I spent all of Tuesday at the "Revitalise" festival at Blackmount; fabulous music, great people, te mea te mea…held on a regen farm where appropriately-selected breeds of sheep and cattle (horny, hairy Highland Longhorns) roam the sebatically-managed pastures – pretty wonderful and pretty, with te mauka tapu Tikitimu looming beatifically over-all and skies to swoon over!
And the child or children whose parent or parents couldn't take them to Splash Palace today because the council you sit on voted to ban them unless they could provide proof of "acceptable" medical status…those 'good times' extending out to them, are they?
Sounds lovely. Do they have a river on their farm?
The Gows have been doing their thing for a long time, forward actors who have put us in good stead for the coming times. Having a music festival bodes well!
The farm is gorgeous, weka; some saw the backdrop as the highlight, but for me it was the pastures; multi species and managed in the sabbatical style. As a result of the "kinder" management, the insect populations were far higher than I've seen on any farm: moths by the millions, it seemed, all gathering around the stage-lights in such numbers that the vocalist (Julian Temple Band) had to wear his mask so as not to swallow too many flying creatures! Never seen that before!
Sounds great…..Takitimu is the maunga/mauka. Some of my relations from Wairoa whakapapa to the Takitimu canoe. The Takitimu canoe rests on/in the maunga/mauka. These were Kaitahu from Bluff but others whakapapa through Ngati Kahungungu – Maoridom's great lover.
I have relations at Greenvale and I will tell them about the regen ag farm at Blackmount.
in 1993, the President was ~30 years older than me. in 2002, the President was ~30 years older than me. in ~2018, the President was ~30 years older than me. today, the president is still ~30 years older than me.
When the goalposts shift on the "traffic lights", and rather than having to simply show confirmation of vaccination by producing a pass, your vaccine pass itself turns red, yellow or green…
Because that's what the 'go to' is in China, as reported by the NYT in March 2020 (put the address into a google search if the direct link brings up a paywall)
Given your concern for supermarket workers below, do you extend that concern to health care workers? Australia, where let it rip is the chosen path. Read the comments for more reports from health care workers.
Words from an ED nurse. 6am. COVID cardiac arrest. I’m broken. I haven’t had a mouthful of water for 18 hours. I cant do this anymore. Now there’s not enough staff for day shift. We can’t cover the department.
Covid-positive nurses are being recalled to work in hospitals across New South Wales – in breach of state health protocols – as hospital managers resort to desperate measures to staff facilities buckling under the Omicron outbreak.
Guardian Australia has been contacted by multiple nurses working across several hospitals in the state who are alarmed at finding themselves working alongside Covid-positive colleagues, as 2,500 health workers are in isolation across NSW.
…
Holmes added the practice risked spreading Covid to vulnerable patients in hospital for unrelated reasons.
“We know these types of patients can die with Covid. If nurses [are] knowingly being told to go in there and play a bit of Russian roulette as to whether their PPE is perfect all the time, it’s an extraordinary expectation to work in those circumstances,” Holmes said.
Go ahead and tell us the plans for protecting vulnerable people from this 'cold'.
Now, tell me again about the logic of safeguarding the presence of Delta in NZ when Omicron presents as a common cold and kills no-one?
Your continued denial that long covid exists is noted.
Given Australia is unable to supply the population with enough tests, what do you think happens in the switch from Delta to Omicron in a let it rip scenario in NZ? What's already happening in Australia?
In my other comment elsewhere, I genuinely asked you whether "grim" in Australia was because of enforced isolation after a +ve result leaving hospitals short staffed, or whether hospitals were being swamped by admissions because of Omicron.
(I now see from what you linked that it's the rules around +ve test results that is leading to staff shortages)
And you can fuck right off with your lies around my take on long covid. As stated before, my brother in law suffered it.
I am impressed by your staunchness. What are those phrases? Puckish Rogue is keeping a stiff upper lip? He is putting on a brave face? He is keeping his shirt on? He is as cool as a cucumber? He is keeping his chin up?
Her Majesty would be proud of you, and Charles would no doubt cheer you up with a "Pip, pip, cheerio and all that rot". I fear they are going to lose though.
In the first innings New Zealand went from 258/5 to all out for 328. On that basis they will be all out for 217 and Bangladesh will need a total of 88 for the win.
Pray for rain. Their only chance is a downpour that wipes out play for the day.
By the way did you mean reveals rather than revels?
I can't verify this at the moment – but claims are that Pak n Save staff received an email today informing them they are required to be vaccinated.
Now that you've helped us cope with the Xmas rush.
Now that we don't need to bother pretending we value you.
Now that hero status is way, way back in that rear view mirror…
If true, and apart from "what's the point" when Omicron walks straight on by double vaccination and newly vaccinated people’s defenses are compromised in the time between injection and the drug kicking in…. whatever happened to that 90+% vaccination rate?
We weren't being subjected to some fibbing, were we? Surely not!
Nice binary thinking based on assumptions there Adam.
Bill raised something unclear about the 90%+ vax thing, and I addressed that. I didn't say anything about the fairness issues related to work mandates. Yet you jumped straight to thinking that because I understand and can explain what the public health strategy is it must mean I'm anti worker and presumably support what Pak n Sav have done (whatever that is). Why did you do that?
Wow weka, really – you have spent post after post arguing will bill over Sars Cov-2 response, but when a workers rights issue gets raised you go on arguing about the Sars Cov-2 response.
As for the workers in Aussie, I support the unions over there and have been helping with advise and moral support. Here one been under the radar – there is a shortage of dock workers in Aussie, but the employers are stalling wage negotiations and trying to bring in all sorts of crap Sars Cov-2 conditions. It's bullshit anti-worker crap dressed up as public health response.
Is that the future you want? More power to corporate scum, blithely handed over by the corporate elects in the name of public health? Because that's were we are going, as you pointed out with the nurses and doctors in NSW.
I thought the change in attitude by employers toward employees who were feeling unwell with colds and flu, that resulted in encouragement and expectation that those afflicted should stay at home until they recovered, not come into work and "tough it out", was a great development when it happened. It protected everyone else from infection and protected the business/organization from loss of productivity and other stresses.
My source was one of the links you provided. Not at all clear what your problem is.
My initial comment was crystal clear.
Apparently Pak 'n Save have mandated staff. That doesn't really square with a purported 90+% vaccination rate (1 or maybe 2 workers per store not vaccinated) Why mandate?
Fourth para (spot the non sequitur?) It is not yet known what caused Dakota's death but she had been infected with Covid-19 at the time, making her the youngest Australian to die with the virus.
Certainly! I ditched my goggle-box many years ago and observed how my friends who kept theirs, seemed perturbed for reasons they couldn't recognise (but I believed I could). It's not just The News that jars; (almost) everything about the medium jangles the nerves and stimulates the less-than-admirable aspects of the self (imo).
The Spiral of Silence Problem As climate communicator John Cook cleverly illustrates below, a big obstacle to raising awareness about climate change is the "spiral of silence," a reluctance to talk about it. There are many reasons for this reluctance we can speculate about. Perhaps people don't want to be ...
The informed discussion on the next steps in tax policy is about improving the income tax base, not about taxing wealth directly.David Parker, the Minister for Inland Revenue, gave a clear indication that his talk on tax was to be ‘pointy-headed’ by choosing a university venue for his presentation. As ...
A couple of weeks ago, Newsroom reported that the government was failing to meet its proactive release obligations, with Ministers releasing less than a quarter of cabinet papers and in many cases failing to keep records. But Chris Hipkins was already on the case, and in a recent cabinet paper ...
Why are the New Zealand media so hostile to the government – not just this government, but any government? The media I have in mind are not NZME-owned outlets like the Herald or Newstalk ZB, whose bias is overtly political and directed at getting rid of the current Labour government. ...
In this week’s “A View from Afar” podcast Selwyn Manning and I speculate on how the Ruso-Ukrainian War will shape future regional security dynamics. We start with NATO and work our way East to the Northern Pacific. It is not comprehensive but we outline some potential ramifications with regard to ...
At base, the political biffo back and forth on the merits of Budget 2022 comes down to only one thing. Who is the better manager of the economy and better steward of social wellbeing – National or Labour? In its own quiet way, the Treasury has buried a fascinating answer ...
by Don Franks Poverty in New Zealand today has new ugly features. Adequate housing is beyond the reach of thousands. More and more people full time workers must beg food parcels from charities. Having no attainable prospects, young people lash out and steal. A response to poverty from The Daily ...
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The government announced its budget today, with Finance Minister Grant Robertson giving the usual long speech about how much money they're spending. The big stuff was climate change and health, with the former being pre-announced, and most of the latter being writing off DHB's entirely fictional "debt" to the the ...
Finance Minister Grant Robertson has delivered a Budget that will many asking “Is that all there is?” There is a myriad of initiatives and there is increased spending, but strangely it doesn’t really add up to much at all for those hoping for a more traditional Labour-style Budget. The headline ...
Last year, Cook Islands Deputy Prime Minister Robert Tapaitau stood down as a minister after being charged with conspiracy to defraud after an investigation into corruption in Infrastructure Cook Islands and the National Environment Service. He hasn't been tried yet, but this week he has been reinstated: The seven-month ...
A ballot for three member's bills was held today, and the following bills were drawn: Repeal of Good Friday and Easter Sunday as Restricted Trading Days (Shop Trading and Sale of Alcohol) Amendment Bill (Chris Baillie) Electoral (Strengthening Democracy) Amendment Bill (Golriz Ghahraman) Increased Penalties for ...
No Jesus Here.She rises, unrested, and stepsOnto the narrow balconyTo find the day. To greetThe Sunday God she sings to.But this morning His face is clouded.Grey and wet as a corpseWashed by tears.Behind her, in the tangled bedding,the children bicker and whine.Worrying the cheap furnitureLike hungry puppies.They clutch at her ...
After two years of Corona-induced online meetings in 2020 and 2021, this year's General Assembly of the European Geosciences Union (EGU) will take place as a hybrid conference in both Vienna and online from May 23 to 27. To take hybrid and necessary hygiene restrictions into account, there (unfortunately) will be no ...
“Māori star lore was, and still remains, a blending together of both astronomy and astrology, and while there is undoubtedly robust science within the Māori study of the night sky, the spiritual component has always been of equal importance” writes Professor Rangi Matamua in his book Matariki – Te whetū tapu ...
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Julia Steinberger is an ecological economist at the University of Lausanne in Switzerland. She first posted this piece at Medium.com, and it was reposted on Yale Climate Connections with her permission. Today I went to give a climate talk at my old high school in Geneva – and was given a ...
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I have suggested previously that sometimes Tolkien’s writer-instincts get the better of him. Sometimes he departs from his own cherished metaphysics, in favour of the demands of story – and I dare say, that is a good thing. Laws and Customs of the Eldar might be an interesting insight ...
One of the key planks of yesterday's Emissions Reduction Plan is a $650 million fund to help decarbonise industry by subsidising replacement of dirty technologies with clean ones. But National leader Chris Luxon derides this as "corporate welfare". Which probably sounds great to the business ideologues in the Koru club. ...
Poisonous! From a very early age New Zealanders are warned to give small black spiders with a red blotch on their abdomens a wide berth. The Katipo, we are told, is venomous: and while its bite may not kill you, it can make you very unwell. That said, isn’t the ...
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If we needed any confirmation, we have it in spades in today’s edition of the Herald; our supposedly leading daily newspaper is determined to do what it can to decide the outcome of the next election – to act, that is, not as a newspaper but as the mouthpiece for ...
Sean Plunkett, founding editor of the new media outlet, The Platform, was interviewed on RNZ's highly regarded flagship programme "Mediawatch".Mr Plunkett has made much about "cancel culture" and "de-platforming". On his website promoting The Platform, he outlines his mission statement thusly:The Platform is for everyone; we’re not into cancelling or ...
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The Government promised a major reform of New Zealand’s immigration system, but when it was announced this week, many asked “is that it?” Over the last two years Covid has turned the immigration tap off, and the Government argued this produced the perfect opportunity to reassess decades of “unbalanced immigration”. ...
While the new fiscal rules may not be contentious, what they mean for macroeconomic management is not explained.In a pre-budget speech on 3 May 2022, the Minister of Finance, Grant Robertson, made some policy announcements which will frame both this budget and future ones. (The Treasury advice underpinning them is ...
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Justice Denied: At the heart of the “Pro-Life” cause was something much darker than conservative religious dogma, or even the oppressive designs of “The Patriarchy”. The enduring motivation – which dares not declare itself openly – is the paranoid conviction of male white supremacists that if “their” women are given ...
In case of emergency break glass— but glass can cut Fire extinguishers, safety belts, first aid kits, insurance policies, geoengineering: we never enjoy using them. But given our demonstrated, deep empirical record of proclivity for creating hazards and risk we'd obviously be foolish not to include emergency responses in our inventory. ...
After a brief hiatus, the “A View from Afar” podcast is back on air with Selwyn Manning leading the Q&A with me. This week is a grab bag of topics: Russian V-Day celebrations, Asian and European elections, and the impact of the PRC-Solomon Islands on the regional strategic balance. Plus ...
Last year, Vanuatu passed a "cyber-libel" law. And predictably, its first targets are those trying to hold the government to account: A police crackdown in Vanuatu that has seen people arrested for allegedly posting comments on social media speculating politicians were responsible for the country’s current Covid outbreak has ...
Could it be a case of not appreciating what you’ve got until it’s gone? The National Party lost Simon Bridges last week, which has reinforced the notion that the party still has some serious deficits of talent and diversity. The major factor in Bridges’ decision to leave was his failed ...
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Fiji signed onto China’s Belt and Road initiative in 2018, along with a separate agreement on economic co-operation and aid. Yet it took the recent security deal between China and the Solomon Islands to get the belated attention of the US and its helpmates in Canberra and Wellington, and the ...
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Elizabeth Elliot Noe, Lincoln University, New Zealand; Andrew D. Barnes, University of Waikato; Bruce Clarkson, University of Waikato, and John Innes, Manaaki Whenua – Landcare ResearchUrbanisation, and the destruction of habitat it entails, is a major threat to native bird populations. But as our new research shows, restored ...
Unfinished: Always, gnawing away at this government’s confidence and empathy, is the dictum that seriously challenging the economic and social status-quo is the surest route to electoral death. Labour’s colouring-in book, and National’s, have to look the same. All that matters is which party is better at staying inside the lines.DOES ...
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The good people at the Reading Tolkien podcast have put out a new piece, which spends some time comparing the underlying moral positions of George R.R. Martin and J.R.R. Tolkien: (The relevant discussion starts about twenty-seven minutes in. It’s a long podcast). In the interests of fairness, ...
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Not Wanted On Grounds Of Political Rejuvenation: Winston Peters did nothing more than visit the protest encampment erected by anti-vaxxers on the parliamentary lawn. A great many New Zealanders applauded him for meeting with the protesters and wondered why the Prime Minister and Leader of the Opposition could not do ...
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Dane Giraud reflects on his working class upbringing and how campaigning for free speech radicalised him Evidence to support censorship as a tool for social cohesion is paltry. I Read the NZ Human Rights Commission website, and 99% of their ‘evidence’ is anecdotal. When asked why we need hate speech ...
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The government has announced it will be replacing all coal boilers in schools by 2025: All remaining coal boilers in New Zealand schools will be replaced with cleaner wood burners or electric heating by 2025, at a cost of $10 million, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has announced. The coal ...
Israeli news media and politicians often complain about the activity of neo-Nazis in Ukraine. “Activists and supporters of Ukrainian nationalist parties hold torches as they take part in a rally to mark the 112th birth anniversary of Stepan Bandera, in Kyiv, Ukraine, January 1, 2021. Credit: Valentyn Ogirenko/Reuters The recent ...
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CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY Mr Speaker, It has taken four-and-a-half years to even start to turn the legacy of inaction and neglect from the last time they were in Government together. And we have a long journey in front of us! ...
Today Greens Te Mātāwaka Chair and Health Spokesperson, Dr Elizabeth Kerekere, said “The Greens have long campaigned for an independent Māori Health Authority and pathways for Takatāpui and Rainbow healthcare. “We welcome the substantial funding going into the new health system, Pae Ora, particularly for the Māori Health Authority, Iwi-Partnership ...
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Landmark week for climate action concludes with climate budget Largest ever investment in climate action one of many Green Party wins throughout Budget 2022 Budget 2022 delivers progress on every part of the cooperation agreement with Labour Budget 2022 is a climate budget that caps a landmark week ...
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New cost of living payment closely aligned to Green Party policy to expand the Winter Energy Payment Extension and improvement of Warmer Kiwi Homes builds on Green Party progress in Government Community energy fund welcomed The Green Party welcomes the investment in Budget 2022 to expand Warmer Kiwi ...
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Our Government has just released this year’s Budget, which sets out the next steps in our plan to build a high wage, low carbon economy that gives economic security in good times and in bad. It’s full of initiatives that speed up our economic recovery and ease cost pressures for ...
A stronger democracy is on the horizon, as Golriz Ghahraman’s Electoral (Strengthening Democracy) Amendment Bill was pulled from the biscuit tin today. ...
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Emissions Reduction Plan prepares New Zealand for the future, ensuring country is on track to meet first emissions budget, securing jobs, and unlocking new investment ...
The Greens are calling for the Government to reconsider the immigration reset so that it better reflects our relationship with our Pacific neighbours. ...
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Today, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced a major package of reforms to address the immediate skill shortages in New Zealand and speed up our economic growth. These include an early reopening to the world, a major milestone for international education, and a simplification of immigration settings to ensure New Zealand ...
Proposed immigration changes by the Government fail to guarantee pathways to residency to workers in the types of jobs deemed essential throughout the pandemic, by prioritising high income earners - instead of focusing on the wellbeing of workers and enabling migrants to put down roots. ...
Ehara taku toa i te toa takatahi, engari taku toa he toa takimano – my strength is not mine alone but the strength of many (working together to ensure safe, caring respectful responses). We are striving for change. We want all people in Aotearoa New Zealand thriving; their wellbeing enhanced ...
The Green Party is throwing its support behind the 10,000 allied health workers taking work-to-rule industrial action today because of unfair pay and working conditions. ...
Since the day we came into Government, we’ve worked hard to lift wages and reduce cost pressures facing New Zealanders. But we know the rising cost of living, driven by worldwide inflation and the war in Ukraine, is making things particularly tough right now. That’s why we’ve stepped up our ...
An independent review of New Zealand’s detention regime for asylum seekers has found arbitrary and abusive practices in Aotearoa’s immigration law, policy, and practice. ...
The Government is contributing $100,000 to a Mayoral Relief Fund to help the Levin community following this morning’s tornado, Minister for Emergency Management Kiri Allan says. “My thoughts are with everyone who has been impacted by severe weather events in Levin and across the country. “I know the tornado has ...
The Quintet of Attorneys General have issued the following statement of support for the Prosecutor General of Ukraine and investigations and prosecutions for crimes committed during the Russian invasion of Ukraine: “The Attorneys General of the United Kingdom, the United States of America, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand join in ...
Morena tatou katoa. Kua tae mai i runga i te kaupapa o te rā. Thank you all for being here today. Yesterday my colleague, the Minister of Finance Grant Robertson, delivered the Wellbeing Budget 2022 – for a secure future for New Zealand. I’m the Minister of Health, and this was ...
Urgent Budget night legislation to stop major supermarkets blocking competitors from accessing land for new stores has been introduced today, Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs Dr David Clark said. The Commerce (Grocery Sector Covenants) Amendment Bill amends the Commerce Act 1986, banning restrictive covenants on land, and exclusive covenants ...
It is a pleasure to speak to this Budget. The 5th we have had the privilege of delivering, and in no less extraordinary circumstances. Mr Speaker, the business and cycle of Government is, in some ways, no different to life itself. Navigating difficult times, while also making necessary progress. Dealing ...
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The Government is substantially increasing the amount of funding for public media to ensure New Zealanders can continue to access quality local content and trusted news. “Our decision to create a new independent and future-focused public media entity is about achieving this objective, and we will support it with a ...
$662.5 million to maintain existing defence capabilities NZDF lower-paid staff will receive a salary increase to help meet cost-of living pressures. Budget 2022 sees significant resources made available for the Defence Force to maintain existing defence capabilities as it looks to the future delivery of these new investments. “Since ...
More than $185 million to help build a resilient cultural sector as it continues to adapt to the challenges coming out of COVID-19. Support cultural sector agencies to continue to offer their important services to New Zealanders. Strengthen support for Māori arts, culture and heritage. The Government is investing in a ...
It is my great pleasure to present New Zealand’s fourth Wellbeing Budget. In each of this Government’s three previous Wellbeing Budgets we have not only considered the performance of our economy and finances, but also the wellbeing of our people, the health of our environment and the strength of our communities. In Budget ...
It is my great pleasure to present New Zealand’s fourth Wellbeing Budget. In each of this Government’s three previous Wellbeing Budgets we have not only considered the performance of our economy and finances, but also the wellbeing of our people, the health of our environment and the strength of our communities. In Budget ...
Four new permanent Coroners to be appointed Seven Coronial Registrar roles and four Clinical Advisor roles are planned to ease workload pressures Budget 2022 delivers a package of investment to improve the coronial system and reduce delays for grieving families and whānau. “Operating funding of $28.5 million over four ...
Establishment of Ministry for Disabled People Progressing the rollout of the Enabling Good Lives approach to Disability Support Services to provide self-determination for disabled people Extra funding for disability support services “Budget 2022 demonstrates the Government’s commitment to deliver change for the disability community with the establishment of a ...
Fairer Equity Funding system to replace school deciles The largest step yet towards Pay Parity in early learning Local support for schools to improve teaching and learning A unified funding system to underpin the Reform of Vocational Education Boost for schools and early learning centres to help with cost ...
$118.4 million for advisory services to support farmers, foresters, growers and whenua Māori owners to accelerate sustainable land use changes and lift productivity $40 million to help transformation in the forestry, wood processing, food and beverage and fisheries sectors $31.6 million to help maintain and lift animal welfare practices across Aotearoa New Zealand A total food and ...
House price caps for First Home Grants increased in many parts of the country House price caps for First Home Loans removed entirely Kāinga Whenua Loan cap will also be increased from $200,000 to $500,000 The Affordable Housing Fund to initially provide support for not-for-profit rental providers Significant additional ...
Child Support rules to be reformed lifting an estimated 6,000 to 14,000 children out of poverty Support for immediate and essential dental care lifted from $300 to $1,000 per year Increased income levels for hardship assistance to extend eligibility Budget 2022 takes further action to reduce child poverty and ...
More support for RNA research through to pilot manufacturing RNA technology platform to be created to facilitate engagement between research and industry partners Researchers and businesses working in the rapidly developing field of RNA technology will benefit from a new research and development platform, funded in Budget 2022. “RNA ...
A new Business Growth Fund to support small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) to grow Fully funding the Regional Strategic Partnership Fund to unleash regional economic development opportunities Tourism Innovation Programme to promote sustainable recovery Eight Industry Transformation Plans progressed to work with industries, workers and iwi to transition ...
Budget 2022 further strengthens the economic foundations and wellbeing outcomes for Pacific peoples in Aotearoa, as the recovery from COVID-19 continues. “The priorities we set for Budget 2022 will support the continued delivery of our commitments for Pacific peoples through the Pacific Wellbeing Strategy, a 2020 manifesto commitment for Pacific ...
Boost for Māori economic and employment initiatives. More funding for Māori health and wellbeing initiatives Further support towards growing language, culture and identity initiatives to deliver on our commitment to Te Reo Māori in Education Funding for natural environment and climate change initiatives to help farmers, growers and whenua ...
New hospital funding for Whangārei, Nelson and Hillmorton 280 more classrooms over 40 schools, and money for new kura $349 million for more rolling stock and rail network investment The completion of feasibility studies for a Northland dry dock and a new port in the Manukau Harbour Increased infrastructure ...
$168 million to the Māori Health Authority for direct commissioning of services $20.1 million to support Iwi-Māori Partnership Boards $30 million to support Māori primary and community care providers $39 million for Māori health workforce development Budget 2022 invests in resetting our health system and gives economic security in ...
Biggest-ever increase to Pharmac’s medicines budget Provision for 61 new emergency vehicles including 48 ambulances, along with 248 more paramedics and other frontline staff New emergency helicopter and crew, and replacement of some older choppers $100 million investment in specialist mental health and addiction services 195,000 primary and intermediate aged ...
Landmark reform: new multi-year budgets for better planning and more consistent health services Record ongoing annual funding boost for Health NZ to meet cost pressures and start with a clean slate as it replaces fragmented DHB system ($1.8 billion year one, as well as additional $1.3 billion in year ...
Fuel Excise Duty and Road User Charges cut to be extended for two months Half price public transport extended for a further two months New temporary cost of living payment for people earning up to $70,000 who are not eligible to receive the Winter Energy Payment Estimated 2.1 million New ...
A return to surplus in 2024/2025 Unemployment rate projected to remain at record lows Net debt forecast to peak at 19.9 percent of GDP in 2024, lower than Australia, US, UK and Canada Economic growth to hit 4.2 percent in 2023 and average 2.1 percent over the forecast period A ...
Cost of living payment to cushion impact of inflation for 2.1 million Kiwis Record health investment including biggest ever increase to Pharmac’s medicines budget First allocations from Climate Emergency Response Fund contribute to achieving the goals in the first Emissions Reduction Plan Government actions deliver one of the strongest ...
Budget 2022 will help build a high wage, low emissions economy that provides greater economic security, while providing support to households affected by cost of living pressures. Our economy has come through the COVID-19 shock better than almost anywhere else in the world, but other challenges, both long-term and more ...
Health Minister Andrew Little will represent New Zealand at the first in-person World Health Assembly since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, to be held in Geneva, Switzerland, from Sunday 22 – Wednesday 25 May (New Zealand time). “COVID-19 has affected people all around the world, and health continues to ...
New Zealand is committing to trade only in legally harvested timber with the Forests (Legal Harvest Assurance) Amendment Bill introduced to Parliament today. Under the Bill, timber harvested in New Zealand and overseas, and used in products made here or imported, will have to be verified as being legally harvested. ...
The Government has welcomed the release today of StatsNZ data showing the rate at which New Zealanders died from all causes during the COVID-19 pandemic has been lower than expected. The new StatsNZ figures provide a measure of the overall rate of deaths in New Zealand during the pandemic compared ...
Legislation that will help prevent serious criminal offending at sea, including trafficking of humans, drugs, wildlife and arms, has passed its third reading in Parliament today, Foreign Affairs Nanaia Mahuta announced. “Today is a milestone in allowing us to respond to the increasingly dynamic and complex maritime security environment facing ...
Trade and Export Growth Minister Damien O’Connor is set to travel to Thailand this week to represent New Zealand at the annual APEC Ministers Responsible for Trade (MRT) meeting in Bangkok. “I’m very much looking forward to meeting my trade counterparts at APEC 2022 and building on the achievements we ...
Settlement of the first pay-equity agreement in the health sector is hugely significant, delivering pay rises of thousands of dollars for many hospital administration and clerical workers, Health Minister Andrew Little says. “There is no place in 21st century Aotearoa New Zealand for 1950s attitudes to work predominantly carried out ...
Health Minister Andrew Little opened a new intensive care space for up to 12 ICU-capable beds at Christchurch Hospital today, funded from the Government’s Rapid Hospital Improvement Programme. “I’m pleased to help mark this milestone. This new space will provide additional critical care support for the people of Canterbury and ...
Budget 2022 will continue to deliver on Labour’s commitment to better services and support for mental wellbeing. The upcoming Budget will include a $100-million investment over four years for a specialist mental health and addiction package, including: $27m for community-based crisis services that will deliver a variety of intensive supports ...
Budget 2022 will continue to deliver on Labour’s commitment to better mental wellbeing services and support, with 195,000 primary and intermediate aged children set to benefit from the continuation and expansion of Mana Ake services. “In Budget 2022 Labour will deliver on its manifesto commitment to expand Mana Ake, with ...
Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta has today announced sanctions on Belarusian leaders and defence entities supporting Russia’s actions in Ukraine, as part of the Government’s ongoing response to the war. “The Belarusian government military is enabling the illegal and unacceptable assault on Ukraine’s sovereignty,” Nanaia Mahuta said. “Under the leadership of ...
Just after World War 2, there were incentives to clear forest and bring land into agricultural production. In places, the land had been stripped bare as forests were felled for sheep grazing. Today, you only have to look at the hills around Taihape and see the stumps of a once ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne AAP/Lukas Coch The federal election is on Saturday. Polls close at 6pm local time; that means 6pm AEST in the eastern states, 6:30pm in SA and the ...
Analysis - It was the government's biggest week of the year with the Budget and the Emissions Reduction Plan coming out, and neither was given much of a welcome, Peter Wilson writes. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ataus Samad, Lecturer, Western Sydney University Mick Tsikas/AAP With the election almost upon us, thoughts are more than ever turned to political survival. While getting pre-selected and winning elections are the initial, difficult challenges of a political career, a major ...
Analysis by Keith Rankin. Chart by Keith Rankin. We know that New Zealand has one of the world’s lowest mortality outcomes, so far, in the Covid19 pandemic. (So has North Korea.) It’s still far too early to access the costs incurred – loss of utility enjoyed by actual and ‘would-have-been’ ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Liz Giuffre, Senior Lecturer in Communication, University of Technology Sydney Lillie Eiger/ Sony You’ve probably heard the name Harry Styles. He is the current “real big thing” in popular music. But how did a former boy band star become ...
New Zealand Sotheby’s International Realty managing director Mark Harris is advocating for a stamp duty on foreign buyers of residential property. Following yesterday’s Budget 2022 announcement, Harris believes that a stamp duty would help increase the ...
And how did the people react to the boost in spending announced in this year’s Budget to promote our wellbeing? In some cases by pleading for more; in other cases, by grouching they got nothing. But Budget spending is never enough. Two lots of bleating came from the Human Rights ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra University of Canberra Professorial Fellow Michelle Grattan and Emma La Rouche, from the University of Canberra’s Media and Communications team, look at the last week of the campaign as Australians head to the polls. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anna Hurlimann, Associate Professor in Urban Planning, The University of Melbourne Shutterstock It will be impossible to tackle climate change unless we transform the way we build and plan cities, which are responsible for a staggering 70% of global emissions. ...
Military spending allocated in the 2022 Wellbeing Budget is $6,077,484,000 - an average of more than $116.8 million every week, and a 10.4% increase on actual spending in 2021. [1] This year’s increase illustrates yet again that the government remains ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Steven Tingay, John Curtin Distinguished Professor (Radio Astronomy), Curtin University JIM LO SCALZO/EPA The United States Congress recently held a hearing into US government information pertaining to “unidentified aerial phenomena” (UAPs). The last investigation of this kind happened ...
Bank shareholders, speculators, investors, and ticket clippers will be partying for days over the enormous profits they’ll be expecting following Labour’s budget reveal yesterday. After a 48 percent increase in profits in 2021, banks in particular ...
Budget 2022 has a relatively small amount of new cash allocated to science, research and innovation. This budget comes ahead of what could become a major overhaul of the research, science, and innovation sector in the coming years, with MBIE now ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jennifer Curtin, Professor of Politics and Policy, University of Auckland Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern speaks to parliament via video link from COVID isolation during budget day.Getty Images All budgets are about economics and politics, and 2022’s was no different. The Labour ...
Early this Sunday evening there will be a phone alert you can’t ignore – but don’t worry, it’s just a test. This year’s nationwide test of the Emergency Mobile Alert system will take place on Sunday 22 May between 6-7pm It is expected ...
It was announced today that the inaugural Chinese Medicine Council of New Zealand (CMCNZ) has been appointed by the Minister of Health, Hon. Andrew Little. This brings the Chinese medicine profession in under the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peggy Kern, Associate professor, The University of Melbourne Shutterstock It’s been a big week and you feel exhausted, and suddenly you find yourself crying at a nice nappy commercial. Or maybe you are struck with a cold or the coronavirus ...
No, we haven’t fully analysed Budget 2022, but we did listen to Finance Minister Grant Robertson’s speech. He took great pride in announcing his fifth Budget invests $5.9 billion a year in net new operating spending, while introducing multi-year funding packages that also draw from Budget 2023 and Budget 2024 ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hassan Vally, Associate Professor, Epidemiology, Deakin University Victor Grabarczyk/unsplash Dogs have an exceptional sense of smell. We take advantage of this ability in many ways, including by training them to find illicit drugs, dangerous goods and even people. In ...
The Government is using dirty tactics as it pushes through enabling legislation to increase PAYE revenue by 10% under the cover of yesterday’s Budget, says the New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union in response to the Income Insurance Scheme (Enabling ...
RNZ Pacific A total of NZ$196 million has been set aside for Pacific services in Aotearoa New Zealand in this year’s Budget. A big chunk of that — $76 million will go on Pacific health services. Finance Minister Grant Robertson said the cash injection would be used to support Pacific ...
By George Heagney of Stuff A group of students from West Papua, the Melanesian Pacific region in Indonesia, are fearful about their futures in New Zealand after their scholarships were cut off. A group of about 40 students have been studying at different tertiary institutions in New Zealand, but in ...
By Craig McCulloch, RNZ News deputy political editor More than two million New Zealanders will get a one-off $350 sweetener as part of the Budget’s centrepiece $1 billion cost-of-living relief package. The temporary short-term support is counterbalanced by a record $11.1 billion for the health system as the government scraps ...
Asia Pacific Report newsdesk A movement dedicated to peaceful self-determination among indigenous groups in the Pacific is the latest group in Aotearoa to add support for struggling Papuan students caught in Aotearoa New Zealand after an abrupt cancellation of their scholarships. About 70 Papuan students are currently in New Zealand ...
RNZ Pacific The pro-independence coalition parties of Kanaky New Caledonia have selected their candidates for the French Legislative elections next month. Wali Wahetra from the Palika Party is standing in one electoral district, and Gerard Reignier from Union Caledonienne is standing in the other. Speaking with La Premiere, Wahetra explained ...
COMMENTARY:By Nina Santos in AucklandOn May 9, the Philippines went to the polls in what has been called “by far the most divisive and consequential electoral contest” in the Philippines.The electoral race had boiled down to two frontrunners: one was the current Vice-President Leni Robredo, running on ...
PNG Post-Courier Governor-General Grand Chief Sir Bob Dadae has described Papua New Guinea’s late Deputy Prime Minister Sam Basil as a vibrant and visionary leader who was passionate about his people and the electorate. He said Basil loved and dedicated his life to the people of Bulolo until his unexpected ...
Are you receiving NZ Superannuation? If you are, then no, you are not one of the 2.1 million Kiwi’s getting the $350 cost of living supplement announced in the 2022 Budget. If you hold a Gold card the extension of the half priced public ...
On May 19th, the Government released its 2022 Budget which included a number of initiatives to help vulnerable whānau in our communities. Many of these initiatives focus on a proactive strategy to recover from the effects of COVID. Within the community ...
Budget 2022 has been a disappointment for New Zealand’s leading advocate for older people. Although the Grey Power Federation is pleased to note that the Government is investing $3.103 million over four years to continue implementing the Better Later ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexander Gillespie, Professor of Law, University of Waikato Ukraine’s sea port of Mariupol, blockaded and now fallen to Russian forces.Getty Images Trying to gauge the worst aspect of the Russian invasion of Ukraine is difficult. For some, it will be the ...
The Government has committed $37.485m to continue the work of achieving a thriving, fair and sustainable construction sector. The funding will support the Construction Sector Accord to deliver its Construction Sector Transformation Plan 2022-2025. “This ...
The Commission commends the Government’s Budget 2022 investment in specialist mental health and addiction, particularly the investment in community-based crisis services, specialist child and adolescent mental health and addiction services, and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Kenny, Professor, Australian Studies Institute, Australian National University You first have to lose an election on principle if you want to win one on principle. This was how Labor rationalised the miscalculations that led to its “Don’s Party” disappointment in 1969, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Camilla Hoyos, Research Fellow, University of Sydney Shutterstock There is increasing recognition of the important role sleep plays in our brain health. Growing evidence suggests disturbed sleep may increase the risk of developing dementia. I and University of Sydney ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Samuel Wilson, Associate Professor of Leadership, Swinburne University of Technology Shutterstock Whatever the result of the 2022 election, one thing is clear: many Australians are losing faith that their social institutions serve their interests. Our annual survey of 4,000 Australians ...
National Party leader Christopher Luxon has labelled the Budget a "backwards Budget" and with "bandaid" solutions. Watch his post-Budget speech here ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The text arrived on Thursday morning, from a woman who helps me with my horses. “And now I have to do that voting thing. Recommendations please? Who is best?” Well Margaret, after an unedifying ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Margaret Hellard, Deputy Director (Programs), Burnet Institute Australia’s COVID death toll is rising, yet public health measures to reduce transmission such as mask mandates are largely a thing of the past. It’s time for governments and the community to consider what ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Hawkins, Senior Lecturer, Canberra School of Politics, Economics and Society and NATSEM, University of Canberra Shutterstock Early in the election campaign, on April 14, we learned that Australia’s unemployment rate had slipped below 4% in March, to 3.95% – ...
The sum includes about $1.8 billion to wipe out DHB deficits, while Pharmac will receive $191m over two years to fund new drugs - with a particular focus on cancer care. ...
E tū welcomes Budget 2022, which includes a range of measures that will help E tū members and their communities during a time of increased hardship coming out of the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic. E tū Assistant National Secretary Annie Newman ...
The 2022 Budget was delivered against a gloomier backdrop. The latest forecasts suggest more subdued growth, more persistent inflation, and further tightening in the labour market. The headline numbers provided little surprise. The Government ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Wendy Bonython, Associate Professor of Law, Bond University Shutterstock This Saturday, most Australians over 18 will vote in the federal election. The right to participate in elections is enshrined in international and domestic human rights law. Under Australia’s Commonwealth ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Richard Shaw, Professor of Politics, Massey University Getty Images One way to make sense of Finance Minister Grant Robertson’s fifth budget speech was to see it as a political performance working on different levels. First, Labour needs this budget ...
Greater Wellington welcomed news today that the Government will permanently fund cheaper public transport fares for community services card hold holders. Chair of Greater Wellington Daran Ponter said there had been strong support for this type ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alison Preston, Professor of Economics, The University of Western Australia Shutterstock In 2020 the Morrison government allowed Australians to raid their superannuation to get through during the pandemic. This week Scott Morrison proposed letting people raid their super for a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ben Eltham, Lecturer, School of Media, Film and Journalism, Monash University Shutterstock The past term of government has been tough for arts and culture in Australia. Culture was among the worst affected by the pandemic of any aspect of society: ...
It's a 'cost of living crisis' not a 'spending on living crisis'. Throwing more and more money at a black-hole for kiwis to spend is akin to the famous saying: "...it's like standing in a bucket and trying to pull yourself up by the handle." ...
Te Hautū Kahurangi | Tertiary Education Union and the New Zealand Union of Students’ Associations are disappointed to see the tertiary education sector largely ignored once again in the Labour government’s fifth Budget since taking office in 2017. ...
The biggest Budget spend up in New Zealand’s history has delivered some, but not a lot, of initiatives that will support businesses in the Canterbury region. "Some of the initiatives announced in Budget 2022 will go some way towards helping business, ...
Community Housing Aotearoa, a peak body for the community housing sector, welcomes the announcement in today’s Budget to create a $350M Affordable Housing Fund. This investment is a good use of the unallocated Residential Response Fund and a sign ...
The Government’s fourth wellbeing budget fittingly delivered a raft of initiatives to support people, communities and the environment, but when it came to business support it was much as expected. The good news is $100m has been allocated for a ...
Budget 2022 has pluses and minuses for the disabled community, says Disability Rights Commissioner Paula Tesoriero. On the plus side there was considerable investment in the new Ministry for Disabled People and other funding which has the potential ...
New Zealand’s national association for civil contractors has welcomed the $230 million investment in trades training programmes, increased funding for rail and rural broadband infrastructure, and support for Construction Sector Accord Transformation ...
Leading healthcare provider, ProCare is disappointed that primary care nurses have been left out of today’s Budget announcement. Gabrielle Lord, Nursing Director and General Manager Practice Services, at ProCare says: “Nurses have been the backbone ...
The Health and Climate Budget, being touted as Securing our Future fails to address a key determinant of health, which is low incomes. “There was talk in lockdown about keeping (the governments) eye on the ball, and I kept thinking, are they aware ...
Leading healthcare provider ProCare has today welcomed funding in today’s Budget to ensure Kiwis can live in warmer, dryer homes. This is one of the biggest determinants of health and is one of the key measures we can take to prevent hospitilisations ...
A coalition of anti-poverty groups has challenged the Government for excluding people receiving income support from today’s cost of living ‘helicopter payments’, saying they have chosen to leave families living in the harshest poverty further ...
Awful hot in Southland!
I spent all of Tuesday at the "Revitalise" festival at Blackmount; fabulous music, great people, te mea te mea…held on a regen farm where appropriately-selected breeds of sheep and cattle (horny, hairy Highland Longhorns) roam the sebatically-managed pastures – pretty wonderful and pretty, with te mauka tapu Tikitimu looming beatifically over-all and skies to swoon over!
Good times.
"Good times"
And the child or children whose parent or parents couldn't take them to Splash Palace today because the council you sit on voted to ban them unless they could provide proof of "acceptable" medical status…those 'good times' extending out to them, are they?
Wrong council, Bill. So a poorly-aimed and churlish grizzle from you.
Sincere apologies. I mistakenly thought you were a part of the decision making body that passed the discriminatory policy around vaccination status.
Not at all a "churlish grizzle" to be fucked off at any discriminatory insanity and inanity of elected buffoons though.
Sounds lovely. Do they have a river on their farm?
The Gows have been doing their thing for a long time, forward actors who have put us in good stead for the coming times. Having a music festival bodes well!
The farm is gorgeous, weka; some saw the backdrop as the highlight, but for me it was the pastures; multi species and managed in the sabbatical style. As a result of the "kinder" management, the insect populations were far higher than I've seen on any farm: moths by the millions, it seemed, all gathering around the stage-lights in such numbers that the vocalist (Julian Temple Band) had to wear his mask so as not to swallow too many flying creatures! Never seen that before!
such good news!
Sounds great…..Takitimu is the maunga/mauka. Some of my relations from Wairoa whakapapa to the Takitimu canoe. The Takitimu canoe rests on/in the maunga/mauka. These were Kaitahu from Bluff but others whakapapa through Ngati Kahungungu – Maoridom's great lover.
I have relations at Greenvale and I will tell them about the regen ag farm at Blackmount.
Pai rawa tena, Shanreagh!
I lived i roto i te maru o te mauka Takitimu for sometime, and know something of te waka me te mea ngaro hoki 🙂
Temporal constraints
When the goalposts shift on the "traffic lights", and rather than having to simply show confirmation of vaccination by producing a pass, your vaccine pass itself turns red, yellow or green…
Because that's what the 'go to' is in China, as reported by the NYT in March 2020 (put the address into a google search if the direct link brings up a paywall)
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/01/business/china-coronavirus-surveillance.html
And it's administered by Pfizer and Alipay…
https://www.pfizer.com/sites/default/files/investors/financial_reports/annual_reports/2018/our-innovation/advancing-global-milestones/vaccine-reach-in-china/index.html
Now, tell me again about the logic of safeguarding the presence of Delta in NZ when Omicron presents as a common cold and kills no-one?
good lord.
Given your concern for supermarket workers below, do you extend that concern to health care workers? Australia, where let it rip is the chosen path. Read the comments for more reports from health care workers.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/jan/03/covid-positive-nurses-are-working-in-nsw-hospitals-due-to-severe-staffing-shortages
Go ahead and tell us the plans for protecting vulnerable people from this 'cold'.
Your continued denial that long covid exists is noted.
Given Australia is unable to supply the population with enough tests, what do you think happens in the switch from Delta to Omicron in a let it rip scenario in NZ? What's already happening in Australia?
What's that comment got to do with surveillance?
In my other comment elsewhere, I genuinely asked you whether "grim" in Australia was because of enforced isolation after a +ve result leaving hospitals short staffed, or whether hospitals were being swamped by admissions because of Omicron.
(I now see from what you linked that it's the rules around +ve test results that is leading to staff shortages)
And you can fuck right off with your lies around my take on long covid. As stated before, my brother in law suffered it.
I was responding to your last sentence,
If you want to argue we should let omicron rip to forestall government overreach, have at it.
I responded in the other thread.
Don't know what you mean by lies. Because you haven't said 🤷♀️
Would everyone please be kind to Puckish Rogue for the rest of the day and tomorrow.
It looks as if New Zealand cricket is reverting back to its normal sorry status while Australia is going to the top of the heap again.
Bad luck Pucky, but it is simply natural that the baggy green cap wearers should dominate the cricket fields of the world.
I got a cricket review coming tomorrow but don't worry I'm not left wing so I don't give up on my boys after one or two less than ideal performances
I am impressed by your staunchness. What are those phrases? Puckish Rogue is keeping a stiff upper lip? He is putting on a brave face? He is keeping his shirt on? He is as cool as a cucumber? He is keeping his chin up?
Her Majesty would be proud of you, and Charles would no doubt cheer you up with a "Pip, pip, cheerio and all that rot". I fear they are going to lose though.
5 wickets in hand, one of NZs greatest and a very talented young man at the crease.
Three sessions to play, NZ will have to bat a minimum of 1 and a half sessions to even think of drawing, more likely 2 sessions.
Pressure doesn't build character, it revels it.
In the first innings New Zealand went from 258/5 to all out for 328. On that basis they will be all out for 217 and Bangladesh will need a total of 88 for the win.
Pray for rain. Their only chance is a downpour that wipes out play for the day.
By the way did you mean reveals rather than revels?
Its been a long day…
It won't be so long tomorrow.
If NZ manage just 12 more runs and get Bangladesh all out for the 2nd lowest score ever in tests the Black Caps will win.
I can't verify this at the moment – but claims are that Pak n Save staff received an email today informing them they are required to be vaccinated.
Now that you've helped us cope with the Xmas rush.
Now that we don't need to bother pretending we value you.
Now that hero status is way, way back in that rear view mirror…
If true, and apart from "what's the point" when Omicron walks straight on by double vaccination and newly vaccinated people’s defenses are compromised in the time between injection and the drug kicking in…. whatever happened to that 90+% vaccination rate?
We weren't being subjected to some fibbing, were we? Surely not!
Fibbing about what exactly?
afaik it's still the goal. Here are various ways to track by area.
https://interactives.stuff.co.nz/2020/05/coronavirus-covid-19-new-zealand-latest-data-cases/
https://covid19.govt.nz/news-and-data/covid-19-vaccination-rates-around-new-zealand/
https://thespinoff.co.nz/society/22-12-2021/the-vaccination-rate-for-every-suburb-in-new-zealand-on-an-interactive-map
Uh-huh. All bar one over 90%. 95% average.
And yet Foodstuff's apparently finding the need to mandate staff?
Yeah, that's what 90%+ means. We needed a really high rate of vaccination.
All bar one what? And what's your source?
If we look at DHBs it's clear there are places in NZ that are under 90%.
What the heck, why are you arguing over % points when people are going to lose their jobs.
Is this a left wing site which supports working people, or some middle class smug I know best fest?
Employers who bully staff should piss right off. And anyone who supports them in those actions should piss off to.
Nice binary thinking based on assumptions there Adam.
Bill raised something unclear about the 90%+ vax thing, and I addressed that. I didn't say anything about the fairness issues related to work mandates. Yet you jumped straight to thinking that because I understand and can explain what the public health strategy is it must mean I'm anti worker and presumably support what Pak n Sav have done (whatever that is). Why did you do that?
While you're here, maybe you could comment on worker safety and allied worker issues for nursing and other staff in Australian hospitals currently. See https://thestandard.org.nz/daily-review-04-01-2022/#comment-1848556
Wow weka, really – you have spent post after post arguing will bill over Sars Cov-2 response, but when a workers rights issue gets raised you go on arguing about the Sars Cov-2 response.
As for the workers in Aussie, I support the unions over there and have been helping with advise and moral support. Here one been under the radar – there is a shortage of dock workers in Aussie, but the employers are stalling wage negotiations and trying to bring in all sorts of crap Sars Cov-2 conditions. It's bullshit anti-worker crap dressed up as public health response.
Is that the future you want? More power to corporate scum, blithely handed over by the corporate elects in the name of public health? Because that's were we are going, as you pointed out with the nurses and doctors in NSW.
I thought the change in attitude by employers toward employees who were feeling unwell with colds and flu, that resulted in encouragement and expectation that those afflicted should stay at home until they recovered, not come into work and "tough it out", was a great development when it happened. It protected everyone else from infection and protected the business/organization from loss of productivity and other stresses.
My source was one of the links you provided. Not at all clear what your problem is.
My initial comment was crystal clear.
Apparently Pak 'n Save have mandated staff. That doesn't really square with a purported 90+% vaccination rate (1 or maybe 2 workers per store not vaccinated) Why mandate?
ffs – the fear merchants just won't give it up.
Headline – Baby becomes Australia's youngest Covid victim
Fourth para (spot the non sequitur?) It is not yet known what caused Dakota's death but she had been infected with Covid-19 at the time, making her the youngest Australian to die with the virus.
And another on today's front page:
"Deadly summer takes its toll"
A piece about drownings.
The fear merchants are trying to make us all fearful of summer!
You must have noticed by now that the media is not a friend of your mental health.
Certainly! I ditched my goggle-box many years ago and observed how my friends who kept theirs, seemed perturbed for reasons they couldn't recognise (but I believed I could). It's not just The News that jars; (almost) everything about the medium jangles the nerves and stimulates the less-than-admirable aspects of the self (imo).