That was covered in Yesterday's Dom/Post as well. I couldn't help but laugh out loud.
What I particularly liked was that, after it was obvious that the patrol craft was taking on water, that "the cruise ship had remained in the vicinity of the incident for more than an hour and had offered assistance.. It's Captain alerted the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre in Curacao which eventually advised him to continue his journey."
Go away! Stop looking at us! Let us sink in peace!
There are an enormous number of uploads on Youtube but all they are is just stock footage of both ships. None show the ramming attempt as far as I could discover.
Why does David Lange's comment come to mind?
'Shortly after the Mikhail Lermontov, the pride of the Soviet cruising fleet, ended her life at the bottom of the Marlborough Sounds, Lange declared that little old New Zealand was "the only nation to sink a Russian Ship since the Second World War."'.
To those that think we were too slow, and to those that think we went too severe, 1 death, so far. Look at the UK, nurses, Drs, Bus Drivers, a 5 year old yesterday! Each county numbering 100s of deaths. Big thanks to those working their arses off keeping us as safe as they can.
For a start the lockdown would have been delayed, "because of the cost to business".
Those on welfare would have been ignored.
Big businesses with lobbying clout would have all still been open and their employees forced to work.
There would be no uptick in demand from a minimum wage rise.
Help would have been directed at banks and corporates. Small business, sole traders,beneficiaries and wage earners would have been last on the list, if at all.
Lastly, communication from Bridges would have been abysmal, and even their own voters don't really trust National. Except for tax cuts and lining their own pockets.
You are letting your political bias blind you to political reality. As SM says there would have been virtually no difference in response (except minimum wage increase).
All the fiscal measures to support wages and salaries, to support small business survive would have been implemented.
How do I know this? Because what the govt has done is modelled on what National did in Christchurch. They have actually said as much.
Under National there would have been much tougher border surveillance and earlier. That has been and remains a major failure of the government.
KJT may be right. Wayne may be right. We'll never know. I lean towards KJT's point of view. National would have been likely followed Scumo's weaker response. But as I said, it's history, and words spoken now about what would have happened are worthless and meaningless.
I agree. Nice as it may sound, it’s rather pointless and not even an ‘academic’ exercise. It also carries the risk of polarising opinions, which we don’t really need in these times or in any time for that matter, IMHO.
The health system in NZ has hardly changed in the last two decades (apart from new technology). The health budget has increased under both governments at more or less the same rate.
The proliferation of administrators on high pay, often much higher than operational staff, has swallowed up a large proportion of funding increases for schools, universities and schools, for the last 3 decades.
So the idea that funding has increased may be true on the face of it.
But so much has gone in those salaries and payments to private providers, all those sectors have shown the effects of being run down, in reality.
If you want to read about a health system being privatised by stealth read this. How the likes of fun f**king loving Branson the one along with Stagecoach f**ked eastern region railways in the UK and expected compensation is now a big player "running" the NHS
Nationalise the lot, tell them all to F**k Off with no compensation. I think Bo-Jo has a bloody cheek putting on his podium "Save the NHS" when since the days of Thatcher the Tories have done their utmost to run it into the ground.
"Bridges as PM" is not the same as "National in government".
I would give Key/English the benefit of the doubt. But the "bonfire of red tape" (Simon Bridges' own plans, in his own words) was announced as a response to Covid-19.
"The arguments for these things just becomes stronger as a result of Covid-19 … Clearing away red tape means businesses are freer to get up in the morning to hire people and building houses, cutting hair, doing the things that need to be done without the unnecessary rules and regulations," he said.
That was in March 2020. Less than a month ago. Only days before the lockdown. It was pure fantasy.
"Clearing away red tape means businesses are freer to get up in the morning to hire people and building houses, cutting hair, doing the things that need to be done without the unnecessary rules and regulations," he said.
I would be fascinated to know what unnecessary rules and regulations there might be governing cutting hair.
Yep Bridges was completely out of touch. Almost like he continued to waffle on along prepared lines without any awareness of how serious things were becoming.
"Because what the govt has done is modelled on what National did in Christchurch."
What did National do for beneficiaries at that time? I don't remember an across the board benefit rise for Canterbury people. Nor an energy payment that winter. Can't remember what National's response was. Anyone?
it was extended by a few weeks but was further restricted from memory but as far as direct financial support went that was the extent if I recall correctly.
Its worth noting that the fact a business support package (wage subsidy) had been implemented before, albeit on a limited basis, would likely have promoted it as an option on this occasion.
Having said that I think KJT's assertion that Nationals response would have differed holds a considerable amount of water as with everything the emphasis, priorities and timing would have been different …the devil is always in the detail
Single issue lunacy from you KJT, surround by a huge amount of conjecture and what if’s’
I think the response has been over the top. If anyone thinks this thing isn’t coming back for round 2 at some point, they’re deluded. Will we just shut the economy down again? Or is it better to allow some deaths amongst the lower risk demographics and try and focus isolation and support on the high risk? Then at least we can build some immunity.
No economy in the world can meets the all of the health needs of citizens and prevent all disease related deaths. What economies can do is generate capital to support and resource health systems. The stronger the economy, the greater the resources governments can give to health systems. The issue as it always has been is about how to best allocate those resources. This requires careful judgement (not evident with the current Minister of Health).
For instance cancer patients have for years been competing with each other and with other medical conditions for resources. There is never enough resource to go round and so there will always be priorities and winners and losers.
No one is "happy" about "sacrificing"people. And it doesn't happen "for the economy". Your thinking on this doesn't make sense. Its emotive bullshit.
To reiterate, its the 'economy' that makes it possible to build better health systems.
The problem with these armchair alternatives is that they ignore the most basic question in a democracy. Does the government tell the people what it is doing?
If "No", then you're arguing for a cover-up. Which would inevitably leak out, and there would be uproar.
If "Yes", how do you propose that a NZ government (ANY government, forget the names and parties) announces to the people:
"We think it is better to allow some deaths, so we'll be doing that."
By and large the evidence strongly suggests that the young don't die at anywhere near the same rates as 'the old and infirm" as a result of Convid 19. So that sacrifice is not being asked of the young. And neither should it.
The same rate does not mean that there is no rate. They still get sick, they still die, and they still infect others. Therefore they are still sacrificing.
Moreover as they have to go off sick in large quantities, they will cause businesses to fail thereby eventually losing themselves and others their jobs.
What kind of moronic point are you trying to make? Simpleton aphorisms don’t make an argument – they merely define someone being an idiot.
I agree with your statements concerning the use of the concept, 'rates'.
My other point (which I should have made more clearly) is that I don't think we should be expecting the young to make unreasonable sacrifices for, say, boomers, for example.
I understand that you're probably been a little too lazy to read up on epidemics. But the issue in a epidemic without a vaccine or a effective treatment is that everyone almost without exception gets sick.
The more often that you get exposed and infected again before you develop any immunities, the more likely it is that you'll wind up with a dose of infecting agents that manage to overwhelm anyones immune system. Without adequete medical treatment you're more likely to die or have a downstream consequence – like a permanently compromised immune system.
So instead of whining about someone else based on a discussion about probabilities, perhaps you should look more closely at how you stop you, your family, your friends, and your workmates getting into a situation that they get into the worst possible epidemic case.
Try looking at New York where it appears the major demographic dying or severely distressed now are in their 30s and 40s because they have been swanning around in virus haze thinking that they're immune.
Meanwhile the boomers buttoned up weeks ago because they were told that they were at risk.
You can also look to OZ where the risk takers are the most affected ie 20's.
Dr McAnulty said that younger people are being affected.
"Young people need to be aware that they are not immune from getting severe disease.
"The older people and people with underlying health problems, cardiac or chest or immune problems, are most prone to getting severe disease and requiring intensive care and ventilation, but younger people are getting infected as well, and the biggest single age group is people in their 20s.
"In fact, we have seen also three people who were ventilated in intensive care in their 30s."
My other point (which I should have made more clearly) is that I don't think we should be expecting the young to make unreasonable sacrifices for, say, boomers, for example.
Why not? We're all in this together. Some of the at risk people will be younger people eg those with asthma or immune issues. Everyone is making sacrifices, not just young people, so why single them out as a group and pit them against others?
Further, why is the boomer generation not worthy of being helped? What about the elderly who will die if we all don't do our bit?
Are those young going to have there student loans remitted? As they face ruinous generational bills to pay for the privilege of extending the lives of those who benefited from a free education? Will the young get advantageous interest rates on their mortgages as they take lower paid roles in order to support the old and infirmary right to live where they are on a full government super? Will that same super be affordable for future generations as reward for sacrificing so much for the old and infirm who demanded the economy be shut down to protect them.
the same voices crying for there future generations to be protected from climate change are now sadly forgotten as those same voices revert to individualistic selfishness.
For the moment, I’m ignoring the rest of your comment, which is basking in ignorance, IMO.
Then at least we can build some immunity.
Nobody knows or is sure if exposure to (i.e. infection with) COVID-19 will induce immunity and, if so, how long this will last. This pandemic is too young to tell and it is highly risky to make predictions and extrapolate from the experience with other coronaviruses or research on animals.
Pretty weak excuse. It’s not wiping people out. It’s fatality rate amongst people without other morbidity factors is nearing .25%.
its the old and infirm and the occasionally unlucky other who then gets sensationalised. I’m not saying it’s not something to be afraid of, but when the theoretical cure is worse than the disease…
we don’t even know if isolation will actually break the transmission cycle. It’s a best guess based on an assumption. So no less valid than Sweden’s approach, which is what I think we should follow.
but hey, if you blindly accept MoH media reports and briefings, be my guest.
people are going to die regardless, do we want to lower everyone who survives quality of life for generations to come to potentially save a small portion of the population? And save them only the first time round?
its a tough choice, no one gets it right, but the draconian response is out of proportion.
Yes, we’re all going to die, one day. However, we don’t leave anyone behind in this country.
You seem to be suggesting that we “potentially” sacrifice “a small portion of the population” so that the survivors can have better quality of life.
You say that this is a tough choice. Well, no, for me it’s an easy choice and my QALYs would be lower because of my burdened conscience assuming I’ll be among the survivors. You don’t seem to have that problem!?
Getting sick is not the same as dying from Covid 19. Probably why we aren’t seeing lots of deaths relative to our infection rate.
so either your example about New Zealand’s young is designed to be misleading about the fatality impact of covid 19 or it supports my point that the at risk people (fat Americans, old people, underlying health conditions) should be isolated and have massively targeted support and the very low risk people should be allowed to live almost as normal, with some restrictions. As covid 19 isn’t fatally dangerous to them
When falling sick, you risk dying from it. This applies to all ages, but not equally, which nobody has disputed so this is a strawman.
When becoming a carrier, you risk spreading the virus and infecting others. This has nothing to do with your own ‘risk status’.
To prevent this from happening and to try to stamp out the virus, we’re in Alert Level 4. This is likely why we aren’t seeing lots of deaths relative to our infection rate.
You’re suggesting to let the virus go rampant among the population without knowing who are at risk and who aren’t; you don’t know whom it will be “fatally dangerous” to. You’re prepared to let people die so that others can live “almost as normal”. You believe that this is a price worth paying.
Who’s talking about “fat Americans” in our NZ society? Are you deliberately misleading?
You’re as ignorant about COVID-19 as you are about CC, which actually makes a lot of sense.
'…if you blindly accept MoH media reports and briefings, ..'
Hmm blindly following the actual experts advice or some pseudonymous commenter on a blog….. that's a tough one.
Have you ever seen any of the vaccination threads on this site.. lots of pseudonymous commenters thinking they know better than the experts and their science.
We encourage strong debate supported by sound arguments. We ask the ignorami to educate themselves and improve their arguments and debating skills. You’re starting to sound like a straight-up denier, as you did with CC. Keep it up and you’ll be booted off this site.
Who is denying CC? You’re getting confused. CC is happening, I think there are other ways to deal with it than jetting around hectoring people or organising wasteful marches.
3 people ventilated. It’s hardly reason enough to shut down society. Some will be unlucky enough to get it seriously or even fatally. It’s unfortunate, but not enough to wreck the futures of the rest of their generation.
And. If the hospitals are full of Coronavirus cases, a hell of a lot of other people are going to die of other conditions. Because there is no place or people to treat them.
But. They are just part of the "collateral damage" right.
One of my friends, a health worker, still cannot work because his constantly postponed hip replacement, has been postponed again due to coronavirus. Isn't that a cost, to?
The reason some of those Drs and nurses are dying is because they are getting reinfected, and each time it hits them stronger, then they die. You may end up like Boris Johnson, in denial, then sick.
Bridges was interviewed on Q+A this morning, and it was far the best I've seen him. Sensible, largely supportive of Government measures dealing with Covid, but pertinent questions about testing and quarantining of incoming travelers.
He seemed to be natural and informed.
This perhaps shows the benefits of being isolated from party strategists and media trainers.
All of them the bane of modern politics and the ruin of potential leaders. David Shearer suffered badly from it, as did Andrew Little (but as it turns out Ardern is a far better communicator anyway).
Ardern herself has been better when finding herself in times of crisis where she acts as she sees fit rather than being projected through a PR lens. Her interview on Seven Sharp on Friday wasn't one her best, it looked prepared and scripted, and laughing off the Clark question and pivoting to a lecture to the rest of us to not do what Clark had done was poor.
We to often forget that a Leader is still part of a group/party.
Who, may not even agree with the things they have to front.
Or, like Trump, is the figurehead for a large number of enablers behind him.
Then they have, in both Labour and National, to deal with a large number of chair polishers, and outright loons, their selection processes saddle them with.
Ardern's interview on 7 Sharp on Friday was simply propaganda and politicking. Its was straight out of the ex Women's Weekly playbook.
TVNZ need to be careful about providing a platform at prime time for political propaganda of this sort. Hillary Barry asking the tough questions is a joke. The programme was unbalanced and biased.
Jack Tane's Q & A programme provides the template for how these things should be done; especially in these times.
Bollocks. What you saw is Simon as he is. Politicians both left and right are not automatons and just puppets of polling. Yes, polling is done. But basically a politician has to use his/her judgement. And once before the camera they just say what they say. It is not nearly as scripted as you seem to think.
I wonder how the ACC levies are going with the loss of income.
Bearing in mind the markets, I suspect they’d be more worried about their reserves which are the buffer. The levies are probably gone down roughly in line with the claims.
We shall never know how Simon would have handled the crisis (thank God for that) but if we look overseas we can see numerous examples of how right wing governments have fared, Think Trump, think Johnson, think Morrison.
It would be fair to say Simon would not have been much better than any of them.
Add to that the Chinese ambassador's annoyance when we closed our borders to China and you can be sure the borders would have stayed open for longer – notwithstanding what Simon says now.
Australia is doing ok. Its current management of the problem is producing results similar to NZ.
Mostly because the various state governments like NSW, Vic and SA have been doing far closer what the NZ government has done. Closing borders. Forcing businesses to close. People to self-isolate early.
They are doing this despite the Federal government’s vacillating and inconsistent policies that seemed largely designed to reduce the call on federal funds at the unemployment.
However the federal government has now seemed to get on with the task at hand in recent days with what looks a lot like our stimulus programmes.
Very, very good. It explains why the Dems have singularly misunderstood Trump, underestimated him and miserably failed to compete against such an egregious goat of a man:
Governor Andrew Cuomo of New York seems to understand something that no other politician or political candidate up against President Trump has yet grasped. You can’t fight a Reality TV Presidency with an argument, you have to fight it with another reality show, a newer and better one.
And you have to fight it by showing a better way, not just promising it or arguing about it.
In essence, you undercut Trump by being the very opposite of him on television every single day when so many people are paying attention. You do not do this by attacking him or quarreling with him. It’s entertainment, stupid, fighting and offending is his specialty, it is most people’s weakness. You try to show what government, at its best, can do.
Reminder #23628 of why it's a really not a good idea for a political leader to own and control substantial business interests: the Dotard of Doltistan is looking for substantial debt relief from Deutsche Bank at the same time as the Department of Justice (which he is in charge of) is investigating Deutsche Bank for various crimes.
I think Morrissey is referring to the article he posted, Starmer intends to address anti-semitism in the party (which doesn't really exist, but was an invention of many "friends of Israel" and some other hidden forces), this will be a direct attack on all socialists in the party who support Palestinian's human rights.
Starmer has previously said he would take action to eliminate prejudice against Jews in his party “on day one” in order to demonstrate “the difference that new leadership will make on the issue.”
He has also said he would look to fully cooperate with the Equalities and Human Rights Commission’s report into anti-Semitism in the party, which is currently in the works, but that he had no intention of waiting for its results in order to take action.
Starmer deliberately mislabels opposition to the crimes of the Israeli regime as "anti-Semitism." That obviously sits well with the extreme right Times of Israel, which published this encomium, but it's another nail in the coffin for the future of the Labour Party.
So he hasn't "vowed to expel every Labour Party member who cares about human rights" then and you just made that up?
What caught my attention about that was that the other leader candidates signed a pledge to support the expulsion of gender critical feminists from the party. From memory Starmer didn't, or at least he was restrained in his handling of that rather than throwing a large number of Labour feminists under the bus.
So making shit up about expulsions carries more stupid weight than normal.
He joined in the campaign of defamation against Jeremy Corbyn, which descended into a purge of anyone who spoke out against Israeli crimes. I didn't make that up, it's an unpleasant fact.
Do you support the contention of the Blairite rump of that party that criticism of Israel is, per se, anti-Semitism?
'The so-called “friends of Israel”, who support Israel automatically and blindly: this has nothing to do with friendship. They are enemies of Israel—they corrupt us. The Jewish establishment in Australia kept saying to me: “Israel right or wrong.” Well, Israel is wrong and they need to stop supporting it. Continuous support by Western governments and by the Jewish establishment is anything BUT friendship.'
What it looks like is that you are back in your routine of feigned ignorance. I doubt that you are unaware of the brutal campaign of "anti-Semitism" allegations that was directed against Corbyn over the last four years. So why pretend you are?
I'm asking for evidence that the Labour party has purged members or intends to. You've made the claim twice, and both times refused to back it up, so I assume now you are lying.
In terms of your politics around Israel and Palestine and what Labour are doing re that, not interested in talking about that today.
I'm asking for evidence that the Labour party has purged members or intends to.
If you don't know that the Labour Party is purging human rights activists, you should not be commenting here. I expect to find displays of willful ignorance on Kiwiblog, but not on this normally excellent forum.
In terms of your politics around Israel and Palestine and what Labour are doing re that, not interested in talking about that today.
The false anti-Semitism smear and the witchhunt and the demand for apologies has everything to do with the "politics around Israel-Palestine." I don't believe, by the way, that you are ignorant about this matter.
Morrissey, you run your own blog, IIRC. You should know that many blogs, particularly TS, are not for little tête-à-têtes but for robust debate. Anybody can join in but many read this site without ever commenting. So, when somebody, particularly a Moderator, asks you for evidence to back up your allegations, then please oblige without sounding like a petulant little child. Thanks.
I'm not "alleging" that the right wing (Blairite) rump of the Labour Party, which has now manoeuvred itself back into control—a pyrrhic victory if ever there was one—has operated an unrelenting smear campaign against Corbyn and anyone who stands up for the rights of the Palestinians, any more than I would allege that the sun is coming up tomorrow morning or that today is Sunday. It's a fact.
You say there is "no evidence" of a purge of human rights activists from the Labour Party. This charming little encapsulation of Starmer's agenda comes from the article I provided for you in my original comment on this thread:
New opposition chief immediately apologizes to Jews for anti-Semitism in ranks, vows to ‘tear out this poison’….
When Starmer says "this poison" he doesn't mean anti-Semitism, he means criticism of the Israeli regime. What do you think he means when he says he's going to "tear out" these critics?
Morrissey, you could have saved yourself the trouble with those utterances that I personally am not interested in.
My concern is your behaviour here and how you respond, or not for that matter, to basic requests for evidence to support your allegations. This is a necessary element of good debate, which we treasure on this site.
You have been around here long enough to know how it works. Next time, please just provide the evidence and don’t argue. It is wasting our time and I find it tedious enough to get the ban-hammer out.
I thought it was kinda obvious. Robertson said that Clark was "always available" for interviews according to Jason Walls.
Also Stuff reported Robertson as saying “He’s available to front anytime".
But Jack Tame pointed out he reneged on a scheduled Q+A interview for today so wasn't always available as stated. RNZ Live referred to it as "a no show'.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern was grilled by journalists as to why Health Minister David Clark has declined some interviews this weekend. She said others had fronted, he was at home at lockdown and he would continue to be available for interviews.
Dr Clark refused Newshub's repeated requests for an interview, instead sending a short statement.
So according to Robertson and Ardern, Clark is "available to front any time" and "would continue to be available for interviews", but according to journalists he isn't.
The Minister of Health, during the biggest health crisis for decades, is remote from the centre of Government and Ministry of Health activity and is not giving interviews despite the Prime Minister and Minister of Finance saying he is available (knowing he isn't doing interviews).
If he's not giving interviews to gossip columnists who want to rabbit on about him going for a bike ride, then good so. Why should someone in his position indulge such childish bullshit? If they were actually interested in asking him questions about the pandemic and NZ's response to it, it would be dereliction of duty for him to refuse the interviews – but they aren't, and it isn't.
Q+A is hardly a gossip column, it's not perfect but it's one of the best political media forums we have.
With Clark not fronting up Simon Bridges got a spot, and surprisingly he came across well, far different from his usual. Generally supportive of Government actions but with some reasonable questions and criticisms.
So at least something good came of Clark's no show. Bridges may be capable of rising to the occasion that the current situation requires of our politicians.
” it would be dereliction of duty for him to refuse the interviews – but they aren’t”
Do you have proof of this? I heard O’Brien saying she had specific and relevant (to the pandemic) sounding questions.
Good move by Clark imo, let's see how much media work he does in the coming week. Journos want to sensationalise a story that should have been over by now. Under normal circumstances that would just be tedious, but under these circumstances it's bizarre.
PM's press conference today: the first there-were-so-many-I-can't-recall-how-many questions were all about David Clark going for a bike ride. Nothing about Tova O'Brien's previous reporting suggests she'd operate to a higher standard than that, in fact for all I know it was her asking those questions (the questioners aren't identified in the video).
What is obvious is that your mind is not like mine, obviously.
Being available for interviews is not the same as being available for a game of pin the tail on the donkey, no matter how much it appeals to a certain audience and certain pundits who have made a hobby out of reporting on it.
When something smells a little off, it could be a ripening French cheese. Yum!
So how long do you think that Clark should refuse to do interviews (despite Ardern and Robertson saying he is always available) just in case someone asks him an awkward question that he would prefer not to answer?
Or do you think he should only do interviews with questions he allows in advance?
Or should Bloomfield, Robertson and Ardern just speak on his behalf. It's not as if he has a very important job, is it.
I never thought the bike ride was a big deal apart from being embarrassing for Ardern efforts to get people following her message of staying away from risky pastimes.
But what it has highlighted is a Minister of Health being shielded or hiding away at the most important time for any Minister of Health for decades. That's an important issue. Do we have a functional Minister of Health?
What’s more important: de we have a scandal that can bring down this Government? Will the PM call a snap election? What do the polls say? What’s for dinner tonight?
Do you really not see what Ardern did today? She knew exactly what was coming (our political journos are nothing if not predictable). She fed them a line: "idiots".
Then she took the (predictable) questions on Clark and quietly kicked him in the shins. She didn't repeat "idiot", because she didn't need to.
She also knew that while a minuscule minority of poli-tragics on blogs might still be getting worked up about Clark, the vast majority of the public are rolling their eyes at the journos (see the social media reaction in real time, which is unspun).
What do leaders usually say when one of their team lapses? "It was within the rules …" "I do not condone but …" "What about what about?" etc. Weasel words, which only make it worse.
She is smarter than that, and still many can't/won't see it.
Yes, she gave journalists an opening to infer Clark was an idiot, a notion she didn't do much to dispel.
If Ardern is smart she won't let this fester away, which is likely if left unaddressed and information is sought from the Minister of Health – he can't go to ground forever.
It isn't festering away. Nobody cares much, except journos who help to make sure nobody cares by going on about it some more. She has political capital in spades, they don't.
I don't think you would even recognize her smarts, TBH.
Good question. I don't know. I do know that he has seemed to struggle with interviews he has given over the last couple of weeks, he has sounded unsure and lacking in confidence. Perhaps that's why he has quietly been given a reduced role.
It's a bit superfluous for him to be doing interviews when the PM is fronting this issue. Journalists know that too, hence no squawking about lack of interviews until now. It's clear why they have a sudden interest in interviewing him, and also clear that the reason is "childish gotcha bullshit."
Virgin Australia has shut down its NZ operations. 600 jobs gone, more than twice as many as the Bauer debacle. No doubt the howls of outrage in the media are coming…?
The airline industry is going to be a very sad place for a long time. There's a lot of airlines that have been loosing serious money prior to the covid19 restrictions on travel. Virgin Australia was one.
This piece from ABC sums it up nicely. Bottom line, Virgin is an overseas owned business and the Australian government is very unlikely to bail them out. Unfortunately some / most of the overseas airlines that own Virgin are worse. Can't see them being around for long.
The global airline industry will probably resemble the airline industry of the late 60's by the end of this, a few national flag carriers serving their home states and a couple of larger international based ones. And a lot of surplus aluminium parked in the desert. And a lot of people out of work.
Virgin Australia were in big trouble 8 months ago….losses of $1.2 billion over the last 6 years. They would probably have folded without Covid-19. See:
"a lot of surplus aluminium parked in the desert. "
I wonder how that will affect the prospects of Rio Tinto at Tiwai? Their "best aluminium" claims revolve mainly around aircraft manufacture, I understand.
The high purity of the aluminium from Tiwai Point is more valuable for electronics purposes that directly use it in the pure state. The large portion of the output that goes to Japan is used for that.
High purity aluminium is useless for any kind of structural use, it's much too soft and weak. So it has to be alloyed with significant amounts of other elements, and the tiny quantities of impurities disappear into the tolerances of the alloying proportions. For instance, a common high-performance alloy is 7075 with a recipe that roughly includes 5.6–6.1% zinc, 2.1–2.5% magnesium, 1.2–1.6% copper, and less than a half percent of silicon, iron, manganese, titanium, chromium, and other metals.
"our high-purity aluminium is valuable for aerospace" makes for a good marketing story, though. It's useful to make locals feel special about what they produce, in order to add to their social license to operate. Even when it's bullshit.
Its likely, for the moment, that any subsidies paid to Tiwai will be cheaper than unemployment support for the numerous on and off site staff and losses to the wider community. But the plant owners could pull the plug anytime, which would be sad.
The real shame is that money, which could have been used to develop long term sustainable employment in Southland, has instead been wasted on bribes to Rio Tinto. It would have been cheaper to shut it down, and just continue paying the staff.
And we have all been paying higher power bills, for decades, for the same reason.
Other industries and infrastructure, such as electric rail, could have used that power.
a faster curve than expected, but we were always going to end up here and I'm relieved it's happening now rather than in 20 years when it's way too late.
My hope now is that we create sustainable jobs rather than rushing back to the pollution economy.
I notice the usual suspects gearing up for business as usual.
Including Federated farmers, trying to get out of ceasing to pollute waterways, and businesses which relied on cheap labour, tax payer support and capital gains, trying to use this an excuse for even more largess from their employees, and the rest of us.
I don’t have much hope. They are already trying to paint targets on anyone who is against de- regulation and subsidies for polluting businesses.
Once China has built it's strategic milk powder mountain a shock could be on the way. No markets, or severely fucked markets, will mean much less going off farm.
Add to that less containers coming into the country full of all the shit we buy from Briscoes et al, so we've got to import empty boxes, and NZ agriculture could be in for a squeeze like it's never seen before.
NZ agriculture could be in for a squeeze like it's never seen before.
Twaddle,demand in china for WMP is increasing due to the CCP expectation that everyone needs to drink 300ml of milk a day.Neither China or NZ can meet that cumulative demand.
There is also expected a global shortfall in whole foods such as apples,kiwifruit,oranges.and grain due to export restrictions from former CIS states.
Agriculture is resilient ie antifragile during recessions,whether NZ can sustain the harvest,due to staff shortages or government policy in horticulture (limited selling venues) is the open problem.
As few additional house sales will be transacted over the lockdown period,and those who do not seek mortgage holidays,repayment would also exceed bank household lending.
household sector savings provide protection from offshore impacts including exchange rate fluctuations is true enough…hence the RBNZ increased requirement in recent times…however there is another side to that ledger which somewhat negates your cheerleading…both household debt and total debt has increased more in the same period
The floating exchange rate could be expected to provide (some) protection in normal circumstances however we are looking at a prolonged reduction in worldwide economic activity which is it self deflationary as there will be reduced demand and ability to purchase our goods and our competitors are capable of increasing production at a scale (and will be looking to do so) we cannot cope with even if we had spare capacity , which we dont…and the non commodity imports required for our (now) high input model of ag will not deflate at the same rate.
Yes oil is low at the moment but that wont remain the case for long as the russians and saudis will agree to cut production soon enough especially in light of further reduced demand.
from your final comment it appears your horizon is around 3 months…..seriously???
and the fixed costs spread over a smaller pool will necessitate considerable fare increases…cheap travel is gone for the foreseeable (once the dust settles)
When walking I have noticed the increase of "Dog Mines" just off footpaths 🤬. When giving way to others: using the footpath as a 2m guide walk whilst passing using either side of the grass verge. Be careful watch out for dog poo being tramped thru the house. 😉
Only when I enter into our entrance or garage then leave shoes inside front or back door – there is the isolated occasion that there is a need rush inside 😉 – And that will be the one occasion that "stuff" is on the sole of the shoe.
A longish but very worthwhile piece on the idea of there being a trade-off between the economy and public health (spoiler: there isn't), with a focus on when and how to back off on restrictions.
That sort never thinks. He has no excuse except to apologise humbly for being a natural dork. He should go through a rigorous Army training program to strengthen his discipline muscle.
Funny how the corporate media have been avoiding talking about the Biden sexual assault allegations. And then it gets all mixed up in an attack on Alyssa Milano, ever get the feeling women mean nothing in politics, and are just props?
Please don't do the usual and throw in trump to dilute the debate. I know he's a absolute sexist arse, and anyone not living under a rock knows it too.
I actually did not consider my comment being linked to a virus.
I tried to get glasses recently and the only pair which suited that I really liked were in the children's section and had a superman on them so were not an option.
I am finding the styles of frames to be so variable from like thick window frames to looking like goggles.
The easiest solution is to keep the frames and update the lens.
Congratulations to Keir Starmer for taking out the labour leadership contest. Not my choice, who came in third, but thankfully the continuity candidate Wrong Daily fell well short, and with her, the momentum led ultra faction.
Not only did Starmer have the overwhelming backing of all three voting groups, he also took effective control of the NEC (executive council) after his supporters won in a series of separate elections.
Starmer describes himself as a socialist but not a Corbynite, and will keep key policies from the Corbyn era, such as nationalising rail, mail and water and repealing anti-union laws, but the hope is he won't be anywhere near as unpopular and unelectable as the biggest labour loser in living memory.
With 5 years until the next election, and though much needs to be done to shore up and rebuild the red wall, my advice to the new leader is the same I gave Cunliffe when he rose to the top – Don't invite the enemy into the camp, purge. He should also seek to redefine the bond between the party and the unions so the likes of McCluskey are sidelined as much as possible. If he doesn't like it, tough, he can always advise those who pay his large salary to vote tory, though I suspect he'd have a moan and succumb, realising what side his bread is richly buttered on.
… the hope is he won’t be anywhere near as unpopular and unelectable
That will depend on whether or not there’s a concerted defamation campaign against him as there was against Corbyn. Starmer was one of the foulest defamers, along with the likes of such intellectual luminaries as J.K. Rowling. Tom Watson, and Rachael Riley.
'E's not pinin'! 'E's passed on! This party is no more! He has ceased to be! 'E's expired and gone to meet 'is maker! 'E's a stiff! Bereft of life, 'e rests in peace! If you hadn't nailed 'im to the perch 'e'd be pushing up the daisies! 'Is metabolic processes are now 'istory! 'E's off the twig! 'E's kicked the bucket, 'e's shuffled off 'is mortal coil, run down the curtain and joined the bleedin' choir invisible!! He’s f*ckin’ snuffed it!…..THIS IS AN EX-PARTY!!
A sheep farming nieghbour of mine has yearly given himself a shot of drench at that time of year. He reckons that if it can't kill a lamb it will have its work cut out on him. It will get him one day, but it had better get a move on, he's 82 and still working.
What the actual fuck??? Just checked my replies tab and the replies to the mozzie's droning whines showed up, not replies to me. I'm struggling to not take it as a personal insult.
Dollars to be made so of course tRump and gHouliani are touting this shit.
A conservative business group founded by a prolific Republican political donor is pressuring the White House to greenlight an unproven COVID-19 treatment, saying in an online petition that the country has plants in the U.S. ready to produce a drug but can’t because of “red tape, regulation, and a dysfunctional healthcare supply chain.”
In recent days, Home Depot co-founder Bernard Marcus’ Job Creators Network has placed Facebook ads and texted supporters to sign a petition urging President Donald Trump to “CUT RED TAPE” and make an anti-malarial drug called hydroxychloroquine available for treating those sickened with the virus, one such message obtained by ProPublica reads.
All the nit picking, repetitive, sanctimonious Pete George comments seem to indicate he desperate to have a soapbox. Has his own blog closed down?
Most people have agreed David Clark made a mistake going for his bike ride. It was not at all appropriate at this time. He has apologised, and there now are more important issues to deal with. Yes, the media conferences are no doubt left to the PM and Grant Robertson as the best people to handle the media pack of wolves. Both are very ably doing this. Any crisis of this magnitude has to be tightly managed.
There are 2 American utube spokespeople attracting viewers in the millions for their daily press briefings at the moment. Trump and Cuomo.
Cuomo has Trump's measure, he is a better showman.
Trump had me chortling at his relentless superlatives, Cuomo had me in tears.
Cuomo doesn't attack Trump, Donald has nowhere to go but praise Cuomo's popular forthrightness. The guy's little brother is a CNN anchor and has just come down with the virus.
Is it too late for Cuomo to line up against Donald for the Hot Seat? Americans of all stripes are learning to love that guy.
My 79 year old Dad has just been taken to Waikato Hospital by Ambulance. He's normally very healthy, but started having breathing difficulties early Sunday morning. He had to go on his own because of the current rules. This is really scary stuff. I don't know what's happening.
There are lots of people still getting breathing difficulties that have nothing to do with 19.
It could be 19 but wait for something decent to worry about before you worry about it too much fireblade.
Put a call into Waikato Hospital and ask how you can be advised like you were phoning them every 5 minutes but without phoning them every 5 minutes. eg: Be advised of what's going on immediately.
Dad is home again now. The Hospital did an ECG, chest x-ray, Influenza test, Covid-19 test and blood tests. They gave him some medication and he can breath more easily now.
He water blasted the concrete area behind his house on Saturday afternoon and the Hospital thinks this irritated his lungs. Hopefully the tests will be normal/negative. St John Ambulance and the Waikato Hospital were both fantastic.
People are dying overseas because hospitals aren't able to provide artificial lungs until an aged person generates enough of an immune system to counter-act the mongrel.
Because Jacinda jumped early, we have all the ventilators we need for as long as the patients need them. Worst case scenario, you're still stuck with your grumpy old man.
Arundhati Roy writes about how Covid19 threatens India.
She concludes;
Whatever it is, coronavirus has made the mighty kneel and brought the world to a halt like nothing else could. Our minds are still racing back and forth, longing for a return to “normality”, trying to stitch our future to our past and refusing to acknowledge the rupture. But the rupture exists. And in the midst of this terrible despair, it offers us a chance to rethink the doomsday machine we have built for ourselves. Nothing could be worse than a return to normality.
Historically, pandemics have forced humans to break with the past and imagine their world anew. This one is no different. It is a portal, a gateway between one world and the next.
We can choose to walk through it, dragging the carcasses of our prejudice and hatred, our avarice, our data banks and dead ideas, our dead rivers and smoky skies behind us. Or we can walk through lightly, with little luggage, ready to imagine another world. And ready to fight for it.
Nothing could be worse than a return to normality.
The historical normality of India,is pestilence and famine.The former is here and the later will follow almost surely.
India – the world’s second-most populous country, where a majority of the population is involved in agriculture – is among the most vulnerable nations to the disruptions.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi imposed a 21-day lockdown with just a few hours notice on March 25, leaving many of its 120 million migrant laborers struggling to get home and with no money for rent, food or transport.
The country’s northern grain bowl relies on labor from eastern parts of the country, but workers have left the farms because of the lockdown. [L4N2BO25E]
“Who is going to fill the grain bags and bring the produce to market, and transport it to mills?” asked Jadish Lal, a merchant in Punjab’s Khanna grain market, the country’s largest.
Wow, Cuoro is brilliant, he is giving Donald an awful time while leaving no target.
In his live conference he talks about having no choice but go cap in hand to China and beg for ventilators and masks.
He just needs to drop the tiniest of 'I wish we could sort this out in our homeland' hints and it hits like a sledge hammer.
Cuoro is a master story teller. A good story teller doesn't tell, they show, they give us room to create our own narrative. I think Donald has met his match.
The PM’s comments this evening seemed out of her recent character. Her suggestion that we should be grateful we have only 1000 cases instead of the 4000 predicted by some model has drawn cheers from the cheap seats
On reflection tho, hearing her fishing for praise for her performance to date smacks of a commander briefing her troops for a battle she knows we are about to loose. “Remember me lads! I did my best; honest!” Trying to score political points at this early stage is somewhat worrying.
It’d pretty much be relief. This is an epidemic exponential growth curve where the infected rate is expected to double every 2-3 days. That means if it was 4000 now, then we could expect it to be somewhere over 16,000 at the end of next week and somewhere over 64,000 the week after.
Getting the rate down to 1000 after a week and half in lockdown means that the bet that the executive council made in requesting a state of emergency and a epidemic order, plus the steps being taken are actually working. Provided some idiots like those I have fun disparaging here don’t affect progress, we’re more likely to control the epidemic over coming months than we are to lose control.
You really don’t have to work up a dumb conspiracy theory. Simple relief is sufficient. Now maybe she’ll eat better and get some damn sleep with a reduce stress level.
With a grain but it sure looks like the Generals are getting antsy.
Jair Bolsonaro’s irresponsibility in the face of the SARS-CoV-2 virus crisis may have irritated the Armed Forces into choosing Chief Minister of the Civil House, Walter Braga Netto, as the new operational president of Brazil, it was reported today.
Brasil 247 portal quoted Argentine investigative journalist Horacio Verbitsky, saying that a high-ranking officer in the Brazilian Army told a peer from Argentina in a telephone conversation, that Bolsonaro is not heard by authorities when making decisions.
‘The Brazilian party reported they had made the decision to ignore President Bolsonaro in all important decisions,’ said the communicator on the program. ‘There will be consequences’, says the quote by Radio El Destape.
Verbitsky stated that Bolsonaro acts as ‘a monarch without effective power’ and that General Walter Braga Netto of the Civil House is now in charge of the country.
Military website defesanet.com.br, considered the most important news page in the areas of defense, strategy, intelligence and security in Latin America, also confirmed that Braga Neto will be in charge of directing and centralizing all government administration, at least while the crisis lasts due to the Covid-19.
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park in collaboration with members from our Skeptical Science team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is Antarctica gaining land ice? ...
Images of US students (and others) protesting and setting up tent cities on US university campuses have been broadcast world wide and clearly demonstrate the growing rifts in US society caused by US policy toward Israel and Israel’s prosecution of … Continue reading → ...
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Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its arguments for such a bold reform. ...
Peter Dunne writes – The great nineteenth British Prime Minister, William Gladstone, once observed that “the first essential for a Prime Minister is to be a good butcher.” When a later British Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, sacked a third of his Cabinet in July 1962, in what became ...
Ele Ludemann writes – New Zealanders had the OECD’s second highest tax increase last year: New Zealanders faced the second-biggest tax raises in the developed world last year, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) says. The intergovernmental agency said the average change in personal income tax ...
We all know something’s not right with our elections. The spread of misinformation, people being targeted with soundbites and emotional triggers that ignore the facts, even the truth, and influence their votes.The use of technology to produce deep fakes. How can you tell if something is real or not? Can ...
This video includes conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Simon Clark. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). This year you will be lied to! Simon Clark helps prebunk some misleading statements you'll hear about climate. The video includes ...
It is all very well cutting the backrooms of public agencies but it may compromise the frontlines. One of the frustrations of the Productivity Commission’s 2017 review of universities is that while it observed that their non-academic staff were increasing faster than their academic staff, it did not bother to ...
Buzz from the Beehive Two speeches delivered by Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters at Anzac Day ceremonies in Turkey are the only new posts on the government’s official website since the PM announced his Cabinet shake-up. In one of the speeches, Peters stated the obvious: we live in a troubled ...
1. Which of these would you not expect to read in The Waikato Invader?a. Luxon is here to do business, don’t you worry about thatb. Mr KPI expects results, and you better believe itc. This decisive man of action is getting me all hot and excitedd. Melissa Lee is how ...
…it has a restricted jurisdiction which must not be abused: it is not an inquisitionNOTE – this article was published before the High Court ruled that Karen Chhour does not have to appear before the Waitangi Tribunal Gary Judd writes – The High Court ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – One of reasons Oranga Tamariki exists is to prevent child neglect. But could the organisation itself be guilty of the same?Oranga Tamariki’s statistics show a decrease in the number and age of children in care. “There are less children ...
David Farrar writes: Graeme Edgeler wrote in 2017: In the first five years after three strikes came into effect 5248 offenders received a ‘first strike’ (that is, a “stage-1 conviction” under the three strikes sentencing regime), and 68 offenders received a ‘second strike’. In the five years prior to ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has surprised everyone with his ruthlessness in sacking two of his ministers from their crucial portfolios. Removing ministers for poor performance after only five months in the job just doesn’t normally happen in politics. That’s refreshing and will be extremely ...
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the two days to 6:06am on Thursday, April 25:Politics: PM Christopher Luxon has set up a dual standard for ministerial competence by demoting two National Cabinet ministers while leaving also-struggling ...
Hi,Today I mainly want to share some of your thoughts about the recent piece I wrote about success and failure, and the forces that seemingly guide our lives. But first, a quick bit of housekeeping: I am doing a Webworm popup in Los Angeles on Saturday May 11 at 2pm. ...
It is hard to see what Melissa Lee might have done to “save” the media. National went into the election with no public media policy and appears not to have developed one subsequently. Lee claimed that she had prepared a policy paper before the election but it had been decided ...
Open access notablesIce acceleration and rotation in the Greenland Ice Sheet interior in recent decades, Løkkegaard et al., Communications Earth & Environment:In the past two decades, mass loss from the Greenland ice sheet has accelerated, partly due to the speedup of glaciers. However, uncertainty in speed derived from satellite products ...
Buzz from the Beehive A statement from Children’s Minister Karen Chhour – yet to be posted on the Government’s official website – arrived in Point of Order’s email in-tray last night. It welcomes the High Court ruling on whether the Waitangi Tribunal can demand she appear before it. It does ...
Mr Bombastic:Ironically, the media the academic experts wanted is, in many ways, the media they got. In place of the tyrannical editors of yesteryear, advancing without fear or favour the interests of the ruling class; the New Zealand news media of today boasts a troop of enlightened journalists dedicated to ...
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Every day now just seems to bring in more fresh meat for the grinder.In their relentlessly ideological drive to cut back on the “excessive bloat” (as they see it) of the previous Labour-led government, on the mountains of evidence accumulated in such a short period of time do not ...
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Buzz from the Beehive Melissa Lee – as may be discerned from the screenshot above – has not been demoted for doing something seriously wrong as Minister of ...
Morning in London Mother hugs beloved daughter outside the converted shoe factory in which she is living.Afternoon in London Travelling writer takes himself and his wrist down to A&E, just to be sure. Read more ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – The recent announcement of the University Advisory Group, chaired by Sir Peter Gluckman, makes very clear where the Government’s focus and priorities lie. The remit of the Advisory Group is that Group members will consider challenges and opportunities for improvement in the university sector including: ...
Eric Crampton writes – The Reserve Bank of New Zealand desperately wants to find reasons to have workstreams in climate change. It makes little sense. They’ve run another stress test on the banks looking to see if they could find a prudential regulation case. They couldn’t. They ...
Rob MacCullough writes – Pundits from the left and the right are arguing that National’s Fast Track Bill that is designed to speed up infrastructure decisions could end up becoming mired in a cesspool of corruption. Political commentator ...
Looking at the headlines this morning it’s hard to feel anything other than pessimistic about the future of humanity.Note that I’m not speaking about the future of mankind, but the survival of our humanity. The values that we believe in seem to be ebbing away, by the day.Perhaps every generation ...
Swabbing mixed breed baby chicks to test for avian influenzaUh oh. Bird flu – often deadly to humans – is not only being transmitted from infected birds to dairy cows, but is now travelling between dairy cows. As of last Friday, Bloomberg News reports, there were 32 American dairy herds ...
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What is it with the mining industry? Its not enough for them to pillage the earth - they apparently can't even be bothered getting resource consent to do so: The proponent behind a major mine near the Clutha River had already been undertaking activity in the area without a ...
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Buzz from the Beehive Reactions to news of the government’s readiness to make urgent changes to “the resource management system” through a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) suggest a balanced approach is being taken. The Taxpayers’ Union says the proposed changes don’t go far enough. Greenpeace says ...
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Chris Trotter writes – Willie Jackson is said to be planning a “media summit” to discuss “the state of the media and how to protect Fourth Estate Journalism”. Not only does the Editor of The Daily Blog, Martyn Bradbury, think this is a good idea, but he has also ...
Graeme Edgeler writes – This morning [April 21], the Wellington High Court is hearing a judicial review brought by Hon. Karen Chhour, the Minister for Children, against a decision of the Waitangi Tribunal. This is unusual, judicial reviews are much more likely to brought against ministers, rather than ...
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Calling all journalists, academics, planners, lawyers, political activists, environmentalists, and other members of the public who believe that the relationships between vested interests and politicians need to be scrutinised. We need to work together to make sure that the new Fast-Track Approvals Bill – currently being pushed through by the ...
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Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi, and Mema Paremata mō Tāmaki-Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, will travel to the Gold Coast to strengthen ties with Māori in Australia next week (15-21 April). The visit, in the lead-up to the 9th Australian National Kapa haka Festival, will be an opportunity for both ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
A significant milestone has been reached in the fight to strike an anti-Pasifika and unfair law from the country’s books after Teanau Tuiono’s members’ bill passed its first reading. ...
New Zealand has today missed the opportunity to uphold the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, says James Shaw after his member’s bill was voted down in its first reading. ...
Today’s advice from the Climate Change Commission paints a sobering reality of the challenge we face in combating climate change, especially in light of recent Government policy announcements. ...
Minister for Disability Issues Penny Simmonds appears to have delayed a report back to Cabinet on the progress New Zealand is making against international obligations for disabled New Zealanders. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order. “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin Ngā mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today. I am delighted ...
The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. “Our Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealand’s overseas missions. “Our diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealand’s interests around the world,” Mr Peters says. “I am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...
New Zealand is contributing NZ$7 million to support communities affected by severe food insecurity and other urgent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and Somalia, Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters announced today. “Over 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia, with a further 6.9 million people ...
Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith is congratulating Mataaho Collective for winning the Golden Lion for best participant in the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale. "Congratulations to the Mataaho Collective for winning one of the world's most prestigious art prizes at the Venice Biennale. “It is good ...
The Government is reforming financial services to improve access to home loans and other lending, and strengthen customer protections, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly and Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced today. “Our coalition Government is committed to rebuilding the economy and making life simpler by cutting red tape. We are ...
“China remains a strong commercial opportunity for Kiwi exporters as Chinese businesses and consumers continue to value our high-quality safe produce,” Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says. Mr McClay has returned to New Zealand following visits to Beijing, Harbin and Shanghai where he met ministers, governors and mayors and engaged in trade and agricultural events with the New ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul. “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
Today’s announcement that inflation is down to 4 per cent is encouraging news for Kiwis, but there is more work to be done - underlining the importance of the Government’s plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “Inflation is now at 4 per ...
Asia Pacific Report From France to Australia, university pro-Palestine protests in the United States have now spread to several countries with students pitching on-campus camps. And students at Columbia and other US universities remain defiant as campuses have witnessed the biggest protests since the anti-Vietnam war and anti-apartheid eras in ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards, Democracy Project (https://democracyproject.nz)New Zealand Government’s Fast Track legislation. Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government ...
Tara Ward talks to presenter Naomi Toilalo about the new TV show that turns food waste into a three course feast. Naomi Toilalo is standing in the warehouse at Good Neighbour Tauranga, helping unpack the two-and-a-half tonnes of rejected food that will arrive at the community support hub that day. ...
Scout is our latest Dog of the Month. This feature was offered as a reward during our What’s Eating Aotearoa PledgeMe campaign. Thank you to Scout’s human, Avril, for her support. Dog name: Scout (named after the little girl in To Kill a Mockingbird – she inherited the independent spirit ...
Megan Alatini takes us through her life in TV, including ‘terrible’ daytime TV, the class of Carol Hirschfeld and her most embarrassing TrueBliss moment. When she responded to a vague newspaper ad asking “do you have what it takes to be a popstar?” 25 years ago, Megan Alatini never guessed ...
A new exhibition in Wellington showcases the faces behind your local goods and services. Back in 1977, when I was a fine arts student at the University of Canterbury, I took a series of photographs of Christchurch shopkeepers. The photos were for a calendar – a project for my end ...
Toomaj and his resistance to tyranny through his songs have become an icon for the youth of Iran, so his sentence has hit the nation hard. Toomaj Salehi is not the first artist to pay the price for standing with the people. ...
My cousin Dylan and I spotted these big eels under the bridge that summer. We watched them lounging under the dark weed, facing into the flow of water, their mouths frozen open. Dylan and I couldn’t stop thinking about those eels. The night we went down to the creek, we ...
Newsroom, home of satire. My long-running weekly satirical series The Secret Diary has moved to Newsroom and will appear every Saturday, with Victor Billot’s wildly popular satirical Odes continuing to appear every Sunday. Diaries, Odes – while serious political columnists toil at meaningful opinions and stroke their chins to an ...
Tara Ward unravels the many nuanced layers of a cartoon about talking dogs.This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. It’s not often an episode of a children’s cartoon has adults sobbing into their sleeves, but that’s exactly what happened this week when ...
Working as a doctor in developing countries to help communities achieve better health outcomes is nothing short of a life goal for Jessica Tater. The University of Otago medical student has her sights firmly set on joining the international humanitarian organisation Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) when she qualifies ...
There’s an island in the far reaches of Auckland’s territory, sitting off the tip of the Coromandel Peninsula, 30 minutes by air from the city or four hours on the slow boat. Aotea Great Barrier is off-grid, it has a population of fewer than a thousand people … and most ...
Asia Pacific Report An Australian author and advocate, Jim Aubrey, today led a national symbolic one minute’s silence to mark the “blood debt” owed to Papuan allies during the Second World War indigenous resistance against the invading Japanese forces. “A promise to most people is a promise,” Aubrey said in ...
Asia Pacific Report The Freedom Flotilla is ready to sail to Gaza, reports Kia Ora Gaza. All the required paperwork has been submitted to the port authority, and the cargo has been loaded and prepared for the humanitarian trip to the besieged enclave. However, organisers received word of an “administrative ...
Pacific Media Watch Palestine solidarity protesters today demonstrated at the Auckland headquarters of Television New Zealand, accusing the country’s major TV network of broadcasting “propaganda” backing Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza. About 50 protesters targeted the main entrance to the TVNZ building near Sky Tower and also picketed a side ...
Opinion by Lynley Hood. Forty years on from my 1985 Fulbright Grant, my disquiet over the war in Gaza evoked some troubling questions. The answer to my first question – What is the primary purpose of the Fulbright Programme? – was on the Fulbright NZ website. It says: US Senator, ...
The ministers responsible for green-lighting major projects need to be open about potential conflicts of interest, says Transparency International. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anastasia Powell, Professor, Family and Sexual Violence, RMIT University It has been a particularly distressing start to the year. There is little that can ease the current grief of individuals, families and communities who have needlessly lost a loved one to men’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gregory Moore, Senior Research Associate, School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences, The University of Melbourne Lichen, the first described example of symbiosis.AdeJ Artventure/Shutterstock Once known only to those studying biology, the word symbiosis is now widely used. Symbiosis is the intimate ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kim Hemsley, Head, Childhood Dementia Research Group, Flinders Health and Medical Research Institute, College of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders University Olena Ivanova/Shutterstock “Childhood” and “dementia” are two words we wish we didn’t have to use together. But sadly, around 1,400 ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Whiteford, Professor, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University The government’s Economic Inclusion Advisory Committee has just published its second report. It was set up by Treasurer Jim Chalmers and Minister for Social Services Amanda Rishworth in 2022 to provide: ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne The Queensland state election will be held in October. A YouGov poll for The Courier Mail, conducted April 9–17 from a sample ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amin Naeni, PhD candidate at Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation, Deakin University There’s been much talk in recent months about what a possible second Donald Trump presidency in the United States could mean for Europe, Russia’s war in Ukraine, the ...
A brief round-up of submissions on the controversial proposed law. This is an excerpt from our weekly environmental newsletter Future Proof. Sign up here. Last week, submissions on the controversial Fast-track Approvals Bill closed just hours after the government released a list of stakeholder organisations who were sent letters advising how they could ...
A poem from Robin Peace’s new collection Detritus of Empire: feather / grass / rock. Cereal giving I see a woman’s hands, see her curious hands break a stalk as she walks through the tall prairie, the savannah, the steppe, wherever it was. See her idly bite the grass that ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Hemingway’s Goblet by Dermot Ross (Mary Egan Publishing, $38)A handsomely produced (debossed cover, lovely ...
The Commissioner's decision validates the longstanding efforts of the local community and ensures that Awataha Marae will be managed to serve the needs of the local community, particularly for hosting tangihanga. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tristan Salles, Associate professor, University of Sydney Examples of Australian landscapes.Unsplash Seventy thousand years ago, the sea level was much lower than today. Australia, along with New Guinea and Tasmania, formed a connected landmass known as Sahul. Around this time – ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Felicity Castagna, Lecturer, Creative Writing, Western Sydney University Day Day Market, ParramattaPhoto: Garry Trinh I live on the edge of Parramatta, Australia’s fastest-growing city, on the kind of old-fashioned suburban street that has 1950s fibros constructed in the post-war housing boom, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael Ryan, Teaching Fellow in Economics, University of Waikato GettyImagesfatido/Getty Images There is an ongoing global debate over whether the high inflation seen in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic can be lowered without a recession. New Zealand is not ...
The ‘Wicked Game’ heartthrob is in his late 60s now. That didn’t stop him putting on a lively, goofy and very sparkly show. Apart from ‘Wicked Game’, which graces a sultry playlist of mine simply called 💋, my last sustained Chris Isaak listening session took place when I was about ...
Analysis - Two ministers were stripped of portfolios in a warning to Cabinet, drama broke out at the Waitangi Tribunal, and the gang patch ban bill ran into opposition. ...
Tara Ward makes an impassioned plea for some vital pop culture merch. In April 1999, I became obsessed with a new reality television show called Popstars. Every Tuesday night, five strangers transformed into music royalty before my very eyes as Joe, Keri, Carly, Erika and Megan were chosen to form ...
PNG Post-Courier In the early hours of ANZAC Day, aerial photographs captured an impressive gathering of Australians and Papua New Guineans at Isurava in the Northern (Oro) Province. The solemn dawn service yesterday was held at a site steeped in history, where some of the fiercest battles of World War ...
The PSA is shocked that Oranga Tamariki has used the cost cutting drive to downgrade its commitment to Te Ao Māori and remove many specialist Māori roles. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Kemish, Adjunct Professor, School of Historical and Philosophical Inquiry, The University of Queensland There can be no more powerful symbol of the relationship between Australia and Papua New Guinea than the prime ministers of these neighbouring countries walking together on the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sharon Robinson, Distinguished Professor and Deputy Director of ARC Securing Antarctica’s Environmental Future (SAEF), University of Wollongong, University of Wollongong Andrew Netherwood Over the last 25 years, the ozone hole which forming over Antarctica each spring has started to shrink. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Viktoria Kahui, Senior Lecturer in Environmental Economics, University of Otago Getty Images/Amy Toensing Biodiversity is declining at rates unprecedented in human history. This suggests the ways we currently use to manage our natural environment are failing. One emerging concept focuses on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Timothy Colin Bednall, Associate Professor in Management, Swinburne University of Technology marvent/Shutterstock Finding the best person to fill a position can be tough, from drafting a job ad to producing a shortlist of top interview candidates. Employers typically consider information from ...
Wondering where to host your next BYO? Whether its a small gathering or a massive party, we’ve got some recommendations. I was first introduced to the concept of BYOs at Dunedin’s India Gardens, a legendary but sadly defunct establishment, which purveyed enormous quantities of mango chicken to Aotearoa’s drunkest future ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Julien Cooper, Honorary Lecturer, Department of History and Archaeology, Macquarie University Julien Cooper The hyper-arid desert of Eastern Sudan, the Atbai Desert, seems like an unlikely place to find evidence of ancient cattle herders. But in this dry environment, my new ...
The sector says it’s hopeful her replacement Paul Goldsmith will be able to throw it a lifeline, after six months with a minister deemed missing in action, writes Catherine McGregor in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign ...
The government can't just rely on axing public sector jobs and has to do more to cut spending, says the chief economist at a free market think tank. ...
Rock The Vote NZ, known for its advocacy for minor party unity and its role within the Freedoms NZ Coalition during the 2023 General Election, celebrates this merger as a strategic enhancement of its operational strength and outreach. ...
Nearly everyone has experienced the frustration of something you use breaking and being difficult or expensive to fix. Proposed legislation could change that. It’s been raining on and off all Sunday afternoon but people are lining up outside a building in a corner of Gribblehirst Park in Sandringham, Auckland. In ...
What does a forever relationship look like when you don’t believe in marriage? And how do you celebrate it? This essay is part of our Sunday Essay series, made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.I’m going to do it, right now. I’m going to say ...
The Prime Minister has committed to resuming direct flights to Thailand. But it’s not a promise he will be able to deliver on anytime soon. The post Prime Minister jumps the gun in Thailand appeared first on Newsroom. ...
It’s not that long ago Eliza McCartney was seriously wondering if the Paris Olympics would be her pole vaulting swansong. After years of being hounded by injury after injury, the Rio Olympics bronze medallist was still confident she would compete at her second Olympics in Paris in July, unless something ...
FICTION 1 Take Two by Danielle Hawkins (Allen & Unwin, $36.99) There’s commercial fiction, like this book, and then there’s quality fiction, quality writers, quality literature; the forthcoming Auckland Writers Festival is full of quality, and ReadingRoom has two tickets to give away to the following events: Paul Lynch (Dublin ...
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You can’t have missed the Gallipoli story as the movies, documentaries, essays and books capture what it was like for New Zealand troops in their eight-month campaign on the Peninsula. But this Anzac Day the Auckland War Memorial Museum has published a book that sheds light on a little-known aspect of the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra In the free-for-all between the Australian government and Big Tech boss Elon Musk this week, the government had to be on a winner. Most people would have little sympathy with Musk’s vociferous opposition to ...
A wee piece of real-life comedy for you this morning.
Naval boat repeatedly rams a cruise liner for no reason other than testosterone poisoning.
https://edition.cnn.com/2020/04/03/americas/venezuela-navy-cruise-liner-incident-intl/index.html
Naval ship didn't realise – after ramming the cruise liner multiple times – that the cruise liner prow was reinforced to withstand antarctic ice.
Whoops.
Naval boat crumples and sinks.
Cruise liner: 1
Venezuelan navy: 0
That was covered in Yesterday's Dom/Post as well. I couldn't help but laugh out loud.
What I particularly liked was that, after it was obvious that the patrol craft was taking on water, that "the cruise ship had remained in the vicinity of the incident for more than an hour and had offered assistance.. It's Captain alerted the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre in Curacao which eventually advised him to continue his journey."
Go away! Stop looking at us! Let us sink in peace!
I'm just disappointed there's no video of the whole thing.
There are an enormous number of uploads on Youtube but all they are is just stock footage of both ships. None show the ramming attempt as far as I could discover.
Why does David Lange's comment come to mind?
'Shortly after the Mikhail Lermontov, the pride of the Soviet cruising fleet, ended her life at the bottom of the Marlborough Sounds, Lange declared that little old New Zealand was "the only nation to sink a Russian Ship since the Second World War."'.
To those that think we were too slow, and to those that think we went too severe, 1 death, so far. Look at the UK, nurses, Drs, Bus Drivers, a 5 year old yesterday! Each county numbering 100s of deaths. Big thanks to those working their arses off keeping us as safe as they can.
And the US 28k new cases to day!!
This is a short tic toc using trump statements on various days.
It is tragic
https://www.tiktok.com/@butdidiask17/video/6806022464519310598?region=JP&mid=6806013252699540230&u_code=d99c7j1c2cic98&preview_pb=0&language=en×tamp=1585986518&utm_source=line&app=tiktok&iid=6802162459673511682&utm_campaign=client_share&utm_medium=ios&tt_from=line&user_id=6758790832193111041&source=h5_t
+ 100% Well said, I feel love.
We are extremely lucky we don't have fools, in power like the USA.
Imagine if Bridges was PM?
'Imagine if Bridges was PM?'
OK …
I doubt that very much.
For a start the lockdown would have been delayed, "because of the cost to business".
Those on welfare would have been ignored.
Big businesses with lobbying clout would have all still been open and their employees forced to work.
There would be no uptick in demand from a minimum wage rise.
Help would have been directed at banks and corporates. Small business, sole traders,beneficiaries and wage earners would have been last on the list, if at all.
Lastly, communication from Bridges would have been abysmal, and even their own voters don't really trust National. Except for tax cuts and lining their own pockets.
KJT,
You are letting your political bias blind you to political reality. As SM says there would have been virtually no difference in response (except minimum wage increase).
All the fiscal measures to support wages and salaries, to support small business survive would have been implemented.
How do I know this? Because what the govt has done is modelled on what National did in Christchurch. They have actually said as much.
Under National there would have been much tougher border surveillance and earlier. That has been and remains a major failure of the government.
My reply is not from my political bias.
It is from what first hand knowledge of what National, really did, in Christchurch.
Not the PR spin version.
Tougher border surveillance could, and I think also, should, have been done sooner.
In fact I consider the border shutdown could have been sooner.
But. Don’t tell me that National wouldn’t have been prevaricating about, costs! long after the co-alition acted.
Bridges was still going on about costs to business not long ago. FFS..
KJT may be right. Wayne may be right. We'll never know. I lean towards KJT's point of view. National would have been likely followed Scumo's weaker response. But as I said, it's history, and words spoken now about what would have happened are worthless and meaningless.
I agree. Nice as it may sound, it’s rather pointless and not even an ‘academic’ exercise. It also carries the risk of polarising opinions, which we don’t really need in these times or in any time for that matter, IMHO.
You still haven't answered my question.
Who restocked our National pandemic supplies in 2017.
And another. Which Government was engaged in privatising by stealth, our health system? Which is going to severely limit our response.
What privatising of health by stealth?
The health system in NZ has hardly changed in the last two decades (apart from new technology). The health budget has increased under both governments at more or less the same rate.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/taranaki-daily-news/news/90153732/medical-laboratory-union-frustrated-at-wait-for-information-from-health-board
Two minutes on Google.
Many other examples.
And Labour wasn't guiltless, either.
The Neo-liberal disease.
The proliferation of administrators on high pay, often much higher than operational staff, has swallowed up a large proportion of funding increases for schools, universities and schools, for the last 3 decades.
So the idea that funding has increased may be true on the face of it.
But so much has gone in those salaries and payments to private providers, all those sectors have shown the effects of being run down, in reality.
Hospitals, universities and schools.
If you want to read about a health system being privatised by stealth read this. How the likes of fun f**king loving Branson the one along with Stagecoach f**ked eastern region railways in the UK and expected compensation is now a big player "running" the NHS
Nationalise the lot, tell them all to F**k Off with no compensation. I think Bo-Jo has a bloody cheek putting on his podium "Save the NHS" when since the days of Thatcher the Tories have done their utmost to run it into the ground.
https://consortiumnews.com/2020/03/30/covid-19-contending-with-a-dual-pathology-in-britain/
"Bridges as PM" is not the same as "National in government".
I would give Key/English the benefit of the doubt. But the "bonfire of red tape" (Simon Bridges' own plans, in his own words) was announced as a response to Covid-19.
"The arguments for these things just becomes stronger as a result of Covid-19 … Clearing away red tape means businesses are freer to get up in the morning to hire people and building houses, cutting hair, doing the things that need to be done without the unnecessary rules and regulations," he said.
That was in March 2020. Less than a month ago. Only days before the lockdown. It was pure fantasy.
Simon Bridges would have cost lives.
link to Simon Bridges' speech
Cutting hair? Was this before or after scomofo conferred essentialness upon the coiffeurs?
I would be fascinated to know what unnecessary rules and regulations there might be governing cutting hair.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/coronavirus/120824045/coronavirus-police-modify-guidelines-for-frontline-officers
Yep Bridges was completely out of touch. Almost like he continued to waffle on along prepared lines without any awareness of how serious things were becoming.
I gave Key credit at the time when he raised welfare payments.
And for not going full austerity after the GFC, like so many of the Clowns, overseas.
"Because what the govt has done is modelled on what National did in Christchurch."
What did National do for beneficiaries at that time? I don't remember an across the board benefit rise for Canterbury people. Nor an energy payment that winter. Can't remember what National's response was. Anyone?
https://iknow.cch.co.nz/document/zntxtnewsUio1805910sl278464566/christchurch-earthquake-support-package
Is that the total of what they did or part?
it was extended by a few weeks but was further restricted from memory but as far as direct financial support went that was the extent if I recall correctly.
Its worth noting that the fact a business support package (wage subsidy) had been implemented before, albeit on a limited basis, would likely have promoted it as an option on this occasion.
Having said that I think KJT's assertion that Nationals response would have differed holds a considerable amount of water as with everything the emphasis, priorities and timing would have been different …the devil is always in the detail
Single issue lunacy from you KJT, surround by a huge amount of conjecture and what if’s’
I think the response has been over the top. If anyone thinks this thing isn’t coming back for round 2 at some point, they’re deluded. Will we just shut the economy down again? Or is it better to allow some deaths amongst the lower risk demographics and try and focus isolation and support on the high risk? Then at least we can build some immunity.
Another happy to sacrifice "other people". For the "economy".
Where else are we hearing that from?
By the way, they are heading tens thousands of deaths, if not millions, and their economy, is still fucked.
KJT
No economy in the world can meets the all of the health needs of citizens and prevent all disease related deaths. What economies can do is generate capital to support and resource health systems. The stronger the economy, the greater the resources governments can give to health systems. The issue as it always has been is about how to best allocate those resources. This requires careful judgement (not evident with the current Minister of Health).
For instance cancer patients have for years been competing with each other and with other medical conditions for resources. There is never enough resource to go round and so there will always be priorities and winners and losers.
No one is "happy" about "sacrificing"people. And it doesn't happen "for the economy". Your thinking on this doesn't make sense. Its emotive bullshit.
To reiterate, its the 'economy' that makes it possible to build better health systems.
Not the point. And you know it.
The problem with these armchair alternatives is that they ignore the most basic question in a democracy. Does the government tell the people what it is doing?
If "No", then you're arguing for a cover-up. Which would inevitably leak out, and there would be uproar.
If "Yes", how do you propose that a NZ government (ANY government, forget the names and parties) announces to the people:
"We think it is better to allow some deaths, so we'll be doing that."
So the young should die to protect the old and the infirm?
By and large the evidence strongly suggests that the young don't die at anywhere near the same rates as 'the old and infirm" as a result of Convid 19. So that sacrifice is not being asked of the young. And neither should it.
The same rate does not mean that there is no rate. They still get sick, they still die, and they still infect others. Therefore they are still sacrificing.
Moreover as they have to go off sick in large quantities, they will cause businesses to fail thereby eventually losing themselves and others their jobs.
What kind of moronic point are you trying to make? Simpleton aphorisms don’t make an argument – they merely define someone being an idiot.
I agree with your statements concerning the use of the concept, 'rates'.
My other point (which I should have made more clearly) is that I don't think we should be expecting the young to make unreasonable sacrifices for, say, boomers, for example.
You know you are utterly unconvincing and lack a compelling argument when you use clichés like that.
I understand that you're probably been a little too lazy to read up on epidemics. But the issue in a epidemic without a vaccine or a effective treatment is that everyone almost without exception gets sick.
The more often that you get exposed and infected again before you develop any immunities, the more likely it is that you'll wind up with a dose of infecting agents that manage to overwhelm anyones immune system. Without adequete medical treatment you're more likely to die or have a downstream consequence – like a permanently compromised immune system.
So instead of whining about someone else based on a discussion about probabilities, perhaps you should look more closely at how you stop you, your family, your friends, and your workmates getting into a situation that they get into the worst possible epidemic case.
Try looking at New York where it appears the major demographic dying or severely distressed now are in their 30s and 40s because they have been swanning around in virus haze thinking that they're immune.
Meanwhile the boomers buttoned up weeks ago because they were told that they were at risk.
You can also look to OZ where the risk takers are the most affected ie 20's.
Dr McAnulty said that younger people are being affected.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-04-05/coronavirus-australia-live-blog-updates-covid-19-april-5/12122460
Why not? We're all in this together. Some of the at risk people will be younger people eg those with asthma or immune issues. Everyone is making sacrifices, not just young people, so why single them out as a group and pit them against others?
Further, why is the boomer generation not worthy of being helped? What about the elderly who will die if we all don't do our bit?
Are those young going to have there student loans remitted? As they face ruinous generational bills to pay for the privilege of extending the lives of those who benefited from a free education? Will the young get advantageous interest rates on their mortgages as they take lower paid roles in order to support the old and infirmary right to live where they are on a full government super? Will that same super be affordable for future generations as reward for sacrificing so much for the old and infirm who demanded the economy be shut down to protect them.
the same voices crying for there future generations to be protected from climate change are now sadly forgotten as those same voices revert to individualistic selfishness.
Still with the right wing, trying to set generations against each other, bollocks.
What a mighty spectacle of shadowboxing strawmen you paint there.
In case you missed it, we’re currently trying to protect and save (!) every vulnerable New Zealander irrespective of age and socio-economic status.
Go ahead and sacrifice yourself. Which business are you going to throw yourself under the covid bus for?
For the moment, I’m ignoring the rest of your comment, which is basking in ignorance, IMO.
Nobody knows or is sure if exposure to (i.e. infection with) COVID-19 will induce immunity and, if so, how long this will last. This pandemic is too young to tell and it is highly risky to make predictions and extrapolate from the experience with other coronaviruses or research on animals.
Pretty weak excuse. It’s not wiping people out. It’s fatality rate amongst people without other morbidity factors is nearing .25%.
its the old and infirm and the occasionally unlucky other who then gets sensationalised. I’m not saying it’s not something to be afraid of, but when the theoretical cure is worse than the disease…
we don’t even know if isolation will actually break the transmission cycle. It’s a best guess based on an assumption. So no less valid than Sweden’s approach, which is what I think we should follow.
but hey, if you blindly accept MoH media reports and briefings, be my guest.
The fatality rate from COVID-19 among people who don’t get infected with COVID-19 is 0.00%.
We don’t know all the morbidity factors and some people have undiagnosed factors.
Young healthy people without any conditions or morbidity factors have died and are still dying from COVID-19.
New Zealand’s approach is not Sweden’s one. Sweden currently has 373 deaths caused by COVID-19.
but hey, if you blindly display your ignorance, be my guest.
The fatality rate is incredibly low amongst young people. So your statement young are getting sick and dying is misleading.
https://www.cebm.net/covid-19/global-covid-19-case-fatality-rates/
people are going to die regardless, do we want to lower everyone who survives quality of life for generations to come to potentially save a small portion of the population? And save them only the first time round?
its a tough choice, no one gets it right, but the draconian response is out of proportion.
There is no misleading in my statement about young people dying from COVID-19, as your own link shows. You, OTOH, are displaying your ignorance again.
In New Zealand, the young are the single largest group of positive cases, which is why the PM singled them out in one of recent press conferences.
https://www.health.govt.nz/our-work/diseases-and-conditions/covid-19-novel-coronavirus/covid-19-current-situation/covid-19-current-cases#age
Yes, we’re all going to die, one day. However, we don’t leave anyone behind in this country.
You seem to be suggesting that we “potentially” sacrifice “a small portion of the population” so that the survivors can have better quality of life.
You say that this is a tough choice. Well, no, for me it’s an easy choice and my QALYs would be lower because of my burdened conscience assuming I’ll be among the survivors. You don’t seem to have that problem!?
Getting sick is not the same as dying from Covid 19. Probably why we aren’t seeing lots of deaths relative to our infection rate.
so either your example about New Zealand’s young is designed to be misleading about the fatality impact of covid 19 or it supports my point that the at risk people (fat Americans, old people, underlying health conditions) should be isolated and have massively targeted support and the very low risk people should be allowed to live almost as normal, with some restrictions. As covid 19 isn’t fatally dangerous to them
Ignorant still, but not a surprise.
When falling sick, you risk dying from it. This applies to all ages, but not equally, which nobody has disputed so this is a strawman.
When becoming a carrier, you risk spreading the virus and infecting others. This has nothing to do with your own ‘risk status’.
To prevent this from happening and to try to stamp out the virus, we’re in Alert Level 4. This is likely why we aren’t seeing lots of deaths relative to our infection rate.
You’re suggesting to let the virus go rampant among the population without knowing who are at risk and who aren’t; you don’t know whom it will be “fatally dangerous” to. You’re prepared to let people die so that others can live “almost as normal”. You believe that this is a price worth paying.
Who’s talking about “fat Americans” in our NZ society? Are you deliberately misleading?
You’re as ignorant about COVID-19 as you are about CC, which actually makes a lot of sense.
'…if you blindly accept MoH media reports and briefings, ..'
Hmm blindly following the actual experts advice or some pseudonymous commenter on a blog….. that's a tough one.
Have you ever seen any of the vaccination threads on this site.. lots of pseudonymous commenters thinking they know better than the experts and their science.
This guy knows what’s what. https://www.cebm.net/covid-19/global-covid-19-case-fatality-rates/
are people dying of or with covid-19?
They’re dying of COVID-19.
See also https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-05-04-2020/#comment-1698395
We encourage strong debate supported by sound arguments. We ask the ignorami to educate themselves and improve their arguments and debating skills. You’re starting to sound like a straight-up denier, as you did with CC. Keep it up and you’ll be booted off this site.
Who is denying CC? You’re getting confused. CC is happening, I think there are other ways to deal with it than jetting around hectoring people or organising wasteful marches.
3 people ventilated. It’s hardly reason enough to shut down society. Some will be unlucky enough to get it seriously or even fatally. It’s unfortunate, but not enough to wreck the futures of the rest of their generation.
FIFY
And only one fatality case so far. We’re so lucky, indeed!
And. If the hospitals are full of Coronavirus cases, a hell of a lot of other people are going to die of other conditions. Because there is no place or people to treat them.
But. They are just part of the "collateral damage" right.
One of my friends, a health worker, still cannot work because his constantly postponed hip replacement, has been postponed again due to coronavirus. Isn't that a cost, to?
Keen to volunteer your family as guinea pigs to see if your half arsed theory is correct.?
Yup. I am.
nothing half arsed about it. How else would a vaccine be effective if it wasn’t exposed to virus.
get back to FB Karen
The reason some of those Drs and nurses are dying is because they are getting reinfected, and each time it hits them stronger, then they die. You may end up like Boris Johnson, in denial, then sick.
Bridges was interviewed on Q+A this morning, and it was far the best I've seen him. Sensible, largely supportive of Government measures dealing with Covid, but pertinent questions about testing and quarantining of incoming travelers.
He seemed to be natural and informed.
This perhaps shows the benefits of being isolated from party strategists and media trainers.
And focus groups and polls.
All of them the bane of modern politics and the ruin of potential leaders. David Shearer suffered badly from it, as did Andrew Little (but as it turns out Ardern is a far better communicator anyway).
Ardern herself has been better when finding herself in times of crisis where she acts as she sees fit rather than being projected through a PR lens. Her interview on Seven Sharp on Friday wasn't one her best, it looked prepared and scripted, and laughing off the Clark question and pivoting to a lecture to the rest of us to not do what Clark had done was poor.
We to often forget that a Leader is still part of a group/party.
Who, may not even agree with the things they have to front.
Or, like Trump, is the figurehead for a large number of enablers behind him.
Then they have, in both Labour and National, to deal with a large number of chair polishers, and outright loons, their selection processes saddle them with.
Ardern's interview on 7 Sharp on Friday was simply propaganda and politicking. Its was straight out of the ex Women's Weekly playbook.
TVNZ need to be careful about providing a platform at prime time for political propaganda of this sort. Hillary Barry asking the tough questions is a joke. The programme was unbalanced and biased.
Jack Tane's Q & A programme provides the template for how these things should be done; especially in these times.
Bollocks. What you saw is Simon as he is. Politicians both left and right are not automatons and just puppets of polling. Yes, polling is done. But basically a politician has to use his/her judgement. And once before the camera they just say what they say. It is not nearly as scripted as you seem to think.
Yeah I ve seen Bridges in action -"Angry Simon implodes on Campbell Live"
very natural oh him wasn't it Wayne?
Yes. Saw it again yesterday. Bridges back to being a twit.
"Government should let more businesses open if it is safe for them to do so".
As if it isn't what they are doing already. FFS.
Bridges will have his platform when it comes to the usual May budget. I do not envy Robertson one bit when it comes to this.
There was a mild earth quake in Christchurch this morning. We had the EQC for the earthquakes.
We had a surplus which helps with the current Covid-19.
We have ACC for injuries.
I wonder how the ACC levies are going with the loss of income.
Does anyone know?
Bearing in mind the markets, I suspect they’d be more worried about their reserves which are the buffer. The levies are probably gone down roughly in line with the claims.
It will be interesting to see what the claim number will be during the lockdown and the breakdown of them.
FFS, Pete, where is your link?
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/bridges-calls-more-businesses-safely-operate-during-lockdown
We shall never know how Simon would have handled the crisis (thank God for that) but if we look overseas we can see numerous examples of how right wing governments have fared, Think Trump, think Johnson, think Morrison.
It would be fair to say Simon would not have been much better than any of them.
Add to that the Chinese ambassador's annoyance when we closed our borders to China and you can be sure the borders would have stayed open for longer – notwithstanding what Simon says now.
Check the data Tony. Australia is doing ok. Its current management of the problem is producing results similar to NZ.
Mostly because the various state governments like NSW, Vic and SA have been doing far closer what the NZ government has done. Closing borders. Forcing businesses to close. People to self-isolate early.
They are doing this despite the Federal government’s vacillating and inconsistent policies that seemed largely designed to reduce the call on federal funds at the unemployment.
However the federal government has now seemed to get on with the task at hand in recent days with what looks a lot like our stimulus programmes.
Only because the states have responsibility for Health and NSW and Victoria went harder, faster than the Federal government was always proposing.
A grim read of the article on The Cut thanks KJT. I think?
A bit long and wordy but a great take on the Trump/Cuomo show.
https://www.bedlamfarm.com/2020/04/02/the-cuomo-brothers-versus-the-president-what-a-show/
Very, very good. It explains why the Dems have singularly misunderstood Trump, underestimated him and miserably failed to compete against such an egregious goat of a man:
Reminder #23628 of why it's a really not a good idea for a political leader to own and control substantial business interests: the Dotard of Doltistan is looking for substantial debt relief from Deutsche Bank at the same time as the Department of Justice (which he is in charge of) is investigating Deutsche Bank for various crimes.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/deutsche-bank-trump-debt-help-coronavirus-conflict-of-interest_n_5e87ee89c5b6cc1e47758499
Are these the loans guaranteed by Simeon Mogilivch the Russian mafia boss of bosses
Ruined party elects block of wood as "leader"
Tony Blair sans the charisma.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/world/413473/sir-keir-starmer-to-lead-uk-labour-party
I'll take the views of UK Labour people who work with Starmer every day over your sideline cynicism, thanks.
He's vowed to expel every Labour Party member who cares about human rights. You don't know much, or anything, about the UK Labour Party.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/keir-starmer-elected-uk-labour-chief-apologizes-to-jews-for-party-anti-semitism/
"He's vowed to expel every Labour Party member who cares about human rights"
Citation please (so we know what you are talking about).
I think Morrissey is referring to the article he posted, Starmer intends to address anti-semitism in the party (which doesn't really exist, but was an invention of many "friends of Israel" and some other hidden forces), this will be a direct attack on all socialists in the party who support Palestinian's human rights.
It's an attack not just on "socialists" but on all people who dare to speak out for the victims of injustice.
From the article I provided with my link:
Starmer deliberately mislabels opposition to the crimes of the Israeli regime as "anti-Semitism." That obviously sits well with the extreme right Times of Israel, which published this encomium, but it's another nail in the coffin for the future of the Labour Party.
So he hasn't "vowed to expel every Labour Party member who cares about human rights" then and you just made that up?
What caught my attention about that was that the other leader candidates signed a pledge to support the expulsion of gender critical feminists from the party. From memory Starmer didn't, or at least he was restrained in his handling of that rather than throwing a large number of Labour feminists under the bus.
So making shit up about expulsions carries more stupid weight than normal.
He joined in the campaign of defamation against Jeremy Corbyn, which descended into a purge of anyone who spoke out against Israeli crimes. I didn't make that up, it's an unpleasant fact.
Do you support the contention of the Blairite rump of that party that criticism of Israel is, per se, anti-Semitism?
'The so-called “friends of Israel”, who support Israel automatically and blindly: this has nothing to do with friendship. They are enemies of Israel—they corrupt us. The Jewish establishment in Australia kept saying to me: “Israel right or wrong.” Well, Israel is wrong and they need to stop supporting it. Continuous support by Western governments and by the Jewish establishment is anything BUT friendship.'
—Gideon Levy, speaking in Auckland, 3 Dec. 2017
https://morrisseybreen.blogspot.com/2017/12/unbelievable-brutality-day-after-day.html
Citation needed, because it looks like you are making shit up again.
What it looks like is that you are back in your routine of feigned ignorance. I doubt that you are unaware of the brutal campaign of "anti-Semitism" allegations that was directed against Corbyn over the last four years. So why pretend you are?
I'm asking for evidence that the Labour party has purged members or intends to. You've made the claim twice, and both times refused to back it up, so I assume now you are lying.
In terms of your politics around Israel and Palestine and what Labour are doing re that, not interested in talking about that today.
I'm asking for evidence that the Labour party has purged members or intends to.
If you don't know that the Labour Party is purging human rights activists, you should not be commenting here. I expect to find displays of willful ignorance on Kiwiblog, but not on this normally excellent forum.
In terms of your politics around Israel and Palestine and what Labour are doing re that, not interested in talking about that today.
The false anti-Semitism smear and the witchhunt and the demand for apologies has everything to do with the "politics around Israel-Palestine." I don't believe, by the way, that you are ignorant about this matter.
Morrissey, you run your own blog, IIRC. You should know that many blogs, particularly TS, are not for little tête-à-têtes but for robust debate. Anybody can join in but many read this site without ever commenting. So, when somebody, particularly a Moderator, asks you for evidence to back up your allegations, then please oblige without sounding like a petulant little child. Thanks.
A purging that everyone knows about but for which there is no evidence. Right.
Incognito:
I'm not "alleging" that the right wing (Blairite) rump of the Labour Party, which has now manoeuvred itself back into control—a pyrrhic victory if ever there was one—has operated an unrelenting smear campaign against Corbyn and anyone who stands up for the rights of the Palestinians, any more than I would allege that the sun is coming up tomorrow morning or that today is Sunday. It's a fact.
https://www.medialens.org/2019/reopening-auschwitz-the-conspiracy-to-stop-corbyn/
weka,
You say there is "no evidence" of a purge of human rights activists from the Labour Party. This charming little encapsulation of Starmer's agenda comes from the article I provided for you in my original comment on this thread:
When Starmer says "this poison" he doesn't mean anti-Semitism, he means criticism of the Israeli regime. What do you think he means when he says he's going to "tear out" these critics?
Morrissey, you could have saved yourself the trouble with those utterances that I personally am not interested in.
My concern is your behaviour here and how you respond, or not for that matter, to basic requests for evidence to support your allegations. This is a necessary element of good debate, which we treasure on this site.
You have been around here long enough to know how it works. Next time, please just provide the evidence and don’t argue. It is wasting our time and I find it tedious enough to get the ban-hammer out.
Over and out.
Well look where charisma gets us.
https://twitter.com/Jasonwalls92/status/1246543353438560256
Jack Tame?
https://morrisseybreen.blogspot.com/2018/01/jack-tame-emotes-after-newtown.html
https://morrisseybreen.blogspot.com/2018/04/jack-tames-interview-of-chris-liddell.html
https://morrisseybreen.blogspot.com/2019/02/jack-tame-chief-worshipper-of-hosk-dec.html
None of that looks relevant to the two tweets, it looks more like a shoot the messenger diversion.
Did you read what Tame wrote about a real shooting? "Solipsistic" is the most generous spin you could put on it.
https://morrisseybreen.blogspot.com/2018/01/jack-tame-emotes-after-newtown.html
I didn't read a link to something from two years ago – it's still irrelevant to the tweets.
I didn't read a link to something from two years ago…
Tame's horrible little meditation was from eight years ago.
What is your point, Pete? Are you playing ‘trick or treat’ with us here on TS?
I thought it was kinda obvious. Robertson said that Clark was "always available" for interviews according to Jason Walls.
Also Stuff reported Robertson as saying “He’s available to front anytime".
But Jack Tame pointed out he reneged on a scheduled Q+A interview for today so wasn't always available as stated. RNZ Live referred to it as "a no show'.
Also from RNZ Live:
Tova O'Brien reported:
So according to Robertson and Ardern, Clark is "available to front any time" and "would continue to be available for interviews", but according to journalists he isn't.
The Minister of Health, during the biggest health crisis for decades, is remote from the centre of Government and Ministry of Health activity and is not giving interviews despite the Prime Minister and Minister of Finance saying he is available (knowing he isn't doing interviews).
Something is obviously not right here.
If he's not giving interviews to gossip columnists who want to rabbit on about him going for a bike ride, then good so. Why should someone in his position indulge such childish bullshit? If they were actually interested in asking him questions about the pandemic and NZ's response to it, it would be dereliction of duty for him to refuse the interviews – but they aren't, and it isn't.
Q+A is hardly a gossip column, it's not perfect but it's one of the best political media forums we have.
With Clark not fronting up Simon Bridges got a spot, and surprisingly he came across well, far different from his usual. Generally supportive of Government actions but with some reasonable questions and criticisms.
So at least something good came of Clark's no show. Bridges may be capable of rising to the occasion that the current situation requires of our politicians.
” it would be dereliction of duty for him to refuse the interviews – but they aren’t”
Do you have proof of this? I heard O’Brien saying she had specific and relevant (to the pandemic) sounding questions.
You mean Tova Woodward?
https://twitter.com/nz_voter/status/1246623491492728832
Good move by Clark imo, let's see how much media work he does in the coming week. Journos want to sensationalise a story that should have been over by now. Under normal circumstances that would just be tedious, but under these circumstances it's bizarre.
PM's press conference today: the first there-were-so-many-I-can't-recall-how-many questions were all about David Clark going for a bike ride. Nothing about Tova O'Brien's previous reporting suggests she'd operate to a higher standard than that, in fact for all I know it was her asking those questions (the questioners aren't identified in the video).
"and is not giving interviews"
When was the last time Clark gave an interview then?
What is obvious is that your mind is not like mine, obviously.
Being available for interviews is not the same as being available for a game of pin the tail on the donkey, no matter how much it appeals to a certain audience and certain pundits who have made a hobby out of reporting on it.
When something smells a little off, it could be a ripening French cheese. Yum!
So how long do you think that Clark should refuse to do interviews (despite Ardern and Robertson saying he is always available) just in case someone asks him an awkward question that he would prefer not to answer?
Or do you think he should only do interviews with questions he allows in advance?
Or should Bloomfield, Robertson and Ardern just speak on his behalf. It's not as if he has a very important job, is it.
I thought it was kinda obvious. During Alert Level 4, he should only do interviews on how to repair punctures when mountain biking in the wild.
I think this tweet speaks for itself, adding to this thread.
https://twitter.com/oneforthedr/status/1246608668394549250
I don’t hear any voices, Pete, do you?
Yap! Yap! Yap!
Please Pete – Give it a bone.
There are way more important issues than someone going on a bike ride, even if they are the Minister of Health.
I never thought the bike ride was a big deal apart from being embarrassing for Ardern efforts to get people following her message of staying away from risky pastimes.
But what it has highlighted is a Minister of Health being shielded or hiding away at the most important time for any Minister of Health for decades. That's an important issue. Do we have a functional Minister of Health?
What’s more important: de we have a scandal that can bring down this Government? Will the PM call a snap election? What do the polls say? What’s for dinner tonight?
You attempt at flippancy is a pretty lame attempt at diversion, and I think stupid in the current situation of a pandemic.
Media have picked up on the MIA issue…
https://twitter.com/oneforthedr/status/1246617895829819392
…and that's a big deal for a Minister of Health during an unprecedented pandemic.
Irony not your strongest point, Pete, i.e. MIA?
Do you really not see what Ardern did today? She knew exactly what was coming (our political journos are nothing if not predictable). She fed them a line: "idiots".
Then she took the (predictable) questions on Clark and quietly kicked him in the shins. She didn't repeat "idiot", because she didn't need to.
She also knew that while a minuscule minority of poli-tragics on blogs might still be getting worked up about Clark, the vast majority of the public are rolling their eyes at the journos (see the social media reaction in real time, which is unspun).
What do leaders usually say when one of their team lapses? "It was within the rules …" "I do not condone but …" "What about what about?" etc. Weasel words, which only make it worse.
She is smarter than that, and still many can't/won't see it.
"Do you really not see what Ardern did today? "
Yes, she gave journalists an opening to infer Clark was an idiot, a notion she didn't do much to dispel.
If Ardern is smart she won't let this fester away, which is likely if left unaddressed and information is sought from the Minister of Health – he can't go to ground forever.
It isn't festering away. Nobody cares much, except journos who help to make sure nobody cares by going on about it some more. She has political capital in spades, they don't.
I don't think you would even recognize her smarts, TBH.
Have you and other journos [see what I did there?] called out Stuart Nash yet. I heard he’s been spotted in his home gym lifting weights.
And why didn't you bring this up before the bike ride?
when was the last time Clark gave an interview?
Good question. I don't know. I do know that he has seemed to struggle with interviews he has given over the last couple of weeks, he has sounded unsure and lacking in confidence. Perhaps that's why he has quietly been given a reduced role.
so you don't actually know if he is refusing to give interviews, other than he pulled out of one today?
As above, refusing interviews from Newshub.
And obviously other journalists are showing concerns about it.
Fair bet 90% of the interviews in the next few days would have revolved around bicycles, so why bother.
Probably with other pretexts but it woulod have come up for sure. But he's got to front up sooner or later and deal to that.
Or is he going to go full funkstille?
Gotcha issues have a short expiry date.
Non-performing ministers in critical portfolios in a crisis probably have a longer expiry date – like for as long as he refuses interviews.
how has he been non-performing other than refusing a couple of interviews?
*crickets*
This one?
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/2018741008/coronavirus-health-minister-on-testing-ventilators
It's a bit superfluous for him to be doing interviews when the PM is fronting this issue. Journalists know that too, hence no squawking about lack of interviews until now. It's clear why they have a sudden interest in interviewing him, and also clear that the reason is "childish gotcha bullshit."
Not when he's cleaning his chain, obv. I mean come on.
Virgin Australia has shut down its NZ operations. 600 jobs gone, more than twice as many as the Bauer debacle. No doubt the howls of outrage in the media are coming…?
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/413455/loss-of-600-jobs-as-virgin-australia-shuts-its-nz-operations
3000 from Air New Zealand.
The airline industry is going to be a very sad place for a long time. There's a lot of airlines that have been loosing serious money prior to the covid19 restrictions on travel. Virgin Australia was one.
This piece from ABC sums it up nicely. Bottom line, Virgin is an overseas owned business and the Australian government is very unlikely to bail them out. Unfortunately some / most of the overseas airlines that own Virgin are worse. Can't see them being around for long.
The global airline industry will probably resemble the airline industry of the late 60's by the end of this, a few national flag carriers serving their home states and a couple of larger international based ones. And a lot of surplus aluminium parked in the desert. And a lot of people out of work.
Virgin is an overseas owned business and the Australian government is very unlikely to bail them out.
Taleb had a scathing response (and solution)
https://twitter.com/nntaleb/status/1243909550819942400
Virgin Australia were in big trouble 8 months ago….losses of $1.2 billion over the last 6 years. They would probably have folded without Covid-19. See:
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-virgin-australia-strategy-focus/turnaround-may-prove-tricky-for-new-virgin-australia-ceo-scurrah-idUSKCN1VG01O
"a lot of surplus aluminium parked in the desert. "
I wonder how that will affect the prospects of Rio Tinto at Tiwai? Their "best aluminium" claims revolve mainly around aircraft manufacture, I understand.
Wind turbines?
The high purity of the aluminium from Tiwai Point is more valuable for electronics purposes that directly use it in the pure state. The large portion of the output that goes to Japan is used for that.
High purity aluminium is useless for any kind of structural use, it's much too soft and weak. So it has to be alloyed with significant amounts of other elements, and the tiny quantities of impurities disappear into the tolerances of the alloying proportions. For instance, a common high-performance alloy is 7075 with a recipe that roughly includes 5.6–6.1% zinc, 2.1–2.5% magnesium, 1.2–1.6% copper, and less than a half percent of silicon, iron, manganese, titanium, chromium, and other metals.
"our high-purity aluminium is valuable for aerospace" makes for a good marketing story, though. It's useful to make locals feel special about what they produce, in order to add to their social license to operate. Even when it's bullshit.
Its likely, for the moment, that any subsidies paid to Tiwai will be cheaper than unemployment support for the numerous on and off site staff and losses to the wider community. But the plant owners could pull the plug anytime, which would be sad.
The real shame is that money, which could have been used to develop long term sustainable employment in Southland, has instead been wasted on bribes to Rio Tinto. It would have been cheaper to shut it down, and just continue paying the staff.
And we have all been paying higher power bills, for decades, for the same reason.
Other industries and infrastructure, such as electric rail, could have used that power.
A necessity to help stop man made global warming.
But. Still sad for the people out of work.
a faster curve than expected, but we were always going to end up here and I'm relieved it's happening now rather than in 20 years when it's way too late.
My hope now is that we create sustainable jobs rather than rushing back to the pollution economy.
I notice the usual suspects gearing up for business as usual.
Including Federated farmers, trying to get out of ceasing to pollute waterways, and businesses which relied on cheap labour, tax payer support and capital gains, trying to use this an excuse for even more largess from their employees, and the rest of us.
I don’t have much hope. They are already trying to paint targets on anyone who is against de- regulation and subsidies for polluting businesses.
Once China has built it's strategic milk powder mountain a shock could be on the way. No markets, or severely fucked markets, will mean much less going off farm.
Add to that less containers coming into the country full of all the shit we buy from Briscoes et al, so we've got to import empty boxes, and NZ agriculture could be in for a squeeze like it's never seen before.
I've too many family members in farming, to cheer on, it's reduction.
However commodity milk powder, was bound to run into a wall, at some stage.
Not to mention I expect the EU, and others to be trying to make up for lost trade at the same time as us.
No one who was around at the time, can forget the effects of "lakes of milk and mountains of butter" the EU, can produce, if they want to.
Expecting agriculture to pull us out of the hole, is not a given.
And. Our so called “free trade” agreements will prevent us from developing, replacement industry.
NZ agriculture could be in for a squeeze like it's never seen before.
Twaddle,demand in china for WMP is increasing due to the CCP expectation that everyone needs to drink 300ml of milk a day.Neither China or NZ can meet that cumulative demand.
There is also expected a global shortfall in whole foods such as apples,kiwifruit,oranges.and grain due to export restrictions from former CIS states.
Agriculture is resilient ie antifragile during recessions,whether NZ can sustain the harvest,due to staff shortages or government policy in horticulture (limited selling venues) is the open problem.
but at what price?…deflation is a feature of depressions
Deflation is across the entire economy,as people replace capex etc with the necessary and small treats.
During the GFC prices went up,before falling (due to increased supply)
http://www.fao.org/worldfoodsituation/foodpricesindex/en/
wishful thinking….you may wish to look a little further back than the GFC.
and you may also wish to consider the impact of deflation on debt loadings especially in an already highly leveraged sector
Think of the cash in the bank.yr on yr.(deposits)
Feb 2019. 345,571 (m$)
Feb 2020 365,691 (m$)
Households holding an extra 7.5 b$
As few additional house sales will be transacted over the lockdown period,and those who do not seek mortgage holidays,repayment would also exceed bank household lending.
https://www.rbnz.govt.nz/statistics/s40-banks-liabilities-deposits-by-sector
your point?….household sector savings have little to do with agricultural debt nor non performing loans.
Household and domestic savings provide stable liquidity for NZ
Agriculture (export) has an interesting built in safety valve,as ahve most commodity currencies.the fast 15% depreciation in the $nz
Fuel costs are down so internal transport costs reduce.Working capital interest costs have also been reduced.
Staffing for the harvest would be the biggest problem at present.
household sector savings provide protection from offshore impacts including exchange rate fluctuations is true enough…hence the RBNZ increased requirement in recent times…however there is another side to that ledger which somewhat negates your cheerleading…both household debt and total debt has increased more in the same period
https://www.rbnz.govt.nz/statistics/s30-banks-assets-loans-by-sector
The floating exchange rate could be expected to provide (some) protection in normal circumstances however we are looking at a prolonged reduction in worldwide economic activity which is it self deflationary as there will be reduced demand and ability to purchase our goods and our competitors are capable of increasing production at a scale (and will be looking to do so) we cannot cope with even if we had spare capacity , which we dont…and the non commodity imports required for our (now) high input model of ag will not deflate at the same rate.
Yes oil is low at the moment but that wont remain the case for long as the russians and saudis will agree to cut production soon enough especially in light of further reduced demand.
from your final comment it appears your horizon is around 3 months…..seriously???
from your final comment it appears your horizon is around 3 months…..seriously???
Thats when they make most of their income,ie from the harvest to sustain them over the year.
Nobody told the cows
That's what they said to me, the last time I said dairy prices were going to drop steeply.
Of course telling me it was "twaddle" didn't stop them going down.
There will be longships to row, no doubt.
and the fixed costs spread over a smaller pool will necessitate considerable fare increases…cheap travel is gone for the foreseeable (once the dust settles)
Like I said, back to the 60's. Not quite passenger lists in the social pages, but close.
1st World problems:
When walking I have noticed the increase of "Dog Mines" just off footpaths 🤬. When giving way to others: using the footpath as a 2m guide walk whilst passing using either side of the grass verge. Be careful watch out for dog poo being tramped thru the house. 😉
You wear shoes inside! How od
Only when I enter into our entrance or garage then leave shoes inside front or back door – there is the isolated occasion that there is a need rush inside 😉 – And that will be the one occasion that "stuff" is on the sole of the shoe.
As the great philosophy forest gump said .
Shit happens.
I thought you were a dairyman bwaghorn. Dog poo and cow poo are not in the same race.
Wash your mouth out I'm a shepherd.
Mind I was a dairy farmer but shit really did happen in that game in more ways than one.!
A longish but very worthwhile piece on the idea of there being a trade-off between the economy and public health (spoiler: there isn't), with a focus on when and how to back off on restrictions.
https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/04/02/coronavirus-economy-reopen-deaths-balance-analysis-159248
Coronavirus: Man arrested after filming himself coughing on fellow shoppers
WTF was he thinking? He's lucky no one decked him given how stressed out and on edge many are currently. Hopefully the prick didn't have the disease.
Apparently he had a bit too much to drink so wasn't thinking.
He has been charged.
I think he should be trespassed from all food shops.
So the virus does spread by arseole.
That sort never thinks. He has no excuse except to apologise humbly for being a natural dork. He should go through a rigorous Army training program to strengthen his discipline muscle.
He clearly has FITH disease.
It's an hereditary condition so there's likely more like him out there.
Good.
Funny how the corporate media have been avoiding talking about the Biden sexual assault allegations. And then it gets all mixed up in an attack on Alyssa Milano, ever get the feeling women mean nothing in politics, and are just props?
Please don't do the usual and throw in trump to dilute the debate. I know he's a absolute sexist arse, and anyone not living under a rock knows it too.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DK-noZ2xsbk&ab_channel=TheYoungTurks
Please don't do the usual and throw in trump to dilute the debate. I know he's a [sic] absolute sexist arse…
So is Biden. And then there was Clinton. And this creep…
https://www.truthdig.com/articles/justin-trudeaus-blackface-is-far-from-the-worst-of-his-offenses-video/
I am watching The Nation. I am so fixated on Paul Goldsmith's goggles that I can not concentrate on what he is saying.
Has he got eye virus?
I actually did not consider my comment being linked to a virus.
I tried to get glasses recently and the only pair which suited that I really liked were in the children's section and had a superman on them so were not an option.
I am finding the styles of frames to be so variable from like thick window frames to looking like goggles.
The easiest solution is to keep the frames and update the lens.
Congratulations to Keir Starmer for taking out the labour leadership contest. Not my choice, who came in third, but thankfully the continuity candidate Wrong Daily fell well short, and with her, the momentum led ultra faction.
Not only did Starmer have the overwhelming backing of all three voting groups, he also took effective control of the NEC (executive council) after his supporters won in a series of separate elections.
Starmer describes himself as a socialist but not a Corbynite, and will keep key policies from the Corbyn era, such as nationalising rail, mail and water and repealing anti-union laws, but the hope is he won't be anywhere near as unpopular and unelectable as the biggest labour loser in living memory.
With 5 years until the next election, and though much needs to be done to shore up and rebuild the red wall, my advice to the new leader is the same I gave Cunliffe when he rose to the top – Don't invite the enemy into the camp, purge. He should also seek to redefine the bond between the party and the unions so the likes of McCluskey are sidelined as much as possible. If he doesn't like it, tough, he can always advise those who pay his large salary to vote tory, though I suspect he'd have a moan and succumb, realising what side his bread is richly buttered on.
Better luck next time Lisa.
… the hope is he won’t be anywhere near as unpopular and unelectable
That will depend on whether or not there’s a concerted defamation campaign against him as there was against Corbyn. Starmer was one of the foulest defamers, along with the likes of such intellectual luminaries as J.K. Rowling. Tom Watson, and Rachael Riley.
The Labour Party in Britain is dead.
'E's not pinin'! 'E's passed on! This party is no more! He has ceased to be! 'E's expired and gone to meet 'is maker! 'E's a stiff! Bereft of life, 'e rests in peace! If you hadn't nailed 'im to the perch 'e'd be pushing up the daisies! 'Is metabolic processes are now 'istory! 'E's off the twig! 'E's kicked the bucket, 'e's shuffled off 'is mortal coil, run down the curtain and joined the bleedin' choir invisible!! He’s f*ckin’ snuffed it!…..THIS IS AN EX-PARTY!!
lol
Got it in one brilliant take, Al1en!
Keep up the good work, my man.
I know! You really wanted to be that
stenographerlumberjack. 😆I'll stick to being a "third-rate stenographer", as the boys at Kiwiblog* used to cruelly call me.
.
.
.
.
.
.
* I'm excluded from that site now.
I guess you can still wear high heels, suspendies and a bra.
They've insinuated that I'm into that kind of thing too. Bastards.
https://morrisseybreen.blogspot.com/2019/01/that-is-strike-one-breen-cops-formal.html
Did they quote Python?
Going on Kiwiblog is to step into Monty Python.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpAvcGcEc0k
Farmers, better lock up your sheep drench. The zombie hordes of the clueless reading about the latest miracle cure are no doubt on their way.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/coronavirus/120825594/coronavirus-australian-scientists-discover-head-lice-drug-kills-covid19-in-lab
A sheep farming nieghbour of mine has yearly given himself a shot of drench at that time of year. He reckons that if it can't kill a lamb it will have its work cut out on him. It will get him one day, but it had better get a move on, he's 82 and still working.
What the actual fuck??? Just checked my replies tab and the replies to the mozzie's droning whines showed up, not replies to me. I'm struggling to not take it as a personal insult.
Phew. Now it's pat's. That's not so bad.
Now it's Macro's. I can live with that.
😆
the mozzie's droning whines…
Assuming that "the mozzie" is this writer, i.e., moi, could you possibly explain how any of my posts constitute a "droning whine"?
Thanks in advance,
Morrissey.
https://www.ecomist.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/mosquito-biting-hand-feature.jpg
Recommended reading for weka
The lockdown gives you and nearly everyone else a chance to actually do some reading.
https://www.versobooks.com/books/3215-antisemitism-and-the-labour-party
The Economist on antibody testing.
http://archive.li/JXqnX
Good article. It does point towards a need to start looking for fly-by-night kits.
Dollars to be made so of course tRump and gHouliani are touting this shit.
A conservative business group founded by a prolific Republican political donor is pressuring the White House to greenlight an unproven COVID-19 treatment, saying in an online petition that the country has plants in the U.S. ready to produce a drug but can’t because of “red tape, regulation, and a dysfunctional healthcare supply chain.”
In recent days, Home Depot co-founder Bernard Marcus’ Job Creators Network has placed Facebook ads and texted supporters to sign a petition urging President Donald Trump to “CUT RED TAPE” and make an anti-malarial drug called hydroxychloroquine available for treating those sickened with the virus, one such message obtained by ProPublica reads.
https://www.propublica.org/article/republican-billionaire-group-pushes-unproven-covid-19-treatment-trump-promoted
All the nit picking, repetitive, sanctimonious Pete George comments seem to indicate he desperate to have a soapbox. Has his own blog closed down?
Most people have agreed David Clark made a mistake going for his bike ride. It was not at all appropriate at this time. He has apologised, and there now are more important issues to deal with. Yes, the media conferences are no doubt left to the PM and Grant Robertson as the best people to handle the media pack of wolves. Both are very ably doing this. Any crisis of this magnitude has to be tightly managed.
There are 2 American utube spokespeople attracting viewers in the millions for their daily press briefings at the moment. Trump and Cuomo.
Cuomo has Trump's measure, he is a better showman.
Trump had me chortling at his relentless superlatives, Cuomo had me in tears.
Cuomo doesn't attack Trump, Donald has nowhere to go but praise Cuomo's popular forthrightness. The guy's little brother is a CNN anchor and has just come down with the virus.
Is it too late for Cuomo to line up against Donald for the Hot Seat? Americans of all stripes are learning to love that guy.
My 79 year old Dad has just been taken to Waikato Hospital by Ambulance. He's normally very healthy, but started having breathing difficulties early Sunday morning. He had to go on his own because of the current rules. This is really scary stuff. I don't know what's happening.
There are lots of people still getting breathing difficulties that have nothing to do with 19.
It could be 19 but wait for something decent to worry about before you worry about it too much fireblade.
Put a call into Waikato Hospital and ask how you can be advised like you were phoning them every 5 minutes but without phoning them every 5 minutes. eg: Be advised of what's going on immediately.
Yep, thanks. Will phone Waikato Hospital.
Dad is home again now. The Hospital did an ECG, chest x-ray, Influenza test, Covid-19 test and blood tests. They gave him some medication and he can breath more easily now.
He water blasted the concrete area behind his house on Saturday afternoon and the Hospital thinks this irritated his lungs. Hopefully the tests will be normal/negative. St John Ambulance and the Waikato Hospital were both fantastic.
Excellent news!!
glad to hear
People are dying overseas because hospitals aren't able to provide artificial lungs until an aged person generates enough of an immune system to counter-act the mongrel.
Because Jacinda jumped early, we have all the ventilators we need for as long as the patients need them. Worst case scenario, you're still stuck with your grumpy old man.
The French are at it again.
https://twitter.com/johnnjenga/status/1246329223163371521
Experimentation? There is no doubt, Rugby, League, NFL, NBL, most sports, chances are you're gonna be better off with a brown person. Music?
Did you catch Tiki locked down with his family?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAZ60kfGD0c&t=746s
Arundhati Roy writes about how Covid19 threatens India.
She concludes;
Whatever it is, coronavirus has made the mighty kneel and brought the world to a halt like nothing else could. Our minds are still racing back and forth, longing for a return to “normality”, trying to stitch our future to our past and refusing to acknowledge the rupture. But the rupture exists. And in the midst of this terrible despair, it offers us a chance to rethink the doomsday machine we have built for ourselves. Nothing could be worse than a return to normality.
Historically, pandemics have forced humans to break with the past and imagine their world anew. This one is no different. It is a portal, a gateway between one world and the next.
We can choose to walk through it, dragging the carcasses of our prejudice and hatred, our avarice, our data banks and dead ideas, our dead rivers and smoky skies behind us. Or we can walk through lightly, with little luggage, ready to imagine another world. And ready to fight for it.
https://www.ft.com/content/10d8f5e8-74eb-11ea-95fe-fcd274e920ca
Nothing could be worse than a return to normality.
The historical normality of India,is pestilence and famine.The former is here and the later will follow almost surely.
India – the world’s second-most populous country, where a majority of the population is involved in agriculture – is among the most vulnerable nations to the disruptions.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi imposed a 21-day lockdown with just a few hours notice on March 25, leaving many of its 120 million migrant laborers struggling to get home and with no money for rent, food or transport.
The country’s northern grain bowl relies on labor from eastern parts of the country, but workers have left the farms because of the lockdown. [L4N2BO25E]
“Who is going to fill the grain bags and bring the produce to market, and transport it to mills?” asked Jadish Lal, a merchant in Punjab’s Khanna grain market, the country’s largest.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-food-supplies-insi/coronavirus-upends-global-food-supply-chains-in-latest-economic-shock-idUSKBN21L2V7
Wow, Cuoro is brilliant, he is giving Donald an awful time while leaving no target.
In his live conference he talks about having no choice but go cap in hand to China and beg for ventilators and masks.
He just needs to drop the tiniest of 'I wish we could sort this out in our homeland' hints and it hits like a sledge hammer.
Cuoro is a master story teller. A good story teller doesn't tell, they show, they give us room to create our own narrative. I think Donald has met his match.
The PM’s comments this evening seemed out of her recent character. Her suggestion that we should be grateful we have only 1000 cases instead of the 4000 predicted by some model has drawn cheers from the cheap seats
On reflection tho, hearing her fishing for praise for her performance to date smacks of a commander briefing her troops for a battle she knows we are about to loose. “Remember me lads! I did my best; honest!” Trying to score political points at this early stage is somewhat worrying.
What does she know that we don’t, yet?
It’d pretty much be relief. This is an epidemic exponential growth curve where the infected rate is expected to double every 2-3 days. That means if it was 4000 now, then we could expect it to be somewhere over 16,000 at the end of next week and somewhere over 64,000 the week after.
Getting the rate down to 1000 after a week and half in lockdown means that the bet that the executive council made in requesting a state of emergency and a epidemic order, plus the steps being taken are actually working. Provided some idiots like those I have fun disparaging here don’t affect progress, we’re more likely to control the epidemic over coming months than we are to lose control.
You really don’t have to work up a dumb conspiracy theory. Simple relief is sufficient. Now maybe she’ll eat better and get some damn sleep with a reduce stress level.
I think she was praising us, all of us, the nation, for our collective performance under testing circumstances.
Great story Andrew, and I'm sure you are a great man and father, but you should be back with your family in the Phillipines as far as as I can see.
Sorry, but why the hell is the wage subsidy going to migrant workers who then send it off-shore?
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12322066
With a grain but it sure looks like the Generals are getting antsy.
Jair Bolsonaro’s irresponsibility in the face of the SARS-CoV-2 virus crisis may have irritated the Armed Forces into choosing Chief Minister of the Civil House, Walter Braga Netto, as the new operational president of Brazil, it was reported today.
Brasil 247 portal quoted Argentine investigative journalist Horacio Verbitsky, saying that a high-ranking officer in the Brazilian Army told a peer from Argentina in a telephone conversation, that Bolsonaro is not heard by authorities when making decisions.
‘The Brazilian party reported they had made the decision to ignore President Bolsonaro in all important decisions,’ said the communicator on the program. ‘There will be consequences’, says the quote by Radio El Destape.
Verbitsky stated that Bolsonaro acts as ‘a monarch without effective power’ and that General Walter Braga Netto of the Civil House is now in charge of the country.
Military website defesanet.com.br, considered the most important news page in the areas of defense, strategy, intelligence and security in Latin America, also confirmed that Braga Neto will be in charge of directing and centralizing all government administration, at least while the crisis lasts due to the Covid-19.
https://www.plenglish.com/index.php?o=rn&id=54219&SEO=brazilian-media-reports-armed-forces-may-have-named-new-president