Open mike 08/04/2021

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, April 8th, 2021 - 101 comments
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101 comments on “Open mike 08/04/2021 ”

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  1. Jenny how to get there 1
    8 April 2021 at 6:44 am

    Yay the tourists are back.

    Burn a ton of jet fuel to see the melting Tasman glaciers.

    • Incognito 1.1
      8 April 2021 at 7:23 am

      As are the happily reuniting families. Got a problem with that too?

      • Jenny how to get there 1.1.1
        9 April 2021 at 6:51 am

        TVNZ scoured the country to find a hard done by granny to go on TV and found one in Huntly.

        But reunifying families is not primarily what this is about.

        This is a return to BAU.

        Imagine Incognito, if you will, that the government instead of spending tens of millions subsidising air travel, the government as major shareholder withdrew all support and shut Air NZ down, and instead had put that eye watering amount of money into setting up a high speed ferry service to compete with the air carriers.

        A high speed ferry crossing of the Tasman would take roughly 24 hours, compared to the 3 hours by air. Obviously much longer, but no longer than a transcontinental flight to Europe, which Kiwis quite regularly bear. And if the ticket on the ferry was at half the price of an airfare, it could be quite attractive to many cross Tasman families tourists included. Especially as most high speed ocean crossing ferries of the size and power needed to cross the Tasman come with a roll on cargo deck for cars.

        Now imagine even further, if all the laid off Air New Zealand staff and facilities were redeployed to set up and run this service.

        If not done now. Eventually this measure, or something very close to it, will have to be done by a future generation. By then, it will be too little too late.

        We will never Build Back Better, we will continue to miss opportunities like this to do so. The BAU imperitive is why nothing meaningful will ever be done about climate change, condemning the coming generation to a terrible future

        • Incognito 1.1.1.1
          9 April 2021 at 7:57 am

          If it is not in the media, it doesn’t exist or is only minor!? So Zen, or so ignorant.

          Your comment is just one big ‘imagine this, imagine that’, full of irrelevant reckons, but you dodged the very basic question because it didn’t suit your narrative, that much is clear.

        • Sabine 1.1.1.2
          9 April 2021 at 8:02 am

          we don't need to go back to Bau – we never left it.

          cue the election promise to the national voters taht the labour party was courting.

          "No increase in benefits".

          The Labour Party is Party of business as usual, they are not the solution they are part of the problem, specifically the current one. It is not that they are incompetent, its that they are so full of their own horsemanure they have started to believe the crap they sprout.

          And everyone but them carries the risk, loses their jobs, their businesses and their homes, and they are there and will tell you over and over like a mantra, be nice, be kind, be gentle, and above all don't bother me. Waiting for Labour to do something meaningful is like waiting on National to do something meaningful.

          Meanwhile Savage is spinning in his grave.

    • Stuart Munro 1.2
      8 April 2021 at 7:58 am

      It certainly makes a mockery of the government's 'Gen Less' campaign to reduce consumption. I should walk to the supermarket apparently, so a bunch of woskers can fly into Queenstown.

      • Incognito 1.2.1
        8 April 2021 at 8:02 am

        Nope, you should walk to the supermarket because it is good for you and for the environment. Framing it at as a zero sum game and us vs. them is divisive and counter-productive.

        • Stuart Munro 1.2.1.1
          8 April 2021 at 8:33 am

          It is us against them – thirty years of neoliberal failure sure as hell wasn't in my interests. We're poor because a bunch of totally fith economist wonks and their enabling politicians chose to make it so – and it's about time those worthless mofos were made to pay for it.

        • Macro 1.2.1.2
          8 April 2021 at 8:46 am

          you should walk to the supermarket because it is good for you and for the environment

          That depends on the geographical features of where one lives. I bet even you would be thinking twice about walking back with a load of groceries up the hill where I live.

          • Incognito 1.2.1.2.1
            8 April 2021 at 9:29 am

            Clearly, it is an option for Stuart Munro otherwise he would not have suggested it, would he?

            • Stuart Munro 1.2.1.2.1.1
              8 April 2021 at 10:12 am

              I did not suggest it – it is the recommendation of Genless – because over the course of perhaps ten years, these pedestrian journeys will add up to enough to balance out one foreign tourist flying into Queenstown.

              Yippee!

              • Peter ChCh …
                8 April 2021 at 10:24 am

                But Stuart, if you are REALLY so concerned about ones impact upon climate change, maybe you should practise what you preach and refrain from internet use? As per the attached article (the science on this is very clear), take just one quote:

                The carbon footprint of our gadgets, the internet and the systems supporting them account for about 3.7% of global greenhouse emissions, according to some estimates. It is similar to the amount produced by the airline industry globally,

                Hmm, the carbon footprint of Greta Thurnberg must be massive. Trouble is, this is all an inconvenient truth to those who preach how the rest of us should live!

                https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200305-why-your-internet-habits-are-not-as-clean-as-you-think#:~:text=Those%20scraps%20of%20energy%2C%20and,emissions%2C%20according%20to%20some%20estimates.

                • Stuart Munro …
                  8 April 2021 at 10:51 am

                  It's just a matter of consistency – an overseas flight typically represents one of the largest carbon expenditures ordinary people undertake, and tourism, unlike grocery shopping, is discretionary. 11% of annual totals was the BBC estimate.

                  practise what you preach and refrain from internet use

                  I never advocated anything of the kind – but I'm sure that if you do the quality of discourse will be measurably improved.

                  • Peter ChCh …
                    8 April 2021 at 10:59 am

                    Stuart, apologies if it seemed like I was preaching or being a smart****.

                    I guess my point was that tackling climate change is a very complex thing, and at the end of the day it involves many trade offs. I just get very annoyed with the hypocrisy and populist bs on this matter (not referring to you specifically, but the name 'Greta' does loom large).

                    Yes, tourism is discretionary, but does it add value to the world? I would have thought international tourism has done wonders for breaking down cultural bigotry and racism for example. China is a classic. 40 years ago the Chinese were largely alien to us and us to them. Has tourism not brought the people closer and broken down many barriers? I would have thought so.

                    • Stuart Munro …
                      8 April 2021 at 11:16 am

                      I'm sure the argument can be made – though tourism is a heading covering a lot of different activities, some of which might be better avoided.

                      If we are serious about climate change, longer term moves to reduce the bigger impacts, like air travel, are very desirable. One of the obvious candidates is transtasman passenger shipping. Ferries like the Busan-Shimonoseki run manage a comfortable though not palatial service that is pretty economical of both cash and carbon.

                      I am less sanguine about tourism as a vehicle for cultural mixing – more because some kinds of tourism don't do it very much – externally hosted coach tours for example, though lots of genuine interactions occur in more backpacker formats.

                      I expect the govt. is reluctant to see air travel fall off, because highend perishable exports like crayfish and tyee presently depend upon it. It's a relatively poor reason to preserve a sunset industry like mass air travel, when there are other ways to ship such products, which, properly developed, would open the incalculably large Asian markets to our mussel surplus.

                • Stuart Munro …
                  8 April 2021 at 10:52 am

                  Yes.

                  • greywarshark …
                    8 April 2021 at 11:25 am

                    Thanks for the tyee link Stuart. I'd missed reports about that. Very interesting.

                    • greywarshark …
                      8 April 2021 at 11:47 am

                      That bit about cutting out short car trips has two sides to it. The image shows someone with a skateboard? If these people want to really be green, they could try walking. Oh but the footpaths are full of people on skateboards going faster than walkers which makes walking stressful even hazardous. The footpaths are not places that you can safely take a quiet stroll.

                      Males are the biggest user of footpaths on skateboards, bikes, battery powered machines of various kinds. Walking is so last century. Now there are skateboards on person power and soon there will be a condition of assymetrical leg muscles, one riding and the other pushing forward. But the smart person just stands on something and whizzes along the footpath. There are also the bikes some as fast as cars, and without registration, and few controls if any.

                      So to whom it may concern, stick your great ideas up both your nostrils, and don't come up with great schemes that suit the self-involved pushy males and aggressive females in what is supposed to be a society.

        • arkie 1.2.1.3
          8 April 2021 at 11:45 am

          Just 100 companies responsible for 71% of global emissions, study says

          A relatively small number of fossil fuel producers and their investors could hold the key to tackling climate change

          https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2017/jul/10/100-fossil-fuel-companies-investors-responsible-71-global-emissions-cdp-study-climate-change

  2. Adrian Thornton 2
    8 April 2021 at 7:41 am

    Here is a nice interview with Glenn Greenwald, without doubt the most effective journalist in the world today, discussing his new book "Securing Democracy: My Fight for Press Freedom and Justice in Bolsonaro’s Brazil," and his leading role in dismantling the Bolsonaro govt and freeing the most important Left wing leader in the World Lula da Silva from prison.
    His courage in doing this type of journalism just cannot be understated, he is a shining example of what can be done in journalism when it is pursued with integrity and a high social purpose as its moral guide can achieve.

    He also discusses the rise of, and destructive power of the woke liberal movement in the West, which as we know has been having an extremely corrosive effect on free discourse, but is proving to be extremely effective in creating divisiveness across all political/social spectrums.

  3. Chris T 3
    8 April 2021 at 7:57 am

    Fr out this mental health hiding stats from the normal report thing is looking a bit of a joke.

    Andrew Little is getting reamed on the AM show and Garner usually spends most of his interviews with this government sucking up.

    I haven't seen so many bullshit excuses from a Minister in a long time.

  4. satty 4
    8 April 2021 at 7:57 am

    I’m waiting for something like this for a decade now:

    Wellington car-free CBD

    Naturally, there will be strong opposition to the plans.

    • Chris T 4.1
      8 April 2021 at 8:40 am

      And where exactly is every on supposed to go at the end of the Motorway?

      “I’m envisioning the centre city, not just the Golden Mile, but Cuba St, Vivian St, Dixon St, all the main streets,” she said.

    • Foreign Waka 4.2
      8 April 2021 at 2:21 pm

      But the buses spewing black soot, as the electrical buses were exchanged against diesel will be allowed.

      Are we then enriching the parking company by having to pay astronomical amounts when leaving the car at the city limits or even parking on the city council lots around train stations when coming to Wellington from areas where a bike ride takes days?

      The transport system is absolute terrible, it could well be that you are stuck in town when those unreliable buses and trains are something to go by. Better not to go at all.

      Why not address the urgent items first. You know the ones we actually need to pass the test of being a civilization and pay rates that have increased by double digits?

      • satty 4.2.1
        8 April 2021 at 2:56 pm

        I was extremely unhappy with the replacement of the trolley busses without having the next generation of electric busses in place beforehand. This hopefully gets changed within the next years (as well as the car issue, e-scooter issue…).

        Didn't know parking in the CBD is free at the moment. So it will move from within the CBD to the CBD fringe. Taking into account a significant portion of cars simply drives through the CBD instead of doing business within the CBD, parking fees doesn't apply to those cars… maybe the introduction of a congestion charge for vehicles driving through the CBD could cover that?

        I would also suggest a very frequent inner CBD free public transport, similar to Melbourne, so people don't require a car in the city at all. Some of the freed road space can be used for bicycle / e-scooter etc. to free up the footpaths for pedestrians, for example in Germany e-scooters are not allowed on footpaths.

        As far as I can see there are significantly more bike going into the CBD now compared to 10 years ago, especially e-bikes. So many people moved beyond the "car über alles" sentiment we have here in NZ. Public transport will improve when more people are going to use it and public transport is not stuck within car traffic.

        I also strongly believe that the road rules have to be properly enforced here, so pedestrians and bike riders can feel safe. And isn't it time to adjust road fines by at least inflation since they were set last time (late 1990s!)?

        • Foreign Waka 4.2.1.1
          8 April 2021 at 3:06 pm

          Coming from a city where you do not need a car at all – true! – with a population size half of NZ, I know that Wellington is so far behind the 8-ball it isn't funny anymore. But we have wasted so much money on stupid things that one could cry. Besides, who wants to live in a place where sewage can be your morning greeting at any minute and your drinking water is being sold rather then flowing through maintained pipes. I do not harbour any hope that this will see any improvement in the next 20-30 years.

          I have moved out of Wellington and so glad I did. Perhaps a visit once or twice a year will do me just fine.

  5. tc 5
    8 April 2021 at 7:58 am

    NZME has Soper writing about Hosk in granny.

    The NZ media in a nutshell: manufacture content from within your owned media assets.

    • mickysavage 5.1
      8 April 2021 at 8:16 am

      Yep just posted on it. Clearly they were after clicks.

    • woodart 5.2
      8 April 2021 at 10:54 am

      you know they are circleing the plughole when one sad entitled git writing about another sad entitled git from the same organisation is a featured headline. the herald is jumping the shark.

  6. Reality 6
    8 April 2021 at 8:44 am

    Not the best way to get on side with Kiwis – a Taupo boutique lodge manager complains "sorry to say, Kiwis are tight arses, to be honest" (Stuff 8 April page 13). Perhaps Kiwis are happy spending their money at a nice motel, not a hyper expensive boutique lodges, and spending their money also on experiences etc.

    • Sabine 6.1
      8 April 2021 at 9:31 am

      it is a very rude way of saying that most Kiwis are broke as. 🙂

    • woodart 6.2
      8 April 2021 at 11:01 am

      also go's on to say that aussies dont stay their much either. hmmm, great business plan ,if you need people to cross the equator, maybe time to lower your prices.it doesnt sound like a sustainable business, long term.

  7. Jimmy 7
    8 April 2021 at 8:52 am

    Grant Robertson really seems to be out of touch with reality and not taking advice from treasury etc. So if landlords raise rents, he said tenants should simply look elsewhere like this tenant.

    https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2021/04/terminally-ill-woman-winz-families-asked-to-vacate-homes-by-hamilton-landlord-after-government-crackdown-on-property-investors.html

    • joe90 7.1
      8 April 2021 at 9:28 am

      Best Ms Goodwin gets off the pot and gives someone more competent an opportunity to pee.

      • Jimmy 7.1.1
        8 April 2021 at 9:54 am

        By the sounds of the article she is doing exactly that and selling all five properties. Seems a bit knee jerk to me as the interest deductibility is being phased in not next tax year will only cost a bit more.

        • mikesh 7.1.1.1
          8 April 2021 at 10:41 am

          It seems to me interest deductibility is an anomaly in the Income Tax Act, so she cannot complain about its removal. However, had depreciation not become non deductible she would probably have been OK. Depreciation is a legitimate expense and, therefor removing its deductibility was, I believe, a mistake. I suspect though that margins in property investment are so low that wiping out depreciation allowances would wipe out profits altogether.

          Perhaps it is time to rationalize the situation and make rental property investment tax free, and all the related expenses non deductible.

          • Herodotus 7.1.1.1.1
            8 April 2021 at 12:13 pm

            How can depreciation be a legitimate expense in this case, when property values increase ?? There is, under housing no loss in value. There are rules that the IRD follow to determine what is valid R&M verse capital cost, and R&M is a deductible expense to reduce tax.

            I thought the changes to depreciation for housing was necessary.

            "Depreciation is an accounting method of allocating the cost of a tangible or physical asset over its useful life or life expectancy. Depreciation represents how much of an asset's value has been used up."

            • mikesh 7.1.1.1.1.1
              9 April 2021 at 12:01 am

              I thought the changes to depreciation for housing was necessary.

              It wasn't really necessary. The book value of a property equals original cost less depreciation allowed prior to sale, though depreciation is not applicable to land, only to the house. When a property is sold one would treat any difference between the sale price and the book value of the house as capital gain. After all, what would one do if the property had been sold for less than book value. Would one continue to regard depreciation as non deductible inf that situation.

              In the case quoted above depreciation, being a non cash expense, might have helped to ease Ms Goodman's flow problems until the houses were sold had depreciation been deductible – even if there had been an excess depreciation claw back rule in place.

        • Gosman 7.1.1.2
          8 April 2021 at 12:23 pm

          She owns the houses. She can sell them whenever she likes and can also ask tenants to leave to help with doing that.

          • Incognito 7.1.1.2.1
            8 April 2021 at 12:31 pm

            It’s been a while since I saw somebody wheel out the ‘pretty legal’ excuse here. Typically, by a simpleton or by a RW stirrer.

        • bwaghorn 7.1.1.3
          8 April 2021 at 1:06 pm

          A panicking ninny,?

          Or a scummy little right wing tool making shit up to try damage the government?

        • Cricklewood 7.1.1.4
          8 April 2021 at 8:03 pm

          From what I understand plenty are getting out asap as they feel the market is at a peak.

          Im no expert but I'm fairly worried that inflationary pressure is going to arrive and the real effects of what is a global slow down masked by printed money will hit hard.

    • Patricia Bremner 7.2
      8 April 2021 at 4:06 pm

      Or Landlords are rushing to change things out of panic.

      How long has she had the properties? She is getting a 12 month lead in and a staggered rate over four years, so her reasons for selling up seem political at this stage. The comment regarding double glazing shows there was no contingency fund.

    • Treetop 7.3
      8 April 2021 at 8:17 pm

      Would selling 1 home pay the interest on the other homes?

      At some point a landlord is going to cash up. Blaming the recent changes for not being a landlord is going to far in this case. Maybe just having the 1 home and paying off the interest on the loan could be to much once the tax deduction on interest is cut for some with a big mortgage on an investment property.

      Were the sale price on a rental home start to drop will landlords cash up?

  8. Anker 8
    8 April 2021 at 9:04 am

    Your blaming Grant R for that? Most “business” owners have some compassion and in a case like this wouldn’t evict a terminally ill person. Shame on the landlord. Shame, shame on him

    • Sabine 8.1
      8 April 2021 at 9:29 am

      shame on the landlord.

      and shame on Grant Robertson to sprout something so profoundly tone deaf and stupid and down right dumb as

      'But Finance Minister Grant Robertson says it won't "necessarily" push prices up, because renters have the option to "go looking elsewhere".

      https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2021/03/housing-crisis-tenants-can-look-elsewhere-if-landlords-hike-rents-robertson.html

      but then Grant boy will never have to go looking elsewhere should his housing costs go up as the Tax payer is paying him such a good wage that this is not one of his concerns. Like his collegues he too is well fed, well heeled, and well housed, and that is what matters.

      So yeah, shame to the greedy landlord, and shame to the Finance Minister who obviously has no idea what he is talking about. But then, its on par with what someone else said a few years ago.

      "I don't think the issue of someone living in a homeless situation is new – it's been there for a very long period of time. But we are there to provide support as best we can. All I can say to people if somebody is homeless they should go see Winz."

      https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/80013933/prime-minister-john-key-says-homeless-families-should-contact-work-and-income

      They are virtually the same comments, one in blue one in red, and both just take the piss at the misery of those that finance their lives. The citizens and taxpayers of this country.

    • Jimmy 8.2
      8 April 2021 at 9:35 am

      You obviously didn't watch the video. Even the tenants were not blaming the landlord. She owns five properties and rents to low income people with pets, so I would say she's actually a pretty reasonable landlord.

  9. Sabine 9
    8 April 2021 at 9:23 am

    IS there anything this government actually likes to fund? I mean seriously, why is this not funded?

    https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/300271227/womens-health-held-together-by-fax-machine-as-ardern-govt-fails-to-fund-modern-hpv-testing

    Women’s health is being “held together by fax machine,” with Jacinda Ardern’s Government rejecting three years of funding requests to bring New Zealand’s cervical screening programme into the 21st century.

    Documents obtained under the Official Information Act reveal the Government has known the nationwide cervical screening programme – that is, cytology testing, or the pap smear test – is not the best way of saving lives since at least May 2016.

    Doctors have had the physical ability to carry out a better test, known as the HPV viral DNA test, with at least 15 per cent more effectiveness at detecting cancer and reducing deaths, since 2008.

    At least 30 cancers each year could have been prevented with a new programme using this test. A 2019 external review said the risks to women grew greater with each delay. …………………..

    The National Cervical Screening Register (NCSR) was built in 1990 to receive results through fax, and doctors still have to call or fax to check on patients. Both the technology and the law currently prohibit GPs from looking up results in a centralised system.

    Sources spoken to by Stuff say the ministry’s register is commonly referred to as being “held together by fax machine,” and doctors and district health boards are angry at the programme’s continual delay.

    Some DHBs have offered to roll out their own self-testing programmes, recorded on Excel spreadsheets. ………………….

    In June 2018, its delay was announced by the ministry’s National Screening Unit director Dr Jane O'Hallahan, who said a “fit-for-purpose IT solution,” was needed.

    But sources spoken to by Stuff say attempts to get the programme funded in 2018, 2019 and again in 2020 were rejected, with those close to the process told it was because there was no money left after $197m went into bowel cancer screening.

    In early 2018, the ministry told then Associate Minister Julie Anne Genter the new register would take 18 months to develop and implement once it had been funded. It was projected it could be finished by 2021.

    It has still not been funded. Sources say projected costs sat between $60-$160m.

    good grief. IS this a case of can't or won't?

    For people like Kiri who obviously do not like anyone to poke about their business, the ability to perform a self test could have been potentially a deal breaker and rather then undergoing Stage 3 cancer treatment she would have had alternatives that would be less invasive, and lasting.

    • Sabine 9.1
      8 April 2021 at 3:19 pm

      yeah, and Grant boy answered the Question, its We Won't.

      https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/woman-battling-cancer-has-to-pay-64k-for-drug-cytoxan-theyre-making-money-out-of-me-dying/LORD6PAJSPWOZKG5RJXOZILSI4/

      Robertson also said efforts to get more people to use screening procedures for cervical cancer and HPV were ongoing, but he was non-committal regarding the introduction of self-swabbing tests, which were supposed to be rolled out three years ago.

      "I know there is some advice coming through to us on that … and that's all now part of the process that we work through with the budget," he said.

      The issue was brought into focus this week with news that Conservation Minister Kiri Allan is battling stage 3 cervical cancer.

      Yep, its not that they can't, they simply don't, won't and don't give no dime. Kinder gentler, Yeah, right Labour!

      • Patricia Bremner 9.1.1
        8 April 2021 at 4:16 pm

        They gave an extra 800 000 000 to health.. what have the DHBs done with it? Raised

        pay? Hired specialists? Being DHBs your guess is as good as mine.

        Could be the little matter of the Pandemic elimination strategy?

        • Sabine 9.1.1.1
          9 April 2021 at 7:58 am

          Nope we had no pandemic in 2017 – 2018. The health sector is so underfunded that people will die. And Kiri – who has been open about not liking to go to a OBGYN or a GP for a papsmear could have done it by herself and thus prevented the thousands upon thousands it will now cost in surgery and chemo therapy etc.

          And dear Grant still gives no fuck.

          It sounds like the Pandemic is to Labour what Helen Clark was to John Key.

    • Treetop 9.2
      8 April 2021 at 5:10 pm

      Is another Cartwright inquiry needed?

      Any encouragement to get a cervical test for a cancer or a pre cancer which has a high likely hood of being detected with a do it yourself procedure or the current method used no excuse to not fully fund it.

  10. Tricledrown 10
    8 April 2021 at 9:48 am

    National are pushing the panic buttons when we need to be patient until we know that vaccines are effective against variants and safe administration is keeping an eye on adverse reactions during administration of vaccines there is no need to rush vaccine roll outs or opening borders.

    Especially when countries where vast numbers of people are dying who need the vaccine more urgently reflects on National's selfishness.

    Bringing people from the Pacific Islands who could be trapped here vice versa travel opening travel to Pacific islands until they are vaccinated/immunised could devistate indigenous populations who are far more susceptible to c19 as well as not having health systems that barely exist now.NZ 's health system is overloaded now with out an outbreak.

  11. Tricledrown 11
    8 April 2021 at 10:09 am

    Rory Mac Illroy speaks out about voter suppression in Georgia Lee Travino boycotted the Masters at the height of his career because of the racism at the Masters.

  12. greywarshark 12
    8 April 2021 at 12:06 pm

    https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/440003/hollywood-director-james-cameron-s-enviro-farm-turns-to-dairy-cow-grazing

    Ah ha. Come in you rich people with great ideas that sound good to greenies, future looking, diversifying, yes you can buy our piece of land to add to your various hideouts around the world. Just get your foot in the door, and NZ will never push you out again, they aren't 'robust' enough (and always looking for a quick buck, don't be fooled by the greenwash.)

    • bwaghorn 12.1
      8 April 2021 at 6:47 pm

      My pick is hes tired of topping up his project with his movie money and has decided to be economic he needs to go conventional.

      • greywarshark 12.1.1
        8 April 2021 at 10:02 pm

        Yes I'll bet he had that up his sleeve. Organic (enviro?) farming isn't exciting enough for a movie man.

    • David 13.1
      8 April 2021 at 2:14 pm

      Oh dear, here we go again. So this is what we learn from the 1pm press conference

      1. the border work was not vaccinated

      2. they didn’t refuse the vaccine but

      3. there were “logistical” issues.

      Where have we heard this before? Maybe the PPE saga, the we’re doing weekly tests / no we’re not saga, the MIQ escape saga …

      • Poission 13.1.1
        8 April 2021 at 2:31 pm

        MOH makes the policy,the DHB implements the policy.

        Ask the DHB why not.

      • Foreign Waka 13.1.2
        8 April 2021 at 2:57 pm

        I think with cases currently nearing 100 it wont be long until we have to shut down everything again. Then we print some more money and add another 16 billion dollars to the debt mountain. niiice….

  14. greywarshark 14
    8 April 2021 at 1:24 pm

    Paul Crutzen – one of today's great people. Now RIP though – since 28 January 2021.
    https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-01-29/the-scientist-who-warned-of-ozone-hole-then-named-our-climate-age

    https://www.mpg.de/16360356/obituary-paul-j-crutzen –
    .
    (Max Planck Institute – https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aso/databank/entries/bpplan.html)

    https://www.huffpost.com/entry/solar-geoengineering-climate-change_n_605c765dc5b67593e055ff9d
    …It is, quite literally, the stuff of science fiction. But on Thursday the United States inched closer to realizing what, depending on where you fall, could be considered a dream of environmental engineering or a dystopian nightmare: devising a plan to artificially cool the planet if humans fail to cut climate-changing emissions quickly enough.

    In a 329-page report, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine outlined its vision for a federal program to study what’s collectively known as solar geoengineering ― a handful of techniques to reflect sunlight back into space or manipulate cloud coverage to temporarily alleviate the effects of pollution-fueled heating.…

  15. Muttonbird 15
    8 April 2021 at 1:35 pm

    Ju-darth's days must be numbered. Dick Prebble the other day, and now National Party embedded journalist, Claire Trevett have both begun the process of leadership change.

    If the choice is between Chris Lucks-in and Soimon, or both, as Trevett suggests, then the Nats have a long, long way to go.

    https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/claire-trevett-is-a-simon-bridges-christopher-luxon-leadership-ticket-on-the-cards/DSCBWYHFH2CGYCA3ONHAFOMDHE/

    • Stuart Munro 15.1
      8 April 2021 at 8:24 pm

      They may find she's as hard to be rid of as a cockroach infestation. With no plausible leaders in the offing, and a rank and file so lacking in talent it has room for Smith & Brownlee, the National Party is waiting for Godot – boredom incarnate without the redeeming literary merit.

  16. Chris T 16
    8 April 2021 at 2:47 pm

    Ardern has just announced that there will be no entry by kiwis from India till the end of the month.

    This will turn ugly

    • arkie 16.1
      8 April 2021 at 2:50 pm

      In what way do you mean 'will turn ugly'?

      • Chris T 16.1.1
        8 April 2021 at 2:56 pm

        It will start arguments about it being against international law……yadda yadda yadda.

        At leat she was at pains to highlight the “temporarily” bit, so may not be that bad.

        That and they look a bit stupid given Megan Woods comments the other day when Hamish Walker moaned about Indians going into MIQ down south.

        "“I think it’s disgraceful and reprehensible. It’s scaremongering and frankly it’s racist,”"

        Lol

        • Incognito 16.1.1.1
          8 April 2021 at 3:21 pm

          You seem to be having a great time!?

          What international laws are you talking about? Sounds like you’re making it up as you go, which wouldn’t be the first time. Therefore, I add this:

          [link required]

          • Sabine 16.1.1.1.1
            8 April 2021 at 3:40 pm

            there is a right to return in NZ, but as expected this can be stopped or amended to protect the people here. From AUT here https://news.aut.ac.nz/news/the-legal-rights-of-kiwis-coming-home

            What i would like to know is if the people that are currently not being allowed to board a plane in India will have some recompensation for their flights, and their booked isolation facilities. Will other people be allowed in on short notice to use the space up? And why are we freaking out because 100 people in isolation have covid. Are we not prepared for that number? Are our hospitals not capable now or are we still worried that our already collapsing health care system would collapse in sight of all and everyone, one year after the closure of the border.

            Meh, I feel nothing but pity for the people that shelled out good money to get back here, who waited a month or several for a spot in isolation just to be fobbed of like that.

            • Incognito 16.1.1.1.1.1
              8 April 2021 at 4:19 pm

              These are risky times. There’s a global pandemic raging. It is not BAU. Maybe this will act as a warning for wannabe travelers in the Oz-NZ bubble. I feel pity for people who have lost loved ones to Covid-19 but fortunately only 26 so far in NZ.

              • Sabine …
                8 April 2021 at 4:53 pm

                the questions raised still stand tho.

                -are the travelers just to absorb the costs? a wet hand shake? uncertain times?

                -will the freed up beds allocated to others who have been on the waiting line?

                • is our healthcare sector in such bad shape that we close to travelers who have planned this trip for the better part of the last year.

                i don't care much about people coming back to the country before full vaccination but these gap stop actions are kind of rude to anyone who has put in the effort of actually getting here. Cause it ain't easy.

                • gsays …
                  8 April 2021 at 5:31 pm

                  "-are the travelers just to absorb the costs? a wet hand shake? uncertain times?"

                  They could start by talking to their travel insurance company.

                  "-will the freed up beds allocated to others who have been on the waiting line?"

                  Maybe the beds stay empty and the workers can have a break.

                • Incognito …
                  8 April 2021 at 5:35 pm

                  I think it’ll depend on insurance and refund policies of airlines, et cetera.

                  I’d assume any freed-up empty beds will be put to good use.

                  The temporary measures are to protect both travellers and MIQ facilities.

                  Is it considered rude to protect people and others from catching Covid-19? If so, 2020 was the ‘rudest’ year on record.

                  Nobody has said it is easy!

                  • Sabine …
                    8 April 2021 at 5:39 pm

                    As i said, i don't want anyone to come before at least we have had a chances at getting the vaccines to everyone, but i guess that is going to take a bit longer for while. And yes, 2020 was rude for most of us, it helps to keep that in mind when holding awesome powers.

                • Foreign waka …
                  8 April 2021 at 8:06 pm

                  I think that we all have a right to be safe and if it is found that 80% of travelers from a country (any country) are arriving in NZ infected, the NZ population also has the right to say no, you have to be virus free if you come to these shores. If you look at the visitor cards for immigration, any foreign material or organism is not allowed into NZ. A carrier of a virus with such known devastating effect on health, lives and economic impact qualifies. I really don't care who these people are, everybody has a right to have predictable consequences affecting lives avoided at all costs.

            • Patricia Bremner 16.1.1.1.1.2
              8 April 2021 at 4:23 pm

              They gave an extra 800 000 000 to health.. what have the DHBs done with it? Raised

              pay? Hired specialists? Being DHBs your guess is as good as mine.

              Could be the little matter of the Pandemic elimination strategy?

            • Patricia Bremner 16.1.1.1.1.3
              8 April 2021 at 4:29 pm

              I think it is to protect Border workers and quarantine from being swamped. 7×24 in a day might mean 148 in a week, or 296 in a fortnight. That is pushing the envelope. I am pleased they are alert to changes happening overseas. Most airlines are allowing rebooking. This is the new reality. Buyer beware!!

        • Drowsy M. Kram 16.1.1.2
          8 April 2021 at 4:14 pm

          Daily new COVID-19 case numbers in India have surged in the last month (126,315 new cases on 7 April, the highest number ever reported outside the USA). In the last few days the daily new case numbers have been consistently higher than during the mid-Sept peak of India's first wave, and trending sharply upwards.

          The travel ban is precautionary – wouldn’t be surprised if it is extended, and of course any disruption and grief it causes is regrettable.

          Wouldn't be surprised also if some opposition National party MP pipes up soon and opines that the Government should have put this travel ban in place sooner.

          • gsays 16.1.1.2.1
            8 April 2021 at 5:36 pm

            "Wouldn't be surprised also if some opposition National party MP pipes up soon and opines that the Government should have put this travel ban in place sooner."

            Gotta say, the opposition are fairly tragic.They make me think of one of the 5000 that were fed with five loaves and two fish that there wasn't a gluten free option.

          • Sabine 16.1.1.2.2
            9 April 2021 at 8:06 am

            Daily new covid cases are surging pretty much everywhere as the old variant is being replaced by the new UK variant.

            And everyone who got a vaccine so far hopes and prays to any deity that wants to listen that it works.

            In the meantime in NZ we still stuck at lockdown mentality cause that is all we got.

            So i really hope dear leader will close the borders to Europeans, US America (75% of all cases are now the UK variant) and everywhere else where the virus is on the march again, just to fair. …..and equal, and maybe just to watch that stench of 'racism' and 'panic' of.

            Again, a hundered cases in the country, non in our crumbling hospital system and they panic. How bad is our hospital system? Worse then it was before lockdown?

    • Drowsy M. Kram 16.2
      8 April 2021 at 3:13 pm

      Ardern has just announced that there will be no entry by kiwis from India till the end of the month.

      Best to fact-check Chris T's fake news. The travel ban hasn't started yet, and the intention is end the ban on 28 April (although it could be extended if necessary), so initially it’s an 18-day ban, not a 22-day ban (until the end of the month.)

      https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/440052/new-zealand-temporarily-suspending-travel-from-india-pm-jacinda-ardern

      This will turn ugly

      Collins can only hope.

      Most NZers will see this as a strategic decision, courtesy of epidemiological analyses, to ensure that our much admired COVID-19 elimination strategy continues to work for the team of nearly five million.

      • Chris T 16.2.1
        8 April 2021 at 3:18 pm

        Oh my god! I shorten it by 2 days to make it easier to write!

        • Incognito 16.2.1.1
          8 April 2021 at 3:28 pm

          4 pm on 11 April is 3 days on my calendar. You shortened it so much it was grossly misleading but I assume that was entirely unintentional and accidental.

        • Drowsy M. Kram 16.2.1.2
          8 April 2021 at 3:32 pm

          Chris T, imho your sole motive for commenting here is to stir ("This will turn ugly").

          You can't count well enough to tell the difference between 22 days ("till the end of the month") and 18 days (11 – 28 April) – why would anyone trust your judgement?

        • Red Blooded One 16.2.1.3
          8 April 2021 at 3:47 pm

          Poor widdle Chris T, earlier in the day he’s been whinging about the PM being too scared and running from tough questions and then our brave PM fronts the country (again) with strong and brave leadership to make an announcement to protect our country. You can't catch a break eh sweetie. She also said the delay will give them time to pass the necessary laws, I assume to cover your fear mongering yadda yadda yadda, but I’m sure you’ll be back here regularly with your Faux outrage and Chicken Little conspiracies.

          • Chris T 16.2.1.3.1
            8 April 2021 at 3:52 pm

            Where have I been outraged over it my simple minded friend?

            I agree with doing it.

            • Red Blooded One 16.2.1.3.1.1
              8 April 2021 at 4:05 pm

              All your combined comments continue to highlight your outrage my very wise and thoughtful friend. You are quite right I am very simple minded, in fact generally I'm as dumb as a box of rocks, but I know right from wrong and sincere from insincere and that keeps me a very content and happy simpleton.

  17. arkie 17
    8 April 2021 at 3:34 pm

    https://twitter.com/Shayan86/status/1378916248063463428

    The man who would be Q is a guy by the name of Ron Watkins. Ron is the son of Jim Watkins, the owner of the imageboard 8chan. They live in the Philipines and have for years. Ron is the administrator of 8kun, the successor to 8chan. Both men have been intimately involved in the spread of QAnon content on boards like 4Chan, 8chan, and 8kun, so much so that for a while the main theory for the identity of Q was one or both of the Watkinses.

    https://www.themarysue.com/did-q-really-out-himself-we-investigate/

    The previously camera-shy Watkins — who runs 8kun alongside his father, Jim — has long been the key suspect for the identity of Q. In fact, anybody really paying attention all but knew it.

    https://mashable.com/article/q-identity-revealed-hbo-documentary/

  18. Chris T 18
    8 April 2021 at 3:35 pm

    I deeply apologise for any offence I may have caused by saying end of month and not 2 days before the end of the month.

    But if we are going to get pedantic about it, some flights from India take 24 hours, so presumably they will stop them going 24 hours before

    • Incognito 18.1
      8 April 2021 at 3:42 pm

      Oh, I see now, you took 2 days off at the end, not at the beginning, or maybe you did both or would it be pedantic to assume that? Your stirring is starting to waste our time here. Are you going to apologise for that too? I think you should.

      • Chris T 18.1.1
        8 April 2021 at 3:46 pm

        Of course.

        I apologise for for not including the time at the beginning.

        Now can I please get some apologies from all those that didn't ake into account some travellers from places in India can take over 24 hours and even more if they are travelling by boat, so these places will need to stop people leaving earlier.

        Thanks in advance

  19. Muttonbird 19
    8 April 2021 at 4:22 pm

    Fact is, people traveling from India are not doing enough to protect New Zealand from Covid.

    This is one of the best things JA has done all year. Sends a message.

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