The 79/90 Tauranga port workers that worked on the ship should have been vaccinated months ago (or not been allowed to work on the ship). Why are the govt giving them until the end of Aug/Sep to get vaccinated when delta can come in to NZ now. Seems very risky to me. Workers if not vaccinated should be stood down.
Unfortunately it appears that the mRNA "jab" does not prevent infection and virus transfer. The "vaccinated" can transfer the virus just as easily as the untreated.
The mRNA jab makes it much much less likely a vaccinated person will become infected after an exposure, compared to an unvaccinated person.
Furthermore, for the very few vaccinated people that become infected, the disease is very likely to be mild and short, with a much shorter time of peak infectiousness compared to the unvaccinated.
Don't get taken in by the clickbait that overhypes and sensationalises the very rare breakthrough infections. It really has become a pandemic of the unvaccinated overseas.
Because if you were to tell all the people that the reason they have to get injected with an 'unknown' substance is to keep the underfunded medical system from collapsing you might find that people would be even more hesitant.
Disclaimer: I am fully vaccinated, marked by the beast, full of 5G and then some.
Preventing transfer is not the point of the vaccine. The point is to make COVID much less likely to be a serious health problem if you get it.
Precisely my point – jabbed or unjabbed would have made no difference to virus transfer from the ship. The transfer from the infected on that ship could have taken place on hands or skin with no requirement of infection. The port workers may well have been less likely to have serious health problems BUT the transfer could still take place.
But it does make a difference if you are jabbed or not when you scale the argument up to New Zealand and not just the port. If we actually had a vaccinated population we don't need to rely on riding our luck all the time least we find ourselves like Australia, where their luck has run out.
Evidence from actual people, rather than extrapolating from viral loads, suggests that breakthrough cases after vaccination are significantly less likely to infect others compared to unvaccinated cases:
Health Ministry data released in late July indicates that 80% of the vaccinated individuals who experienced breakthrough Covid infections did not infect people with whom they came in contact at public places such as concerts, restaurants, gyms or event halls.
The question stands, why is the government giving these long lead times for 'at risk' staff", but then is blaming the 'non vaccination rate' for border worker on mis-information and anti vaxx.
It however would be nice to know how many of these workers have vaccinations booked, how the booking system in the Tauranga area is working, how the overall vaccination status is for the Tauranga area, how many vaccinations centres are there, are they fully staffed all the time etc.
Btw, in Rotorua here no vaccinations on Sundays. But then in a pandemic it is important to not work on Sundays. Would that be double wage?
The question stands, why is the government giving these long lead times for 'at risk' staff", but then is blaming the 'non vaccination rate' for border worker on mis-information and anti vaxx.
Maybe the government is giving these long lead times because a more aggressive mandating of te jab could be ammo for the anti-vaxx brigade. Steering a country through a global pandemic; piece of piss, eh? We really don’t know how lucky…
Australia has reported over 300 daily new cases of Covid-19 as the seven-day rolling average of cases continues to rise.
Australia’s most populous state, New South Wales, reported 283 new daily confirmed cases as infections spread from Sydney to regional areas on the East coast.
In response to a sharp rise in local transmissions, authorities have imposed strict lockdown measures upon millions of people, including military patrols in western regions of Sydney.
Australia’s largest outbreak so far this year has been driven by a low vaccination rate and the highly contagious nature of the Delta variant.
Whats the incubation period for delta? Hope we're not going to do a solitary test a couple of days after a potential exposure and say we're safe… surely we need to put exposed workers into a longer self quarantine. The stakes are very high. Paying the port workers to quarantine seems a good deal to me.
The Chinese researchers who studied viral loads in people infected with the delta variant also observed that the incubation period with delta patients was shorter compared to the original strain. With previous variants, the virus was detectable in infected individuals an average of six days after exposure, but with the delta variant, that window was shortened to four days.
The change in incubation period could indicate that the delta variant is better able to invade cells and can replicate faster than previous variants, which can help the virus spread. The shorter window also makes contact tracing even more of a challenge for public health departments that are already overburdened.
There remains a big difference in outcomes. Vaccinated people are much less likely to get severe disease. From the Harold link:
Reykjavík hospital data reveals infections remain proportionately far higher among the unvaccinated. But vaccination only offers moderate resistance to contracting the disease.
The big difference, however, is in the severity of the symptoms.
Previous outbreaks of non-Delta variants among much lower vaccination rates claimed 29 Icelandic lives. The latest outbreak – despite its size – has so far claimed none.
…
Iceland's government is not discouraged.
"Evidence shows that the vaccines used in Iceland protect about 60 per cent of those fully vaccinated against any kind of infection caused by the Delta variant of the virus and over 90 per cent against serious illnesses," director general Bryndís Kjartansdóttir said.
"About 97 per cent of those infected have mild or no symptoms."
NZ's per capita spend on public health is around the OECD average. The system is under pressure, but the service provided by NZ health workers isn't rubbish, imho.
Iceland had 55 cases and 0 deaths on the most recent data available (8 August).
With a 357,000 population, high vaccination rates and a 95% efficacy (not 100%!) its inevitable there will be cases … but of course that doesn't make such a salacious story.
You find that story "salacious"? That is pornographic, obscene, indecent, improper, indelicate, crude, lewd…
The point is, vaccinations are not enough on their own to avoid major stress on health systems. The idea we are going to throw the doors open to the world's Coronavirus carriers once we are 70% vaccinated is a very dangerous idea.
The point is, vaccinations are not enough on their own to avoid major stress on health systems.
Given that some people (including folks with a reasonable handle on what was required) didn't expect any vaccine for as much as five years, we can probably look towards some cautious optimism.
I wonder if anyone's working on a vaccine targeting delta specifically?
Covid hospitalizations surge in US south as unvaccinated urged to get shots
Louisiana now leads the nation in new Covid cases
Intensive care units near capacity in multiple locations
With just 37% of residents fully vaccinated, state data indicated that unvaccinated people accounted for 90% of hospitalizations in the state. One hundred and eighty one people died from the virus in Louisiana last week.
Similar results are being experienced in Mississippi and Alabama.
I think it is fairly clear now that whilst vaccination may not prevent an infection from the delta variant, it limits the severity. And the indications are that people with less severe symptoms are less infectious.
Of those cases and deaths, about 120,000 cases and about 660 deaths have happened since the beginning of June this year. Beginning of June being a reasonable date by which all Louisianans that wanted vaccination could have been fully vaccinated.
There's a lot more to come, since there's no sign the current wave is anywhere near its peak.
Another right wing lunatic unmasked in presumably soon to be ex-Hurricanes board member Troy Bowker. Of course he runs that symbol of neoliberal capitalism, the parasitical private equity firm. Mind you, he has invested in the Hurricanes so he clearly thinks he has purchased a certain amount of immunity from the consequences of his racist outburst.
There was quite a good paper on the whole subject and whether capitalism was much more of a driving motive behind the move.
Personally I love the fact that we don't determine ethnicity by percentage in this country. I've seen the perverse effects this has in Canada for instance where parents are classed as indigenous and have to carry a reservation card but their children are not and have to get permission to go onto a reservation.
The notion in NZ that either you whakapapa back or you don't is a much better concept and no different to me having Irish or Scottish or Welsh heritage in that respect. People generally do need a sense of belonging.
The question of the experiential existence of being Maori before being selected is really one for Maori to address. From an external perspective I have no problem with people who haven't had close links to their marae etc being selected – I suspect that being in that environment would likely help them along a journey of some sorts, but do not see that my opinion should really matters any more than as a non-religious person I should have an influence about how Marist teams are selected.
I remember sitting on interviews with a well respected kaumatua who when young people turned up to their interviews wearing their carved bone matau or koru or manaia asked one simple question – when were you last on a marae? Probably about 50% had never been.
In many respects I can see that too is a useful question for Maori All Black selection – not necessarily to deny people the opportunity but to understand what work may be required with that person to imbue them in the Maori All Black environment.
I suspect that the pendulum has swung back from the commodification described in this paper and that is likely a good thing. The modern Maori All Blacks I certainly view as a recognition and celebration of Maori culture and its ability to adapt- the same as kapa haka and so on. We should be mature enough to see it in that light – certainly not as an example of reverse racism.
I only wish we could get the same enthusiasm by Maori for cricket – there is so much natural talent out there and many of the best players I played with over the years were Maori – economic forces have meant that much of that talent has been lost.
And oddest of all in view of his % comments ai the fact that he donated to NZ First whose leader at the time was Winston Peters who probably could be asked about his % (sarc)
The usual way to determine if a person is Maori ie for Iwi Authorities is to accept a person who can whakapapa to an eponymous Maori ancestor. Percentages are offensive and, thankfully, a thing of the past. They give no indication if a person is Maori in their day to day life. I believe to go onto the Maori roll you aver that you are Maori.
While I know that Troy Bowker has been overseas he has been back for 8-10 years and surely this is enough time .to understand what is what here in NZ.
I wonder what he thinks of the proposal re Aotearoa and He Puapua/ Similarly enlightened as his taking on of Sir Ian Taylor I am sure.
True…..but…….how long ago was Max Bradford? How much new generation and transmission has been built since then? I mean serious generation, not a couple of wind turbines which should have backup in case (as last night) the wind doesn't blow?
Cutting it off without warning was a 'nice' touch. Can't help wondering if one or two companies thought a bit of misery in the middle of winter might be good for business.
Grid energy needs to balance instantaneously (or energy shuts off). There is almost no storage on the grid where excess can be reserved for future demand.
Perfect storm last night with the NI power outages – downed power lines, peak demand as coldest night of the winter, very still so no wind turbines operating.
the key word there is demand. Instead of increasing supply, which will then be outstripped by more demand (think perpetual growth, extreme weather events, increasing population), we can shift to steady state.
The big push removing wood burners and replacing them with heat pumps was understood at the time to be a really stupid idea.
Passive heating, localised solar and wind, super efficient wood burners, all that tech exists right now
Vehicle charging is often programmable to take advantage of cheap rates in the wee hours and avoid peak times and rates.
Vehicle-to-home and vehicle-to-grid technologies have the potential to take the top off the peak demand. That's available now, for Leaf owners at least. And many other manufacturers are looking at it.
All parties in the electricity industry make their profits from deferred capital expenditure. Because they are "allowed" a prescribed return on investment, they just keep revaluing their assets upwards and not putting anything into future planning.
Poseidon flagged it yesterday morning in general debate, for the life of me I dont understand why we couldnt warn people via an urgent news release asking that we avoid running non essential appliances to help reduce load and avoid mass shut offs.
Not convinced demand notification can make a difference however. Brownouts are rare so the focus on this will be very occasional, and its possible to think about the brownout as a notification that grid energy balance has failed (insufficient energy is available right now).
Yet the North Island has the biggest population increase and landlords and Kianga Ora are installing electric heating at vastly over specified capacity………..of course the other option is not to reduce demand but increase supply.
The last hydro dam of any size was the Clyde Dam. Construction started in 1982 as part of the Muldoon "Think Big" projects.
Since then have had, and can validly blame, the Labour Governments of 1984-1990, that of !999-2008 and 2017 until today. The National Governments to also blame are those of 1990-1999 and 2008-2017.
There is plenty of blame to go around on both sides of politics.
I doubt if there will be sufficient wind for tonight,where there will be significant frosts.
There are tools in the emergency supply models such as operating standby generation at hospitals,prisons etc.In addition ask commercial premises to reduce vanity lighting overnight (such as skytower etc)
Look at places like Manila. Ports have links to the reticulation networks that allow ships to plug their generators into. You might be surprised how much you can get out of a container ship! Probably more efficient than burning diesel at Huntly to transport to Auckland.
Reducing demand in the NI would be the first option.
Hard to do if at the same time you want to push towards plug-in electric vehicles or even e-bikes.
The demand has been reducing rapidly in the NI anyway. My household power usage has dropped by nearly a half over the last 20 years mostly from the increases in efficiency in a electric utilities. Computers (my largest power hog), screens, lights, TV, heating, music systems, fridge, washing machine, dishwasher, dryer.
The only things that I haven’t changed for more efficient items are the stove top, oven, and range hood.
The problem is that (especially in the Auckland / Hamilton / Tauranga region that the population has also skyrocketed. That means that while individual electricity demand has dropped, the total demand has increased.
Out normal overnight temp in the well insulated apartment runs at about 20-22C. That is with a a couple of windows opened during winter for ventilation. ~5-10cm on the front window. The bathroom window open about 10cm. That provides just a little breeze overnight.
In summer of course we just open everything up to get the breeze to stop the interior temp from rising over 24C.
If I could convince my partner to look at the overnight external temp and wind forecasts and to not to open the windows when it is expected to drop below 10C overnight or the winds are going to be strong, then the usual computer generated heating is sufficient to keep the interior temp above 20C.
This is the relationship problem of an native Aucklander getting involved with a woman from Southland. At 11pm the exterior temperature is usually far higher than it is in the early morning. And I typically am in bed by 10pm reading. She goes to bed around midnight after the late night work session.
In winter this is a pain. I usually have get up at about 3-4am when I start freezing and close the bathroom door to stop the wind whistling through the apartment. At 2359, the exterior temperature may be 10C like it was on Monday. At 0400 it may be 4C like it was on Tuesday, and out interior temperature had dropped to 16.5C.
BTW I recommend fast CPUs and water coolers as convection heaters. Have a threadripper or two running in a well insulated apartment and your usual problem is how to reduce tempatures.
Will Megan Woods still be in the job? We talk about emissions from cattle and no doubt those outside my window are emitting right now. Then again a silly cow was just on the radio emitting crap, calling for the resignation of Woods. The great party conference in the weekend may have emboldened her I suppose.
… a silly cow was just on the radio emitting crap, calling for the resignation of Woods. The great party conference in the weekend may have emboldened her I suppose.
Yeah… in the Herald there's currently a sustained campaign of letters to the editor re-various minsters. They are short and always end up with a smart-arse quip denigrating the minister. The quips all have a familiar ring to them. In other words, one person is composing the letters then emailing them out to National members who are in turn submitting them to the Herald as their own work.
Its a well known political ploy the National Party in particular use extensively.
This is some good investigative journalism for a student paper! Also gets pretty unpleasant at times, so I won't quote from all links. This one is from the accompanying guest editorial:
In this week’s issue we have two pieces that are the result of six months undercover in Action Zealandia, a neo-Nazi group with members across Aotearoa. For the investigation, I met with six different members of Action Zealandia, had voice calls with two leaders, and was in their online chats for most of this year, all while maintaining a secret identity. Pretending to be someone you’re not, particularly someone who is hateful and stands for so many things you vehemently oppose, is not something I’d recommend anyone try…
Their members are mostly incompetent, but the group is nonetheless dangerous to society. Despite their horrific beliefs and harmful actions, it is important to remember that members of Action Zealandia, or white supremacists, Nazis, and far-right extremists in general, are not ‘monsters’. They are human. I do not say this to inspire sympathy, but to avoid falling into the comforting trap of creating a level of separation between ‘us’ and ‘them’, between society and its hateful fringes…
history tells us, there isn’t a solid black and white line between “normal person in society” and “total Nazi”. Once we acknowledge that, we can see how dangerous white supremacist ideas can seep into the mainstream and become a torrent.
This is perhaps the most concerning issue – though fascists inbedded in the military, and the risk of further hate crimes are strong competition. Even if they don't succeed in complete infiltration, with enough sockpuppets and a loud enough voices, a small focused group can convince a political party that there is strong public support for a change in certain policies. Especially if they are desperate to avoid irrelevancy:
Members frequently discuss covertly influencing existing political parties to further their white nationalist agenda. They believe the Social Credit Party is their most promising option and frequently reference plans to take over the Social Credit Party. Members attended a public Social Credit Party meeting in Ashburton in May this year.
Several members also debated infiltrating and “reinventing” the National Party to spread white supremacist ideas to a greater portion of the population.
A strategy document circulated to members in July reiterated these plans and outlines several others. The document prioritises working on a new approach to spreading their message, with new platforms and multiple different websites to appeal to a broader audience. They want to encourage further audience and supporter participation. Reiterating plans for political infiltration, the document stipulated concentrating on “weak” electorates first and training specifically chosen people for these roles…
The document also provides directions for minors attempting to join Action Zealandia. “If applicant is too young, do not turn them away totally. Ensure you give them a list of directions of what they can do to help spread our message – mainly amongst their friends at school. Think about how we can make the youth help before they're old enough to join.” Previously, the leader of the Wellington chapter claimed teenagers as young as 13 had reached out to join.
On the news this morning was the release of another Climate Change report that referred to more extreme weather events – giving it appears fires in places like the USA and Greece, and perhaps cold weather without accompanying wind near Hamilton . . .
The extent to which we are getting weather events that are outside previous experience, may make it difficult to predict electricity demand at that time – doubtless there will be some changes to models.
Also on the news was the observation that SUVs now represent something like 55% of new vehicle purchases, which was reported as at least partially explained a 13% increase in vehicle emissions.
For electricity, we clearly need to investigate easing both demand (through local storage such as batteries?) and supply (by bringing back some of the wind projects that were deferred when there was talk of smelter closure, but also by better insulation of houses etc).
Had to laugh at Hariet Hubbard on the opposition benches claiming that the government are rude and wont listed to her because she knows everything. NO wonder the nationals love her because she can sidestep every argument with puritanical foot stamping as if parliament is some sort of church where farting and telling the truth is not allowed especially when the bill at hand is rectifying the nonsense from the collins reforms to the family court.
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TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 26, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Transport: Simeon Brown announced$802.9 million in funding for 18 new trains on the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines, which ...
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As a momentous, historic weekend in US politics unfolded, analysts and commentators grasped for precedents and comparisons to help explain the significance and power of the choice Joe Biden had made. The 46th president had swept the Democratic party’s primaries but just over 100 days from the election had chosen ...
TL;DR: I’m casting around for new ideas and ways of thinking about Aotearoa’s political economy to find a few solutions to our cascading and self-reinforcing housing, poverty and climate crises.Associate Professor runs an online masters degree in the economics of sustainability at Torrens University in Australia and is organising ...
The Finance and Expenditure Committee has reported back on National's Local Government (Water Services Preliminary Arrangements) Bill. The bill sets up water for privatisation, and was introduced under urgency, then rammed through select committee with no time even for local councils to make a proper submission. Naturally, national's select committee ...
Some years ago, I bought a book at Dunedin’s Regent Booksale for $1.50. As one does. Vandrad the Viking (1898), by J. Storer Clouston, is an obscure book these days – I cannot find a proper online review – but soon it was sitting on my shelf, gathering dust alongside ...
History is not on the side of the centre-left, when Democratic presidents fall behind in the polls and choose not to run for re-election. On both previous occasions in the past 75 years (Harry Truman in 1952, Lyndon Johnson in 1968) the Democrats proceeded to then lose the White House ...
This is a free articleCoverageThis morning, US President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from the Presidential race. And that is genuinely newsworthy. Thanks for your service, President Biden, and all the best to you and yours.However, the media in New Zealand, particularly the 1News nightly bulletin, has been breathlessly covering ...
A homeless person’s camp beside a blocked-off slipped damage walkway in Freeman’s Bay: we are chasing our tail on our worsening and inter-related housing, poverty and climate crises. Photo: Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy ...
What has happened to it all?Crazy, some'd sayWhere is the life that I recognise?(Gone away)But I won't cry for yesterdayThere's an ordinary worldSomehow I have to findAnd as I try to make my wayTo the ordinary worldYesterday morning began as many others - what to write about today? I began ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Monday, July 22 are:Today’s Must Read: Father and son live in a tent, and have done for four years, in a million ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Monday, July 22, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:US President Joe Biden announced via X this morning he would not stand for a second term.Multinational professional services firm ...
A listing of 32 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, July 14, 2024 thru Sat, July 20, 2024. Story of the week As reflected by preponderance of coverage, our Story of the Week is Project 2025. Until now traveling ...
This weekend, a friend pointed out someone who said they’d like to read my posts, but didn’t want to pay. And my first reaction was sympathy.I’ve already told folks that if they can’t comfortably subscribe, and would like to read, I’d be happy to offer free subscriptions. I don’t want ...
National: The Party of ‘Law and Order’ IntroductionThis weekend, the Government formally kicked off one of their flagship policy programs: a military style boot camp that New Zealand has experimented with over the past 50 years. Cartoon credit: Guy BodyIt’s very popular with the National Party’s Law and Orderimage, ...
Day one of the solo leg of my long journey home begins with my favourite sound: footfalls in an empty street. 5.00 am and it’s already light and already too warm, almost.If I can make the train that leaves Budapest later this hour I could be in Belgrade by nightfall; ...
Do you remember Y2K, the threat that hung over humanity in the closing days of the twentieth century? Horror scenarios of planes falling from the sky, electronic payments failing and ATMs refusing to dispense cash. As for your VCR following instructions and recording your favourite show - forget about it.All ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts being questioned by The Kākā’s Bernard Hickey.TL;DR: My top six things to note around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the week to July 20 were:1. A strategy that fails Zero Carbon Act & Paris targetsThe National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government finally unveiled ...
Summary:As New Zealand loses at least 12 leaders in the public service space of health, climate, and pharmaceuticals, this month alone, directly in response to the Government’s policies and budget choices, what lies ahead may be darker than it appears. Tui examines some of those departures and draws a long ...
The Minister of Housing’s ambition is to reduce markedly the ratio of house prices to household incomes. If his strategy works it would transform the housing market, dramatically changing the prospects of housing as an investment.Leaving aside the Minister’s metaphor of ‘flooding the market’ I do not see how the ...
As previously noted, my historical fantasy piece, set in the fifth-century Mediterranean, was accepted for a Pirate Horror anthology, only for the anthology to later fall through. But in a good bit of news, it turned out that the story could indeed be re-marketed as sword and sorcery. As of ...
An employee of tobacco company Philip Morris International demonstrates a heated tobacco device. Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy on Friday, July 19 are:At a time when the Coalition Government is cutting spending on health, infrastructure, education, housing ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 8:30 am on Friday, July 19 are:Scoop: NZ First Minister Casey Costello orders 50% cut to excise tax on heated tobacco products. The minister has ...
Kia ora, it’s time for another Friday roundup, in which we pull together some of the links and stories that caught our eye this week. Feel free to add more in the comments! Our header image this week shows a foggy day in Auckland town, captured by Patrick Reynolds. ...
TL;DR : Here’s the top six items climate news for Aotearoa this week, as selected by Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer. A discussion recorded yesterday is in the video above and the audio of that sent onto the podcast feed.The Government released its draft Emissions Reduction ...
Save some money, get rich and old, bring it back to Tobacco Road.Bring that dynamite and a crane, blow it up, start all over again.Roll up. Roll up. Or tailor made, if you prefer...Whether you’re selling ciggies, digging for gold, catching dolphins in your nets, or encouraging folks to flutter ...
Waiting In The Wings:For truly, if Trump is America’s un-assassinated Caesar, then J.D. Vance is America’s Octavian, the Republic’s youthful undertaker – and its first Emperor.DONALD TRUMP’S SELECTION of James D. Vance as his running-mate bodes ill for the American republic. A fervent supporter of Viktor Orban, the “illiberal” prime ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 19, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:The PSAannounced the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) had ruled in the PSA’s favour in its case against the Ministry ...
Te Rangi e tu nei (The sky above us) Te Papa e takoto nei (The land beneath us) Tatou katoa te hunga ora (To us all the living) Tena koutou katoa (Greetings) ...
A late change to charter school legislation will cheat educators out of fair pay and negotiating power proving charter schools are just a vehicle to make profit out of our education system. ...
In 2004 te iwi Māori rallied against the Crown’s attempt to confiscate our coastlines and moana with the Foreshore and Seabed Act. This led to the largest hīkoi of a generation and the birth of Te Pāti Māori. 20 years later, history is repeating itself. Today the government has announced ...
It has been five and a half years since the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care was established to investigate the abuse of children, young people, and vulnerable adults within state and faith-based institutions. Yesterday, the final report - Whanaketia through pain and trauma, from darkness to light ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to take action off the back of the International Court of Justice ruling on Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine. ...
On Friday the International Court of Justice reaffirmed what Palestinian’s have been telling us for decades: that the occupation and colonisation of Palestinian lands by Israel is illegal and must end immediately. They also called for reparations for Palestinian’s who have lived under Israeli occupation since it began in 1967. ...
Labour calls on the Government to act after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian Territories is illegal. ...
The 53.7 percent rise in benefit sanctions over the last year is more proof of this Government’s disdain for our communities most in need of support. ...
Aotearoa could be a country where every child grows up feeling safe, loved and with a sense of belonging in their whānau and community. But for some of our children, this is far from reality. Instead, they are trapped in a maze of intergenerational harm that they can’t escape on ...
Te Pāti Māori are calling for David Seymour to resign as Associate Health Minister in response to his call for Pharmac to ignore the Treaty of Waitangi. “This announcement is just another example of the government’s anti-Tiriti, anti-Māori agenda.” Said Co-leader and spokesperson for health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. “Seymour thinks it ...
The soaring price of renting is driving the rise of inflation in this country - with latest figures from Stats NZ showing rents are up 4.8 per cent on average while annual inflation is at 3.3 per cent. ...
National’s Emissions Reduction Plan will take New Zealand further from the economy we need to ensure the next generation has a stable climate and secure livelihoods. ...
Following consultation with named parties and thorough consideration of privacy interests, the Green Party is in a position to release the Executive Summary of the final report from the independent investigation into Darleen Tana. ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon should be asking serious questions of his Minister for Resources Shane Jones now it’s been revealed he misled the public about a dinner with mining companies that he didn’t declare and said wasn’t pre-arranged. ...
Te Pāti Māori have submitted to the Justice Select Committee against the Sentencing (Reinstating Three Strikes) Amendment Bill. The bill will further entrench racism in our justice system and fails to focus on rehabilitation. “Reinstating Three Strikes will empower a systematically racist system and exacerbate the overrepresentation of Māori in ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee is set to make a determination on the Residential Tenancies Amendment (RTA) Bill in the coming weeks. “This legislation will give landlords the power to kick our whānau out onto the street for no reason” said Housing spokesperson, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “Their solution to the housing ...
“National’s campaign was about tackling crime and the best they can do is a two-year long Ministerial Advisory Group,” Labour justice spokesperson Duncan Webb said. ...
“There are more examples of charter schools failing their students than there are success stories. The coalition Government is driving to dismantle our public school system and instead promote a privatised, competitive structure that puts profits before kids,” Jan Tinetti said. ...
“This government is choosing to deliberately mislead and withhold information, keeping our people in the dark about this government’s agenda and the future of our mokopuna,” said co-leader and spokesperson for Health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. The call comes after the demand from the Chief Ombudsman that Associate Minister of Health, Casey ...
“Today’s climate announcement by Simon Watts makes clear the National Government is simply paying lip service to meeting its climate change targets,” Megan Woods said. ...
National is choosing to make life harder for workers by taking away the rights our communities have fought hard for. Here's how they’re taking workers backwards. ...
Australia, Canada and New Zealand today issued the following statement on the need for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza and the risk of expanded conflict between Hizballah and Israel. The situation in Gaza is catastrophic. The human suffering is unacceptable. It cannot continue. We remain unequivocal in our condemnation of ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today reminded all State and faith-based institutions of their legal obligation to preserve records relevant to the safety and wellbeing of those in its care. “The Abuse in Care Inquiry’s report has found cases where records of the most vulnerable people in State and faith‑based institutions were ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government’s online safety website for children and young people has reached one million page views. “It is great to see so many young people and their families accessing the site Keep It Real Online to learn how to stay safe online, and manage ...
Tēnā tātou katoa, Ngā mihi te rangi, ngā mihi te whenua, ngā mihi ki a koutou, kia ora mai koutou. Thank you for the opportunity to be here and the invitation to speak at this 50th anniversary conference. I acknowledge all those who have gone before us and paved the ...
New Zealand’s payroll providers have successfully prepared to ensure 3.5 million individuals will, from Wednesday next week, be able to keep more of what they earn each pay, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Revenue Minister Simon Watts. “The Government's tax policy changes are legally effective from Wednesday. Delivering this tax ...
An experimental vineyard which will help futureproof the wine sector has been opened in Blenheim by Associate Regional Development Minister Mark Patterson. The covered vineyard, based at the New Zealand Wine Centre – Te Pokapū Wāina o Aotearoa, enables controlled environmental conditions. “The research that will be produced at the Experimental ...
The Coalition Government has confirmed the indicative regional breakdown of North Island Weather Event (NIWE) funding for state highway recovery projects funded through Budget 2024, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Regions in the North Island suffered extensive and devastating damage from Cyclone Gabrielle and the 2023 Auckland Anniversary Floods, and ...
Indonesia’s Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi, will visit New Zealand next week, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “Indonesia is important to New Zealand’s security and economic interests and is our closest South East Asian neighbour,” says Mr Peters, who is currently in Laos to engage with South East Asian partners. ...
He aha te kai a te rangatira? He kōrero, he kōrero, he kōrero. The government has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the aspirations of Ngāti Maniapoto, Minister for Māori Development Tama Potaka says. “My thanks to Te Nehenehenui Trust – Ngāti Maniapoto for bringing their important kōrero to a ministerial ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has thanked outgoing Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority, Janice Fredric, for her service to the board.“I have received Ms Fredric’s resignation from the role of Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority,” Mr Brown says.“On behalf of the Government, I want to thank Ms Fredric for ...
The Government is proposing legislation to overturn a Court of Appeal decision and amend the Marine and Coastal Area Act in order to restore Parliament’s test for Customary Marine Title, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “Section 58 required an applicant group to prove they have exclusively used and occupied ...
Regulation Minister David Seymour says that opposition parties have united in bad faith, opposing what they claim are ‘dangerous changes’ to the Early Childhood Education sector, despite no changes even being proposed yet. “Issues with affordability and availability of early childhood education, and the complexity of its regulation, has led ...
After receiving more than 740 submissions in the first 20 days, Regulation Minister David Seymour is asking the Ministry for Regulation to extend engagement on the early childhood education regulation review by an extra two weeks. “The level of interest has been very high, and from the conversations I’ve been ...
The Coalition Government is investing $802.9 million into the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines as part of a funding agreement with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA), KiwiRail, and the Greater Wellington and Horizons Regional Councils to deliver more reliable services for commuters in the lower North Island, Transport Minister Simeon ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced his intention to appoint a Crown Manager to both Hawke’s Bay Regional and Wairoa District Councils to speed up the delivery of flood protection work in Wairoa."Recent severe weather events in Wairoa this year, combined with damage from Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023 have ...
Mr Speaker, this is a day that many New Zealanders who were abused in State care never thought would come. It’s the day that this Parliament accepts, with deep sorrow and regret, the Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care. At the heart of this report are the ...
For the first time, the Government is formally acknowledging some children and young people at Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital experienced torture. The final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care “Whanaketia – through pain and trauma, from darkness to light,” was tabled in Parliament ...
The Government has acknowledged the nearly 2,400 courageous survivors who shared their experiences during the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State and Faith-Based Care. The final report from the largest and most complex public inquiry ever held in New Zealand, the Royal Commission Inquiry “Whanaketia – through ...
With a week to go before hard-working New Zealanders see personal income tax relief for the first time in fourteen years, 513,000 people have used the Budget tax calculator to see how much they will benefit, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “Tax relief is long overdue. From next Wednesday, personal income ...
Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden says a bill that has passed its first reading will improve parental leave settings and give non-biological parents more flexibility as primary carer for their child. The Regulatory Systems Amendment Bill (No3), passed its first reading this morning. “It includes a change ...
Two Bills designed to improve regulation and make it easier to do business have passed their first reading in Parliament, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. The Regulatory Systems (Economic Development) Amendment Bill and Regulatory Systems (Immigration and Workforce) Amendment Bill make key changes to legislation administered by the Ministry ...
New legislation paves the way for greater competition in sectors such as banking and electricity, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says. “Competitive markets boost productivity, create employment opportunities and lift living standards. To support competition, we need good quality regulation but, unfortunately, a recent OECD report ranked New ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says lotteries for charitable purposes, such as those run by the Heart Foundation, Coastguard NZ, and local hospices, will soon be allowed to operate online permanently. “Under current laws, these fundraising lotteries are only allowed to operate online until October 2024, after which ...
The Coalition Government is accelerating work on the new four-lane expressway between Auckland and Whangārei as part of its Roads of National Significance programme, with an accelerated delivery model to deliver this project faster and more efficiently, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “For too long, the lack of resilient transport connections ...
Sir Don McKinnon will travel to Viet Nam this week as a Special Envoy of the Government, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “It is important that the Government give due recognition to the significant contributions that General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong made to New Zealand-Viet Nam relations,” Mr ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says newly appointed Commissioner, Grant Illingworth KC, will help deliver the report for the first phase of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into COVID-19 Lessons, due on 28 November 2024. “I am pleased to announce that Mr Illingworth will commence his appointment as ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters travels to Laos this week to participate in a series of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-led Ministerial meetings in Vientiane. “ASEAN plays an important role in supporting a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific,” Mr Peters says. “This will be our third visit to ...
Construction of a new mental health facility at Te Nikau Grey Hospital in Greymouth is today one step closer, Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey says. “This $27 million facility shows this Government is delivering on its promise to boost mental health care and improve front line services,” Mr Doocey says. ...
New Zealand is committing nearly $50 million to a package supporting sustainable Pacific fisheries development over the next four years, Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones announced today. “This support consisting of a range of initiatives demonstrates New Zealand’s commitment to assisting our Pacific partners ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour says proposed changes to the Education and Training Amendment Bill will ensure charter schools have more flexibility to negotiate employment agreements and are equipped with the right teaching resources. “Cabinet has agreed to progress an amendment which means unions will not be able to initiate ...
In response to serious concerns around oversight, overspend and a significant deterioration in financial outlook, the Board of Health New Zealand will be replaced with a Commissioner, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti announced today. “The previous government’s botched health reforms have created significant financial challenges at Health NZ that, without ...
Minister for Space and Science, Innovation and Technology Judith Collins will travel to Adelaide tomorrow for space and science engagements, including speaking at the Australian Space Forum. While there she will also have meetings and visits with a focus on space, biotechnology and innovation. “New Zealand has a thriving space ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts will travel to China on Saturday to attend the Ministerial on Climate Action meeting held in Wuhan. “Attending the Ministerial on Climate Action is an opportunity to advocate for New Zealand climate priorities and engage with our key partners on climate action,” Mr Watts says. ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is travelling to the Solomon Islands tomorrow for meetings with his counterparts from around the Pacific supporting collective management of the region’s fisheries. The 23rd Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Committee and the 5th Regional Fisheries Ministers’ Meeting in Honiara from 23 to 26 July ...
The Government today launched the Military Style Academy Pilot at Te Au rere a te Tonga Youth Justice residence in Palmerston North, an important part of the Government’s plan to crackdown on youth crime and getting youth offenders back on track, Minister for Children, Karen Chhour said today. “On the ...
The Government has welcomed news the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has begun work to replace nine priority bridges across the country to ensure our state highway network remains resilient, reliable, and efficient for road users, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“Increasing productivity and economic growth is a key priority for the ...
Acting Prime Minister David Seymour has been in contact throughout the evening with senior officials who have coordinated a whole of government response to the global IT outage and can provide an update. The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet has designated the National Emergency Management Agency as the ...
New Zealand and Japan will continue to step up their shared engagement with the Pacific, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “New Zealand and Japan have a strong, shared interest in a free, open and stable Pacific Islands region,” Mr Peters says. “We are pleased to be finding more ways ...
New developments in the heart of North Island forestry country will reinvigorate their communities and boost economic development, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones visited Kaingaroa and Kawerau in Bay of Plenty today to open a landmark community centre in the former and a new connecting road in ...
President Adeang, fellow Ministers, honourable Diet Member Horii, Ambassadors, distinguished guests. Minasama, konnichiwa, and good afternoon, everyone. Distinguished guests, it’s a pleasure to be here with you today to talk about New Zealand’s foreign policy reset, the reasons for it, the values that underpin it, and how it ...
Last summer when Matairangi burned, Ginny and Tom stood at the window of their lounge, watching kākā shoot skyward from the burning trees. From the distance, they looked to Ginny like pages torn from books and thrown into a bonfire. It was Tom, voice tight, who told her it was ...
Opinion: The Canadian short story writer Alice Munro – winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2013 – died in May at the age of 92. Her work was about “the damage people inflict on one another in the name of love”, Deborah Treisman wrote in the New Yorker. ...
This month marks two years since the most powerful telescope ever built sent its first pictures back to earth. From its lofty vantage point, beyond the moon in orbit around the sun, the James Webb Space Telescope was tuned to observe the first stars and galaxies being born soon after ...
Comment: After Climate Change Minister Simon Watts’ preview several weeks ago, I had some optimism about the Government’s emissions reduction plan. Now I’ve read the discussion document, that hope has been dashed. How can the Government propose a plan that wants to take New Zealand taxpayers’ hard-earned money, and spend ...
Christopher Luxon: hurdles The little man from National jumps hurdles in his sleep. He’s quite good at it in his dreams and even though the reality doesn’t quite match up you have to give him credit for getting up every morning and crashing into the very first hurdle of the ...
Comment: It was a good two hours into the conversation when Tyrone Marks raised the most basic of questions when I first spoke to him in 2017. “They didn’t explain the things they did to me. They never told me why. And they still haven’t. There’s no explanation for it. ...
Madeleine Chapman rounds out Death Week on The Spinoff with a final recommendation. You can read all of our Death Week coverage here. Nothing forces you to reflect on your life and relationships quite like proximity to death. For those whose nearest and dearest have died, there are reasonably obvious ...
Whitney Greene takes us through her life in television, including the TV character she’d like to plan a funeral for and her cow lung catastrophe on The Traitors NZ. “If the phone rings, I have to answer it,” Whitney Greene from The Traitors NZ warns as we begin our My ...
Maddie Ballard reviews the debut essay collection of Pōneke writer Flora Feltham.In ‘The Raw Material’, the longest essay in Flora Feltham’s dazzling debut collection, the author heads out for a run after hours of weaving and sees the world turn to textile. “Pounding along the Parade, I saw the ...
Andy Christiansen, one half of the experimental rock-pop duo TRiPS, shares the tunes inspiring the band’s perfect weekend and new release. “Good speakers, good food, good music, no distractions”: that’s all you need to enjoy the psychedelic stylings of TRiPS, a new band formed by Fly My Pretties’ Barnaby Weir ...
Celebrating our quadrennial opportunity to become experts in a bunch of sports we never normally watch.The games of the XXXIII Olympiad are upon us. Paris will host this year’s showcase of sporting and athletic prowess, which means some late-night and early-morning viewing for us in Aotearoa.But what sports ...
The photograph is striking and beautiful, but also disturbing – a reminder that my love for John was often entangled in shame.The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.In the spring of 1980, in Dunedin, shortly before his death, someone took a photograph ...
Get to know Babushka, our latest Dog of the Month. This feature was offered as a reward during our What’s Eating Aotearoa PledgeMe campaign. Thank you to Babu’s humans, Jo and Isabel, for their support. Dog name: Babushka (Babu for short) Age: 2Breed: Border Collie X poodleIf rescued, ...
Pacific Media Watch A Lebanese photojournalist who was severely wounded during an Israeli air strike in south Lebanon carried the Olympic torch in Paris this week in honour of her peers who have been wounded and killed in the field — especially in Gaza and Lebanon. Christina Assi of Agence ...
The first report in a five-part web series focused on the 15th Triennial Conference of Pacific Women taking place in the Marshall Islands this week.SPECIAL REPORT:By Netani Rika in Majuro Women continue to fight for justice 70 years after the first nuclear tests by the United States caused ...
Christopher Luxon has joined with Australia and Canada's leaders in voicing support for US President Joe Biden's ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The 2022 election brought the “teal wave” into parliament. The next election will test whether teals, who occupy what were Liberal seats, and other independents can maintain their momentum. Joining us on the Podcast ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Musgrave, Senior lecturer in Pharmacology, University of Adelaide Pixavri/Shutterstock A major Federal Court class action has been dismissed this week after Justice Michael Lee ruled there was not enough evidence to prove the weedkiller Roundup causes cancer. Plaintiff Kelvin ...
In The Week in Politics: politicians have to decide what to do about child abuse, Health NZ is booked in for major surgery and Darleen Tana returns. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Corbould, Associate Professor, Contemporary Histories Research Group, Deakin University Mainstream media are surprisingly muted at the prospect of the world’s most powerful nation being led for the first time by a woman – specifically a woman of colour, Vice President Kamala ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rebecca Bennett, PhD Student, Associate Research Fellow, Deakin University Last week, a drone delivery company called Wing (owned by Google’s parent company, Alphabet) started operating in Melbourne. Some 250,000 residents in parts of the city’s eastern suburbs can now order food from ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonathan Foo, Lecturer, Physiotherapy, Monash University pikselstock/Shutterstock In the next 40 years in Australia, it’s predicted the number of Australians aged 65 and over will more than double, while the number of people aged 85 and over will more than triple. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katrina Grant, Research Associate, Power Institute for Arts and Visual Culture, University of Sydney Jonas Åkerström’s 1790 work, Session of the Accademia dell’Arcadia on August 17 1788.Nationalmuseum/Cecilia Heisser Ever wondered whether you’d have a better chance at winning an Olympic gold ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexandra Jones, Program Lead, Food Governance, George Institute for Global Health wavebreakmedia/Shutterstock On Thursday, Australian and New Zealand food ministers at state, federal and national levels met to thrash out what’s next for health star ratings on packaged foods. Now, after ...
The Abuse in Care report found many Pacific survivors lost their connections to their culture and language, resulting in trauma that has been carried from generation to generation. ...
In the regulatory review, ECC intends to suggest that ERO focus on curriculum delivery reviews rather than the Ministry, because it’s not efficient or effective to have two agencies with radically different approaches climbing over each other. ...
Te Rūnanga Nui o Ngā Kura Kaupapa Māori invites the current government to work in partnership with them to develop a pathway forward, including the development of a parallel pathway and meaningful policy and strategy for Kura Kaupapa Māori ...
If you haven’t started watching yet, Tara Ward begs you to reconsider. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. In the world of New Zealand reality television, we have many gems in our crown. There’s the delicious second season of the Celebrity Treasure ...
A new poem by Fiona Kidman. The clothes of the dead I did not keep my mother’s furry red beret for long nor the stringy scarves that adorned the necks of my aunts, although I have kept tag ends of gold, the rings and trinkets they wore, the brooches no ...
The government’s announcement that it will re-open the foreshore and seabed controversy by changing the rules on recognising centuries-old Māori customary title for a third time goes against the rule of law and New Zealand values,” Mr Tipa says. ...
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 Lioness by Emily Perkins (Bloomsbury, $25) Roarrrr! Perkins’ brilliant, award-winning, Marian-Keyes anointed, darkly funny, long ...
The 2004 Act vested ownership of the foreshore and seabed in the Crown, extinguishing any Māori claims to ownership and causing widespread outrage and protests among Māori communities. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Antje Deckert, Associate Professor (Criminology), Auckland University of Technology Getty Images Despite the connection between institutional harm and gang membership made clear in this week’s mammoth royal commission abuse-in care report, the government seems unlikely to soften its “get tough on ...
From Lewis Clareburt in the swimming to the start of the rowing – the first seven days of Paris 2024 promise to be big for New Zealand. There are few events that bring the country together quite like an Olympic Games. Nothing quite matches the excitement of getting up in ...
Groundbreaking local science just showed up in the most surprising of places: the season finale of The Kardashians. In the season five finale of The Kardashians last night, several members of the family gathered together in one of their signature empty, cream-coloured rooms to hear test results that had been ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amin Saikal, Emeritus professor of Middle Eastern and Central Asian Studies, Australian National University The Middle East is on the brink of a possibly devastating regional war, with hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah reaching an extremely dangerous level. Washington has engaged in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laura Elizabeth Eades, Rheumatologist, Monash University Lupus is an inflammatory autoimmune illness, where the body’s immune system mistakenly attacks itself. Lupus can affect virtually any part of the body, although it most commonly affects the skin, joints and kidneys. The symptoms ...
A law firm that specialises in working with survivors of abuse in State care is disappointed that the Government fails to recognise that its boot camps can be directly compared to previous boot camps from the 1990s and 2000s. ...
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The 79/90 Tauranga port workers that worked on the ship should have been vaccinated months ago (or not been allowed to work on the ship). Why are the govt giving them until the end of Aug/Sep to get vaccinated when delta can come in to NZ now. Seems very risky to me. Workers if not vaccinated should be stood down.
Unfortunately it appears that the mRNA "jab" does not prevent infection and virus transfer. The "vaccinated" can transfer the virus just as easily as the untreated.
The mRNA jab makes it much much less likely a vaccinated person will become infected after an exposure, compared to an unvaccinated person.
Furthermore, for the very few vaccinated people that become infected, the disease is very likely to be mild and short, with a much shorter time of peak infectiousness compared to the unvaccinated.
https://www.statnews.com/2021/07/30/what-delta-has-changed-in-the-covid-pandemic-and-what-it-hasnt/
Don't get taken in by the clickbait that overhypes and sensationalises the very rare breakthrough infections. It really has become a pandemic of the unvaccinated overseas.
https://thehill.com/opinion/technology/566900-confused-about-covid-too-many-news-outlets-prioritize-hype-over-accuracy
Jab does not prevent infection and virus transfer
This is a point made several times on TS the past few days to which I ask myself so what?
Preventing transfer is not the point of the vaccine. The point is to make COVID much less likely to be a serious health problem if you get it.
Because if you were to tell all the people that the reason they have to get injected with an 'unknown' substance is to keep the underfunded medical system from collapsing you might find that people would be even more hesitant.
Disclaimer: I am fully vaccinated, marked by the beast, full of 5G and then some.
Gee sabine you managed to get a vaccine in the 3rd world hell hole that nz is lucky you
I did not 'manage' anything. I literally got told to show up and get one. 🙂
As per the government grouping and roll out i did not expect to get vaccinated / invited anytime before October/ Nov.
So indeed i was 'lucky' to be invited by the Maori Authority that ran the vaccinations here in nowhere NuZillind as 'wider' whanau. Thanks Te Arawa!
Preventing transfer is not the point of the vaccine. The point is to make COVID much less likely to be a serious health problem if you get it.
Precisely my point – jabbed or unjabbed would have made no difference to virus transfer from the ship. The transfer from the infected on that ship could have taken place on hands or skin with no requirement of infection. The port workers may well have been less likely to have serious health problems BUT the transfer could still take place.
But it does make a difference if you are jabbed or not when you scale the argument up to New Zealand and not just the port. If we actually had a vaccinated population we don't need to rely on riding our luck all the time least we find ourselves like Australia, where their luck has run out.
Evidence from actual people, rather than extrapolating from viral loads, suggests that breakthrough cases after vaccination are significantly less likely to infect others compared to unvaccinated cases:
And who cares really?
The question stands, why is the government giving these long lead times for 'at risk' staff", but then is blaming the 'non vaccination rate' for border worker on mis-information and anti vaxx.
It however would be nice to know how many of these workers have vaccinations booked, how the booking system in the Tauranga area is working, how the overall vaccination status is for the Tauranga area, how many vaccinations centres are there, are they fully staffed all the time etc.
Btw, in Rotorua here no vaccinations on Sundays. But then in a pandemic it is important to not work on Sundays. Would that be double wage?
Maybe the government is giving these long lead times because a more aggressive mandating of te jab could be ammo for the anti-vaxx brigade. Steering a country through a global pandemic; piece of piss, eh? We really don’t know how lucky…
Free from Covid-19, New Zealand plans border reopening amid labour shortage
then no one should complain about the people not being currently vaccinated.
That is actually all i am saying. 🙂
Chance would be a fine thing
Well, yes it does. Just not perfectly, and not always.
But nobody ever said vaccines would be 100%. That's just a little bit of interpretation from the quack brigade.
Whats the incubation period for delta? Hope we're not going to do a solitary test a couple of days after a potential exposure and say we're safe… surely we need to put exposed workers into a longer self quarantine. The stakes are very high. Paying the port workers to quarantine seems a good deal to me.
https://www.nbcnews.com/science/science-news/delta-variant-viral-load-scientists-are-watching-covid-pandemic-rcna1604
Still unloading on friday/sat i think so will need another round of tests at least
Uh oh.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/covid-19-coronavirus-iceland-deals-with-growing-delta-problem/POBMY237SUXMD46PHFEZ3OU2BA/
There remains a big difference in outcomes. Vaccinated people are much less likely to get severe disease. From the Harold link:
The UK is showing the same thing. The virus is still contracted but people who are vaccinated are much less likely to die or be hospitalised.
That is good but throwing the gates open severely impacts the health system, even in populations fully vaccinated.
Our health system is rubbish because rich people refuse to pay the required tax.
NZ's per capita spend on public health is around the OECD average. The system is under pressure, but the service provided by NZ health workers isn't rubbish, imho.
Public and private per capita health expenditure in selected countries in 2018
Iceland had 55 cases and 0 deaths on the most recent data available (8 August).
With a 357,000 population, high vaccination rates and a 95% efficacy (not 100%!) its inevitable there will be cases … but of course that doesn't make such a salacious story.
You find that story "salacious"? That is pornographic, obscene, indecent, improper, indelicate, crude, lewd…
The point is, vaccinations are not enough on their own to avoid major stress on health systems. The idea we are going to throw the doors open to the world's Coronavirus carriers once we are 70% vaccinated is a very dangerous idea.
Given that some people (including folks with a reasonable handle on what was required) didn't expect any vaccine for as much as five years, we can probably look towards some cautious optimism.
I wonder if anyone's working on a vaccine targeting delta specifically?
Meanwhile in the southern US states..
Similar results are being experienced in Mississippi and Alabama.
I think it is fairly clear now that whilst vaccination may not prevent an infection from the delta variant, it limits the severity. And the indications are that people with less severe symptoms are less infectious.
Louisiana has a population about the same as NZ.
Half a million cases, eleven thousand deaths.
Of those cases and deaths, about 120,000 cases and about 660 deaths have happened since the beginning of June this year. Beginning of June being a reasonable date by which all Louisianans that wanted vaccination could have been fully vaccinated.
There's a lot more to come, since there's no sign the current wave is anywhere near its peak.
https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/usa/louisiana/
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/126017658/what-percentage-mori-are-you-businessman-troy-bowker-asks-sir-ian-taylor
Another right wing lunatic unmasked in presumably soon to be ex-Hurricanes board member Troy Bowker. Of course he runs that symbol of neoliberal capitalism, the parasitical private equity firm. Mind you, he has invested in the Hurricanes so he clearly thinks he has purchased a certain amount of immunity from the consequences of his racist outburst.
Unbelievable.
How difficult would it be to kick him off the Hurricanes board if he is also an owner as his Linked in profile says:
Part Owner / Board Member
Hurricanes
Mar 2018 – Present3 years 6 months
Wellington & Wairarapa, New Zealand
Since when do we go around asking people what % they are of a race?
Didn't that question tend to come up for Paul Tito as a Maori All Black representative?
Aye and Christian Cullen.
There was quite a good paper on the whole subject and whether capitalism was much more of a driving motive behind the move.
Personally I love the fact that we don't determine ethnicity by percentage in this country. I've seen the perverse effects this has in Canada for instance where parents are classed as indigenous and have to carry a reservation card but their children are not and have to get permission to go onto a reservation.
The notion in NZ that either you whakapapa back or you don't is a much better concept and no different to me having Irish or Scottish or Welsh heritage in that respect. People generally do need a sense of belonging.
The question of the experiential existence of being Maori before being selected is really one for Maori to address. From an external perspective I have no problem with people who haven't had close links to their marae etc being selected – I suspect that being in that environment would likely help them along a journey of some sorts, but do not see that my opinion should really matters any more than as a non-religious person I should have an influence about how Marist teams are selected.
I remember sitting on interviews with a well respected kaumatua who when young people turned up to their interviews wearing their carved bone matau or koru or manaia asked one simple question – when were you last on a marae? Probably about 50% had never been.
In many respects I can see that too is a useful question for Maori All Black selection – not necessarily to deny people the opportunity but to understand what work may be required with that person to imbue them in the Maori All Black environment.
I suspect that the pendulum has swung back from the commodification described in this paper and that is likely a good thing. The modern Maori All Blacks I certainly view as a recognition and celebration of Maori culture and its ability to adapt- the same as kapa haka and so on. We should be mature enough to see it in that light – certainly not as an example of reverse racism.
I only wish we could get the same enthusiasm by Maori for cricket – there is so much natural talent out there and many of the best players I played with over the years were Maori – economic forces have meant that much of that talent has been lost.
https://ourarchive.otago.ac.nz/bitstream/handle/10523/5178/Hokowhitu_7.pdf?sequence=5
Hurricanes management do not support MR Bowker's comments
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/126017658/hurricanes-do-not-support-bowkers-sucking-up-to-mori-comments
And oddest of all in view of his % comments ai the fact that he donated to NZ First whose leader at the time was Winston Peters who probably could be asked about his % (sarc)
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/in-depth/416012/foundation-donations-not-named-on-nz-first-electoral-return
just to round things out for Mr Bowker.
He has apparently donated to Stuart Nash
https://www.odt.co.nz/news/politics/labour-mp-receives-99k
He's an odd one all right. All that money and it still does not stop him putting his big foot in his own mouth.
The usual way to determine if a person is Maori ie for Iwi Authorities is to accept a person who can whakapapa to an eponymous Maori ancestor. Percentages are offensive and, thankfully, a thing of the past. They give no indication if a person is Maori in their day to day life. I believe to go onto the Maori roll you aver that you are Maori.
While I know that Troy Bowker has been overseas he has been back for 8-10 years and surely this is enough time .to understand what is what here in NZ.
I wonder what he thinks of the proposal re Aotearoa and He Puapua/ Similarly enlightened as his taking on of Sir Ian Taylor I am sure.
The ghost of Max Bradford and his 1990 electricty reforms came back to haint us last night.
Who else had their power cut off last night?
True…..but…….how long ago was Max Bradford? How much new generation and transmission has been built since then? I mean serious generation, not a couple of wind turbines which should have backup in case (as last night) the wind doesn't blow?
Cutting it off without warning was a 'nice' touch. Can't help wondering if one or two companies thought a bit of misery in the middle of winter might be good for business.
Grid energy needs to balance instantaneously (or energy shuts off). There is almost no storage on the grid where excess can be reserved for future demand.
Perfect storm last night with the NI power outages – downed power lines, peak demand as coldest night of the winter, very still so no wind turbines operating.
the key word there is demand. Instead of increasing supply, which will then be outstripped by more demand (think perpetual growth, extreme weather events, increasing population), we can shift to steady state.
The big push removing wood burners and replacing them with heat pumps was understood at the time to be a really stupid idea.
Passive heating, localised solar and wind, super efficient wood burners, all that tech exists right now
If the grid is so strained now what effect will much larger numbers of plug in cars have? They'll load the system en masse after the evening commute.
Vehicle charging is often programmable to take advantage of cheap rates in the wee hours and avoid peak times and rates.
Vehicle-to-home and vehicle-to-grid technologies have the potential to take the top off the peak demand. That's available now, for Leaf owners at least. And many other manufacturers are looking at it.
https://www.racv.com.au/royalauto/moving/news-information/bidirectional-charging-explained.html
Cheap rates (such as ripple controlled circuits) are the first to be cut off – that's why they are cheap!
Not really a problem if the car only charges after midnight though.
All parties in the electricity industry make their profits from deferred capital expenditure. Because they are "allowed" a prescribed return on investment, they just keep revaluing their assets upwards and not putting anything into future planning.
Agree, that always struck me as a stupid ratchet effect – increase rate of return, revalue assets upwards accordingly, then repeat the steps…
Poseidon flagged it yesterday morning in general debate, for the life of me I dont understand why we couldnt warn people via an urgent news release asking that we avoid running non essential appliances to help reduce load and avoid mass shut offs.
Wouldn't say that post is related. The demand spike highlighted is for a different time period from last night.
Not convinced demand notification can make a difference however. Brownouts are rare so the focus on this will be very occasional, and its possible to think about the brownout as a notification that grid energy balance has failed (insufficient energy is available right now).
The situation today is unchanged,the peak consumption period tonight is at risk.
https://www.transpower.co.nz/sites/default/files/interfaces/can/CAN%20Low%20Residual%20Situation%204028274213.pdf
Today we are using the emergency peakers for generation ( diesel and oil) .
Huntly three is yet to operate as there appears to be insufficient coal reserves.
They are supposed to cover the peak, are they not? And are more expensive (all of real, nominal and environmental terms) rather than typical though.
What should be supplying instead, tonight? And why?
There is an absence of wind generation in the NI,the only wind seemed to come from Woods/Ardern at the press conference.
Reducing demand in the NI would be the first option.
Yet the North Island has the biggest population increase and landlords and Kianga Ora are installing electric heating at vastly over specified capacity………..of course the other option is not to reduce demand but increase supply.
Failure to address infrastructure while at the same time massively increasing population goes back to the last National govt possibly earlier.
Its why housing, hospitals,public transport even the national grid are fast becoming a shit show.
We really need govt both national and local to really focus on getting these core responsibilities caught up.
Yet the legislating of minimum heating requirements came from Labour with apparently no consideration of the supply side consequences.
"the last National govt possibly earlier".
Both earlier and later, I would suggest.
The last hydro dam of any size was the Clyde Dam. Construction started in 1982 as part of the Muldoon "Think Big" projects.
Since then have had, and can validly blame, the Labour Governments of 1984-1990, that of !999-2008 and 2017 until today. The National Governments to also blame are those of 1990-1999 and 2008-2017.
There is plenty of blame to go around on both sides of politics.
What do you propose if there is not enough wind to keep them operating across the peak period?
I doubt if there will be sufficient wind for tonight,where there will be significant frosts.
There are tools in the emergency supply models such as operating standby generation at hospitals,prisons etc.In addition ask commercial premises to reduce vanity lighting overnight (such as skytower etc)
Look at places like Manila. Ports have links to the reticulation networks that allow ships to plug their generators into. You might be surprised how much you can get out of a container ship! Probably more efficient than burning diesel at Huntly to transport to Auckland.
Hard to do if at the same time you want to push towards plug-in electric vehicles or even e-bikes.
The demand has been reducing rapidly in the NI anyway. My household power usage has dropped by nearly a half over the last 20 years mostly from the increases in efficiency in a electric utilities. Computers (my largest power hog), screens, lights, TV, heating, music systems, fridge, washing machine, dishwasher, dryer.
The only things that I haven’t changed for more efficient items are the stove top, oven, and range hood.
The problem is that (especially in the Auckland / Hamilton / Tauranga region that the population has also skyrocketed. That means that while individual electricity demand has dropped, the total demand has increased.
I was looking at the very short term 17:30 -19:30 tonight.
My solar in chch is at present generating 5kw,usage around 1.2 kw, just going to pay my power bill for the month of $56.
What a shame that sunset today in Christchurch is at about 17:30.
Where is Joshua when we most need him?
The thermometer in my conservatory is 23c,passive solar here will heat the house tonight to around 16c,life is good.
Out normal overnight temp in the well insulated apartment runs at about 20-22C. That is with a a couple of windows opened during winter for ventilation. ~5-10cm on the front window. The bathroom window open about 10cm. That provides just a little breeze overnight.
In summer of course we just open everything up to get the breeze to stop the interior temp from rising over 24C.
If I could convince my partner to look at the overnight external temp and wind forecasts and to not to open the windows when it is expected to drop below 10C overnight or the winds are going to be strong, then the usual computer generated heating is sufficient to keep the interior temp above 20C.
This is the relationship problem of an native Aucklander getting involved with a woman from Southland. At 11pm the exterior temperature is usually far higher than it is in the early morning. And I typically am in bed by 10pm reading. She goes to bed around midnight after the late night work session.
In winter this is a pain. I usually have get up at about 3-4am when I start freezing and close the bathroom door to stop the wind whistling through the apartment. At 2359, the exterior temperature may be 10C like it was on Monday. At 0400 it may be 4C like it was on Tuesday, and out interior temperature had dropped to 16.5C.
BTW I recommend fast CPUs and water coolers as convection heaters. Have a threadripper or two running in a well insulated apartment and your usual problem is how to reduce tempatures.
is that enough excess to run an EV?
There will be enough surplus to charge a storage battery (which is in the planning) an ev or plug in hybrid is in my retirement plan.
Golden opportunity to rip apart the scam our power industry's become Megan woods.
The first step is to show kiwis how dysfunctional and self serving the Bradford reforms were.
Another privatisation failure.
Will Megan Woods still be in the job? We talk about emissions from cattle and no doubt those outside my window are emitting right now. Then again a silly cow was just on the radio emitting crap, calling for the resignation of Woods. The great party conference in the weekend may have emboldened her I suppose.
Yeah… in the Herald there's currently a sustained campaign of letters to the editor re-various minsters. They are short and always end up with a smart-arse quip denigrating the minister. The quips all have a familiar ring to them. In other words, one person is composing the letters then emailing them out to National members who are in turn submitting them to the Herald as their own work.
Its a well known political ploy the National Party in particular use extensively.
Astroturfing?
This is some good investigative journalism for a student paper! Also gets pretty unpleasant at times, so I won't quote from all links. This one is from the accompanying guest editorial:
https://www.critic.co.nz/columns/article/9608/guest-editorial-i-spent-six-months-undercover-in-a
https://www.critic.co.nz/features/article/9610/fascism-20-lessons-from-six-months-in-new-zealands
This is perhaps the most concerning issue – though fascists inbedded in the military, and the risk of further hate crimes are strong competition. Even if they don't succeed in complete infiltration, with enough sockpuppets and a loud enough voices, a small focused group can convince a political party that there is strong public support for a change in certain policies. Especially if they are desperate to avoid irrelevancy:
https://www.critic.co.nz/news/article/9609/investigation-sheds-light-on-aotearoas-largest-neo
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/far-right-extremist-no-longer-in-army-reserves
The interview this morning on the news was PR murky – arguing forecasted demand against supply provision without actually saying whether:
A: They got the forecasting wrong
B: The generators couldn't deliver to what was forecast
I basically got the impression the forecasting was cocked up without anyone saying that directly.
Network resilience was one of the many principles torched by the Bradford reforms.
Deferred/cancelled or simply ignored in pursuit of that precious ROI for shareholders, lines trusts etc.
This is the inevitable outcome and guess what….nobody’s fault as designed.
On the news this morning was the release of another Climate Change report that referred to more extreme weather events – giving it appears fires in places like the USA and Greece, and perhaps cold weather without accompanying wind near Hamilton . . .
The extent to which we are getting weather events that are outside previous experience, may make it difficult to predict electricity demand at that time – doubtless there will be some changes to models.
Also on the news was the observation that SUVs now represent something like 55% of new vehicle purchases, which was reported as at least partially explained a 13% increase in vehicle emissions.
For electricity, we clearly need to investigate easing both demand (through local storage such as batteries?) and supply (by bringing back some of the wind projects that were deferred when there was talk of smelter closure, but also by better insulation of houses etc).
On which news?
Had to laugh at Hariet Hubbard on the opposition benches claiming that the government are rude and wont listed to her because she knows everything. NO wonder the nationals love her because she can sidestep every argument with puritanical foot stamping as if parliament is some sort of church where farting and telling the truth is not allowed especially when the bill at hand is rectifying the nonsense from the collins reforms to the family court.
btw I do not speak the Maori Language and reserve the right to translate any and all language back into English.