Gut Feeling and Common Sense

Written By: - Date published: 10:30 pm, October 6th, 2021 - 42 comments
Categories: covid-19, vaccines - Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

The Government messaging around Covid-19 is becoming increasingly confusing, as this hilarious Twitter thread shows [HT to Newsroom]. Although I have a really strong aversion to authoritarian tendencies, I’m not a rule-breaker by nature. However, when understanding and following the rules around Covid-19 becomes as difficult and dense as fine print I switch off and rely on gut feeling and common sense to do the right and to avoid doing the wrong thing. Many people try to adhere to the fine print without even reading it and companies do know this and sometimes take advantage of it, or sometimes they take the piss.

The thing is that we usually get away with this level of wilful complacency and even justify it; we get on with life as we see fit. Consumer interest groups and advocates have argued for years to make things simpler in contracts, policies, and Terms of Service, for example. Indeed, make it as simple as possible, but no simpler [thanks Albert Einstein] AKA the KISS principle. Getting away with it means that the risk is perceived low and it is safe. It might be the other side of opportunism – “pretty legal” comes to mind and there’s no problem until or unless caught.

In the days when we faced imminent threats and death as soon as we stepped out of our cave, we relied on razor-sharp senses and lightning-fast reflexes for survival. These days, we rely on GPS and smart devices run by smart software algorithms and the greatest risks we face when we step out of our heat-pump-controlled houses are forgetting our device or a major outage of major social media platforms and go into instant withdrawal of fluffy kitten photos. These are some of the many ‘existential’ threats of our time.

I’ve just driven the car to the dairy to pick up a courier parcel with headsets as the wear & tear of my current equipment made them almost unusable – it is always those bloody wire connections, same with chargers. After more than 7 weeks, the car needed a run too to charge up the battery. It was no problem at all but it occurred to me that many younger Kiwis have never learned how to drive a manual car and wouldn’t be able to drive one. I lament the day that self-driving cars take over and we all lose the skill to drive ourselves.

Instead of living in caves we’re now living as hermits in bubbles. Even the most introverted among us needs to go out every so often to explore, discover, and experience the world, i.e. to live. And to take some risks. The more authorities are making decisions for us, tell us what to do, and treat us hapless citizens, the more hapless we’ll become; we’ll lose the skill to think on our feet, determine and even recognise risk, and make choices and decisions accordingly and appropriately – you’ll lose it if you don’t use it.

I’d hate NZ becoming a Nanny State populated by sheeple, but also respect the State has a duty to protect others from others or from themselves. In my ideal world, the State treats the people with respect and allows them enough freedom to make their own choices even if/when these are not necessarily optimal ones. But relying on the gut feeling and common sense of the prehistoric caveman inside us won’t suffice and serve us well in the complex modern world we live in and when facing a complex threat by an invisible enemy such as the Covid-19 pandemic. But neither does it mean that we should resort to social conditioning and engineering because we already have enough inequity in our society.

I believe that our Government is walking a very fine line between telling us what to do and making (all!) the decisions for us. In fact, I think they’re having it just right, for now. Patience (which is hard when there’s time pressure), respect, mutual trust, and clear & consistent information & education are the way to go. This Government will not let people die, but when people do die, from Covid-19, it is not the Government’s fault or failure. People make decisions that have consequences, for themselves and for others. However, we cannot influence and control everything in life, but we can better prepare ourselves and become more resilient.

They say that familiarity breeds contempt. They also say that convenience breeds laziness. It is convenient if Government tells us what to do but please let it be clear and make sense! Confusing toilet rules from the top don’t help to instil trust in Government. As always, people will rely on common sense to do what they think is right for them, even if this means using the indoor toilet when mixing outdoors with no more than 10 people and one other bubble, FFS! Sometimes, the gut feeling overrules common sense – when you have to go, you have to go.

Did we elect MPs to form a Government to tell us what to do or does Government do what we want it to do on our behalf, i.e. social contract versus social licence? There’s no easy answer to this and political ideology only leads to polarised unproductive tribal cultural wars and I am starting to have serious doubts that social media are conducive to constructive engagement and debate. I strongly lean towards making my own decisions to keep myself safe from Covid-19 because I believe that they will also keep others safe. Once that choice or decision is taken away from me, i.e. made for me by coercion or otherwise, I’ll rebel, disobey, and break rules, which gives me the much needed feeling of control and empowerment. That’s my gut feeling and common sense even though it might not serve me and/or others well.

42 comments on “Gut Feeling and Common Sense ”

  1. GreenBus 1

    Subtle differences. The opposite of "nanny state" could well be neo liberalism or "small state". Let the market decide, Gov't keep out of your lives. Hmmm, I think I'd like to try some more "nanny state". The last 4 decades of neo liberalism has been a disaster IMO.

  2. Tiger Mountain 2

    One of the unpleasant ironies is that the underclass and alienated and precarious–created by almost 40 years of monetarism–may be the group that assist COVID to rip through the country. The ones that would have benefited from a state house mega build and a capital gains tax with teeth. More nanny state please.

    Middle class with full pantrys, spare bedrooms, home office and maybe a Bach or a renter, can and largely do, obey the rules more easily than those overcrowded in shabby units. But those that have benefited from neo liberalism seem also to be the ones selfishly still expecting to travel the world at their convenience and take skiing hols!

    No easy answers for the Govt. all those top MPs and officials are under intense pressure, but all the PM needs to do is stick to her usual modus operandi–which I am not usually a fan of. Namely, be guided by focus groups and polls; and there is still a good two thirds majority, for now, that would support her if she called for the undermining campaign by NZ National, ACT, Business and media channels to stop forthwith and people to unite once again.

  3. Gezza 3

    Sometimes, the gut feeling overrules common sense – when you have to go, you have to go.

    Maybe only visit the homes of people who have lots of bushes? And bring your own composting toilet? 😳

    Seriously, the rules are getting very difficult to figure out & follow. Up on the wall of the hallway to my dining room I have the very first A3 poster we were all sent, entitled:

    Our Plan – the four Alert Levels

    I may as well take that down because – while it was an excellent resource & a bloody good idea at the start of elimination in the community – it's now too incomplete/inaccurate to be trustworthy.

  4. KJT 4

    In my profession safety doesn't depend on "gut feeling and common sense".

    It depends on getting it right, based on facts and science.

    The sea, like covid, doesn't care about your "feelings"!

    • Ad 4.1

      +100 and same

    • RedLogix 4.2

      Same here. On a daily basis I am working with SIL3 rated plant – I'm literally going to start some up within the next hour or so.

      Facts, science, procedures and methods all matter and take first precedence.

      But so does instinct – I've lost count of the times in my life when my subconcious has acted to prevent a serious incident of one sort or another.

      • Patricia Bremner 4.2.1

        Yes Red Logic. Perhaps we are processing at some other primitive level, and we are pulling all our sophisticated information together but still putting it through a survival mechanism developed through the ages?

      • KJT 4.2.2

        Yes.

        I've found that ignoring niggling instinct, is not a good idea.

        However it is nearly always something that I knew about, should have done, and overlooked or forgotten.

  5. Adrian 5

    To Tiger Mountain, the fact that the middle class have all those things may well be because they DO follow the rules. I only now have some of those things because my wife , who is considerably more sensible than I, insisted that I do follow some rules, otherwise as I joke I would still be euphemisticly speaking, living under a bridge.

  6. KJT 6

    Well, the media have obviously had their instructions.

    It is all to be "the gangs or those non compliant brown peoples fault"

    Not those who demanded the premature bubble with Oz, or white anted our response demanding "opening up, and let her rip".

    Or priviledged white people who use "essential worker” status to junket around Queenstown without masks, when their job is in Wellington, or headed off to their baches from Auckland. When they are not moaning about the interruption to their entitled lives.

    • Gezza 6.1

      “Well, the media have obviously had their instructions.

      It is all to be ‘the gangs or those non compliant brown peoples fault'”
      ……………………………

      What’s your evidence for that rather outrageous claim? 🤔

      • KJT 6.1.1

        Looks like you haven't been reading the media on this outbreak.

        Or Simeon Browns childish reckons.

        Not that I blame you if you haven't.

        • Gezza 6.1.1.1

          "Not those who demanded the premature bubble with Oz, or white anted our response demanding 'opening up, and let her rip'"

          ………………………….

          From what I've seen & heard there's been plenty of commentary on opening up to Oz being the source of our lockdown miseries. Ardern has to wear this. The govt caved in to pressure. – Gez

          "Or priviledged white people who use "essential worker” status to junket around Queenstown without masks, when their job is in Wellington, or headed off to their baches from Auckland. When they are not moaning about the interruption to their entitled lives."

          ………………………….

          Again, from what I've seen & heard there's also been plenty of commentary & complaints about "entitled" privileged white people breaching lockdown rules, misusing exemption letters etc.

          In fact every significant breach whether by white, brown, black or rainbow people has got critical coverage in media because of the risk they'll spread Covid.

          Simeon Brown is a minor MP in a fading Opposition party currently led by a loon. Personally, I don't think you've made your case.

          • KJT 6.1.1.1.1

            We can do a count of articles over the time period if you like.

            To confirm one way or the other.

            But three articles from one outlet just this morning.

            • Tiger Mountain 6.1.1.1.1.1

              “Freedom of the press belongs to them that owns one” as a very old saying went.

              The run of play during this entire COVID scenario since early 2020 in the privately owned media channels online, on air and what remains of print has been blatantly obvious. The narrative is “open up”, “jingle tills”, “free in and outflow of capital”.

              The overwhelming coverage has been of corporates, SMEs, small business, and self employed–and aggrieved, stranded International travellers and MIQ critics.

              Working class experience has been substantially ignored apart from the odd spot of demonisation and blame shifting.

              • KJT

                Even small business has been the moaning fringe.
                Who refuse to acknowledge that Covid getting loose would have killed their business faster than lockdowns.

                Many I know are thankful that we had a long period of trading between lockdowns, their customers haven't been too scared to spend, unlike many other countries, that there has been some Government help, and are doing OK.

                Working peoples views, as you say, are rarely considered.

    • Cricklewood 6.2

      End of the day Labour are a majority govt all the descions around alert levels, travel bubbles etc sit with them.

      No one else can actually do a damn thing outside of produce hot air. Its not like mass protests forced their hand.

      • KJT 6.2.1

        I've posted before about Labours propensity to start with solutions, and then let them lapse and fail to carry them through and push them, as they cave in to a vocal minority, and I think, Parliamentary MP’s, Wellington bubble, and press gallery, groupthink.

        I'm still hoping that isn't going to happen with Covid.

        Hence the question mark in my post yesterday.

  7. Robert Guyton 7

    "In the days when we faced imminent threats and death as soon as we stepped out of our cave, we relied on razor-sharp senses and lightning-fast reflexes for survival. "

    This old chestnut needs to be roasted good and proper: it wasn't caves, it wasn't especially dangerous; we had effective measures in place to keep ourselves safe. Rather than "razor-sharp senses and lightening-fast reflexes", we had hands that could throw rocks and eyes that could focus on the skulls of whatever creature dared to mess with us.

    Nowadays, there are far more threats to our wellbeing: very few early hominids had to resist attacks by scammers. Our modern brains are a soupy swirl of unknowingness, compared to those of our outdoorsy ancestors 🙂

    • Gezza 7.1

      I’d agree with that. To some extent. Early man utilised his brain to find food & water, build shelter, get provisions in, socially interact, protect the whanau & hapu from predators – of both the animal & human ape – kind. The same kind of day to day stuff that still occupies the other apes today.

      Nowadays, we are bedevilled with abstractions & distractions. And it sometimes plays hell on our mental health.

      • Descendant Of Smith 7.1.1

        They generally weren't that successful. Average life expectancy was much lower and the skeletal record shows the further back you go the more likely you were to die a violent death.

        They were just much more used to dying than we are.

        • Gezza 7.1.1.1

          Eh? The ‘skeletal record’ would be pretty patchy, & pretty minimal, I would think.

          Human apes managed to survive in sufficient numbers to spread pretty well all around the globe while still mostly living in what we would today term primitive conditions.

          And I have the impression that several folk in different places lived relatively long lives, reaching some quite good ages. Wear & tear on bones & teeth, & infections, accidental poisonings, probably took their toll, but not all societies ran the same way.

          Some seem likely to have been better at taking care of the sick & elderly than others. Depending on the dominant ethos.

          Warrior societies eg might have had more of a “only the strongest survive” attitude.

          • Descendant Of Smith 7.1.1.1.1

            The levels of violence in prehistoric times (archeological evidence) and in non-state societies (ethnographic evidence) was much higher than in modern state societies and in the world today.

            https://ourworldindata.org/ethnographic-and-archaeological-evidence-on-violent-deaths

            • Gezza 7.1.1.1.1.1

              Thank you. 👍🏼

              Wondered if you had the data.

              While that looks an impressive array of sources from many different places around the planet, my other comments still stand and are not disputed by this research.

              • Descendant Of Smith

                Been loosely following the research around this for a long time now.

                Pinker picked up on it in his book which is a good read.

                There is a terrible tendency to see the past as better when for a large many it wasn't. Legal rape within marriage until the 70's is a really good example as was forced/pressured adoption.

                Even things like the Knights Code of Chivalry wasn't a beautiful thing – it was a last ditch effort to stop those violent thugs roaming the countryside looting, killing and raping with impunity. They were the Mongrel Mob of their era.

                https://www.amazon.com/Enlightenment-Now-Science-Humanism-Progress/dp/0525427570

                • Gezza

                  Nature of the beast, unfortunately, DOS.

                  Looked at dispassionately, the human ape is a large, rapacious animal that monopolises resources, is always unpredictable, is frequently dangerous to its own kind, and to all other creatures, & which, when groups get large enuf, destroys the ecology it moves into in order to create the environmental conditions that suit IT alone.

                  Every other life form on this planet would probably be better off without it.

  8. You can only meet one other bubble ALWAYS OUTSIDE and no more than 10 people at a time.

    Is that really so complicated?

  9. garibaldi 9

    Well done incognito. Great post and great responses (so far – it’s only 9.15 am).

  10. Ad 10

    OK Inco we need to talk about my Far North relatives.

    They believe in colloidal silver. They believe in tinctures of acids curing most things. They believe in self-treatment for most things. They believe in Jesus. They believe in the next deal but not in taxes, so their money comes in lumps. They spend lots of time in yachts or doing them up, doing contracts around the Pacific. They do a lot of fishing and some hunting. They know how to score if they need it.

    And there ain't no fuckin' way they are submitting to this bullshit.

    They hang with a network of marginals across multiple Pacific ports that have run afoul of various kinds of US agencies.

    For these kinds of people, Customs and MAF and NZNavy are going to have to keep a close eye on Opua, Taipa, Houhora, Herekino, Ahipara, some of the more obscure Bay of Islands inlets, and Rawene. Somewhere to slip in and moore in the evening, or slip out.

    • garibaldi 10.1

      If it's any consolation Ad ,I have a relative "way up North" of similar disposition but he is no Jesus freak, more of a self imposed hermit. Must be many of them spread around NZ wherever there are suitable climes.

      • gsays 10.1.1

        If they are living a hermit lifestyle, they are of neglible threat.

      • Ad 10.1.2

        Still a few ex-Commune types with huge collections of Jefferson Airplane and Mama Cass records who are pretty off-grid, running as part of road contracting or pest control gangs. The shift to an 87% urbanised country is still leaving pockets of people who tend not to travel more than 20k's most months and just load up at the 4 Square for basics every 6 weeks or so.

        They may not like the attention but it's coming to them.

    • Patricia Bremner 10.2

      This may apply to the off the grid house bus and motorhomers as well. A great deal of self medicating plus alternative cures goes with the living free belief. An aunty and uncle were like that.

      We discovered this in our 5 years of motorhome travels. We were considered semi committed because we still owned the safety blanket of a small 2 bed unit in Rotorua so were seen to belong to two communities.

    • Tiger Mountain 10.3

      I understand Ad, am based at Tokerau Beach, been in Far North for years. Working remotely in pre press and publishing since ’97. My partner managed a Census area one year, and tracking people on boats, remote properties and totally off grid was interesting.

      The funny thing is you can be who you want to be up North, but you are often more accountable in small communities than in the city not knowing your neighbours. You are not totally anonymous even if reclusive. So people will be tracked down regarding vaccination.

  11. gsays 11

    FWIW. I have just had a conversation with the man that drives the recycling truck at my work.

    There is absolutely no way he is going to get the jab. He has a VERY strong faith, total faith in the Lord. He is horrified his pastor has been vaccinated and, worse, facilitated innoculations in the church.

    This is in the Manawatu.

    • Gezza 11.1

      WTF goes on in the heads of these people?

      God made the bloody people who make the vaccines, FFS. Obviously all part of his plan.

      Or does this loon think God specifically made the virus to kill off everybody but the true believers, like him?

      Is he always looking up to the bloody skies, waiting for Jesus to appear, to the incredibly loud sound of angelic trumpets, in all his glory?

      • gsays 11.1.1

        I think, at the core of his belief, he is not afraid to die.

        Not in any nihilistic sense, more a fatalistic, part of a divine plan kind of vibe.

        I foolishly opined that Ardern is a compassionate leader. He snorted and observed a lack of compassion in signing abortion into law.

        It s it too much of a stretch to consider the virus is an inevitable consequence of our behaviour?

  12. Ad 12

    Has anyone heard of Ardern starting to be called the Tooth Fairy?

    Picked it up from my Rotary mates.

  13. Tricledrown 13

    Read huffpost comment antivaxxer protesting with a megaphone bullhorn they are called in the US.the antvaxxer walking down the road pointed out the vaccines are not needed as covid is not real look at all these homeless people they would be dead if covid existed.

    One of the homeless people yelled out were not dead because were vaccinated you dumb fuck.

  14. AB 14

    Once rules become more complex the easier it is to dream up scenarios that confound them. There are people who like doing this – mostly because they don't like the underlying purpose of the rule and want to make the rule-maker look silly.

    It's a pretty effective sabotage technique – we can all laugh at the 'clowns' who made a rule that didn't effectively anticipate the person coming round for a picnic in the garden under L3 (stage 1), but who is on medication that gives them unpredictable bowel habits. But if the rule was modified to take this scenario into account, most likely it would spawn far more confounding scenarios than it removed.

    This is incidentally also why we never beat tax evasion by making rules more and more specific, rather than less specific and focused on broad intent. The government might have avoided being an easy target , if it had made it clear that the stages of wind-down for L3 are guidelines, not 'rules'. And that therefore inevitably, judgments must be made by everyone in terms of what decision is the best fit with the broad intent of L3 under any given circumstances.

    But I don't really care that the Government has made this staged wind-down of L3 a seem bit clunky. I'm far more exercised by my loathing of people who see a well-intentioned rule, but whose first thought is to consider how to get away with breaking it, or to mock the rule-maker for not having the omniscience to close off every conceivable loophole.

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  • Geoffrey Miller: Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. It is more than just a happy ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    2 days ago
  • The Kaka’s diary for the week to March 25 and beyond
    TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to March 18 include:China’s Foreign Minister visiting Wellington today;A post-cabinet news conference this afternoon; the resumption of Parliament on Tuesday for two weeks before Easter;retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson gives his valedictory speech in Parliament; ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Bitter and angry; Winston First
    New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters’s state-of-the-nation speech on Sunday was really a state-of-Winston-First speech. He barely mentioned any of the Government’s key policies and could not even wholly endorse its signature income tax cuts. Instead, he rehearsed all of his complaints about the Ardern Government, including an extraordinary claim ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    2 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    2 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    2 days ago
  • Out of Touch.
    “I’ve been internalising a really complicated situation in my head.”When they kept telling us we should wait until we get to know him, were they taking the piss? Was it a case of, if you think this is bad, wait till you get to know the real Christopher, after the ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • The bewildering world of Chris Luxon – Guns for all, not no lunch for kids
    .“$10 and a target that bleeds” - Bleeding Targets for Under $10!.Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.This government appears hell-bent on either scrapping life-saving legislation or reintroducing things that - frustrated critics insist - will be dangerous and likely ...
    Frankly SpeakingBy Frank Macskasy
    3 days ago
  • Expert Opinion: Ageing Boomers, Laurie & Les, Talk Politics.
    It hardly strikes me as fair to criticise a government for doing exactly what it said it was going to do. For actually keeping its promises.”THUNDER WAS PLAYING TAG with lightning flashes amongst the distant peaks. Its rolling cadences interrupted by the here-I-come-here-I-go Doppler effect of the occasional passing car. ...
    3 days ago
  • Manufacturing The Truth.
    Subversive & Disruptive Technologies: Just as happened with that other great regulator of the masses, the Medieval Church, the advent of a new and hard-to-control technology – the Internet –  is weakening the ties that bind. Then, and now, those who enjoy a monopoly on the dissemination of lies, cannot and will ...
    3 days ago
  • A Powerful Sensation of Déjà Vu.
    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 ...
    3 days ago
  • Can you guess where world attention is focussed (according to Greenpeace)? It’s focussed on an EPA...
    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 ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago
  • Further integrity problems for the Greens in suspending MP Darleen Tana
    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 ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago
  • Jacqui Van Der Kaay: Greens’ transparency missing in action
    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 ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    3 days ago
  • Bernard’s Dawn Chorus with six newsey things at 6:46am for Saturday, March 16
    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 Herald Thomas Coughlan Simeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • How Did FTX Crash?
    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 ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    4 days ago
  • Elections in Russia and Ukraine
    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 ...
    4 days ago
  • Bernard’s six stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15
    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 ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • 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 ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago
  • National’s clean car tax advances
    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 ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • Government funding bailouts
    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 ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Two offenders, different treatments.
    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 ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    4 days ago
  • Treaty references omitted
    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 ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • The Ghahraman Conflict
    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 ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 15
    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 ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • The day Wellington up-zoned its future
    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 ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Weekly Roundup 15-March-2024
    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 ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    4 days ago
  • That Word.
    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 ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • The Hoon around the week to March 15
    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 ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Labour’s policy gap
    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. ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    5 days ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #11 2024
    Open access notables A Glimpse into the Future: The 2023 Ocean Temperature and Sea Ice Extremes in the Context of Longer-Term Climate Change, Kuhlbrodt et al., Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society: In the year 2023, we have seen extraordinary extrema in high sea surface temperature (SST) in the North Atlantic and in ...
    5 days ago
  • Melissa remains mute on media matters but has something to say (at a sporting event) about economic ...
     Buzz from the Beehive   The 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 ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago
  • The return of Muldoon
    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 ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Will the rental tax cut improve life for renters or landlords?
    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 ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: What Saudi Arabia’s rapid changes mean for New Zealand
    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 ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    5 days ago
  • Racism’s double standards
    Questions need to be asked on both sides of the world Peter 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 ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • It’s not a tax break
    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 ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • The Plastic Pig Collective and Chris' Imaginary Friends.
    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 ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • Who is responsible for young offenders?
    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 ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on National’s fantasy trip to La La Landlord Land
    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 ...
    5 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 14
    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 ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • No, Prime Minister, rents don’t rise or fall with landlords’ costs
    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, ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Cartoons: ‘At least I didn’t make things awkward’
    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 ...
    5 days ago
  • Solving traffic congestion with Richard Prebble
    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 ...
    Greater AucklandBy Patrick Reynolds
    5 days ago
  • I Think I'm Done Flying Boeing
    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 ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    6 days ago
  • Invoking Aristotle: Of Rings of Power, Stones, and Ships
    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 ...
    6 days ago
  • Van Velden brings free-market approach to changing labour laws – but her colleagues stick to distr...
    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 ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • Why Newshub failed
    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 ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • Māori Party on the warpath against landlords and seabed miners – let’s see if mystical creature...
    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, ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago

  • Government moves to quickly ratify the NZ-EU FTA
    "The Government is moving quickly to realise an additional $46 million in tariff savings in the EU market this season for Kiwi exporters,” Minister for Trade and Agriculture, Todd McClay says. Parliament is set, this week, to complete the final legislative processes required to bring the New Zealand – European ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 hours ago
  • Positive progress for social worker workforce
    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 ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 hours ago
  • Minister confirms reduced RUC rate for PHEVs
    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.  ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    9 hours ago
  • Trade access to overseas markets creates jobs
    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 ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    10 hours ago
  • NZ and Chinese Foreign Ministers hold official talks
    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, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    24 hours ago
  • Kāinga Ora instructed to end Sustaining Tenancies
    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. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber: Growth is the answer
    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 ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Singapore rounds out regional trip
    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 ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Minister van Velden represents New Zealand at International Democracy Summit
    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, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Insurance Council of NZ Speech, 7 March 2024, Auckland
    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 ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Five-year anniversary of Christchurch terror attacks
    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 ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024
    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 ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Early visit to Indonesia strengthens ties
    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 ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • China Foreign Minister to visit
    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 ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Minister opens new Auckland Rail Operations Centre
    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 ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Celebrating 10 years of Crankworx Rotorua
    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 ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government delivering on tax commitments
    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 ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Significant Natural Areas requirement to be suspended
    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 ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government classifies drought conditions in Top of the South as medium-scale adverse event
    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 ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government partnership to tackle $332m facial eczema problem
    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 ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • NZ, India chart path to enhanced relationship
    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, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Ruapehu Alpine Lifts bailout the last, say Ministers
    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 ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Govt takes action to drive better cancer services
    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 ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Govt takes action to drive better cancer services
    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 ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Work begins on SH29 upgrades near Tauriko
    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 ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Work begins on SH29 upgrades near Tauriko
    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 ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Fresh produce price drop welcome
    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 ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Statement to the 68th United Nations Commission on the Status of Women
    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 ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Speech to the 68th United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW68)
    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 ...
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  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber
    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. ...
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  • Trustee tax change welcomed
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  • Minister’s Ramadan message
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  • Speech to Life Sciences Summit
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  • Minister to attend World Anti-Doping Agency Symposium
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