I have deleted and re edited this comment many times, most version are not that complementary to our PM, government and enablers.
Try dealing with school kids losing it over exams and from my social circles and family who teach this is wider spread than a few isolated examplesDon’t tell high school students and parents to wait until Wednesday for some direction on our path. The emotional toll is mounting and I hope that any out there also utilise the help out there. I will leave it there before I embarrass someone 🤬
I was pretty unimpressed with todays speech from the podium. Being in Auckland, all I know for sure is we are still locked down at level 3.1 for the next two weeks at least. What is happening about schools? What does Auckland need to do to get out of this lockdown? No dates, no targets. Only future announcements where we might learn more.
I'll pass on your kind thoughts to those hairdressers, beauticians, shop keepers and other business people trying to keep people employed on wage subsidies and their businesses afloat after nearly 10 weeks of lock downs and no income I'm sure when they are re-mortgaging their houses they will think of your kind words "diddums".
There is a lot to consider on allowing students back to school. Those in year 11, 12 and 13 due to exams and NCEA levels.
Those in new entry to year 8 who are not eligible for vaccination are going to be exposed to a virus and take it home.
I think it will not be compulsory to send a student back to school. Levels of anxiety are going to be seen in schools and this will need to be managed. Some students may end up learning more at home.
The learning resources need to be made available to students who are being disadvantaged.
No one wants students to be deprived of receiving the best education that can be given. Or to expect teachers to be responsible for the welfare of their students when not knowing how Covid is going to impact the school community.
and yet here we are 18 month into a pandemic that is world wide, has caused havoc world wide, and we have no plan up and running in regards to anything, not even how to educate our children.
Hindsight is a wonderful things ain't it Sabine. We all knew from early 1920 that this is exactly where we would be in October 1923. So clever of us, so why didn't the government and the experts know? (sarc)
We have had 18 month of hindsight. The delta outbreak in India happened earlier this year. China welded the doors shut on apartment doors in January last year.
The US has agressively been vaccinating since Biden moved to the white house. Ditto France, Germany, Italy etc. All have seen several waves of Covid wash over their countries, and we should be able to learn from it.
At the very least we should have some plans in place for the education of our young ones. But we always seem to be one step behind.
If we dont' start having some hindsight by now, we never will, and how can we have then foresight to anticipate? Or is that something the governments risk analysts don't do?
Think you have missed my point. We as a nation of people had no more hindsight in early 2020 than the experts did so rabbiting on about a lack of hindsight by experts is a bit of an own goal.
As for plans for the future. Did you not hear the bit about:
Anyone heard anything more about packs of dogs supposedly running wild up north ?Doc spokespeople ive heard on the subject a couple of times say they,re a threat cause they might carry Rabies !.Im just supprized there havnt been more reports of dog attacks on stock although they could be living on possums i guess .
If NZ emerges from this pandemic with a per capita Covid death rate one tenth that of Aussie's, and less than one 300th that of the UK/USA, then at least some voters will cut our government a bit of slack, personal feelings of entitlement notwithstanding – I know I will.
A time of troubling division [16 Oct 2021] It does mean that when we need to come together to figure things out, we try to do so with enough respect and empathy that we give ourselves a chance of making it work.
Your sense of security and other warm fuzzies is being taken from the hides of Aucklanders suffering really fucking onerous removals of our actual rights. With our government failing to provide any kind of clarity on any substantial actions to get us out of the situation, just trying to make do with soothing meaningless noises about some kind of plan maybe sometime vaguely in the future.
Every person has the right to manifest that person's religion or belief in worship, observance, practice, or teaching, either individually or in community with others, and either in public or in private. REMOVED
Freedom of peaceful assembly
Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly. REMOVED
Freedom of association
Everyone has the right to freedom of association. REMOVED
Freedom of movement
(1)Everyone lawfully in New Zealand has the right to freedom of movement and residence in New Zealand. REMOVED
(2)Every New Zealand citizen has the right to enter New Zealand. REMOVED
I've done my responsibilities and got fully vaccinated at my first available opportunity. Have you?
At this point you shouldnt be angry at the unvaxxed as of weeks ago there should have been a vax passpot system and rapid testing up and running allowing a bunch of places like hairdressers for example to reopen. Thats a govt failure.
Govt I feel is happy for the unvaxxed to take the blame for the lack of freedoms as it deflects from the lack of a coherent strategy.
Its rapidly turning into a fucking joke… the mood was firstly relief that we wernt back to level 4 then anger… Aucklands starting to simmer…
Andre and Maurice we have had more freedoms than most all through this. Delta has been and is a different beast. Those who listen for one thing don't hear the other messages. I will be lambasted for this but really…
We are struggling to keep the r infection rate to a safe level. It could easily spiral away as happened in Melbourne and in Singapore. So yes Lock down.
Those asking for "Plans" are really saying "I don't like this plan so what else have you got?" because they don't want to wait for 90% of the eligible to get vaccinated. (remember that is really 75%)as 11 years down and some cannot be vaccinated yet.
The plan is to keep a lid on this to allow time for the young to get their first have 3 weeks get their second and have 2 more weeks.
When Delta is detected in all those suburbs of Auckland and in Hamilton, well we hunker down till our defences are in place otherwise we accept a daily death toll and high numbers of sick.
Every country has failed unless they have used draconian measures or have natural immunity in those left or vaccinated at speed after 4 or 5 waves.
Accusing the Health team and the Government of enjoying this is so silly it flies in the face of sane behaviour.
Use the channels available for help if you feel that upset and angry. Some here are being patient and this means surgery delays so yes sometimes we write about hopeful warm fuzzy things. They are the teddy bears in our window to get through.
We are anxious separated from loved ones and come here to discuss ideas and touch base. Nasty rants don’t change anything and often make things worse. Now I feel better even if you don’t.
Patricia, the very obvious problem here is the glacial pace of new first vaccinations.
This very obvious problem needs a plan to address it. Now.
There is zero evidence that the government has any urgency in developing and implementing a plan to lift those glacially slow first vaccination rates. Instead they appear to be just finding it easier to keep indefinitely extending Auckland's lockdown, while murmuring sweet nothings about how important vaccinating is.
By the time polls show Auckland's turn against the government for being continually shat on with ever-extending lockdowns with zero effort to bring the end closer, it will be too late. The minds and warmth and kudos for the previous good management will be lost, and will be very difficult to get back.
I don't know for sure whether I've gone past the point of no return on that, but it certainly feels like it right now. Lefties around the country gleefully advocating inflicting yet more level 4 on Auckland, while posting apologia and justifications and encouragement for the vaccine refusers, have certainly contributed to what I'm feeling right now.
Lefties around the country gleefully advocating inflicting yet more level 4 on Auckland, while posting apologia and justifications and encouragement for the vaccine refusers…
Disagree with "gleefully", and particularly with "encouragement for the vaccine refusers" (as would Goudie and King), but since you feel "continuously shat on" by our government's pandemic response you should definitely shift your vote to a party (National or ACT) that more closely matches your current hopes and dreams vis-à-vis COVID.
During this pandemic the team has enjoyed extended periods of some of the least stringent restrictions on day-to-day activities – this has likely contributed to resentment towards alert level 4/3/2 restrictions of the last 2 months.
I try not to lose sight of the purpose of these temporary restrictions, which is to limit the freedom of COVID-19 to spread and cause illness and death.
The COVID response remains a challenging balancing act for our govt. Some armchair critics grizzle and gripe about temporary alert level restrictionscurtailing freedoms, while others object to some of the relatively strong vaccine mandates that are being put in place – each of us knows what the government should do, because we each know what's best for ourselves.
Regarding your “smug sanctimony” jibe, my preference was and still is for NZ's pandemic response to prioritise health outcomes. This response may not be morally superior to others, but it has indisputably saved (or at least delayed the loss of) Kiwi lives – regrettably it’s no longer sustainable.
Almost as useful as those of us that had to suffer through 6 hours of indoctrination on how to deliver COVID injections as we had spare time during Level 4 lockdown despite decades of experience.
I will examine what I write carefully. I do not ever wish to rub salt in wounds.
About Jacinda Ardern, she at some point will separate from the Advisors as she is aware of the pain. I think she instructed Hipkins and Bloomfield to come up with milestones regarding vaccination. I believe she has asked for more support for Auckland businesses from Robertson to be presented on this Friday. We will see. We get it. It's all like a slow train wreck.
But this is rather like being on the Titanic, having the knowledge of the coming iceberg. Knowing you can't completely miss it and frantically planning implementing communicating and fighting off the loud entitled who insist we can't sink and the ball in the ballroom has to go ahead as planned or there will be panic.
Our Titanic is Delta, and our iceberg is the number of alternative thinkers out there who are endangering themselves and threaten to wreck our systems.
Our Doctor just this morning said 3+ Doctors are being assessed by the Medical Council for promoting alternative views and discouraging vaccination. Some areas also have poor Leadership around vaccination from Church Leaders and the Anti-Vax supporters as well. This is a lifeboat with a hole in it.
It is really hard, keep the faith, this Government wishes to do their best for us. Thanks for your thoughtful reply, keep feeling you can express your anger.. that is a healthy reaction actually.
Just observing that the team has managed to achieve some pretty good Covid health outcomes to date – not without considerable sacrifice and suffering of course, and some will have struggled more than others.
Going by the 'f**k count', feelings are running pretty high. So if having a go at my supposed "sense of security and other warm fuzzies" [?] helps then have at it.
Yes, some always suffer more then others, and sadly they the same that have suffered before the pandemic. And yeah, next year there will be another trickle down increase in their benefit rates that will at the same time be removed from a side benefits, but it will make us all feel so fuzzy and warm and good about our self. Trickle trickle trickle. And if it is not enough and you can't pay rent and eat, here be housed in a unsued motel somewhere with no cooking or laundry facilities. Don't you feel so warm and fuzzy now?
But hey, i hear someone is getting married. Now that is good news.
From the luxury of the position we are in we are free to philosophise, pontificate and ponder.
It's as if we watched a big tsunami heading our way, wiping out lots of places on its way to get us. We got in a such a position though it didn't get us past bits around the edges.
We say, "Thank God for that, that was close, we're been spared. Thank you for those who led us to here?"
No. We say, "Why did you got that way, why didn't you do this instead? Why didn't you think about this, why didn't you consider that? You did this wrong, you stuffed that up. You are incompetent. We would have done it so much better." And on and on.
Early on it was "We should be doing what Australia's doing." A week later, "We should be copying Singapore." A week on, "Why aren't we copying Sweden?"
And we've been to Finland and Japan and back to Australia several times, or just some states of our neighbours. And to Taiwan and just about everywhere except the US.
We had more scientific experts per capita than anywhere in the world, all qualified overnight. Fancy that, we got the real advice from the real scientists not the local internet ones.
Tonight I see from Maori TV via the Herald: "Murupara kaumātua says he and other local Māori don't want the Pfizer vaccine and are waiting for other vaccines they think will be more effective."
I see "Covid 19 Delta outbreak: 1000 surgeries cancelled every week."
The tsunami didn't get us but waves like that are smashing us. Idiots like Brian Tamaki are smashing us. I don't mind them having a death wish. I don't mind the non-vaxxers worrying about the microchips carried in the vaccine or the fact that the vaccine as the lunatic American doctor claimed, will magnetise their bodies.
I don't like the idea though that they threaten my family, my friends and me. And for the information of that mad cow American, metal won't stick to my brow because of the magnetism in the vaccine.
I dont' know where anyone here lives, and i don't live in Auckland, but frankly these guys have had three month now on Home D. Maybe a bit of kindness is on order now? Just a wee bit. Specially from those that are not currently locked up at home without an end in sight.
I'm just so so proud of all you posting and commenting standardistas on the restraint and decorum displayed re the news that HDPA is expecting a son. I read this blog assiduously and I thought, oh no the sarcy comments are going to flow. Indeed I thought of a few myself. Well done guys, having a child is special.
Pandemic modeller for research centre Te Punaha Matatini Shaun Hendy told Stuff on Monday that “relaxation at the moment would be very dangerous”.
Public health professor and epidemiologist Michael Baker said . “We’ve got only a small benefit coming from rising vaccine coverage, also the move into summer – I don’t think that will be enough to balance the effects of much more exponential rise,” he said. “With a [case number] doubling time of two weeks, where will that put us in that pre-Christmas period? Will we be in danger of overwhelming the health system?”
I've actually spent a lot of time with some vaccine hesitants getting them actual accurate information, and talking them through how routine vaccination is just a normal part of life for the large majority of the population.
I'm pretty sure I was mostly responsible for one success, and it feels close for a second.
But I'm utterly fucking disgusted with those that are encouraging the conditions that will contribute to that death and disability by posting apologia and encouragement for vaccine hesitancy.
Honestly that should never be asked from someone who obviously has been in lockdown now for almost 3 month. Not needed.
We all do what we can. I don't think anyone is trying to get covid or spread it. We all try to live with it as much as we can. But we can not ask for some to be under constant home D without accepting that people will lose it. That would be downright cruel and / or foolish. We can also not demand that people stay in lockdown and watch their lifes and their lifelyhood disappear down the drain, no matter if that is a hair dresser or a restaurant or just a retail business.
the government had 18 month now of information on how this plague works, we have seen it in China, Italy, France, Germany, USA, South America, UK, India etc. And here we are, getting a daily update on numbers and nothing else.
No plan on how to educate our kids other then what was set up last year, which is inadequite and does not work for all – re connectivity and hardware. Need a doctor or surgery, well that is a no. Can't enter the country, can't leave the country. ETC etc etc.
At some stage they need to serve up something better then this lukewarm warmed up re-iteration of 'be kind – to us specially, and use up your savings if you are running out of money, cause hey ……Grant likes to underspent his budgets.
And fwiw, the whole of the North Island is struggling. Maybe the South Island is so remote taht if the north island implodes it can go chugging along – growing their own kale and milking the last few cows that are allowed, but here in the North Island Auckland is needed and Aucklanders are part of our whanau. If that is still something that we consider of worth. .
So what are we going to do after the 90% vaccination rate? Keep the country closed until we are back to 0 cases? what if that does not happen? Seriously, this discussion needs to be had.
Honestly that should never be asked from someone who obviously has been in lockdown now for almost 3 month. Not needed.
It was a rhetorical question that Andre doesn't need to answer any more than Baker and Hendy need to answer for raising vax rates.
I agree the bigger conversation needs to be had. I've been trying to have it the whole time. Only I don't think there's a BAU to return to. Andre's stress and frustration is totally understandable. I've been there before covid, as have plenty of others. Only the limiting factors were being disabled and having a government and society that basically didn't give a shit. So my perspective on it is different. Having sometimes severe limitations on one's life isn't new to many of us.
I also think that covid is the starter and climate/eco crises are going to hit us way harder than this. Best we get on with adaptation and mitigation of both covid and climate change. If kids can't go to school, then society can adapt to homeschool. If people are bored walking in their neighbourhood, then make the neighbourhood a great place to be. If L4 is unbearable, then let's do the mahi of changing that so that it becomes tolerable.
No-one is talking about this because most people thing it's soon going to be over and hey presto all the businesses will be open again and NZers will vote in neoliberal governments and go back to ignoring poor and disabled people and the eco crises.
I am very doubtful that it will be over soon. I think it's possible NZ hasn't had the hardest pandemic year yet, but that that will be 2022 as we have to learn to live with covid in the community and people dying and then how to manage long covid.
Yes, lockdown is fucking hard. Haven't seen too many conversations on TS about the people that are going to have their lives destroyed by long covid and having to be WINZ clients. This isn't to diss people losing it under lockdown, it's to say either way was always going to be really hard. As you know it just hits people differently.
All that shit that the hippies were talking about, we should be stepping up now. Local food, local economy, build strong communities, help each other, plant a shit load of trees, shift values and priorities. It doesn't have to be this bad.
and you know, you can imagine what it's like for someone in my situation to hear a centre leftie saying they're going to vote National. National who destroyed so many of our lives and who would have made covid into an utter disaster instead of the half disaster that it is now.
I posited last year at the beginning of L4 that this plague will take several years, that we will have rolling lockdowns, with all the assorted misery that living under a siege brings with it.
I personally am not too affected by staying at home, i am not a very outgoing person (don't cope well in large settings), and i can understand how those that live with disability have more of a nuanced way of looking at lockdowns due to their own diminished reality of moving about, but we can not overlook the fact that we are the minority and that humans are social beings and like to gather. We can not overlook the fact that not everyone will cope well, and we are seeing this now.
And yet, here we are, and it seems that some of us are quite happy to lock up AKL indefinitely if it keeps them in their supposed 'safe' bubble. Never mind that safe does not exist anymore.
I think that the govt did pretty much everything correct with regards to containing the virus initially, i think that the wage subsidy was simply just a triage mechanism to prevent a million people at once hitting the unemployment queues, and was wasted in many cases, it would have been better to allow businesses to go bust without dragging the owners into bankruptcies, i think that our children should be first priority and that if we can’t educate them we are cutting off our noses.
But here we are 18 month in, and we seem to not have added anything new to what we do.
And it gets tedious, even for those that don't live in AKL. Covid is an utter disaster, even if we managed to feel very smug in our wee island far far away from everywhere for a while.
The brother of a friend of mine killed himself last week. He hang himself in the garage, long haul Covid. He got it last year with his mum. She did fine, he did not. And in the end he killed himself because his body was slowly but surely rotting away – and there was nothing anyone could do.
We need to have this discussion now, because the vaccination are not the great opening to life. Vaccine, permanent mask wearing, keeping social distancing, no contact business to very low contact business, rapid saliva testing, is what will be.
In Germany kids go to school. They wear masks, and have three tests a week. Rapid saliva tests. Essentially they live by the three G's.
Getested – get tested
Geimpft – get jabbed
Genessen – recover from disease
Can we at least demand some quick delivery of rapid saliva tests from the government before someone doo doos us demanding human beings for not being grateful enough for US keeping US safe while we are locking us up in our houses with no end in sight?
I feel that if we don't get really honest real fast, you will see that getting people to have booster shots will be even harder then getting them to get the double jabs now.
Sabine yes, we have to lay out the hard truths. His sad death should be noted in the effects of covid.
I think the Government needs to mandate vaccines to assist businesses to achieve this, also mandate mask wearing and social distancing.
Shopping is difficult, as is education, as we need air filtering in every public place before next year. As we learn of helpful methods they should be mandated.
When I was a child chewing tobacco was a thing. Spittoons were in each train carriage. That was to stop people spitting on the floor because of tuberculosis. A sign promised a ten pound fine for expectorating .
Yes I agree Weka. I think you are so rational in the face of pain and a long wait for surgery, as are friends and our son. I feel for Andre, some situations are more triggering than others. I became a bit depressed at one stage he is angry, i think it is actually a form of grief.
I agree. I think one of the most urgent things we need to be doing is teaching resiliency skills (and probably grieving). To do that we'd have to acknowledge the long term nature of the crisis and that some things have been lost.
Rational, maybe, born of long experience of restrictions and learning how to cope. Mindfulness has helped a lot.
There's an edge between compassion for people having a really hard time, and this being a political blog.
Here here.Please, folk out there stay the coarse,I'm down south but am truely grateful for all the people up north trying their best.As Peter Gabriel sings "hold the line".
Surely it is not just about the vaccination rate. I had not thought it was a 'one shot wonder' from the Govt. Ha ha sorry not funny perhaps
How has this been boiled down to this one thing. I know the current focus has been on vaccination. This is not the only part of the plan to open up NZ that is being worked on.
The item that many of us have been watching in the Akl situation is the number of cases that cannot be linked. This is despite not now assigning the results to sub clusters.
When I last looked over the weekend there was a tail of around 114? to be linked.
With my degree in MB epidemiology to my way of thinking this signals that perhaps there are carriers. pockets, people with Delta that are still passing it on. Again with my degree in psychology I would suggest that these are unlikely to be vaccinated.
So I don't think it is a single task and once this is done Akl opens.
What with employers in essential industries not mandating the vaccine for their public facing employees ie border crossing truckies are still allowed despite no vaccination and we now have a rest home in Remuera with a single vaccinated person with Covid. If this is a worker then both employer/ee have left it very late to get started on the vaccination process. How can an employer be happy with a worker with only one part of a two part vaccination working?
A missing part of the equation should also be an expectation that employers will do their bit. I am not getting this feeling that this is happening widely though with MSM who knows?
I have friends in Auckland and they have said that the single thing that has kept them going is the 40 min walk they do every single day. If they need it they do another walk. They start each day with a to do list. One works from home. They have taken advantage of the picnic idea to catch up with another bubble. Not really their thing they say but it is the only one on offer.
Is there a person you can talk to. It is not unusual to be feeling these things but perhaps better to not suffer in silence of there is a trained person you can talk to? The last two paras are written with kindness. .
Te Rōpū Whakakaupapa Urutā (National Maori Pandemic Group) co-leader Dr Rawiri Jansen said
The case numbers should give everybody pause. They are, either frankly, sobering or scary. The region would have to stay at alert level 4 for weeks. This is so hard. I get that it's hard. But honestly, we're facing a ‘this-is hard’ or this is deaths. That's just such a difficult thing.”
Immunologist and Associate Dean (Pacific) at the University of Otago (Wellington)Dr Dianne Sika-Paotonu
We desperately need to buy more time to drive vaccination rates up even further as quickly as possible, and to give more time for our hospitals to be ready for what’s coming.
Dr Dion O’Neale, principal investigator at Te Pūnaha Matatini, said
it doesn’t look like we’re on a trajectory we want to be on
To change the subject to another very important matter, has anyone seen that Stuff have started a detailed investigation into the biodiversity crisis in New Zealand and the world? Has anyone seen it?
The first episode looks at seabirds. Looks like some excellent work by Andrea Vance and Iain McGregor.
From the article, some startling facts :
1. We are ranked 89th in the world for conversion of natural habitat.
2. In New Zealand, there are more than 4000 indigenous species at risk.
3. We are ranked 13th in the world for the use of fertiliser.
4. We are ranked the worst in the world, for the proportion of threatened species we have.
It will make you consider whether you should be eating tuna.
If I have time, I'll put a more detailed report tomorrow.
If too many consumers are contributing to the biodiversity crisis in New Zealand and the world declining fertility should mitigate it. Not a short term fix though.
Our treatment of the NZ environment; flora and fauna is IMO worse than how we deal with CO2, and in my disappointment feel bad giving TG a vote. There is no international distain to be expressed and embarrass our govt into action. Any pressure on the govt is by a small group of kiwis with their efforts going unseen in restoring parts on NZ to its former glory.
This has some short comings yet still worth the time to watch, especially under the current conditions that covid lockdown has allowed. It is currently available on Netflix, and I know of a few families that now will not eat fish.
The environment is my nice place, given the rant above. Last year I considered not voting as all the options IMO were crap. The only reason was my base line the environment. 67% of the voting family voted Green. Next election it appears it will be 33%.
Global warming has the entire world working to pressure leaders in saving it, NZ has only kiwis to pressure our leaders, and that is why IMO NZ needs all effort in save our flora and fauna and TG need to be leading this, instead of saving the world.
Wouldnt it be logical to solve the biggest problems first herodotus ?ie climate change and the threat that poses to all species /? If you are one of the people who thought James Shaw shoudnt go to COPs cause flying is bad then were off to a great start arnt we ! My own personal opinion based on observation of fanatics is that bird watching turns some peoples brains to mush !
To assist in climate change there are some who have purchased large areas of land and are planting it with pine to capture the co2. How does that help to protect and enhance our unique wildlife and their habitats ? By protecting the habitats we are assisting by allowing nzers to see 1st hand the direct benefits eg native bush/forests/coastal areas and secondary doing our bit to rebalance the gases in the atmosphere.
I honestly don't get this. If we get another Labour majority and less or no Green MPs, do you think that we will see more action on biodiversity or less?
As a Labour member, I don't want a Labour majority government, I want a Labour-Green coalition (I joined Labour in part to try to push in that direction).
Its about time some hard questions get asked tbh… we've had alot of time to prepare for this point in our resposne yet govt still hasnt got rapid testing organized, salivia testing is a mess and the vax passport other countries started and finished with it we'restill flailing about developing it.. surely we should have had businesses like hairdressers open by now with a vax passport instead its kicked down the road another two weeks. People are pretty pissed.
Thats my issue we're still mucking about try to organize this stuff and seeminly doing it on the fly
We've had plenty of time to watch what other countries have done well, got to work and had alot of this stuff ready to roll when the inevitable happened.
Auckland should have had a functioning vax passport system 2-3 weeks ago when we went to level 3.9 so small businesses like hairdressers for example could open… its really disheartening because so many people are going to the wall with this lockdown… and they're the little guys hospo staff, retail staff, hairdressers small business manicure shops those little chinese massage places in the malls etc etc wage subsidy doesnt touch the sides in Auckland. Company I work for burnt through 150k during level 4 keeping everyone at 80 percent and covering all the fixed outgoings we can operate at almost breakeven in level 3 which means at least we all have jobs… which makes us lucky.
internal elimination (PCR testing and contact tracing and wastewater testing) and border bubble (maybe with Oz at some point) – Level 1 economy
vaccination, then open up and use rapid testing at workplaces/schools etc and "passports".
Sure if they had planned for a delta outbreak they could not eliminate – then they might have had easier saliva testing and also rapid testing in place to help manage it, and also vax ID for use at Level 3 lite.
As it is, this got going in recent weeks as they realised elimination might fail or would require another month at Level 4. Those businesses in Auckland that got Level 3 and Level 3 lite benefited from that decision.
Yes in Auckland, it's getting financially very ugly for alot of people especially in the service industry. Think hairdressers, the nail salons, massage all sorts of little businesses really. Having a passport ready would have allowed them to at least start making some income.
people can still transmit covid when fully vaxxed, although the risk is much lower*. Are you saying that Auckland should abandon containment and come out of L3+?
One of the big risks we are about to face is if people think double vax makes other measures unnecessary.
*in reality, I don't think we know yet what the risk is. I really wish we would be more honest about this.
Auckland couldnstill be ring fenced all im saying is if we had some tools ready like vaccine passports and rapid tests more businesses in Auckland could open which would act as a pressure release valve.
We cant stay in an endless level 3.9 lockdown cycle there are other massive costs besides the obvious financial ones, on a personal level my daughter is really starting to struggle with the social isolation now, one of her friends has become completely withdrawn and tbh online school is pretty grim.
The govt just seems so unprepared and we've had time to be ready to deal with this stuff.
the point of L3+ is to get as many people vaxxed as possible while at the same time trying to contain and limit spread of covid as much as possible. No-one is suggesting that it be endless (although I'm sure it feels like that).
I can't see how hairdressers and massage therapists could operate currently while trying to limit spread.
Afaik the government has plans for both rapid testing and vax passports.
Yes I know they have 'plans' I think they should be already devloped and in use…
If we did that for fully vaxed people it will perhaps encourage a few more accross the line to access said freedoms and it might well actually help level 3.9 hold.
It gets busier everyday here, Mt Eden was packed sunday morning with people getting coffee etc chatting on the footpath sitting at tables that have reappeared on the footpaths… basically the longer this goes on the more disobedient people will get and that's going to lead to worse outcomes.
Vaxing is in fact irrelevant the determining factor is does a person have transmissible infection or not. The present testing system only tells us the status 15 hours to three days ago – nothing prevents infectious viral loading after test and before result.
This is where rapid testing of high reliability is so needed – the viral loading status NOW is known right on the spot. This even negates the 'Vax Passprot' … which only shows probable less susceptibility to personal health effects NOT infection and Transmissibility.
I would rather KNOW that infection was not present rather than if someone (or myself) had been jabbed – probably some considerable time ago.
As long as we have a Privacy Act and people who will be quite annoyed about data breaches, developing a vax passport app based on realtime connection to the Covid-19 register is going to be slow going no matter who does it. Also, if we are going to mandate denial of service/entry based on this app, best make sure it's accurate.
As pointed out by the DG and others, rapid antigen testing is not nearly as accurate as other testing, so was actively unhelpful while we could reasonably test and deliver results at pace. Useful in an outbreak, not much use otherwise. Saliva testing uses the same lab infrastructure as nasal swabs, so the main improvement is comfort (and in earlier days, a loss of accuracy), not anything else (that's a worthy improvement, but it's not like it's a serious difference in terms of the Covid response).
Most of the issues are simply that we thought we had the time to pick out the best parts of Covid responses elsewhere, and then Delta arrived early.
It's notable that when elimination resulted in Level 1 freedom, lock downs to get this result were well supported.
But when lock downs are only to hold down the rate of spread, as originally intended last year to keep the health system safe, they begin to seem onerous to "freedom". Which might explain the USA and UK opposition to lock downs because of some "flu". And in those places that opposition to any "pandemic regime" has extended to opposition to vaccination itself and also to vaccination "passports".
The current Auckland lock down has been shorter than in Sydney – and Melbourne has had the longest total period of lock downs in the world.
It retrospect we were lucky to arrive at elimination, because the society division that would have occurred (racial disharmony and inequality exacerbated – working class deaths) would have been terrible.
We'll only get a taste of that in the year ahead with greater freedoms and more deaths – including among the vaccinated.
Wouldnt it be logical to solve the biggest problems first herodotus ?ie climate change and the threat that poses to all species /? If you are one of the people who thought James Shaw shoudnt go to COPs cause flying is bad then were off to a great start arnt we ! My own personal opinion based on observation of fanatics is that bird watching turns some peoples brains to mush !
Possibly, I do hope they start talking about actual benefits in terms of outcome compared to actually catching covid in that age cohort… so far its just it triggers a good immune response… if there isnt a demonstable drop in hospitalisation/serious outcomes why give it?
Males 12-15 and those 5-12 are not advantaged by vaccination – but presumably the rest of us are (because of break through infections in older people).
Yeah I struggle with that reasoning in terms of giving a vacc to that younger age cohort I read a stuff article saying similar, to me thats not a good enough reason personally better be ready to go with booster shots for those that need them which based on our rollout will be fairly soon.
Any precedent, apart from being Japanese in America after Pearl Harbour or Moslem after 9/11? After all this is paranoia that others are not in the same team right?
We'll need 500 ICU like beds (not 250 + 100 staffed by surgical nurses under supervision – surgical nurses being spare because of reduced surgeries).
Which means getting in vaxxed migrant ICU pandemic experienced nurses – and place them here via airbnb.
We have over 3.5M vaccinated people and 1% of them might need hospitalisation if infected (and by the end of 2022 a lot will have been) and 500,000 unvaxxed (going down to 400,000) of whom 10% might need hospitalisation (which is not ICU care).
While a lot of the hospitalisations will not need ICU care, just monitoring and treatments it will be tight at 500 for mine.
We're lucky there will be the Merck anti-viral treatment for the vaxxed and unvaxxed alike and the monoclonal antibody treatment for the unvaxxed used in the USA.
What the government should also do is bring in the Astra Zeneca Cov2 anti-body cocktail – this is effective prior to and post infection as an alternative to vaccination. This should reduce the risk on the health system.
Well that's great but I need my nails cut and my hair styled now, not in 2 or 3 or who knows how many weeks. This whole thing is a shambles! Signed…..Judith.
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 ...
TL;DR: In today’s ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Tuesday, March 19:Kāinga Ora’s dry rot The Spinoff DailyBill McKibben on ‘Climate Superfunds’ making Big Oil pay for climate damage The Crucial YearsPreston Mui on returning to 1980s-style productivity growth NoahpinionAndy Boenau on NIMBYs needing unusual bedfellows Urbanism SpeakeasyNed Resnikoff's case ...
Negative yesterday, negative today. Negative all year, according to one departing reader telling me I’ve grown strident and predictable. Fair enough. If it’s any help, every time I go to write about a certain topic that begins with C and ends with arrrrs, I do brace myself and ask: Again? Are ...
Bryce Edwards writes – It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just show a minimal amount of flux in public support ...
Inspirational: The Family of Man is a glorious hymn to human equality, but, more than that, it is a clarion call to human freedom. Because equality, unleavened by liberty, is a broken piano, an unstrung harp; upon which the songs of fraternity will never be played.“Somebody must have been telling lies about ...
Tax Lawyer Barbara Edmonds vs Emperor Justinian I- Nolo Contendere: False historical explanations of pivotal events are very far from being inconsequential.WHEN BARBARA EDMONDS made reference to the Roman Empire, my ears pricked up. It is, lamentably, very rare to hear a politician admit to any kind of familiarity ...
It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just show a minimal amount of flux in public support for the various parties in ...
Buzz from the Beehive Housing Minister Chris Bishop delivered news – packed with the ingredients to enflame political passions – worthy of supplanting Winston Peters in headline writers’ priorities. He popped up at the post-Cabinet press conference to promise a crackdown on unruly and antisocial state housing tenants. His ...
Ele Ludemann writes – The Reserve Bank is advertising for a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion advisor. The Bank has one mandate – to keep inflation between one and three percent. It has failed in that and is only slowly getting inflation back down to the upper limit. Will it ...
Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency Waka KotahiThe fact that a ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Gavin Jacobson talks to Thomas Piketty 10 years on from Capital in the 21st CenturyThe SalvoLocal scoop: Green MP’s business being investigated over migrant exploitation claims StuffSteve KilgallonLocal deep-dive: The commercial contractors making money from School ...
It’s a home - but Kāinga Ora tenants accused of “abusing the privilege” may lose it. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Government announced a crackdown on Kāinga Ora tenants who were unruly and/or behind on their rent, with Housing Minister Chris Bishop saying a place in a state ...
This is a guest post by Connor Sharp of Surface Light Rail Light rail in Auckland: A way forward sooner than you think With the coup de grâce of Auckland Light Rail (ALR) earlier this year, and the shift of the government’s priorities to roads, roads, and more roads, it ...
Note: As a paid-up Webworm member, I’ve recorded this Webworm as a mini-podcast for you as well. Some of you said you liked this option - so I aim to provide it when I get a chance to record! Read more ...
TL;DR: In my ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Monday, March 18:IKEA is accused of planting big forests in New Zealand to green-wash; REDD-MonitorA City for People takes a well-deserved victory lap over Wellington’s pro-YIMBY District Plan votes; A City for PeopleSteven Anastasiou takes a close look at the sticky ...
Buzz from the Beehive Here’s hoping for a lively post-cabinet press conference when the PM and – perhaps – some of his ministers tell us what was discussed at their meeting today. Until then, Point of Order has precious little Beehive news to report after its latest monitoring of the ...
David Farrar writes – We now have almost all 2023 data in, which has allowed me to update my annual table of how labour went against its promises. This is basically their final report card. The promiseThe result Build 100,000 affordable homes over 10 ...
I’m a bit worried that I’ve started a previous newsletter with the words “just when you think they couldn’t get any worse…” Seems lately that I could begin pretty much every issue with that opening. Such is the nature of our coalition government that they seem to be outdoing each ...
Geoffrey Miller writes – Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. ...
Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture ...
Last week Transport Minster Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre. The new train control centre will see teams from KiwiRail, Auckland Transport and Auckland One Rail working more closely together to improve train services across the city. The Auckland Rail Operations Centre in ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson said in an exit interview with Q+A yesterday the Government can and should sustain more debt to invest in infrastructure for future generations. Elsewhere in the news in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 6:36am: Read more ...
Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. It is more than just a happy ...
TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to March 18 include:China’s Foreign Minister visiting Wellington today;A post-cabinet news conference this afternoon; the resumption of Parliament on Tuesday for two weeks before Easter;retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson gives his valedictory speech in Parliament; ...
New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters’s state-of-the-nation speech on Sunday was really a state-of-Winston-First speech. He barely mentioned any of the Government’s key policies and could not even wholly endorse its signature income tax cuts. Instead, he rehearsed all of his complaints about the Ardern Government, including an extraordinary claim ...
A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
“I’ve been internalising a really complicated situation in my head.”When they kept telling us we should wait until we get to know him, were they taking the piss? Was it a case of, if you think this is bad, wait till you get to know the real Christopher, after the ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
.“$10 and a target that bleeds” - Bleeding Targets for Under $10!.Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.This government appears hell-bent on either scrapping life-saving legislation or reintroducing things that - frustrated critics insist - will be dangerous and likely ...
“It hardly strikes me as fair to criticise a government for doing exactly what it said it was going to do. For actually keeping its promises.”THUNDER WAS PLAYING TAG with lightning flashes amongst the distant peaks. Its rolling cadences interrupted by the here-I-come-here-I-go Doppler effect of the occasional passing car. ...
Subversive & Disruptive Technologies: Just as happened with that other great regulator of the masses, the Medieval Church, the advent of a new and hard-to-control technology – the Internet – is weakening the ties that bind. Then, and now, those who enjoy a monopoly on the dissemination of lies, cannot and will ...
Been Here Before: To find the precedents for what this Coalition Government is proposing, it is necessary to return to the “glory days” of Muldoonism.THE COALITION GOVERNMENT has celebrated its first 100 days in office by checking-off the last of its listed commitments. It remains, however, an angry government. It ...
Bob Edlin writes – And what is the world watching today…? The email newsletter from Associated Press which landed in our mailbox early this morning advised: In the news today: The father of a school shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter; prosecutors in Trump’s hush-money case ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the party’s decision to ...
For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ HeraldThomas CoughlanSimeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
TL;DR:Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it: We want our country to be a ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading → ...
Ele Ludemann writes – The government is omitting general Treaty references from legislation : The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last Government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty ...
What was that judge thinking?Peter Williams writes – That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read:Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop:Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
Buzz from the BeehiveThe text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary. It can be quickly analysed ...
For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
Questions need to be asked on both sides of the worldPeter Williams writes – The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read:Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop:The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
TL;DR:Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
Bob Edlin writes – The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
The Government has accepted Labour’s change to the Road User Charge (RUC) discount for hybrid vehicles, meaning there will still be some incentive for people to buy greener vehicles. ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
The New Zealand public voted for a change in direction at the 2023 general election and that is exactly what this coalition government has been delivering in its first 100 days. There was an immediate focus on the economy, easing the cost of living, cracking down on law and order ...
The Government has left the health system as an afterthought, announcing half-baked targets at the last minute of their 100-day plan, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
Kiwis are still waiting for their promised cost of living support after 100 days of a National Government that is taking us backwards, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own – and it’s hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
100 days of National taking NZ backwardsThe National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own – and it’s hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
The Government must commit to funding free and healthy school lunches, as thousands of people sign the petition to keep them, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti says. ...
If the Government was serious about moving families into public housing, they would build more houses so there is actually somewhere for people to go. ...
The free and healthy school lunches programme feeds our kids, helps them to learn, and saves families money – but it is at risk under this Government, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
The Government’s proposed changes to Firearms Prohibition Orders (FPO) add almost nothing new and are merely an attempt to distract from its plans to loosen gun laws, police spokesperson Ginny Andersen and justice spokesperson Dr Duncan Webb said. ...
The great Victorian era English politician Lord Macauley stood in the British House of Parliament and said, "The gallery in which the reporters sit has become a fourth estate of the realm".He understood and outlined even way back then, the significant role and influence media have in a democracy. ...
The government’s attack on Māori health this week is committing tangata-whenua to a premature death, says Te Pāti Māori. “The government have begun their onslaught on Māori health with the abolishment of the Māori Health Authority and smokefree laws in the same day” said health spokesperson and co-leader, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. ...
"The Government is moving quickly to realise an additional $46 million in tariff savings in the EU market this season for Kiwi exporters,” Minister for Trade and Agriculture, Todd McClay says. Parliament is set, this week, to complete the final legislative processes required to bring the New Zealand – European ...
New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April. ...
Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand. Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships. “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland Acknowledgements and opening Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. “March 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,” Mr Luxon says. “Today we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024 Acknowledgements and opening Morena, Nga Mihi Nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Thanks Nate for your Mihi Whakatau Good morning. It’s a pleasure to formally open your conference this morning. What a lovely day in Wellington, What a great ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters held discussions in Jakarta today about the future of relations between New Zealand and South East Asia’s most populous country. “We are in Jakarta so early in our new government’s term to reflect the huge importance we place on our relationship with Indonesia and South ...
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters has announced that the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, will visit New Zealand next week. “We look forward to re-engaging with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussing the full breadth of the bilateral relationship, which is one of New Zealand’s ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has today opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre, which will bring together KiwiRail, Auckland Transport, and Auckland One Rail to improve service reliability for Aucklanders. “The recent train disruptions in Auckland have highlighted how important it is KiwiRail and Auckland’s rail agencies work together to ...
The Government is proud to support the 10th edition of Crankworx Rotorua as the Crankworx World Tour returns to Rotorua from 16-24 March 2024, says Minister for Economic Development Melissa Lee. “Over the past 10 years as Crankworx Rotorua has grown, so too have the economic and social benefits that ...
Legislation implementing coalition Government tax commitments and addressing long-standing tax anomalies will be progressed in Parliament next week, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The legislation is contained in an Amendment Paper to the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill issued today. “The Amendment Paper represents ...
Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard has today announced that the Government has agreed to suspend the requirement for councils to comply with the Significant Natural Areas (SNA) provisions of the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity for three years, while it replaces the Resource Management Act (RMA).“As it stands, SNAs ...
Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has classified the drought conditions in the Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts as a medium-scale adverse event, acknowledging the challenging conditions facing farmers and growers in the district. “Parts of Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts are in the grip of an intense dry spell. I know ...
The Government is helping farmers eradicate the significant impact of facial eczema (FE) in pastoral animals, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “A $20 million partnership jointly funded by Beef + Lamb NZ, the Government, and the primary sector will save farmers an estimated NZD$332 million per year, and aims to ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has completed a successful visit to India, saying it was an important step in taking the relationship between the two countries to the next level. “We have laid a strong foundation for the Coalition Government’s priority of enhancing New Zealand-India relations to generate significant future benefit for both countries,” says Mr Peters, ...
Cabinet has agreed to provide $7 million to ensure the 2024 ski season can go ahead on the Whakapapa ski field in the central North Island but has told the operator Ruapehu Alpine Lifts it is the last financial support it will receive from taxpayers. Cabinet also agreed to provide ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
Lower fruit and vegetable prices are welcome news for New Zealanders who have been doing it tough at the supermarket, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Stats NZ reported today the price of fruit and vegetables has dropped 9.3 percent in the 12 months to February 2024. “Lower fruit and vege ...
Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all. Chair, I am honoured to address the sixty-eighth session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all. Chair, I am honoured to address the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
The coalition Government is supporting farmers to enhance land management practices by investing $3.3 million in locally led catchment groups, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “Farmers and growers deliver significant prosperity for New Zealand and it’s vital their ongoing efforts to improve land management practices and water quality are supported,” ...
Good evening everyone and thank you for that lovely introduction. Thank you also to the Honourable Simon Bridges for the invitation to address your members. Since being sworn in, this coalition Government has hit the ground running with our 100-day plan, delivering the changes that New Zealanders expect of us. ...
Recommendations from the Climate Change Commission for New Zealand on the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) auction and unit limit settings for the next five years have been tabled in Parliament, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “The Commission provides advice on the ETS annually. This is the third time the ...
The coalition Government is beginning its fight to lower building costs and reduce red tape by exempting minor building work from paying the building levy, says Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk. “Currently, any building project worth $20,444 including GST or more is subject to the building levy which is ...
Proposed changes to tax legislation to prevent the over-taxation of low-earning trusts are welcome, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The changes have been recommended by Parliament’s Finance and Expenditure Committee following consideration of submissions on the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill. “One of the ...
Assalaamu alaikum. السَّلَام عليكم In light of the holy month of Ramadan, I want to extend my warmest wishes to our Muslim community in New Zealand. Ramadan is a time for spiritual reflection, renewed devotion, perseverance, generosity, and forgiveness. It’s a time to strengthen our bonds and appreciate the diversity ...
Former Transport Minister and CEO of the Auckland Business Chamber Hon Simon Bridges has been appointed as the new Board Chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) for a three-year term, Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced today. “Simon brings extensive experience and knowledge in transport policy and governance to the role. He will ...
Good morning all, it is a pleasure to be here as Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology. It is fantastic to see how connected and collaborative the life science and biotechnology industry is here in New Zealand. I would like to thank BioTechNZ and NZTech for the invitation to address ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says he is looking forward to the day when three key water projects in Northland are up and running, unlocking the full potential of land in the region. Mr Jones attended a community event at the site of the Otawere reservoir near Kerikeri on Friday. ...
Associate Finance Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government has agreed to restore deductibility for mortgage interest on residential investment properties. “Help is on the way for landlords and renters alike. The Government’s restoration of interest deductibility will ease pressure on rents and simplify the tax code,” says ...
Sport and Recreation Minister Chris Bishop will travel to Switzerland today to attend an Executive Committee meeting and Symposium of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Mr Bishop will then travel on to London where he will attend a series of meetings in his capacity as Infrastructure Minister. “New Zealanders believe ...
Chumbawamba have reportedly issued the deputy PM a cease-and-desist notice after he used their song 'Tubthumping' before his state of the nation speech. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Deborah Lupton, SHARP Professor, Vitalities Lab, Centre for Social Research in Health and Social Policy Centre, and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society, UNSW Sydney kitzcorner/Shutterstock The assertion from Queensland’s chief health officer John Gerrard that ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Martin, Visiting Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University Shutterstock Why are musicians so keen to get played on the radio? It can’t be because of the money. In Australia they are paid at rates so low they ...
"Farmers make a point not to tell our urban cousins how to live, yet Chlöe from central Auckland is hell-bent on having her say about farmers," says ACT Rural Communities spokesman Mark Cameron. “On her first day in the House as Green ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards – Democracy Project (https://democracyproject.nz)Political scientist, Dr Bryce Edwards. It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tim Curran, Associate Professor of Ecology, Lincoln University, New Zealand Getty Images/Gerald Corsi In the latest move to reform environmental laws in New Zealand, the coalition government has introduced a bill to fast-track consenting processes for projects deemed to ...
Uber has argued it does not have as much control over drivers as the unions suggest, and wants a judgment ruling that drivers are employees and not contractors set aside and sent back to the Employment Court. The 2022 ruling followed a three-week hearing in which four drivers sought to ...
What can and can’t be purchased by disabled people or their carers has been slashed in an effort by the Ministry of Disabled People Whaikaha to save money. The purchasing guidelines, a set of rules that sets out what can be purchased using the various streams of Government disability funding, ...
The Treasury has published today a new Analytical Note by Tod Wright and Hien Nguyen, Fiscal incidence in New Zealand: The effects of taxes and benefits on household incomes in tax year 2018/19 . Analyses of the distributional impact of taxation and government ...
The Treasury has published today a new Analytical Note by Cory Davis, Boston Hart and Benjamin Stubbing, Household cost-of-living impacts from the Emissions Trading Scheme and using transfers to mitigate regressive outcomes . This Analytical Note ...
A coalition of public transport and climate organisations, united as ‘Transport for All’, is actively opposing the government’s transport proposals. The draft Government Policy Statement (GPS) includes plans for higher fares for public transport, ...
Greater Wellington is inviting feedback on proposed changes to its Revenue and Financing Policy. The Revenue and Financing Policy covers the Council’s various sources of funding, and how the cost of services is shared across the region. This includes ...
Labour has conceded it could have done more to deal with disruptive state housing tenants while in government but says the current coalition is going too far. ...
The band has asked their record label to issue a cease and desist to stop the NZ First leader using their 1997 hit to support his ‘misguided political views’. “I get knocked down, but I get up again,” blared through the speakers on Sunday as Winston Peters took the stage ...
By Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific journalist Food rationing is underway in remote areas in Papua New Guinea’s Highlands following torrential rain and flash flooding. More than 20 people have been reported dead in Chimbu Province. In nearby Enga Province, the centre of last month’s massacre, a 15-year-old boy has been ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Hughes, Lecturer, Research School of Management, Australian National University After months of debate and intrigue, the AFL’s 19th and newest team, the Tasmania Devils, finally launched its jumper, logo and colours in Devonport this week. The Devils will wear green, ...
Brannavan Gnanalingam reviews the debut novel by Saraid de Silva.One of the most baffling things for children who move to a new country is what their parents’ (or grandparents’) lives were like prior to moving – for kids in particular, they’re too busy trying to fit in in their ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Gaunson, Associate Professor in Cinema Studies, RMIT University Narelle Portanier/Binge “If you don’t know who your mob are, you don’t know who you are,” Detective Andrea “Andie” Whitford (played by Leah Purcell) is told early into the new crime ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elise Klein, Associate professor, Australian National University It’s commonly accepted that women do the vast majority of caregiving in Australian society. But less appreciated is that Indigenous women do larger amounts of unpaid care than any other group. Working with the Aboriginal ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne Joe Biden and Donald Trump have both secured their parties’ nominations for the November 5 United States general election by winning a ...
Comment: There has been a striking contrast in trans-Tasman interest about Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi’s visit to New Zealand and Australia. While the Australian press has been full of articles about the visit – including his curious decision to meet with former prime minister and China booster Paul Keating ...
After years of pressuring banks and other institutions to stop investing in fossil fuels, climate campaigners are making some progress. So how does divestment work?For years, climate activists have been pushing banks and other big institutions to divest from fossil fuels. New research from climate advocacy group 350 Aotearoa ...
For Boba, Ethan and Ashley, K-pop is a place to belong, a way to express themselves, and a bridge to connect with others. The three young Polynesians are part of a K-pop fan community in Tāmaki Makaurau. It’s one of many that have sprung up worldwide as K-pop has gone ...
For Boba, Ethan and Ashley, K-pop is a place to belong, a way to express themselves, and a bridge to connect with others. This one-off documentary presents three intimate portraits of young Polynesians who are pulled into a Korean cultural phenomenon. K-POLYS is directed by Litia Tuiburelevu, Produced by Hex ...
There’s ample evidence demonstrating free school lunch programmes provide wide benefits across schools, households and communities according to public health researchers. ACT Minister David Seymour wants to reduce the spending on Aotearoa New Zealand’s ...
By Wata Shaw in Suva Fiji is facing an exodus of Fijians as many are leaving for overseas seeking employment and education and others are migrating, says Opposition MP Viliame Naupoto. Speaking in Parliament, he said: “His Excellency’s speech (Ratu Wiliame Katonivere) comes after a little over one year of ...
The Taxpayers’ Union is welcoming comments from Christopher Luxon this morning recommitting to ‘no new taxes’ as part of Budget 2024. “Mr Luxon’s refusal at the Post-Cabinet press conference yesterday to repeat the ‘no new taxes’ promise ...
SAFE is urgently calling on the Environment Committee to reject the Government’s Fast-Track Approvals Bill, and is urging New Zealanders to rally behind the call. The proposed Bill, currently under consideration with the Environment select committee, ...
Teammates who spend all their time picking fights with spectators are only helpful for the other team, writes Madeleine Chapman. Anyone who has ever played a team sport competitively, particularly as a child and particularly, for some reason, basketball, will know that there’s a lot of politics involved. While there ...
The long-running Wellington music festival is too focused on the Jim Beam-ness and not enough on the Homegrown-ness.There is something about Homegrown that’s difficult to place. A barely perceptible-ness. Like feeling a ghost is watching you from the corner of the room but when you look, there’s nothing there. ...
The latest Ipsos New Zealand Issues Monitor reveals that fewer New Zealanders believe crime / law and order is one of the top issues facing our country. In 2018, Ipsos New Zealand started tracking the key issues facing New Zealand. In this wave ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Griffiths, Deputy Program Director, Budgets and Government, Grattan Institute Australia’s political donations rules are woefully inadequate, but donations reform is finally on the agenda. The federal government has signalled its interest in reform and will soon begin briefing MPs on its ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Patrick Taylor, Chief Environmental Scientist, EPA Victoria; Honorary Professor, School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University Naiyana Somchitkaeo/Shutterstock A recent study published in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine has linked microplastics with risk to human health. The study ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Albert Van Dijk, Professor, Water and Landscape Dynamics, Fenner School of Environment & Society, Australian National University Global climate records were shattered in 2023, from air and sea temperatures to sea-level rise and sea-ice extent. Scores of countries recorded their hottest year ...
As part of our series exploring how New Zealanders live and our relationship with money, a teacher explains why he and his partner are in frugal mode – and how they’re making it work. Gender: Male Age: 35Ethnicity: Pākehā Role: I am an intermediate school teacher and my partner is ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sarah Bendall, Senior Lecturer, Institute for Humanities and Social Sciences, Australian Catholic University Binge Mary & George, the new British television drama series, depicts the real-life story of Mary Villiers and her son George, and their social climbing at the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jason Nassios, Associate Professor, Centre of Policy Studies, Victoria University This article is part of The Conversation’s series examining the housing crisis. Read the other articles in the series here. Australian state and federal governments spend money in many ways to ...
The finance minister is denying that there’s a $5.6b shortfall in paying for the government’s campaign promises, including tax cuts. At his post-cabinet press conference yesterday, the PM refused to rule out new taxes to pay for the cuts, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s ...
Kāinga Ora tenants abused by their neighbours are doubting the government's crackdown on disruptive tenants will make a difference on their behaviour. ...
Kāinga Ora is New Zealand’s biggest residential landlord, housing more than 180,000 vulnerable people in more than 67,000 properties. Yesterday the government announced a crackdown on its tenants who fall behind on rent. One longtime Kāinga Ora tenant shares her experience.For 18 years I lived in a 1960s standalone ...
Why does this myth persist, and what’s the real reason our skin is suffering?It’s one of the biggest international grievances New Zealanders hold, up there with the sinking of the Rainbow Warrior and 1981’s underarm incident. We’re quick to tell international travellers that the world’s pollution led to the ...
When the Criminal Proceeds (Recovery) Act was introduced in 2009 it was firmly targeted at gangs and drugs. The legislation means police no longer need a conviction to seize assets that criminals can’t prove were paid for legitimately, as long as their alleged offences are punishable by more than a ...
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Bob’s relationship with certain members of Lincoln’s academic staff continued to deteriorate in the 1990s. Others supported him publicly, though articles such as Roland Clark’s 1993 piece in Growing Today cannot have pleased the university management. Clark wrote that Bob was selling onions from the Biological Husbandry Unit to a ...
SailGP’s races feature in-your-face action, with agile, hydro-foiling catamarans tacking and jibing for the title over several days. However, public comments ahead of the global series’ return to New Zealand have left this past year’s controversy in the shadows, as a key appointment attracts criticism from dolphin advocates. A year ...
Opinion: We are fast approaching a fundamental change in prisons. As the number of people on custodial remand looks set to overtake the number of sentenced prisoners, the main function of prisons in New Zealand may become incarcerating un-sentenced people who may not be guilty of offending. We have already ...
A huge seven months lies in store for the White Ferns, beginning this week with the visit of England and culminating with the T20 World Cup in Bangladesh in September and October. Starting on Tuesday in Dunedin, the world ranked No. 2 visitors will play five T20s and three ODIs, ...
Opinion: In a move that has shocked road safety advocates across the country, the new Minister of Transport, Simeon Brown, is poised to abandon the previous government’s speed limit reduction policy, particularly around schools. Even more alarmingly, he wants school speed limits to be variable rather than full-time, arguing ...
Auckland Council is opposing a fast-track development backed by Sir John Kirwan and Spark NZ, because it doesn’t meet stringent new climate adaptation requirements The post Surf-data centre faces new 3.8C climate warming rules appeared first on Newsroom. ...
The letters, which were published last week, were addressed to Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) Chairperson Megawati Sukarnoputri, National Democrat Party (NasDem) Chairperson Surya Paloh, National Awakening Party (PKB) Chairperson Muhaimin Iskandar, Justice and Prosperity Party (PKS) President Ahmad Syaikhu and United Development Party (PPP) Chairperson Muhammad Mardiono. In ...
Evicting more people from state housing is ignorant to the consequences of poverty, the Greens say, but the Housing Minister says it's a privilege that can be taken away if abused. ...
Evicting more people from state housing is ignorant to the consequences of poverty, the Greens say, but the Housing Minister says it's a privilege that can be taken away if abused. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emerald L King, Lecturer in Humanities, University of Tasmania IMDB Between Netflix’s 2023 live-action version of One Piece, and its latest take on Avatar: The Last Airbender, fans are once again asking: why are live-action anime adaptations so tricky to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emerald L King, Lecturer in Humanities, University of Tasmania IMDB Between Netflix’s 2023 live-action version of One Piece, and its latest take on Avatar: The Last Airbender, fans are once again asking: why are live-action anime adaptations so tricky to ...
The government says it still intends to deliver tax cuts by July, but will not lock them in until they have got them past their coalition partners. ...
Kiingi Tuheitia Pootatau Te Wherowhero VII has hosted members of the Green Party Caucus at Tuurangawaewae Marae in Ngaaruawahia. The audience follows the King’s Hui-aa-Motu on 20 January, where more than 10,000 people gathered to discuss national ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dr Rachael Potter, Research Associate and Lecturer in Work and Organisational Psychology, University of South Australia Ground Picture/Shutterstock Pregnant women and workers with children are often unfairly treated by their bosses and colleagues, despite laws to protect against workplace discrimination ...
Reacting to Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s refusal to rule out introducing new taxes at the budget, Taxpayers’ Union Campaigns Manager, Connor Molloy, said: “Today’s refusal to rule out new taxes suggests the Government is nothing more ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Duckett, Honorary Enterprise Professor, School of Population and Global Health, and Department of General Practice and Primary Care, The University of Melbourne Aila Images/Shutterstock Aged-care workers will receive a significant pay increase after the Fair Work Commission ruled they ...
I have deleted and re edited this comment many times, most version are not that complementary to our PM, government and enablers.
Try dealing with school kids losing it over exams and from my social circles and family who teach this is wider spread than a few isolated examplesDon’t tell high school students and parents to wait until Wednesday for some direction on our path. The emotional toll is mounting and I hope that any out there also utilise the help out there. I will leave it there before I embarrass someone 🤬
Yeah, today's performance was totally fucking unsatisfactory.
What is the target Auckland needs to get to, to get out of level 3?
Jacinda might grace us with the magic number on Friday. Maybe.
She hasn't promised a plan for how to get to whatever that magic number might be.
I was pretty unimpressed with todays speech from the podium. Being in Auckland, all I know for sure is we are still locked down at level 3.1 for the next two weeks at least. What is happening about schools? What does Auckland need to do to get out of this lockdown? No dates, no targets. Only future announcements where we might learn more.
Well, as HC would have said … … "diddums".
I'll pass on your kind thoughts to those hairdressers, beauticians, shop keepers and other business people trying to keep people employed on wage subsidies and their businesses afloat after nearly 10 weeks of lock downs and no income I'm sure when they are re-mortgaging their houses they will think of your kind words "diddums".
There is a lot to consider on allowing students back to school. Those in year 11, 12 and 13 due to exams and NCEA levels.
Those in new entry to year 8 who are not eligible for vaccination are going to be exposed to a virus and take it home.
I think it will not be compulsory to send a student back to school. Levels of anxiety are going to be seen in schools and this will need to be managed. Some students may end up learning more at home.
The learning resources need to be made available to students who are being disadvantaged.
No one wants students to be deprived of receiving the best education that can be given. Or to expect teachers to be responsible for the welfare of their students when not knowing how Covid is going to impact the school community.
and yet here we are 18 month into a pandemic that is world wide, has caused havoc world wide, and we have no plan up and running in regards to anything, not even how to educate our children.
Hindsight is a wonderful things ain't it Sabine. We all knew from early 1920 that this is exactly where we would be in October 1923. So clever of us, so why didn't the government and the experts know? (sarc)
We have had 18 month of hindsight. The delta outbreak in India happened earlier this year. China welded the doors shut on apartment doors in January last year.
The US has agressively been vaccinating since Biden moved to the white house. Ditto France, Germany, Italy etc. All have seen several waves of Covid wash over their countries, and we should be able to learn from it.
At the very least we should have some plans in place for the education of our young ones. But we always seem to be one step behind.
If we dont' start having some hindsight by now, we never will, and how can we have then foresight to anticipate? Or is that something the governments risk analysts don't do?
Think you have missed my point. We as a nation of people had no more hindsight in early 2020 than the experts did so rabbiting on about a lack of hindsight by experts is a bit of an own goal.
As for plans for the future. Did you not hear the bit about:
1) Plan for Maori community. Today I think.
2) Plan for Educational sector. Tomorrow
3) Big plan for whole country. Friday.
Preserving life has been the plan. A plan needs to deliver a good outcome. If it does not then it has failed. Same for having no plan.
Anyone heard anything more about packs of dogs supposedly running wild up north ?Doc spokespeople ive heard on the subject a couple of times say they,re a threat cause they might carry Rabies !.Im just supprized there havnt been more reports of dog attacks on stock although they could be living on possums i guess .
There are big problems with stock, quite alot of articles 100s of stock killed or mauled, apparently a risk to people as well just one of many below.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/country/451643/feral-dog-fitted-with-gps-collar-to-track-movements-of-pack-attacking-stock
Thanks crickle interesting
If NZ emerges from this pandemic with a per capita Covid death rate one tenth that of Aussie's, and less than one 300th that of the UK/USA, then at least some voters will cut our government a bit of slack, personal feelings of entitlement notwithstanding – I know I will.
Unite against COVID-19
https://covid19.govt.nz
Your sense of security and other warm fuzzies is being taken from the hides of Aucklanders suffering really fucking onerous removals of our actual rights. With our government failing to provide any kind of clarity on any substantial actions to get us out of the situation, just trying to make do with soothing meaningless noises about some kind of plan maybe sometime vaguely in the future.
Your actual rights? And what are they pray tell.? What about your responsibilities? Who do you think you are?
Well said, RosieLee.
As citizens, we have responsibilities to others.
Bill of Rights Act:
Manifestation of religion and belief
Freedom of peaceful assembly
Freedom of association
Freedom of movement
(2)Every New Zealand citizen has the right to enter New Zealand. REMOVED
I've done my responsibilities and got fully vaccinated at my first available opportunity. Have you?
Who the fuck do you think you are?
At this point you shouldnt be angry at the unvaxxed as of weeks ago there should have been a vax passpot system and rapid testing up and running allowing a bunch of places like hairdressers for example to reopen. Thats a govt failure.
Govt I feel is happy for the unvaxxed to take the blame for the lack of freedoms as it deflects from the lack of a coherent strategy.
Its rapidly turning into a fucking joke… the mood was firstly relief that we wernt back to level 4 then anger… Aucklands starting to simmer…
Still beats being dead or so severely stricken with disease that most of those rights are unable to be realised.
Almost as if it is not about "vaccination" but rather addiction to control?
Roll me over – Jab me again!
Andre and Maurice we have had more freedoms than most all through this. Delta has been and is a different beast. Those who listen for one thing don't hear the other messages. I will be lambasted for this but really…
We are struggling to keep the r infection rate to a safe level. It could easily spiral away as happened in Melbourne and in Singapore. So yes Lock down.
Those asking for "Plans" are really saying "I don't like this plan so what else have you got?" because they don't want to wait for 90% of the eligible to get vaccinated. (remember that is really 75%)as 11 years down and some cannot be vaccinated yet.
The plan is to keep a lid on this to allow time for the young to get their first have 3 weeks get their second and have 2 more weeks.
When Delta is detected in all those suburbs of Auckland and in Hamilton, well we hunker down till our defences are in place otherwise we accept a daily death toll and high numbers of sick.
Every country has failed unless they have used draconian measures or have natural immunity in those left or vaccinated at speed after 4 or 5 waves.
Accusing the Health team and the Government of enjoying this is so silly it flies in the face of sane behaviour.
Use the channels available for help if you feel that upset and angry. Some here are being patient and this means surgery delays so yes sometimes we write about hopeful warm fuzzy things. They are the teddy bears in our window to get through.
We are anxious separated from loved ones and come here to discuss ideas and touch base. Nasty rants don’t change anything and often make things worse. Now I feel better even if you don’t.
Patricia, the very obvious problem here is the glacial pace of new first vaccinations.
This very obvious problem needs a plan to address it. Now.
There is zero evidence that the government has any urgency in developing and implementing a plan to lift those glacially slow first vaccination rates. Instead they appear to be just finding it easier to keep indefinitely extending Auckland's lockdown, while murmuring sweet nothings about how important vaccinating is.
By the time polls show Auckland's turn against the government for being continually shat on with ever-extending lockdowns with zero effort to bring the end closer, it will be too late. The minds and warmth and kudos for the previous good management will be lost, and will be very difficult to get back.
I don't know for sure whether I've gone past the point of no return on that, but it certainly feels like it right now. Lefties around the country gleefully advocating inflicting yet more level 4 on Auckland, while posting apologia and justifications and encouragement for the vaccine refusers, have certainly contributed to what I'm feeling right now.
Disagree with "gleefully", and particularly with "encouragement for the vaccine refusers" (as would Goudie and King), but since you feel "continuously shat on" by our government's pandemic response you should definitely shift your vote to a party (National or ACT) that more closely matches your current hopes and dreams vis-à-vis COVID.
During this pandemic the team has enjoyed extended periods of some of the least stringent restrictions on day-to-day activities – this has likely contributed to resentment towards alert level 4/3/2 restrictions of the last 2 months.
https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/covid-stringency-index?tab=chart&country=IND~NZL~AUS~SWE~GBR~USA~IRL
I try not to lose sight of the purpose of these temporary restrictions, which is to limit the freedom of COVID-19 to spread and cause illness and death.
The COVID response remains a challenging balancing act for our govt. Some armchair critics grizzle and gripe about temporary alert level restrictions curtailing freedoms, while others object to some of the relatively strong vaccine mandates that are being put in place – each of us knows what the government should do, because we each know what's best for ourselves.
Spare me the smug sanctimony.
Regarding your “smug sanctimony” jibe, my preference was and still is for NZ's pandemic response to prioritise health outcomes. This response may not be morally superior to others, but it has indisputably saved (or at least delayed the loss of) Kiwi lives – regrettably it’s no longer sustainable.
While NZ did well in that comparison it's more useful to look deeper into the data.
https://stats.oecd.org/Index.aspx?QueryName=350
.. and undoubtedly it'll be more useful to look at relative performance of health and economic outcomes in a few years time.
Undoubtedly; if only our govt had access to that 'outcome data' now.
Does what is best for ourselves include the following
A slow vaccine rollout.
A very low percentage of ICU beds per head of population and little to no remediation of this during the past 18 months.
Blocking the entry of healthcare professionals to NZ over the last 12 months.
Incoherent mumblings from the podium which appear to change on a daily basis.
…asking for a friend.
This advice from a commenter here tickled my fancy – enjoy
Unite against COVID-19
https://covid19.govt.nz/
Thanks that's really useful.
Almost as useful as those of us that had to suffer through 6 hours of indoctrination on how to deliver COVID injections as we had spare time during Level 4 lockdown despite decades of experience.
Thanks for the aspiration.
I will examine what I write carefully. I do not ever wish to rub salt in wounds.
About Jacinda Ardern, she at some point will separate from the Advisors as she is aware of the pain. I think she instructed Hipkins and Bloomfield to come up with milestones regarding vaccination. I believe she has asked for more support for Auckland businesses from Robertson to be presented on this Friday. We will see. We get it. It's all like a slow train wreck.
But this is rather like being on the Titanic, having the knowledge of the coming iceberg. Knowing you can't completely miss it and frantically planning implementing communicating and fighting off the loud entitled who insist we can't sink and the ball in the ballroom has to go ahead as planned or there will be panic.
Our Titanic is Delta, and our iceberg is the number of alternative thinkers out there who are endangering themselves and threaten to wreck our systems.
Our Doctor just this morning said 3+ Doctors are being assessed by the Medical Council for promoting alternative views and discouraging vaccination. Some areas also have poor Leadership around vaccination from Church Leaders and the Anti-Vax supporters as well. This is a lifeboat with a hole in it.
It is really hard, keep the faith, this Government wishes to do their best for us. Thanks for your thoughtful reply, keep feeling you can express your anger.. that is a healthy reaction actually.
Just observing that the team has managed to achieve some pretty good Covid health outcomes to date – not without considerable sacrifice and suffering of course, and some will have struggled more than others.
Going by the 'f**k count', feelings are running pretty high. So if having a go at my supposed "sense of security and other warm fuzzies" [?] helps then have at it.
Yes, some always suffer more then others, and sadly they the same that have suffered before the pandemic. And yeah, next year there will be another trickle down increase in their benefit rates that will at the same time be removed from a side benefits, but it will make us all feel so fuzzy and warm and good about our self. Trickle trickle trickle. And if it is not enough and you can't pay rent and eat, here be housed in a unsued motel somewhere with no cooking or laundry facilities. Don't you feel so warm and fuzzy now?
But hey, i hear someone is getting married. Now that is good news.
Leave the PM's private life out of it. She is not flaunting that. Granny Herald is getting muck from Slater. Read "The Hollow Men"
From the luxury of the position we are in we are free to philosophise, pontificate and ponder.
It's as if we watched a big tsunami heading our way, wiping out lots of places on its way to get us. We got in a such a position though it didn't get us past bits around the edges.
We say, "Thank God for that, that was close, we're been spared. Thank you for those who led us to here?"
No. We say, "Why did you got that way, why didn't you do this instead? Why didn't you think about this, why didn't you consider that? You did this wrong, you stuffed that up. You are incompetent. We would have done it so much better." And on and on.
Early on it was "We should be doing what Australia's doing." A week later, "We should be copying Singapore." A week on, "Why aren't we copying Sweden?"
And we've been to Finland and Japan and back to Australia several times, or just some states of our neighbours. And to Taiwan and just about everywhere except the US.
We had more scientific experts per capita than anywhere in the world, all qualified overnight. Fancy that, we got the real advice from the real scientists not the local internet ones.
Tonight I see from Maori TV via the Herald: "Murupara kaumātua says he and other local Māori don't want the Pfizer vaccine and are waiting for other vaccines they think will be more effective."
I see "Covid 19 Delta outbreak: 1000 surgeries cancelled every week."
The tsunami didn't get us but waves like that are smashing us. Idiots like Brian Tamaki are smashing us. I don't mind them having a death wish. I don't mind the non-vaxxers worrying about the microchips carried in the vaccine or the fact that the vaccine as the lunatic American doctor claimed, will magnetise their bodies.
I don't like the idea though that they threaten my family, my friends and me. And for the information of that mad cow American, metal won't stick to my brow because of the magnetism in the vaccine.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/kahu/covid-19-delta-outbreak-murupara-doesnt-want-pfizer-vaccine-kaumatua-says/Q6AG522GP3HNNTTP7NXQNIQJ3E/
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/covid-19-delta-outbreak-1000-surgeries-cancelled-every-week/UWGKLTITX5AW77V4XQMIZLYWO4/
Pete, Yes we have the luxury to moan groan and "What if"
Agreed Drowsy.
United we stand. Divided we fall.
... personal feelings of entitlement notwithstanding – "
That is the message coming through to me too.
I dont' know where anyone here lives, and i don't live in Auckland, but frankly these guys have had three month now on Home D. Maybe a bit of kindness is on order now? Just a wee bit. Specially from those that are not currently locked up at home without an end in sight.
I'm just so so proud of all you posting and commenting standardistas on the restraint and decorum displayed re the news that HDPA is expecting a son. I read this blog assiduously and I thought, oh no the sarcy comments are going to flow. Indeed I thought of a few myself. Well done guys, having a child is special.
Interesting article in the Guardian just out.
Especially what the experts are saying.
What are these experts proposing to do to lift our vaccination rate?
What are you doing to help prepare NZ mentally for lots of deaths and disability?
Pretty easy to point the finger.
I've actually spent a lot of time with some vaccine hesitants getting them actual accurate information, and talking them through how routine vaccination is just a normal part of life for the large majority of the population.
I'm pretty sure I was mostly responsible for one success, and it feels close for a second.
But I'm utterly fucking disgusted with those that are encouraging the conditions that will contribute to that death and disability by posting apologia and encouragement for vaccine hesitancy.
that's great Andre, I think as many of us doing the vaccine outreach as possible is a big part of it.
Honestly that should never be asked from someone who obviously has been in lockdown now for almost 3 month. Not needed.
We all do what we can. I don't think anyone is trying to get covid or spread it. We all try to live with it as much as we can. But we can not ask for some to be under constant home D without accepting that people will lose it. That would be downright cruel and / or foolish. We can also not demand that people stay in lockdown and watch their lifes and their lifelyhood disappear down the drain, no matter if that is a hair dresser or a restaurant or just a retail business.
the government had 18 month now of information on how this plague works, we have seen it in China, Italy, France, Germany, USA, South America, UK, India etc. And here we are, getting a daily update on numbers and nothing else.
No plan on how to educate our kids other then what was set up last year, which is inadequite and does not work for all – re connectivity and hardware. Need a doctor or surgery, well that is a no. Can't enter the country, can't leave the country. ETC etc etc.
At some stage they need to serve up something better then this lukewarm warmed up re-iteration of 'be kind – to us specially, and use up your savings if you are running out of money, cause hey ……Grant likes to underspent his budgets.
And fwiw, the whole of the North Island is struggling. Maybe the South Island is so remote taht if the north island implodes it can go chugging along – growing their own kale and milking the last few cows that are allowed, but here in the North Island Auckland is needed and Aucklanders are part of our whanau. If that is still something that we consider of worth. .
So what are we going to do after the 90% vaccination rate? Keep the country closed until we are back to 0 cases? what if that does not happen? Seriously, this discussion needs to be had.
It was a rhetorical question that Andre doesn't need to answer any more than Baker and Hendy need to answer for raising vax rates.
I agree the bigger conversation needs to be had. I've been trying to have it the whole time. Only I don't think there's a BAU to return to. Andre's stress and frustration is totally understandable. I've been there before covid, as have plenty of others. Only the limiting factors were being disabled and having a government and society that basically didn't give a shit. So my perspective on it is different. Having sometimes severe limitations on one's life isn't new to many of us.
I also think that covid is the starter and climate/eco crises are going to hit us way harder than this. Best we get on with adaptation and mitigation of both covid and climate change. If kids can't go to school, then society can adapt to homeschool. If people are bored walking in their neighbourhood, then make the neighbourhood a great place to be. If L4 is unbearable, then let's do the mahi of changing that so that it becomes tolerable.
No-one is talking about this because most people thing it's soon going to be over and hey presto all the businesses will be open again and NZers will vote in neoliberal governments and go back to ignoring poor and disabled people and the eco crises.
I am very doubtful that it will be over soon. I think it's possible NZ hasn't had the hardest pandemic year yet, but that that will be 2022 as we have to learn to live with covid in the community and people dying and then how to manage long covid.
Yes, lockdown is fucking hard. Haven't seen too many conversations on TS about the people that are going to have their lives destroyed by long covid and having to be WINZ clients. This isn't to diss people losing it under lockdown, it's to say either way was always going to be really hard. As you know it just hits people differently.
All that shit that the hippies were talking about, we should be stepping up now. Local food, local economy, build strong communities, help each other, plant a shit load of trees, shift values and priorities. It doesn't have to be this bad.
and you know, you can imagine what it's like for someone in my situation to hear a centre leftie saying they're going to vote National. National who destroyed so many of our lives and who would have made covid into an utter disaster instead of the half disaster that it is now.
I posited last year at the beginning of L4 that this plague will take several years, that we will have rolling lockdowns, with all the assorted misery that living under a siege brings with it.
I personally am not too affected by staying at home, i am not a very outgoing person (don't cope well in large settings), and i can understand how those that live with disability have more of a nuanced way of looking at lockdowns due to their own diminished reality of moving about, but we can not overlook the fact that we are the minority and that humans are social beings and like to gather. We can not overlook the fact that not everyone will cope well, and we are seeing this now.
And yet, here we are, and it seems that some of us are quite happy to lock up AKL indefinitely if it keeps them in their supposed 'safe' bubble. Never mind that safe does not exist anymore.
I think that the govt did pretty much everything correct with regards to containing the virus initially, i think that the wage subsidy was simply just a triage mechanism to prevent a million people at once hitting the unemployment queues, and was wasted in many cases, it would have been better to allow businesses to go bust without dragging the owners into bankruptcies, i think that our children should be first priority and that if we can’t educate them we are cutting off our noses.
But here we are 18 month in, and we seem to not have added anything new to what we do.
And it gets tedious, even for those that don't live in AKL. Covid is an utter disaster, even if we managed to feel very smug in our wee island far far away from everywhere for a while.
The brother of a friend of mine killed himself last week. He hang himself in the garage, long haul Covid. He got it last year with his mum. She did fine, he did not. And in the end he killed himself because his body was slowly but surely rotting away – and there was nothing anyone could do.
We need to have this discussion now, because the vaccination are not the great opening to life. Vaccine, permanent mask wearing, keeping social distancing, no contact business to very low contact business, rapid saliva testing, is what will be.
In Germany kids go to school. They wear masks, and have three tests a week. Rapid saliva tests. Essentially they live by the three G's.
Getested – get tested
Geimpft – get jabbed
Genessen – recover from disease
Can we at least demand some quick delivery of rapid saliva tests from the government before someone doo doos us demanding human beings for not being grateful enough for US keeping US safe while we are locking us up in our houses with no end in sight?
I feel that if we don't get really honest real fast, you will see that getting people to have booster shots will be even harder then getting them to get the double jabs now.
Thanks, Sabine.
As you often do, you have taken some of my concerns and written them down coherently.
Sabine yes, we have to lay out the hard truths. His sad death should be noted in the effects of covid.
I think the Government needs to mandate vaccines to assist businesses to achieve this, also mandate mask wearing and social distancing.
Shopping is difficult, as is education, as we need air filtering in every public place before next year. As we learn of helpful methods they should be mandated.
When I was a child chewing tobacco was a thing. Spittoons were in each train carriage. That was to stop people spitting on the floor because of tuberculosis. A sign promised a ten pound fine for expectorating .
Yes I agree Weka. I think you are so rational in the face of pain and a long wait for surgery, as are friends and our son. I feel for Andre, some situations are more triggering than others. I became a bit depressed at one stage he is angry, i think it is actually a form of grief.
I agree. I think one of the most urgent things we need to be doing is teaching resiliency skills (and probably grieving). To do that we'd have to acknowledge the long term nature of the crisis and that some things have been lost.
Rational, maybe, born of long experience of restrictions and learning how to cope. Mindfulness has helped a lot.
There's an edge between compassion for people having a really hard time, and this being a political blog.
Here here.Please, folk out there stay the coarse,I'm down south but am truely grateful for all the people up north trying their best.As Peter Gabriel sings "hold the line".
Surely it is not just about the vaccination rate. I had not thought it was a 'one shot wonder' from the Govt. Ha ha sorry not funny perhaps
How has this been boiled down to this one thing. I know the current focus has been on vaccination. This is not the only part of the plan to open up NZ that is being worked on.
The item that many of us have been watching in the Akl situation is the number of cases that cannot be linked. This is despite not now assigning the results to sub clusters.
When I last looked over the weekend there was a tail of around 114? to be linked.
With my degree in MB epidemiology to my way of thinking this signals that perhaps there are carriers. pockets, people with Delta that are still passing it on. Again with my degree in psychology I would suggest that these are unlikely to be vaccinated.
So I don't think it is a single task and once this is done Akl opens.
What with employers in essential industries not mandating the vaccine for their public facing employees ie border crossing truckies are still allowed despite no vaccination and we now have a rest home in Remuera with a single vaccinated person with Covid. If this is a worker then both employer/ee have left it very late to get started on the vaccination process. How can an employer be happy with a worker with only one part of a two part vaccination working?
A missing part of the equation should also be an expectation that employers will do their bit. I am not getting this feeling that this is happening widely though with MSM who knows?
I have friends in Auckland and they have said that the single thing that has kept them going is the 40 min walk they do every single day. If they need it they do another walk. They start each day with a to do list. One works from home. They have taken advantage of the picnic idea to catch up with another bubble. Not really their thing they say but it is the only one on offer.
Is there a person you can talk to. It is not unusual to be feeling these things but perhaps better to not suffer in silence of there is a trained person you can talk to? The last two paras are written with kindness. .
More health experts have shared their thoughts.
Te Rōpū Whakakaupapa Urutā (National Maori Pandemic Group) co-leader Dr Rawiri Jansen said
Immunologist and Associate Dean (Pacific) at the University of Otago (Wellington)Dr Dianne Sika-Paotonu
Dr Dion O’Neale, principal investigator at Te Pūnaha Matatini, said
To change the subject to another very important matter, has anyone seen that Stuff have started a detailed investigation into the biodiversity crisis in New Zealand and the world? Has anyone seen it?
The first episode looks at seabirds. Looks like some excellent work by Andrea Vance and Iain McGregor.
From the article, some startling facts :
1. We are ranked 89th in the world for conversion of natural habitat.
2. In New Zealand, there are more than 4000 indigenous species at risk.
3. We are ranked 13th in the world for the use of fertiliser.
4. We are ranked the worst in the world, for the proportion of threatened species we have.
It will make you consider whether you should be eating tuna.
If I have time, I'll put a more detailed report tomorrow.
https://interactives.stuff.co.nz/2021/this-is-how-it-ends-extinction-documentary/
https://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/300424903/this-is-how-it-ends-natures-dangerous-decline-is-accelerating-why-its-us
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UtBhE_FVlO0
If too many consumers are contributing to the biodiversity crisis in New Zealand and the world declining fertility should mitigate it. Not a short term fix though.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/world/421284/fertility-rate-jaw-dropping-global-crash-in-children-being-born
Our treatment of the NZ environment; flora and fauna is IMO worse than how we deal with CO2, and in my disappointment feel bad giving TG a vote. There is no international distain to be expressed and embarrass our govt into action. Any pressure on the govt is by a small group of kiwis with their efforts going unseen in restoring parts on NZ to its former glory.
This has some short comings yet still worth the time to watch, especially under the current conditions that covid lockdown has allowed. It is currently available on Netflix, and I know of a few families that now will not eat fish.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seaspiracy
Less Green MPs and it would be worse.
The environment is my nice place, given the rant above. Last year I considered not voting as all the options IMO were crap. The only reason was my base line the environment. 67% of the voting family voted Green. Next election it appears it will be 33%.
Global warming has the entire world working to pressure leaders in saving it, NZ has only kiwis to pressure our leaders, and that is why IMO NZ needs all effort in save our flora and fauna and TG need to be leading this, instead of saving the world.
Wouldnt it be logical to solve the biggest problems first herodotus ?ie climate change and the threat that poses to all species /? If you are one of the people who thought James Shaw shoudnt go to COPs cause flying is bad then were off to a great start arnt we ! My own personal opinion based on observation of fanatics is that bird watching turns some peoples brains to mush !
To assist in climate change there are some who have purchased large areas of land and are planting it with pine to capture the co2. How does that help to protect and enhance our unique wildlife and their habitats ? By protecting the habitats we are assisting by allowing nzers to see 1st hand the direct benefits eg native bush/forests/coastal areas and secondary doing our bit to rebalance the gases in the atmosphere.
my summary what many sequent co2 short term can have detrimental adverse effects elsewhere, a rubrics cube scenario.
And weka love your devotion to the party keep it up even though I may disagree
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/in-depth/399192/green-rush-will-pines-really-save-the-planet
I honestly don't get this. If we get another Labour majority and less or no Green MPs, do you think that we will see more action on biodiversity or less?
As a Labour member, I don't want a Labour majority government, I want a Labour-Green coalition (I joined Labour in part to try to push in that direction).
It would be about the same.
Yep. Sweet fuck-all.
Exactly Andre, and it's because they are a bunch of fucking Neolibs.
Thanks for the recommendation. I shall watch this film this weekend.
May I recommend another film about the unsustainable economy we operate in New Zealand. The film is coming out at the time of the film festival.
Wellington
https://www.nziff.co.nz/2021/wellington/milked/
Tauranga
https://www.nziff.co.nz/2021/tauranga/milked/
Milked exposes the whitewash of New Zealand’s multi-billion-dollar dairy industry.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_ywYRRcLK4
Do they get Fonterra to comment on this?
Its about time some hard questions get asked tbh… we've had alot of time to prepare for this point in our resposne yet govt still hasnt got rapid testing organized, salivia testing is a mess and the vax passport other countries started and finished with it we'restill flailing about developing it.. surely we should have had businesses like hairdressers open by now with a vax passport instead its kicked down the road another two weeks. People are pretty pissed.
They have made moves to import the rapid testing for workplaces – it should up and going by the end of the month or early November.
This would have informed their thinking on holding at Level 3 lite till then.
Thats my issue we're still mucking about try to organize this stuff and seeminly doing it on the fly
We've had plenty of time to watch what other countries have done well, got to work and had alot of this stuff ready to roll when the inevitable happened.
Auckland should have had a functioning vax passport system 2-3 weeks ago when we went to level 3.9 so small businesses like hairdressers for example could open… its really disheartening because so many people are going to the wall with this lockdown… and they're the little guys hospo staff, retail staff, hairdressers small business manicure shops those little chinese massage places in the malls etc etc wage subsidy doesnt touch the sides in Auckland. Company I work for burnt through 150k during level 4 keeping everyone at 80 percent and covering all the fixed outgoings we can operate at almost breakeven in level 3 which means at least we all have jobs… which makes us lucky.
Their plan has been
Sure if they had planned for a delta outbreak they could not eliminate – then they might have had easier saliva testing and also rapid testing in place to help manage it, and also vax ID for use at Level 3 lite.
As it is, this got going in recent weeks as they realised elimination might fail or would require another month at Level 4. Those businesses in Auckland that got Level 3 and Level 3 lite benefited from that decision.
In Auckland?
Yes in Auckland, it's getting financially very ugly for alot of people especially in the service industry. Think hairdressers, the nail salons, massage all sorts of little businesses really. Having a passport ready would have allowed them to at least start making some income.
people can still transmit covid when fully vaxxed, although the risk is much lower*. Are you saying that Auckland should abandon containment and come out of L3+?
One of the big risks we are about to face is if people think double vax makes other measures unnecessary.
*in reality, I don't think we know yet what the risk is. I really wish we would be more honest about this.
https://publichealth.jhu.edu/2021/new-data-on-covid-19-transmission-by-vaccinated-individuals
Auckland couldnstill be ring fenced all im saying is if we had some tools ready like vaccine passports and rapid tests more businesses in Auckland could open which would act as a pressure release valve.
We cant stay in an endless level 3.9 lockdown cycle there are other massive costs besides the obvious financial ones, on a personal level my daughter is really starting to struggle with the social isolation now, one of her friends has become completely withdrawn and tbh online school is pretty grim.
The govt just seems so unprepared and we've had time to be ready to deal with this stuff.
the point of L3+ is to get as many people vaxxed as possible while at the same time trying to contain and limit spread of covid as much as possible. No-one is suggesting that it be endless (although I'm sure it feels like that).
I can't see how hairdressers and massage therapists could operate currently while trying to limit spread.
Afaik the government has plans for both rapid testing and vax passports.
Yes I know they have 'plans' I think they should be already devloped and in use…
If we did that for fully vaxed people it will perhaps encourage a few more accross the line to access said freedoms and it might well actually help level 3.9 hold.
It gets busier everyday here, Mt Eden was packed sunday morning with people getting coffee etc chatting on the footpath sitting at tables that have reappeared on the footpaths… basically the longer this goes on the more disobedient people will get and that's going to lead to worse outcomes.
Vaxing is in fact irrelevant the determining factor is does a person have transmissible infection or not. The present testing system only tells us the status 15 hours to three days ago – nothing prevents infectious viral loading after test and before result.
This is where rapid testing of high reliability is so needed – the viral loading status NOW is known right on the spot. This even negates the 'Vax Passprot' … which only shows probable less susceptibility to personal health effects NOT infection and Transmissibility.
I would rather KNOW that infection was not present rather than if someone (or myself) had been jabbed – probably some considerable time ago.
As long as we have a Privacy Act and people who will be quite annoyed about data breaches, developing a vax passport app based on realtime connection to the Covid-19 register is going to be slow going no matter who does it. Also, if we are going to mandate denial of service/entry based on this app, best make sure it's accurate.
As pointed out by the DG and others, rapid antigen testing is not nearly as accurate as other testing, so was actively unhelpful while we could reasonably test and deliver results at pace. Useful in an outbreak, not much use otherwise. Saliva testing uses the same lab infrastructure as nasal swabs, so the main improvement is comfort (and in earlier days, a loss of accuracy), not anything else (that's a worthy improvement, but it's not like it's a serious difference in terms of the Covid response).
Most of the issues are simply that we thought we had the time to pick out the best parts of Covid responses elsewhere, and then Delta arrived early.
I'm waiting for Federated Farmers to step up and ask all their members to get vaccinated.
They did it over a month ago, press release from 6/9/21
https://www.fedfarm.org.nz/FFPublic/Media-Releases/2021/Farmers_urged_to_enable_staff_to_get_vaccinations.aspx?WebsiteKey=00ff782d-8ff5-4a81-ae69-785972132c32
From what I've seen rural uptake has been high, but the general uptake in Otago is very high, Dunedin and Queenstown are both over 90%
Southland, Northland, Taranaki and East Cape.
Otago is one of the safest CVID-prepared populations around.
It's notable that when elimination resulted in Level 1 freedom, lock downs to get this result were well supported.
But when lock downs are only to hold down the rate of spread, as originally intended last year to keep the health system safe, they begin to seem onerous to "freedom". Which might explain the USA and UK opposition to lock downs because of some "flu". And in those places that opposition to any "pandemic regime" has extended to opposition to vaccination itself and also to vaccination "passports".
The current Auckland lock down has been shorter than in Sydney – and Melbourne has had the longest total period of lock downs in the world.
It retrospect we were lucky to arrive at elimination, because the society division that would have occurred (racial disharmony and inequality exacerbated – working class deaths) would have been terrible.
We'll only get a taste of that in the year ahead with greater freedoms and more deaths – including among the vaccinated.
Just watch Melbourne, the rate in two weeks will be stratospheric. Do you want that here?
Wouldnt it be logical to solve the biggest problems first herodotus ?ie climate change and the threat that poses to all species /? If you are one of the people who thought James Shaw shoudnt go to COPs cause flying is bad then were off to a great start arnt we ! My own personal opinion based on observation of fanatics is that bird watching turns some peoples brains to mush !
And this is a bit of a worry.
Covid 19 Delta outbreak: 1000 surgeries cancelled every week – NZ Herald
Time for the unvaccianted to get criminal nuisance charges.
Going to charge everyone under 12 as well?
Minors aren't generally charged in our justice system.
It'll be full vaccine for 5-and-up very soon.
Possibly, I do hope they start talking about actual benefits in terms of outcome compared to actually catching covid in that age cohort… so far its just it triggers a good immune response… if there isnt a demonstable drop in hospitalisation/serious outcomes why give it?
Males 12-15 and those 5-12 are not advantaged by vaccination – but presumably the rest of us are (because of break through infections in older people).
Yeah I struggle with that reasoning in terms of giving a vacc to that younger age cohort I read a stuff article saying similar, to me thats not a good enough reason personally better be ready to go with booster shots for those that need them which based on our rollout will be fairly soon.
Yup esp some of the old and health compromised vaxxed pre June 30 prior to the Dec/Jan family gathering times.
Youngsters are pretty "disadvantaged" if their parents or grandparents die of covid.
And. If Covid is still around as they get older, which seems likely. Immunity is advantageous.
Any precedent, apart from being Japanese in America after Pearl Harbour or Moslem after 9/11? After all this is paranoia that others are not in the same team right?
We'll need 500 ICU like beds (not 250 + 100 staffed by surgical nurses under supervision – surgical nurses being spare because of reduced surgeries).
Which means getting in vaxxed migrant ICU pandemic experienced nurses – and place them here via airbnb.
We have over 3.5M vaccinated people and 1% of them might need hospitalisation if infected (and by the end of 2022 a lot will have been) and 500,000 unvaxxed (going down to 400,000) of whom 10% might need hospitalisation (which is not ICU care).
While a lot of the hospitalisations will not need ICU care, just monitoring and treatments it will be tight at 500 for mine.
We're lucky there will be the Merck anti-viral treatment for the vaxxed and unvaxxed alike and the monoclonal antibody treatment for the unvaxxed used in the USA.
What the government should also do is bring in the Astra Zeneca Cov2 anti-body cocktail – this is effective prior to and post infection as an alternative to vaccination. This should reduce the risk on the health system.
Well that's great but I need my nails cut and my hair styled now, not in 2 or 3 or who knows how many weeks. This whole thing is a shambles! Signed…..Judith.
..Too much info