But on the Newstalk ZB talk show on Wednesday morning, Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment deputy chief executive Paul Stocks said butchers and produce stores would not be considered an essential service.
Not a smart decision – what are they doing taking out local competition to supermarkets? Many neighbourhoods/suburbs have a dairy, butcher and grocer. (mine has a 4 Square, sort of a combo).
It’s just sad for those businesses and their local walk-in (no transport issues) customers. Needless.
Next it will be farmers markets – as if buying outdoors makes buying fruit and veges more unsafe.
Do they have a bias against locally grown and locally sold fresh food and want us to stock up on processed food out of cans or something.
And some of us would prefer the local butcher / green grocer / bakery. Far fewer people packed into these shops, fresher produce and less waiting in great long queues.
Well Farmers Markets would be wouldn't they? Unless they were in stadium size areas with strict patrolling of distance between people. This is not a holiday, this is a state of emergency, and I agree about butchers but fuck it, this sucks for everyone.
Yeah the social distancing, there are no crowds in local butchers, greengrocers – more at the supermarket – and no more crowding at an open market than at the supermarket (except for distance caused by trolleys).
Then there those without cars having to travel by PT to get to a supermarket.
Apparently they're staggering people in supermarkets, but who knows, no one knows right now, personally, when I go shopping, if I see crowds of people, I'll turn around and leave. Like I said, I agree, butchers, but they are told to shut, so they will shut. I'm just gonna deal with the here and now.
It's not just about physical closeness, but limiting the number of people we regularly come into contact with – and also limiting the number of locations, because surfaces.
You may only see the operator-owner and maybe one other staff member and maybe one other person at the local shop – butcher and greengrocer and dairy (milk) would cover shopping of fresh goods for the month (a lot of people would have already done a supermarket shop to cover their storage for pantry and freezer).
Bottom line is, the fewer places open the better. Too many businesses (and others) trying to stretch it too much. Too many seem to think they're a special case and the strict measures don't apply to them.
Supermarkets are upping their game with perspex between checkout operators & customers. Customers to load own bags, and limiting numbers in the store at anyone time.
We all need to shrink the number of places we are visiting.
I think the aim is to minimise the number of places in the public arena where cross-infection can occur.
Modelling from Uni of Sydney I saw in the SMH this morning says that compliance by at least 80% of the population needs to happen if the containment is to be successful, anything less than that and we will have put ourselves through enormous grief and trashed the economy for nothing. Our health system will still be at risk and Covid-19 will still be out there.
Supermarkets have implemented a one in, one out policy at the door with social distancing applied to the resulting queue. Expect to see a fair bit of security when you go to the supermarket to enforce this.
At the last small bakery in my area open today, they allowed only one customer inside at the any time. That single person can’t touch any produce, which is a significant distance away. Contactless payment. And the shopping is done in one or two minutes, so hardly any outside queue at all.
No way any supermarket in NZ is safer than this place to get bread.
I also think the small shop has a much better idea which of their 1-2 employees had contact with produce / places within the shop in case of infection.
This is how authoritarianism occurs. No restraints, step by step until there is total itarian) and singular focus on the objective – because any identified "weakness" is risking defeat.
And all because of fear of community spread – fear because we did not have the the testing kit resources (our pandemic planning was weak) to identify it and its extent.
The irony we are developing such capacity and may have it after the month (for a few weeks prioritised to those returning kiwis going into their lockdown).
This butcher is a decent and community-minded man who has a social conscience and is generous. I'd buy from him even if I were a vegan. I know him and I have an idea of what he does for his town. I'd have said he was too busy, in too small a serving area, and I can see why his customers were queued outside. For dinner tonight I had some of his pork belly, and tomorrow night probably his mince on a pizza. Then, I fear I won't see Mike for a month, and have to patronise the supermarket shelves more.
Just like the wine grower I praised recently, a hard worker and an ethical businessman, Mike Newman, too, puts a human face on the huge problems being faced by people dealing with the corona virus.
The Gods smiled upon NZ when Andrew Little realised Jacinda Ardern had a better chance of saving the NZ Labour Party than himself….the series of events that followed couldnt have been bet upon.
Was standing in line at PB Tech this afternoon listening to conversations 2m away. The woman behind me, apparently in health, was on the phone worried about several things among them the addicts who will basically go ballistic in a couple of days when they can't meet their needs.
Expect crime to go through the roof. Police will not be able to handle this.
I’m of the opinion that a lot more people will die during this event from non Covid-19 related circumstances than from the virus itself.
You mean illicit drugs? I wouldn't worry too much, drug addicts know what they're doing and weirdly think ahead, Divo and other dispensaries have plans in place, they're used to people not sparing them much of a thought, I doubt they thought things would change now. (ex addict, with friends still doing naughty things, not one violent criminal or thief among them).
No, I don't, but I know users. Users think ahead, users already use illicit channels to get their drugs, users are used to keeping their drug use hidden, users are used to being ignored, places like Divo and mental health workers know these people, it's quite a community, with characters and stories, some funny, some sad. I just think your fear is unwarranted, druggies lives will go on like the rest of us, I'd be more worried about the drunk home renovators quite frankly.
Except some of the ones I know would be very unhappy with being in a motel with others. They have been offered accommodation before, especially in severe weather conditions. A nice quiet space where they could come and go. But turned down – preferring to find their own space. Quite a few are suffering anxiety and prefer to be alone, which is why they sleep rough. If they can find a safe place where no one can bother them, that is their goal. Here we are hoping to be able to do a "cook up " and leave it on the front step for them to pick up every other day. if the local police agree.
I'm not saying they are all like that, but we must understand that for some this is a life that they choose, because this is how they are coping with their circumstances right now. We need to be there for when they are ready to move on.
Muttonbird – this afternoon on Radio NZ there was an interview in which the ANZ person said the interest would still accrue so no one will take a mortgage "holiday" unless they absolutely have to as it will cost them more. If renters got the same treatment, they would simply be in rent arrears and I know how hard it is to catch up if you are skint to start with. There does need to be some backup though from government of course for people to be able to make their rent payments.
I will try to find the link – not sure it's up yet.
yes I heard that too…which appeared to contradict yesterdays statement that there was an interest holiday as well
"The six-month principal and interest payment holiday for mortgage holders and small business customers whose incomes have been affected by the economic disruption from Covid-19."
yes was Robertson…he did qualify his statements by saying the banks were working on details and to wait a couple of days for them to do so….but it appears it was unnecessarily loose language
Thanks mate but the crux of the situation is that in this lockdown and post lockdown period affected renters still have to pay full rent. Affected homeowners do not have to pay anything.
you wrote…."Affected homeowners do not have to pay anything."
not the case (unless there was an interest holiday as well)….it is essentially an addition to the mortgage principle and adds both interest costs and extends the term
The only reason we are landlords is because we no longer require the small attached unit for our 'grannies'. Since then we have rented it out, electricity, water and internet included to several people. We've never charged the cost of the flat on our mortgage – because I am of the mind that housing is too expensive and thought we need to follow those values in our decisions. Three young couples have saved enough to get deposits on homes, while we have paid 65% of our income on mortgage costs.
We gave our current tenants the required six-weeks notice in three weeks ago so our son could return home, and as we try to never give notice, we gave them two weeks rent free so that they would have more money for a deposit when looking for a new place. The Covid-19 alerts have put paid to that and my son will have to stay where he is and the tenancy notice end date will be extended to include the time of the lockdown, however long it is.
If your suggestion is imposed, and we do have to take a payment holiday – god forbid – we will not be having a gift from the bank that we pass on to our tenants. We will be accruing further interest and it will not be amortised over a term of twenty five years, because we don't have that much working lives left. If we had passed on the cost of having the unit to our tenants, those couples may not have left to move into their own first homes.
Our tenants are already receiving the government wages, and their board to us takes 27% of that income. Blanket requirements such as the one you propose will include landlords who are already trying to do the right thing for tenants. And will quite honestly for us, be financial pressure that is too much to accommodate. Consider those of us who are already trying to look after their tenants at personal costs already.
Molly. You do touch on an important point. That is that there is no consistency in the landlord group in terms of what they offer in rent relief for their tenants.
Everyone would feel they were 'in this together' if there was government direction on this rather than tenants being thrown to the hounds.
I say again, my issue is with the short term discrepancy where out of work tenants have to pay full rent and out of work homeowners can defer payments.
This is crucial for the young families of the renting class.
Assuming all landlords are the same, and need to be required to do something specific because it makes sense to you, does not allow for diversity in tenant experiences, and may very well penalise those landlords who are already trying hard to do the right thing.
Once again,
“If your suggestion is imposed, and we do have to take a payment holiday – god forbid – we will not be having a gift from the bank that we pass on to our tenants. We will be accruing further interest and it will not be amortised over a term of twenty five years, because we don’t have that much working lives left.”
But if there was proper government structured guidance then landlords trying to do the right thing would not be disadvantaged at all – rather they would be joined and part of a scheme which serviced everyones needs.
And on the extra interest – this would be accounted for in a decent government scheme where tenants would pay a reduced rent for the time period which covered costs like rates and insurance and extra costs like heightened interest on the loan.
Homeowners will have to negotiate with their banks. Falling behind in rent is not a good enough reason to kick out tenants until 60 days have passed, which is almost three times as long as previously. If the current new rules are abused, I’d expect further ‘adjustments’ will be introduced by Government.
basically looks like the banks are going to suggest interest only on mortgages where they can, which makes sense to prevent the debt increasing – just delays final repayment.
Now say everyone was tossed onto that, then rents could also go down to the interest amount plus the other overheads. That way no tenant is retiring outstanding principal so rents drop with a thud. It would put domestic rentals well within benefit levels and save small business by them having hopefully on a tiny lease while income is low.In effect a gain pause button on capital movements but expenses being paid .
To implement something like this needs somebody like the ird – they have sector figures – to estimate what % of rental income is nationally swallowed by rates interest insurance and other cash overheads and then the rent freeze becomes anational rent fall of the required %
You seem to be assuming that mortgage payments on rentals are the same as on owner-occupied home loans with maximum principal payments. In addition, most loans are on fixed rates.
Well if the rental mortgage is interest only then likely to mean taking funds they are using elsewhere and yes there are fixed rates of varying amounts on mortgages as are rates insurances etc. Hence using sector averages which could be refined by region. Something is used to set the general housing top up benefit so there are figures there.
It wouldn't work perfectly for all but the current default certainly doesn't so this could be a different starting point. Then some form of top up negotiations
Then there are rental property managers – reminds one of the executives hired to remove labour so vulture capitalism (private funds) can on-sell for CG.
Fuck it pays to just turn the damn radio off after a while the extra stentorian tones of the health warnings emergency alert signals on the phone ect are giving me the shits .They're just scaring people imo and its not necessary after all the build up .anyone with half a brain has surely got the message .Today at a press conference the PM said we could go for a walk but dont talk to anyone is that being kind to each other ?ffs the other day it was sing out to your neigbour over the fence .The thought of weeks if not longer of your own company with little or no respite is bad enough without setting out to ignore people .Say hello !!
I'll still be working, I work for NZ Post, I see people waving at each other and being kind and yelling "All good?" to each other, more so than usual. Common sense, we are social animals, we adapt, give it time there will be new funny ideas people come up with (the teddy bear example below). Fuck, maybe we'll start learning morse code or sign language… I shift from despair and cynicism to cheery upbeat optimism, and yes, turn off the news!
Some of it is a bit silly, too. "Pretend you've already got the virus…" For Heaven's sake, if I've already got the virus, why on earth keep trying to avoid catching it? Some bumkum is getting made up at times..
Yes, of course that is the obvious aim. But if I am pretending that I already have it, why would I continue to wash my hands in cases where that act protects only me?
I think they got this idea from war stories where soldiers performed brave acts in the heat of action – pretending they were already dead helped clear their heads.
I don't think it suits this situation. We must all try above all to avoid catching it (if we haven't already, but do not know) and we should also do all we can to avoid spreading it. But pretending we already have it is naff to my mind.
It's hard enough for adults to fully comprehend the situation. It must be impossible for the kids. I don't live on a street front but a nice way to give them some fun counting the teddy bears.
If you do the stomp method, beware, it does comes with a slippery health warning. It does work, had to do it a few times, and my nan use to always do it, though she had willing (or press ganged) grand kids to do the mashing, and kids were tougher back then, so falling out of the bath didn't seem to matter so much.
Rinsing is the pain, not just for having to use cold water, but because it never seems to run thoroughly clean. I always found it best to rinse just one or two items, squeeze and redo, but at least you can do that from outside the tub.
I've just had a pair of relatives drop by with TV dinners and puds in case I don't always feel like cooking during the lockdown. They said there are military helicoptors flying all over Auckland tonight. Must be expecting trouble.
I popped in to my local dairy earlier today and the Indian family who own it are scared stiff. They know they are going to be at the front of the firing line when the kids high on drugs – having discovered everything is closed – start vandalising and burglarising the dairies for cigarettes and the like.
They travelled from Pt Chev to Browns Bay and then to Devonport using the Northern Motorway so maybe there was something going down further north.
Edit: I have a nephew currently training in Waiuru and he told his mother the military have been gearing up to assist the police for some weeks now. His training schedule has been halted so they are available for police assistance work. His sister (my niece) is a recently graduated cop working in Rotorua and she says things are building up there at the moment.
Big landlords, particularly those who do regular opinion pieces in the media might want to action some well publicised rent relief for their customers.
Otherwise they might look like greedy and mean charlatans…
People with holiday homes and little sense of social responsibility, heading to their holiday homes in small communities for the lock down – putting pressure on communities that don't have the health resources to support them, adding extra bodies in supermarkets, and possibly taking Covid-19 with them.
Reporter Susan Strongman has spoken to Coromandel peninsula residents, who are worried by the influx of out-of-towners they've seen in the last few days.
I do wish that was stressed a bit more, "this is NOT a holiday", we were asked to stay in our regions. They've already had to ask people to not go tramping or hunting, what's the bet we hear of a hunting tragedy and or people missing on some range, c'mon people, prove me wrong!
If we are going to require people to give up their local shops and use supermarkets – why not allow people to spread out and isolate themselves further away?
Neither local fear of the outsider (welcome each summer for business), nor resentment at others being able to use their time in this way, is a good thing. They can isolate as much there as their usual residence (not really a burden if they bring their own shopping).
Nonsense. Resources like health care are based on year round resident numbers. Great for some well-off townies to think they'll be better of in a smaller community – except the locals are a small community most of the year, and these insensitive townies are adding to their stress and vulnerability
Read what Graeme said, what if they're sick and they don't know it, and above weren't you advocating staying local? We still might see Regions, towns, even suburbs get further locked down, so maybe these holiday makers might find themselves locked in, or locked out, like in a Bollard novel. We were told to stay home, because it was the simplest thing to do, but oh no, people have to stretch definitions and be contrary. I feel for the police, having to babysit us.
They, or partner, can drive to their primary residence from the "bach" if someone feels sick.
There are not going to be any regional lockdowns – not until they can identify a singular area of community spread. They would have their own shopping with them.
Why should those foreign tourists still here be the only ones enjoying our isolated outdoor areas – these people are not in contact with anyone else going from one place to another.
""And local spread is – where it occurs easier to identify and contain. " you said. -How do you know there won’t be regional lockdowns? I’d say right now, anything is possible.
In so far as track and trace local makes for easier follow up, regional lockdowns require community testing – which we will not be doing this month (focus is on incoming kiwis for now)
Well, for one thing an itinerant population makes contact tracing a bugger.
You go bush tomorrow, someone you contacted with yesterday comes down with it on the weekend, phones are unreliable – I mean, we can hope you don't encounter anyone else and the only one in danger is you…
Well I have seen a couple – but frankly I think that report is over egging it somewhat. Today was my last last chance to go and mow the lawns at Whiritoa. The beach was pretty empty, and no where near the numbers around over the summer holidays. Tomorrow of course they won't be able to.
I see on RNZ that Virgin airlines are basically closing their New Zealand operations making redundancies but are wondering what to do with the wages ssubsidy from the government. Greed like rust seems to never sleep and why are we funding Richard Branson
To avoid queues and minimise contact time, why don’t supermarkets do the shopping for us? You give them your list (in advance), they fill your trolley, you paywave (they can even use mobile EFTPOS), collect your shoppings and drive home. My kind of shopping.
Most big supermarkets already have a click and collect system set up. The two big ones on Lincoln Rd have it. But it seems they are heavily used at the moment so the first available slots are quite a way ahead. You pay online when you place the order, no need for an unclean disease riddled mobile EFTPOS machine to even come within sneezing distance.
Good. Maybe they can increase capacity and shift from physical shopping presence to collection-only. With paywave, the only thing you touch is that disgusting piece of plastic in your wallet 😉
I have registered for Countdown. I looked at the click and collect PickUp several times and have never seen an available slot for my local supermarket- always every time-day slot booked up for the next 7 days. Ditto for home delivery, which costs more. I finally DID manage to get a home delivery for Sunday, but that was a bit of luck. Although the cost is fairly steep, but it's cheaper for a big order, and they give a discount on your first delivery.
I have a scratchy throat, on antibiotics, and been told by the GP to self isolate and to stay away from people, just in case I have a mild does of THE virus. I prefer to do my own shopping, but, will make do in this extraordinary time. I see my local Countdown have expanded the number of slots for home delivery, but it's still over subscribed – all slots full for the next 7 days.
So I am eaking out the meagre fruit & veg I have left so I last til Sunday. Have plenty of protein. I'd rather leave calling out a nephew to shop for me for another week or 2 if I can, and that should take me thru the 4 weeks.
These are not normal times, and we need to make do without some of the luxuries and on-tap stuff we are used to, in order to limit our contacts and keep ourselves and others safe
Up side is, I think I have painlessly lost a little weight. That won't hurt me in the long run.
Register for New World as well – and go with the one with the earliest, or most convenient time slot. And do so early or late to avoid difficulty logging in.
Pity, that choice can be useful. I found this week that New World was available a day quicker (and still had specials, if some were sold out by my delivery today).
They have just finished a major refit and the installed the cabinets for online ordering. About 100 I guess. Totally insufficient for even a small town of around 8000.
New World doesn't do online shopping in the South Island, where I live. I have registered with Fresh Choice here in Cromwell and getting our groceries delivered late tomorrow afternoon/early evening. No problems registering. Because I'm slow, sorting through what I wanted online took me a while, although it was very easy. But I'm sure I will get used to it. Incidently, it worked out a lot cheaper than physically shopping.
Well, maybe this is a good time to plan ahead more and better. I know many shoppers like to touch, pinch, smell, and feel produce and then put it back again for the next shopper to do the same thing again. Would you like to buy avocados, bananas or apples that have been touched by countless strangers before? There are very good apps that take the recipe and list the ingredients as a shopping list but you have to plan the meals for the week. But we shall not inconvenience shoppers, shall we? Least of all, at Alert Level 4.
It's not about feeling the fruit, it's about busy culinary minded people wanting to cook for themselves and like to be inspired when looking at produce in the supermarket for the inspiration on a lovely dish for their family.
Still, at alert level 4 no one is busy, are they? Perhaps we should all just do Ubermarkets instead and be done with any personal creativity?
We laugh at that fool because otherwise one would cry at the people he's killed through laziness and incompetence. We haven't touched the tip of the iceberg on that one.
Those were the days when filling up the trolley once a fortnight and be done with it, except for occasional re-stocking milk and fruit & vege. The less time spent in a supermarket, the better.
I have a decent sized carry bag.I also carry my own bags for veg. Knowing what I want, and where it is, I can quickly get around the store, and usually with less than 12 items go to the fast lane and check out.
Yes, I did leave off some stuff I would have liked from my Sunday home delivery order. Plus, I didn't think to get something probiotic to counter the antibiotics. But, I will get it sooner or later. The stuff I forgot is more what I like, rather than what I absolutely need.
Despite official figures reporting few to no new domestic Covid-19 cases on the Chinese mainland in recent days, authorities continue to detect more infections, with those in the city at the heart of the country’s outbreak often amounting to more than a dozen a day, Caixin has learned.
According to a member of the infectious disease prevention and control team in Wuhan, every day the city continues to record “several or more than a dozen asymptomatic infected individuals”, which are people that have tested positive for Covid-19, but do not feel ill and are excluded from published numbers.
Beware the asymptomatic.
As of Sunday (March 22), Hubei province, where Wuhan is located, had four consecutive days of zero new “confirmed cases.”
The person, who asked not to be named, said that these asymptomatic people are found by tracing the contacts of others who are infected and by screening quarantine workers who are at high risk of infection, as opposed to en masse testing.
“It’s not possible at the moment to tell if transmission has stopped,” the person said.
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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, ...
Every year, in the Budget, Parliament forks out money to government agencies to do certain things. And every year, as part of the annual review cycle, those agencies are meant to report on whether they have done the things Parliament gave them that money for. Agencies which consistently fail to ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – Recent events in American universities point to an underlying crisis of coherent thinking, an issue that increasingly affects the progressive left across the Western world. This of course is nothing new as anyone who can either remember or has read of the late ...
The thing about life’s little victories is that they can be followed by a defeat.Reader Darryl told me on Monday night:Test again Dave. My “head cold” last week became COVID within 24 hours, and is still with me. I hear the new variants take a bit longer to show up ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read:Angus Deaton on rethinking his economics IMFLocal scoop: The people behind Tamarind, the firm that left a $500m cleanup bill for taxpayers at Taranaki’s Tui oil well, are back operating in Taranaki under a different company name. Jonathan ...
Normally when we talk about accessing public transport it’s about improving how easy it is to get to, such as how easy is it to cross roads in a station/stop’s walking catchment, is it possible to cycle to safely, do bus connections work, or even if are there new routes/connections ...
Politicians are not renowned for telling the truth. Some tell us things that are verifiably not true. They offer statements that omit critical pieces of information. Gloss over risks, preferring to offer the best case scenario.Some not truths are quite small, others amusing in their transparency. There are those repeated ...
The pressure is mounting on the Government as it finalises its Budget Policy Statement, but yet more predicted revenue ‘goes missing’. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Climate Commission has delivered another funding blow to the National-ACT-NZ First coalition Government’s tax-cutting plans, potentially carving $1.4 billion off the ‘climate ...
The Government now faces the prospect of having to watch another tax raise the price of petrol when, only six days ago, it abolished the Auckland Regional Fuel tax. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon argued that the regional fuel tax imposed costs on lower-income people with less fuel-efficient vehicles and that ...
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 ...
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. ...
Today marks a tragic milestone for New Zealanders as the Coalition Government side with big tobacco to repeal the Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products (Smoked Tobacco) Amendment Act 2022, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins and Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall said. ...
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 ...
This year’s Pacific Language Weeks celebrate regional unity and the contribution of Pacific communities to New Zealand culture, says Minister for Pacific Peoples Dr Shane Reti. Dr Reti announced dates for the 2024 Pacific Language Weeks during a visit to the Pasifika festival in Auckland today and says there’s so ...
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 ...
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Not a smart decision – what are they doing taking out local competition to supermarkets? Many neighbourhoods/suburbs have a dairy, butcher and grocer. (mine has a 4 Square, sort of a combo).
It’s just sad for those businesses and their local walk-in (no transport issues) customers. Needless.
Next it will be farmers markets – as if buying outdoors makes buying fruit and veges more unsafe.
Do they have a bias against locally grown and locally sold fresh food and want us to stock up on processed food out of cans or something.
And some of us would prefer the local butcher / green grocer / bakery. Far fewer people packed into these shops, fresher produce and less waiting in great long queues.
Well Farmers Markets would be wouldn't they? Unless they were in stadium size areas with strict patrolling of distance between people. This is not a holiday, this is a state of emergency, and I agree about butchers but fuck it, this sucks for everyone.
i.e. Stay in your bubble. loose bubbles cost lives.
The produce is no more spread out in a supermarket, than in an outdoor market.
Not the produce, the people. The reasons playgrounds are shut as it's a place people congregate, they're trying to limit people congregating.
Yeah the social distancing, there are no crowds in local butchers, greengrocers – more at the supermarket – and no more crowding at an open market than at the supermarket (except for distance caused by trolleys).
Then there those without cars having to travel by PT to get to a supermarket.
Apparently they're staggering people in supermarkets, but who knows, no one knows right now, personally, when I go shopping, if I see crowds of people, I'll turn around and leave. Like I said, I agree, butchers, but they are told to shut, so they will shut. I'm just gonna deal with the here and now.
It's not just about physical closeness, but limiting the number of people we regularly come into contact with – and also limiting the number of locations, because surfaces.
You may only see the operator-owner and maybe one other staff member and maybe one other person at the local shop – butcher and greengrocer and dairy (milk) would cover shopping of fresh goods for the month (a lot of people would have already done a supermarket shop to cover their storage for pantry and freezer).
Bottom line is, the fewer places open the better. Too many businesses (and others) trying to stretch it too much. Too many seem to think they're a special case and the strict measures don't apply to them.
Supermarkets are upping their game with perspex between checkout operators & customers. Customers to load own bags, and limiting numbers in the store at anyone time.
We all need to shrink the number of places we are visiting.
I think the aim is to minimise the number of places in the public arena where cross-infection can occur.
Modelling from Uni of Sydney I saw in the SMH this morning says that compliance by at least 80% of the population needs to happen if the containment is to be successful, anything less than that and we will have put ourselves through enormous grief and trashed the economy for nothing. Our health system will still be at risk and Covid-19 will still be out there.
Increasing the number of people who have to use use the supermarket is not great for increasing social distancing.
And local spread is – where it occurs easier to identify and contain.
Supermarkets have implemented a one in, one out policy at the door with social distancing applied to the resulting queue. Expect to see a fair bit of security when you go to the supermarket to enforce this.
At the last small bakery in my area open today, they allowed only one customer inside at the any time. That single person can’t touch any produce, which is a significant distance away. Contactless payment. And the shopping is done in one or two minutes, so hardly any outside queue at all.
No way any supermarket in NZ is safer than this place to get bread.
I also think the small shop has a much better idea which of their 1-2 employees had contact with produce / places within the shop in case of infection.
In this case I think the government screwed up.
And “local spread” or any spread can be fully avoided if everything is shut down.
its all or nothing now, no half measures or we might as well just give up and let the thing do what it wants.
This is how authoritarianism occurs. No restraints, step by step until there is total itarian) and singular focus on the objective – because any identified "weakness" is risking defeat.
And all because of fear of community spread – fear because we did not have the the testing kit resources (our pandemic planning was weak) to identify it and its extent.
The irony we are developing such capacity and may have it after the month (for a few weeks prioritised to those returning kiwis going into their lockdown).
SPC, please put a link if you are going to cut and paste. I'm getting sick of having to ask this, but it's especially important at this time.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/120555183/coronavirus-meaters-of-marlborough-closes-as-retail-butchers-grapple-grey-area
This butcher is a decent and community-minded man who has a social conscience and is generous. I'd buy from him even if I were a vegan. I know him and I have an idea of what he does for his town. I'd have said he was too busy, in too small a serving area, and I can see why his customers were queued outside. For dinner tonight I had some of his pork belly, and tomorrow night probably his mince on a pizza. Then, I fear I won't see Mike for a month, and have to patronise the supermarket shelves more.
Just like the wine grower I praised recently, a hard worker and an ethical businessman, Mike Newman, too, puts a human face on the huge problems being faced by people dealing with the corona virus.
The Gods smiled upon NZ when Andrew Little realised Jacinda Ardern had a better chance of saving the NZ Labour Party than himself….the series of events that followed couldnt have been bet upon.
I've been thinking about this too. What Little did, and what Turei did too.
Was standing in line at PB Tech this afternoon listening to conversations 2m away. The woman behind me, apparently in health, was on the phone worried about several things among them the addicts who will basically go ballistic in a couple of days when they can't meet their needs.
Expect crime to go through the roof. Police will not be able to handle this.
I’m of the opinion that a lot more people will die during this event from non Covid-19 related circumstances than from the virus itself.
You mean illicit drugs? I wouldn't worry too much, drug addicts know what they're doing and weirdly think ahead, Divo and other dispensaries have plans in place, they're used to people not sparing them much of a thought, I doubt they thought things would change now. (ex addict, with friends still doing naughty things, not one violent criminal or thief among them).
Nice one IFL.
Do you work in primary health?
Ok if not, but what about the wider dependent community not so prepared for such an eventuality. I'm think the mass of new methamphetamine users.
No, I don't, but I know users. Users think ahead, users already use illicit channels to get their drugs, users are used to keeping their drug use hidden, users are used to being ignored, places like Divo and mental health workers know these people, it's quite a community, with characters and stories, some funny, some sad. I just think your fear is unwarranted, druggies lives will go on like the rest of us, I'd be more worried about the drunk home renovators quite frankly.
"I'd be more worried about the drunk home renovators quite frankly. "
Well you'd hope so wouldn't you. I mean, think about it.
And the homeless….?
are surprisingly being considered….at least in Auckland and Wellington if theMayors are to be believed
Goff said they will use empty motels and hotels to house rough sleepers.
Except some of the ones I know would be very unhappy with being in a motel with others. They have been offered accommodation before, especially in severe weather conditions. A nice quiet space where they could come and go. But turned down – preferring to find their own space. Quite a few are suffering anxiety and prefer to be alone, which is why they sleep rough. If they can find a safe place where no one can bother them, that is their goal. Here we are hoping to be able to do a "cook up " and leave it on the front step for them to pick up every other day. if the local police agree.
I'm not saying they are all like that, but we must understand that for some this is a life that they choose, because this is how they are coping with their circumstances right now. We need to be there for when they are ready to move on.
Government Covid-19 response to housing costs:
Homeowners = massive high level talks with banks resulting in a mortgage holiday and you don't have to pay anything while out of work.
Renters = pay full rent while you are out of work unless you personally can negotiate with your landlord.
Muttonbird – this afternoon on Radio NZ there was an interview in which the ANZ person said the interest would still accrue so no one will take a mortgage "holiday" unless they absolutely have to as it will cost them more. If renters got the same treatment, they would simply be in rent arrears and I know how hard it is to catch up if you are skint to start with. There does need to be some backup though from government of course for people to be able to make their rent payments.
I will try to find the link – not sure it's up yet.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/checkpoint/audio/2018740152/anz-boss-assures-customers-cash-available-duing-lockdown
yes I heard that too…which appeared to contradict yesterdays statement that there was an interest holiday as well
"The six-month principal and interest payment holiday for mortgage holders and small business customers whose incomes have been affected by the economic disruption from Covid-19."
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/412511/retail-banks-agree-to-a-mortgage-holiday-repayment-scheme
The comment was by Grant Robertson, wasn't it?
He is a truly masterful spinner of yarns. Just take his comments with a very large dollop of salt.
yes was Robertson…he did qualify his statements by saying the banks were working on details and to wait a couple of days for them to do so….but it appears it was unnecessarily loose language
"principal and interest" holiday
So P and I repayments would be put on hold. However, interest will still be charged on the loan itself.
Over a six month period, that is interest being charged on interest.
The deal is a bit of a rort. The best thing to do would have been to just freeze the loan for six months. No interest. No repayments.
But noooooo, the banks still gotta get their slice of fat.
it could be interpreted that way but that is unusual to separate the elements as he did
Thanks mate but the crux of the situation is that in this lockdown and post lockdown period affected renters still have to pay full rent. Affected homeowners do not have to pay anything.
I'm really tired of pointing this out.
you appear to misunderstand how a mortgage holiday works….it generally adds to your long term costs (and appears will do so in this case)
Did you actually read what I just wrote?
you wrote…."Affected homeowners do not have to pay anything."
not the case (unless there was an interest holiday as well)….it is essentially an addition to the mortgage principle and adds both interest costs and extends the term
The Warehouse said they'd remain open, the ANZ said they'd still charge interest.
If they try, let's just see what the government does.
theres always that possibility…though I expect ANZ is a little more careful than the Warehouse
We're talking about bankers, here. GFC, all that jazz.
lol…yep but I expect they have better legal advice on tap plus the experience of what happened to the big box stores….not to mention more clout
Once the chargeout is four digits an hour, is the advice really all that much more impressive?
Basically it comes down to what the government really wants: with emergency powers, legal fripparies can be waived aside.
I understand the best legal advice seldom references the law…..but perhaps a lawyer may have a different view
"In the lockdown and post lockdown period". Read it!
Hi Muttonbird,
The only reason we are landlords is because we no longer require the small attached unit for our 'grannies'. Since then we have rented it out, electricity, water and internet included to several people. We've never charged the cost of the flat on our mortgage – because I am of the mind that housing is too expensive and thought we need to follow those values in our decisions. Three young couples have saved enough to get deposits on homes, while we have paid 65% of our income on mortgage costs.
We gave our current tenants the required six-weeks notice in three weeks ago so our son could return home, and as we try to never give notice, we gave them two weeks rent free so that they would have more money for a deposit when looking for a new place. The Covid-19 alerts have put paid to that and my son will have to stay where he is and the tenancy notice end date will be extended to include the time of the lockdown, however long it is.
If your suggestion is imposed, and we do have to take a payment holiday – god forbid – we will not be having a gift from the bank that we pass on to our tenants. We will be accruing further interest and it will not be amortised over a term of twenty five years, because we don't have that much working lives left. If we had passed on the cost of having the unit to our tenants, those couples may not have left to move into their own first homes.
Our tenants are already receiving the government wages, and their board to us takes 27% of that income. Blanket requirements such as the one you propose will include landlords who are already trying to do the right thing for tenants. And will quite honestly for us, be financial pressure that is too much to accommodate. Consider those of us who are already trying to look after their tenants at personal costs already.
Molly. You do touch on an important point. That is that there is no consistency in the landlord group in terms of what they offer in rent relief for their tenants.
Everyone would feel they were 'in this together' if there was government direction on this rather than tenants being thrown to the hounds.
I say again, my issue is with the short term discrepancy where out of work tenants have to pay full rent and out of work homeowners can defer payments.
This is crucial for the young families of the renting class.
They are ignored though. As it ever was.
I also touch on another important point.
Assuming all landlords are the same, and need to be required to do something specific because it makes sense to you, does not allow for diversity in tenant experiences, and may very well penalise those landlords who are already trying hard to do the right thing.
Once again,
“If your suggestion is imposed, and we do have to take a payment holiday – god forbid – we will not be having a gift from the bank that we pass on to our tenants. We will be accruing further interest and it will not be amortised over a term of twenty five years, because we don’t have that much working lives left.”
And I also suspect that for those on higher fixed rates – it will be those higher fixed rates interest that will be charged and accrued to the loan.
But if there was proper government structured guidance then landlords trying to do the right thing would not be disadvantaged at all – rather they would be joined and part of a scheme which serviced everyones needs.
And on the extra interest – this would be accounted for in a decent government scheme where tenants would pay a reduced rent for the time period which covered costs like rates and insurance and extra costs like heightened interest on the loan.
Homeowners will have to negotiate with their banks. Falling behind in rent is not a good enough reason to kick out tenants until 60 days have passed, which is almost three times as long as previously. If the current new rules are abused, I’d expect further ‘adjustments’ will be introduced by Government.
basically looks like the banks are going to suggest interest only on mortgages where they can, which makes sense to prevent the debt increasing – just delays final repayment.
Now say everyone was tossed onto that, then rents could also go down to the interest amount plus the other overheads. That way no tenant is retiring outstanding principal so rents drop with a thud. It would put domestic rentals well within benefit levels and save small business by them having hopefully on a tiny lease while income is low.In effect a gain pause button on capital movements but expenses being paid .
To implement something like this needs somebody like the ird – they have sector figures – to estimate what % of rental income is nationally swallowed by rates interest insurance and other cash overheads and then the rent freeze becomes anational rent fall of the required %
You seem to be assuming that mortgage payments on rentals are the same as on owner-occupied home loans with maximum principal payments. In addition, most loans are on fixed rates.
Well if the rental mortgage is interest only then likely to mean taking funds they are using elsewhere and yes there are fixed rates of varying amounts on mortgages as are rates insurances etc. Hence using sector averages which could be refined by region. Something is used to set the general housing top up benefit so there are figures there.
It wouldn't work perfectly for all but the current default certainly doesn't so this could be a different starting point. Then some form of top up negotiations
Then there are rental property managers – reminds one of the executives hired to remove labour so vulture capitalism (private funds) can on-sell for CG.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=12319904
Fuck it pays to just turn the damn radio off after a while the extra stentorian tones of the health warnings emergency alert signals on the phone ect are giving me the shits .They're just scaring people imo and its not necessary after all the build up .anyone with half a brain has surely got the message .Today at a press conference the PM said we could go for a walk but dont talk to anyone is that being kind to each other ?ffs the other day it was sing out to your neigbour over the fence .The thought of weeks if not longer of your own company with little or no respite is bad enough without setting out to ignore people .Say hello !!
I'll still be working, I work for NZ Post, I see people waving at each other and being kind and yelling "All good?" to each other, more so than usual. Common sense, we are social animals, we adapt, give it time there will be new funny ideas people come up with (the teddy bear example below). Fuck, maybe we'll start learning morse code or sign language… I shift from despair and cynicism to cheery upbeat optimism, and yes, turn off the news!
Say it, don't spray it weston, that's the point.
Some of it is a bit silly, too. "Pretend you've already got the virus…" For Heaven's sake, if I've already got the virus, why on earth keep trying to avoid catching it? Some bumkum is getting made up at times..
To stop you spreading it?
Exactly!
Yes, of course that is the obvious aim. But if I am pretending that I already have it, why would I continue to wash my hands in cases where that act protects only me?
I think they got this idea from war stories where soldiers performed brave acts in the heat of action – pretending they were already dead helped clear their heads.
I don't think it suits this situation. We must all try above all to avoid catching it (if we haven't already, but do not know) and we should also do all we can to avoid spreading it. But pretending we already have it is naff to my mind.
Maybe because the advice is broad, for the brightest amongst us, and the stupidest. Lockdown for Dummies.
Fair enough. I would be happier with "Imagine you already have it," rather than "Pretend". But now I'm quibbling, so I shall quietly withdraw…
I like this:
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/412602/teddy-bears-in-windows-to-cheer-up-kids-during-lockdown
It's hard enough for adults to fully comprehend the situation. It must be impossible for the kids. I don't live on a street front but a nice way to give them some fun counting the teddy bears.
I already have mine
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwArMFCLmZY
Family Fist's weed expert.
https://twitter.com/Acyn/status/1242644087699726341
My washing machine is rooted. I'm going to hang the dirty laundry on the clothesline and attack it with the water blaster.
Ha!!!!
Bath tub, hot water, sprinkle of washing powder, shorts on and pretend your squishing grapes for 15 minutes.
Pain in the arse come to rinse time, mind, especially 'cause the tap has to be running and hot water is burny. Tip – use use cold water. lol
Doing the laundry in the bath tub sounds like a good idea, thanks The Al1en.
If you do the stomp method, beware, it does comes with a slippery health warning. It does work, had to do it a few times, and my nan use to always do it, though she had willing (or press ganged) grand kids to do the mashing, and kids were tougher back then, so falling out of the bath didn't seem to matter so much.
Rinsing is the pain, not just for having to use cold water, but because it never seems to run thoroughly clean. I always found it best to rinse just one or two items, squeeze and redo, but at least you can do that from outside the tub.
Followed by the leave blower. I hope you use industrial strength pegs.
leaf… 🙁
Ah, the electric ones. I’ve heard they’re even more powerful.
Fireblade @ 9
You won't have any clothes left mate. 😯
Seriously:
I've just had a pair of relatives drop by with TV dinners and puds in case I don't always feel like cooking during the lockdown. They said there are military helicoptors flying all over Auckland tonight. Must be expecting trouble.
I popped in to my local dairy earlier today and the Indian family who own it are scared stiff. They know they are going to be at the front of the firing line when the kids high on drugs – having discovered everything is closed – start vandalising and burglarising the dairies for cigarettes and the like.
Haven't heard any helicopters over Mt Eden way.
They travelled from Pt Chev to Browns Bay and then to Devonport using the Northern Motorway so maybe there was something going down further north.
Edit: I have a nephew currently training in Waiuru and he told his mother the military have been gearing up to assist the police for some weeks now. His training schedule has been halted so they are available for police assistance work. His sister (my niece) is a recently graduated cop working in Rotorua and she says things are building up there at the moment.
Interesting. A helicopter did fly overhead a few minutes ago – just passing.
Those high on drugs burglarizers will have to wait in line like the rest of us.
Big landlords, particularly those who do regular opinion pieces in the media might want to action some well publicised rent relief for their customers.
Otherwise they might look like greedy and mean charlatans…
…just saying.
Little landlords just offhand the enforcement role to rental property managers.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=12319904
People with holiday homes and little sense of social responsibility, heading to their holiday homes in small communities for the lock down – putting pressure on communities that don't have the health resources to support them, adding extra bodies in supermarkets, and possibly taking Covid-19 with them.
RNZ Checkpoint
I do wish that was stressed a bit more, "this is NOT a holiday", we were asked to stay in our regions. They've already had to ask people to not go tramping or hunting, what's the bet we hear of a hunting tragedy and or people missing on some range, c'mon people, prove me wrong!
Yeah, this could turn really nasty for someone who's infected but yet to know about it, who goes bush and then gets sick.
Yeah iwi should have closed a few more areas.
If we are going to require people to give up their local shops and use supermarkets – why not allow people to spread out and isolate themselves further away?
Neither local fear of the outsider (welcome each summer for business), nor resentment at others being able to use their time in this way, is a good thing. They can isolate as much there as their usual residence (not really a burden if they bring their own shopping).
Nonsense. Resources like health care are based on year round resident numbers. Great for some well-off townies to think they'll be better of in a smaller community – except the locals are a small community most of the year, and these insensitive townies are adding to their stress and vulnerability
They are perfectly capable of driving back home for medical treatment.
Read what Graeme said, what if they're sick and they don't know it, and above weren't you advocating staying local? We still might see Regions, towns, even suburbs get further locked down, so maybe these holiday makers might find themselves locked in, or locked out, like in a Bollard novel. We were told to stay home, because it was the simplest thing to do, but oh no, people have to stretch definitions and be contrary. I feel for the police, having to babysit us.
They, or partner, can drive to their primary residence from the "bach" if someone feels sick.
There are not going to be any regional lockdowns – not until they can identify a singular area of community spread. They would have their own shopping with them.
Why should those foreign tourists still here be the only ones enjoying our isolated outdoor areas – these people are not in contact with anyone else going from one place to another.
""And local spread is – where it occurs easier to identify and contain. " you said. -How do you know there won’t be regional lockdowns? I’d say right now, anything is possible.
In so far as track and trace local makes for easier follow up, regional lockdowns require community testing – which we will not be doing this month (focus is on incoming kiwis for now)
Well, for one thing an itinerant population makes contact tracing a bugger.
You go bush tomorrow, someone you contacted with yesterday comes down with it on the weekend, phones are unreliable – I mean, we can hope you don't encounter anyone else and the only one in danger is you…
Only a problem if the bach has no landline, or poor mobile reception – there is still email to their devices.
Gawd. Would so hate for the Covid-19 fleeing wealthy to be locked out of their primary homes.
& I feel sorry for the police babysitting us.
Well I have seen a couple – but frankly I think that report is over egging it somewhat. Today was my last last chance to go and mow the lawns at Whiritoa. The beach was pretty empty, and no where near the numbers around over the summer holidays. Tomorrow of course they won't be able to.
I see on RNZ that Virgin airlines are basically closing their New Zealand operations making redundancies but are wondering what to do with the wages ssubsidy from the government. Greed like rust seems to never sleep and why are we funding Richard Branson
Branson, through Virgin Group only owns 10.42%, other owners are below. And they were fucked before this happened, don’t expect them to survive.
even 10% would be too much for this person. & I don't really see any other homeless underpaid waifs on the list deserving of my tax dollars.
To avoid queues and minimise contact time, why don’t supermarkets do the shopping for us? You give them your list (in advance), they fill your trolley, you paywave (they can even use mobile EFTPOS), collect your shoppings and drive home. My kind of shopping.
Most big supermarkets already have a click and collect system set up. The two big ones on Lincoln Rd have it. But it seems they are heavily used at the moment so the first available slots are quite a way ahead. You pay online when you place the order, no need for an unclean disease riddled mobile EFTPOS machine to even come within sneezing distance.
Good. Maybe they can increase capacity and shift from physical shopping presence to collection-only. With paywave, the only thing you touch is that disgusting piece of plastic in your wallet 😉
I have registered for Countdown. I looked at the click and collect PickUp several times and have never seen an available slot for my local supermarket- always every time-day slot booked up for the next 7 days. Ditto for home delivery, which costs more. I finally DID manage to get a home delivery for Sunday, but that was a bit of luck. Although the cost is fairly steep, but it's cheaper for a big order, and they give a discount on your first delivery.
I have a scratchy throat, on antibiotics, and been told by the GP to self isolate and to stay away from people, just in case I have a mild does of THE virus. I prefer to do my own shopping, but, will make do in this extraordinary time. I see my local Countdown have expanded the number of slots for home delivery, but it's still over subscribed – all slots full for the next 7 days.
So I am eaking out the meagre fruit & veg I have left so I last til Sunday. Have plenty of protein. I'd rather leave calling out a nephew to shop for me for another week or 2 if I can, and that should take me thru the 4 weeks.
These are not normal times, and we need to make do without some of the luxuries and on-tap stuff we are used to, in order to limit our contacts and keep ourselves and others safe
Up side is, I think I have painlessly lost a little weight. That won't hurt me in the long run.
Register for New World as well – and go with the one with the earliest, or most convenient time slot. And do so early or late to avoid difficulty logging in.
There is no New World anywhere near me. Countdown is it.
Pity, that choice can be useful. I found this week that New World was available a day quicker (and still had specials, if some were sold out by my delivery today).
It's Pac and Slave or nothing here.
They have just finished a major refit and the installed the cabinets for online ordering. About 100 I guess. Totally insufficient for even a small town of around 8000.
New World doesn't do online shopping in the South Island, where I live. I have registered with Fresh Choice here in Cromwell and getting our groceries delivered late tomorrow afternoon/early evening. No problems registering. Because I'm slow, sorting through what I wanted online took me a while, although it was very easy. But I'm sure I will get used to it. Incidently, it worked out a lot cheaper than physically shopping.
Take good care of yourself Carolyn_Nth. Keep safe.
A lot of people prefer to choose they own fruit and meat. They like to use the time in the isles to think about what they need and imagine recipes.
A lot of people don't do rigid lists.
Well, maybe this is a good time to plan ahead more and better. I know many shoppers like to touch, pinch, smell, and feel produce and then put it back again for the next shopper to do the same thing again. Would you like to buy avocados, bananas or apples that have been touched by countless strangers before? There are very good apps that take the recipe and list the ingredients as a shopping list but you have to plan the meals for the week. But we shall not inconvenience shoppers, shall we? Least of all, at Alert Level 4.
For me, it's not really about planning ahead. Seeing the thing reminds me of shit I need, or can do better than what I had actually planned.
As for poking and prodding, yeah, that's why I tend to wash any produce that doesn't peel anyway.
+ 1.
It's not about feeling the fruit, it's about busy culinary minded people wanting to cook for themselves and like to be inspired when looking at produce in the supermarket for the inspiration on a lovely dish for their family.
Still, at alert level 4 no one is busy, are they? Perhaps we should all just do Ubermarkets instead and be done with any personal creativity?
Dot a month, we're asked to sacrifice our normal patterns, and we laugh at Trump being bored of his lockdown after a week.
We laugh at that fool because otherwise one would cry at the people he's killed through laziness and incompetence. We haven't touched the tip of the iceberg on that one.
Pak’nSave allows you 30 min in the shop to get creative.
But you just said supermarkets should be taking lists.
Which is it?
You just said you like to be inspired in a supermarket. Well, you’ll have 30 min as off midnight. Knock yourself out with some exotic recipes.
Gezz 10 mins is long enough for me. 15 mins is too long.
Those were the days when filling up the trolley once a fortnight and be done with it, except for occasional re-stocking milk and fruit & vege. The less time spent in a supermarket, the better.
Actually I don't use a trolley.
I have a decent sized carry bag.I also carry my own bags for veg. Knowing what I want, and where it is, I can quickly get around the store, and usually with less than 12 items go to the fast lane and check out.
You lucky bastard
there are people in my family who go to the supermarket every day. Don't get me started.
Yes, I did leave off some stuff I would have liked from my Sunday home delivery order. Plus, I didn't think to get something probiotic to counter the antibiotics. But, I will get it sooner or later. The stuff I forgot is more what I like, rather than what I absolutely need.
Some good stuff in the google doc.
https://twitter.com/jeremyphoward/status/1242572288962240517
Despite official figures reporting few to no new domestic Covid-19 cases on the Chinese mainland in recent days, authorities continue to detect more infections, with those in the city at the heart of the country’s outbreak often amounting to more than a dozen a day, Caixin has learned.
According to a member of the infectious disease prevention and control team in Wuhan, every day the city continues to record “several or more than a dozen asymptomatic infected individuals”, which are people that have tested positive for Covid-19, but do not feel ill and are excluded from published numbers.
Beware the asymptomatic.
As of Sunday (March 22), Hubei province, where Wuhan is located, had four consecutive days of zero new “confirmed cases.”
The person, who asked not to be named, said that these asymptomatic people are found by tracing the contacts of others who are infected and by screening quarantine workers who are at high risk of infection, as opposed to en masse testing.
“It’s not possible at the moment to tell if transmission has stopped,” the person said.
https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/despite-official-figures-wuhan-continues-to-find-new-asymptomatic-coronavirus-cases
A classic Beatles song with a very clear video from 1966.
Paperback Writer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYvkICbTZIQ
there's something not right about watching a video of the Beatles that looks like it was filmed last year.
Not right Stones.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAjC2L4hKBM
Stay home, stay safe, be kind, we will get through this.
God Defend New Zealand
Te Reo Māori and English
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFxr6PCrohg
It would be interesting to see what the birth rates are 9-10 months from now.
& divorce rates…
Prince Charles has tested positive for Covid-19.
He is currently experiencing mild symptoms and is at home in Scotland.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/coronavirus/120576564/coronavirus-prince-charles-tests-positive-displaying-mild-symptoms