Open mike 06/04/2024

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, April 6th, 2024 - 20 comments
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20 comments on “Open mike 06/04/2024 ”

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  1. Dolomedes III 1
    6 April 2024 at 8:19 am

    The shadow of Chris Finlayson looms long over New Zealand's coastline.

    https://pointofordernz.wordpress.com/2024/04/05/coastal-court-action-flies-under-the-radar/

    • AB 2.1
      6 April 2024 at 12:53 pm

      "We are angry, as a change in government hasn't resulted in retail crime statistics trending towards zero," Kushal said at the time.

      Kushal always struck me as absurdly ignorant about the causes of crime and what a government can do about it in the short run – other than a curfew, martial law and armed soldiers on the street. As he's such a fool, I have less sympathy for him having been conned by the Nat-ACT neoliberal wide boys. Particularly as the ease with which he and his mates were conned has helped hand control of our society to some of the worst people in it (the said wide-boys), and many other people will have to suffer the consequences. I guess now that the scales have dropped from his eyes and he's critical of the Nats, he won't be popping up every 5 minutes in the NZ Herald as he was before the election – small compensation though.

      • Descendant Of Smith 2.1.1
        6 April 2024 at 1:11 pm

        It is worse than that though. The direction this government is taking is likely to increase poverty and increase crime. He's more likely to get robbed.

  3. tWig 3
    6 April 2024 at 12:06 pm

    Listened to Richard Shaw on RNZ this morning. He talks about the issues covered in his book The Unsettled. He tells his story of unearthing the history of his own forebear's role as a constable in the invasion of Parihaka by colonist forces… with the subsequent family farm land in the 'Naki on confiscated land – even though his Irish Catholic forbears had been displaced by colonial in Ireland.

    He also talks about stories of others who have investigated the hidden histories of their proud family farms. A great job of unpacking the wider aspects of coloniser benefits continued in NZ today.

    • joe90 3.1
      6 April 2024 at 12:36 pm

      I've seen the seething discontent of the descendants of Māori dispossessed by the Crown who have little more than the paltry reservations allocated to their Tipuna while their neighbours, the by now wealthy descendants of the militia men and soldiers gifted confiscated land, congratulate themselves and enjoy the rewards of stolen land.

      /

    • Robert Guyton 3.2
      6 April 2024 at 12:58 pm

      I too, listened. Good discussion.

    • Descendant Of Smith 3.3
      6 April 2024 at 1:14 pm

      I wonder too how DNA testing might throw up the connections between the soldiers who raped the Maori women at Parihaka and the offspring that followed.

      There might be other reckonings to be had that are even more personal.

      Here was his earlier article as well.

      https://e-tangata.co.nz/history/uncovering-the-stories-my-family-forgot-about-a-past-still-haunting-aotearoa/

    • Phillip ure 3.4
      6 April 2024 at 1:50 pm

      @ twig..

      I have similar questions..

      On one side I am 5th generation (from early scots settlers).

      I haven't investigated..

      I think I am uncomfortable with what I might find..

  4. Adrian 4
    6 April 2024 at 1:04 pm

    Now it is no free Flu vaccine for all under 12s and Māori/ PI over 65, …every bloody day it’s just more and more nasty shit, fuck them, they’ve had long enough, its time to give them the arse already. Start, if you are able too to give money, even if it’s only 2 dollars a week to your lefty party of choice. Let’s do this.

    • Kay 4.1
      6 April 2024 at 1:33 pm

      Yes, pretty much what the nurse giving my flu jab a few days ago said…

    • Stephen D 4.2
      6 April 2024 at 1:57 pm

      Victory for Labour (VFL)

      Half goes to the party, half to your electorate.

    • alwyn 4.3
      6 April 2024 at 2:17 pm

      "Now it is no free Flu vaccine for (…………) Māori/ PI over 65,

      Absolute rubbish. The vaccine is free for anyone over 65. From Pharmacs' info notice

      "For the 2024 flu season, the vaccine is funded for everyone 65 years old and over"

      https://pharmac.govt.nz/medicine-funding-and-supply/what-you-need-to-know-about-medicines/vaccines/flu-season

    • veutoviper 4.4
      6 April 2024 at 5:00 pm

      Adrian – and Alwyn

      The free flu vaccines are no longer available to children under 12 years of age as you say, Adrian.

      But the change in respect of Maori and Pacific Islanders is that free vaccinations are now no longer available to those aged 55 – 64 years of age – only to those aged 65 and over.

      As discussed in the link below to a recent RNZ new article, these two groups now excluded from free vaccinations are considered high risk groups, :

      "This is the most recent example of a missed opportunity for New Zealand's health system to improve outcomes and close equity gaps.

      We know that free flu vaccination for children is a crucial component of achieving health equity.

      Not only is the burden of influenza high in children compared with other groups in the population, but children are also a major pathway for the virus to spread within their whānau and wider communities.

      We also know poor-quality housing contributes to worse health outcomes, especially for Indigenous peoples, ethnic minorities and people with low incomes.

      Children living in cold, damp houses, and Māori and Pacific children, are more likely to be hospitalised for acute respiratory conditions such as asthma, which are exacerbated by the flu.

      …

      Māori and Pacific adults have a higher risk of dying from the flu and lower rates of flu vaccination than other groups in the population. A significant life expectancy gap persists between Māori and non-Māori New Zealanders (7.5 years for men, 7.3 years for women).

      Even Pharmac's own clinical advisors noted that wider criteria for free flu vaccination reduce access barriers for people at higher risk from this disease. The Whakamaua Māori Health Action Plan 2020-2025 states that:

      "achieving equitable Māori health outcomes requires initiatives to respond earlier to Māori health need."

      Given the disproportionate burden of influenza on Māori and Pacific people, lower vaccination rates, greater exposure to risk factors for respiratory illness and persistent inequities in life expectancy, a lower age for free flu vaccination for Māori and Pacific adults is essential for achieving equity."

      https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/513388/changes-to-flu-vaccine-eligibility-missed-opportunity-to-improve-health-equity

      • Matiri 4.4.1
        6 April 2024 at 6:32 pm

        How does that fit with what Shane Reti said when he announced the Maori Health Authority would be disestablished and that this heralds the start of a new vision for Maori health?

        https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/māori-health-authority-disestablished

        • veutoviper 4.4.1.1
          6 April 2024 at 9:03 pm

          Sadly it doesn't fit in any way with what Reti said on 28 February – his speech was just a bunch of weasel words imo. These cutbacks in providing free vaccinations to these two high vulnerable groups certainly do not constitute "identifying need and responding to it."

    • Obtrectator 4.5
      6 April 2024 at 5:02 pm

      I haven't the time to trawl through all the material available on the site that Alwyn has linked to, but what I have seen suggests there’s little or nothing there that supports Adrian's contentions.

  5. Phillip ure 5
    6 April 2024 at 2:11 pm

    Re that cathedral restoration that has run out of money:

    (apropos of not much)…

    When g.b. shaw was here in the 1930's he described it as an ugly pastiche of different styles..

    ..whereas he said that the catholic cathedral was one of the finest examples of the genre he had seen..(words to that effect..)

    (Shaw was from irish Protestant family..)

    So I guess the point to take from that..is 'why bother..?'