issue applies to pre-flight testing. You can test, then get infected, wait a few days for results, and then hop on a plane to infect others.

                      Generally the problem with MIQ hasn’t been the number of people in country with Covid-19. It has been the limited number of places available because it is expensive handling people like hot potatoes and reducing the risk of disease spread into the community. Pre-testing does absolutely nothing to change that. It is also completely unsupervised and therefore useless as constraint.

                      Day one testing does help a teeny bit. It removes those who are infected from the MIQ hotels and puts them into medical quarantine. It also provides a focus for flights and travel paths that need a look at. It also means that we can start getting a handle about transit infection – like where are people getting it.

                    • Drowsy M. Kram

                      Thanks lprent – so of the ~430 cases detected in MIQ facilities, maybe 300+ were picked up on day 3.

                      Another question would be: 'What proportion of people who have been through MIQ facilities were travelling from the UK?' Maybe ~20% if the 18 December example is representative, which could mean less than 100 COVID-19 cases from the UK since MIQ got going.

                      Those numbers (and so the risks) seem pretty small to me – not sure if the changes to the test regime for some travellers are about risk minimisation, or if they're being brought in due to concerns about possbile increased risks, a bit of both, or something else.

                    • Treetop

                      I can see MIQ numbers increasing in 2021 under all months.

                      Toilets on international flights would be a hot spot.

                      Having a Covid test on day 1 is sensible as the earlier a person presents the earlier they can be quarantined.

                      I expect the UK and South African mutations to become wide spread.

                  • Drowsy M. Kram

                    The NZ Government will likely be requiring a pre-departure COVID-19 test for those travelling from the UK to NZ.

                    https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/cost-pre-departure-testing-uk-returnees-largely-fall-passengers

                    Wonder how long such a test will need to be in place before the statistical significance of any effect on the number of cases showing up in MIQ facilities can be determined – COVID-19 risk assessment is probably a 'fluid' field of research, what with new strains etc. etc.

                    Returnee dies at Auckland’s Grand Millennium MIQ facility in Auckland’s CBD
                    https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/coronavirus/300194447/returnee-dies-at-aucklands-grand-millennium-miq-facility-in-aucklands-cbd

                    https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/coronavirus

              • Incognito

                Yes, that’s all correct, of course. The point is that a proven actual positive case wouldn’t and shouldn’t even bother to go to the airport in the first place, highly likely infecting others, and clogging up the system even more. I think pre-flight testing has some merit.

                • SPC

                  How many of those are there? Most people in high spread nations are already isolating before the flight back.

                  • Incognito

                    Most people in high spread nations are already isolating before the flight back.

                    How many is “most”? Do ‘most’ people take a test as well and is that discretionary also?

                    • SPC

                      No idea. But it's quite common for there to be references to self isolating while waiting for the flight back (in media stories). And no, little reference to getting tested.

                • Macro

                  Lesson learnt from 2020 :

                  2019 – stay away from negative people.

                  2020 – stay away from positive people.

  4. Forget now 4

    Bishop apparently still pushing for trans-Tasman bubble as well, which seems poorly timed (I have family in Sydney). Wiles raises interesting points about funding and trusting overseas pre-departure testing.

    Though I don't think it is an entirely daft idea to throw another slice of gruyere in the sandwich. It could screen out some who would go on to infect others onboard a plane. But certainly not an easily implemented simple fix for everything. Much more the; something must be done, this is something, so we must do it; thought trap.

    https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/433735/government-warned-against-introducing-pre-departure-covid-19-testing

  5. Lucy 5

    Actually the thing we need to remember is that all the Russian and Ukrainian fishermen were pretested before departure and that worked really well! The problem is that to believe the pretest we must trust the health system of the other country. Why would leaving people be a priority in a pandemic? Easier to not run the test when you are trying to work out which of your citizens are infected – especially when resources are finite. Payment does not mean the work is done – if a box needs to be ticked it will be ticked whether or not the underlying work is complete.

  6. AB 6

    Bishop doesn't care about the arguments either way. His job is to undermine the public's confidence in the government's response. In the early days of the pandemic National said the government's response was excessively harsh/dictatorial, and now they say it is too weak. They have sometimes said both things – that it is bot too harsh and too weak – simultaneously. And Bishop is doing this right now – advocating for pre-depature testing and wanting the trans-Tasman bubble opened. The goal is to imply that there is a level of finesse and precision of calibration that National would bring. It's bullshit, he knows it, but he just doesn't care

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    TL;DR: In today’s ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Tuesday, March 19:Kāinga Ora’s dry rot The Spinoff DailyBill McKibben on ‘Climate Superfunds’ making Big Oil pay for climate damage The Crucial YearsPreston Mui on returning to 1980s-style productivity growth NoahpinionAndy Boenau on NIMBYs needing unusual bedfellows Urbanism SpeakeasyNed Resnikoff's case ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 hours ago
  • Relentlessly negative
    Negative yesterday, negative today. Negative all year, according to one departing reader telling me I’ve grown strident and predictable. Fair enough. If it’s any help, every time I go to write about a certain topic that begins with C and ends with arrrrs, I do brace myself and ask: Again? Are ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 hours ago
  • Scoring 4.6 out of 10, the new Government is struggling in the polls
    Bryce Edwards writes –  It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just show a minimal amount of flux in public support ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 hours ago
  • Promiscuous Empathy: Chris Trotter Replies To His Critics.
    Inspirational: The Family of Man is a glorious hymn to human equality, but, more than that, it is a clarion call to human freedom. Because equality, unleavened by liberty, is a broken piano, an unstrung harp; upon which the songs of fraternity will never be played. “Somebody must have been telling lies about ...
    4 hours ago
  • Don’t run your business like a criminal enterprise
    The Detail this morning highlights the police's asset forfeiture case against convicted business criminal Ron Salter, who stands to have his business confiscated for systemic violations of health and safety law. Business are crying foul - but not for the reason you'd think. Instead of opposing the post-conviction punishment and ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 hours ago
  • Misremembering Justinian’s Taxes.
    Tax Lawyer Barbara Edmonds vs Emperor Justinian I - Nolo Contendere: False historical explanations of pivotal events are very far from being inconsequential.WHEN BARBARA EDMONDS made reference to the Roman Empire, my ears pricked up. It is, lamentably, very rare to hear a politician admit to any kind of familiarity ...
    5 hours ago
  • Bryce Edwards: Scoring 4.6 out of 10, the new Government is struggling in the polls
    It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just show a minimal amount of flux in public support for the various parties in ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    5 hours ago
  • Bishop scores headlines with crackdown on unwelcome tenants – but Peters scores, too, as tub-thump...
    Buzz from the Beehive Housing Minister Chris Bishop delivered news – packed with the ingredients to enflame political passions – worthy of supplanting Winston Peters in headline writers’ priorities. He popped up at the post-Cabinet press conference to promise a crackdown on unruly and antisocial state housing tenants. His ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 hours ago
  • Will it make the boat go faster?
    Ele Ludemann writes – The Reserve Bank is advertising for a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion advisor. The Bank has one mandate – to keep inflation between one and three percent. It has failed in that and is only slowly getting inflation back down to the upper limit. Will it ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    9 hours ago
  • Bryce Edwards: Is Simon Bridges’ NZTA appointment a conflict of interest?
    Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi The fact that a ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    10 hours ago
  • Is Simon Bridges’ NZTA appointment a conflict of interest?
    Bryce Edwards writes – Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    10 hours ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' at 10:10am on Tuesday, March 19
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Gavin Jacobson talks to Thomas Piketty 10 years on from Capital in the 21st Century The SalvoLocal scoop: Green MP’s business being investigated over migrant exploitation claims Stuff Steve KilgallonLocal deep-dive: The commercial contractors making money from School ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    10 hours ago
  • Bernard's six newsy things on Tuesday, March 19
    It’s a home - but Kāinga Ora tenants accused of “abusing the privilege” may lose it. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Government announced a crackdown on Kāinga Ora tenants who were unruly and/or behind on their rent, with Housing Minister Chris Bishop saying a place in a state ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    11 hours ago
  • New Life for Light Rail
    This is a guest post by Connor Sharp of Surface Light Rail  Light rail in Auckland: A way forward sooner than you think With the coup de grâce of Auckland Light Rail (ALR) earlier this year, and the shift of the government’s priorities to roads, roads, and more roads, it ...
    Greater AucklandBy Guest Post
    12 hours ago
  • Why Are Bosses Nearly All Buffoons?
    Note: As a paid-up Webworm member, I’ve recorded this Webworm as a mini-podcast for you as well. Some of you said you liked this option - so I aim to provide it when I get a chance to record! Read more ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    14 hours ago
  • Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6.06 pm on March 18
    TL;DR: In my ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Monday, March 18:IKEA is accused of planting big forests in New Zealand to green-wash; REDD-MonitorA City for People takes a well-deserved victory lap over Wellington’s pro-YIMBY District Plan votes; A City for PeopleSteven Anastasiou takes a close look at the sticky ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • Peters holds his ground on co-governance, but Willis wriggles on those tax cuts and SNA suspension l...
    Buzz from the Beehive Here’s hoping for a lively post-cabinet press conference when the PM and – perhaps – some of his ministers tell us what was discussed at their meeting today. Until then, Point of Order has precious little Beehive news to report after its latest monitoring of the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 day ago
  • Labour’s final report card
    David Farrar writes –  We now have almost all 2023 data in, which has allowed me to update my annual table of how  went against its promises. This is basically their final report card. The promise The result Build 100,000 affordable homes over 10 ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago
  • “Drunk Uncle at a Wedding”
    I’m a bit worried that I’ve started a previous newsletter with the words “just when you think they couldn’t get any worse…” Seems lately that I could begin pretty much every issue with that opening. Such is the nature of our coalition government that they seem to be outdoing each ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 day ago
  • Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    Geoffrey Miller writes – Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago
  • Gordon Campbell on Dune 2, and images of Islam
    Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture ...
    1 day ago
  • New Rail Operations Centre Promises Better Train Services
    Last week Transport Minster Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre. The new train control centre will see teams from KiwiRail, Auckland Transport and Auckland One Rail working more closely together to improve train services across the city. The Auckland Rail Operations Centre in ...
    2 days ago
  • Bernard's six newsy things at 6.36am on Monday, March 18
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson said in an exit interview with Q+A yesterday the Government can and should sustain more debt to invest in infrastructure for future generations. Elsewhere in the news in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 6:36am: Read more ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. It is more than just a happy ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    2 days ago
  • The Kaka’s diary for the week to March 25 and beyond
    TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to March 18 include:China’s Foreign Minister visiting Wellington today;A post-cabinet news conference this afternoon; the resumption of Parliament on Tuesday for two weeks before Easter;retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson gives his valedictory speech in Parliament; ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Bitter and angry; Winston First
    New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters’s state-of-the-nation speech on Sunday was really a state-of-Winston-First speech. He barely mentioned any of the Government’s key policies and could not even wholly endorse its signature income tax cuts. Instead, he rehearsed all of his complaints about the Ardern Government, including an extraordinary claim ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    2 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    2 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    2 days ago
  • Out of Touch.
    “I’ve been internalising a really complicated situation in my head.”When they kept telling us we should wait until we get to know him, were they taking the piss? Was it a case of, if you think this is bad, wait till you get to know the real Christopher, after the ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • The bewildering world of Chris Luxon – Guns for all, not no lunch for kids
    .“$10 and a target that bleeds” - Bleeding Targets for Under $10!.Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.This government appears hell-bent on either scrapping life-saving legislation or reintroducing things that - frustrated critics insist - will be dangerous and likely ...
    Frankly SpeakingBy Frank Macskasy
    3 days ago
  • Expert Opinion: Ageing Boomers, Laurie & Les, Talk Politics.
    It hardly strikes me as fair to criticise a government for doing exactly what it said it was going to do. For actually keeping its promises.”THUNDER WAS PLAYING TAG with lightning flashes amongst the distant peaks. Its rolling cadences interrupted by the here-I-come-here-I-go Doppler effect of the occasional passing car. ...
    3 days ago
  • Manufacturing The Truth.
    Subversive & Disruptive Technologies: Just as happened with that other great regulator of the masses, the Medieval Church, the advent of a new and hard-to-control technology – the Internet –  is weakening the ties that bind. Then, and now, those who enjoy a monopoly on the dissemination of lies, cannot and will ...
    3 days ago
  • A Powerful Sensation of Déjà Vu.
    Been Here Before: To find the precedents for what this Coalition Government is proposing, it is necessary to return to the “glory days” of Muldoonism.THE COALITION GOVERNMENT has celebrated its first 100 days in office by checking-off the last of its listed commitments. It remains, however, an angry government. It ...
    3 days ago
  • Can you guess where world attention is focussed (according to Greenpeace)? It’s focussed on an EPA...
    Bob Edlin writes –  And what is the world watching today…? The email newsletter from Associated Press which landed in our mailbox early this morning advised: In the news today: The father of a school shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter; prosecutors in Trump’s hush-money case ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago
  • Further integrity problems for the Greens in suspending MP Darleen Tana
    Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the party’s decision to ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago
  • Jacqui Van Der Kaay: Greens’ transparency missing in action
    For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    3 days ago
  • Bernard’s Dawn Chorus with six newsey things at 6:46am for Saturday, March 16
    TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ Herald Thomas Coughlan Simeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • How Did FTX Crash?
    What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    4 days ago
  • Elections in Russia and Ukraine
    Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
    4 days ago
  • Bernard’s six stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15
    TL;DR: Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it:  We want our country to be a ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago
  • National’s clean car tax advances
    The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • Government funding bailouts
    Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Two offenders, different treatments.
    See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    4 days ago
  • Treaty references omitted
    Ele Ludemann writes  – The government is omitting general Treaty references from legislation : The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last Government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • The Ghahraman Conflict
    What was that judge thinking? Peter Williams writes –  That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 15
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop: Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • The day Wellington up-zoned its future
    Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Weekly Roundup 15-March-2024
    It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    5 days ago
  • That Word.
    Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • The Hoon around the week to March 15
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Labour’s policy gap
    It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    5 days ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #11 2024
    Open access notables A Glimpse into the Future: The 2023 Ocean Temperature and Sea Ice Extremes in the Context of Longer-Term Climate Change, Kuhlbrodt et al., Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society: In the year 2023, we have seen extraordinary extrema in high sea surface temperature (SST) in the North Atlantic and in ...
    5 days ago
  • Melissa remains mute on media matters but has something to say (at a sporting event) about economic ...
     Buzz from the Beehive   The text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary.  It can be quickly analysed ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago
  • The return of Muldoon
    For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Will the rental tax cut improve life for renters or landlords?
    Bryce Edwards writes –  Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: What Saudi Arabia’s rapid changes mean for New Zealand
    Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    5 days ago
  • Racism’s double standards
    Questions need to be asked on both sides of the world Peter Williams writes –   The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • It’s not a tax break
    Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • The Plastic Pig Collective and Chris' Imaginary Friends.
    I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • Who is responsible for young offenders?
    Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on National’s fantasy trip to La La Landlord Land
    How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
    5 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 14
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop: The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • No, Prime Minister, rents don’t rise or fall with landlords’ costs
    TL;DR: Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Cartoons: ‘At least I didn’t make things awkward’
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
    5 days ago
  • Solving traffic congestion with Richard Prebble
    The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
    Greater AucklandBy Patrick Reynolds
    6 days ago
  • I Think I'm Done Flying Boeing
    Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    6 days ago
  • Invoking Aristotle: Of Rings of Power, Stones, and Ships
    The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
    6 days ago
  • Van Velden brings free-market approach to changing labour laws – but her colleagues stick to distr...
    Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • Why Newshub failed
    Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • Māori Party on the warpath against landlords and seabed miners – let’s see if mystical creature...
    Bob Edlin writes  –  The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they  follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago

  • Government moves to quickly ratify the NZ-EU FTA
    "The Government is moving quickly to realise an additional $46 million in tariff savings in the EU market this season for Kiwi exporters,” Minister for Trade and Agriculture, Todd McClay says. Parliament is set, this week, to complete the final legislative processes required to bring the New Zealand – European ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 hours ago
  • Positive progress for social worker workforce
    New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    8 hours ago
  • Minister confirms reduced RUC rate for PHEVs
    Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April.  ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    10 hours ago
  • Trade access to overseas markets creates jobs
    Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand.  Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    10 hours ago
  • NZ and Chinese Foreign Ministers hold official talks
    Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    24 hours ago
  • Kāinga Ora instructed to end Sustaining Tenancies
    Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
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    1 day ago
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