Roy Morgan polls aren't necessarily the best guide to the party vote, but the question on right vs wrong direction is a far better indication than "I got a column in the paper and I got reckons pulled out of my arse".
jeez, how long before ACT overtake National: 16% vs 23%, seriously?
Even applying a healthy dose of rouge to the cheeks of those numbers, the nats just ain't connecting with folks and the right wingers are running to ACT.
Everyone fronting National is a has been (Key) or speaks like a wooden doll (Reti) or is a daddy's boy (Bishop) and no upfront women apart from Jude who sounds deeply tired and disillusioned. Seymour is pumping the message day after day to people longing for something new and credible. No wonder the polls show increasing support for ACT.
Among men in this poll, National are only 3.0% ahead of ACT; among women they are 11.5% ahead. Irrespective of the absolute numbers which may be accurate or not, that gap feels right – female radar just tends to more easily pick up on ACT's inherent social cruelty.
There's a school of thought that suggests the nats are bleeding to the right because National is (relatively speaking, from a certain point of view) the velvet glove for the iron hearts of tories. It only works if enough soft conservatives manage to convince themselves that going right wing doesn't mean associating with a bunch of sociopaths who would happily make children work 18 hours days under looms and in chimneys.
Twelve years ago the nats were campaigning as labour-lite. Now they're goddamned plague enthusiasts, willing to risk lots of deaths for travel bubbles because people are tired of it and poor johnny can't visit Hawaii.
Without the velvet glove, there's no point to National. People can go ACT or go Labour, because National are ACT-lite. Hell, pr-wise national are worse than bloody act.
PM says returning to level 4 is 'not part of our consideration', as parts of Waikato will move to level 3 tonight
Reporting by Jonathan MacKenzie – Oct 03, 2021
'Covid is here and it’s a matter of time before it spreads across the country' – Michael Plank
Canterbury University mathematics professor, Michael Plank, said Sunday’s developments were concerning for the whole country.
"The fact that the Waikato cases don’t have a clear link to the Auckland outbreak and have been infectious in the community for several days is concerning.
“If the Auckland outbreak grows much larger, it will become even harder to prevent Covid spreading to other parts of New Zealand. The message is clear: Covid is here and it’s a matter of time before it spreads across the country.”
It's official, the elimination strategy is no more. The government is going to try and get us to live with the virus.
Covid response minister Chris Hipkins admits zero Covid cases are a thing of the past
NZ Herald – 4 Oct, 2021 06:07 PM
Covid-19 response minister Chris Hipkins has admitted New Zealand may not eliminate the virus after today's alert level announcement….
…Speaking to Newstalk ZB's Heather du Plessis-Allan, Hipkins accepted New Zealand may not return to days of zero Covid cases.
"We have been trending in that direction for the past few weeks and I think people won't be too surprised by that," he said….
…..Asked whether Auckland's boundary would still be in place by Christmas if mystery cases were still being found, Hipkins said it would be unlikely the boundary would be in place then.
Hipkins is right. I for one, wasn't surprised. It was clear to me that the government has 'been trending' to abandon elimination as a strategy, when they lifted the Level 4 Auckland Lockdown while cases, especially unlinked cases, were still circulating in the Auckland region.
Was a little suprised, but then thinking about it, its clear there is ongoing transmission that no matter the alert level, So you get left with only bad choices, more lockdown that doesnt work and frustration builds, a punitive approach ie start excluding unvaxxed people from society (which will have greater long term issues) or start on the path that they have which sort of reflects whats actually happening in Auckland anyway.
Now I will say it does seem to be getting very reactive, I felt if elimination was the goal we should have had another week at level 4 and after hearing all last week elimination is still the goal its a bit suprising we've had such a sudden pivot. Daycares for example seem very suprised and unhappy…
I really think we should have home test kits ready and availble for those that want them, We should offer a more traditional vaccine like sinofarm (quite a few unvaxxed people I know just dont trust MRNA at this point) and would I think take a more traditional vaccine. Prob worth an extra percent or 3 and make antibody testing freely availble again some think they have had the virus and thus immune… making antibody tests more available will either prove them wrong or provide a far better picture of spread.
Think its fair to say its now our turn to experience what so many countries already have. Lets hope Hendy is wrong.
"Alert Level 4 was not lifted because it was not working, but because the economic sacrifice was judged to be too high"
Do you have any evidence that this is actually true? I really doubt that anyone in our Cabinet, at least, has even considered this rationally. I suspect, and of course I will admit I have extremely cynical views on our current Governments actions, that the polls tell them that the Public are getting pissed of and are getting unhappy about the seeming inability of them to actually accomplish what they promise. Better to give up rather than exhibit that they cannot do what they boasted they could do.
Incidentally, what has happened to the people who praised the Government for their incredibly slow approach to starting a vaccination program? There were people who said that going slow and late with getting vaccines and providing the means for people to get them was a brilliant idea. We don't need them yet some said, because we don't have Covid in the country. We are right not to get vaccines when other countries need them more. And so on. Well do they still say that or are they now among the ranks of those who are insisting that people should get vaccinated, NOW?
"… its clear there is ongoing transmission that no matter the alert level"
If people are isolated transmission cannot occur. Agree that we should have had at least another week at level 4. Business always talks about how corrosive uncertainty is. The same can be said for people, and no-one was certain where the govt was going once they decided to move down a level
My view is that Level 3 was too soon. Politically, it would have been a bad look to backtrack. So here we are.
Uncertainty still exists. The health system will be at breaking point soon enough and all that political capital the govt has built up will be gone, if the PM has got this wrong. Nothing would make me happier than finding out she go it right and Hendy is wrong, but I really don't think so.
I've been avoiding all the hype and just waiting to see what actually happens.
On a seperate note, was visiting a friend who had given birth over SI level 4. She has a 15yo as well. I said baby looked like Winston Churchill (mum knows me well, it was cool), 15yo didn't know who Winston Churchill was.
My cliff note was "he saved us from the Nazis but did one or two genocides on the side", but the 15yo agreed that the wikipedia pic did indeed bear a close semblance to the new entry to the clan. Then said baby already had more hair than me, lol
@ McFlock
4 October 2021 at 8:54 pm “I’ve been avoiding all the hype and just waiting to see what actually happens…..”
Good strategy.
I mean how long will Chris Hipkins plan to live with the virus last, before the government are forced to do another about turn, and reimpose lockdowns?
Chris Hipkins may think that he can remove the boundary between Auckland and the rest of the country before Christmas, while the virus is still circulating, but circumstances may dictate otherwise.
Australia has Four ICU beds per 100,000 people, to New Zealand's One ICU bed per 100,000 people, and Australia struggled to cope with the NSW outbreak.
Britain's famed National Health Service NHS has Eight ICU beds per 100,000 people and they struggled to cope with an outbreak of Delta, forcing Boris Johnson to re-impose a lockdown to contain it.
UK Prime Minister imposes harsh lockdown as new Covid-19 variant spreads
By Tara John, Luke McGee and Nada Bashir, CNN
January 5, 2021
"It is clear that we need to do more to bring this new variant under control," Johnson said. "That means the government is once again instructing you to stay at home."
During his televised address to the nation, Johnson reimposed measures seen during the first lockdown last spring, including closures of secondary and primary schools to all except the children of key workers and vulnerable children. He added that this means it will not be "possible or fair for all exams to go ahead this summer as normal," and alternative arrangements are being put in place.
1: is it all Hipkins plan, or is it actually a plan from the advisors to DGHealth to ease some restrictions while minimising the risk thereof, given the picture of the current problem?
2: circumstances always dictate otherwise. No plan survives contact with the enemy, but sometimes things go better than planned and sometimes they go worse and you need a rethink.
3: ICU is an old problem. We know that if everything goes to shit hospitals get overwhelmed and people die. That's why we went to L4 in March 2020.
4: participated in a survey recently, they asked how much out of 10 I'd give the govt response. I graded on a curve – they got 10. Otherwise the govt would have extra credit. Why? <30 dead. So unless Cabinet got drunk and threw their toys out of the cot today, they're probably not surrendering to delta. Maybe they're still working to figure out how to eliminate it while recognising that the nutbars are gaining traction because of the hard slog. After the protests come the nutbar riots.
Neale Jones, formerly Ardern's Chief of Staff, doesn't seem to be impressed.
"I was hoping today we'd hear a plan for a vaccine mandate to get numbers up to 90% plus and then move out of lockdown. Instead, we got a long and confusing surrender note. This is both a policy and a political failure."
That is on Twitter. I can't work out how to link directly to it though.
And there was I thinking he was a true believer. Finally it begins to sink in that she really isn't up to it I suppose.
Click on the tweet, this will change the URL, copy and paste the URL.
If you are on a phone, click on the tweet, then the Share icon (tray with an upwards arrow), this should give you the option of Copy Link (ios, probably similar on Android).
Churchill promised the British people Blood, Sweat, Toil and Tears.
And then delivered on his promise.
The results spoke for themselves. All the terrible sacrifices the British people were asked to make, were judged in the end to be worth it.
As a result Churchill, according to all polls, is the most popular Britain of all time.*
By surrendering to the virus, the Ardern administration has just handed the Right a big fillip.
*(If Churchill had come to terms with the German nazis, his name would be no more than a footnote in history. I am afraid that this is what will happen to our Prime Minister. Instead of becoming our greatest Prime Minister ever, and world renowned for eliminating the virus, Prime Minister Ardern will become a footnote, in the list of leaders who failed to contain the virus)
Disappointed our government is no longer committed to a Covid-19 elimination strategy, but the writing was on the wall when Auckland dropped to alert level 3 on 22 September.
A miscalculated risk, imho – only hope the team doesn't pay for too dearly for that decision.
Jack Tame's opinion: Govt's Covid-19 strategy a roadmap with no signs Moving Auckland to Alert Level 3 was not consistent with elimination. It was a gamble that risked the gains from a month at Level 4. The Government continued to speak optimistically about stamping out the virus, even as public health experts and modellers publicly demurred.
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Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi, and Mema Paremata mō Tāmaki-Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, will travel to the Gold Coast to strengthen ties with Māori in Australia next week (15-21 April). The visit, in the lead-up to the 9th Australian National Kapa haka Festival, will be an opportunity for both ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
A significant milestone has been reached in the fight to strike an anti-Pasifika and unfair law from the country’s books after Teanau Tuiono’s members’ bill passed its first reading. ...
New Zealand has today missed the opportunity to uphold the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, says James Shaw after his member’s bill was voted down in its first reading. ...
Today’s advice from the Climate Change Commission paints a sobering reality of the challenge we face in combating climate change, especially in light of recent Government policy announcements. ...
Minister for Disability Issues Penny Simmonds appears to have delayed a report back to Cabinet on the progress New Zealand is making against international obligations for disabled New Zealanders. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order. “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin Ngā mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today. I am delighted ...
The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. “Our Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealand’s overseas missions. “Our diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealand’s interests around the world,” Mr Peters says. “I am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...
New Zealand is contributing NZ$7 million to support communities affected by severe food insecurity and other urgent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and Somalia, Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters announced today. “Over 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia, with a further 6.9 million people ...
Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith is congratulating Mataaho Collective for winning the Golden Lion for best participant in the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale. "Congratulations to the Mataaho Collective for winning one of the world's most prestigious art prizes at the Venice Biennale. “It is good ...
The Government is reforming financial services to improve access to home loans and other lending, and strengthen customer protections, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly and Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced today. “Our coalition Government is committed to rebuilding the economy and making life simpler by cutting red tape. We are ...
“China remains a strong commercial opportunity for Kiwi exporters as Chinese businesses and consumers continue to value our high-quality safe produce,” Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says. Mr McClay has returned to New Zealand following visits to Beijing, Harbin and Shanghai where he met ministers, governors and mayors and engaged in trade and agricultural events with the New ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul. “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
Today’s announcement that inflation is down to 4 per cent is encouraging news for Kiwis, but there is more work to be done - underlining the importance of the Government’s plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “Inflation is now at 4 per ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards, Democracy Project (https://democracyproject.nz)New Zealand Government’s Fast Track legislation. Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government ...
Tara Ward talks to presenter Naomi Toilalo about the new TV show that turns food waste into a three course feast. Naomi Toilalo is standing in the warehouse at Good Neighbour Tauranga, helping unpack the two-and-a-half tonnes of rejected food that will arrive at the community support hub that day. ...
Scout is our latest Dog of the Month. This feature was offered as a reward during our What’s Eating Aotearoa PledgeMe campaign. Thank you to Scout’s human, Avril, for her support. Dog name: Scout (named after the little girl in To Kill a Mockingbird – she inherited the independent spirit ...
Megan Alatini takes us through her life in TV, including ‘terrible’ daytime TV, the class of Carol Hirschfeld and her most embarrassing TrueBliss moment. When she responded to a vague newspaper ad asking “do you have what it takes to be a popstar?” 25 years ago, Megan Alatini never guessed ...
A new exhibition in Wellington showcases the faces behind your local goods and services. Back in 1977, when I was a fine arts student at the University of Canterbury, I took a series of photographs of Christchurch shopkeepers. The photos were for a calendar – a project for my end ...
Toomaj and his resistance to tyranny through his songs have become an icon for the youth of Iran, so his sentence has hit the nation hard. Toomaj Salehi is not the first artist to pay the price for standing with the people. ...
My cousin Dylan and I spotted these big eels under the bridge that summer. We watched them lounging under the dark weed, facing into the flow of water, their mouths frozen open. Dylan and I couldn’t stop thinking about those eels. The night we went down to the creek, we ...
Newsroom, home of satire. My long-running weekly satirical series The Secret Diary has moved to Newsroom and will appear every Saturday, with Victor Billot’s wildly popular satirical Odes continuing to appear every Sunday. Diaries, Odes – while serious political columnists toil at meaningful opinions and stroke their chins to an ...
Tara Ward unravels the many nuanced layers of a cartoon about talking dogs.This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. It’s not often an episode of a children’s cartoon has adults sobbing into their sleeves, but that’s exactly what happened this week when ...
Working as a doctor in developing countries to help communities achieve better health outcomes is nothing short of a life goal for Jessica Tater. The University of Otago medical student has her sights firmly set on joining the international humanitarian organisation Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) when she qualifies ...
There’s an island in the far reaches of Auckland’s territory, sitting off the tip of the Coromandel Peninsula, 30 minutes by air from the city or four hours on the slow boat. Aotea Great Barrier is off-grid, it has a population of fewer than a thousand people … and most ...
Asia Pacific Report An Australian author and advocate, Jim Aubrey, today led a national symbolic one minute’s silence to mark the “blood debt” owed to Papuan allies during the Second World War indigenous resistance against the invading Japanese forces. “A promise to most people is a promise,” Aubrey said in ...
Asia Pacific Report The Freedom Flotilla is ready to sail to Gaza, reports Kia Ora Gaza. All the required paperwork has been submitted to the port authority, and the cargo has been loaded and prepared for the humanitarian trip to the besieged enclave. However, organisers received word of an “administrative ...
Pacific Media Watch Palestine solidarity protesters today demonstrated at the Auckland headquarters of Television New Zealand, accusing the country’s major TV network of broadcasting “propaganda” backing Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza. About 50 protesters targeted the main entrance to the TVNZ building near Sky Tower and also picketed a side ...
Opinion by Lynley Hood. Forty years on from my 1985 Fulbright Grant, my disquiet over the war in Gaza evoked some troubling questions. The answer to my first question – What is the primary purpose of the Fulbright Programme? – was on the Fulbright NZ website. It says: US Senator, ...
The ministers responsible for green-lighting major projects need to be open about potential conflicts of interest, says Transparency International. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anastasia Powell, Professor, Family and Sexual Violence, RMIT University It has been a particularly distressing start to the year. There is little that can ease the current grief of individuals, families and communities who have needlessly lost a loved one to men’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gregory Moore, Senior Research Associate, School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences, The University of Melbourne Lichen, the first described example of symbiosis.AdeJ Artventure/Shutterstock Once known only to those studying biology, the word symbiosis is now widely used. Symbiosis is the intimate ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kim Hemsley, Head, Childhood Dementia Research Group, Flinders Health and Medical Research Institute, College of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders University Olena Ivanova/Shutterstock “Childhood” and “dementia” are two words we wish we didn’t have to use together. But sadly, around 1,400 ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Whiteford, Professor, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University The government’s Economic Inclusion Advisory Committee has just published its second report. It was set up by Treasurer Jim Chalmers and Minister for Social Services Amanda Rishworth in 2022 to provide: ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne The Queensland state election will be held in October. A YouGov poll for The Courier Mail, conducted April 9–17 from a sample ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amin Naeni, PhD candidate at Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation, Deakin University There’s been much talk in recent months about what a possible second Donald Trump presidency in the United States could mean for Europe, Russia’s war in Ukraine, the ...
A brief round-up of submissions on the controversial proposed law. This is an excerpt from our weekly environmental newsletter Future Proof. Sign up here. Last week, submissions on the controversial Fast-track Approvals Bill closed just hours after the government released a list of stakeholder organisations who were sent letters advising how they could ...
A poem from Robin Peace’s new collection Detritus of Empire: feather / grass / rock. Cereal giving I see a woman’s hands, see her curious hands break a stalk as she walks through the tall prairie, the savannah, the steppe, wherever it was. See her idly bite the grass that ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Hemingway’s Goblet by Dermot Ross (Mary Egan Publishing, $38)A handsomely produced (debossed cover, lovely ...
The Commissioner's decision validates the longstanding efforts of the local community and ensures that Awataha Marae will be managed to serve the needs of the local community, particularly for hosting tangihanga. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tristan Salles, Associate professor, University of Sydney Examples of Australian landscapes.Unsplash Seventy thousand years ago, the sea level was much lower than today. Australia, along with New Guinea and Tasmania, formed a connected landmass known as Sahul. Around this time – ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Felicity Castagna, Lecturer, Creative Writing, Western Sydney University Day Day Market, ParramattaPhoto: Garry Trinh I live on the edge of Parramatta, Australia’s fastest-growing city, on the kind of old-fashioned suburban street that has 1950s fibros constructed in the post-war housing boom, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael Ryan, Teaching Fellow in Economics, University of Waikato GettyImagesfatido/Getty Images There is an ongoing global debate over whether the high inflation seen in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic can be lowered without a recession. New Zealand is not ...
The ‘Wicked Game’ heartthrob is in his late 60s now. That didn’t stop him putting on a lively, goofy and very sparkly show. Apart from ‘Wicked Game’, which graces a sultry playlist of mine simply called 💋, my last sustained Chris Isaak listening session took place when I was about ...
Analysis - Two ministers were stripped of portfolios in a warning to Cabinet, drama broke out at the Waitangi Tribunal, and the gang patch ban bill ran into opposition. ...
Tara Ward makes an impassioned plea for some vital pop culture merch. In April 1999, I became obsessed with a new reality television show called Popstars. Every Tuesday night, five strangers transformed into music royalty before my very eyes as Joe, Keri, Carly, Erika and Megan were chosen to form ...
PNG Post-Courier In the early hours of ANZAC Day, aerial photographs captured an impressive gathering of Australians and Papua New Guineans at Isurava in the Northern (Oro) Province. The solemn dawn service yesterday was held at a site steeped in history, where some of the fiercest battles of World War ...
The PSA is shocked that Oranga Tamariki has used the cost cutting drive to downgrade its commitment to Te Ao Māori and remove many specialist Māori roles. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Kemish, Adjunct Professor, School of Historical and Philosophical Inquiry, The University of Queensland There can be no more powerful symbol of the relationship between Australia and Papua New Guinea than the prime ministers of these neighbouring countries walking together on the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sharon Robinson, Distinguished Professor and Deputy Director of ARC Securing Antarctica’s Environmental Future (SAEF), University of Wollongong, University of Wollongong Andrew Netherwood Over the last 25 years, the ozone hole which forming over Antarctica each spring has started to shrink. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Viktoria Kahui, Senior Lecturer in Environmental Economics, University of Otago Getty Images/Amy Toensing Biodiversity is declining at rates unprecedented in human history. This suggests the ways we currently use to manage our natural environment are failing. One emerging concept focuses on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Timothy Colin Bednall, Associate Professor in Management, Swinburne University of Technology marvent/Shutterstock Finding the best person to fill a position can be tough, from drafting a job ad to producing a shortlist of top interview candidates. Employers typically consider information from ...
Wondering where to host your next BYO? Whether its a small gathering or a massive party, we’ve got some recommendations. I was first introduced to the concept of BYOs at Dunedin’s India Gardens, a legendary but sadly defunct establishment, which purveyed enormous quantities of mango chicken to Aotearoa’s drunkest future ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Julien Cooper, Honorary Lecturer, Department of History and Archaeology, Macquarie University Julien Cooper The hyper-arid desert of Eastern Sudan, the Atbai Desert, seems like an unlikely place to find evidence of ancient cattle herders. But in this dry environment, my new ...
The sector says it’s hopeful her replacement Paul Goldsmith will be able to throw it a lifeline, after six months with a minister deemed missing in action, writes Catherine McGregor in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign ...
The government can't just rely on axing public sector jobs and has to do more to cut spending, says the chief economist at a free market think tank. ...
Rock The Vote NZ, known for its advocacy for minor party unity and its role within the Freedoms NZ Coalition during the 2023 General Election, celebrates this merger as a strategic enhancement of its operational strength and outreach. ...
Nearly everyone has experienced the frustration of something you use breaking and being difficult or expensive to fix. Proposed legislation could change that. It’s been raining on and off all Sunday afternoon but people are lining up outside a building in a corner of Gribblehirst Park in Sandringham, Auckland. In ...
What does a forever relationship look like when you don’t believe in marriage? And how do you celebrate it? This essay is part of our Sunday Essay series, made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.I’m going to do it, right now. I’m going to say ...
The Prime Minister has committed to resuming direct flights to Thailand. But it’s not a promise he will be able to deliver on anytime soon. The post Prime Minister jumps the gun in Thailand appeared first on Newsroom. ...
It’s not that long ago Eliza McCartney was seriously wondering if the Paris Olympics would be her pole vaulting swansong. After years of being hounded by injury after injury, the Rio Olympics bronze medallist was still confident she would compete at her second Olympics in Paris in July, unless something ...
FICTION 1 Take Two by Danielle Hawkins (Allen & Unwin, $36.99) There’s commercial fiction, like this book, and then there’s quality fiction, quality writers, quality literature; the forthcoming Auckland Writers Festival is full of quality, and ReadingRoom has two tickets to give away to the following events: Paul Lynch (Dublin ...
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You can’t have missed the Gallipoli story as the movies, documentaries, essays and books capture what it was like for New Zealand troops in their eight-month campaign on the Peninsula. But this Anzac Day the Auckland War Memorial Museum has published a book that sheds light on a little-known aspect of the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra In the free-for-all between the Australian government and Big Tech boss Elon Musk this week, the government had to be on a winner. Most people would have little sympathy with Musk’s vociferous opposition to ...
Asia Pacific Report Chief Mandla Mandela, a member of the National Assembly of South Africa and Nelson Mandela’s grandson, has joined the Freedom Flotilla in istanbul as the ships prepare to sail for Gaza, reports Kia Ora Gaza. Mandela is also the ambassador for the Global Campaign to Return to ...
Pacific Media Watch Journalists who report on environmental issues are encountering growing difficulties in many parts of the world, reports Reporters Without Borders. According to the tally kept by RSF, 200 journalists have been subjected to threats and physical violence, including murder, in the past 10 years because they were ...
An Evergrandeglades update, medium size crocs have been spotted asset stripping and a larger croc is moving in on the torso itself.
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-58784316
Police considering laying charges against Brian Tamaki and associates:
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/300422417/covid19-police-considering-charges-over-brian-tamakiled-lockdown-protest
Good show.
Here is petition if anybody wishes to sign:
https://www.change.org/p/nz-police-commissioner-charge-brian-tamaki-over-the-illegal-protest
As at 5:54pm 88,000 have signed since this morning.
6PM UPDATE: PM announces new strategy for Brian Tamaki and the anti-vaxxers
Roy Morgan polls aren't necessarily the best guide to the party vote, but the question on right vs wrong direction is a far better indication than "I got a column in the paper and I got reckons pulled out of my arse".
http://www.roymorgan.com/findings/8809-nz-national-voting-intention-september-2021-202110040446
This supports every other survey of public opinion in recent weeks. It seems those who like to equate "I" with "everybody" have been wrong, again.
jeez, how long before ACT overtake National: 16% vs 23%, seriously?
Even applying a healthy dose of rouge to the cheeks of those numbers, the nats just ain't connecting with folks and the right wingers are running to ACT.
Next step it will be National asking for a "cup of tea" deal with ACT just to get seat.
There'll be a lot of lemon in National's cup.
Everyone fronting National is a has been (Key) or speaks like a wooden doll (Reti) or is a daddy's boy (Bishop) and no upfront women apart from Jude who sounds deeply tired and disillusioned. Seymour is pumping the message day after day to people longing for something new and credible. No wonder the polls show increasing support for ACT.
Among men in this poll, National are only 3.0% ahead of ACT; among women they are 11.5% ahead. Irrespective of the absolute numbers which may be accurate or not, that gap feels right – female radar just tends to more easily pick up on ACT's inherent social cruelty.
National will have to move further to the right to stop bleeding votes
There's a school of thought that suggests the nats are bleeding to the right because National is (relatively speaking, from a certain point of view) the velvet glove for the iron hearts of tories. It only works if enough soft conservatives manage to convince themselves that going right wing doesn't mean associating with a bunch of sociopaths who would happily make children work 18 hours days under looms and in chimneys.
Twelve years ago the nats were campaigning as labour-lite. Now they're goddamned plague enthusiasts, willing to risk lots of deaths for travel bubbles because people are tired of it and poor johnny can't visit Hawaii.
Without the velvet glove, there's no point to National. People can go ACT or go Labour, because National are ACT-lite. Hell, pr-wise national are worse than bloody act.
From Churchill to Vichy France within a week or so.
One person, who will be surprised if government support holds up much longer, reacts.
http://norightturn.blogspot.com/2021/10/surrendering-to-virus.html
There's been some silly knee-jerk reactions and that's one of them.
If anyone thinks it's "surrender" they should get the OIA requests in to see what public health people advised.
It's a debatable balance, but hard to debate that kind of language.
It's official, the elimination strategy is no more. The government is going to try and get us to live with the virus.
I wonder how long that will last?
Hipkins is right. I for one, wasn't surprised. It was clear to me that the government has 'been trending' to abandon elimination as a strategy, when they lifted the Level 4 Auckland Lockdown while cases, especially unlinked cases, were still circulating in the Auckland region.
Right at this moment I feel exactly the same as no right turn. Maybe I'll feel better in the morning, but I'm not sure.
Was a little suprised, but then thinking about it, its clear there is ongoing transmission that no matter the alert level, So you get left with only bad choices, more lockdown that doesnt work and frustration builds, a punitive approach ie start excluding unvaxxed people from society (which will have greater long term issues) or start on the path that they have which sort of reflects whats actually happening in Auckland anyway.
Now I will say it does seem to be getting very reactive, I felt if elimination was the goal we should have had another week at level 4 and after hearing all last week elimination is still the goal its a bit suprising we've had such a sudden pivot. Daycares for example seem very suprised and unhappy…
I really think we should have home test kits ready and availble for those that want them, We should offer a more traditional vaccine like sinofarm (quite a few unvaxxed people I know just dont trust MRNA at this point) and would I think take a more traditional vaccine. Prob worth an extra percent or 3 and make antibody testing freely availble again some think they have had the virus and thus immune… making antibody tests more available will either prove them wrong or provide a far better picture of spread.
Think its fair to say its now our turn to experience what so many countries already have. Lets hope Hendy is wrong.
That's actually not quite true, Alert Level 4 was not lifted because it was not working, but because the economic sacrifice was judged to be too high.
"Alert Level 4 was not lifted because it was not working, but because the economic sacrifice was judged to be too high"
Do you have any evidence that this is actually true? I really doubt that anyone in our Cabinet, at least, has even considered this rationally. I suspect, and of course I will admit I have extremely cynical views on our current Governments actions, that the polls tell them that the Public are getting pissed of and are getting unhappy about the seeming inability of them to actually accomplish what they promise. Better to give up rather than exhibit that they cannot do what they boasted they could do.
Incidentally, what has happened to the people who praised the Government for their incredibly slow approach to starting a vaccination program? There were people who said that going slow and late with getting vaccines and providing the means for people to get them was a brilliant idea. We don't need them yet some said, because we don't have Covid in the country. We are right not to get vaccines when other countries need them more. And so on. Well do they still say that or are they now among the ranks of those who are insisting that people should get vaccinated, NOW?
"… its clear there is ongoing transmission that no matter the alert level"
If people are isolated transmission cannot occur. Agree that we should have had at least another week at level 4. Business always talks about how corrosive uncertainty is. The same can be said for people, and no-one was certain where the govt was going once they decided to move down a level
My view is that Level 3 was too soon. Politically, it would have been a bad look to backtrack. So here we are.
Uncertainty still exists. The health system will be at breaking point soon enough and all that political capital the govt has built up will be gone, if the PM has got this wrong. Nothing would make me happier than finding out she go it right and Hendy is wrong, but I really don't think so.
I've been avoiding all the hype and just waiting to see what actually happens.
On a seperate note, was visiting a friend who had given birth over SI level 4. She has a 15yo as well. I said baby looked like Winston Churchill (mum knows me well, it was cool), 15yo didn't know who Winston Churchill was.
My cliff note was "he saved us from the Nazis but did one or two genocides on the side", but the 15yo agreed that the wikipedia pic did indeed bear a close semblance to the new entry to the clan. Then said baby already had more hair than me, lol
"more hair than me".
Oh no! Please don't tell us that you are spitting image of Cristopher Luxon?
@ McFlock
4 October 2021 at 8:54 pm
“I’ve been avoiding all the hype and just waiting to see what actually happens…..”
Good strategy.
I mean how long will Chris Hipkins plan to live with the virus last, before the government are forced to do another about turn, and reimpose lockdowns?
Chris Hipkins may think that he can remove the boundary between Auckland and the rest of the country before Christmas, while the virus is still circulating, but circumstances may dictate otherwise.
Australia has Four ICU beds per 100,000 people, to New Zealand's One ICU bed per 100,000 people, and Australia struggled to cope with the NSW outbreak.
Britain's famed National Health Service NHS has Eight ICU beds per 100,000 people and they struggled to cope with an outbreak of Delta, forcing Boris Johnson to re-impose a lockdown to contain it.
1: is it all Hipkins plan, or is it actually a plan from the advisors to DGHealth to ease some restrictions while minimising the risk thereof, given the picture of the current problem?
2: circumstances always dictate otherwise. No plan survives contact with the enemy, but sometimes things go better than planned and sometimes they go worse and you need a rethink.
3: ICU is an old problem. We know that if everything goes to shit hospitals get overwhelmed and people die. That's why we went to L4 in March 2020.
4: participated in a survey recently, they asked how much out of 10 I'd give the govt response. I graded on a curve – they got 10. Otherwise the govt would have extra credit. Why? <30 dead. So unless Cabinet got drunk and threw their toys out of the cot today, they're probably not surrendering to delta. Maybe they're still working to figure out how to eliminate it while recognising that the nutbars are gaining traction because of the hard slog. After the protests come the nutbar riots.
Neale Jones, formerly Ardern's Chief of Staff, doesn't seem to be impressed.
"I was hoping today we'd hear a plan for a vaccine mandate to get numbers up to 90% plus and then move out of lockdown. Instead, we got a long and confusing surrender note. This is both a policy and a political failure."
That is on Twitter. I can't work out how to link directly to it though.
And there was I thinking he was a true believer. Finally it begins to sink in that she really isn't up to it I suppose.
Still, he seems to be in agreement with NRT
Click on the tweet, this will change the URL, copy and paste the URL.
If you are on a phone, click on the tweet, then the Share icon (tray with an upwards arrow), this should give you the option of Copy Link (ios, probably similar on Android).
https://twitter.com/nealejones/status/1444863649860911105
Thank you. I shall try that next time.
Why blame the government for the failing of the muppets who have kept this thing spreading?
Lockdowns work ,all anger should be pointed at those that did6follow the lockdown road map,
'
'Elimination may be dead'. But half measures, that actually don't stop the virus, will just piss everyone off.
The Churchill analogy is a good one.
Churchill promised the British people Blood, Sweat, Toil and Tears.
And then delivered on his promise.
The results spoke for themselves. All the terrible sacrifices the British people were asked to make, were judged in the end to be worth it.
As a result Churchill, according to all polls, is the most popular Britain of all time.*
By surrendering to the virus, the Ardern administration has just handed the Right a big fillip.
*(If Churchill had come to terms with the German nazis, his name would be no more than a footnote in history. I am afraid that this is what will happen to our Prime Minister. Instead of becoming our greatest Prime Minister ever, and world renowned for eliminating the virus, Prime Minister Ardern will become a footnote, in the list of leaders who failed to contain the virus)
NT/QLD/SA/TAS/WA – a total of 2 locally-acquired Covid-19 cases in the last 24 h.
Disappointed our government is no longer committed to a Covid-19 elimination strategy, but the writing was on the wall when Auckland dropped to alert level 3 on 22 September.
A miscalculated risk, imho – only hope the team doesn't pay for too dearly for that decision.
Eligible NZ population with two doses: 48% [4 Oct. 2021]
https://www.health.govt.nz/our-work/diseases-and-conditions/covid-19-novel-coronavirus/covid-19-data-and-statistics/covid-19-vaccine-data