Daily review 30/07/2020

Written By: - Date published: 5:30 pm, July 30th, 2020 - 144 comments
Categories: Daily review - Tags:

Daily review is also your post.

This provides Standardistas the opportunity to review events of the day.

The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy).

Don’t forget to be kind to each other …

144 comments on “Daily review 30/07/2020 ”

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  1. Robert Guyton 1
    30 July 2020 at 6:28 pm

    Jacqui Dean – Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear (as the disgraced Keeping Stock was want to say)

  2. PaddyOT 2
    30 July 2020 at 6:30 pm

    Sir Bill's economic policy looks like he has read the IMF reports for one, then deleted the solutions of IMF and written his own.

    Let it fail policy and advised " businesses to hoard some cash," .

    “Get ready for a long haul.”

    English said , " “capital and labour” had to move from tourism and some other sectors to those that might grow, such as “digitally oriented activities” .

    “That means businesses failures,” he said.

    He advised against the Government trying to intervene too much in that transition.

    “Some of it is the Government just keeping out of the way,” he said.

    English gives acknowledgment of similarities to US, soaring stock market( billions) but high unemployment- compared- NZ strong rising economic indicators ( activity back at pre covid levels.Treasury) yet unemployment still rising.

    Is the causation due to further inducing Corporations to hoard?

    An example hence would be Tower Insurance during lockdown announcing a 6 month profit of $12M dollars, profit up from 2019.
    Then Tower announces at the same time the sacking of 108 employers to further save another $3M for profit.

    • Muttonbird 2.1
      30 July 2020 at 7:20 pm

      Bingles had his turn. Needs to shut up now and let the next generation get on with it.

      • PaddyOT 2.1.1
        30 July 2020 at 7:33 pm

        They are. Paula's farewell speech is their next policy….

        I did this and I did that but we never really finished that ..but you know the green and white papers… and Billy's social Investment modèls….fixing up abused kids and peeeeple are all a work in progress, you know eeeh ?

    • Sacha 2.2
      30 July 2020 at 7:58 pm

      Link, Paddy?

      • PaddyOT 2.2.1
        30 July 2020 at 8:28 pm

        Just saw this with the post lag time.

        Parody, not a quote hence no speech marks.

        Valedictory speeches are all subsequently printed after speeches, including actions such as having tissues, on Hansard at https://www.parliament.nz .

        You use the database search on Hansard.

        • weka 2.2.2.1
          30 July 2020 at 9:00 pm

          Please provide a link with the post next time.

          • PaddyOT 2.2.2.1.1
            30 July 2020 at 9:44 pm

            This will take a 10 minute lag to post.

            A link for what weka? For writing one's own words ?? I don't get your adding a wagging finger ? I have no idea who or what the reference to Morrisey is.

            You know what weka? I've been around TS for some years. I have read post after post unreferenced including what may be deemed liabilous and or containing a range of prejudiced "……ism" s. No wagging fingers there ! Yet in one way or another with even the targetting by pernicious comments, I get a group of minions who dash in like a school yard brawl to support the blanking.

            However, reminded the other day that I should remember my place, by unclever words from a superior like " for us regular posters" . So either we’re encouraging a diverse democracy or can keep TS as an echo chamber.

            Serious question. What reference , weka, please state; and who is Morrisey?

            • weka 2.2.2.1.1.1
              30 July 2020 at 10:43 pm

              You used actual quotes in your first comment. Yes, you have to provide a link if that's where you got the quotes from.

              English said , " “capital and labour” had to move from tourism and some other sectors to those that might grow, such as “digitally oriented activities” .

              you took that from the article that you eventually linked to. I'm asking you to link in the same comment next time.

              And now that you've brought my attention to it, that whole bit in italics is lifted straight from the article, not just the bits in quotation marks. When you were asked for a link, you said it was parody and not quotes, and then referenced Hansard. But they're not your own words.

              So, next time, please link, and please make it clear which are your words and which are someone else's. If you want to write parody, you will have to use your own words not the words of an offsite journalist.

        • Sacha 2.2.2.2
          30 July 2020 at 9:48 pm

          Morrisey is another poster fond of artful transcripts. And yes, the link to the thing you were satirising is helpful. Otherwise how are the rest of us meant to have a clue what you are on about?

          • PaddyOT 2.2.2.2.1
            30 July 2020 at 10:17 pm

            So to be a Standardista one has to fit the mould and one must write in a conformed manner?

            Zàijiàn, zhù nǐ chéng gōng.

            Goodbye and go well in your endeavours

            • Sacha 2.2.2.2.1.1
              30 July 2020 at 10:22 pm

              Eh? Supplying a link is hardly a big ask. Grow up.

              • bwaghorn …
                30 July 2020 at 10:39 pm

                You are a link demanding bore . Time and technical problems stops some of us

                • Incognito …
                  30 July 2020 at 10:46 pm

                  no

                  • bwaghorn …
                    31 July 2020 at 8:54 am

                    Eeerch, every other day the link monitor is hassling someone .

                    Sacha where you a parking warden in a past life?

                • weka …
                  30 July 2020 at 10:48 pm

                  Paddy quoted, so he already had the page open. If quoting there has to be a link.

                  There's enough leeway here for tech and time issues, people can make that clear, but I don't think that was the problem here 😉

                  • greywarshark …
                    31 July 2020 at 10:32 am

                    Morrissey. About – "You know what weka? I've been around TS for some years. I have read post after post…I have no idea who or what the reference to Morrisey is. " Paddy Oh dear said this. I wondered how anyone could be a frequent visitor and not know about Morris[s]ey.

                    My conclusion is that this is Morrissey or his doppelganger. It seems his style.

                    And other commenters; if you are paraphrasing or putting your interpretation of the meaning behind the words – say so, 'This is how her farewell speech sounded to me' etc. and you try to remember where you saw/heard the original event. It helps us all to get a picture of what is going on to know if you heard it in the local toffs club, or at a white supremacist rally, or at the pub after downing x? beers.

                • Sacha …
                  31 July 2020 at 9:03 am

                  If you can't cope with the basics of online discussion, I recommend talkback radio.

  3. gsays 3
    30 July 2020 at 6:37 pm

    Wow!

    I thought Daily Review would be boiling, what with valedictory speeches, dire polls for the Nats, the very eloquent grieving Mother giving her side of fleeing Hamilton's isolation, and the Heron/Officer Barbrady report.

    I have a lot more sympathy for this family's plight after hearing Mum's side of events.

    https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/checkpoint/audio/2018757278/i-was-panicking-mother-explains-escape-from-isolation

    Edit, when I started writing this it was 1/2 past 6 and no comments.

    • Incognito 3.1
      30 July 2020 at 6:41 pm

      Your sympathy is welcome and noted. The ‘hardliners’ won’t be swayed though and will still demand swift and harsh punishment without compassion 🙁

      • gsays 3.1.1
        30 July 2020 at 6:57 pm

        I am sharing a lounge with one of those hardliners.

        Hearing that the family was wearing masks and the son in Auckland was wearing a mask when caught, changed my view of the story.

    • Pat 3.2
      30 July 2020 at 6:42 pm

      Her side was a little inconsistent though she made a reasonable case (assuming her side was reasonably accurate which is by no means a given)

      • gsays 3.2.1
        30 July 2020 at 6:45 pm

        Equally, we've only had the state's version as gospel till now.

        • Pat 3.2.1.1
          30 July 2020 at 6:56 pm

          True enough although Id suggest the states version is viewed with suspicion by default…as said her version had some inconsistencies

    • weka 3.3
      30 July 2020 at 6:52 pm

      the kind of judgemental comments I've seen around these cases reminds me of bene bashing. The inability to imagine or allow for circumstances that might explain behaviour. The left needs to take a long hard look at itself. At the moment it looks like compassion for other humans is entirely conditional.

      • Draco T Bastard 3.3.1
        30 July 2020 at 7:10 pm

        At the moment it looks like compassion for other humans is entirely conditional.

        Yes, entirely conditional on them not endangering others with their selfishness.

        • weka 3.3.1.1
          30 July 2020 at 8:01 pm

          then we can't complain when the right do this to beneficiaries too. If compassion is only for those deemed worthy by the person with the biggest stick, it's probably not actually compassion.

          • Draco T Bastard 3.3.1.1.1
            30 July 2020 at 8:08 pm

            then we can't complain when the right do this to beneficiaries too.

            Beneficiaries don't do what these selfish dweebs did. Beneficiaries are, as a matter of fact, victims of capitalism. These guys are victims only of their own actions.

            Compassion isn't something that you should give out without thought to the consequences of your actions. Letting these people break the law for compassion is going to have everyone else demanding that we break the law for them as well because doing so is compassionate.

            • weka 3.3.1.1.1.1
              30 July 2020 at 8:18 pm

              "Beneficiaries don't do what these selfish dweebs did."

              From a right wing perspective that's not true. Next time they are in power, they will do this same shit all over again. I'd prefer it if the left didn't run lines that uphold that position (the deserving poor and the undeserving poor).

              Compassion isn't something that you should give out without thought to the consequences of your actions. Letting these people break the law for compassion is going to have everyone else demanding that we break the law for them as well because doing so is compassionate.

              I think you have misunderstood. They broke the law and should be dealt with by the law accordingly. Compassion is about how we interact with what they did and work with nuance and context. Compassion will lead to better quarantine processes eg the MoH upping its game around its bureaucracy, or hotels providing better access to smoking areas or alcohol. Making Q better means people will be more likely to comply. Compassion serves society as well as the individual, it's not a position of endorsing problematic behaviour. We can offer compassion to people we disagree with or whose actions are wrong. There is a difference between the person and what they did.

              • weka …
                30 July 2020 at 8:33 pm

                here's another way to think about it. When someone commits a crime and is charged and taken to court and found guilty, the judge has discretion about sentencing, based on mitigating factors. This is compassion of a kind. It says that it's not black and white, but that context matters. There are of course all sorts of problems with how that gets applied, but the basic principle of not saying that everyone person who escapes Q should be imprisoned for 5 years or whatever is important.

              • Draco T Bastard …
                30 July 2020 at 9:09 pm

                From a right wing perspective that's not true.

                The right-wing are, inevitably, wrong. Especially when you realise that their entire purpose for being in power is to rip off the country and that the beneficiary bashing is there as a distraction from their theft.

                (the deserving poor and the undeserving poor)

                At no point have I said or implied that. These people aren't poor so obviously such a statement does not apply.

                Compassion is about how we interact with what they did and work with nuance and context.

                No, its not.

                a feeling of deep sympathy and sorrow for another who is stricken by misfortune, accompanied by a strong desire to alleviate the suffering.

                Again, I must tell you to stop using words as if their meaning is what you want it to be.

                Compassion will lead to better quarantine processes eg the MoH upping its game around its bureaucracy, or hotels providing better access to smoking areas or alcohol.

                No, it won't. Better processes will.

                There is a difference between the person and what they did.

                Yes, there is but that statement has no meaning in context. What they did is the issue – not them.

                • gsays …
                  30 July 2020 at 9:23 pm

                  The context in which their actions took place is where compassion can arise.

                  • Draco T Bastard …
                    30 July 2020 at 10:12 pm

                    No, not really. In context its:

                    Their dad died, oh dear, how sad, never mind.

                    I don't have any compassion for any one who wilfully endangers others just because they feel hurt.

                • PaddyOT …
                  31 July 2020 at 1:03 am

                  yes Draco T Bastard

                  For Gallirallus' Clarity and to add to your definition of compassion

                  "the deserving poor and the undeserving poor " as uncited by the esteemed weka, is
                  referenced to original source – The Poor Act 1552 where Church Parishes kept registers of the poor and enacted powers they were given to, (among other powers) deem who was poor. This was not right wing politics nor left wing politics.
                  The English Poor Law 1531-1782 59–60 (1990). Paul Slack.

                  Then to be accurate when adding the plagiarised phrase of "the deserving poor and the undeserving poor ", it is further referenced to "The Poor Act of 1555" ( as a means to help enforce "The Poor Act 1952); whereby this law was passed by Queen Mary 1 requiring certain beggars to wear badges to identify types of poor that citizens in passing by ( not the Crown) should or should NOT give money to.

                  The poor could be found on the left or right of a street.

                  The English Poor Law 1531-1782 59–60 (1990). Paul Slack. Access through Waikato University database.

                  The political terms to be bandied around, Left and Right were first thought to have originated during the French Revolution ( 1789 – 1799) originally referring to seating arrangements in the French parliament: those who sat to the right of the chair of the then parliamentary president. These two sides of the room were grouped as Monarchists and Republicans. ( Right wing in modern times).
                  Knapp, Andrew. Wright, Vincent. The government and politics of France. New York: Routledge, 2001.

                  The people of English-speaking countries did not apply the terms right and left to their own politics until the 20th century. The English Ideology: Studies in the Language of Victorian Politics, George Watson Allen Lane, London, 1973, p. 94.

                  [the problem you have now is that you’ve got weka’s attention as a moderator in bold. Biggest mistake people make here is thinking that moderators want to spend their time on stupid arguments about moderation. If I have to keep reading your comments to see if you are stepping over a line, then I can tell you that at this point in the election cycle my patience will wear thin very quickly. You’ve now been warned – weka]

            • Incognito 3.3.1.1.1.2
              30 July 2020 at 9:33 pm

              These guys are victims only of their own actions.

              Nonsense. The children lost their father and were desperate to say their farewells. Instead, they were detained in distanced isolation.

              How many people did they endanger given that they had returned negative tests and were wearing facemasks? Four of them didn’t get very far at all but the risk to the NZ population was immeasurable?

              This is simply another case where (negative) emotions trump everything else.

              • Sabine …
                30 July 2020 at 9:51 pm

                – false negatives are a thing

                – they were detained in managed isolation due to them coming back to NZ not send to an island in the middle of nowhere

                – they knew that they were going to be send to managed isolation upon arrival in NZ, they knew it would take two weeks.

                – they managed to endanger everyone they came in contact with, mask while helpful in preventing spread of the droplets are not a get out of prison card – and everyone in NZ is lucky that their negative test was a correct result

                – have you got proof that they wore their masks at all times or are we on their word

                – four of them got somewhere another one got further, how many people did they interact with while out and about?

                – everyone of these that they interacted with could have potentially been infected, gone home to infect their whanau, gotten up the next day to work and spread it some more there and so on and so on – luckily they all got lucky, inclusive the coppers who were send to find them

                Also this might actually be the most important point.

                Webb said the family arrived into New Zealand from Brisbane on 21 July, with the funeral of the children's father due to take place today.

                "Upon arrival they requested an exemption to spend time with a family member and a recently deceased close relative, and attend the funeral. This request was declined as the health risk was deemed too high at that point in time, noting they had not yet conducted a day 3 test.

                Webb said the family tested negative for Covid-19 after the results from their first test came back mid to late afternoon yesterday.

                "At 6.15pm last night the family were contacted by my team and were advised we were actively considering their application, and doing everything we could to support it. They were made aware that the application process was looking positive, and that they would be given a decision by 8pm last night."

                1 hour and 45 minutes …….and they gave no fucks about NZ, you me or anyone.

                • gsays …
                  30 July 2020 at 10:02 pm

                  Your 1 hour and 45 mins is predicated on the state not failing to meet it's own deadline. Something it had already done several times.

                  Also that hindsight you are using is 20/20 vision. Not something available to this family at the time.

                  • Draco T Bastard …
                    30 July 2020 at 10:07 pm

                    What was available to the family at the time was that they knew that they weren't allowed out.

                    What's so hard to understand about that?

                  • Sabine …
                    30 July 2020 at 10:18 pm

                    We are either serious with protecting the country from the Virus and Covid – 19 or we are not.

                    Full stop.

                    There currently is an active case in Rotorua. Maybe that person too has a good and valid reason to run away?

                    We have been more then once now lucky with people breaking quarantine. And it literally takes only one person to bring the country back into lockdown 4,

                    so yeah, they should have waited until given permission. They choose not to. And with that decision they choose to endanger anyone they met on their way. And anyone who was met by Mum and her four kids was lucky that they were indeed not afflicted with this disease. LUCKY. Not safe at home. But Lucky that these guys did not carry the virus and infected everyone on their path.

              • Draco T Bastard …
                30 July 2020 at 10:05 pm

                The children lost their father and were desperate to say their farewells.

                And?

                This may come as a surprise but that's not our problem. Having a pandemic is.

                Instead, they were detained in distanced isolation.

                Yes – pandemic.

                How many people did they endanger given that they had returned negative tests and were wearing facemasks?

                1. We didn't know that they were negative when they left
                2. We only have their word that they wore masks
                3. Everyone

                Four of them didn’t get very far at all but the risk to the NZ population was immeasurable?

                Yes. That's why they were in isolation.

                This is simply another case where (negative) emotions trump everything else.

                Nope. Simply logic and what is required of us when there's a pandemic happening.

                • gsays …
                  30 July 2020 at 10:24 pm

                  This is simply another case where (negative) emotions trump everything else.

                  Nope.

                  Yep. The emotions are plentiful: "Fuck ’em." "Fuck her."

                  • Muttonbird …
                    30 July 2020 at 10:25 pm

                    And?

                    You are a great commenter but I am convinced this family’s decision to break out of quarantine was completely wrong and they should have to face the consequences of that decision regardless of circumstance.

                    The media intent on padding their story can shove it.

                    Honestly, I’d let this go. It was just another breakout until today when some dipshit decided to sympathetically interview her sob story for the clicks. Now I am completely mad about it.

                    Great job RNZ, you fucking idiots.

                  • Draco T Bastard …
                    30 July 2020 at 11:21 pm

                • anker …
                  30 July 2020 at 11:04 pm

                  100% draco…………I have no sympathy for anyone absconding, whatever their circumstances

                • Incognito …
                  30 July 2020 at 11:14 pm

                  Nope, simplistic ‘logic’. Logic would dictate to take all circumstances into account and the different PoVs. To refuse so is to deny reality. I wonder what the judge’s view is; maybe another hardliner …

                  • Draco T Bastard …
                    31 July 2020 at 12:15 pm

                    They didn't need to go to the funeral.

                    They didn't need to see the body.

                    Society did need them in quarantine to help protect from a deadly disease so that we didn't have so many more funerals.

        • greywarshark 3.3.1.2
          31 July 2020 at 10:39 am

          Thanks DTB about your consideration, but as one of the 'others' I don't jump in with selfishness as my judgment. You could try not to be selfish and hardlining yourself. This is a world-shaking time, and death is world-shaking to the individual and family. So with practicality in mind at all times, allowing a little compassion to creep in is the difference between living among humans, and living among humans who have had ideas implanted in their brains somewhow, and who can no longer think like a human. Don't please let that happen to you DTB!

          • Draco T Bastard 3.3.1.2.1
            31 July 2020 at 12:13 pm

            This is a world-shaking time, and death is world-shaking to the individual and family.

            Death happens. Its as much a part of life as being born. They're going to feel sorry for themselves because of their loss but they really didn't need to get to the body or even the funeral.

            Quarantine, on the other hand, is there to protect others from a deadly disease and is necessary.

            So with practicality in mind at all times, allowing a little compassion to creep in is the difference between living among humans

            I don't think like you so I'm not human?

            See, this is the othering that has become endemic in the Left over the last few decades and is most obvious/odious in identity politics.

            • greywarshark 3.3.1.2.1.1
              31 July 2020 at 4:33 pm

              DTB I was just hoping that you hadn't lost touch with your human identity not all the other isms and shades that have arisen. But you put on the breastplate of righteousness when you advance anti-capitalism and apparently are also anti everything else that people might be fond of. I didn't realise how far the anti-thing had gone in you; you need an antidote I think. What about offering to dress up as Santa for Christmas. Sweet!

      • anker 3.3.2
        30 July 2020 at 11:01 pm

        I am one of those who has made judgemental comments about absconders. Nothing has changed my mind about this woman's actions including that they were wearing masks.

        I have compassion for anyone experiencing loss, especially in Covid situations. But to abscond from isolation shows a self interest/sense of entitlement that puts an individuals needs above the greater good. She must have known that in coming to NZ there was no guarantee of getting compassionate leave. Saying that the state has let her down really annoys me. During a pandemic it is not "the States" job to ensure her kids get to see their fathers body. What risk was she putting her children at, scaling a big fence in the dark? risking arrest and a court appearance? How did this help her children.

        I feel exasperated that people don't accept we are in a pandemic and behalf accordingly. IMHO her kids would have been better off to stay in Oz and grieve peacefully together at home…………

        • weka 3.3.2.1
          30 July 2020 at 11:57 pm

          I don't disagree with too much there anker. The only thing I would say is that people aren't rational during intense grief. We have the grief associated with covid and the changes to our lives and society and future (not many are talking about this) and yep, some people are taking longer to adjust than others. Not being able to say goodbye to loved ones is going to hit some harder than others. So on top of the 'should be adjusting' they're also in acute grief from someone close to them having died suddenly. That's shock and pain and disbelief and anger, you bet that some people will make poor decisions at such a time.

          The compassion is understanding that whatever we think people should do, often there are reasons why they don't.

          Like I said, the judgements I have seen remind me of bene bashing. It reminds me of how the right and even some on the left treated Turei. We can still disagree with what someone has done while understanding why they did it. There are all sorts of ways to rationalise not offering that understanding.

    • Gabby 3.4
      30 July 2020 at 6:53 pm

      That dicking around call you in an hour kicking the can down the road crap is just so DHB.

      • gsays 3.4.1
        30 July 2020 at 7:26 pm

        Especially when it sounds like all the other ducks were in a row: police, security military, transport…

      • anker 3.4.2
        30 July 2020 at 11:06 pm

        The DHB got into a mighty amount of trouble in the media when the two English women were given compassionate leave to travel to Wellington. This likely means they are extremely cautious about granting leave now and exercise a supreme amount of care. So I am not sure kicking the can down the road is necessarily true

    • Anne 3.5
      30 July 2020 at 6:55 pm

      Re the link: It shows how easy it is to pass judgement without knowing the facts of a case. We are all guilty of doing it from time to time but some are far more guilty than others.

      I've just had the sad experience of having to listen to younger judgmental relatives running down Maori and others of a minority persuasion. It's the trend you see of the upwardly mobile, and those who want to believe they are superior beings to others.

      • In Vino 3.5.1
        30 July 2020 at 7:16 pm

        Sad and true, Anne – and still widely prevalent. They seem to dig their heels in instead of opening their minds..

      • anker 3.5.2
        30 July 2020 at 11:12 pm

        The facts are that the woman absconded from isolation…………If you think there are extenuating circumstances that make that o.k. for some, then I hear that is your point of view.

        I don't think there are any circumstances that make it o.k. to abscond from isolation. That is a very strong view I hold. Its a pandemic. We need to do everything to ensure the virus is kept out. That means really tight rules.

        BTW my own family circumstances will likely mean I am adversely effected re seeing seriously ill loved ones overseas. But I accept this is the world we live in

    • I Feel Love 3.6
      30 July 2020 at 7:05 pm

      Re the Heron report, I wonder if Woodhouse is annoyed with himself, all he would have had to do was say "no" if asked had he received the email from Boag & that would have been "good enough". Heron asked Boag did she send the email to anyone else & she said "no", Heron took her at her word. We pay him for that? Anyone could have got that result. Though, the Privacy Commissioner is still looking at it.

      • ianmac 3.6.1
        30 July 2020 at 7:21 pm

        Perhaps Woodhouse gained his copies from someone other than Boag.

      • Draco T Bastard 3.6.2
        30 July 2020 at 7:27 pm

        Heron asked Boag did she send the email to anyone else & she said "no", Heron took her at her word.

        That is not what an investigator doing their job does – ever.

        Someone fire him and ask for our money back.

        • Muttonbird 3.6.2.1
          30 July 2020 at 7:40 pm

          Reading between the lines Labour is going very softly on the opposition at the moment. JA is serene and Hipkins is going in to bat for our very own Hitler youth.

          There's a real sense of purpose in rising above the problems of their opponents and not getting involved.

        • Treetop 3.6.2.2
          30 July 2020 at 9:18 pm

          Will the privacy commissioner check to see if Boag sent the email to anyone else?

          If this is not going to happen, not good enough.

      • McFlock 3.6.3
        30 July 2020 at 9:45 pm

        I don't think the Heron report was all that bad. It's essentially a fire service response: make sure the thing ain't still burning.

        The privacy commissioner will do their review and I hope they throw the book at Boag in particular. If there's no book for them to throw, the MoH has hit the ARHT with a breach of contract notice, so that will make life fucky for them until they figure out how to stop a CEO telling people to send them patient data. But part of that might involve pursuing civil or criminal legal proceedings against employees apparently responsible for redirecting intellectual property into their personal possesssion instead of the Trust's. Which is a lovely thought.

    • Muttonbird 3.7
      30 July 2020 at 7:23 pm

      A mother who has admitted escaping managed isolation with her four children says she was left with no other option.

      Don't cart his kids off to Australia in the first place?

      • gsays 3.7.1
        30 July 2020 at 7:37 pm

        Hardliner I'm picking there, my sooty friend.

        • Muttonbird 3.7.1.1
          30 July 2020 at 7:43 pm

          When you import people from Australia you are importing a much slacker attitude to Covid-19.

          Imagine if everyone who came here for a funeral did this. We'd look like Victoria within two weeks.

          They had 700 new cases today and 87 vulnerable people have died in Australia since they ‘beat’ the virus. That is fast approaching double their initial Covid deaths with only worse to come.

          We’d be Melbourne x5 because of our weather and extremely poor housing in vulnerable communities.

          Too much is at stake and I am genuinely surprised there is any sympathy for this woman here.

          Fuck ’em.

          • gsays 3.7.1.1.1
            30 July 2020 at 7:49 pm

            Did you listen to her?

            • Muttonbird 3.7.1.1.1.1
              30 July 2020 at 7:53 pm

              Nope. And I won't. Surprised she gets the air time, frankly.

              • gsays …
                30 July 2020 at 8:08 pm

                Rightio.

              • anker …
                30 July 2020 at 11:13 pm

                100% Muttonbird

                • Muttonbird …
                  30 July 2020 at 11:19 pm

                  Elsewhere I have said the initial breach was annoying but the pimping of her case by RNZ and now some Standard faithful has got me really upset.

                  • Incognito …
                    30 July 2020 at 11:26 pm

                    Ok, this is getting a little nasty; do you know what pimping means?

                    • Muttonbird …
                      30 July 2020 at 11:41 pm

                      Of course I know what pimping means. I will retract if you order me to do so.

                      Like I say, this case had disappeared into the many cases of quarantine absconding until the media and some comments here re-highlighted it.

                    • Incognito []
                      31 July 2020 at 8:11 am

                      IMHO, accusing “some Standard faithful” of “pimping of her case” was misplaced. If you need to be ‘ordered’ to retract it means you think it was ok to make it personal with a most dubious statement 🙁

                      When those five people absconded, how “many cases of quarantine absconding” in total had there been here?

      • Draco T Bastard 3.7.2
        30 July 2020 at 8:09 pm

        Well, I suppose that depends upon when they left and if they expected him to suddenly die at the time.

        • Muttonbird 3.7.2.1
          30 July 2020 at 8:12 pm

          You're going soft on me Draco…

        • Sabine 3.7.2.2
          30 July 2020 at 9:26 pm

          when you move overseas permanently, one of the things that will come to your mind is your death….the one of your elders for example.

          I flew home when my mother was very ill with cancer, i arrived two hours short. I knew when marrying my kiwi husband and moving here that that would be a thing that could happen, that one day i would get a call that said so and so is ill, dying come now.

          And sometimes we arrive in time and get to say good bye, and sometimes we don't. Btw, the only reason i was able to attend the funeral of my mum two weeks later was because the person from the funeral liased with the police to release the body of my mother faster then usual as i only had three weeks to stay at home. My mum passed away at home and by law there needs to be a autopsy to verify that she died of natural causes – in her case cancer, rather then say an opiod overdose.

          So frankly that is a bullshit excuse. You don't generally expect anyone other then really old people to just die, but it happens. And you either live close enough to never miss a family death/funeral or you don't and then you accept that maybe you come to late.

          • gsays 3.7.2.2.1
            30 July 2020 at 9:44 pm

            If I have read you right, the subtle difference here is that the body was organised to be brought to Hamilton, to an appropriate facility.

            The family would have a brief time with him, return to isolation, and the body goes back to Auckland for the 10.30 tangi.

            • Sabine 3.7.2.2.1.1
              30 July 2020 at 10:04 pm

              the problem was that they could not wait until the final decision was made.

              1 hour and 45 minutes – and they CHOOSE not to wait.

              If it had been refused then, maybe i can find it in my heart to understand them. But they DID NOT WAIT. And that is what people are right fully upset about.

              We know too little about this virus and the illnesses that it brings forth, we have the mess of the US / OZ / England / France /Spain / Italy to look at if we want to know how bad it can get. We might want to keep that in mind.

          • Draco T Bastard 3.7.2.2.2
            30 July 2020 at 10:20 pm

            Well, yeah.

            My point was that leaving wasn't the problem – it was the expecting everything to be the same after the pandemic hit.

      • greywarshark 3.7.3
        31 July 2020 at 4:37 pm

        Don/t have kids would be the final solution Muttonbird. So much easier and cuts complexity right down so one can see one's path straight and clear. And further don't have a partner or friend that makes life complex too.

    • PaddyOT 3.8
      30 July 2020 at 7:37 pm

      Oh gsays it is boiling.

      I'm releasing another Inquiry report just for you.

      ‐——–

      "Inquiry report by Howard .I. Know QC

      Because Mr.Hamish Walker and Ms. Michelle Boag have admitted their guilt, I surmise the following-:

      1. By admission of their guilt the Inquiry will peruse the Evidence. At this level of jurisdiction, in my official power to make legal decisions and judgements, I called upon Ms. Boag and Mr. Walker to submit The Evidence.

      2. Mr.Walker admitting a terrible mistake, was distressed and feeling picked on. He did not involve anyone else that mattered to this inquiry but Ms.Boag.

      3. Ms. Boag was a number of a party who became a recipient of a highly confidential email from inept Health Ministry staff.

      4. Because of the aforementioned admissions to the public later, no other persons are sequestered nor any computer databases sought.

      Conclusion:

      Along with privacy obligations written clearly on emails, I find the Ministry of Health should have encrypted their communications.

      The two persons admitted their mistakes therefore I will pass this matter on to the Privacy Commission. I hope in that time that no other contextual data for evidence will be wiped. "

      Signed H.I.KnowQC ".

      ‐——————-

      Now for my invoice …..

    • joe90 3.9
      30 July 2020 at 7:52 pm

      This selfish woman had no concern for the safety and well being other people, and we’re supposed to do what after listening to her wee sob story?

      Feel badly for her?

      I don't fucking think so.

    • Treetop 3.10
      30 July 2020 at 10:11 pm

      Why was the family put in Hamilton when the body was in Auckland?

      Communication could have been a lot better when it came to giving the mother a decision on seeing the body or not seeing the body.

      Not only is the family dealing with a close death, the family need to remain in NZ until September for sentencing.

      I would Iike to see the mother recieve a compassionate sentence and for counselling support to be given to the family as their situation could have been managed better than it was.

      The pandemic is such, that it is separating people at a very differcult time and this is overwhelming for children when loss of a parent has occurred.

      • Muttonbird 3.10.1
        30 July 2020 at 10:24 pm

        This psycho woman needs to be billed for her and her kids' stay according to the new rules, after they get out of prison. Then they should be shipped back to Queensland where they belong.

        • gsays 3.10.1.1
          30 July 2020 at 10:35 pm

          Jeez, I trust you are just an anonymous keyboard warrior with no actual authority.

          • Muttonbird 3.10.1.1.1
            30 July 2020 at 10:38 pm

            I have zero authority. Just an NZ citizen like you. She jimmied a window and broke out 5 people during the most dangerous pandemic in 100 years.

            Ship her and her kids back to Queensland. That’s the life they chose.

            I was mildly upset by the initial breach but I’m now wild at the sympathetic framing by RNZ and now some commenters on this forum.

            • Incognito 3.10.1.1.1.1
              30 July 2020 at 10:53 pm

              Could be worse, you could be sick to death!

              • Muttonbird …
                30 July 2020 at 11:08 pm

                I, and my family of four are fine, thanks.

                Full sport for them, nine engagements per week plus full academic classes uninterrupted.

                Unlike Melbourne which has been forced back into an ill-considered L3 lockdown. No kids’ sport. It should be an Australia wide L4 lockdown.

                This Queensland woman and her family jearpordised my family’s sacrifice and hundreds of thousands of other families like mine.

                She can go back to AUS anytime and NZ will be much better off.

                • Incognito …
                  30 July 2020 at 11:23 pm

                  Of course, you are, because if you were dead like the father of those children, you wouldn’t be commenting here, would you, and your family would not be fine, would they? I have experienced a similar situation myself and I would not wish that upon anybody else, least of all on children.

                  I’m sure that family of five will be all right too, once they have done their time here and been kicked out of NZ. They’re obviously undesirables and unwanted in this lovely country that is ours and ours only.

      • Draco T Bastard 3.10.2
        30 July 2020 at 10:32 pm

        Why was the family put in Hamilton when the body was in Auckland?

        Because that was all that was available? You may not have noticed but we don't have unlimited space.

        Communication could have been a lot better when it came to giving the mother a decision on seeing the body or not seeing the body.

        Not it really couldn't have been.

        You're here, the body's there. So, no, you can't see it.

        Not hard, not complex and that's what she was told.

        I would Iike to see the mother recieve a compassionate sentence and for counselling support to be given to the family as their situation could have been managed better than it was.

        No. She wouldn't receiving a sentence if she'd just waited. And I'm pretty sure their situation was managed as well as it could be. Its not the people managing isolation that are wrong here – they are.

        The pandemic is such, that it is separating people at a very differcult time and this is overwhelming for children when loss of a parent has occurred.

        Yeah, shit happens. This does not allow for special cases.

        • anker 3.10.2.1
          30 July 2020 at 11:18 pm

          Agree 100% Draco and Muttonbird

        • Treetop 3.10.2.2
          31 July 2020 at 9:40 am

          I read your comments.

          The situation was not handled as well as it could have been. Had the family been assigned a person who had the right skills to manage the families grief, their anxiety could have been reduced or fully KNOWN. Fight or flight response probably occurred due to the intensity of the situation for the family.

          Isolation is required for 14 days to prevent community transmission. This does not mean that the body could not have been taken to a room where the family were staying.

          There are so many ways in which Covid-19 can escape from isolation that any day this could happen.

          I REPEAT "the situation was not handled as well as it could have been."

          Do not make the mistake of blaming the mother for other people pissing her about and not emotionally supporting her when she was having a crisis moment.

          • Draco T Bastard 3.10.2.2.1
            31 July 2020 at 12:23 pm

            The situation was not handled as well as it could have been.

            Yes, it was. Was it handled perfectly – no. It a quarantine situation there has to be give and take on both sides. This woman didn't give any.

            Do not make the mistake of blaming the mother for other people pissing her about and not emotionally supporting her when she was having a crisis moment.

            I'm not blaming her for that. I'm blaming her for breaking quarantine because she couldn't control her own damn emotions.

            Your logical fallacy of the day is: Appeal to Emotion

            • Treetop 3.10.2.2.1.1
              31 July 2020 at 1:41 pm

              "I'm not blaming her for that. I'm blaming her for breaking quarantine because she couldn't control her damn emotions."

              Her emotions were not being anticipated and they needed to be as there was a crisis unfolding.

              Did anyone consider that the mother could try and escape and to prevent this?

              And

              How would you have prevented an escape?

      • Rosemary McDonald 3.10.3
        31 July 2020 at 7:00 am

        Why was the family put in Hamilton when the body was in Auckland?

        Finally! Someone asks the right question.

        • Pat 3.10.3.1
          31 July 2020 at 7:57 am

          it may have something to do with a constrained capacity and the need to keep different cohorts separated and together in those limited facilities….Hamilton was prepared for that flight.

          7000 individuals needs are difficult to cater for to the nth degree

          • Rosemary McDonald 3.10.3.1.1
            31 July 2020 at 8:26 am

            Granted, this is a difficult situation and it is near impossible to meet everyone's expectations.

            But, I assume this family made their situation clear to Whoever Was In Charge…to the point They seriously considered trucking the Deceased from Auckland to Hamilton to facilitate a viewing…why the hell could They not have injected a bit of flexibility into their system?

            Perhaps a small van and a couple of driver/minders could have taken this whanau up the Expressway to say their private goodbyes? Four hours max….and they would have been back in their isolation digs by the time the bureaucrats had made their minds up.

            And of course this could have be done safely…in the same manner they were trucked from Auckland to Hamilton in the first place.

            On one hand I get folks are scared and angry that these 'selfish people put the lives of all at risk with their unreasonable demands', but on the other I have personal experience with MOH bureaucrats and have found them not overburdened with decision making abilities. Delay is their favourite tactic, common sense is a foreign concept.

            Seriously…kindness and common sense would have gone a long way towards mitigating this particular shit-show.

            • Incognito 3.10.3.1.1.1
              31 July 2020 at 8:37 am

              yes

              • Just Is …
                31 July 2020 at 9:20 am

                The "real question" is what would YOU have done in the same circumstances, and why.

                ie, would you have waited for conformation to be able to leave with permission.

                or

                Would you have broken out, knowingly breaking the Law.

                This applies to all sides of the argument.

                What would You have done?

                • Treetop …
                  31 July 2020 at 9:55 am

                  I would have assessed the grief and anxiety that the mother had and then I would have supported her and the children until a decision was made. And were the decision to have been not seeing the body, I would have done everything I could knowing that there were limits.

                  Appearing in court probably was a blur and may of not been appropriate.

                  Lack of management grasping the situation was the main problem.

                  • Just Is …
                    31 July 2020 at 2:01 pm

                    Treetop

                    Your arguing after the fact.

                    Was anyone in the quarantine facility even aware of the emotional distress the family were in?

                    If the answer is No, then difficult to provide care.

                    Is there a process for the returnees to access?

                    In these circumstances, of having to attend a funeral, if not, maybe a more robust system is required to acknowledge the potential risks, the system isn't geared towards people with anguish and anxiety from a loved one passing away.

                    They were awaiting a response to be delivered only a short time after they escaped.

                    Maybe this is a learning curve for the Border Quarantine managers, and has highlighted a deficiency in the system that deserves more consideration.

                • Incognito …
                  31 July 2020 at 10:49 am

                  Nope, that is a distraction and a diversion towards a hypothetical situation and thus not the “real question” at all, IMO. We know what happened, more or less, and we need to understand it before we can make a sensible judgement about this particular case, if we feel inclined to do so. They have admitted the breach so that’s not in question.

                  • Just Is …
                    31 July 2020 at 2:06 pm

                    Hypothetical

                    Because you're not sure what your own response might be if you were placed in the same circumstances?

                    Would you have raised a flag, asked for more assistance, or forced a window to escape?

                  • Drowsy M. Kram …
                    31 July 2020 at 2:35 pm

                    My hypothetical is whether this particular family, knowing what they know now (and what some suggest they knew then, e.g. that their application was receiving favourable consideration), including the prospect of a sympathetic 20-minute interview on RNZ, and the charges and potential penalties they face, would do anything differently. I hope that they would, for everyone's sake – if they wouldn't then some things need to change, e.g. more focused help and advice for those experiencing unusually high levels of stress.

                    When large numbers of people (by NZ standards) find themselves in (stressful) circumstances that carry an unusual health risk (to themselves and/or others), then any hint that the rules governing those circumstances are flexible is asking for trouble. We saw this in lockdown (heck, the Minister of Health ultimately lost his portfolio because of poor judgement over his movements), and I'd suggest that we'll see more of it if the idea that you can ‘have a go‘ at breaching border quarantine without significant consequences gains traction.

                    • Just Is …
                      31 July 2020 at 3:00 pm

                      Patients is a rare human trait.

                      Emotional greif clouds peoples judgment.

                      Border Quarantine is there to protect every NZer.

                      We need to learn from these experiences and make adjustments accordingly.

            • Treetop 3.10.3.1.1.2
              31 July 2020 at 10:13 am

              The Wespac helicopter could have flowen the body to Hamilton and returned by van.

              The details would need to have been managed carefully and agreed by the mother. A person can only make an informed decision when they have all the details.

              Common sense was required and not politics or an unnecessary delay in making a decision.

              Not to sure but culturally the body is not removed at night. So cultural awareness was lacking.

            • Draco T Bastard 3.10.3.1.1.3
              31 July 2020 at 12:29 pm

              why the hell could They not have injected a bit of flexibility into their system?

              Because its quarantine.

              Perhaps a small van and a couple of driver/minders could have taken this whanau up the Expressway to say their private goodbyes?

              And then we'd have thousands of people demanding the same bloody thing with an inevitable loss of quarantine.

              And of course this could have be done safely…

              No, it wouldn't. The breaking of quarantine is inherently not safe.

              common sense is a foreign concept.

              Common sense is a fallacy being neither common nor sense.

              Seriously…kindness and common sense would have gone a long way towards mitigating this particular shit-show.

              What would have easily mitigated this shit show was a stupid, selfish person not breaking quarantine.

      • anker 3.10.4
        31 July 2020 at 2:19 pm

        the woman was put in Hamilton because quarantine places are limited and Hamilton must have been the place they could accommodate her family. FFS this isn't a holiday we are offering people. Go where you are sent, because the priority is keeping NZders safe

    • mpledger 3.11
      31 July 2020 at 10:37 am

      I have sympathy for her predicament but … she appears to have no comprehension of the catastrophe she could have caused … and the first people impacted would have been her own whanau.

      In her radio interview, rather than apologizing for her actions, she just tried to vindicate them by blaming everyone else.

      Everyone seemed to be bending over backwards to give her what she wanted (at no cost to her from what I can tell) but because it wasn't on her timetable she decided that noone but herself mattered.

    • Treetop 3.12
      31 July 2020 at 5:42 pm

      You spoke to soon about any reaction. Your topic of the mother's interview gave some strong views.

      Wow to the response.

  4. joe90 4
    30 July 2020 at 7:46 pm

    Seems having more money than dog makes you stupid.

    https://twitter.com/sarahcpr/status/1288521738641342473

    • weka 4.1
      30 July 2020 at 8:12 pm

      what interests me about that story is not that Madonna did something stupid, but the number of liberals who are believing the Frontline Doctors propaganda, despite the known connections to pro-fascist right. That group of otherwise progressive people is growing, and they're a dangerous mix of libertarianism, poor science literacy, and apolitical world views.

      More important to them than left/right is concern about the government and authority. The left really needs to stop ridiculing them, and remember how radicalisation works. In NZ we still have the chance to create a better culture than in the US, but that window won't be open for long and the right are actively promoting politics that takes advantage of the disaffection.

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    TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:40 am on Wednesday, July 24 are:Deep Dive: Chipping away at the housing crisis, including my comments RNZ/Newsroom’s The DetailNews: Government softens on asset sales, ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • LXR Takaanini

    As I reported about the city centre, Auckland’s rail network is also going through a difficult and disruptive period which is rapidly approaching a culmination, this will result in a significant upgrade to the whole network. Hallelujah. Also like the city centre this is an upgrade predicated on the City ...
    Greater AucklandBy Patrick Reynolds
    3 days ago
  • Four kilograms of pain

    Today, a 4 kilogram report will be delivered to Parliament. We know this is what the report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care weighs, because our Prime Minister told us so.Some reporter had blindsided him by asking a question about something done by ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Wednesday, July 24

    TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Wednesday, July 24, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Beehive: Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced plans to use PPPs to fund, build and run a four-lane expressway between Auckland ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • Luxon gets caught out

    NewstalkZB host Mike Hosking, who can usually be relied on to give Prime Minister Christopher Luxon an easy run, did not do so yesterday when he interviewed him about the HealthNZ deficit. Luxon is trying to use a deficit reported last year by HealthNZ as yet another example of the ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    3 days ago
  • A worrying sign

    Back in January a StatsNZ employee gave a speech at Rātana on behalf of tangata whenua in which he insulted and criticised the government. The speech clearly violated the principle of a neutral public service, and StatsNZ started an investigation. Part of that was getting an external consultant to examine ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • Are we fine with 47.9% home-ownership by 2048?

    Renting for life: Shared ownership initiatives are unlikely to slow the slide in home ownership by much. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:A Deloitte report for Westpac has projected Aotearoa’s home-ownership rate will ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Let's Win This

    You're broken down and tiredOf living life on a merry go roundAnd you can't find the fighterBut I see it in you so we gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsWe gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsAnd I'll rise upI'll rise like the dayI'll rise upI'll rise unafraidI'll rise upAnd I'll ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago
  • Waimahara: The Singing Spirit of Water

    There’s been a change in Myers Park. Down the steps from St. Kevin’s Arcade, past the grassy slopes, the children’s playground, the benches and that goat statue, there has been a transformation. The underpass for Mayoral Drive has gone from a barren, grey, concrete tunnel, to a place that thrums ...
    Greater AucklandBy Connor Sharp
    4 days ago
  • A major milestone: Global climate pollution may have just peaked

    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Global society may have finally slammed on the brakes for climate-warming pollution released by human fossil fuel combustion. According to the Carbon Monitor Project, the total global climate pollution released between February and May 2024 declined slightly from the amount released during the same ...
    Skeptical Science
    4 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Pick 'n' Mix for Tuesday, July 23

    TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Tuesday, July 23 are:Deep Dive: Penlink: where tolling rhetoric meets reality BusinessDesk-$$$’s Oliver LewisScoop: Te Pūkenga plans for regional polytechs leak out ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Tuesday, July 23

    TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Tuesday, July 23, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Health: Shane Reti announced the Board of Te Whatu Ora- Health New Zealand was being replaced with Commissioner Lester Levy ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • HealthNZ and Luxon at cross purposes over budget blowout

    Health NZ warned the Government at the end of March that it was running over Budget. But the reasons it gave were very different to those offered by the Prime Minister yesterday. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon blamed the “botched merger” of the 20 District Health Boards (DHBs) to create Health ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    4 days ago
  • 2500-3000 more healthcare staff expected to be fired, as Shane Reti blames Labour for a budget defic...

    Long ReadKey Summary: Although National increased the health budget by $1.4 billion in May, they used an old funding model to project health system costs, and never bothered to update their pre-election numbers. They were told during the Health Select Committees earlier in the year their budget amount was deficient, ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    4 days ago
  • Might Kamala Harris be about to get a 'stardust' moment like Jacinda Ardern?

    As a momentous, historic weekend in US politics unfolded, analysts and commentators grasped for precedents and comparisons to help explain the significance and power of the choice Joe Biden had made. The 46th president had swept the Democratic party’s primaries but just over 100 days from the election had chosen ...
    PunditBy Tim Watkin
    5 days ago
  • Solutions Interview: Steven Hail on MMT & ecological economics

    TL;DR: I’m casting around for new ideas and ways of thinking about Aotearoa’s political economy to find a few solutions to our cascading and self-reinforcing housing, poverty and climate crises.Associate Professor runs an online masters degree in the economics of sustainability at Torrens University in Australia and is organising ...
    The KakaBy Steven Hail
    5 days ago
  • Reported back

    The Finance and Expenditure Committee has reported back on National's Local Government (Water Services Preliminary Arrangements) Bill. The bill sets up water for privatisation, and was introduced under urgency, then rammed through select committee with no time even for local councils to make a proper submission. Naturally, national's select committee ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Vandrad the Viking, Christopher Coombes, and Literary Archaeology

    Some years ago, I bought a book at Dunedin’s Regent Booksale for $1.50. As one does. Vandrad the Viking (1898), by J. Storer Clouston, is an obscure book these days – I cannot find a proper online review – but soon it was sitting on my shelf, gathering dust alongside ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    5 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell On The Biden Withdrawal

    History is not on the side of the centre-left, when Democratic presidents fall behind in the polls and choose not to run for re-election. On both previous occasions in the past 75 years (Harry Truman in 1952, Lyndon Johnson in 1968) the Democrats proceeded to then lose the White House ...
    WerewolfBy lyndon
    5 days ago
  • Joe Biden's withdrawal puts the spotlight back on Kamala and the USA's complicated relatio...

    This is a free articleCoverageThis morning, US President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from the Presidential race. And that is genuinely newsworthy. Thanks for your service, President Biden, and all the best to you and yours.However, the media in New Zealand, particularly the 1News nightly bulletin, has been breathlessly covering ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    5 days ago
  • Why we have to challenge our national fiscal assumptions

    A homeless person’s camp beside a blocked-off slipped damage walkway in Freeman’s Bay: we are chasing our tail on our worsening and inter-related housing, poverty and climate crises. Photo: Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Existential Crisis and Damaged Brains

    What has happened to it all?Crazy, some'd sayWhere is the life that I recognise?(Gone away)But I won't cry for yesterdayThere's an ordinary worldSomehow I have to findAnd as I try to make my wayTo the ordinary worldYesterday morning began as many others - what to write about today? I began ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • A speed limit is not a target, and yet…

    This is a guest post from longtime supporter Mr Plod, whose previous contributions include a proposal that Hamilton become New Zealand’s capital city, and that we should switch which side of the road we drive on. A recent Newsroom article, “Back to school for the Govt’s new speed limit policy“, ...
    Greater AucklandBy Guest Post
    5 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Pick 'n' Mix for Monday, July 22

    TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Monday, July 22 are:Today’s Must Read: Father and son live in a tent, and have done for four years, in a million ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Monday, July 22

    TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Monday, July 22, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:US President Joe Biden announced via X this morning he would not stand for a second term.Multinational professional services firm ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #29

    A listing of 32 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, July 14, 2024 thru Sat, July 20, 2024. Story of the week As reflected by preponderance of coverage, our Story of the Week is Project 2025. Until now traveling ...
    Skeptical Science
    6 days ago
  • I'd like to share what I did this weekend

    This weekend, a friend pointed out someone who said they’d like to read my posts, but didn’t want to pay. And my first reaction was sympathy.I’ve already told folks that if they can’t comfortably subscribe, and would like to read, I’d be happy to offer free subscriptions. I don’t want ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    6 days ago
  • For the children – Why mere sentiment can be a misleading force in our lives, and lead to unex...

    National: The Party of ‘Law and Order’ IntroductionThis weekend, the Government formally kicked off one of their flagship policy programs: a military style boot camp that New Zealand has experimented with over the past 50 years. Cartoon credit: Guy BodyIt’s very popular with the National Party’s Law and Order image, ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    6 days ago
  • A friend in uncertain times

    Day one of the solo leg of my long journey home begins with my favourite sound: footfalls in an empty street. 5.00 am and it’s already light and already too warm, almost.If I can make the train that leaves Budapest later this hour I could be in Belgrade by nightfall; ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago
  • The Chaotic World of Male Diet Influencers

    Hi,We’ll get to the horrific world of male diet influencers (AKA Beefy Boys) shortly, but first you will be glad to know that since I sent out the Webworm explaining why the assassination attempt on Donald Trump was not a false flag operation, I’ve heard from a load of people ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    6 days ago
  • It's Starting To Look A Lot Like… Y2K

    Do you remember Y2K, the threat that hung over humanity in the closing days of the twentieth century? Horror scenarios of planes falling from the sky, electronic payments failing and ATMs refusing to dispense cash. As for your VCR following instructions and recording your favourite show - forget about it.All ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 week ago
  • Bernard’s Saturday Soliloquy for the week to July 20

    Climate Change Minister Simon Watts being questioned by The Kākā’s Bernard Hickey.TL;DR: My top six things to note around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the week to July 20 were:1. A strategy that fails Zero Carbon Act & Paris targetsThe National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government finally unveiled ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • Pharmac Director, Climate Change Commissioner, Health NZ Directors – The latest to quit this m...

    Summary:As New Zealand loses at least 12 leaders in the public service space of health, climate, and pharmaceuticals, this month alone, directly in response to the Government’s policies and budget choices, what lies ahead may be darker than it appears. Tui examines some of those departures and draws a long ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    1 week ago
  • Flooding Housing Policy

    The Minister of Housing’s ambition is to reduce markedly the ratio of house prices to household incomes. If his strategy works it would transform the housing market, dramatically changing the prospects of housing as an investment.Leaving aside the Minister’s metaphor of ‘flooding the market’ I do not see how the ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    1 week ago
  • A Voyage Among the Vandals: Accepted (Again!)

    As previously noted, my historical fantasy piece, set in the fifth-century Mediterranean, was accepted for a Pirate Horror anthology, only for the anthology to later fall through. But in a good bit of news, it turned out that the story could indeed be re-marketed as sword and sorcery. As of ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    1 week ago
  • The Kākā's Chorus for Friday, July 19

    An employee of tobacco company Philip Morris International demonstrates a heated tobacco device. Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy on Friday, July 19 are:At a time when the Coalition Government is cutting spending on health, infrastructure, education, housing ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • The Kākā’s Pick 'n' Mix for Friday, July 19

    TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 8:30 am on Friday, July 19 are:Scoop: NZ First Minister Casey Costello orders 50% cut to excise tax on heated tobacco products. The minister has ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • Weekly Roundup 19-July-2024

    Kia ora, it’s time for another Friday roundup, in which we pull together some of the links and stories that caught our eye this week. Feel free to add more in the comments! Our header image this week shows a foggy day in Auckland town, captured by Patrick Reynolds. ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    1 week ago
  • Weekly Climate Wrap: A market-led plan for failure

    TL;DR : Here’s the top six items climate news for Aotearoa this week, as selected by Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer. A discussion recorded yesterday is in the video above and the audio of that sent onto the podcast feed.The Government released its draft Emissions Reduction ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • Tobacco First

    Save some money, get rich and old, bring it back to Tobacco Road.Bring that dynamite and a crane, blow it up, start all over again.Roll up. Roll up. Or tailor made, if you prefer...Whether you’re selling ciggies, digging for gold, catching dolphins in your nets, or encouraging folks to flutter ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 week ago
  • Trump’s Adopted Son.

    Waiting In The Wings: For truly, if Trump is America’s un-assassinated Caesar, then J.D. Vance is America’s Octavian, the Republic’s youthful undertaker – and its first Emperor.DONALD TRUMP’S SELECTION of James D. Vance as his running-mate bodes ill for the American republic. A fervent supporter of Viktor Orban, the “illiberal” prime ...
    Bowalley Road
    1 week ago
  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Friday, July 19

    TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 19, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:The PSA announced the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) had ruled in the PSA’s favour in its case against the Ministry ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • The Hoon around the week to July 19

    TL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers last night features co-hosts and talking with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent talking about the National-ACT-NZ First Government’s release of its first Emissions Reduction Plan;University of Otago Foreign Relations Professor and special guest Dr Karin von ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #29 2024

    Open access notables Improving global temperature datasets to better account for non-uniform warming, Calvert, Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society: To better account for spatial non-uniform trends in warming, a new GITD [global instrumental temperature dataset] was created that used maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) to combine the land surface ...
    Skeptical Science
    1 week ago

  • Joint statement from the Prime Ministers of Canada, Australia and New Zealand

    Australia, Canada and New Zealand today issued the following statement on the need for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza and the risk of expanded conflict between Hizballah and Israel. The situation in Gaza is catastrophic. The human suffering is unacceptable. It cannot continue.  We remain unequivocal in our condemnation of ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    16 hours ago
  • AG reminds institutions of legal obligations

    Attorney-General Judith Collins today reminded all State and faith-based institutions of their legal obligation to preserve records relevant to the safety and wellbeing of those in its care. “The Abuse in Care Inquiry’s report has found cases where records of the most vulnerable people in State and faith‑based institutions were ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    19 hours ago
  • More young people learning about digital safety

    Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government’s online safety website for children and young people has reached one million page views.  “It is great to see so many young people and their families accessing the site Keep It Real Online to learn how to stay safe online, and manage ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    20 hours ago
  • Speech to the Conference for General Practice 2024

    Tēnā tātou katoa,  Ngā mihi te rangi, ngā mihi te whenua, ngā mihi ki a koutou, kia ora mai koutou. Thank you for the opportunity to be here and the invitation to speak at this 50th anniversary conference. I acknowledge all those who have gone before us and paved the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    22 hours ago
  • Employers and payroll providers ready for tax changes

    New Zealand’s payroll providers have successfully prepared to ensure 3.5 million individuals will, from Wednesday next week, be able to keep more of what they earn each pay, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Revenue Minister Simon Watts.  “The Government's tax policy changes are legally effective from Wednesday. Delivering this tax ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    23 hours ago
  • Experimental vineyard futureproofs wine industry

    An experimental vineyard which will help futureproof the wine sector has been opened in Blenheim by Associate Regional Development Minister Mark Patterson. The covered vineyard, based at the New Zealand Wine Centre – Te Pokapū Wāina o Aotearoa, enables controlled environmental conditions. “The research that will be produced at the Experimental ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Funding confirmed for regions affected by North Island Weather Events

    The Coalition Government has confirmed the indicative regional breakdown of North Island Weather Event (NIWE) funding for state highway recovery projects funded through Budget 2024, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Regions in the North Island suffered extensive and devastating damage from Cyclone Gabrielle and the 2023 Auckland Anniversary Floods, and ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Indonesian Foreign Minister to visit

    Indonesia’s Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi, will visit New Zealand next week, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced.   “Indonesia is important to New Zealand’s security and economic interests and is our closest South East Asian neighbour,” says Mr Peters, who is currently in Laos to engage with South East Asian partners. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Strengthening partnership with Ngāti Maniapoto

    He aha te kai a te rangatira? He kōrero, he kōrero, he kōrero. The government has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the aspirations of Ngāti Maniapoto, Minister for Māori Development Tama Potaka says. “My thanks to Te Nehenehenui Trust – Ngāti Maniapoto for bringing their important kōrero to a ministerial ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Transport Minister thanks outgoing CAA Chair

    Transport Minister Simeon Brown has thanked outgoing Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority, Janice Fredric, for her service to the board.“I have received Ms Fredric’s resignation from the role of Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority,” Mr Brown says.“On behalf of the Government, I want to thank Ms Fredric for ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Test for Customary Marine Title being restored

    The Government is proposing legislation to overturn a Court of Appeal decision and amend the Marine and Coastal Area Act in order to restore Parliament’s test for Customary Marine Title, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says.  “Section 58 required an applicant group to prove they have exclusively used and occupied ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Opposition united in bad faith over ECE sector review

    Regulation Minister David Seymour says that opposition parties have united in bad faith, opposing what they claim are ‘dangerous changes’ to the Early Childhood Education sector, despite no changes even being proposed yet.  “Issues with affordability and availability of early childhood education, and the complexity of its regulation, has led ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Kiwis having their say on first regulatory review

    After receiving more than 740 submissions in the first 20 days, Regulation Minister David Seymour is asking the Ministry for Regulation to extend engagement on the early childhood education regulation review by an extra two weeks.  “The level of interest has been very high, and from the conversations I’ve been ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Government upgrading Lower North Island commuter rail

    The Coalition Government is investing $802.9 million into the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines as part of a funding agreement with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA), KiwiRail, and the Greater Wellington and Horizons Regional Councils to deliver more reliable services for commuters in the lower North Island, Transport Minister Simeon ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Government moves to ensure flood protection for Wairoa

    Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced his intention to appoint a Crown Manager to both Hawke’s Bay Regional and Wairoa District Councils to speed up the delivery of flood protection work in Wairoa."Recent severe weather events in Wairoa this year, combined with damage from Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023 have ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • PM speech to Parliament – Royal Commission of Inquiry’s Report into Abuse in Care

    Mr Speaker, this is a day that many New Zealanders who were abused in State care never thought would come. It’s the day that this Parliament accepts, with deep sorrow and regret, the Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care.  At the heart of this report are the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Government acknowledges torture at Lake Alice

    For the first time, the Government is formally acknowledging some children and young people at Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital experienced torture. The final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care “Whanaketia – through pain and trauma, from darkness to light,” was tabled in Parliament ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Government acknowledges courageous abuse survivors

    The Government has acknowledged the nearly 2,400 courageous survivors who shared their experiences during the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State and Faith-Based Care. The final report from the largest and most complex public inquiry ever held in New Zealand, the Royal Commission Inquiry “Whanaketia – through ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Half a million people use tax calculator

    With a week to go before hard-working New Zealanders see personal income tax relief for the first time in fourteen years, 513,000 people have used the Budget tax calculator to see how much they will benefit, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis.  “Tax relief is long overdue. From next Wednesday, personal income ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Paid Parental Leave improvements pass first reading

    Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden says a bill that has passed its first reading will improve parental leave settings and give non-biological parents more flexibility as primary carer for their child. The Regulatory Systems Amendment Bill (No3), passed its first reading this morning. “It includes a change ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Rebuilding the economy through better regulation

    Two Bills designed to improve regulation and make it easier to do business have passed their first reading in Parliament, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. The Regulatory Systems (Economic Development) Amendment Bill and Regulatory Systems (Immigration and Workforce) Amendment Bill make key changes to legislation administered by the Ministry ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • ‘Open banking’ and ‘open electricity’ on the way

    New legislation paves the way for greater competition in sectors such as banking and electricity, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says. “Competitive markets boost productivity, create employment opportunities and lift living standards. To support competition, we need good quality regulation but, unfortunately, a recent OECD report ranked New ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Charity lotteries to be permitted to operate online

    Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says lotteries for charitable purposes, such as those run by the Heart Foundation, Coastguard NZ, and local hospices, will soon be allowed to operate online permanently. “Under current laws, these fundraising lotteries are only allowed to operate online until October 2024, after which ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Accelerating Northland Expressway

    The Coalition Government is accelerating work on the new four-lane expressway between Auckland and Whangārei as part of its Roads of National Significance programme, with an accelerated delivery model to deliver this project faster and more efficiently, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “For too long, the lack of resilient transport connections ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Sir Don to travel to Viet Nam as special envoy

    Sir Don McKinnon will travel to Viet Nam this week as a Special Envoy of the Government, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced.    “It is important that the Government give due recognition to the significant contributions that General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong made to New Zealand-Viet Nam relations,” Mr ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Grant Illingworth KC appointed as transitional Commissioner to Royal Commission

    Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says newly appointed Commissioner, Grant Illingworth KC, will help deliver the report for the first phase of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into COVID-19 Lessons, due on 28 November 2024.  “I am pleased to announce that Mr Illingworth will commence his appointment as ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • NZ to advance relationships with ASEAN partners

    Foreign Minister Winston Peters travels to Laos this week to participate in a series of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-led Ministerial meetings in Vientiane.    “ASEAN plays an important role in supporting a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific,” Mr Peters says.   “This will be our third visit to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Backing mental health services on the West Coast

    Construction of a new mental health facility at Te Nikau Grey Hospital in Greymouth is today one step closer, Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey says. “This $27 million facility shows this Government is delivering on its promise to boost mental health care and improve front line services,” Mr Doocey says. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • NZ support for sustainable Pacific fisheries

    New Zealand is committing nearly $50 million to a package supporting sustainable Pacific fisheries development over the next four years, Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones announced today. “This support consisting of a range of initiatives demonstrates New Zealand’s commitment to assisting our Pacific partners ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Students’ needs at centre of new charter school adjustments

    Associate Education Minister David Seymour says proposed changes to the Education and Training Amendment Bill will ensure charter schools have more flexibility to negotiate employment agreements and are equipped with the right teaching resources. “Cabinet has agreed to progress an amendment which means unions will not be able to initiate ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Commissioner replaces Health NZ Board

    In response to serious concerns around oversight, overspend and a significant deterioration in financial outlook, the Board of Health New Zealand will be replaced with a Commissioner, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti announced today.  “The previous government’s botched health reforms have created significant financial challenges at Health NZ that, without ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Minister to speak at Australian Space Forum

    Minister for Space and Science, Innovation and Technology Judith Collins will travel to Adelaide tomorrow for space and science engagements, including speaking at the Australian Space Forum.  While there she will also have meetings and visits with a focus on space, biotechnology and innovation.  “New Zealand has a thriving space ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Climate Change Minister to attend climate action meeting in China

    Climate Change Minister Simon Watts will travel to China on Saturday to attend the Ministerial on Climate Action meeting held in Wuhan.  “Attending the Ministerial on Climate Action is an opportunity to advocate for New Zealand climate priorities and engage with our key partners on climate action,” Mr Watts says. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Oceans and Fisheries Minister to Solomons

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