Yeah it was impressive as always Robert. I liked her focus on sealing the perimeter of the cluster rather than chasing down the rabbit hole after patient zero so Auckland can begin to move down alert levels
And has a skill I never learned: hearing stupid questions and giving tolerant and reasonable answers.
That question about whether it's still a team of five million would have had me telling the questioner to fuck off just as a matter of reflex, and she explained it consistently with the original analogy, and then told people outside Auckland how they could help those within Auckland. Quite spectacular.
Absolutely agree. Coming in late on repeat TV news channels 6 and 8, I happened to see that response to what I think was meant to be a hostile question. Quick, natural smile, perfect reply with candour and natural confidence.
Jacinda is, I think, the most talented, connecting communicator we have had as PM since Rob Muldoon at his peak. He was of the opposite nature – domineering, calculating, but still beguiling his 'mob'.
Lange was wittiest; Winston at his best was close to Muldoon, but less focused; I hoped for a lot from Palmer, but in dropping his legal, academic air he turned into the most boring speaker ever. Kirk was excellent, but too brief in existence.
I never liked PMs like Key and English who managed to mangle the English language while either charming or plodding…
I have waited to see how Jacinda would rate. I now believe that we are lucky to have one of the very best PMs we have had, in that she combines excellent communication skills with a good, kind character.
Regardless of how much social change she has been able to achieve to date, she is the leader that we on the Left cannot do without.
yeah – besides the choice of Winston and a myriad other instances of good luck, having a PM who has a toddler and therefore up to date with the communication skills to deal with journolists and tories 🙂
Apart from the dick who wrote to Collins asking her to resist the lockdown measures the National Party in general has been very quiet today. Maybe they think they are about to catch a break at last?
If there was a skerrick of self awareness amongst 'em, today was the day to keep it zipped.
Again I feel The Greens were prescient with giving The Nats their share of questions. The more they open their mouths the more they show how unfit they are to govern. climate
The same, sadly, applies to “Merv’s” intervention in National’s 2020 Auckland Central candidate selection. Newshub has alleged that this pseudonymous caller of late-night talkback shows is in fact a regional representative of the National Party with a bee in his bonnet about Nuwi Samarakone, the Sri Lankan-born party activist apparently favoured by the party hierarchy. “Merv’s” contribution followed the circulation, by a person, or persons, unknown, of a photograph of Ms Samarakone (a former ballet dancer) posing for the camera in leotards. Astonishingly, that was all it took to make sure that, at least as far as its three leading contenders are concerned, the Auckland Central contest will be an all-white affair. Childish brutality indeed!"
"It is very difficult to interpret Mr Te Kahika’s activity as anything other than an attempt to impede, undermine and in every way frustrate the Government’s attempt to respond adequately to a proven resurgence of community transmission of Covid-19 in the city of Auckland and, quite possibly, across the rest of New Zealand."
&
" If Holmes’s important stipulation that “the character of every act depends upon the circumstances in which it is done”, then Mr Te Kahika’s actions can only be described as extremely reckless and irresponsible."
He was my woodwork teacher. Nothings changed, he's still a bully and not very popular with his peers. A family friend knew him too, that's how I know combined with the attitude of the other teachers towards him when he wasn't around. Something that surprised me as a 13yo boy and stuck with me. It wasn't very often teachers openly dissed one of their own in front of students. Just saying..
Doing the math from his wiki page, twelve years of teaching before parliament in 1996 would put him in the tail-end of the days when teachers would lob chalk, dusters, and off-cuts at students.
Could be entertaining if they were gentle lobs and the teachers were original about it, but bloody terrifying if the teacher was a bully.
One of the more stupid journos just asked her if we are still a team of 5 million if there are different alert levels around the country. Ardern’s response will be come a classic, “Yes, because not everyone in the team is on the field at the same time.”
How long you reckon before some Aussie journos come up with blistering attack-lines on Ardern and NZ Govt. Y'know… can't cope with NZ being better 'n them at handling just about everything.
As a number of folk who thought they were clever have discovered, there aren't too many chinks in Jacinda's armour. I think the irredeemably negative will mostly look at the fate of Alan Jones and decide "Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent."
They may rage against the Victorian government in frustration however.
I suppose too, having won two tests, we don’t need a third game eh.
The business-commentariat is trying really hard to make her look like less of a sociopath by saying the quiet bits loud. The idea that we should let people die in a bullshit effort to maintain GDP is stupid even if it were real (not according to the examples of the rest of the world, as JA said this afternoon).
Old Merv, eh? In normal times this incident would have completely destroyed the National Party structure and Goodfellow in particular. How many lives has that guy had?
But here we are in post-pandemic times, and in a mega-cluster of National Party screw-ups, and it is nothing but a footnote.
If the National Party wants to move forward and provide this country with a decent opposition for the next decade they need to sack Peter Goodfellow right now. The poison is at the top.
edit
This is not what I think is good leadership from our public education institutions. A Southland polytechnic department head allegedly shared conspiracy theories about Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and US billionaire Bill Gates to a class of students.
An outline of the course noted requirements included displaying '’self-awareness, reflective practice and personal leadership in a health and wellbeing setting'’.
[Merle] Petersen, when asked if she believed those statements to be factually correct, provided a written statement saying all facts were open to interpretation. She was also approached in person by a Stuff reporter, but referred comment through SIT.
When asked if she thought it appropriate to repeat conspiracy theories at an academic institution, her statement said students were encouraged to do their own research into topics…
The paper about which the discussions took place focused on economic and social policy, she said.
This required students to examine how economic theory and social policy in New Zealand had contributed to oppression and marginalisation of particular groups.
‘’The discipline we teach, and into which students are enrolled, has an expectation that we educate the students to become aware of the socio-political contexts in which we work.
This is serious and I think this person should be sacked, and the Southern Institute of Technology should be closely checked to see how far this lazy system of tutor employment should be going. Students are very impressionable when at these colleges, and indeed are very influenced at any age when they are fully engaged in study and learning. The last thing they need to learn is that nothing they are told is really reliable. They can mislearn about life and the universe at home. When they go somewhere official they should be able to expect more than today's reckons from a teacher with a balanced viewpoint, male or female.
She is the Services Program Manager at Southern Institute of Technology, SIT.
She is part of the Aotearoa New Zealand Association of Social Workers (ANZASW) Te Ropu Tauwhiro i Aotearoa
Merle Grimwood-Petterson? Invercargill, NZ works at SIT
Amazing how many there are by Petersen name in the world – quite a few in South Africa. Her Facebook page is full of inspirational quotes with flowers etc.
You're letting prejudice get in the way of the evidence.
One problem for liberal/lefties that many of us have to face up to is that the conspiracy crazies draw a lot of support from Maori/Pasifika minorities, in the same way that Brian Tamaki does. God moves in mysterious ways.
…SIT, when earlier approached for comment, replied with a statement saying it was not aware of the accusations, nor had the tertiary institutions ever received any previous complaints about Petersen’s political views.
'’SIT is a politically neutral institution,'' the statement said….
I feel that this is not an 'open-minded' neutral learning institution if encouraging this sort of discourse to happen.
…It is alleged Petersen then said Gates, who had plans to depopulate the world, held a secret meeting with Ardern.
When asked by a member of the class if Gates had to quarantine, she responded with an eye roll. ‘'She was deadly serious,’' the attendee said.
Petersen allegedly referred to Ardern as “dangerous”, telling the class people needed to “keep an eye on her”.
The person who attended the class was concerned Petersen’s views could have a negative impact on the students, many of whom wanted to be social workers.
And just to compare teaching styles. This NZ fear-laden, darkly intoned conspiracy theory approach and the Finnish one that appears to produce open keen wide-thinking students.
"National’s deputy leader Gerry Brownlee has backtracked over his questioning of the Government’s handling of coronavirus information, saying it was not his intention to play into the hands of conspiracy theorists."
"Speaking to Newstalk ZB’s Canterbury Mornings on Friday, Brownlee admitted he had got himself into a “bad spot” and that he “certainly didn’t intend to create any fear”.
“The way it has been presented has been unfortunate, I’ve certainly not enjoyed it,” he said."
David Skilling – "But this is an opportunity to invest in skills upgrading, capital and technology investment, to move to a higher productivity, higher wage economy."
I believe Labour the best to deliver this. National too interested in the short term, Greens would argue it means unsustainable growth, ACT would be opposed because skills upgrading conflicts with individual choice (big government offers me the way to improve my skill level but as an individual I am free to do what I like and I don't like the government telling me what to do).
The lead-up to the 2011 election was dominated by NZ hosting the Rugby World Cup. All over the news, all day, every day. There were 34 days between the final (won by John Key, with help from some All Blacks) and the election.
There are 35 days between now and the (provisional) election date, September 19.
I wonder what possessed Hilary Barry to take such a shrewish tone with the Prime Minister this evening? Jacinda looked upset by her tone and what sort of a silly question is asking her what she has got to say to the business people of Auckland as though she is a naughty child?
I saw that too Jan M and wondered the same thing. Either Barry has a bee in her bonnet about the Level 3 extension or she was trying to do the serious political interviewer thing and it didn't come off… or she’s a Nat supporter and let down her cover.
Whatever, Jacinda looked exhausted so hope she 's allowed to take it easy this week-end. She deserves a short break.
Whoever the next Prime Minister is, they will allow Covid-19 into New Zealand. Both leaders adamantly deny it now.
Polling overwhelmingly demands they publicly support what I called in March the idyllic scenario
What he really means is
1. that National is captured by those blinded by greed (a bit stoopid) and they arrogantly presume they can force Labour into opening borders recklessly (like a hooker touting for more custom by not requiring condom use) – constant bleating in the media (as per winter of discontent 2000).
2. Oz opposes us having elimination and Level 1 (it makes them look second-rate) because they can only bubble with us at level 2 (where we get tourists if we allow their infection rate).
Evidence what Kelly said today in Oz, that having level 1 was too risky (you only get there by elimination and they do not have a policy of elimination).
Australia's acting chief medical officer Paul Kelly said today New Zealand should not have returned to pre-pandemic life after going 102 days without community transmission. He said despite New Zealand's initial lockdown being successful, a return to mass gatherings and lack of social distancing was problematic. "That is just very dangerous," he told the Australian Senate's coronavirus inquiry today. "To go right back to a pre-Covid state makes them extremely vulnerable."
the right wing political world is embarrassed by comparative failure – their constant refrain is the economic cost of effective pandemic response, so they hate our example (low debt enabling the goal of elimination and the reward of level 1 recovery which is out of their reach sans vaccine).
Evidence Irish Times
the recent change in alert levels saying it was a "recipe for economic disaster." Burke-Kennedy suggested that following New Zealand's lead on lockdowns would turn Ireland's recession into a depression and trigger a higher number of suicides.
They have no choice but to accept community spread, the old TINA, thus their fear of our models existence. Nice how they claim they will save business men from suicide by allowing the deaths of less important old, poor and sick people.
David Seymour is saying what National really believes.
If a lockdown is required to maintain elimination, then it is time to have an honest conversation about accepting a new reality that the virus is here to stay and we must learn to live with it intelligently," Seymour said on Friday.
I believe Covid-19 will become endemic, globally, which means that we (NZ) need to have a plan for the future. I disagree that now is the time to have that conversation. After the Election, the Government should lead or initiate an inclusive debate about the way forward for NZ, preferably with much input from the public as well as from various experts, not just health experts and business people – we’re in this together.
Covid-19 is here to stay and won’t be eliminated or eradicated and will be endemic unless there is a highly effective vaccine for it. However, given what we know about coronaviruses, it is unlikely that even with a vaccine it will be eradicated.
The various scenarios should be discussed sooner rather than later and to pin all our hopes on an effective and safe vaccine becoming available in the very near future is fanciful; talking of evidence. So, we wait and do nothing, say nothing, and most certainly do discuss nothing? Avoid at all cost because even talking about it might put lives at risk? Because that would be the domain of RWNJs? I hope you don’t truly believe that because it is insulting to anyone’s intelligence.
There are those on the right, who would not wait behind our border even 6 months of 2021 for a vaccine. And on the right is where they belong.
Just as well that I didn’t even suggest anything of the kind. You’re achieving nothing by turning this into a hyper-polarised debate or by politicising it as a Left-Right issue. As I said, we’re in this together and simplistic binaries are of no help with complex issues, they are counter-productive.
And your Hootonesque apologetic ones especially.
I love your attempt at Monty Python humour 😀
Your wilful avoidance and attempt to shut down debate before it has even started does not sit well with me 🙁
1. were people vaccinated for the plague, and if not where did it go?
2. were people vaccinated for Spanish flu and if not where did it go?
PS I cannot see how any discussion about a plan for the future, based on a belief that SARS COV2 will always be with us, can occur in the absence of consensus about that.
PS I cannot see how any discussion about a plan for the future, based on a belief that SARS COV2 will always be with us, can occur in the absence of consensus about that. [my italics]
And how do you propose do we reach a consensus about that? Given that there are no plans to eradicate the virus on a global scale and with over 21 million cases in total and rising by hundreds of thousands daily. And if we don’t have or reach consensus, what do we then? When or what does trigger any discussion about a plan for the future? What do we do in the meantime? Are we allowed to talk about it before then and should we? If not, why not? Why are you so resistant (antagonistic) towards this?
It’s also based around protecting the capitalist base to the global economy that leads to indebted and under reourced government, rather than questioning its assumptions (why is printed QE money called a debt future generations owe – that just means they get underfunded health and education and welfare systems).
Not necessarily. Anyway, some sectors of our society, including health and education, are not doing well because of the lockdowns. I wouldn’t want to be an NCEA student this year or a cancer patient waiting to be seen or treated by a specialist. Mental health is also taking a battering, it seems although numbers are hard to come by.
I disagree. A plan could include different versions of MIQ. It wouldn’t necessarily mean what you think it means. But if you start from an extreme PoV, I can see why you wouldn’t be keen to even contemplate other options and just want to stick with BAU and shut down any discussion about a ‘plan’ as RW conspiracy.
The answers to 1 and 2 are "millions of infections and dead, and social isolation efforts, created a herd immunity and slowed the spread enough to lower the reproductive rate below 1".
The goal is to avoid the millions of dead, no? So we either wait for a vaccine, or until it blows over. And if that takes a couple of years, well at least we're not digging mass graves.
herd immunity worked with Spanish Flu because enough people got it and died? i.e. if smaller numbers of people had it, it wouldn't have gone away? And if smaller numbers of people had died it wouldn't have gone away?
Sorry, was unclear. The survivors were immune. The others died.
Bubonic plague has a different vector for infection, but many of the basic techniques of prevention are still relevant – ISTR someone mentioning at TS ships with plague victims being let in at the behest of the business community that wanted the trade.
so the Spanish Flu herd immunity was established by widespread infection, deaths of many leading to a smaller population, who had been infected but survived? Eliminated because this sequence led to an R value of less than 1?
Many viruses figure out a balance to stay in the human body permanently, establishing a balancing act between not killing the host but not being eliminated by the immune response. Herpes, for example. But by their nature they have to be pretty mild – killing few of their hosts.
Covid and Spanish flu aren't like that. From the virus' point of view, they have a ticking clock to spread to someone else before the virus kills the host or their host kills them (i.e. the patient gets better).
People who die quickly have less time to spread the virus, so there's an evolutionary bias towards becoming less lethal (more time to spread = more infections of that version).
There's also the problem that if you, as a virus, find your siblings and ancestors have already infected most of the people you meet and they got better, then you probably can't pass your descendents on to those people.
If every contact with a vulnerable person gives you a 30% chance of infecting them, coming into contact with four people gives you a decent chance of spreading yourself about if nobody has caught it before.
If 3 of those 4 caught it before, you've only got a 30% chance of spreading it. Repeat that twice, and your strain probably becomes an evolutionary dead end.
The Bubonic Plague (Spanish flu) was a bacterial infection so incomparable to aligning to as yet unknown final behaviours of SARS- CoV- 2, a virus.
The Spanish flu was an H1N1 influenza -A strain virus which became a pandemic. What happened in the time of this pandemic 1918 to 1920 was that people either developed immunity or died. The Spanish flu virus H1N1 had since been reconstructed for scientific study then these samples destroyed after experimentation.
So the Spanish flu potentially did not go away nor was herd immunity established as fact.
H1N1 influenza-A virus strain subtype appeared again as the Swine flu in 2009.
Influenza A viruses are the only influenza viruses known to cause flu global epidemics of flu disease.
SARS- CoV-2 is NOT an influenza virus. The SAR acronym being of the type drscribed as
severe acute respiratory syndrome.
SARS-CoV(1) emerged in 2002.
Combating SARS- CoV-2 is an unknown still. Ideally, having a plan economic or otherwise to carry on with life should be the goal now.
To date only 2 infectious viruses are known to have been potentially eradicated, smallpox and rinderpest.
That does not explain why so many young people died rather than older people – the immune system of healthy adults was triggered – “cytokine storm.
Hear of Samoa in relation to Sapanish flu – but for one ship visit they might have had no deaths at all?
It is possible to bubble and avoid deaths.
During the plague there were villages and towns that had no deaths – they used quarantine and then the plague was gone.
As for a plan – both parties have investment programmes to create domestic economy jobs (one focused on more and more roads, one more diverse based on investment in community well being).
Despite no eradication of Spanish flu, it no longer exists. Despite no eradication of plague has anyone in our country ever been infected treated for it?
After the Election, the Government should lead or initiate an inclusive debate about the way forward for NZ, preferably with much input from the public as well as from various experts, not just health experts and business people – we’re in this together.
The government MUST lead the debate, and should have started a long time ago.
We had three month during which the government should have led the debate on what to do if he virus re-emerges, how to handle future lock downs, what protections the public can expect etc etc etc.
Without that open approach from government the void will be filled by conspiracy theories.
As for the 'we're' all in this together? Now some are really knee deep in the shit, others are happy and able to work from home / or receive their income from investments and thus feel still in control of things. The rest of us however is not in that position. We are the expandable err 'hero' essential worker who is asked to rehire the staff we let go for a bit of cash via the flexi scheme or hey , here a few dollars , why won't you start a business. No we are not all in this together.
That's not the sort of planning Incognito is suggesting – his is about moving on from the keep it out bubble approach.
[Either you have a reading comprehension and cognitive problem, which is why you misunderstood me, or you are simply unwilling to understand what I was saying. Either way, you have misinterpreted my words, knowingly or unwittingly. You were making up shit and put words/meanings into my mouth. Point out where I suggested “moving on from the keep it out bubble approach” or retract and apologise – Incognito]
If you are not in favour of moving on from our keep it out bubble approach, sure I retract and apologise.
My impression, that this was your position was based on your wanting government to set a future direction based on a changed world environment and assumption this meant a change from current keep it out and eliminate policy.
I’d also like to take the opportunity to thank you for your many positive and high quality comments on this site – from one volunteer to another, so to speak.
For the record, I’m supportive of the current approach at present. However, the current approach has no in-built mechanism for the future – it is kind of a one-trick pony. I think it is important that we plan for the future, especially when a vaccine takes a long (?) time or never arrives. If not plan for anything (different), at least discuss the various options with their associated risks and advantages. Talking doesn’t commit anybody to anything AFAIK.
Chris Hipkins was saying today that TINA. That might be so, but it is not very inviting to constructive criticism. I find that a little ‘problematic’.
The Plan B group are holding their Policy Symposium tomorrow. I have criticised them in the past for being pseudo-scientific and their PR has been shit. They have become somewhat of an ‘anti-establishment’ group and that has killed the debate before it got off the ground. It think this is in some ways regrettable, as it is good a good thing when the powers that be are challenged – to keep an open mind is the key to making improvements, when/where possible, and progress in general.
As you can see, I have a nuanced view of this complex issue but I repeat, I’m not advocating or favouring anything at present.
The Government has either been too busy with dealing with the pandemic or governing in general but is has shied away from this difficult conversation. This has created a vacuum that is now being filled by the Oppos, fringe parties, and conspiracy theorists, which all have an agenda and something to gain by media attention. Conspiracy theories are shooting up like hallucinatory mushrooms for those scared souls who search for solace. The narrative is framed and controlled by those people. For this reason alone, the Government should wrestle back the initiative and lead, but they’re not going to at this side of the Election.
That show is almost unwatchable in itself, so shallow, and that's the second time Gorman has been on this week insisting we can't carry on like this and there needs to be a Grand Coalition to make the all decisions in the future. It looked like a total hit job on the Govt. He definitely has an agenda and Barry looked like she is in on it.
Gorman was on RNZ Friday morning with the same line – parroting Collins. National involved in decision-making before a delayed election. Black swan event coup opportunity mentality.
I don't mind hearing his criticisms, but his solution is unworkable nonsense. Even at the best of times (i.e. not these) a Lab-Nat coalition could not last 5 minutes. And whoever is in government, there has to be an opposition filling the vacuum.
I'm obviously biased, but the best health strategy is to get the election over, have a functioning government and give them the job for 3 years. Putting that off doesn't solve anything.
A grand coalition is a ridiculous idea at this time. Unless the election has to be delayed for a year or two. Anyone suggesting it is to be mocked and derided. We have a govt with a workable majority until November and then from memory a supermajority is needed for just one vote and that is to delay the election (or it's on a week by week basis by an electoral official?)
Look at Germany right now, a grand coalition would see the likes of act, nzpp and all the Looney tunes parties polling around 10-20% and lab/Nat would probably have to govern together for a few elections until they either become one party like national did with it's predecessors or get replaced by new vehicles, potentially dangerous vehicles.
Grand coalitions should only ever be called for in times of war when governing parties are split and can't get a majority in their own ranks. Get this tripper off the tv
I'm not sure of Hillary's politics but she's definitely not a labour voter, she says "they labour party" with a kind of hatred in her tone and an expression that looks like she tasted something foul…. But on the other hand she defended jacinda on social media when mark Richardson asked about her potentially getting pregnant and has been really against all the conspiracy theories going round. Maybe she's apolitical and just doing her job, stranger things have happened
a grand coalition is always a bad idea, i lived through a few in Germany. Generally they can't get their act together, little gets done, and early election more often then not are called once parties break of for lack of 'confidence'.
however, that does not mean a grand coalition can not happen.
And if it will happen here its gonna be the no mates party, the hologram and one of the religious / conservative parties, my bet would be the bishops wife and maybe the new conservatives.
i can not see a labour/national coalition as the parties are too far apart and not even saving the country would bring them together to that point. We would need a different set of people in the no mates party.
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The annual inventory report of New Zealand's greenhouse gas emissions has been released, showing that gross emissions have dropped for the third year in a row, to 78.4 million tons: All-told gross emissions have decreased by over 6 million tons since the Zero Carbon Act was passed in 2019. ...
Experiencing a locked computer can be frustrating, especially when you need access to your files and applications urgently. The methods to unlock your computer will vary depending on the specific situation and the type of lock you encounter. This guide will explore various scenarios and provide step-by-step instructions on how ...
While the world has largely transitioned to digital communication, faxing still holds relevance in certain industries and situations. Fortunately, gone are the days of bulky fax machines and dedicated phone lines. Today, you can easily send and receive faxes directly from your computer, offering a convenient and efficient way to ...
In our increasingly digital world, home computers have become essential tools for work, communication, entertainment, and more. However, this increased reliance on technology also exposes us to various cyber threats. Understanding these threats and taking proactive steps to protect your home computer is crucial for safeguarding your personal information, finances, ...
In the ever-evolving world of technology, server-based computing has emerged as a cornerstone of modern digital infrastructure. This article delves into the concept of server-based computing, exploring its various forms, benefits, challenges, and its impact on the way we work and interact with technology. Understanding Server-Based Computing: At its core, ...
The absolute brass neck of this guy.We want more medical doctors, not more spin doctors, Luxon was saying a couple of weeks ago, and now we’re told the guy has seven salaried adults on TikTok duty. Sorry, doing social media. The absolute brass neck of it. The irony that the ...
Buzz from the Beehive Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones relishes spatting and eagerly takes issue with environmentalists who criticise his enthusiasm for resource development. He relishes helping the fishing industry too. And so today, while the media are making much of the latest culling in the public service to ...
Having written, taught and worked for the US government on issues involving unconventional warfare and terrorism for 30-odd years, two things irritate me the most when the subject is discussed in public. The first is the Johnny-come-lately academics-turned-media commentators who … Continue reading → ...
Eric Crampton writes – Kainga Ora is the government’s house building agency. It’s been building a lot of social housing. Kainga Ora has its own (but independent) consenting authority, Consentium. It’s a neat idea. Rather than have to deal with building consents across each different territorial authority, Kainga Ora ...
Muriel Newman writes – The Coalition Government says it is moving with speed to deliver campaign promises and reverse the damage done by Labour. One of their key commitments is to “defend the principle that New Zealanders are equal before the law.” To achieve this, they have pledged they “will not advance ...
Chris Trotter writes – The absence of anything resembling a fightback from the public servants currently losing their jobs is interesting. State-sector workers’ collective fatalism in the face of Coalition cutbacks indicates a surprisingly broad acceptance of impermanence in the workplace. Fifty years ago, lay-offs in the thousands ...
Mariupol, on the Azov Sea coast, was one of the first cities to suffer almost complete destruction after the start of the Ukraine War started in late February 2022. We remember the scenes of absolute destruction of the houses and city structures. The deaths of innocent civilians – many of ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – Ten years ago, I wrote the following in a Listener column: Every year around one in five new-born babies will be reliant on their caregivers benefit by Christmas. This pattern has persisted from at least 1993. For Maori the number jumps to over one in three. ...
Climate change is expected to generate more and more extreme events, delivering a sort of structural shock to inflation that central banks will have to react to as if they were short-term cyclical issues. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMy pick of the six newsey things to know from Aotearoa’s ...
It’s a simple deal. We pay taxes in order to finance the social services we want and need. The carnage now occurring across the public sector though, is breaking that contract. Over 3,000 jobs have been lost so far. Many are in crucial areas like Education where the impact of ...
Hi,A friend had their 40th over the weekend and decided to theme it after Curb Your Enthusiasm fashion icon Susie Greene. Captured in my tiny kitchen before I left the house, I ending up evoking a mix of old lesbian and Hillary Clinton — both unintentional.Me vs Hillary ClintonIf you’re ...
This is a re-post from Andrew Dessler at the Climate Brink blogIn 2023, the Earth reached temperature levels unprecedented in modern times. Given that, it’s reasonable to ask: What’s going on? There’s been lots of discussions by scientists about whether this is just the normal progression of global warming or if something ...
The schools are on holiday and the sun is shining in the seaside village and all day long I have been seeing bunches of bikes; Mums, Dads, teens and toddlers chattering, laughing, happy, having a bloody great time together. Cheers, AT, for the bits of lane you’ve added lately around the ...
Today in our National-led authoritarian nightmare: Shane Jones thinks Ministers should be above the law: New Zealand First MP Shane Jones is accusing the Waitangi Tribunal of over-stepping its mandate by subpoenaing a minister for its urgent hearing on the Oranga Tamariki claim. The tribunal is looking into the ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Politicians across the political spectrum are implicated in the New Zealand media’s failing health. Either through neglect or incompetent interventions, successive governments have failed to regulate, foster, and allow a healthy Fourth Estate that can adequately hold politicians and the powerful to account. ...
Citizen Science writes – Last week saw two significant developments in the debate over the treatment of trans-identifying children and young people – the release in Britain of the final report of Dr Hilary Cass’s review into gender healthcare, and here in New Zealand, the news that the ...
One night while sleeping in my bed I had a beautiful dreamThat all the people of the world got together on the same wavelengthAnd began helping one anotherNow in this dream, universal love was the theme of the dayPeace and understanding and it happened this wayAfter such an eventful day ...
This is a guest post by Oscar Simms who is a housing activist, volunteer for the Coalition for More Homes, and was the Labour Party candidate for Auckland Central at the last election. ...
Turning what Labour called the “holiday highway” into a four-lane expressway from Auckland to Whangarei could bring at least an economic benefit of nearly two billion a year for Northland each year. And it could help bring an end to poverty in one of New Zealand’s most deprived regions. The ...
Tonight’s six-stack includes: launching his substack with a bunch of his previous documentaries, including this 1992 interview with Dame Whina Cooper. and here crew give climate activists plenty to do, including this call to submit against the Fast Track Approvals bill. writes brilliantly here on his substack ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
You're in the mall when you hear it: some kind of popping sound in the distance, kids with fireworks, maybe. But then a moment of eerie stillness is followed by more of the fireworks sound and there’s also screaming and shrieking and now here come people running for their lives.Does ...
Karl du Fresne writes – There’s a crisis in the news media and the media are blaming it on everyone except themselves. Culpability is being deflected elsewhere – mainly to the hapless Minister of Communications, Melissa Lee, and the big social media platforms that are accused of hoovering ...
I don’t normally send out two newsletters in a day but I figured I’d say something about… the news. If two newsletters is a bit much then maybe just skip one, I don’t want to overload people. Alternatively if you’d be interested in sometimes receiving multiple, smaller updates from me, ...
Buzz from the Beehive David Seymour and Winston Peters today signalled that at least two ministers of the Crown might be in Wellington today. Seymour (as Associate Minister of Education) announced the removal of more red tape, this time to make it easier for new early learning services to be ...
Politicians across the political spectrum are implicated in the New Zealand media’s failing health. Either through neglect or incompetent interventions, successive governments have failed to regulate, foster, and allow a healthy Fourth Estate that can adequately hold politicians and the powerful to account. Our political system is suffering from the ...
David Farrar writes – The Broadcasting Standards Authority ruled: Comments by radio host Kate Hawkesby suggesting Māori and Pacific patients were being prioritised for surgery due to their ethnicity were misleading and discriminatory, the Broadcasting Standards Authority has found. It is a fact such patients are prioritised. ...
PRC and its proxies in Solomons have been preparing for these elections for a long time.A lot of money, effort and intelligence have gone into ensuring an outcome that won’t compromise Beijing’s plans. Cleo Paskall writes – On April 17th the Solomon Islands, a country of ...
Is speeding up the trip to and from Wellington airport by 12 minutes worth spending up more than $10 billion? Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The six news items that stood out to me in the last day to 8:26 am today are:The Lead: Transport Minister Simeon Brownannounced ...
You're a fraud, and you know itBut it's too good to throw it all awayAnyone would do the sameYou've got 'em goingAnd you're careful not to show itSometimes you even fool yourself a bitIt's like magicBut it's always been a smoke and mirrors gameAnyone would do the sameForty six billion ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections The June general election in Mexico could mark a turning point in ensuring that the country’s climate policies better reflect the desire of its citizens to address the climate crisis, with both leading presidential candidates expressing support for renewable energy. Mexico is the ...
2024, it feels, keeps presenting us with ever more challenges, ever more dismay.Do you give up yet? It seems to ask.No? How about this? Or this?How about this?When I say 2024 I really mean the state of humanity in 2024.Saturday night, we watched Civil War because that is one terrifying cliff we've ...
Buzz from the Beehive A pet project and governmental tunnel vision jump out from the latest batch of ministerial announcements. The government is keen to assure us of its concern for the wellbeing of our pets. It will be introducing pet bonds in a change to the Residential Tenancies Act ...
A recent report generated from a Growing Up in New Zealand (GUiNZ) survey of 1,224 rangatahi Māori aged 11-12 found: Cultural connectedness was associated with fewer depression symptoms, anxiety symptoms and better quality of life. That sounds cut and dry. But further into the report the following appears: Cultural connectedness is ...
David Farrar writes – The Herald reports: From the gory details of job-cuts news, you’d think the public service was being eviscerated. While the media’s view of the cuts is incomplete, it’s also true that departments have been leaking the particulars faster than a Wellington ...
Remember the good old days, back when New Zealand had a PM who could think and speak calmly and intelligently in whole sentences without blustering? Even while Iran’s drones and missiles were still being launched, Helen Clark was live on TVNZ expertly summing up the latest crisis in the Middle ...
Costello did not pass on analysis of the benefits of the smokefree reforms to Cabinet, emphasising instead the extra tax revenues of repealing them. Photo: Hagen Hopkins, Getty Images TL;DR: The six news items that stood out to me at 7:26 am today are:The Lead: Casey Costello never passed on ...
True loveYou're the one I'm dreaming ofYour heart fits me like a gloveAnd I'm gonna be true blueBaby, I love youI’ve written about the job cuts in our news media last week. The impact on individuals, and the loss to Aotearoa of voices covering our news from different angles.That by ...
While commentators, including former Prime Minister Helen Clark, are noting a subtle shift in New Zealand’s foreign policy, which now places more emphasis on the United States, many have missed a key element of the shift. What National said before the election is not what the government is doing now. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
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. ...
The Government’s newly announced review of methane emissions reduction targets hints at its desire to delay Aotearoa New Zealand’s urgent transition to a climate safe future, the Green Party said. ...
The Government must commit to the Maitai School building project for students with high and complex needs, to ensure disabled students from the top of the South Island have somewhere to learn. ...
Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey and his Government colleagues have made a meal of their mental health commitments, showing how flimsy their efforts to champion the issue truly are, says Labour Mental Health spokesperson Ingrid Leary. ...
Māori are yet to see anything from this Government except cuts, reversals and taking our people backwards, Māori Development spokesperson Willie Jackson said. ...
The Coalition Government’s refusal to commit to ongoing funding for social housing is seeing the sector pull back on developments and families watch their dreams of securing a home fade away, says Labour Housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty. ...
Changes to minimum wage and benefit indexation means many New Zealanders will get less this year, as the Government gives a big tax break to landlords instead. ...
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 ...
Refreshed health guidance released today will help parents and schools make informed decisions about whether their child needs to be in school, addressing one of the key issues affecting school attendance, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. In recent years, consistently across all school terms, short-term illness or medical reasons ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is streamlining high-level oceans management while maintaining a focus on supporting the sector’s role in the export-led recovery of the economy. “I am working to realise the untapped potential of our fishing and aquaculture sector. To achieve that we need to be smarter with ...
Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson is speaking at the International Wool Textile Organisation Congress in Adelaide, promoting New Zealand wool, and outlining the coalition Government’s support for the revitalisation the sector. "New Zealand’s wool exports reached $400 million in the year to 30 June 2023, and the coalition Government ...
The Government is making legislative changes to make it easier for new early learning services to be established, and for existing services to operate, Associate Education Minister David Seymour says. The changes involve repealing the network approval provisions that apply when someone wants to establish a new early learning service, ...
Changes to the Resource Management Act will align consenting for coal mining to other forms of mining to reduce barriers that are holding back economic development, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The inconsistent treatment of coal mining compared with other extractive activities is burdensome red tape that fails to acknowledge ...
Trade, Agriculture and Forestry Minister Todd McClay has concluded productive discussions with ministerial counterparts in Beijing today, in support of the New Zealand-China trade and economic relationship. “My meeting with Commerce Minister Wang Wentao reaffirmed the complementary nature of the bilateral trade relationship, with our Free Trade Agreement at its ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon today paid tribute to Singapore’s outgoing Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. Meeting in Singapore today immediately before Prime Minister Lee announced he was stepping down, Prime Minister Luxon warmly acknowledged his counterpart’s almost twenty years as leader, and the enduring legacy he has left for Singapore and South East ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. While in Singapore as part of his visit to South East Asia this week, Prime Minister Luxon also met with Singapore President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and will meet with Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has made further appointments to the Board of Antarctica New Zealand as part of a continued effort to ensure the Scott Base Redevelopment project is delivered in a cost-effective and efficient manner. The Minister has appointed Neville Harris as a new member of the Board. Mr ...
Finance Minister Nicola Willis will travel to the United States on Tuesday to attend a meeting of the Five Finance Ministers group, with counterparts from Australia, the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. “I am looking forward to meeting with our Five Finance partners on how we can work ...
The coalition Government has today announced purrfect and pawsitive changes to the Residential Tenancies Act to give tenants with pets greater choice when looking for a rental property, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Pets are important members of many Kiwi families. It’s estimated that around 64 per cent of New ...
State Highway 1 (SH1) through Wellington City is heavily congested at peak times and while planning continues on the duplicate Mt Victoria Tunnel and Basin Reserve project, the Government has also asked NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) to consider and provide advice on a Long Tunnel option, Transport Minister Simeon Brown ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Foreign Minister Winston Peters have condemned Iran’s shocking and illegal strikes against Israel. “These attacks are a major challenge to peace and stability in a region already under enormous pressure," Mr Luxon says. "We are deeply concerned that miscalculation on any side could ...
Hundreds of people in little over a week have turned out in Northland to hear Regional Development Minister Shane Jones speak about plans for boosting the regional economy through infrastructure. About 200 people from the infrastructure and associated sectors attended an event headlined by Mr Jones in Whangarei today. Last ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti has today thanked outgoing Health New Zealand – Te Whatu Ora Chair Dame Karen Poutasi for her service on the Board. “Dame Karen tendered her resignation as Chair and as a member of the Board today,” says Dr Reti. “I have asked her to ...
The NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has signalled their proposed delivery approach for the Government’s 15 Roads of National Significance (RoNS), with the release of the State Highway Investment Proposal (SHIP) today, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Boosting economic growth and productivity is a key part of the Government’s plan to ...
New Zealand is renewing its connections with a world facing urgent challenges by pursuing an active, energetic foreign policy, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “Our country faces the most unstable global environment in decades,” Mr Peters says at the conclusion of two weeks of engagements in Egypt, Europe and the United States. “We cannot afford to sit back in splendid ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has announced the Australian Governor-General, His Excellency General The Honourable David Hurley and his wife Her Excellency Mrs Linda Hurley, will make a State visit to New Zealand from Tuesday 16 April to Thursday 18 April. The visit reciprocates the State visit of former Governor-General Dame Patsy Reddy ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced that Medsafe has approved 11 cold and flu medicines containing pseudoephedrine. Pharmaceutical suppliers have indicated they may be able to supply the first products in June. “This is much earlier than the original expectation of medicines being available by 2025. The Government recognised ...
New Zealand and the United States have recommitted to their strategic partnership in Washington DC today, pledging to work ever more closely together in support of shared values and interests, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The strategic environment that New Zealand and the United States face is considerably more ...
April 11, 2024 Joint Declaration by United States Secretary of State the Honorable Antony J. Blinken and New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs the Right Honourable Winston Peters We met today in Washington, D.C. to recommit to the historic partnership between our two countries and the principles that underpin it—rule ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced further New Zealand cooperation with the United States in the Pacific Islands region through $16.4 million in funding for initiatives in digital connectivity and oceans and fisheries research. “New Zealand can achieve more in the Pacific if we work together more urgently and ...
Kia Ora Gaza A passionate haka reverberated through Auckland International Airport as a medical team of three New Zealand doctors received an emotional farewell from a big crowd of supporters before flying to Turkey to join the international Freedom Flotilla to Gaza. The doctors, who left Auckland yesterday, hope to ...
With submissions closing today, Macassey-Pickard says groups around the country have been supporting a huge range of people to make their submissions. ...
Our response to the new legislation is informed by targeted conversations with practitioners working in the system and through an implementation lens. ...
The new ‘Fast-track Approvals Bill’ would give just three Ministers the power to approve or deny development projects. They would avoid the usual checks and balances that are in place to protect rivers, land, the ocean, and communities. ...
COMMENTARY:By Eugene Doyle Helen Clark, how I miss you. The former New Zealand Prime Minister — the safest pair of hands this country has had in living memory — gave a masterclass on the importance of maintaining an independent foreign policy when she spoke at an AUKUS symposium held ...
The government's released the list of organisations provided with information on how to apply - just hours before public submissions on the bill close. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Milton Speer, Visiting Fellow, School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, University of Technology Sydney Before climate change really got going, eastern Australia’s flash floods tended to concentrate on our coastal regions, east of the Great Dividing Range. But that’s changing. Now ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elizabeth Finkel, Vice-Chancellor’s Fellow, La Trobe University Sia Duff / South Australian Museum In February, the South Australian Museum “re-imagined” itself. In the face of rising costs and inadequate government funds, CEO David Gaimster, who took the reins last June, declared ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alan Pearce, Professor, School of Allied Heath, Human Services & Sport, La Trobe University, La Trobe University This week, Collingwood AFL player Nathan Murphy announced his retirement, brought on by his concussion history and ongoing issues. The 24-year-old’s seemingly sudden retirement, ...
The Mental Health Foundation provides support and resources for those facing the loss of their job, so it’s wrong in the very week the Government adds another 1000 jobs to its tally of cuts, that this is happening. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexander Howard, Senior Lecturer, Discipline of English and Writing, University of Sydney Daniel Boud/Sydney Theatre Company Decay, terror, revulsion. These are three of the central themes of Thomas Bernhard’s rarely performed play The President. The Austrian is one of the greatest ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ye In (Jane) Hwang, Postdoctoral Research Associate at School of Population Health, UNSW Sydney Shutterstock You’d be hard pressed to find any aspect of daily life that doesn’t require some form of digital literacy. We need only to look back ten ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says threats by ministers Shane Jones and David Seymour to reform or close down the Waitangi Tribunal were “ill-considered”, as legal experts say the ministers may have breached Cabinet Manual conventions. “I think those comments are ill-considered and we expect all ministers to actually exercise good ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rob Newton, Professor of Exercise Medicine, Edith Cowan University Pexels/RDNE stock project You’re not in your 20s or 30s anymore and you know regular health checks are important. So you go to your GP. During the appointment they measure your waist. ...
A new poem by Evangeline Riddiford Graham. Mitochondrial Problem I. It was long drive to Kansas for the man and his dog but you have to understand he said She doesn’t fly. Which calls to mind not carsick shitting barking or whining but a dog who chooses not to as ...
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)Hot off the press, this debut ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laura Wajnryb McDonald, PhD candidate in Criminology, University of Sydney Less than 24 hours after Ashlee Good was murdered in Bondi Junction, her family released a statement requesting the media take down photographs they had reproduced of Ashlee and her family without ...
Chief executive Shaun Robinson said it has not had any government funding cut, but government-funded contracts have not kept pace with rising costs. ...
The Ministry of Health has delayed the release of its evidence brief on the safety, reversibility and mental health and wellbeing outcomes for puberty blockers. While we wait, Julia de Bres speaks to those with firsthand experience. Best practice gender-affirming healthcare is based on trans people’s self-determination and agency. The ...
Barcelona’s city streets have gone from traffic-clogged to pedestrian-friendly. How? Superblocks. Ellen Rykers explains. This is an excerpt from our weekly environmental newsletter Future Proof. Sign up here. Last week I read a great interview with renowned urbanist Janette Sadik-Khan by The Spinoff’s Wellington editor Joel MacManus: “You can reimagine streets, ...
Student groups ‘Climate Action VUW’, Schools Strike 4 Climate and VUWSA will be on the street in Wellington today, the last day for submissions on the Fast-track Approvals Bill, with a message that the fight against the Government’s ‘War on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sofia Ammassari, Research Fellow, Griffith University Since 2014, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s popularity has grown exponentially – and so has the formidable organisational machine of his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). These two factors will be key to delivering the BJP a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brendon Hyndman, Associate Professor of Education (Adjunct) & Senior Manager (BCE), Charles Sturt University During COVID almost all Australian students and their families experienced online learning. But while schools have long since gone back to in-person teaching, online learning has not gone ...
Yes, they’re better for the environment. No, that’s not a good enough reason for me to use them. Once every 26 days or so, my period arrives, and if struck by an act of God, I am caught red-crotched without products. How, after 17 years of this, do I still ...
“It will cause significant harm to our environment and communities. It is completely at odds with New Zealanders’ relationship with nature and our need for a low-carbon, sustainable economic future." ...
The Chair of the National Maori Authority, Matthew Tukaki, has warned a Parliamentary Select Committee that fast-tracking legislation is a perilous practice that undermines the core tenets of democracy, transparency, and accountability. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tim Tenbensel, Associate Professor, Health Policy, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau Getty Images Since coming into power, the coalition government has adopted a simple but shrewd see-how-fast-we-can-move political strategy. However, in the health sector this need for speed entails ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anastasia Hronis, Clinical Psychologist, University of Technology Sydney Darya Sannikova/Pexels Whether you’re watching TV, attending a footy game, or eating a meal at your local pub, gambling is hard to escape. Although the rise of gambling is not unique to Australia, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Wong, Forrest Fellow, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Western Australia Have you ever wondered if there are more insects out at night than during the day? We set out to answer this question by combing through the scientific ...
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I'd far rather stare at an empty podium than at Jessica Mutch when awaiting these press conferences.
15k tests yesterday
Up from roughly a couple thousand a day before this outbreak. Nice scale-up.
So many tests, so few positives, and none outside the known cluster 🙂
A very nice positive comment Incognito the sort of thing we all need at the moment instead of all the whinging and negativity by the right.
that was impressive.
The Prime Minister's presentation of the new situation was elegant and sound. She's impressive in the face of challenge.
Yeah it was impressive as always Robert. I liked her focus on sealing the perimeter of the cluster rather than chasing down the rabbit hole after patient zero so Auckland can begin to move down alert levels
And has a skill I never learned: hearing stupid questions and giving tolerant and reasonable answers.
That question about whether it's still a team of five million would have had me telling the questioner to fuck off just as a matter of reflex, and she explained it consistently with the original analogy, and then told people outside Auckland how they could help those within Auckland. Quite spectacular.
Absolutely agree. Coming in late on repeat TV news channels 6 and 8, I happened to see that response to what I think was meant to be a hostile question. Quick, natural smile, perfect reply with candour and natural confidence.
Jacinda is, I think, the most talented, connecting communicator we have had as PM since Rob Muldoon at his peak. He was of the opposite nature – domineering, calculating, but still beguiling his 'mob'.
Lange was wittiest; Winston at his best was close to Muldoon, but less focused; I hoped for a lot from Palmer, but in dropping his legal, academic air he turned into the most boring speaker ever. Kirk was excellent, but too brief in existence.
I never liked PMs like Key and English who managed to mangle the English language while either charming or plodding…
I have waited to see how Jacinda would rate. I now believe that we are lucky to have one of the very best PMs we have had, in that she combines excellent communication skills with a good, kind character.
Regardless of how much social change she has been able to achieve to date, she is the leader that we on the Left cannot do without.
Some learn this during parenthood, some during a career in education, some never do. Don’t worry, ‘soft skills’ are not for the faint-hearted.
yeah – besides the choice of Winston and a myriad other instances of good luck, having a PM who has a toddler and therefore up to date with the communication skills to deal with journolists and tories 🙂
she suffers fools and foolish questions quite gladly doesn't she, or with skill and aplomb anyway.
Apart from the dick who wrote to Collins asking her to resist the lockdown measures the National Party in general has been very quiet today. Maybe they think they are about to catch a break at last?
They may be ruminating on Mr Bridge's resignation.
If there was a skerrick of self awareness amongst 'em, today was the day to keep it zipped.
Again I feel The Greens were prescient with giving The Nats their share of questions. The more they open their mouths the more they show how unfit they are to govern. climate
"
"Crude, but effective.
The same, sadly, applies to “Merv’s” intervention in National’s 2020 Auckland Central candidate selection. Newshub has alleged that this pseudonymous caller of late-night talkback shows is in fact a regional representative of the National Party with a bee in his bonnet about Nuwi Samarakone, the Sri Lankan-born party activist apparently favoured by the party hierarchy. “Merv’s” contribution followed the circulation, by a person, or persons, unknown, of a photograph of Ms Samarakone (a former ballet dancer) posing for the camera in leotards. Astonishingly, that was all it took to make sure that, at least as far as its three leading contenders are concerned, the Auckland Central contest will be an all-white affair. Childish brutality indeed!"
Ibid (again, Chris Trotter) – perfectly skewered.
Again, Chris Trotter pins it:
"It is very difficult to interpret Mr Te Kahika’s activity as anything other than an attempt to impede, undermine and in every way frustrate the Government’s attempt to respond adequately to a proven resurgence of community transmission of Covid-19 in the city of Auckland and, quite possibly, across the rest of New Zealand."
&
" If Holmes’s important stipulation that “the character of every act depends upon the circumstances in which it is done”, then Mr Te Kahika’s actions can only be described as extremely reckless and irresponsible."
Well worth reading, imo.
http://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/2020/08/is-billy-tk-shouting-fire-in-crowded.html
James Dann's question is pretty funny…
"Gerry Brownlee was a woodwork teacher the leaky building crisis was caused by bad carpentry I’m just asking questions"
😆
He was my woodwork teacher. Nothings changed, he's still a bully and not very popular with his peers. A family friend knew him too, that's how I know combined with the attitude of the other teachers towards him when he wasn't around. Something that surprised me as a 13yo boy and stuck with me. It wasn't very often teachers openly dissed one of their own in front of students. Just saying..
Doing the math from his wiki page, twelve years of teaching before parliament in 1996 would put him in the tail-end of the days when teachers would lob chalk, dusters, and off-cuts at students.
Could be entertaining if they were gentle lobs and the teachers were original about it, but bloody terrifying if the teacher was a bully.
and maybe the media should ask their own questions of Mr Brownlee
One of the more stupid journos just asked her if we are still a team of 5 million if there are different alert levels around the country. Ardern’s response will be come a classic, “Yes, because not everyone in the team is on the field at the same time.”
"What was the tone of the Prime Minister's announcement"? asked TVOne.
A very feminine question, I thought; and I rejoiced!
12 more days, two weeks total. Could have been worse.
Child 1 is upset – doesn't like remote learning (I agree, digital learning is a poor facsimile of the real thing).
Child 2 is fine – voracious appetite for schoolwork no matter the circumstance.
I was all over the place the last few days but JA brought us all around yet again.
Well, it's looking like we've nailed it again.
The electoral clincher being of course, beating Aussie again .
Reckon not many on the team think Jacinda didn't earn her place.
How long you reckon before some Aussie journos come up with blistering attack-lines on Ardern and NZ Govt. Y'know… can't cope with NZ being better 'n them at handling just about everything.
As a number of folk who thought they were clever have discovered, there aren't too many chinks in Jacinda's armour. I think the irredeemably negative will mostly look at the fate of Alan Jones and decide "Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent."
They may rage against the Victorian government in frustration however.
I suppose too, having won two tests, we don’t need a third game eh.
This from Oz put up by Muttonbird at OM 31.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12356678
Covid 19 coronavirus: Australian health chief says New Zealand's strategy 'very dangerous'
Don't come the raw prawn with us mate (redundant popslang from the 60s.)
Damn – I consistently overestimate the intelligence of Aussies – the ones I know are as sharp as. Mind, half of them used to be kiwis.
This 12 days will suck all political oxygen towards Ardern's leadership fire.
Labour will come out of it over 55%.
Economy and health will be the top issue as voters enter the polling booth.
when do you think the election will be?
September 19.
4 weeks after level 2 probably is fair.
Although there is nothing to stop the other parties hitting the campaign trail everywhere other than Auckland.
Shit can act and national even get 100 people to a meeting!!!
They should merge and merve them into combined Oppo meetings; on current polling they may soon be equal in numbers.
October 17.
Allows time for Auckland to return to level 2, barring more bad news (possible at any time, this year, next year, whenever).
Politically smart not to give National a loser's excuse.
October 10.
One week to build up again and two weeks lost in Levels 2 & 3.
Warning: my predictions are more often wrong than right. 🙁
The PM mentioned that the Electoral Commission had been doing work on an election @ Level 2.
October 3.
Moved two weeks because of the two weeks at Level 3 in Auckland.
September 19.
Today Jacinda referred to “the philosophy of New Zealanders”…
Go Early. Go Hard.
Somebody really ought to ask Judith Codger to say something stoopid, I mean add her constructive comments.
The business-commentariat is trying really hard to make her look like less of a sociopath by saying the quiet bits loud. The idea that we should let people die in a bullshit effort to maintain GDP is stupid even if it were real (not according to the examples of the rest of the world, as JA said this afternoon).
Is Hooton back on the payroll then?
Lol
Hootons virus has been far more damaging and infectious to National than carona virus.
Too soon to call but very encouraging. The A-Team. Why would anyone with half a brain consider change?
Old Merv, eh? In normal times this incident would have completely destroyed the National Party structure and Goodfellow in particular. How many lives has that guy had?
But here we are in post-pandemic times, and in a mega-cluster of National Party screw-ups, and it is nothing but a footnote.
If the National Party wants to move forward and provide this country with a decent opposition for the next decade they need to sack Peter Goodfellow right now. The poison is at the top.
edit
This is not what I think is good leadership from our public education institutions.
A Southland polytechnic department head allegedly shared conspiracy theories about Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and US billionaire Bill Gates to a class of students.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/education/300078747/tutor-alleged-to-have-shared-conspiracy-theories-with-polytech-class
An outline of the course noted requirements included displaying '’self-awareness, reflective practice and personal leadership in a health and wellbeing setting'’.
[Merle] Petersen, when asked if she believed those statements to be factually correct, provided a written statement saying all facts were open to interpretation. She was also approached in person by a Stuff reporter, but referred comment through SIT.
When asked if she thought it appropriate to repeat conspiracy theories at an academic institution, her statement said students were encouraged to do their own research into topics…
The paper about which the discussions took place focused on economic and social policy, she said.
This required students to examine how economic theory and social policy in New Zealand had contributed to oppression and marginalisation of particular groups.
‘’The discipline we teach, and into which students are enrolled, has an expectation that we educate the students to become aware of the socio-political contexts in which we work.
This is serious and I think this person should be sacked, and the Southern Institute of Technology should be closely checked to see how far this lazy system of tutor employment should be going. Students are very impressionable when at these colleges, and indeed are very influenced at any age when they are fully engaged in study and learning. The last thing they need to learn is that nothing they are told is really reliable. They can mislearn about life and the universe at home. When they go somewhere official they should be able to expect more than today's reckons from a teacher with a balanced viewpoint, male or female.
She is the Services Program Manager at Southern Institute of Technology, SIT.
She is part of the Aotearoa New Zealand Association of Social Workers (ANZASW) Te Ropu Tauwhiro i Aotearoa
Sounds like a South African import.
There's a few SA/Zim expat imports here who are virulently against any kind of socially conscious government in their adoptive home.
Berend de Boer, the gun nut, is another one.
On facebook – https://www.facebook.com/merle.petersen.7
Merle Grimwood-Petterson? Invercargill, NZ works at SIT
Amazing how many there are by Petersen name in the world – quite a few in South Africa. Her Facebook page is full of inspirational quotes with flowers etc.
"Sounds like a South African import."
You're letting prejudice get in the way of the evidence.
One problem for liberal/lefties that many of us have to face up to is that the conspiracy crazies draw a lot of support from Maori/Pasifika minorities, in the same way that Brian Tamaki does. God moves in mysterious ways.
You can take the white person out of South Africa, but you can't take South Africa out of the white person.
Seriously? We got here based solely on "Merle Petersen "?
I think he's a Dutchie.
Same thing.
Bit sweeping that Muttonbird I think. Same root perhaps.
The apple never falls far from the tree.
Penny Simmonds.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/121555775/education-boss-penny-simmonds-to-run-for-invercargill-seat
From link:
…SIT, when earlier approached for comment, replied with a statement saying it was not aware of the accusations, nor had the tertiary institutions ever received any previous complaints about Petersen’s political views.
'’SIT is a politically neutral institution,'' the statement said….
I feel that this is not an 'open-minded' neutral learning institution if encouraging this sort of discourse to happen.
…It is alleged Petersen then said Gates, who had plans to depopulate the world, held a secret meeting with Ardern.
When asked by a member of the class if Gates had to quarantine, she responded with an eye roll. ‘'She was deadly serious,’' the attendee said.
Petersen allegedly referred to Ardern as “dangerous”, telling the class people needed to “keep an eye on her”.
The person who attended the class was concerned Petersen’s views could have a negative impact on the students, many of whom wanted to be social workers.
Oranga Tamariki candidates?
And just to compare teaching styles. This NZ fear-laden, darkly intoned conspiracy theory approach and the Finnish one that appears to produce open keen wide-thinking students.
From Where to Invade Next with Michael Moore.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHHFGo161Os
Brownlee!
"National’s deputy leader Gerry Brownlee has backtracked over his questioning of the Government’s handling of coronavirus information, saying it was not his intention to play into the hands of conspiracy theorists."
Yeah/nah, Gerry.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/122453434/gerry-brownlee-admits-getting-into-a-bad-spot-over-covid-conspiracy-theories
"Speaking to Newstalk ZB’s Canterbury Mornings on Friday, Brownlee admitted he had got himself into a “bad spot” and that he “certainly didn’t intend to create any fear”.
“The way it has been presented has been unfortunate, I’ve certainly not enjoyed it,” he said."
Pfffffffft!!!!
So the polling came back and they were headed for single figures with that approach….
Nah, an emotional junior staffer told him to pull his head in.
David Skilling – "But this is an opportunity to invest in skills upgrading, capital and technology investment, to move to a higher productivity, higher wage economy."
I believe Labour the best to deliver this. National too interested in the short term, Greens would argue it means unsustainable growth, ACT would be opposed because skills upgrading conflicts with individual choice (big government offers me the way to improve my skill level but as an individual I am free to do what I like and I don't like the government telling me what to do).
https://www.firstnzcapital.co.nz/rest/document/public/encrypted?hash=a5LZhJCykwcmuH1pLIrUgvuGNDRHeWnPoirqqcdJfxnKf89nU02b7PozFdXP30mdl8GA1Bt8Aw0%3D
Today's forgotten fact:
The lead-up to the 2011 election was dominated by NZ hosting the Rugby World Cup. All over the news, all day, every day. There were 34 days between the final (won by John Key, with help from some All Blacks) and the election.
There are 35 days between now and the (provisional) election date, September 19.
I wonder what possessed Hilary Barry to take such a shrewish tone with the Prime Minister this evening? Jacinda looked upset by her tone and what sort of a silly question is asking her what she has got to say to the business people of Auckland as though she is a naughty child?
I also object to them having that Gorman fellow on giving Covid updates. He has, I think, a political agenda, to bag the Coalition government.
I'd much soon they had David Skeggs or Baker – much more objective.
I think he has too – I listen and wait for the weasel words
I saw that too Jan M and wondered the same thing. Either Barry has a bee in her bonnet about the Level 3 extension or she was trying to do the serious political interviewer thing and it didn't come off… or she’s a Nat supporter and let down her cover.
Whatever, Jacinda looked exhausted so hope she 's allowed to take it easy this week-end. She deserves a short break.
Hooton claims that the next government will let the virus in.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=12356349
What he really means is
1. that National is captured by those blinded by greed (a bit stoopid) and they arrogantly presume they can force Labour into opening borders recklessly (like a hooker touting for more custom by not requiring condom use) – constant bleating in the media (as per winter of discontent 2000).
2. Oz opposes us having elimination and Level 1 (it makes them look second-rate) because they can only bubble with us at level 2 (where we get tourists if we allow their infection rate).
Evidence what Kelly said today in Oz, that having level 1 was too risky (you only get there by elimination and they do not have a policy of elimination).
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12356678 3.
the right wing political world is embarrassed by comparative failure – their constant refrain is the economic cost of effective pandemic response, so they hate our example (low debt enabling the goal of elimination and the reward of level 1 recovery which is out of their reach sans vaccine).
Evidence Irish Times
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2020/08/irish-newspaper-slams-new-zealand-s-alert-level-change.html
They have no choice but to accept community spread, the old TINA, thus their fear of our models existence. Nice how they claim they will save business men from suicide by allowing the deaths of less important old, poor and sick people.
David Seymour is saying what National really believes.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2020/08/act-leader-david-seymour-wants-new-zealand-to-accept-new-reality-that-covid-19-is-here-to-stay.html
I believe Covid-19 will become endemic, globally, which means that we (NZ) need to have a plan for the future. I disagree that now is the time to have that conversation. After the Election, the Government should lead or initiate an inclusive debate about the way forward for NZ, preferably with much input from the public as well as from various experts, not just health experts and business people – we’re in this together.
Beliefs mean nothing. And your Hootonesque apologetic ones especially. Decisions need to be based on evidence.
Even beginning that discussion before stage 3 vaccine trials conclude is premature.
There are those on the right who would not wait behind our border even 6 months of 2021 for a vaccine. And on the right is where they belong.
Fair enough 🙂
Covid-19 is here to stay and won’t be eliminated or eradicated and will be endemic unless there is a highly effective vaccine for it. However, given what we know about coronaviruses, it is unlikely that even with a vaccine it will be eradicated.
The various scenarios should be discussed sooner rather than later and to pin all our hopes on an effective and safe vaccine becoming available in the very near future is fanciful; talking of evidence. So, we wait and do nothing, say nothing, and most certainly do discuss nothing? Avoid at all cost because even talking about it might put lives at risk? Because that would be the domain of RWNJs? I hope you don’t truly believe that because it is insulting to anyone’s intelligence.
Just as well that I didn’t even suggest anything of the kind. You’re achieving nothing by turning this into a hyper-polarised debate or by politicising it as a Left-Right issue. As I said, we’re in this together and simplistic binaries are of no help with complex issues, they are counter-productive.
I love your attempt at Monty Python humour 😀
Your wilful avoidance and attempt to shut down debate before it has even started does not sit well with me 🙁
Ever answered these questions
1. were people vaccinated for the plague, and if not where did it go?
2. were people vaccinated for Spanish flu and if not where did it go?
PS I cannot see how any discussion about a plan for the future, based on a belief that SARS COV2 will always be with us, can occur in the absence of consensus about that.
And how do you propose do we reach a consensus about that? Given that there are no plans to eradicate the virus on a global scale and with over 21 million cases in total and rising by hundreds of thousands daily. And if we don’t have or reach consensus, what do we then? When or what does trigger any discussion about a plan for the future? What do we do in the meantime? Are we allowed to talk about it before then and should we? If not, why not? Why are you so resistant (antagonistic) towards this?
Because having a plan is really about opening up borders – allowing greater risk of and toleration for community spread.
And that involves greater risk to the poor, ethnic minorities, those with health conditions and the aged.
And it does not deliver better results than elimination and operating at Level 1.
It’s also based around protecting the capitalist base to the global economy that leads to indebted and under reourced government, rather than questioning its assumptions (why is printed QE money called a debt future generations owe – that just means they get underfunded health and education and welfare systems).
Not necessarily. Anyway, some sectors of our society, including health and education, are not doing well because of the lockdowns. I wouldn’t want to be an NCEA student this year or a cancer patient waiting to be seen or treated by a specialist. Mental health is also taking a battering, it seems although numbers are hard to come by.
I disagree. A plan could include different versions of MIQ. It wouldn’t necessarily mean what you think it means. But if you start from an extreme PoV, I can see why you wouldn’t be keen to even contemplate other options and just want to stick with BAU and shut down any discussion about a ‘plan’ as RW conspiracy.
The answers to 1 and 2 are "millions of infections and dead, and social isolation efforts, created a herd immunity and slowed the spread enough to lower the reproductive rate below 1".
The goal is to avoid the millions of dead, no? So we either wait for a vaccine, or until it blows over. And if that takes a couple of years, well at least we're not digging mass graves.
herd immunity worked with Spanish Flu because enough people got it and died? i.e. if smaller numbers of people had it, it wouldn't have gone away? And if smaller numbers of people had died it wouldn't have gone away?
Sorry, was unclear. The survivors were immune. The others died.
Bubonic plague has a different vector for infection, but many of the basic techniques of prevention are still relevant – ISTR someone mentioning at TS ships with plague victims being let in at the behest of the business community that wanted the trade.
so the Spanish Flu herd immunity was established by widespread infection, deaths of many leading to a smaller population, who had been infected but survived? Eliminated because this sequence led to an R value of less than 1?
In Europe there were areas – towns and villages that never developed herd immunity because they never had any cases. Quarantines worked then too.
There have been flu outbreaks in the 20th C that barely affected some areas of the world – these never developed herd immunity either.
Consider the case of Samoa, would people have died of the Spanish h flu if that ship had not arrived?
If the world develps herd immunity within 2 years again this time, those areas with effective quarantines for that period have few if any deaths.
Many viruses figure out a balance to stay in the human body permanently, establishing a balancing act between not killing the host but not being eliminated by the immune response. Herpes, for example. But by their nature they have to be pretty mild – killing few of their hosts.
Covid and Spanish flu aren't like that. From the virus' point of view, they have a ticking clock to spread to someone else before the virus kills the host or their host kills them (i.e. the patient gets better).
People who die quickly have less time to spread the virus, so there's an evolutionary bias towards becoming less lethal (more time to spread = more infections of that version).
There's also the problem that if you, as a virus, find your siblings and ancestors have already infected most of the people you meet and they got better, then you probably can't pass your descendents on to those people.
If every contact with a vulnerable person gives you a 30% chance of infecting them, coming into contact with four people gives you a decent chance of spreading yourself about if nobody has caught it before.
If 3 of those 4 caught it before, you've only got a 30% chance of spreading it. Repeat that twice, and your strain probably becomes an evolutionary dead end.
Yes.
The Bubonic Plague (Spanish flu) was a bacterial infection so incomparable to aligning to as yet unknown final behaviours of SARS- CoV- 2, a virus.
The Spanish flu was an H1N1 influenza -A strain virus which became a pandemic. What happened in the time of this pandemic 1918 to 1920 was that people either developed immunity or died. The Spanish flu virus H1N1 had since been reconstructed for scientific study then these samples destroyed after experimentation.
So the Spanish flu potentially did not go away nor was herd immunity established as fact.
H1N1 influenza-A virus strain subtype appeared again as the Swine flu in 2009.
Influenza A viruses are the only influenza viruses known to cause flu global epidemics of flu disease.
SARS- CoV-2 is NOT an influenza virus. The SAR acronym being of the type drscribed as
severe acute respiratory syndrome.
SARS-CoV(1) emerged in 2002.
Combating SARS- CoV-2 is an unknown still. Ideally, having a plan economic or otherwise to carry on with life should be the goal now.
To date only 2 infectious viruses are known to have been potentially eradicated, smallpox and rinderpest.
https://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/qa/1918flupandemic.htmh
ttps://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/viruses/types.htmhttps://w
ww.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3099(20)30484-9/fulltext
Correction to paragraph 1,
Spanish flu was a virus that had bacterial pneumonia evolve as the cause of deaths.
https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn14458-bacteria-were-the-real-killers-in-1918-flu-pandemic/
That does not explain why so many young people died rather than older people – the immune system of healthy adults was triggered – “cytokine storm.
Hear of Samoa in relation to Sapanish flu – but for one ship visit they might have had no deaths at all?
It is possible to bubble and avoid deaths.
During the plague there were villages and towns that had no deaths – they used quarantine and then the plague was gone.
As for a plan – both parties have investment programmes to create domestic economy jobs (one focused on more and more roads, one more diverse based on investment in community well being).
Despite no eradication of Spanish flu, it no longer exists. Despite no eradication of plague has anyone in our country ever been infected treated for it?
The government MUST lead the debate, and should have started a long time ago.
We had three month during which the government should have led the debate on what to do if he virus re-emerges, how to handle future lock downs, what protections the public can expect etc etc etc.
Without that open approach from government the void will be filled by conspiracy theories.
As for the 'we're' all in this together? Now some are really knee deep in the shit, others are happy and able to work from home / or receive their income from investments and thus feel still in control of things. The rest of us however is not in that position. We are the expandable err 'hero' essential worker who is asked to rehire the staff we let go for a bit of cash via the flexi scheme or hey , here a few dollars , why won't you start a business. No we are not all in this together.
That's not the sort of planning Incognito is suggesting – his is about moving on from the keep it out bubble approach.
[Either you have a reading comprehension and cognitive problem, which is why you misunderstood me, or you are simply unwilling to understand what I was saying. Either way, you have misinterpreted my words, knowingly or unwittingly. You were making up shit and put words/meanings into my mouth. Point out where I suggested “moving on from the keep it out bubble approach” or retract and apologise – Incognito]
See my Moderation note @ 9:18 AM.
If you are not in favour of moving on from our keep it out bubble approach, sure I retract and apologise.
My impression, that this was your position was based on your wanting government to set a future direction based on a changed world environment and assumption this meant a change from current keep it out and eliminate policy.
Thank you for your conditional retraction 😉
I’d also like to take the opportunity to thank you for your many positive and high quality comments on this site – from one volunteer to another, so to speak.
For the record, I’m supportive of the current approach at present. However, the current approach has no in-built mechanism for the future – it is kind of a one-trick pony. I think it is important that we plan for the future, especially when a vaccine takes a long (?) time or never arrives. If not plan for anything (different), at least discuss the various options with their associated risks and advantages. Talking doesn’t commit anybody to anything AFAIK.
Chris Hipkins was saying today that TINA. That might be so, but it is not very inviting to constructive criticism. I find that a little ‘problematic’.
The Plan B group are holding their Policy Symposium tomorrow. I have criticised them in the past for being pseudo-scientific and their PR has been shit. They have become somewhat of an ‘anti-establishment’ group and that has killed the debate before it got off the ground. It think this is in some ways regrettable, as it is good a good thing when the powers that be are challenged – to keep an open mind is the key to making improvements, when/where possible, and progress in general.
As you can see, I have a nuanced view of this complex issue but I repeat, I’m not advocating or favouring anything at present.
The Government has either been too busy with dealing with the pandemic or governing in general but is has shied away from this difficult conversation. This has created a vacuum that is now being filled by the Oppos, fringe parties, and conspiracy theorists, which all have an agenda and something to gain by media attention. Conspiracy theories are shooting up like hallucinatory mushrooms for those scared souls who search for solace. The narrative is framed and controlled by those people. For this reason alone, the Government should wrestle back the initiative and lead, but they’re not going to at this side of the Election.
That show is almost unwatchable in itself, so shallow, and that's the second time Gorman has been on this week insisting we can't carry on like this and there needs to be a Grand Coalition to make the all decisions in the future. It looked like a total hit job on the Govt. He definitely has an agenda and Barry looked like she is in on it.
Gorman was on RNZ Friday morning with the same line – parroting Collins. National involved in decision-making before a delayed election. Black swan event coup opportunity mentality.
I don't mind hearing his criticisms, but his solution is unworkable nonsense. Even at the best of times (i.e. not these) a Lab-Nat coalition could not last 5 minutes. And whoever is in government, there has to be an opposition filling the vacuum.
I'm obviously biased, but the best health strategy is to get the election over, have a functioning government and give them the job for 3 years. Putting that off doesn't solve anything.
A grand coalition is a ridiculous idea at this time. Unless the election has to be delayed for a year or two. Anyone suggesting it is to be mocked and derided. We have a govt with a workable majority until November and then from memory a supermajority is needed for just one vote and that is to delay the election (or it's on a week by week basis by an electoral official?)
Look at Germany right now, a grand coalition would see the likes of act, nzpp and all the Looney tunes parties polling around 10-20% and lab/Nat would probably have to govern together for a few elections until they either become one party like national did with it's predecessors or get replaced by new vehicles, potentially dangerous vehicles.
Grand coalitions should only ever be called for in times of war when governing parties are split and can't get a majority in their own ranks. Get this tripper off the tv
I'm not sure of Hillary's politics but she's definitely not a labour voter, she says "they labour party" with a kind of hatred in her tone and an expression that looks like she tasted something foul…. But on the other hand she defended jacinda on social media when mark Richardson asked about her potentially getting pregnant and has been really against all the conspiracy theories going round. Maybe she's apolitical and just doing her job, stranger things have happened
a grand coalition is always a bad idea, i lived through a few in Germany. Generally they can't get their act together, little gets done, and early election more often then not are called once parties break of for lack of 'confidence'.
however, that does not mean a grand coalition can not happen.
And if it will happen here its gonna be the no mates party, the hologram and one of the religious / conservative parties, my bet would be the bishops wife and maybe the new conservatives.
i can not see a labour/national coalition as the parties are too far apart and not even saving the country would bring them together to that point. We would need a different set of people in the no mates party.