COVID response is now entering “everyone for themselves” territory.
For months media channels have been filled with the whingers No Right Turn blog describes–the “state support is s-s-socialism” brigade have often been the first to put their hands out during COVID. From Taxpayers Union to Destiny Church, to corporates, to NZ’s sprawling petit bourgeoisie, the dog eat dog model they usually espouse faded, and saw numbers of them become “dirty, filthy, beneficiaries” soon enough. You can check on MSD site which employers have received wage subsidies and the amounts.
Meanwhile working class people’s stories have remained largely untold–when it would have been easy enough to pay every citizen a basic income through IRD rather than complicated scenarios via employers. Thousands of cases relating to forced use of leave and other anomalies remain before Employment Tribunals, Courts and Mediators. “Time out” payments while waiting for test results etc. were not widely publicised–and I am an avid media consumer.
The PM has absolutely done a great job up till now on COVID but that ended yesterday.
All anger should be pointed at the the fuckwits that couldn't follow the tried and proven lockdown road map that worked the in the first outbreak.
Blaming gangs and other criminal elements and the minority of lockdown breakers, ignores the fact that the Level 4 lockdown was working.
The proven lockdown road map that worked in the first outbreak was the hard Level 4 lockdown.
Level 4 lockdowns work.
Because of the greater transmissibility of the Delta varient compared to the original, it was just taking longer.
Those at the bottom of society are the scapegoats for every government failure and loss of nerve in history.
If there is any blaming to be done it should be aimed at the top of society, those business leaders and economists and financiers that pressured the government to lift the Level 4 lockdown while the virus was still circulating in the Auckland region.
Here in Papakura same story, it has been pretty much been Level 1 here as well.
The road traffic in our street is back to normal levels.
The neighbour at the back of us had two vans of workmen, sans-masks at his house installing a heat pump.
Across the road the house has just been bought by a young couple, who before moving in had three vans of painters doing up the place. Again sans-masks.
It seems that people have been taking the drop in levels as a message to push it to the limit.
The commentariat have done their best to reinforce this message. Almost all commentators, (as far as I can tell), are saying the government has abandoned their world beating elimination strategy.
Chris Hipkins said yesterday that we have to live with the virus, confirming what the pundits are saying.
Covid response minister Chris Hipkins admits zero Covid cases are a thing of the past
NZ Herald – 4 Oct, 2021 06:07 PM
Covid-19 response minister Chris Hipkins has admitted New Zealand may not eliminate the virus after today's alert level announcement….
…Speaking to Newstalk ZB's Heather du Plessis-Allan, Hipkins accepted New Zealand may not return to days of zero Covid cases.
"We have been trending in that direction for the past few weeks and I think people won't be too surprised by that," he said….
…..Asked whether Auckland's boundary would still be in place by Christmas if mystery cases were still being found, Hipkins said it would be unlikely the boundary would be in place then.
Bwagjorn if you know anything about science and closed ecosystems.
You will know that they have tipping points ie like yeast in making alcohol in a bottle the yeast eats the sugar producing alcohol which when it gets to a point the alcohol kills the yeast.
The planet is a closed ecosystem humans are overpopulating he planet using up the resources leaving poisons those poisons are getting to a tipping point that we can't reverse.
How do you know that " those poisons are getting to a tipping point that we can't reverse."
After all far worse things have happened to earth over the last few billion years and life on earth is still flourishing. It might be different forms of life but it still goes on.
There has been nothing at all that mankind has done that can compare to the meteorite (or asteroid, or comet) that hit about 65 million years ago and wiped out the dinosaurs. Indeed without that it is probable that we would never have developed to become the dominant lifeform.
Even smaller events usually end up having much fewer long term effects than we at first think. The Rena sinking for example. The Environment Ministry says, in 2021, "Today, the environment is recovering well. Experts expect that this shipwreck shouldn't have any long-lasting effects on Bay of Plenty beaches and coastal fisheries.",
Anyway back to the point. What are the tipping points that concern you and how do you decide that a tipping point is nigh?
Alwyn you are providing a very small disaster as a false equivalence. Have you ever travelled .We are isolated on a small island with plenty of wind to blow most of our pollution away making NZ look clean.But where we have big populations ie China people live in very small apartments in tall buildings most days/daze people can't even see the neighbouring building less than 100 metres away the pollution is that bad. Most of Europe you can't see the Horizon on most days except when there is a strong wind.
The NZ govt the Key govt spent $32 million on a combined $400 million ice drilling project on the Antarctic. I know the scientist's who worked on this.
They found the last time CO2 levels reached the levels that are present today the Antarctic melted.
Even the Oil companies agree that global warming is caused by fossil fuel burning and overpopulation.
Looking at the whistle blowers at Facebook and Pandoras show the fossil fuel industry is pushing the same slippery lies you are promoting without question.
You are a bigoted psychophant.
As with your unyielding belief in corporate claptrap.
"They found the last time CO2 levels reached the levels that are present today the Antarctic melted.".
There are a couple of things that come to mind. If the ice had all melted there would be none left from that era for them to drill into. What were they looking at then?
What was it that caused the high CO2 levels in the past, if it wasn't human beings burning fossil fuels?
Why do you feel such a desperate need to abuse people you have never met? Do you have a raving inferiority complex
I'm not disputing the fact that we've possible cooked our goose, I'm saying people who think this great big old rock were on is sentient are daft as a very daft thing.
Earth can behave somewhat as if it were sentient – if one clears all the scrub off steep land for example, Nature may be offended enough to punish you with slips.
You are aware that "the planet" cant think or act aren't you?
Humans giving the matter any thought mostly agree that only creatures with conventional nervous systems can 'think' as we understand it, which is an unsurprising consensus – when you think about it.
Even if ‘our’ planet can't think (as we understand it), (re)acting is another matter.
For myself, I admire 'our' planet's abiding patience and stoicism, but then it's had a lot longer to mull over events, in its own way.
Book review – Islands of Abandonment: Life in the Post-Human Landscape
The book’s subtitle captures its spirit perfectly. Devoid of self-indulgence or decadent ruin porn, I instead found Islands of Abandonment a thoughtfully written and utterly spellbinding book. Flyn wields the pen of a poet but never loses sight of the importance of getting the biological details right. What a fantastically haunting book!
The purpose was to allow us to"open up" and avoid strict lockdown, when! enough are vaccinated to make that a viable option.
Not! To "open up" to soon pushed by self interested fools who ignore the lessons from overseas, ending up with a deadly fuckup, with hospitals overwhelmed and people dying in the thousands. And a lot more than just a few tourist and hospitality businesses failing, because Covid has taken off.
I doubt if the perpetrators of the concentrated moaning and bullshit from the media, and the supporter's of "let her rip and damn the consequences" will take any responsibility for the results.
Hard to see how the vaccine rollout could have happened faster.
Given the constraints, of safety, seeing which vaccines work, testing, supply, logistics, organisation and training required.
Of course if you are one of the right wing children, who think these things can be done instantly……..
Portugal is a country that isn't famous for bureaucratic competency, they screamed out to 85%.
Most of the OECD got it's act together before New Zealand. We were last / second last for a very long time until it became apparent we actually would need vaccines.
Of course, if you are an apologist for state sector incompetence, long time frames to get anything done are acceptable.
So you think we should have been vaccing more people at the same time the surrendertariate were claiming we were running out of jabs? Doom in June, wasn't it?
We vaxed according to our supply. As Jenny points out below, Pfizer has outright denied claims that we could have gotten more and quicker deliveries if we'd cut them a bigger cheque.
EU producers prioritised EU members for EU vaccine production. that's how Portugal could vax so quickly. They also seem to have plateau'd at 86%. I hope you don't expect us to copy that?
It's not the only one in existence, but were others available at the same schedule with the same evidence base at the same time the govt was negotiating for vaccines before they even passed their trials?
Portugal has, in fact done rather well recently in many metrics, as it becomes more Socialist. However we have still done better to date with combating Covid.
The media continue to undermine and misrepresent.
Listening to ardern yesterday handling the gotcha mob again with their pre-determined narrative bolted on regardless of anything that's presented.
Well said TM. The Liberals ( the spoiled narcissistic hedonistic adult children) have won again. We need more Socialism, not this greedy neoliberalist Individualism that we are collectively suffering from.
“the opportunity to cleanly end elimination has been taken out of our hands. Instead, we are messily transitioning to a suppression strategy while vaccination rates remain too low to, on their own, prevent hospitals from being overwhelmed with Covid-19 patients.”
The elimination strategy arose because our health system would be quickly overwhelmed with runaway covid. The same thoughts were behind the quick lockdown for Auckland this time. I cannot see how the health and contact tracing systems have been bolstered with enough resources to manage an outbreak in an under-vaccinated population.
I have been reading various reports from people & sectors of society worried about the government ending the elimination phase – Maori leaders, Pasifika leaders, the disabled. Our government did a great job of elimination, our health system did a great job of elimination. That phase has ended. It's over. What the government and the state apparatus can do has reached it's limits. The solution now rests with people, people taking responsibility to do the right thing and being vaccinated.
Whether you see that as individual responsibility or a collective action isn't so much the issue, essentially it's both. Taking personal responsibility for your own safety and being part of the collective response and doing it for all of us. So far 80% of eligible NZers have or are on track to be double dosed.
The pretty blunt message from here on in for those populations who are worried about the elimination stage – covid is coming, get prepared, get vaccinated. There are opportunities to be vaccinated, take them. If of course the opportunity to be vaccinated has not yet been given to people in Te Kaha or Marokopa or Lewis Pass or where ever then that IS the responsibility of the health system to make it so. It's the responsibility of the local population to get people to attend. If it means an inhouse visit for someone disabled to be vaccinated, that's the way to go. It means vaccinations set up in some high school, eg parts of South Auckland.
However there will be a time, and it's not too far off (albeit frustratingly not immediate) when the country gets to 90% vaccination and the brakes will come off. If someone has not taken advantage of that opportunity to be vaccinated then prepare to meet covid-19. Yes I can see how people are worried about the appearance of covid-19 in communities. They should be and hopefully that is the incentive for them to go and get jabbed.
“ What the government and the state apparatus can do has reached it's limits. The solution now rests with people, people taking responsibility to do the right thing and being vaccinated.”
So true and I think the government has done a brilliant job of Covid control on the run. They have managed each stage on the known facts before them at each stage and they clearly have worked closely with our highly qualified professionals and academic to bring forth well nuanced strategy.
I was fully vaccinated by mid August.
The people who have compromised the latest Lockdown in Auckland and those who are still unvaccinated can reap what they sow and when it comes to prioritising ICU beds pick the vaccinated ones first – should one come in.
“ What the government and the state apparatus can do has reached it's limits. The solution now rests with people, people taking responsibility to do the right thing and being vaccinated.”
So true and I think the government has done a brilliant job of Covid control on the run. They have managed each stage on the known facts before them at each stage and they clearly have worked closely with our highly qualified professionals and academic to bring forth well nuanced strategy.
I was fully vaccinated by mid August.
The people who have compromised the latest Lockdown in Auckland and those who are still unvaccinated can reap what they sow and when it comes to prioritising ICU beds pick the vaccinated ones first – should one come in.
The people who have compromised the latest Lockdown in Auckland and those who are still unvaccinated can reap what they sow and when it comes to prioritising ICU beds pick the vaccinated ones first – should one come in.
Touché
I'm getting sick of the excuses being made on behalf of those who have made no effort to be vaccinated. Of course there is a small element who are hard to reach for whatever reason, but the bulk of the unvaccinated are too lazy, or are listening to false prophets. Well, more fool them. They reap what they sow.
"They reap what they sow". Careful Anne . Thirty five years of neoliberalism has left an "underclass" who have had nothing to sow because of the system's deliberate treatment of them. Little wonder they end up making, what a certain John Key called, poor choices.
If you think I am calling out Maori or Pacific peoples… I am not. It is my humble opinion that, in terms of numbers, there are just as many Pakeha who are unvaccinated. Unlike some Maori and Pacific Islanders, they have virtually no mitigating circumstances whatsoever. Stupidity is their guiding light and I have nothing but contempt for them.
vaccine passports for anyone who presents in ED or ICU with covid symptoms? If vaccinated immediate access to ICU or HDU of needed. If not vaccinated, a triage tent in the car park. There is a principle in law that 'ignorance is no defence'
"…those who are still unvaccinated can reap what they sow and when it comes to prioritising ICU beds pick the vaccinated ones first – should one come in."
Harsh but fair. But it's not the prioritisation of the vaccinated over non-vaccinated that worries me. It's the competition for healthcare between covid and other health conditions. E.g. how is our measles vaccination programme going with the concentration covid? Who gets the ICU bed – a covid patient or someone with a heart attack? Who gets a bed in the general ward – a person needing "elective" surgery or a covid patient?
And until the magic 90% vaccination level is reached, what are the options for those who are at serious risk of a bad outcome who cannot be vaccinated? Home detention?
This game of covid whack-a-mole feels way too soon.
Anecdotally, yes, delivering measles and other childhood vaccinations to hesitant populations has gotten harder with all the publicity around covid vaccinations. Hesitants have become more hesitant, needing a lot more skilled practitioner time to overcome the hesitancy, and failures to overcome the hesitancy have become more frequent. As well as covid vaccination demand for the general population taking up a lot of that skilled practitioner time.
From what I'm hearing from my contacts on the frontline, the amount of effort needed to get some people to accept basic health care services is appalling. Various people make careers out of whining that services to their special interest groups are under-resourced, but what I'm hearing makes it look much more like it's a case of people choosing to be difficult so that vastly more resources are needed to achieve a given result. It's less an under-resourcing issue than it is a case of difficult arseholes choosing to be resource-wasteful.
As for alternatives to Pfizer for those at risk of anaphylaxis from the PEG in the Pfizer, or males aged 12-35ish with histories of heart problems, the Janssen/J&J and AstraZeneca vaccines are approved by Medsafe. But I haven't heard of any arriving here and being made available.
They also have the option of looking at the data and seeing that almost all cases of the severe and scary reactions can be treated safely and don't cause long-term harms. That would be an awfully brave call on their part, and I salute those that make that choice knowing they could be in for a rough few days to months if they win the bad-luck lotto.
Immunocompromised people (who are commonly contraindicated for other vaccines) can safely get the Pfizer vaccine. It's just much less likely to do them much good. That's because they're immunocompromised, ie their immune aren't working at all, or just not very well. So sadly, while covid is ripping through a population, yes they will need to protect themselves by whatever other means they can, including home detention.
Certainly there's a chunk of people who aren't keen on an mrna vaccine, offering alternates like Sinofarm etc would I suspect would be worth a few percent… seems odd we havent done that…
Wonder if govt signed up to an 'exclusive' period with Pfizer to get a better price…
" but what I'm hearing makes it look much more like it's a case of people choosing to be difficult so that vastly more resources are needed to achieve a given result." I think so too. The Asian population in NZ has the highest vaccination rate they did not need "pandering" to. Lets hope our lowest vaccinated ethnic group is not hanging out for what they are doing in Switzerland . Paying each person who comes forward for vaccination SF50.00 now to lift the overall rate.
"I'm hearing makes it look much more like it's a case of people choosing to be difficult so that vastly more resources are needed to achieve a given result."
This reads like you've never had to deal with health practitioners who've ever treated you like sh*t, or simply not understood your needs due to such things as language barriers or preconceived notions about who you are and what your values are as soon as you walk in the door, or lived in a family with not a lot of resources to devote to healthcare, or have been brought up to leave the option of seeking healthcare until it's a last resort, or who have restrictions on movement due to coercion and control in the family, etc., etc.
And that's not even counting the people who have been misled about health solutions by charlatans (often people more susceptible to such things by the issues above).
And yes, immune-compromised people (like myself) must take more precautions, which is one of the reasons I would prefer leaving lowering alert levels until vaccination levels.
There have not been many reassurances that the health system will be able to cope with a large outbreak, which is my main objection to this so-called plan.
This exiting of the elimination strategy feels rushed and haphazard to me.
As for alternatives to Pfizer for those at risk of anaphylaxis from the PEG in the Pfizer, or males aged 12-35ish with histories of heart problems, the Janssen/J&J and AstraZeneca vaccines are approved by Medsafe. But I haven't heard of any arriving here and being made available.
similar question I have had. Looks like AZ won't be coming to NZ anytime soon, my pick is we will divert our orders across pacific countries et al to assist with their vaccination struggles. J&J is slated to arrive between now and christmas. My own view is as well as those who cannot or do not want to take a pfizer dose getting it, also make it quite widely available for the harder to reach populations – remote, homeless, itinerant, the yeah/nahers etc. Give people the option of pfizer of J&J, explain J&J is a good vaccine but offers lower overall protection. If they choose to commit to 2 shots get pfizer. If they are a bit yeah/nah about it and are happy with J&J job done. They have a good level of protection, are unlikely to end up in hospital and count toward the 90%.
Argentina are using the Cansino vaccine (1 shot) for harder to reach populations. The US did the same with J&J.
…what are the options for those who are at serious risk of a bad outcome who cannot be vaccinated? Home detention?
All the more reason why everyone who can be vaccinated is vaccinated to safeguard the immunocompromised and make it possible for them to move about freely without fear of infection. If they are unfortunate enough to become infected they would be given priority treatment. That is a given.
Immune-compromised people can often be vaccinated. The problem is the vaccine doesn't necessarily work so well. People with some allergies are possibly more at risk of not being able to be vaccinated.
My issue is not whether people should just go and get vaccinated. It's that we're dropping down the alert levels now – before there has even been a chance for everyone who can be vaccinated to get vaccinated. So, as an fully-vaccinated immune-compromised person with a vaccination that is possibly not adequate, I'd feel much safer if we left the opening up until the vaccination levels were up.
I thought it was a shrewd move to allow some of the steam out of the lock down kettle.
Grandchildren able to see Grandparents in a picnic situation. Lone people allowed to meet with family etc. It is all outside, but would be a life line for those locked down on their todd 7 weeks is a long time.
The levels in all other ways have not changed except more children may attend day care where it is physically possible.
It is a terrifying realization that we need to transition, but depending where you live most services are available on line, and also now one other bubble can help someone and meet on the outdoor furniture, or steps for a distanced catch-up.
As Bloomfield says 4 to 8 weeks more of the L3 depending on variables, and that they will be guided by vaccination levels. This is so much better than Australia where it was announced one week and implemented the next. Now that was awful, and lives are being lost every day and health systems pressured in NSW and Victoria.
We went to buy a piece of electronic equipment this morning. The shop was set up brilliantly, and the staff were great. A Kiwi business. Everyone was wearing masks. I thought those people are at risk every day, but if we are fully vaccinated and masked up, chances are reduced significantly.
It will never be as it was except for the risk takers….. and they have been warned the virus will eventually find them. However I think the PM could get all Sector Leaders MPs and influencers to front up bit at a time and do a sell on platforms which reach the people in their areas.
Being judgemental and lifestyle critical just divides us when we need more strategies to connect and convince. Most Gang people I met when teaching wanted a better future for their children. Everyone thrives on hope, and endless lockdowns kill hope for some. Naming and blaming divides us and goes against a common goal. imo.
I am not starry eyed, and know reaching the black economy and the lawless will be extra difficult, but we need to keep reaching out through their trusted people. Even vaccinating half of them would be an improvement in the odds.
I understand what you're saying. My concerns go back to the decision to step down to Level 3. We all have reckons and mine is that another week or two in L4 would have had us through this outbreak. As it is now, we have that really tricky situation for people who are vulnerable with not a high enough level of vaccinations. Hopefully we'll all live with the decision and the cases will go down and we'll get 90% vaccinations within weeks. But I struggle to see it.
New Zealand gives in: How international media sees the Covid-19 strategy
RNZ – 3 hrs ago
New Zealand gave in on Monday, the government finally acknowledging it could not stop the spread of Delta, as others did long ago, according to international media coverage…..
….Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern's announcement of a three-stage roadmap to ease level 3 restrictions in Auckland marked a move away from the elimination strategy.
….Much of the overseas reporting on New Zealand's easing of Covid-19 restrictions despite community cases said the government had finally acknowledged something most others had done long ago.
….For a year and a half, New Zealand had pursued a strategy of "Covid zero," closing its borders and quickly enforcing lockdowns to keep the coronavirus in check, a policy it maintained even as other Asia-Pacific countries transitioned to coexisting with the viral threat, it said.
So what is the actual easing? Some bubble-mixing is allowed. How does that impact the current outbreak?
The MSM can fuck off with their "gives in" editorialising without actually explaining how this thing puts us on the path of NSW-level infections, and that's what "giving in" really is.
This is why media takes can go get fucked. What are the odds that the media outlets screaming "surrender" include the one actively touting the Mental Health Foundation to make statements against lockdowns because they harm people's mental health.
The border was always going to be how the Delta strain entered the country. Had it been mandatory that being double vaccinated when entering NZ this probably would not have stopped an outbreak. It was always going to be when and not if.
So glad to see the end of plastic supermarket shopping bags, dv.
After every really solid-rainy wet day or two, when the stream gets into flood (the catchment area includes farmed & forested hills to my East, South, & West) the foliage on both stream banks would get covered in bloody shredded plastic bags, spoiling my pristine views.
Even now, after we had two days of rain & the stream rose by 4 m into a roaring brown torrent one might not have survived if one accidentally fell in, the bushes are once again covered in shredded blimmin bags.
God knows where they all come from. Waiting for a nice sunny day when the stream’s gone down enuf that it’s safe to wade to get in there again with my trusty rake to reach up & pull the bags out of the blackberry & other bushes.
No. The nearest official dump site's at Spicer Valley, in Porirua – north of here. It's a helluva long way west from my stream.
I really think these are just bags blown along the streets and/or left in the forest, that have found their way into tributaries. Lots of rain probably just washes them into the stream.
I check that site most days and also the Herman Cain Award site. The memes used are universal. The sites are confronting both from the incredible naivety shown by the anti vaxxers and also the comments from pro-vaxxers can be tough as well.
There are common themes in the US: Southern states, Bible Belt locations, fundamentalist Christian, pro Trump, etc etc.
Very sad some of the stories. Ivermectin use is rife, also zinc and Vit C. Many are overweight and strangely many of the men sport beards or goatees though that is probably a 'down-home in the US' feature though some commenters have wondered if beards can trap aerosolised Covid particles? These people are not mask wearers.
There is a very powerful article by an Edmonton ICU specialist about the progression of Covid through the body. Usually by the time there is trouble breathing the virus has left and so all the Ivermectin in the world will not help. The trouble breathing is a later stage. This may be useful if we are now looking at a run on hospitals and increased use of ventilators.
PS We had a post from a TSer that staff of a catering firm here in NZ have exhibited anti vaxx sentiments and mentions a few of the memes/themes. As said these are universal and show up in the lists on FB etc of fervent anti vaxxers who later die from Covid.
Yes, sadly. I check the sites as I used to respond to counter anti vaxx bull kaka where I saw it (taking a break from it for a couple of days as it is mind numbing/dumbing)
I am hopeful that:
if the likes of AirNZ hold the line for overseas travel, and
vaccination passports are able to happen, despite M_S knowledge of 50 lawyers waiting to take them down.
Perhaps these 'mandates' may encourage more to vaccinate.
I dont think it's going to be overly effective so long as other airlines only require a negative test prior to travel leaving options for the no vax group and lets face it people that can afford international holidays arnt in the hard to reach categories
yup, good luck to that bloke and his staff acquiring natural immunity. heck of a silly way to get immunity I think, a bit risky. But oh well. It's almost 2 hours by ambulance from Takaka to Nelson hospital.
On the subject of anyone who subscribes to the views of the Self Reverent brian tamaki. There is a saying amongst christians "there are no unbelievers in a rubber life raft". Likewise, there are no covid deniers or anti vaxxers in a covid-19 ICU bed.
Best take steps to minimise your chance of not getting to that point.
You can tell by the way they use their waddle… nice clear image, and stream.
Never thought of them as feral – escapees often appear relatively unwary of humans.
They’re a rail, like the pūkeko. Much bigger-boned than the pooks tho.
Dunno why, I just assumed it’s a “she”. Seems to be an exceptionally placid type of waterbird.
……………………………………
“Behaviour and ecology
Most common moorhen populations are sedentary, but northern populations exposed to severe winter conditions are migratory. They breed as territorial pairs during the spring, nesting in reedbeds on rivers and ponds. They are largely solitary throughout the year, but form feeding groups of up to 30 during the winter.
Food
Common moorhens are omnivorous, consuming a wide variety of plants and small water creatures.” – NZ Birds Online
……………………………………
Appears they are like nga pūkeko in that cocks & hens have the same colour plumage, so you can’t tell the sexes apart easily by their feather colour patterns – as you can with mallard drakes & hens, and with, say paradise shelducks, blackbird cocks & hens etc. .
Probably hardy like our pukeko. Hope we don't get Ibis here though.. they are the rats of the bird world like pigeons in the park . Aussie horror poos everywhere is not afraid and dirty as.
Hey Patricia, I just clicked on Drowsy’s NZ Birds link above.
I’m wrong. It’s not an unusual coloured moorhen – it’s very DEFINITELY a Muscovy Duck. And it’s twice as big as nearby Mallard drakes, so it’s a placid male.
…………………………………..
Extract:
“Identification:
Muscovy ducks are large, goose-like ducks with highly variable plumage. Most New Zealand birds are either plain white or pied. Pied birds have a green sheen on their dark feathers. Birds with grey and brown colouring may also be present. A small crest may be raised when birds are alarmed. The bill is either pink-and-blackish, or entirely pink, and the base is surrounded by bright red caruncles. They have relatively short legs, [my specimen above had very pale orange legs, seen paddling away – Gez] & are less mobile on land than other ducks.
The legs and feet are partially or entirely pale orange in colour, and the toes have long, sharp claws. The male is much larger than the female, and can weigh over twice as much.
Voice: Generally silent or quiet. The female makes a soft quacking sound; the male makes puffing and hissing noises.
Similar species: Entirely white birds bear some resemblance to white domestic forms of mallards, and to male greylag geese, but are distinguishable by the red caruncles and body shape. Pied birds are unmistakable. Muscovy ducks can hybridise with mallards; hybrids are highly variable in plumage and have features of both parent species.”
So tired of moaning and whining from media, hospitality, businesses. The enormous pressure from these sectors has been constant for 18 months. The Government had been under huge pressure to open up our bubble to Australia. That didn't last long. Even more pressure lately so they are now loosening a little and they still complain. Act wants an end goal (as if anything like that can be predicted accurately with Delta – it's not like a broken leg that can mostly be healed in 6-8 weeks). Businesses don't seem to grasp that if hundreds or thousands of people contract the virus their businesses will be even more precarious. Businesses fail even in normal times.
Everyone is finding it hard. But public health surely must be the first priority. If people are unable to show common sense and effort and get vaccinated life will be even harder if the virus takes off and is rampant everywhere.
All praise to Jacinda for doing the very best she can in very difficult times. And she still came on Seven Sharp with a smile. Rather her than Judith Collins sniping and snarling.
Fair and balanced commentary is fine but all whining and carping is worse than the actual restrictions.
Aye – it's enough to turn anyone into a misanthrope watching this circus of collective derangement. People demanding under pandemic conditions that they have three contradictory things at the same time: freedom, safety and certainty.
I can't decide if the MSM is just mischief making or really are so thick, they can't follow what the PM was saying. Hopefully, for all our sakes, the former.
There are two things I want to see from the government right now, and both are issues that it's been obvious for a long time that they would need addressing:
What is the actual plan to lift vaccination rates to the levels needed to not have widespread needless suffering and deaths? (the rate being tossed around is 90% of eligibles, which is a long long way from the under 80% of eligibles we're at right now)
What is the actual plan for when our health system gets overwhelmed by (mostly unvaccinated) covid patients?
Mr Robertson, your glib mealy mouthed pabulum that vaccine mandates are not the New Zealand way is fkn pathetic when you don't immediately offer an alternative credible plan. But you didn't even offer a plan completely lacking in credibility, you offered nothing, nada , zip, bupkis, just some really vague indefinite muttering about maybe vaccine certificates. Details are needed now, actually, three weeks ago at least. Just saying we desperately need people to get vaccinated without also announcing measures to help make that happen isn't reassuring, it's fkn infuriating.
Mr Robertson, a glib assurance that New Zealand has hospital capacity to handle the outbreak now is frankly fkn infuriating, when it's obvious to a blind man with his Airpods turned up to 11 that we are very likely facing a flood of (mostly unvaccinated) covid patients. It's not reassuring, it makes you look like you're suffering a truly frightening degree of cluelessness.
I would enact legislation making it clear that it's totally legitimate and expected to add "no jab, no job" policies to existing employment contracts. On health and safety grounds. And mandate "no jab, no job" policies for all employees funded by the government, such as teachers, healthcare workers, government departments such as WINZ …
I would write legislation making it clear that "no jab, no entry" policies are legal and expected for all private businesses and events that may have random Kim Public entering. Pubs, restaurants, theatres, concerts, supermarkets, petrol station shops, hardware stores, gyms, the lot.
I would write legislation for healthcare providers that when resources are overloaded and triaging is needed, unvaccinated covid patients are at the top of the list to be triaged out. This situation is well outside of what's anticipated in developing normal triaging guidelines, and the appropriate response is a community political consideration, not a routine medical ethics one.
It's just non-courageous of this government to curtail so many broad human rights, but then not mandate vaccinations as a specific further human right discrimination.
It is also non-courageous not to specifically praise some regions and towns putting their vaccination rates close to 90%, yet not specifically chastise those DHB's with low numbers. This is already well and truly a regional approach to disease control. Time to do the same with prevention.
So that handles the working people. What about the people in emergency housing, or out of the regular economy?
Because that's the problem we seem to have at the moment: people poorly-served or abused by the state are suddenly expected to not beware the state bearing gifts?
I suspect the true path to 90% is to do similar to what statsnz used to do with the census prior to 2018: physically reach out to folk like the people under bridges, in random places, the often overlooked.
edit: plus start throwing the OSH violations around at ~85%, just to clean up the working “hesitant”
Getting all the working people and those that want to participate in other stuff like events is a useful start. Since all the people whose attitudes and opinions I know anything about fall into that broad group, there's a teeny-tiny chance my reckons about what might move them is worth just slightly more than jack-shit.
When it comes to those outside the regular economy and other special cases, I'd leave that to those whose job it is. Hopefully they have some actual expertise to come up with good workable ideas. All I'd come up with is stuff like blowguns and spring-loaded syringes with GPS trackers attached and bounties paid for every successful darting.
This pandemic really does seem to have highlighted why folks have been banging on about equity for decades: we essentially have two populations, one generally well served by the health system, (albeit with some biases and wait times), andthe other basically rarely interacts with the state once they leave school, and those interactions are usually bad for the person.
And frankly, the bigger group yet to be fully included in the anti-covid effort is the latter group, from what I can see.
I consider that we have a six year term now. 3 plus 3, sort of a right of renewal like a lease. A govt only lasting 3 years would be pretty awful and deserving to be thrown out. Another year in that case would be more detrimental to the country.
Would like to see funding limited to named individuals only and set at a fairly low percentage of the median wage – with political parties' shortfalls in operating budgets made up from state funding via some performance-based formula. Won't happen though – it would draw heavy media and establishment fire as Helen Clark found out. Plus Labour is riding pretty high, the large donations are probably coming, and they may be happy to be the party of the more moderate business sector, thereby squatting in National's territory.
In other areas – coat-tailing needs to go, plus cautiously drop the threshold to 4% because 5% is anti-democratic but the system also needs to be crank-proof. I can't think of a simple way to prevent large parties gifting safe seats to a sub-threshold coalition partner. Removing coat-tailing minimises the harm caused by such cheating and preferential voting within electorates might help also. Getting rid of electorates altogether would solve the problem but is probably considered too radical to fly.
This man Osnos has written a book about usa called Wildlands…
One point: The reason that happened is partly because the parties themselves and the people who are running for office began to put themselves above anything else.
“And so, they're willing to take really horrifying steps against the country's overall interest in order to advance their position.
The alarming statistic in this article is the one about trust in government. Osnos says that in 1964 77% trusted the US government. In 2014 that had dropped to 18%. That must impact on Americans in so many ways.
Does anyone have a link to the NZ survey/research on who isn't vaccinated with breakdown by a lot of factors? Need it for a post. I saw it sometime in the past month, but don't know when the research was done.
thanks joe. That's good. Not the one I was looking for, which had a better breakdown for disabled people. Don't think it was from the MoH, or maybe it was just more indepth reporting.
With the vaccine certificate coming out next month and the PM stating the country will not mandate vaccination certificates for supermarkets and pharmacies would it be too much to ask that they mandate days where the vaccinated can frequent these premises and provide a day a week which is available for non-vaccinated people to be able to do their food and pharmacy shopping.
This way everybody is going to feel safer doing essential shopping. The vaccinated will have a better chance if they do get infected that it won't be too severe and the unvaccinated will not be doing any damage to the vaccinated who will be at home.
Nice idea. I'd also like to know what should be done with the one hillbilly in my workplace who won't see sence and get himself vaccinated. All other staff (about 10 of us) are either fully vaccinated or awaiting our second shots.
I'm vaccinated and am not really worried about hanging around with non vaccinated people which is the reason I got vaccinated. They will be the one's that get sick surely and at worse case I will get mildly sick?
Third worst case is either of you gets severely ill and has chronic long term harm.
Let me put it another way: back in the old days when infantry lined up against each other with spikes, the front rank had the highest mortality rate. The third rank had a much lower mortality rate. You're the dude going "I'm in the third rank, what do I care if there's a battle?"
Lower risk does not equal zero risk, and from a population level 100% vax and no controls still might mean an overloaded healthcare system – so you if you or your unvaxed mate doesn't kill the other, you still die when there are no ventilators free after you have a car crash.
I'm sure getting covid because someone thinks triaging and vaccine passports in a pandemic is "apartheid" would be nastier than the pretty mild term I used.
Political and personal are not always different things.
Mauī makes a political point, without the personalised nasty. You may not like the political point and you may personally feel offended or angry etc, but it's still different from using inflammatory language directed at the person you are talking to.
Feelings are running high. We're here for the long haul, and my thinking currently is that this is different from any other conversation we've had on TS. As you say, it is very personal. For all of us.
tl;dr, the moderation was basically to avert flamming.
taking my mod hat off, I'm more concerned currently about the widening gap in NZ around belief than I am about covid. This is because I still trust Labour's plan and think it's largely on track. We need to focus on getting as many people vaccinated as possible, and that's what we are in fact doing.
That we might also create irreparable sociopolitical damage seems like a massive blindspot. Even if you don't care about the people you are hating on, strategically it's dumb. Think the next public health initiative that needs social cohesion at the 5m level, or even the next election. Or the waves of social, economic and political disruption that are coming with climate change and the eco crises. It's really not a good time for us to be upping the ante on ostracisation.
The dirty secret of "team of 5 million" is that it's never really been true.
Do we really think all act and national party supporters are on the elimination bandwagon? Hell no. Even if most of them are, that's still ~15% who don't believe or care that covid will kill people and will grudgingly (at best) comply with the dominant mood of the community.
Then there are the folks (who are hopefully only single-digit %) who believe the chip-level theories and actively work to spread that harm.
If we need >90-95% to do something for the survival of significant numbers of people in the community, ostracism will be the last step before the necessary outright coercion. Not vax passport "coercion", real coercion.
I don't think covid will get us to that point, but it might be close.
The team of 5 million stuff is more "team of 3 million, with another million and a bit following along because it's easier, a few hundred thousand people who might not be enthusiastic about a plague but who are not to bothered about the concept (especially if it disproportionately hits poor, urban, and other euphemismed people), and another few thousand delusional fools".
Because getting a breakthrough covid case after vaccination is still a fucking nasty disease. Basically like the worst flu you've ever had.
Mild, moderate and severe when referring to covid mean something different than normal usage. "Mild covid" means you weren't hospitalised. Moderate means you really need hospitalisation. Severe means intensive care, you'll be lucky to survive it and even luckier to not get long covid.
I take it Jimmy you are not vaccinated. Vaccinated folk generally do not need to be hospitalised if they are infected which is a good thing. The virus is only seeking out the non-vaccinated and they will take up the most ICU valuable space, sparse as it is. Keeping the two separated is keeping the vaccinated hopefully free of becoming sick. The unvaccinated will only be infecting their own. Pretty obvious don't you think.
Two doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid vaccine are “highly effective” at preventing hospitalisations for at least six months, a large-scale study shows, but protection against infection nearly halves over the same period.
Effectiveness against all Covid infections fell from 88% within a month of having two doses to 47% after six months, according to the research. However, effectiveness against hospitalisations remained high at 90% overall – and crucially across all variants, including delta.
Yes I am vaccinated….which is why I cant understand why people are treating the non vaxed as leppers?
As I've said above now that I'm vaccinated it doesn't worry me if I am next to a person that is not vaccinated. As you state: "The unvaccinated will only be infecting their own. Pretty obvious don't you think." …..so I don't need to worry?
There are still enough unvaccinated that when covid really gets loose, the sheer numbers of covid patients will break our medical system.
Now, I'm really not bothered about the outcome for those unvaccinated covid patients. Y’know, consequences of choices and all that.
But I am really concerned about the effect that will have on the staff in our medical system. I have a cousin and her husband that are hospital doctors in the US. It'll be a miracle if they come out of what they're going through more or less psychologically and physically intact.
I am also really concerned about the effect on other people with medical needs when our medical system is broken by unvaccinated covid patients. The effects on them are going to be fkn brutal.
That's why our government takes a cup of cement and harden right up to wilfully unvaccinated covid patients in order to protect our medical staff and our other people with involuntary medical needs
John Key keeps this up, he may have to join that other failed head of state to get himself banned from Facebook for making false and misleading claims.
It's not Surrender, but I do think it is Dicing With Death.
The root problem is that alert levels don't work when the disease is circulating among criminal gangs – who don't obey lockdown, and who lie to contact tracers. The alert levels are really about trying to keep everyone else safe.
The Government needs to be aggressively pushing vaccine mandates, and I'm worried things are starting to drift, but there's nothing in the current line that suggests we still aren't aiming to (eventually) mop up this outbreak. We certainly aren't tending towards NSW or Victoria, at least not yet. So long as we keep Auckland isolated and the international border closed, we can do this.
(Also, **** the media. Bunch of ****ing Lord Haw Haws).
I do not see a problem with vaccinated Kiwis returning to home isolation in Auckland (close to zero risk of needing hospitalisation and it will be at Level 3), what we have left to protect is the wider Level 2 area.
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A senior, highly respected King’s Counsel with decades of experience in our law courts, Gary Judd KC, has filed a complaint about compulsory tikanga Māori studies for law students - highlighting the utter depths of absurdity this woke cultural madness has taken our society. The tikanga regulations will compel law ...
The Government needs to be clear with the people of the Nelson Marlborough region about the changes it is considering for the Nelson Hospital rebuild, Labour health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall said. ...
Ministers must front up about which projects it will push through under its Fast Track Approvals legislation, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
The Government is again adding to New Zealand’s growing unemployment, this time cutting jobs at the agencies responsible for urban development and growing much needed housing stock. ...
With Minister Karen Chhour indicating in the House today that she either doesn’t know or care about the frontline cuts she’s making to Oranga Tamariki, we risk seeing more and more of our children falling through the cracks. ...
The Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
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. ...
New Zealand voted in favour of a resolution broadening Palestine’s participation at the United Nations General Assembly overnight, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The resolution enhances the rights of Palestine to participate in the work of the UN General Assembly while stopping short of admitting Palestine as a full ...
Introduction Good morning. It’s a great privilege to be here at the 2024 Infrastructure Symposium. I was extremely happy when the Prime Minister asked me to be his Minister for Infrastructure. It is one of the great barriers holding the New Zealand economy back from achieving its potential. Building high ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced the upcoming Budget will include new funding of $571 million for Defence Force pay and projects. “Our servicemen and women do New Zealand proud throughout the world and this funding will help ensure we retain their services and expertise as we navigate an increasingly ...
New Zealand’s ability to cope with climate change will be strengthened as part of the Government’s focus to build resilience as we rebuild the economy, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “An enduring and long-term approach is needed to provide New Zealanders and the economy with certainty as the climate ...
Jobseeker beneficiaries who have work obligations must now meet with MSD within two weeks of their benefit starting to determine their next step towards finding a job, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “A key part of the coalition Government’s plan to have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker ...
A new standalone Social Investment Agency will power-up the social investment approach, driving positive change for our most vulnerable New Zealanders, Social Investment Minister Nicola Willis says. “Despite the Government currently investing more than $70 billion every year into social services, we are not seeing the outcomes we want for ...
Check against delivery Good morning. It is a pleasure to be with you to outline the Coalition Government’s approach to our first Budget. Thank you Mark Skelly, President of the Hutt Valley Chamber of Commerce, together with your Board and team, for hosting me. I’d like to acknowledge His Worship ...
Your Excellency Ambassador Meredith, Members of the Diplomatic Corps and Ambassadors from European Union Member States, Ministerial colleagues, Members of Parliament, and other distinguished guests, Thank you everyone for joining us. Ladies and gentlemen - In diplomacy, we often speak of ‘close’ and ‘long-standing’ relations. ...
The Therapeutic Products Act (TPA) will be repealed this year so that a better regime can be put in place to provide New Zealanders safe and timely access to medicines, medical devices and health products, Associate Health Minister Casey Costello announced today. “The medicines and products we are talking about ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop, today released his decision on twenty recommendations referred to him by the Wellington City Council relating to its Intensification Planning Instrument, after the Council rejected those recommendations of the Independent Hearings Panel and made alternative recommendations. “Wellington notified its District Plan on ...
Rape Awareness Week (6-10 May) is an important opportunity to acknowledge the continued effort required by government and communities to ensure that all New Zealanders can live free from violence, say Ministers Karen Chhour and Louise Upston. “With 1 in 3 women and 1 in 8 men experiencing sexual violence ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government will be delivering a more efficient Healthy School Lunches Programme, saving taxpayers approximately $107 million a year compared to how Labour funded it, by embracing innovation and commercial expertise. “We are delivering on our commitment to treat taxpayers’ money ...
New research on the impacts of extreme weather on coastal marine habitats in Tairāwhiti and Hawke’s Bay will help fishery managers plan for and respond to any future events, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. A report released today on research by Niwa on behalf of Fisheries New Zealand ...
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Winston Peters will lead a broad political delegation on a five-stop Pacific tour next week to strengthen New Zealand’s engagement with the region. The delegation will visit Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, and Tuvalu. “New Zealand has deep and ...
There has been a material decline in gas production according to figures released today by the Gas Industry Co. Figures released by the Gas Industry Company show that there was a 12.5 per cent reduction in gas production during 2023, and a 27.8 per cent reduction in gas production in the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins tonight announced the recipients of the Minister of Defence Awards of Excellence for Industry, saying they all contribute to New Zealanders’ security and wellbeing. “Congratulations to this year’s recipients, whose innovative products and services play a critical role in the delivery of New Zealand’s defence capabilities, ...
Welcome to you all - it is a pleasure to be here this evening.I would like to start by thanking Greg Lowe, Chair of the New Zealand Defence Industry Advisory Council, for co-hosting this reception with me. This evening is about recognising businesses from across New Zealand and overseas who in ...
It is a pleasure to be speaking to you as the Minister for Digitising Government. I would like to thank Akolade for the invitation to address this Summit, and to acknowledge the great effort you are making to grow New Zealand’s digital future. Today, we stand at the cusp of ...
New Zealand is urging both Israel and Hamas to agree to an immediate ceasefire to avoid the further humanitarian catastrophe that military action in Rafah would unleash, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The immense suffering in Gaza cannot be allowed to worsen further. Both sides have a responsibility to ...
A new online data dashboard released today as part of the Government’s school attendance action plan makes more timely daily attendance data available to the public and parents, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. The interactive dashboard will be updated once a week to show a national average of how ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced Rosemary Banks will be New Zealand’s next Ambassador to the United States of America. “Our relationship with the United States is crucial for New Zealand in strategic, security and economic terms,” Mr Peters says. “New Zealand and the United States have a ...
The Government is considering creating a new tier of minerals permitting that will make it easier for hobby miners to prospect for gold. “New Zealand was built on gold, it’s in our DNA. Our gold deposits, particularly in regions such as Otago and the West Coast have always attracted fortune-hunters. ...
Minister for Trade Todd McClay today announced that New Zealand and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will commence negotiations on a free trade agreement (FTA). Minister McClay met with his counterpart UAE Trade Minister Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi in Dubai, where they announced the launch of negotiations on a ...
New Zealand Sign Language Week is an excellent opportunity for all Kiwis to give the language a go, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. This week (May 6 to 12) is New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL) Week. The theme is “an Aotearoa where anyone can sign anywhere” and aims to ...
Six tertiary students have been selected to work on NASA projects in the US through a New Zealand Space Scholarship, Space Minister Judith Collins announced today. “This is a fantastic opportunity for these talented students. They will undertake internships at NASA’s Ames Research Center or its Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), where ...
New Zealanders will be safer because of a $1.9 billion investment in more frontline Corrections officers, more support for offenders to turn away from crime, and more prison capacity, Corrections Minister Mark Mitchell says. “Our Government said we would crack down on crime. We promised to restore law and order, ...
The OECD’s latest report on New Zealand reinforces the importance of bringing Government spending under control, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The OECD conducts country surveys every two years to review its members’ economic policies. The 2024 New Zealand survey was presented in Wellington today by OECD Chief Economist Clare Lombardelli. ...
The Government has delivered on its election promise to provide a financially sustainable model for Auckland under its Local Water Done Well plan. The plan, which has been unanimously endorsed by Auckland Council’s Governing Body, will see Aucklanders avoid the previously projected 25.8 per cent water rates increases while retaining ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters discussed the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and enhanced cooperation in the Pacific with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock during her first official visit to New Zealand today. "New Zealand and Germany enjoy shared interests and values, including the rule of law, democracy, respect for the international system ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop today released his decision on four recommendations referred to him by the Western Bay of Plenty District Council, opening the door to housing growth in the area. The Council’s Plan Change 92 allows more homes to be built in existing and new ...
Thank you, John McKinnon and the New Zealand China Council for the invitation to speak to you today. Thank you too, all members of the China Council. Your effort has played an essential role in helping to build, shape, and grow a balanced and resilient relationship between our two ...
The Government is modernising insurance law to better protect Kiwis and provide security in the event of a disaster, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly announced today. “These reforms are long overdue. New Zealand’s insurance law is complicated and dated, some of which is more than 100 years old. ...
The coalition Government is refreshing its approach to supporting pay equity claims as time-limited funding for the Pay Equity Taskforce comes to an end, Public Service Minister Nicola Willis says. “Three years ago, the then-government introduced changes to the Equal Pay Act to support pay equity bargaining. The changes were ...
Structured literacy will change the way New Zealand children learn to read - improving achievement and setting students up for success, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Being able to read and write is a fundamental life skill that too many young people are missing out on. Recent data shows that ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay says Canada’s refusal to comply in full with a CPTPP trade dispute ruling in our favour over dairy trade is cynical and New Zealand has no intention of backing down. Mr McClay said he has asked for urgent legal advice in respect of our ‘next move’ ...
The rights of our children and young people will be enhanced by changes the coalition Government will make to strengthen oversight of the Oranga Tamariki system, including restoring a single Children’s Commissioner. “The Government is committed to delivering better public services that care for our most at-risk young people and ...
The Government is making it easier for minor changes to be made to a building consent so building a home is easier and more affordable, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on making it easier and cheaper to build homes so we can ...
New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
Good evening – Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
“Instead of following along countries that are investing in death and better ways of killing people faster, we need to invest in life and in making Aotearoa a fair, just and equitable place where everyone has what they need for a dignified life.” ...
MARIAMENO KAPA-KINGI, TPM MP FOR TAI TOKERAU This Government will not waver in its mission to exterminate Māori. CHRISTOPHER LUXON Oh well look you know I don’t think that hard-working Kiwis want to hear language like that. It’s just really unhelpful rhetoric. My Government is genuinely committed to advancing outcomes ...
The body positivity movement started with women confronting the unrealistic expectations and unrepresentative portrayals of them in media and advertising. Men weren’t part of it … their bodies hadn’t been sexualised to the same extremes and they didn’t really need it. But now that’s changed. And in a warped sort ...
The New Zealand comedy legend takes us through her life in television, including the time she hugged Elton John and the unshakeable legacy of a girl named Lyn. In 1981, Ginette McDonald stood on the stage of Auckland’s St James Theatre and directly addressed Queen Elizabeth II. It was a ...
An essay by Lily Duval from the just-released anthology Otherhood: Essays on being childless, childfree and child adjacent.I was 22 when my friend Alice gave birth in the living room of our pokey Addington flat. She laboured in the blow-up pool for hours. Garish fish swam along the inflated ...
Ella Borrie on the best books about motherhood she’s come across so far. Over the past few years I’ve been drawn to books about motherhood. I’m fascinated by the joys and horrors of becoming a parent. The question of children also feels more pressing than it used to. It’s like ...
Out of gift ideas for mum? You can’t go wrong with a bottle of toilet cleaner and a new squeegee. Emily Writes is the writer and editor of Emily Writes Weekly. This week marks five years since I published a post on The Spinoff about Mother’s Day marketing titled ‘A ...
My husband is posted overseas for 12 months and I’m armed with an expensive, newfangled vibrator. Will I miss him? The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.A few days after my husband leaves, a new sex toy arrives at the front door. Nestled ...
Jaimie Baird’s new book Here Today Gone Tomorrow is a record of four decades of graffiti and street art in Wellington, told through more than 1,200 photographs. He spoke with Joel MacManus about what inspired the book. How did you first get interested in photographing street art? I remember ...
Editor Madeleine Chapman looks back at a busy week where food of all political leanings dominated. Sometimes you’re just going about your week thinking you’ve got a good handle on what might be coming as far as news topics and then someone (usually a politician) says something so ridiculous that ...
In a week of cold rain and frost, the climate in courtroom four upstairs at the Invercargill courthouse was simmering with restrained indignation. At times it felt like the famous Mexican standoff scene from Reservoir Dogs, or, as someone watching the proceedings described it, there was so much throwing of ...
A banner notification alerts me to the fact that I’ve received an Instagram message from @felicity.loves. She always comments on my posts. I shouldn’t have opened the message, but clicked on the notification before rationalising this. OMG! Are you in Wellys? X I debate not replying, but Instagram will inform ...
In Melbourne’s hardscrabble western suburbs where AFL – Aussie rules football – is a state religion, Callum Donaldson has been quietly grafting away, four months into an odyssey that he hopes will take him to another promised land: the NRL. It was a solid 2023 for the softly spoken 20-year-old ...
Pacific Media Watch Television New Zealand Pacific correspondent Barbara Dreaver has been made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to investigative journalism and Pacific communities in a ceremony at Government House, reports 1News. She has been the Pacific correspondent for 1News since 2002, breaking many ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Tuesday’s budget will respond to the deepening public agitation over Australia’s housing shortages by pouring new money into crisis accommodation for women and children, social housing and infrastructure. A specially-convened national cabinet late Friday ticked ...
By Kaneta Naimatu in Suva Journalists in the Pacific region play an important role as the “eyes and ears on the ground” when it comes to reporting the climate crisis, says the European Union’s Pacific Ambassador Barbara Plinkert. Speaking at The University of the South Pacific (USP) on World Press ...
Aldora Itunu is back in the Black Ferns squad after a three-year absence. The last of her 24 internationals was an underwhelming loss to France (7-29) in Castres to conclude the disastrous 2021 Northern Tour. The powerhouse prop won a Rugby World Cup in 2017 and thought she was done. ...
The fight to control major transport policy and projects in Auckland has burst into the open again, with councillors rejecting Mayor Wayne Brown’s latest attempt to steer things more under his influence. Councillors from the left and right broke ranks on the mayor’s bid to control Auckland Transport more directly ...
Exhausted by the general election campaign, horrified by the twilight zone of coalition negotiations, distracted by the silly season and waiting for the honeymoon to begin, Raw Politics has been in hibernation since October. From today, we’re back. Our weekly political video show and podcast returns for ...
By Patrick Decloitre, RNZ Pacific correspondent French Pacific desk Authorities in the small town of Boulouparis have commemorated Armistice Day on May 8 with a new memorial honouring New Zealand soldiers who were stationed in New Caledonia during World War II. The ceremony took place in the township on the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sara Dehm, Senior lecturer, international migration and refugee law, University of Technology Sydney The High Court unanimously ruled today that the Australian government can keep asylum seekers in immigration detention indefinitely in cases where they do not “voluntarily” cooperate with their own ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kim Munro, Lecturer, Creative Industries and Digital Media, University of South Australia Twenty-four hours after the release of Macklemore’s pro-Palestine protest song Hind’s Hall on social media on May 7, the video had already notched up over 24 million views. In ...
Failing to anticipate the complexity of the consenting system is being cited as the the current builder's shortcomings, an Infrastructure Commission review says. ...
350 Aotearoa is calling the Environment Select Committee’s decision to allow oral submissions from just 40% of individual, unique submitters who asked to speak to the committee ‘a disgraceful blight to democracy’. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Helal, Assistant Dean (Sustainability), The University of Melbourne Dubai skylineAleksandarPasaric/Pexels Since ancient times, people have built structures that reach for the skies – from the steep spires of medieval towers to the grand domes of ancient cathedrals and mosques. Today ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Edward Musole, PhD Law Student, University of New England Girts Ragelis/ShutterstockRecent trends show Australians are increasingly buying wearables such as smartwatches and fitness trackers. These electronics track our body movements or vital signs to provide data throughout the day, with ...
Papua New Guinea experienced a significant earthquake on 24 March in East Sepik and there has also been recent flooding there and in surrounding provinces. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Yousuf Mohammed, Dermatology researcher, The University of Queensland Maridav/Shutterstock You wake up, stagger to the bathroom and gaze into the mirror. No, you’re not imagining it. You’ve developed face wrinkles overnight. They’re sleep wrinkles. Sleep wrinkles are temporary. But as your ...
The Environment Select Committee has just announced that 60 percent of individuals who asked to speak at the hearings will not be heard. This equates to almost 700 people who made individual submissions and more than 1000 more who made a form submission. ...
The Royal New Zealand Ballet is performing Swan Lake around the country. What kind of dream does the ballet sell?Before going to see the Royal New Zealand Ballet perform Swan Lake, I had about as much familiarity with the plot of this ballet as could be expected from having ...
A new poem by Auckland poet Eamonn Tee. High Tide at Local Maxima It is only going to get worse. The streams will be narrow and fickle. The week will bend and buckle like a pot-bellied waist. You will make it to the weekend with one ...
The New Zealand entrepreneur behind beauty business Ethique is gearing up to launch a new eco-venture. This is an excerpt from our weekly environmental newsletter Future Proof. Sign up here. Our thirst for a tasty bevvy is insatiable, but it comes with a hefty plastic price for the planet: 580 billion ...
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 James by Percival Everett (Mantle, $38) A retelling of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn from ...
By Kamna Kumar in Suva Pacific Islands Forum Secretary-General Henry Puna stressed the importance of media freedom and its link to the climate and environmental crisis at the 2024 World Press Freedom Day event organised by the University of the South Pacific’s journalism programme. Under the theme “A Planet for ...
Tara Ward previews a new local TV series offering alternative visions of motherhood. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. A woman is clambering up the side of her two-story house, clinging desperately to a drainpipe. Nearby, her child is perched on the ...
Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ) is supportive of the cross-party approach to climate adaptation announced by the Minister of Climate Change today. ...
The Sustainable Business Council (SBC) and Climate Leaders Coalition (CLC) welcome today’s announcement from Government around a bipartisan inquiry into an enduring climate adaptation framework for New Zealand. ...
The Free Speech Union welcomes the decision by the Department of Internal Affairs, and Minister Brooke Van Velden, to abandon proposals to further regulate online speech. ...
Its new building in Wellington will not be nearly big enough for all its records, and it has also run out of money to build its new storage facility in Levin. ...
BusinessNZ is congratulating the Minister of Climate Change for his work in achieving cross-party consensus for a way forward on climate adaptation. ...
Recent research reveals the repeal of smokefree measures is not only bad for our health, but also the economy. The Government has repealed various smokefree measures to ensure it keeps collecting $1.2 billion a year in tobacco taxes, in order to pay for tax cuts already being delivered to ...
The club’s surprisingly good season is built on the desire to prove a random A-League YouTuber wrong… and a few other factors.“There’s no way that Wellington Phoenix play finals this year. I can’t see it happening at all.” Those are the words of Lachlan Raeside, an Australian football content ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By César Albarrán-Torres, Senior Lecturer, Department of Media and Communication, Swinburne University of Technology Apple TV+ As one of billions of bilingual individuals in the world, it disappoints me when a film or TV show with characters of a non-English-speaking background is ...
The under-utilised course is a waste of space, and with a little political will, it could be turned into something better. For the duration of her stay in Wellington, my long-suffering cousin listened to me rant about golf courses. They’re bad for the environment: water intensive and pesticide heavy. They ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Leah Ruppanner, Professor of Sociology and Founding Director of The Future of Work Lab, Podcast at MissPerceived, The University of Melbourne Shutterstock A recent report from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows US fertility rates dropped 2% in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amy Corderoy, Medical doctor and PhD candidate studying involuntary psychiatric treatment, School of Psychiatry, UNSW Sydney shop_py/Shutterstock Picture two people, both suffering from a serious mental illness requiring hospital admission. One was born in Australia, the other in Asia. Hopefully, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sarah Treby, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, RMIT University P.j.Hickox, Shutterstock Peatlands store more carbon per square metre than any other ecosystem on Earth. These waterlogged, mossy bogs beat even dense rainforests for their ability to act as carbon reservoirs. Under the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Goss, Adjunct Associate Professor, Health Research Institute, University of Canberra Government spending on health has been growing so rapidly that a decade ago the then health minister Peter Dutton called it “unmanageable” and “unsustainable”. Health spending grew in real terms by ...
New Zealand's largest electricity distributor is warning the country to hurry up with controls around charging electric vehicles or face unnecessary bills running into the billions. ...
New Zealanders have been asked to conserve energy this morning to combat a possible electricity shortfall, writes Stewart Sowman-Lund in this extract from The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. A call to conserve power New Zealand is facing a possible electricity shortfall, with people up ...
Writer Rebecca K Reilly breaks down the national book awards. What are the Ockhams?The Ockham New Zealand Book Awards are our annual national awards for books published for adults, and have existed in this form since 2016. There are four categories: Fiction, Poetry, General Non-fiction and Illustrated Non-fiction. There ...
Wellington City Council should keep its 34% ownership share in Wellington International Airport, argue Unions Wellington spokespeople Finn Cordwell and Ashok Jacob. Insanity, as the saying goes, is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Wellington City Council (WCC) is yet again proposing to dispose ...
New Zealand’s largest book publisher has undergone drastic changes this week, leaving its future role in local publishing uncertain. Two of the most recognisable local publishers in New Zealand are among those restructured out of Penguin Random House, it was announced this week. Head of publishing Claire Murdoch will leave ...
Successive governments have tried, and failed, to count Māori. But with the return of social investment, it’s more important than ever to get good data. The post Government looks for a better way to count Māori appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Experts in financing social investment initiatives say New Zealand is in a prime position to tackle social issues via a social investment approach The post What will Willis’ social investment fund look like? appeared first on Newsroom. ...
In 2021 the Public Interest Journalism Fund launched the Te Rito Journalism project, a $2.4 million initiative to boost diversity in New Zealand’s newsrooms. The initiative was in response to the decades-long shortage of Māori and Pacific journalists in the media industry. It was billed as New Zealand’s ...
The Black Ferns Sevens appeared to be a mile behind Australia at the halfway point of the 2023-24 SVNS international circuit. Winless in three tournaments, a cup quarter-final exit in Perth was one of their worst results. To add insult to injury, talismanic skipper Sarah Hirini had been ruled out ...
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No need for a long post when Idiot Savant puts it so succinctly…
http://norightturn.blogspot.com/2021/10/surrendering-to-virus.html
COVID response is now entering “everyone for themselves” territory.
For months media channels have been filled with the whingers No Right Turn blog describes–the “state support is s-s-socialism” brigade have often been the first to put their hands out during COVID. From Taxpayers Union to Destiny Church, to corporates, to NZ’s sprawling petit bourgeoisie, the dog eat dog model they usually espouse faded, and saw numbers of them become “dirty, filthy, beneficiaries” soon enough. You can check on MSD site which employers have received wage subsidies and the amounts.
Meanwhile working class people’s stories have remained largely untold–when it would have been easy enough to pay every citizen a basic income through IRD rather than complicated scenarios via employers. Thousands of cases relating to forced use of leave and other anomalies remain before Employment Tribunals, Courts and Mediators. “Time out” payments while waiting for test results etc. were not widely publicised–and I am an avid media consumer.
The PM has absolutely done a great job up till now on COVID but that ended yesterday.
All anger should be pointed at the the fuckwits that couldn't follow the tried and proven lockdown road map that worked the in the first outbreak.
It is just a managed retreat for nz now so it's going to be a make it up as you go situation
Blaming gangs and other criminal elements and the minority of lockdown breakers, ignores the fact that the Level 4 lockdown was working.
The proven lockdown road map that worked in the first outbreak was the hard Level 4 lockdown.
Level 4 lockdowns work.
Because of the greater transmissibility of the Delta varient compared to the original, it was just taking longer.
Those at the bottom of society are the scapegoats for every government failure and loss of nerve in history.
If there is any blaming to be done it should be aimed at the top of society, those business leaders and economists and financiers that pressured the government to lift the Level 4 lockdown while the virus was still circulating in the Auckland region.
It's basically been level one down at Okahu Bay over the last month!
Here in Papakura same story, it has been pretty much been Level 1 here as well.
The road traffic in our street is back to normal levels.
The neighbour at the back of us had two vans of workmen, sans-masks at his house installing a heat pump.
Across the road the house has just been bought by a young couple, who before moving in had three vans of painters doing up the place. Again sans-masks.
It seems that people have been taking the drop in levels as a message to push it to the limit.
The commentariat have done their best to reinforce this message. Almost all commentators, (as far as I can tell), are saying the government has abandoned their world beating elimination strategy.
Chris Hipkins said yesterday that we have to live with the virus, confirming what the pundits are saying.
The Claytons lockdown. The lockdown you have when you are not having a lockdown.
NZ joins the ranks of failed states in containing the virus.
L4 works in severing transmission. L3 hardly. L2.78 probably not a bit.
Delta bwaghorn is a far more contagious variant while in the first outbreak lockdown worked and we had a good run.
Delta outsmarted a much more rigorous regime to stop it.
This is nature fighting back humans are fucking the planet and this is a forewarning of more disasters coming.
You are aware that "the planet " cant think or act aren't you?
Oh yes She can!
Your saying Medea has rational intention?
https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780691165806/the-medea-hypothesis
Yes, Her systems are much more balanced and cohesive and much less destructive than ours.
Bwagjorn if you know anything about science and closed ecosystems.
You will know that they have tipping points ie like yeast in making alcohol in a bottle the yeast eats the sugar producing alcohol which when it gets to a point the alcohol kills the yeast.
The planet is a closed ecosystem humans are overpopulating he planet using up the resources leaving poisons those poisons are getting to a tipping point that we can't reverse.
How do you know that " those poisons are getting to a tipping point that we can't reverse."
After all far worse things have happened to earth over the last few billion years and life on earth is still flourishing. It might be different forms of life but it still goes on.
There has been nothing at all that mankind has done that can compare to the meteorite (or asteroid, or comet) that hit about 65 million years ago and wiped out the dinosaurs. Indeed without that it is probable that we would never have developed to become the dominant lifeform.
Even smaller events usually end up having much fewer long term effects than we at first think. The Rena sinking for example. The Environment Ministry says, in 2021, "Today, the environment is recovering well. Experts expect that this shipwreck shouldn't have any long-lasting effects on Bay of Plenty beaches and coastal fisheries.",
Anyway back to the point. What are the tipping points that concern you and how do you decide that a tipping point is nigh?
Alwyn you are providing a very small disaster as a false equivalence. Have you ever travelled .We are isolated on a small island with plenty of wind to blow most of our pollution away making NZ look clean.But where we have big populations ie China people live in very small apartments in tall buildings most days/daze people can't even see the neighbouring building less than 100 metres away the pollution is that bad. Most of Europe you can't see the Horizon on most days except when there is a strong wind.
The NZ govt the Key govt spent $32 million on a combined $400 million ice drilling project on the Antarctic. I know the scientist's who worked on this.
They found the last time CO2 levels reached the levels that are present today the Antarctic melted.
Even the Oil companies agree that global warming is caused by fossil fuel burning and overpopulation.
Looking at the whistle blowers at Facebook and Pandoras show the fossil fuel industry is pushing the same slippery lies you are promoting without question.
You are a bigoted psychophant.
As with your unyielding belief in corporate claptrap.
"They found the last time CO2 levels reached the levels that are present today the Antarctic melted.".
There are a couple of things that come to mind. If the ice had all melted there would be none left from that era for them to drill into. What were they looking at then?
What was it that caused the high CO2 levels in the past, if it wasn't human beings burning fossil fuels?
Why do you feel such a desperate need to abuse people you have never met? Do you have a raving inferiority complex
I called you out for your anti science Pro big oil Pro propaganda cult like following.
Bigot and sycophant describe your behaviour .
It's not abuse telling you the truth something unknown to you.
I'm not disputing the fact that we've possible cooked our goose, I'm saying people who think this great big old rock were on is sentient are daft as a very daft thing.
Earth can behave somewhat as if it were sentient – if one clears all the scrub off steep land for example, Nature may be offended enough to punish you with slips.
Humans giving the matter any thought mostly agree that only creatures with conventional nervous systems can 'think' as we understand it, which is an unsurprising consensus – when you think about it.
Even if ‘our’ planet can't think (as we understand it), (re)acting is another matter.
For myself, I admire 'our' planet's abiding patience and stoicism, but then it's had a lot longer to mull over events, in its own way.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaster_than_Empires_and_More_Slow
What was the purpose of the vaccination programme if we weren't eventually going to open up and learn to live with the virus?
The purpose was to allow us to"open up" and avoid strict lockdown, when! enough are vaccinated to make that a viable option.
Not! To "open up" to soon pushed by self interested fools who ignore the lessons from overseas, ending up with a deadly fuckup, with hospitals overwhelmed and people dying in the thousands. And a lot more than just a few tourist and hospitality businesses failing, because Covid has taken off.
I doubt if the perpetrators of the concentrated moaning and bullshit from the media, and the supporter's of "let her rip and damn the consequences" will take any responsibility for the results.
Damn straight ! 👍🏼 🐧
Why wasn’t it given the highest priority then? Seems to have been a lot of oopsies and it took a crises to really get the vaccine roll out moving.
proper ambulance at the bottom of the cliff stuff
Please fix your email address at next comment. Typos in Name and Email fields mean your comment gets held up by the filter.
Yes, apologies. my phone doesn't store my details
Hard to see how the vaccine rollout could have happened faster.
Given the constraints, of safety, seeing which vaccines work, testing, supply, logistics, organisation and training required.
Of course if you are one of the right wing children, who think these things can be done instantly……..
Portugal is a country that isn't famous for bureaucratic competency, they screamed out to 85%.
Most of the OECD got it's act together before New Zealand. We were last / second last for a very long time until it became apparent we actually would need vaccines.
Of course, if you are an apologist for state sector incompetence, long time frames to get anything done are acceptable.
Portugal is a part of the EU which prioritized member states vaccine rollout.As Europe can make its own vaccines.
So we were lucky to get any vaccines.
Then we have only had 3,000 cases <30 deaths. Only 2 in this outbreak.
Portugal 1.25 million cases 18000 deaths. Currently 200 odd daily cases 7 deaths a day.
DukeELL you are putting false equivalences out there,ie lies.
My point was that Portugal got to 85% with startling rapidity, in a country whose public service makes kiwibuild look fast.
That's not false equivalency, it's fact. except the parable, that's hyperbole
So you think we should have been vaccing more people at the same time the surrendertariate were claiming we were running out of jabs? Doom in June, wasn't it?
We vaxed according to our supply. As Jenny points out below, Pfizer has outright denied claims that we could have gotten more and quicker deliveries if we'd cut them a bigger cheque.
EU producers prioritised EU members for EU vaccine production. that's how Portugal could vax so quickly. They also seem to have plateau'd at 86%. I hope you don't expect us to copy that?
I don’t expect us to copy that. I do expect this government to completely fail to hit their targets, so the poor and disposed will suffer more.
is Pfizer the only vaccine available?
It's not the only one in existence, but were others available at the same schedule with the same evidence base at the same time the govt was negotiating for vaccines before they even passed their trials?
Oh, we also bought those, too?
Portugal has, in fact done rather well recently in many metrics, as it becomes more Socialist. However we have still done better to date with combating Covid.
More Blairite third way than socialist, unfortunately.
https://jacobinmag.com/2018/06/portugal-left-bloc-socialist-party-austerity
I assume you have had both Jabs.
If so when?
I had mine as soon as I could. In September.
I was supposed to be able to get all of mine done by July at the latest if I wanted them originally.
Do we know how many Group 1's are still unvaccinated at this point?
Us too. Found it easy and efficient.
Gchild got second yesterday, booked in last Sat
Link to data re jabs on herald
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/covid-19-delta-outbreak-the-90-project-how-close-is-your-age-group-to-90/5GCQZMAJ7ABKQTDV4RNVL4QGRM/
The media continue to undermine and misrepresent.
Listening to ardern yesterday handling the gotcha mob again with their pre-determined narrative bolted on regardless of anything that's presented.
The media have such a lot to answer for. Even RNZ was, for all intents and purposes, inciting students to go to school without masks.
Gosman that's correct it is now up to everyone who can get vaccinated .
A point that most seem to have missed!
Well said TM. The Liberals ( the spoiled narcissistic hedonistic adult children) have won again. We need more Socialism, not this greedy neoliberalist Individualism that we are collectively suffering from.
Marc Daalder over on Newsroom fills in the detail…
“the opportunity to cleanly end elimination has been taken out of our hands. Instead, we are messily transitioning to a suppression strategy while vaccination rates remain too low to, on their own, prevent hospitals from being overwhelmed with Covid-19 patients.”
The elimination strategy arose because our health system would be quickly overwhelmed with runaway covid. The same thoughts were behind the quick lockdown for Auckland this time. I cannot see how the health and contact tracing systems have been bolstered with enough resources to manage an outbreak in an under-vaccinated population.
I have been reading various reports from people & sectors of society worried about the government ending the elimination phase – Maori leaders, Pasifika leaders, the disabled. Our government did a great job of elimination, our health system did a great job of elimination. That phase has ended. It's over. What the government and the state apparatus can do has reached it's limits. The solution now rests with people, people taking responsibility to do the right thing and being vaccinated.
Whether you see that as individual responsibility or a collective action isn't so much the issue, essentially it's both. Taking personal responsibility for your own safety and being part of the collective response and doing it for all of us. So far 80% of eligible NZers have or are on track to be double dosed.
The pretty blunt message from here on in for those populations who are worried about the elimination stage – covid is coming, get prepared, get vaccinated. There are opportunities to be vaccinated, take them. If of course the opportunity to be vaccinated has not yet been given to people in Te Kaha or Marokopa or Lewis Pass or where ever then that IS the responsibility of the health system to make it so. It's the responsibility of the local population to get people to attend. If it means an inhouse visit for someone disabled to be vaccinated, that's the way to go. It means vaccinations set up in some high school, eg parts of South Auckland.
However there will be a time, and it's not too far off (albeit frustratingly not immediate) when the country gets to 90% vaccination and the brakes will come off. If someone has not taken advantage of that opportunity to be vaccinated then prepare to meet covid-19. Yes I can see how people are worried about the appearance of covid-19 in communities. They should be and hopefully that is the incentive for them to go and get jabbed.
“ What the government and the state apparatus can do has reached it's limits. The solution now rests with people, people taking responsibility to do the right thing and being vaccinated.”
So true and I think the government has done a brilliant job of Covid control on the run. They have managed each stage on the known facts before them at each stage and they clearly have worked closely with our highly qualified professionals and academic to bring forth well nuanced strategy.
I was fully vaccinated by mid August.
The people who have compromised the latest Lockdown in Auckland and those who are still unvaccinated can reap what they sow and when it comes to prioritising ICU beds pick the vaccinated ones first – should one come in.
“ What the government and the state apparatus can do has reached it's limits. The solution now rests with people, people taking responsibility to do the right thing and being vaccinated.”
So true and I think the government has done a brilliant job of Covid control on the run. They have managed each stage on the known facts before them at each stage and they clearly have worked closely with our highly qualified professionals and academic to bring forth well nuanced strategy.
I was fully vaccinated by mid August.
The people who have compromised the latest Lockdown in Auckland and those who are still unvaccinated can reap what they sow and when it comes to prioritising ICU beds pick the vaccinated ones first – should one come in.
Woops , doubled up – too late too edit out !
Touché
I'm getting sick of the excuses being made on behalf of those who have made no effort to be vaccinated. Of course there is a small element who are hard to reach for whatever reason, but the bulk of the unvaccinated are too lazy, or are listening to false prophets. Well, more fool them. They reap what they sow.
"They reap what they sow". Careful Anne . Thirty five years of neoliberalism has left an "underclass" who have had nothing to sow because of the system's deliberate treatment of them. Little wonder they end up making, what a certain John Key called, poor choices.
If they even view those "choices" as viable options from the hand that hits them.
They reap what got sown on top of them.
If you think I am calling out Maori or Pacific peoples… I am not. It is my humble opinion that, in terms of numbers, there are just as many Pakeha who are unvaccinated. Unlike some Maori and Pacific Islanders, they have virtually no mitigating circumstances whatsoever. Stupidity is their guiding light and I have nothing but contempt for them.
vaccine passports for anyone who presents in ED or ICU with covid symptoms? If vaccinated immediate access to ICU or HDU of needed. If not vaccinated, a triage tent in the car park. There is a principle in law that 'ignorance is no defence'
"…those who are still unvaccinated can reap what they sow and when it comes to prioritising ICU beds pick the vaccinated ones first – should one come in."
Harsh but fair. But it's not the prioritisation of the vaccinated over non-vaccinated that worries me. It's the competition for healthcare between covid and other health conditions. E.g. how is our measles vaccination programme going with the concentration covid? Who gets the ICU bed – a covid patient or someone with a heart attack? Who gets a bed in the general ward – a person needing "elective" surgery or a covid patient?
And until the magic 90% vaccination level is reached, what are the options for those who are at serious risk of a bad outcome who cannot be vaccinated? Home detention?
This game of covid whack-a-mole feels way too soon.
Anecdotally, yes, delivering measles and other childhood vaccinations to hesitant populations has gotten harder with all the publicity around covid vaccinations. Hesitants have become more hesitant, needing a lot more skilled practitioner time to overcome the hesitancy, and failures to overcome the hesitancy have become more frequent. As well as covid vaccination demand for the general population taking up a lot of that skilled practitioner time.
From what I'm hearing from my contacts on the frontline, the amount of effort needed to get some people to accept basic health care services is appalling. Various people make careers out of whining that services to their special interest groups are under-resourced, but what I'm hearing makes it look much more like it's a case of people choosing to be difficult so that vastly more resources are needed to achieve a given result. It's less an under-resourcing issue than it is a case of difficult arseholes choosing to be resource-wasteful.
As for alternatives to Pfizer for those at risk of anaphylaxis from the PEG in the Pfizer, or males aged 12-35ish with histories of heart problems, the Janssen/J&J and AstraZeneca vaccines are approved by Medsafe. But I haven't heard of any arriving here and being made available.
They also have the option of looking at the data and seeing that almost all cases of the severe and scary reactions can be treated safely and don't cause long-term harms. That would be an awfully brave call on their part, and I salute those that make that choice knowing they could be in for a rough few days to months if they win the bad-luck lotto.
Immunocompromised people (who are commonly contraindicated for other vaccines) can safely get the Pfizer vaccine. It's just much less likely to do them much good. That's because they're immunocompromised, ie their immune aren't working at all, or just not very well. So sadly, while covid is ripping through a population, yes they will need to protect themselves by whatever other means they can, including home detention.
Certainly there's a chunk of people who aren't keen on an mrna vaccine, offering alternates like Sinofarm etc would I suspect would be worth a few percent… seems odd we havent done that…
Wonder if govt signed up to an 'exclusive' period with Pfizer to get a better price…
" but what I'm hearing makes it look much more like it's a case of people choosing to be difficult so that vastly more resources are needed to achieve a given result." I think so too. The Asian population in NZ has the highest vaccination rate they did not need "pandering" to. Lets hope our lowest vaccinated ethnic group is not hanging out for what they are doing in Switzerland . Paying each person who comes forward for vaccination SF50.00 now to lift the overall rate.
"I'm hearing makes it look much more like it's a case of people choosing to be difficult so that vastly more resources are needed to achieve a given result."
This reads like you've never had to deal with health practitioners who've ever treated you like sh*t, or simply not understood your needs due to such things as language barriers or preconceived notions about who you are and what your values are as soon as you walk in the door, or lived in a family with not a lot of resources to devote to healthcare, or have been brought up to leave the option of seeking healthcare until it's a last resort, or who have restrictions on movement due to coercion and control in the family, etc., etc.
And that's not even counting the people who have been misled about health solutions by charlatans (often people more susceptible to such things by the issues above).
And yes, immune-compromised people (like myself) must take more precautions, which is one of the reasons I would prefer leaving lowering alert levels until vaccination levels.
There have not been many reassurances that the health system will be able to cope with a large outbreak, which is my main objection to this so-called plan.
This exiting of the elimination strategy feels rushed and haphazard to me.
similar question I have had. Looks like AZ won't be coming to NZ anytime soon, my pick is we will divert our orders across pacific countries et al to assist with their vaccination struggles. J&J is slated to arrive between now and christmas. My own view is as well as those who cannot or do not want to take a pfizer dose getting it, also make it quite widely available for the harder to reach populations – remote, homeless, itinerant, the yeah/nahers etc. Give people the option of pfizer of J&J, explain J&J is a good vaccine but offers lower overall protection. If they choose to commit to 2 shots get pfizer. If they are a bit yeah/nah about it and are happy with J&J job done. They have a good level of protection, are unlikely to end up in hospital and count toward the 90%.
Argentina are using the Cansino vaccine (1 shot) for harder to reach populations. The US did the same with J&J.
All the more reason why everyone who can be vaccinated is vaccinated to safeguard the immunocompromised and make it possible for them to move about freely without fear of infection. If they are unfortunate enough to become infected they would be given priority treatment. That is a given.
Immune-compromised people can often be vaccinated. The problem is the vaccine doesn't necessarily work so well. People with some allergies are possibly more at risk of not being able to be vaccinated.
My issue is not whether people should just go and get vaccinated. It's that we're dropping down the alert levels now – before there has even been a chance for everyone who can be vaccinated to get vaccinated. So, as an fully-vaccinated immune-compromised person with a vaccination that is possibly not adequate, I'd feel much safer if we left the opening up until the vaccination levels were up.
I thought it was a shrewd move to allow some of the steam out of the lock down kettle.
Grandchildren able to see Grandparents in a picnic situation. Lone people allowed to meet with family etc. It is all outside, but would be a life line for those locked down on their todd 7 weeks is a long time.
The levels in all other ways have not changed except more children may attend day care where it is physically possible.
It is a terrifying realization that we need to transition, but depending where you live most services are available on line, and also now one other bubble can help someone and meet on the outdoor furniture, or steps for a distanced catch-up.
As Bloomfield says 4 to 8 weeks more of the L3 depending on variables, and that they will be guided by vaccination levels. This is so much better than Australia where it was announced one week and implemented the next. Now that was awful, and lives are being lost every day and health systems pressured in NSW and Victoria.
We went to buy a piece of electronic equipment this morning. The shop was set up brilliantly, and the staff were great. A Kiwi business. Everyone was wearing masks. I thought those people are at risk every day, but if we are fully vaccinated and masked up, chances are reduced significantly.
It will never be as it was except for the risk takers….. and they have been warned the virus will eventually find them. However I think the PM could get all Sector Leaders MPs and influencers to front up bit at a time and do a sell on platforms which reach the people in their areas.
Being judgemental and lifestyle critical just divides us when we need more strategies to connect and convince. Most Gang people I met when teaching wanted a better future for their children. Everyone thrives on hope, and endless lockdowns kill hope for some. Naming and blaming divides us and goes against a common goal. imo.
I am not starry eyed, and know reaching the black economy and the lawless will be extra difficult, but we need to keep reaching out through their trusted people. Even vaccinating half of them would be an improvement in the odds.
Thank you for your lovely reply.
I understand what you're saying. My concerns go back to the decision to step down to Level 3. We all have reckons and mine is that another week or two in L4 would have had us through this outbreak. As it is now, we have that really tricky situation for people who are vulnerable with not a high enough level of vaccinations. Hopefully we'll all live with the decision and the cases will go down and we'll get 90% vaccinations within weeks. But I struggle to see it.
Thanks for reading it
I haven't seen much change in the L3 conditions or circumstances for application. The area under L3 seems to have expanded. Where's the surrender?
Wiles 'gutted' COVID restrictions being eased
Mark Quinlivan – Newshub, 4 hrs ago
An infectious diseases expert says she's "gutted" COVID-19 restrictions are going to ease, with community transmission still evident in Auckland.
…..suppress the virus rather than get to zero-COVID is disappointing.
'We've lost level 1 now': Wiles 'gutted' COVID restrictions being eased (msn.com)
Red Alert:
Surrendering to the virus
http://norightturn.blogspot.com/2021/10/surrendering-to-virus.html
So what is the actual easing? Some bubble-mixing is allowed. How does that impact the current outbreak?
The MSM can fuck off with their "gives in" editorialising without actually explaining how this thing puts us on the path of NSW-level infections, and that's what "giving in" really is.
This is why media takes can go get fucked. What are the odds that the media outlets screaming "surrender" include the one actively touting the Mental Health Foundation to make statements against lockdowns because they harm people's mental health.
https://twitter.com/mentalhealthnz/status/1444892874353483776
The border was always going to be how the Delta strain entered the country. Had it been mandatory that being double vaccinated when entering NZ this probably would not have stopped an outbreak. It was always going to be when and not if.
User-testing the new stream-clearing waders
https://i.imgur.com/MUQj3xs.gif
So glad to see the end of plastic supermarket shopping bags, dv.
After every really solid-rainy wet day or two, when the stream gets into flood (the catchment area includes farmed & forested hills to my East, South, & West) the foliage on both stream banks would get covered in bloody shredded plastic bags, spoiling my pristine views.
Even now, after we had two days of rain & the stream rose by 4 m into a roaring brown torrent one might not have survived if one accidentally fell in, the bushes are once again covered in shredded blimmin bags.
God knows where they all come from. Waiting for a nice sunny day when the stream’s gone down enuf that it’s safe to wade to get in there again with my trusty rake to reach up & pull the bags out of the blackberry & other bushes.
There's not an official or unofficial dump site upstream, maybe? Like the one on the West Coast that had to get the army to clean up?
But yeah, I'm a city boy and am still glad to see the back of those damned supermarket bags. Such a blight.
No. The nearest official dump site's at Spicer Valley, in Porirua – north of here. It's a helluva long way west from my stream.
I really think these are just bags blown along the streets and/or left in the forest, that have found their way into tributaries. Lots of rain probably just washes them into the stream.
Dedication
There is a D-G.
https://www.sorryantivaxxer.com/post/roosh-valizadeh-42-washington-dc-professional-misogynist-anti-vaxxer-sick-with-covid
I check that site most days and also the Herman Cain Award site. The memes used are universal. The sites are confronting both from the incredible naivety shown by the anti vaxxers and also the comments from pro-vaxxers can be tough as well.
There are common themes in the US: Southern states, Bible Belt locations, fundamentalist Christian, pro Trump, etc etc.
Very sad some of the stories. Ivermectin use is rife, also zinc and Vit C. Many are overweight and strangely many of the men sport beards or goatees though that is probably a 'down-home in the US' feature though some commenters have wondered if beards can trap aerosolised Covid particles? These people are not mask wearers.
There is a very powerful article by an Edmonton ICU specialist about the progression of Covid through the body. Usually by the time there is trouble breathing the virus has left and so all the Ivermectin in the world will not help. The trouble breathing is a later stage. This may be useful if we are now looking at a run on hospitals and increased use of ventilators.
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1443577158023073796.html
PS We had a post from a TSer that staff of a catering firm here in NZ have exhibited anti vaxx sentiments and mentions a few of the memes/themes. As said these are universal and show up in the lists on FB etc of fervent anti vaxxers who later die from Covid.
A cafe in Collingwood, Takaka is hiring ONLY unvaxed, and making Vaxed customers sit out side.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/126572618/golden-bay-cafe-hiring-only-unvaccinated-workers-makes-vaccinated-customers-sit-outside
Yes, sadly. I check the sites as I used to respond to counter anti vaxx bull kaka where I saw it (taking a break from it for a couple of days as it is mind numbing/dumbing)
I am hopeful that:
if the likes of AirNZ hold the line for overseas travel, and
vaccination passports are able to happen, despite M_S knowledge of 50 lawyers waiting to take them down.
Perhaps these 'mandates' may encourage more to vaccinate.
I dont think it's going to be overly effective so long as other airlines only require a negative test prior to travel leaving options for the no vax group and lets face it people that can afford international holidays arnt in the hard to reach categories
How dumb is that it looks like the antivax brigade are going to wipe themselves out.
yup, good luck to that bloke and his staff acquiring natural immunity. heck of a silly way to get immunity I think, a bit risky. But oh well. It's almost 2 hours by ambulance from Takaka to Nelson hospital.
On the subject of anyone who subscribes to the views of the Self Reverent brian tamaki. There is a saying amongst christians "there are no unbelievers in a rubber life raft". Likewise, there are no covid deniers or anti vaxxers in a covid-19 ICU bed.
Best take steps to minimise your chance of not getting to that point.
Someone's hoping to get oppressed by the state, by the look. Won't work with the cops. Might be an OSH issue though…
Hey, Patricia
She's back this morning. Definitely an (uncommon) Common Moorhen.
https://i.imgur.com/50xRVSl.gif
Looks like she likes my area of the stream. Cool.
You can tell by the way they use their waddle… nice clear image, and stream.
Never thought of them as feral – escapees often appear relatively unwary of humans.
Good spotting, Drowsy. 👍🏼
Only just clicked on your link.
Have now corrected my misidentification to Patricia below.
Cheers
Gezza
She? is beautiful and a very healthy morehen.
The word is out in birdville, "There is a great stream with a great guardian…" Cheers Gezza.
Aww, shucks. ❤️ 👍🏼
They’re a rail, like the pūkeko. Much bigger-boned than the pooks tho.
Dunno why, I just assumed it’s a “she”. Seems to be an exceptionally placid type of waterbird.
……………………………………
“Behaviour and ecology
Most common moorhen populations are sedentary, but northern populations exposed to severe winter conditions are migratory. They breed as territorial pairs during the spring, nesting in reedbeds on rivers and ponds. They are largely solitary throughout the year, but form feeding groups of up to 30 during the winter.
Food
Common moorhens are omnivorous, consuming a wide variety of plants and small water creatures.” – NZ Birds Online
……………………………………
Appears they are like nga pūkeko in that cocks & hens have the same colour plumage, so you can’t tell the sexes apart easily by their feather colour patterns – as you can with mallard drakes & hens, and with, say paradise shelducks, blackbird cocks & hens etc. .
Probably hardy like our pukeko. Hope we don't get Ibis here though.. they are the rats of the bird world like pigeons in the park . Aussie horror poos everywhere is not afraid and dirty as.
Whoopsie. 😰
Hey Patricia, I just clicked on Drowsy’s NZ Birds link above.
I’m wrong. It’s not an unusual coloured moorhen – it’s very DEFINITELY a Muscovy Duck. And it’s twice as big as nearby Mallard drakes, so it’s a placid male.
…………………………………..
Extract:
“Identification:
Muscovy ducks are large, goose-like ducks with highly variable plumage. Most New Zealand birds are either plain white or pied. Pied birds have a green sheen on their dark feathers. Birds with grey and brown colouring may also be present. A small crest may be raised when birds are alarmed. The bill is either pink-and-blackish, or entirely pink, and the base is surrounded by bright red caruncles. They have relatively short legs, [my specimen above had very pale orange legs, seen paddling away – Gez] & are less mobile on land than other ducks.
The legs and feet are partially or entirely pale orange in colour, and the toes have long, sharp claws. The male is much larger than the female, and can weigh over twice as much.
Voice: Generally silent or quiet. The female makes a soft quacking sound; the male makes puffing and hissing noises.
Similar species: Entirely white birds bear some resemblance to white domestic forms of mallards, and to male greylag geese, but are distinguishable by the red caruncles and body shape. Pied birds are unmistakable. Muscovy ducks can hybridise with mallards; hybrids are highly variable in plumage and have features of both parent species.”
twitter, and everyone, trolling FB (there’s a major FB and WhatsApp outage globally)
https://twitter.com/tut2b/status/1445082579451920388
Vaccinated – Unvaccinated.
But NZ has long rationed health care.
/
https://twitter.com/DrEricDing/status/1444403620984856584
https://twitter.com/DrEricDing/status/1444428211811667968
Yep, and rationing healthcare is moronic because it increases costs in the long run, never mind the human suffering.
Great heads up on the latest on Covid vs Kidneys – thanks, sounds terrible though!
So tired of moaning and whining from media, hospitality, businesses. The enormous pressure from these sectors has been constant for 18 months. The Government had been under huge pressure to open up our bubble to Australia. That didn't last long. Even more pressure lately so they are now loosening a little and they still complain. Act wants an end goal (as if anything like that can be predicted accurately with Delta – it's not like a broken leg that can mostly be healed in 6-8 weeks). Businesses don't seem to grasp that if hundreds or thousands of people contract the virus their businesses will be even more precarious. Businesses fail even in normal times.
Everyone is finding it hard. But public health surely must be the first priority. If people are unable to show common sense and effort and get vaccinated life will be even harder if the virus takes off and is rampant everywhere.
All praise to Jacinda for doing the very best she can in very difficult times. And she still came on Seven Sharp with a smile. Rather her than Judith Collins sniping and snarling.
Fair and balanced commentary is fine but all whining and carping is worse than the actual restrictions.
Aye – it's enough to turn anyone into a misanthrope watching this circus of collective derangement. People demanding under pandemic conditions that they have three contradictory things at the same time: freedom, safety and certainty.
Spot on R.
I can't decide if the MSM is just mischief making or really are so thick, they can't follow what the PM was saying. Hopefully, for all our sakes, the former.
Paid shit stirrers as mr and Mrs soper demonstrate.
They've got a narrative they stick to regardless of reality.
Many are openly snarky and even belittling.
The government have looked at Covid from every angle. Just heard on RNZ that lockdowns would occur if the vaccine did not respond to a new variant.
There is no calendar date for the path way out of Covid because the path way out cannot be determined by any political party.
FBook back!!
Not quite, can’t post!!
Hopefully now those hesitant take up the free vaccination. Except Tamaki and Billy tk.
There are two things I want to see from the government right now, and both are issues that it's been obvious for a long time that they would need addressing:
What is the actual plan to lift vaccination rates to the levels needed to not have widespread needless suffering and deaths? (the rate being tossed around is 90% of eligibles, which is a long long way from the under 80% of eligibles we're at right now)
What is the actual plan for when our health system gets overwhelmed by (mostly unvaccinated) covid patients?
Mr Robertson, your glib mealy mouthed pabulum that vaccine mandates are not the New Zealand way is fkn pathetic when you don't immediately offer an alternative credible plan. But you didn't even offer a plan completely lacking in credibility, you offered nothing, nada , zip, bupkis, just some really vague indefinite muttering about maybe vaccine certificates. Details are needed now, actually, three weeks ago at least. Just saying we desperately need people to get vaccinated without also announcing measures to help make that happen isn't reassuring, it's fkn infuriating.
Mr Robertson, a glib assurance that New Zealand has hospital capacity to handle the outbreak now is frankly fkn infuriating, when it's obvious to a blind man with his Airpods turned up to 11 that we are very likely facing a flood of (mostly unvaccinated) covid patients. It's not reassuring, it makes you look like you're suffering a truly frightening degree of cluelessness.
And if you were the boss of everything what would you do?
I would enact legislation making it clear that it's totally legitimate and expected to add "no jab, no job" policies to existing employment contracts. On health and safety grounds. And mandate "no jab, no job" policies for all employees funded by the government, such as teachers, healthcare workers, government departments such as WINZ …
I would write legislation making it clear that "no jab, no entry" policies are legal and expected for all private businesses and events that may have random Kim Public entering. Pubs, restaurants, theatres, concerts, supermarkets, petrol station shops, hardware stores, gyms, the lot.
I would write legislation for healthcare providers that when resources are overloaded and triaging is needed, unvaccinated covid patients are at the top of the list to be triaged out. This situation is well outside of what's anticipated in developing normal triaging guidelines, and the appropriate response is a community political consideration, not a routine medical ethics one.
It's just non-courageous of this government to curtail so many broad human rights, but then not mandate vaccinations as a specific further human right discrimination.
It is also non-courageous not to specifically praise some regions and towns putting their vaccination rates close to 90%, yet not specifically chastise those DHB's with low numbers. This is already well and truly a regional approach to disease control. Time to do the same with prevention.
So that handles the working people. What about the people in emergency housing, or out of the regular economy?
Because that's the problem we seem to have at the moment: people poorly-served or abused by the state are suddenly expected to not beware the state bearing gifts?
I suspect the true path to 90% is to do similar to what statsnz used to do with the census prior to 2018: physically reach out to folk like the people under bridges, in random places, the often overlooked.
edit: plus start throwing the OSH violations around at ~85%, just to clean up the working “hesitant”
Getting all the working people and those that want to participate in other stuff like events is a useful start. Since all the people whose attitudes and opinions I know anything about fall into that broad group, there's a teeny-tiny chance my reckons about what might move them is worth just slightly more than jack-shit.
When it comes to those outside the regular economy and other special cases, I'd leave that to those whose job it is. Hopefully they have some actual expertise to come up with good workable ideas. All I'd come up with is stuff like blowguns and spring-loaded syringes with GPS trackers attached and bounties paid for every successful darting.
Fair call.
This pandemic really does seem to have highlighted why folks have been banging on about equity for decades: we essentially have two populations, one generally well served by the health system, (albeit with some biases and wait times), andthe other basically rarely interacts with the state once they leave school, and those interactions are usually bad for the person.
And frankly, the bigger group yet to be fully included in the anti-covid effort is the latter group, from what I can see.
young dude beating up a young women outside my shop.
took down rego/car called the police.
i am so over this shit. so very much over it.
Are they there yet ?
For all those whiners who complain that the government isn’t governing, just dealing with COVID, here’s something else to complain about.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/126581083/government-launches-major-review-of-electoral-law-to-include-voting-age-and-party-funding
Love to see a 4 year term, 3/4% for a seat , and get rid of the overhang.
.75% or 3 to 4%?
It's a review. Due out some time in 2023 – election year.
A few ideas may get into party manifestos, but that's it.
This government are generating a biomass factory of reviews. Very little else occurs beyond that.
Very little else occurs beyond that.
Translation: "I can't remember or be bothered to look it up, so it never happened."
It's an absurd claim, not even close to reality, You could start with this year's Budget. Anything happen?
Let's see. Budget 2021. Such as they were.
More cochlear implants. Fail.
$200 million tourism sector support. Got worse instead of better. Still no plan. Maybe next budget.
$300 million New Zealand Green Investment Finance. One useful project which was the Fletchers' tyres-burnt-for-cement plant. Little else.
Main benefit rates increasing by between $32 and $55. First part has happened.
$44 million digital training for small businesses. Small though it was, not yet spent.
$1.3 billion vaccine rollout. Going fine.
$3.8 billion for Housing Acceleration Fund. Medium term as projects evolve.
$225 million for Māori Health Authority. Not yet formed beyond what their Board members are. No scope.
Social Unemployment Insurance Scheme. Inert after 2 terms.
Then apart from Budget 2021 you have the bigger ones:
Re-nationalising health boards. No scope, only Boards have been named. Several more years to land, let alone make improvements to citizens.
Resource Management Act replacement bills. Working drafts out. Maybe June 2022?
Climate carbon budget. Maybe going into Treasury for Budget 2022.
Water reforms. Life support.
Transport. Amounts to gradual network improvements.
Public media reform. Dead.
Immigration reform. An urgent fix announced recently, which will still take years to process tens of thousands. Otherwise nah.
Farming sustainability initiatives. Moribund.
Control of organised crime. Going backwards.
International affairs. Nothing not even an effort to rebuild PIF.
Never mind Ad – in 2023 you'll have an ACT government so we'll see which of their policies they implement immediately
He will undo the gun laws and not have a register because that is easy.
I consider that we have a six year term now. 3 plus 3, sort of a right of renewal like a lease. A govt only lasting 3 years would be pretty awful and deserving to be thrown out. Another year in that case would be more detrimental to the country.
Would like to see funding limited to named individuals only and set at a fairly low percentage of the median wage – with political parties' shortfalls in operating budgets made up from state funding via some performance-based formula. Won't happen though – it would draw heavy media and establishment fire as Helen Clark found out. Plus Labour is riding pretty high, the large donations are probably coming, and they may be happy to be the party of the more moderate business sector, thereby squatting in National's territory.
In other areas – coat-tailing needs to go, plus cautiously drop the threshold to 4% because 5% is anti-democratic but the system also needs to be crank-proof. I can't think of a simple way to prevent large parties gifting safe seats to a sub-threshold coalition partner. Removing coat-tailing minimises the harm caused by such cheating and preferential voting within electorates might help also. Getting rid of electorates altogether would solve the problem but is probably considered too radical to fly.
5% is too many. We do need to encourage participation in democracy. Whether 3% or 4% I haven't decided.
There is the chance that at 3% the likes of Colin Craig or Winston Peters might make it into Parliament. If the people speak, then so be it.
Comment on USA and its paths to plenty and prosperity for all ….
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/sunday/audio/2018814819/evan-osnos-greed-has-always-been-part-of-america-s-formula
This man Osnos has written a book about usa called Wildlands…
One point: The reason that happened is partly because the parties themselves and the people who are running for office began to put themselves above anything else.
“And so, they're willing to take really horrifying steps against the country's overall interest in order to advance their position.
The alarming statistic in this article is the one about trust in government. Osnos says that in 1964 77% trusted the US government. In 2014 that had dropped to 18%. That must impact on Americans in so many ways.
… and are they any different anywhere else in this World of Woe?
Not difficult to run a parallel history of New Zealand using the same framing.
Does anyone have a link to the NZ survey/research on who isn't vaccinated with breakdown by a lot of factors? Need it for a post. I saw it sometime in the past month, but don't know when the research was done.
First result.
https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-d&q=NZ+survey%2Fresearch+on+who+isn%27t+vaccinated+with+breakdown+by+a+lot+of+factors
thanks joe. That's good. Not the one I was looking for, which had a better breakdown for disabled people. Don't think it was from the MoH, or maybe it was just more indepth reporting.
Was one of the factors, "doomed" 🙂
Reports of our doom have been greatly exaggerated. Thus far.
With the vaccine certificate coming out next month and the PM stating the country will not mandate vaccination certificates for supermarkets and pharmacies would it be too much to ask that they mandate days where the vaccinated can frequent these premises and provide a day a week which is available for non-vaccinated people to be able to do their food and pharmacy shopping.
This way everybody is going to feel safer doing essential shopping. The vaccinated will have a better chance if they do get infected that it won't be too severe and the unvaccinated will not be doing any damage to the vaccinated who will be at home.
Just my tuppence worth.
Nice idea. I'd also like to know what should be done with the one hillbilly in my workplace who won't see sence and get himself vaccinated. All other staff (about 10 of us) are either fully vaccinated or awaiting our second shots.
If you are vaccinated, why would you worry about mixing with non vaccinated? It is the non vaccinated that are more likely to get sick or sicker?
Because it can still be transmitted to them from a barely-affected me.
And because there's still a non-trivial chance I could catch it off them, and even die.
I'm vaccinated and am not really worried about hanging around with non vaccinated people which is the reason I got vaccinated. They will be the one's that get sick surely and at worse case I will get mildly sick?
Well, no, "worst case" is you die.
Second worst case is they die.
Third worst case is either of you gets severely ill and has chronic long term harm.
Let me put it another way: back in the old days when infantry lined up against each other with spikes, the front rank had the highest mortality rate. The third rank had a much lower mortality rate. You're the dude going "I'm in the third rank, what do I care if there's a battle?"
Lower risk does not equal zero risk, and from a population level 100% vax and no controls still might mean an overloaded healthcare system – so you if you or your unvaxed mate doesn't kill the other, you still die when there are no ventilators free after you have a car crash.
Exactly, and this was the general perception of vaccination pre-2020. The unvaccinated were scorned upon, but they didn't affect your life.
Today they are still scorned upon, but now we have the insanity of their personal medical choices somehow affecting your life.
Yeah, it's almost like people have figured out that your personal choices [deleted] can endanger them, too.
[a step too far McFlock. Please make the political point without the nasty – weka]
mod note McFlock.
I'm sure getting covid because someone thinks triaging and vaccine passports in a pandemic is "apartheid" would be nastier than the pretty mild term I used.
Political and personal are not always different things.
Mauī makes a political point, without the personalised nasty. You may not like the political point and you may personally feel offended or angry etc, but it's still different from using inflammatory language directed at the person you are talking to.
Feelings are running high. We're here for the long haul, and my thinking currently is that this is different from any other conversation we've had on TS. As you say, it is very personal. For all of us.
tl;dr, the moderation was basically to avert flamming.
taking my mod hat off, I'm more concerned currently about the widening gap in NZ around belief than I am about covid. This is because I still trust Labour's plan and think it's largely on track. We need to focus on getting as many people vaccinated as possible, and that's what we are in fact doing.
That we might also create irreparable sociopolitical damage seems like a massive blindspot. Even if you don't care about the people you are hating on, strategically it's dumb. Think the next public health initiative that needs social cohesion at the 5m level, or even the next election. Or the waves of social, economic and political disruption that are coming with climate change and the eco crises. It's really not a good time for us to be upping the ante on ostracisation.
The dirty secret of "team of 5 million" is that it's never really been true.
Do we really think all act and national party supporters are on the elimination bandwagon? Hell no. Even if most of them are, that's still ~15% who don't believe or care that covid will kill people and will grudgingly (at best) comply with the dominant mood of the community.
Then there are the folks (who are hopefully only single-digit %) who believe the chip-level theories and actively work to spread that harm.
If we need >90-95% to do something for the survival of significant numbers of people in the community, ostracism will be the last step before the necessary outright coercion. Not vax passport "coercion", real coercion.
I don't think covid will get us to that point, but it might be close.
The team of 5 million stuff is more "team of 3 million, with another million and a bit following along because it's easier, a few hundred thousand people who might not be enthusiastic about a plague but who are not to bothered about the concept (especially if it disproportionately hits poor, urban, and other euphemismed people), and another few thousand delusional fools".
Because getting a breakthrough covid case after vaccination is still a fucking nasty disease. Basically like the worst flu you've ever had.
Mild, moderate and severe when referring to covid mean something different than normal usage. "Mild covid" means you weren't hospitalised. Moderate means you really need hospitalisation. Severe means intensive care, you'll be lucky to survive it and even luckier to not get long covid.
https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2021/09/12/1036356773/i-got-a-mild-breakthrough-case-heres-what-i-wish-id-known
I take it Jimmy you are not vaccinated. Vaccinated folk generally do not need to be hospitalised if they are infected which is a good thing. The virus is only seeking out the non-vaccinated and they will take up the most ICU valuable space, sparse as it is. Keeping the two separated is keeping the vaccinated hopefully free of becoming sick. The unvaccinated will only be infecting their own. Pretty obvious don't you think.
Just released report:
So the people vaxxed at the start have waning immunity now?
First two paras of the link above
my bold
thanks Macro, very interesting. Don't suppose you've come across long covid stats in that regard?
Yes I am vaccinated….which is why I cant understand why people are treating the non vaxed as leppers?
As I've said above now that I'm vaccinated it doesn't worry me if I am next to a person that is not vaccinated. As you state: "The unvaccinated will only be infecting their own. Pretty obvious don't you think." …..so I don't need to worry?
There are still enough unvaccinated that when covid really gets loose, the sheer numbers of covid patients will break our medical system.
Now, I'm really not bothered about the outcome for those unvaccinated covid patients. Y’know, consequences of choices and all that.
But I am really concerned about the effect that will have on the staff in our medical system. I have a cousin and her husband that are hospital doctors in the US. It'll be a miracle if they come out of what they're going through more or less psychologically and physically intact.
I am also really concerned about the effect on other people with medical needs when our medical system is broken by unvaccinated covid patients. The effects on them are going to be fkn brutal.
That's why our government takes a cup of cement and harden right up to wilfully unvaccinated covid patients in order to protect our medical staff and our other people with involuntary medical needs
Should we be training medical volunteers to take up the slack if there's a crunch?
I know they can't just rock in and do everything, but in a crisis they might do some good.
A 63 year old man is facing court on Tuesday, over the gathering in the Domain. Others may also face charges.
Good!
And hopefully a few other nincompoops will join him in the dock as well.
Brian Tamaki gets a Court summons for his rally.
It will be pretty hard for Brian Tamaki to get out of this as a conviction since he specifically met with the Police before the rally:
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/content/tvnz/onenews/story/2021/10/05/arrest-protest.html
Love to see him put up a BORA defence, and then appeal it. Someone has to.
John Key keeps this up, he may have to join that other failed head of state to get himself banned from Facebook for making false and misleading claims.
COVID-19: Pfizer shuts down Sir John Key's claim Government could have bought vaccines earlier 'for $40 million more' (newshub.co.nz)
No doubt he can pull his Panama hat out of pandoras box.
He should have his knighthood removed for telling lies.
He shouldn't have been knighted in the first place just for his GCSB lies.
Key thinks he is a vaccine broker.
It's not Surrender, but I do think it is Dicing With Death.
The root problem is that alert levels don't work when the disease is circulating among criminal gangs – who don't obey lockdown, and who lie to contact tracers. The alert levels are really about trying to keep everyone else safe.
The Government needs to be aggressively pushing vaccine mandates, and I'm worried things are starting to drift, but there's nothing in the current line that suggests we still aren't aiming to (eventually) mop up this outbreak. We certainly aren't tending towards NSW or Victoria, at least not yet. So long as we keep Auckland isolated and the international border closed, we can do this.
(Also, **** the media. Bunch of ****ing Lord Haw Haws).
Could we Aucklanders please be allowed to go to the barbers and hairdressers.
Since it's now fairly warm, I'm seriously thinking full chrome-dome. That should be fairly easy to do at home.
I do not see a problem with vaccinated Kiwis returning to home isolation in Auckland (close to zero risk of needing hospitalisation and it will be at Level 3), what we have left to protect is the wider Level 2 area.
Falsifying being vaccinated could be a problem.
Not just those from overseas … (at least airlines have some experience managing this).