MONGREL MOB LEADER THREATENS PETERS WITH LEGAL ACTION
"Originally published by Māori Television
A Mongrel Mob leader accused of helping a Covid-positive sex worker obtain documentation to travel to Northland has lashed out at the allegations and threatened legal action.
…Hawke's Bay Mongrel Mob leader Harry Tam says the claims levelled by former Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters are not true. "If Winston said it, he needs to prove it… If he's not going to apologise, we will need to look at legal action," Tam said.
Peters appeared on TV3's Newshub on Saturday morning levelling the allegations which had been circulating on social media and encrypted messaging app 'WhatsApp' on Friday night.
"This person came here with a gang member assigned essential worker status, falsified the reason she was coming," Peters said. "[She] engaged with people at a hotel in Whangārei… and went to a marae up North which hid her from the public and, dare I say it, the police. The police got a warrant to arrest her."
Peters claimed the Government found out about the situation "days and days ago".
"How he got up North, that is very difficult to understand in terms of the permit system, but he brought in, under false premises, this woman with him. The rest, sadly, is catastrophic," Peters said.
Tam told Te Ao Māori News that Peters was off the mark, while he had travelled to Tāmaki under a government exemption to support efforts to get gang members vaccinated, he travelled alone and had never been to Northland since arriving in Auckland.
…
Tam said mainstream media had been irresponsible in its coverage of the allegations first raised by a reporter at an impromptu press conference on Friday evening.
You missed out this paragraph while cutting around the photo; Gezza. It seems to be the core of the issue:
Tam told Te Ao Māori News, Peters was off the mark, while he had travelled to Tāmaki under a government exemption to support efforts to get gang members vaccinated, he travelled alone and had never been to Northland since arriving in Auckland.
“I didn’t bring anyone with me. Where did he get his information from? What is his source?’ he said.
Peters may be too used to having parliamentary privilege! But he was not speaking in parliament, and he's not even an MP anymore. A reminder why it is important to cite sources, and always use the term; allegedly (however sarcastically), in any potentially defamatory statement based on hearsay. Particularly onsite where unfounded speculation may sometimes put TS at legal risk and waste mod time.
The quote was the paragraph I was referring to; Gezza (the preceding paragraph was included for context – probably should have italicized for clarity). So your omission was intentional? I assumed that you had simply made a cut and paste typo.
Just watched the original Peters interview, which was a bit embarrassing really. But he certainly wasn't being taken out of context. Relevant section starts at 1:30 mark on video. The interviewer goes out of his way to offer Peters a lifeline at 2:13 "How do you know all this?…", but he'd rather drown:
"I am absolutely certain of my sources, otherwise I wouldn't be saying what I'm saying," said Peters, urging the media to verify the claims with officials.
"Let them deny it, and they won't. But when the press was told yesterday at 6:30pm by Minister Hipkins that he didn't, that simply wasn't true. Frankly, we will never get through this crisis if we aren't transparent and honest."
Yes, I just watched the whole interview. Peters seems to have dug himself into a hole over the claims Tam & the infected exemption letter cheat travelled together. It remains to be seen whether Peters subsequently issues a correction and/or Tam actually initiates Legal proceedings.
But, beyond that issue, Peters got in some solid body blows against the government for other shortcomings. In particular, that the Health Dept adopted completely the wrong strategy for prioritising Māori & Pasifika vaccinations in not involving Māori heath orgs in the rollout – a claim which is being made increasingly often in numerous media sources.
Also in the very slow vaccine supplies we had to start off with.
Winston Peters is, a "political pro." (Amanda Gillies). A "political predator" (Mark Richardson). An "opportunist" (Duncan Garner).
Peters is all these things.
"Whenever there's civil unrest, when anything's going down no matter how small the group might be, Winston is in there politically grandstanding." M.R.
The rough sleepers, drug users, sex workers, prisoners, the gangs, are the lowest and most alienated and marginalised sections of our New Zealand society.
It was always known, (and feared), that if the virus got into these marginalised communities that the virus would be hard to contain and would spread like wildfire.
I see the infections in the gangs as a symptom of the government's failure to control the virus, not the cause of it, as some like Peters are trying to make out.
It is notable that these groups were not singled out for blame and scapegoating, until after the drop in alert level, which just as predicted by some experts, infection numbers reversed their decline and started rising again.
Lockdowns are like herd immunity, the harder the Lockdown, the more people who practice it, even the few, who don't are protected.
It will be interesting to see, (from an epidemioligist modeling point of view), if the irresponsible actions of the two alleged sex workers who travelled illegally throughout Northland on their business, spark off a major outbreak.
In a time of national crisis scapegoating and blaming is dangerous and should have no place.
Whatever the eventual outcome. Let us hope that this is the end of Winston Peters predatory and opportunistic brand of politics.
DV @ 1.2
It's possible somebody was set up and it flowed from there. I commented along the lines yesterday that there were some nasty right-wing political buggers floating around the North in the past, and they're probably still there.
The lowest members are very poor, the leaders are not poor.
This may be true, it may not.
Whatever.
The fact is, even if Harry Tam is financially better placed than most of his gang's members, Tam would soon be reduced to absolute poverty in litigation with Winston Peters, who has far greater resources and the backing of some people with very deep pockets.
For this reason I think Harry Tam, though he may want to, would be ill advised to take a case against Winston Peters.
….It was John Kenneth Galbraith, the hyperliterate economic sage, who coined the phrase “conventional wisdom.” He did not consider it a compliment. “We associate truth with convenience,” he wrote,
….conventional wisdom in Galbraith’s view must be simple,
convenient, comfortable, and comforting—though not necessarily true.
….if you were to have spent a little time around the housing projects where crack was so often sold, you might have noticed something strange: not only did most of the crack dealers still live in the projects, but most of them still lived at home with their moms. And then you may have scratched your head and said, “Why is that?”
…the eminent poverty scholar William Julius Wilson, promptly sent Venkatesh into the field. His assignment: to visit Chicago’s poorest black neighborhoods with a clipboard and a seventy-question, multiple-choice survey. This was the first question on the survey:
How do you feel about being black and poor?
a. Very bad
b. Bad
c. Neither bad nor good
d. Somewhat good
e. Very good
…..In reality, he now knew, the answers should have looked like this:
a. Very bad
b. Bad
c. Neither bad nor good
d. Somewhat good
e. Very good
f. Fuck you
….Sometimes the gangsters were annoyed by his curiosity; more often they took advantage of his willingness to listen. “It’s a war out here, man,” one dealer told him. “I mean, every day people struggling to survive, so you know, we just do what we can. We ain’t got no choice, and if that means getting killed, well shit, it’s what niggers do around here to feed their family.”
……Over the years the gang endured bloody turf wars and, eventually, a federal indictment.
A member named Booty, who was one rank beneath J. T., came to Venkatesh with a story. Booty was being blamed
by the rest of the gang for bringing about the indictment, he told Venkatesh, and therefore suspected that he would soon be killed. (He was right.)
…..Booty was feeling guilty. He wanted to leave behind something that might somehow benefit the next generation. He handed Venkatesh a stack of well-worn spiral notebooks—blue and black, the gang’s colors. They represented a complete record of four years’ worth of the gang’s financial transactions. At J. T.’s direction, the ledgers had been rigorously compiled: sales, wages, dues, even the death benefits paid out to the families of murdered members.
……It would be the first time that such priceless financial data had fallen into an economist’s hands, affording an analysis of a heretofore uncharted criminal enterprise.
….Now, here’s what it cost J. T., excluding wages, to bring in that $32,000 per month:
Wholesale cost of drugs $ 5,000
Board of directors fee 5,000
Mercenary fighters 1,300
Weapons 300
Miscellaneous 2,400
Total monthly nonwage costs $14,000
…..the money the gang took in went to its members, starting with J. T. Here is the single line item in the gang’s budget that
made J. T. the happiest:
Net monthly profit accruing to leader $8,500
At $8,500 per month, J. T.’s annual salary was about $100,000—tax-free, of course…..
As Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters was on $326,697 per year, and had to pay tax on that.
If I had to guess, I would guess that Harry Tam would be getting way less than his American counterparts. But assuming, (just for argument's sake), that a New Zealand gang leader like Harry Tam had an analogous business plan and salary to match that of his American soul mates. Then Harry Tam might be able to match Winston Peters, in meeting the costs of litigation. Except for one difference, unlike Winston Peters, Harry Tam does not have the backing of secret wealthy donors, prepared to hide their donations in trusts and slush funds.
New Zealand First Foundation scandal: Charged pair alleged to have deposited $740,000
8 Oct, 2020 12:08 PM
…..RNZ reported that the foundation collected donations of more than $500,000 from April 2017 to March 2019.
During that period, the foundation reportedly spent more than $425,000 on campaign advertising expenses, political consultants' fees, renting and setting up a campaign HQ in Wellington, and running the party's website….
……for the [monthly] wages that J. T. paid his gang members:
Combined wages paid to all three officers $2,100
Combined wages paid to all foot soldiers 7,400
Total monthly gang wages (excluding leader) $9,500
…..So J. T. paid his employees $9,500, a combined monthly salary that
was only $1,000 more than his own official salary. J. T.’s hourly wage
was $66. His three officers, meanwhile, each took home $700 a
month, which works out to about $7 an hour. And the foot soldiers earned just $3.30 an hour, less than the minimum wage. So the answer to the original question—if drug dealers make so much money, why are they still living with their mothers?—is that, except for the top cats, they don’t make much money. They had no choice but to live with their mothers. For every big earner, there were hundreds more
just scraping along.
It is clear to me that there is no way Harry Tam can afford the costs of litigation, to be able to take Winston Peters to court, not unless Tam received lots of small donations from thousands of ordinary New Zealanders.
If Tam goes down the path of litigation, for him to have a 'Give a Little' page would be a necessity. Whether it would get much support is another question.. But I would flick him a $20.
He was a social worker, back in the day. He took a not inconsiderable personal risk and approached the Dunedin chapter of the MM. Got them their welfare entitlements, found them housing. They stopped accepting prospects.
How did National “wreck all his work” exactly?
They found 'reasons' to back out of everything that he'd arranged.
who was committing the crime when it “went up”
Chiefly a new gang, ultra violent, forget their name but they lived near Ravensdown.
I don't know, but I doubt it. The US has very weak welfare provision compared to New Zealand. I would guess that Tam and his family have a state home. At least I hope so.
The point I was trying to make; Despite the 'conventional wisdom' gangs don't make a lot of money.
I am also guessing, that because of our welfare safety net, New Zealand gangs are not as viciously murderous and criminaly mercenary as they are in the U.S.
Count me in; if Harry Tam has to set up a 'Give a Little' page, for a legal case against Peters.
Yeah, nah. Harry won't be taking any legal action. He knows he'd be cross-examined and would almost certainly be asked what he had to do to earn his gang patch.
It's been reported that Harry is a convicted wife-beater. You can see why Winston won't be going to court anytime soon.
Tam was convicted in 1994 of assaulting his wife and was sentenced to three months' periodic detention and six months' supervision.
Mildon says she experienced abuse herself.
"One time Harry attacked me in the middle of the night while I was in bed asleep and tried to strangle me. The police have evidence and photographs," she told Newshub.
"Harry says I'm a liar and a violent, jealous woman, who beat him three times…. People accuse you of things they're actually doing themselves."
What the hell does the information you provided have to do with the legal action that has been proposed?
Unlike your proposition, the justice system is supposed to rely on evidence relevant to the case and to exclude the irrelevant history of the person who seeks a remedy for an alleged defamation.
Since we are bringing up the past criminal outrages, as apparently relevant to this case: Winston Peters is a politician who has, at various times in his career, opportunistically appealed to the worst racist views and paranoia of Pakeha New Zealand against Asians and even Maori to gain increased electoral support.
At the height of Peters Asian bashing campaign, inflamed by Peters racist rhetoric, there were a number of unprovoked physical attacks and bashings of Asian New Zealanders one of the most notorious occuring in Queen Street.
It was and is a perfectly valid linguistic technique. The only reason it became a story is that lazy and incompetent reporters figured they had a stick they could use to beat the Left. Little may have many faults, but being motivated by racism to express concern about the out of control property speculation which has pushed housing out of reach of 60% of New Zealanders isn't one of them.
It has no more credibility than the antisemitism slur used on Corbyn – a political vehicle for the unelectable Starmer, and a way for Israeli intelligence to negate one of the few informed voices on the Palestinian question.
What an effective strategy to get a vax-reluctant community in a particular region, to get vaxxed, pronto, would claims of an invasion by a busy, Covid-infected sex-worker be.
For nearly a decade, the vanguard of the transgender-rights movement — doctors, activists, celebrities and transgender influencers — has defined the boundaries of the new orthodoxy surrounding transgender medical care: What’s true, what’s false, which questions can and cannot be asked.
They said it was perfectly safe to give children as young as nine puberty blockers and insisted that the effects of those blockers were “fully reversible.” They said that it was the job of medical professionals to help minors to transition. They said it was not their job to question the wisdom of transitioning, and that anyone who did — including parents — was probably transphobic. They said that any worries about a social contagion among teen girls was nonsense. And they never said anything about the distinct possibility that blocking puberty, coupled with cross-sex hormones, could inhibit a normal sex life.
Their allies in the media and Hollywood reported stories and created content that reaffirmed this orthodoxy. Anyone who dared disagree or depart from any of its core tenets, including young women who publicly detransitioned, were inevitably smeared as hateful and accused of harming children.
But that new orthodoxy has gone too far, according to two of the most prominent providers in the field of transgender medicine: Dr. Marci Bowers, a world-renowned vaginoplasty specialist who operated on reality-television star Jazz Jennings; and Erica Anderson, a clinical psychologist at the University of California San Francisco’s Child and Adolescent Gender Clinic.
In the course of their careers, both have seen thousands of patients. Both are board members of the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH), the organization that sets the standards worldwide for transgender medical care. And both are transgender women.
Earlier this month, Anderson told me she submitted a co-authored op-ed to The New York Times warning that many transgender healthcare providers were treating kids recklessly. The Times passed, explaining it was “outside our coverage priorities right now.”
This is the US, where healthcare is not standardise, but the approach seems to be consistent.
The Herald online has very regular stories about broadcasters. I don't click on them. Some I know are broadcasters even though I've never heard or seen them broadcast.
Important stories: "Why I never eat bread," or "Shock over my cat," or "Worst time of the year for…"
Kim Hill is a voice on the radio. I don't need to know what she eats for breakfast or some personal tragedy she went through just before her 4th birthday.
Seymour has a carefully cultivated pretense of being harmless, non-scary and well-intentioned. But before he appeared on the programme, Q&A did us the service of a tiki tour through the various gruesome far-right ghouls who have been his predecessors as former ACT's leaders. I had to leave the room, there is only so much loathing one person can process.
Sorry but that is funny. In so many ways it is unbelievable. You managed to both exagerate seeming opinions of Seymour while belittling the actual affect the far right nut jobs have on the rest of the worlds vulnerable at the same time.
A pretty fair definition of "far right" would be "somebody who undermines the vaccination programme by attacking a service which encourages those we most need to reach and get vaccinated, and he does so simply because of their race".
Just out of interest do you think Labour are far right from their "Asian sounding surnames" of house buyers and Winston is fro his "Two Wongs don't make a white" stuff.
Well,, I think the Labour thing is more tory narrative than accuracy (after all, probabilistic linkage is a key feature of the IDI), but Winston stood by Ron "keep Muslims off planes" Prosser. So definite far right tendencies in that regard.
But ACT are pretty far right compared to most other parties (although juco is trying to nab their territory).
There are many possible grounds for comparing Seymour to Key. In disingenuousness they are probably about equal – but in terms of efficacy in achieving their nefarious objectives, Key rates highly, but Seymour doesn't rate at all.
Yeah. It hasn't been mentioned in media much, but would be interesting to know how many, not only breast cancer screenings, but also other cancer screenings have been turfed over Covid and how many mean it makes it too late.
While idiot journalists still ask "How many deaths from Covid are acceptable?"
Probably never will know.
It is a stupid question given the circumstances whether it is asked to any party.
Seymour basically just answered with "How many others are acceptable to avoid your imaginary number of Covid deaths?"
Yeah I don't like that line of questioning either.
Like if the government lowered the speed limit on all roads to 10kms we'd probably have fewer deaths but we are all ok with (or at least accept) that certain numbers of people are going to die each year
I'm sure all the politicians have a number to be under but I'm of the view that all the information is out there so get vaccinated or don't, mask up or don't, self isolate as much as possible or don't and lets all open up
I find it a bit weird that people think the govt and opposition parties don't take into account different loss of life acceptable or unacceptable into consideration every day.
If they didn't they would be a bit shit considering their resources.
Ardern will have a nightmare figure, an acceptable figure and a easy win next election figure.
I see no evidence for that conclusion. While she is not stupid, she is mostly only concentrating on ONE thing – Covid. And she is voluble in deflecting & refusing to acknowledge any shortcomings in the strategies to date.
By now she SHOULD be well-versed in the numbers and the strategies, & she & Robertson have somehow got out of sync a time or two. Her other areas of responsibility she seems less familiar with & less on top of. Child povidy, anyone?
Jacinda Ardern is well versed in what is needed going forward. She is acknowledged as an inspirational Leader, and our covid stats and GDP bear this out. You may not like her style, but to say "only covid" does not flatter you.
Child poverty is worse everywhere because.. Covid. Our biggest issue currently. You are doing what JK used to do.. attacking strength. I C U.
Child povidy had got worse on her watch BEFORE Covid, Patricia.
Being “inspirational” is not the same thing as being “a brainy chick”.
I know she’s from the Wycaddo ruralities, so she’s got that lazy rural central Cow cocky diction, but God I wish she’d stop saying sumpthink, anythink, & nuthink, & would also learn to pronounce t’s as t’s & not d’s. Also not the hallmarks of “a brainy chick”.
Somebody has smartened up her te reo Māori pronunciation. Surely someine can take her aside now & smarten up her English pronunciation.
The thing about the speed limit is that it won't save lives if people start to ignore it.
For all of those causes of death mentioned, the government spends literally millions every year to try to stop people dying from them. But with covid's infection rate, it's not like we can half arse it and just have an "acceptable" number of dead. That shit spreads. Even with moderate controls, we need absurdedly high vax rates across the board to avoid literally thousands of deaths a year.
Sure, number of people dying directly from covid under different circumstances is part of the decision-making matrix, but it's definitely not the only number. Turns out a healthy society is better for the economy than being a plagueland, even if the tory narrative doesn't agree.
And the last couple of years raises the wider question about whether maybe we've been accepting preventable deaths because we were used to them and they were lower than 50 years ago, but actually we can do a lot better if we did things like border tests for influenza, rsv, and maybe a few others.
Stuff Comments continues to be the sewer of conspiracy theories and flat out fibs. Of course that is commonplace on social media (and blogs!) but Stuff is supposed to be a professional media outlet with moderation on their comments threads (as they claim). Sadly, they barely bother.
Example: Tracy Watkins' column (itself bad enough) is open for lies comments. So we get rubbish like this –
why was the prime minister a last minute cancellation on Friday for the press conference? No one was informed least of all the press gallery. She then surfaced in Rotorua only to once again disappear without informing anyone of her movements
Yes, the PM of New Zealand mysteriously disappears and hides because it's a Conspiracy!11!!
Anybody with Google (i.e anybody at all) could fact-check in 5 seconds and see where the PM has been. Then you chuck the pork pies in the bin. That is literally the job of the moderators employed by Stuff. Or rather, it should be. But they can't be arsed.
You did exceptionally well to find a Stuff article they were allowing comments on. These days they’re rarer than hens’ teeth.
I don’t really understand your apparent apoplexy about the comments on Watkins column (tho I’d put her in the Sir John Key fangirl club) because from my perspective most Stuff journos have been afflicted by Jacindamania since she first rescued Labour from electoral oblivion & only a few of the opinion writers generally dare to criticise her.
(I don't agree with Watkins much either, but op-eds are like that, always gonna vary. Obviously not the issue here).
The comment I quoted appears to have been removed now, after several hours, which illustrates how hopeless their system is. They only remove the lies after they are challenged – as I did in this case and I expect many others did too. Other misinformation remains and who has the time to spend their Sunday cleaning up the Stuff website? It is their job.
They are legally and ethically the publisher, and moderating is a minimum requirement. "Opinion" is not a defence: "Ardern eats kittens" is an opinion, and also defamation.
“A man brutally attacked while walked home in Flaxmere says he felt a blow on his neck and ran and fell, not realising he had been stabbed. The man was then stabbed three more times on the back before he was able to get up and run again to an area with houses, where his calls for help were answered.
Police and the man’s family are now appealing for help to find the alleged attacker behind the stabbing, which occured bout 5am on Saturday on Chatham Rd, near Chatham Park.
The victim, a man in his 20s, told Hawke’s Bay Today he was walking home from a nightclub at the time.
Hmmm. Now that you've raised this matter, it does sound like a prison shanking-type of attack. Wonder if it was random or the victim was specifically targeted – wearing the wrong colours in the wrongvend of town, or whatever?
Wrong place at wrong time, wrong colours, looked at his girl in the bar, a girl looked at him in the bar, owes him money, mistaken identity, said something on the way home…
Best explanation yet to why the government changed tack.
The likely net result is countries such as Singapore, Australia and New Zealand will see less suffering and tragedy than Europe or the US saw last year. Exposing a vaccinated population to the virus is different because vaccines protect people from the most harmful effect of COVID-19 infections.
Singapore, for example, has recorded 46,637 new cases in the last four weeks, but on Thursday only 297 required oxygen and 40 people were so sick they had to be in intensive care.
Some people still die. Last week, Singapore recorded its 100th death related to COVID-19. As of Thursday, fatalities had reached 136. As those tents outside hospitals show, the surge in cases has put the health system under pressure.
[…]
On Thursday, Singapore reported 3483 new infections. Teo believes the true number is likely twice that, or even more. People who don’t feel ill don’t get tested, he notes.
Some 98.4 per cent of those who tested positive in the last 28 days had no, or mild, symptoms. But for 18 months people have been living in fear. Now policymakers have to change that messaging.
“Australia and Singapore share many common experiences.” Teo says. “Since the pandemic began, our countries have done so well telling people that ‘you don’t want to be affected; it affects you, your household, the whole community’.
“Now we’re saying, ‘even if you are infected, it’s OK, stay at home, stay isolated, recover and that will be all right for you’.
It is about time we had this. I don't care what you say or who you vote for. I don't care if you would never vote for another party out of some seird nutty principle I don't get.
Rate the leaders NOW. (purely personal opinion)
Ardern – 6/10
Let's face it. She was a bit shit Monday and Tuesday getting the message across, when tcomunication has always been her greatest asset. Maybe her annoyed boyfriend will stop tweeting about it . And no matter how much you try to justify it, your vaccine roll out was one of the shittest in the world. And targets aren't bad.
Collins 2/10
Give it up love. Mate Your writing is on the wall so likely you might as well be holding the piece of chalk
Seymour 9/10
Would never vote for the dude, but winner on every day so far.. The fact he is even mentioned is interesting. Also did a good interview with one dumb journalist.
Ardern – 7/10 While I agree with your rating that she still manages to convince a helluva lot of people that she knows what shes doing and is in control of the situation means she gets a higher rating from me
Collins – 1/10 The media hate her and won't give her the time of day (the fix is in) but National still shouldn't roll her
Seymour – 8/10 Is doing very well but just needs a little more polishing
The Greens – Conspicuous by their absence so no rating, would probably recommend that JAG never be interviewed on live tv ever again
Careful now Puckish, there's some you don't want to provoke.
Marama Davidson turned up for a photo op at the opening of a bus door, which reflects the Greens' full and enthusiastic support of the vaccination campaign.
Yes, but pointing out cancer patients and other patients are being screwed because their appointments are being put off because of covid is frankly not opposition moaning.
Seymour started the interview with that goofy-looking grin. He shouldn't try to smile for the cameras when it doesn't come naturally. There's nothing wrong with just having an 'interested' look on one's face when the cameras start rolling for a tv interview.
Ok. Jack Tame I rate as probably TVNZ's worst political interviewer. He wasted far too much time trying to get Seymour to name an acceptable number of Covid deaths, when no political leader is going to go there.
He should have been thinking on his arse & asking Seymour questions related to ACT's strategic Covid plan. Like, HOW does he propose to get MOH to work with private industry over rapid antigen testing, vaccine rollouts, exactly what additional capacity for ICU has he calculated would become available & where from, & where would it go into place. That sort of thing.
Corin Dann would leave Jack Tame in the dust. Q+A is rooted with Tame. That's why I've given up watching it altogether. They've send an overgrown boy to do an adult's job.
Ratings:
Ardern – 5/10. This week's announcements were a thoroughly confusing omnishambles. Not at all like the start of the Covid campaign last year when stuff was dropped in all our letterboxes & the messaging was expressly simple,comprehensive, & clear – at least in the English language versions. I think Ardern's credibility/ believability has taken a hit last week.
Collins – 0/10. Dead woman walking. There is nothing Collins can do or say that will persuade anywhere near enuf voters that she would be an acceptable PM of this country. She's an unmitigated disaster for National, & everyone with a functioning brain knows it. Best thing Ardern & Labour have going for them.
Seymour – 7/10. Actually currently probably IS the leader of the Opposition. Sounds credible, is able to make his plan sound sensible, is a good, clear communicator, handled Tame well – in fact he ended up owning the lad.
He's a p***k Gezza. He dismembers the truth to the point where he doesn't even try to hide it because he knows the media will let him get away with it. I despair at the idiots out there in voter-land who seem unable to see through the shallow little toad.
A lot of that support is most likely waiting to rush back to National when Collins is rolled. As long as their next choice isn’t Bridges, or another loon.
At the Public Health blog yesterday Prof Nick Wilson, Dr Jennifer Summers and Prof Michael Baker advocate for more and stricter regional borders including blocking minor roads with containers. They suggest regional areas of elimination and for now suppression in Auckland but perhaps back to elimination later.
Taiwan's big outbreak wasn't Delta – it was alpha. Also significant is which community the virus infects. Even Michael Baker thoughr that the level of compliance in South Auckland's most deprived wouldn't have improved if Auckland had stayed at level 4 any longer. Note that Victoria locked down hard and fast as well but has failed to quash the nasty virus because of significant lack of compliance and is now at the 1800 to 1900 cases per day level. Having said that, Singapore is getting over 3000 cases a day but hardly any serious illness or deaths with over 80% full vaccination and generally compliant population. It's not a great time to be in government and have to make such difficult decisions.
And note that Taiwan seem to have achieved this without extensive lockdowns. The really smart thing they seem to have done is ramp up their own domestic production of comfortable and effective facemasks.
By paying attention to details, like non-scratchy materials, design to minimise fogging of eye glasses and loops that go around the back of the head rather than irritating the ears – plus of course high grade filtration – they've made it far easier for people to use them routinely and effectively.
"Taiwan's big outbreak wasn't Delta – it was alpha"
So far, it seems it seems they same tools have worked to both prevent the delta transmission as well as suppress the alpha outbreak.
Taiwan has now had five brushes with Delta, including two sizeable outbreaks. Thus far it has prevailed, and in a sense, I’m breathing easier with that knowledge. But I’m still haunted by our lapse earlier this year and hope we don’t fall prey to our complacency once again.
His seven-year-long inquiry into the conflict ruined the reputation of Tony Blair, Labour’s most successful leader since Clement Attlee, by exposing his subservient relationship with the US president, George W Bush, and confirming that the UK and the US had not exhausted the peace process when they went to war to topple the Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.
That decision cost 179 British lives, and the death of around 150,000 Iraqis. The wrecked country subsequently saw the rise, and later fall, of the terrorist group Islamic State, and is still suffering from the impact of the war today.
Collins puts the boot in to Ardern…
……………………………………..
“National Party leader Judith Collins is calling on the Prime Minister to “come out from the shadows” after several days of no-shows at previously daily press conferences.
Collins says for neither Jacinda Ardern or any of her ministers being forced to front – especially today when the Ministry of Health announced 60 new Covid cases in a written statement – is poor timing as the outbreak slowly spreads around the North Island.
“New Zealanders will be unsettled by the news – delivered via written statement – that we have 60 new community cases today and yet our Prime Minister did not even get one of her senior ministers to stand in for her at the podium.
“National have been critical at times about the unnecessary press conferences that were held when case numbers were very low, but if Jacinda Ardern thought it necessary to speak directly to the media then, why now with 60 cases is she missing in action?
“It is clear there are questions that Prime Minister Ardern does not want to be asked.”
If Judith thinks Rotorua, Hawke's Bay, Gisborne etc are "the shadows", no wonder National lost so many seats in the provinces. Again, it's all performative, role play with no meaning … the alternative whinge is "why doesn't the PM get out of Wellington and meet real Kiwis?". Yawn.
I suppose the next page in the tired old playbook is to claim that tomorrow's post-Cab only happens because National boldly demanded it, never mind that it happens every week.
So true observer, and I have not heard one word of criticism about her christian buddy the apostle from the apparently devout Collins. Those 60 cases dovetail with his protest.
The stupid thing is that not long ago Collins et al. were complaining about the daily 1 pm updates were purely political stunts and now after Ardern has been out doing great work in the provinces getting people to buy into vaccination she's accused of not fronting.
This opposition for opposition's sake, this contrarian mood, this exaggeration and dramatics has not not worked to convince the centre. The contrarian Right will not see National back into power. Now we read that National MPs are financially illiterate.
I knew that when a National MP grumped about high country stations selling for good prices because it would put up the local body rates on farms…………..
Where the f is the government ? no real contact with us for since Thursday, and look at what as happened since then. There are people moving thru boarders, how does someone cross the boarder on multi occasions, I thought that there would be only the actual move? This lack of govt contact is leaving opportunity for people to fill the void left open, which imo is reducing confidence in the govts efforts.
Auckland's rapidly heading for 90% first shot so Ardern and team are taking the show to the provinces and boonies where the resisters are. Makes good sense to me.
We are approaching 150 cases since Thursday. Case in Katikati, A very close contact to the Northland person with Covid and there where abouts is unknown. Should those in Northland be concerned or is the MIA understood to be within Auckland? So the PM is in the East Cape taking the show to the provinces, what of a plan for those other areas that need a boost, what are the plans for them ? Is our government only 1 person and the rest are surplus, IMO the governments should have sufficient talent to cover the PM's absence ? Or are the current events beyond the govt ?
There has been little development previously that that still warranted government announcements at 1:00, yet now nothing?
Collins and Seymour can hardly complain about rising case numbers. They want to 'learn to iive with the virus'. It's here in all its glory. They should enjoy its presence.
It was always going to spread here and so far the government's measures have protected us from an overloaded hospital system and the threat of social conflict due to the disproportionate effect of covid on the underclass, elderly, Maori and Pasifika.
The early Māori & Pasifika vaccine rollout inadequacies were becoming a potential source of real anger & potential conflict but thank goodness sane heads have prevailed on all sides & things are looking much improved with some innovative approaches to getting vaccines to the actual communities concerned, after MOH finally started really listening to – and properly talking with – whanau/aiga/community leaders.
Put the entire North Island in level 4 for a fortnight, and cut off the South Island. It's not going to stop the gang muppets, but it'll keep everyone else safe.
I had a National candidate come in the shop one election trying to tell me how great their proposed tax cuts were going to be for me. I replied that it it would be nice to be paying tax. After a bit of bluster implying that I was some weirdo that actually enjoyed paying tax the penny dropped and he departed, very swiftly. But the expression at moment of comprehension was unforgettable.
Yesterday Winston Peters focussed his attention on the important matter at hand. Tweeting. Like the former, and quite possibly next, orange POTUS, from whom he takes much of his political strategy, Winston is an avid X’er.His message didn’t resemble an historic address this time. In fact it was more reminiscent ...
Buzz from the Beehive A significant decline in natural gas production has given Resources Minister Shane Jones an opportunity to reiterate his enthusiasm for the mining and burning of coal. For good measure, he has praised an announcement from Genesis Energy that it will resume importing coal. He and Energy ...
“Follow the money” is the classic directive to journalists trying to understand where power and influence lie in society. In terms of uncovering who influences various New Zealand political parties and governments, it therefore pays to look at who is funding them. The political parties are legally obliged to make ...
Rob MacCullough writes – Here is my subjective ranking on a “most-left” to “most-right” scale of most of our major NZ Universities, with some anecdotal (and at times amusing) evidence to back up the claim.Extreme Left Auckland University of TechnologyEvidenceThe ...
Eric Crampton writes – I hadn’t thought about this one until a helpful email showed up in my inbox.It’s pretty obvious that income tax thresholds should automatically index with inflation – whether to anchor the thresholds in percentiles of the income distribution, or to anchor against a real ...
Jacqui Van Der Kaay writes – Parliament’s speaker had no option but to refer Green MP Julie Anne Genter to the Privileges Committee for her behaviour in the House last Wednesday evening. The incident, in which she crossed the floor to wave a book and yell at National ...
Gary Judd writes – The Dean of the law school at the Auckland University of Technology is someone called Khylee Quince. I have been sent her social media posting in which she has, over the LawNews headline “Senior King’s Counsel files complaint about compulsory tikanga Maori studies for ...
Cleo Paskal writes – WASHINGTON, D.C.: ‘Many of us have received phone calls from [the opposing camp] telling them if they join the camp they will be given projects for their wards and $300,000 [around US$35,000] each’, says former Malaita Premier Daniel Suidani. The elections in Solomon Islands aren’t ...
With hindsight, it was inevitable that (a) Hamas would agree to the ceasefire deal brokered by Egypt and Qatar and that ( b) Israel would then immediately launch attacks on Rafah, regardless. We might have hoped the concessions made by Hamas would cause Israel to desist from slaughtering thousands more ...
Placards and mourners outside the Kilbirnie Mosque following the Christchurch terror attack: MSD has terminated the Kaiwhakaoranga service, which has been used by 415 families since the attacks. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: The Government’s pledge to only cut ‘back office’ staff rather than ‘frontline’ services is on increasingly shaky ground, with ...
There’s been a few smaller public transport announcements over the last week or so that I thought I’d cover in a single post. Fareshare I’ve long called for Auckland Transport to offer a way to enable employer-subsidised public transport options. The need for this took on even more importance ...
Parliament’s speaker had no option but to refer Green MP Julie Anne Genter to the Privileges Committee for her behaviour in the House last Wednesday evening. The incident, in which she crossed the floor to wave a book and yell at National Minister Matt Doocey, reflects poorly on Genter and ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Who likes being sneered at? Nobody. Worse yet, when the sneerer has their facts all wrong, and might well be an idiot.The sneer in question is The adults are in charge now, and it is a sneer offered in retort to criticism of this new Government, no matter how well ...
When in government, Labour pushed to extend the Parliamentary term to four years, to reduce accountability and our ability to vote out a bad government. And now, they're trying to do it through the member's ballot, with a Four-Year Parliamentary Term Legislation Bill. The bill at least requires a referendum ...
A ballot for a single Member's Bill was held today, and the following bill was drawn: Public Works (Prohibition of Compulsory Acquisition of Māori Land) Amendment Bill (Hūhana Lyndon) The bill would prevent the government from stealing Māori land in breach of Te Tiriti o Waitangi. It ...
Simeon Brown, alongside Wayne Brown, is favouring a political figleaf now in exchange for loading up tens of millions in extra interest costs on Auckland ratepayers. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Ratings agency Standard & Poor’s is pushing back hard at suggestions from Local Government Minister Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown ...
Buzz from the Beehive One headline-grabber from the Beehive yesterday was the OECD’s advice that the government must bring the Budget deficit under control or face higher interest rates. Another was the announcement of a $1.9 billion “investment” in Corrections over the next four years. In the best interests of ...
Chris Trotter writes – Had Zheng He’s fleet sailed east, not west, in the early Fifteenth Century, how different our world would be. There is little reason to suppose that the sea-going junks of the Ming Dynasty, among the largest and most sophisticated sailing vessels ever constructed, would have failed ...
David Farrar writes – Two articles give a useful contrast in balance. Both seek to be neutral explainer articles. This one in the Herald on Social Investment covers the pros and cons nicely. It links to critical pieces and talks about aspects that failed and aspects that are more ...
The tikanga regulations will compel law students to be taught that a system which does not conform with the rule of law is nevertheless law which should be observed and applied…Gary Judd KC writes – I have made a complaint to Parliament’s Regulation ...
The future of Te Huia, the train between Hamilton and Auckland, has been getting a lot of attention recently as current funding for it is only in place till the end of June. The government initially agreed to a five year trial, through to April 2026, but that was subject ...
TL;DR: Hamas has just agreed to Israel’s ceasefire plan. Nelson hospital’s rebuild has been cut back to save money. The OECD suggests New Zealand break up network monopolies, including in electricity. PM Christopher Luxon’s news conference on a prison expansion announcement last night was his messiest yet.Here’s my top six ...
A homicide in Ponsonby, a manhunt with a killer on the run. The nation’s leader stands before a press conference reassuring a frightened nation that he’ll sort it out, he’ll keep them safe, he’ll build some new prison spaces.Sorry what? There’s a scary dude on the run with a gun ...
Hi,I know it’s been awhile since there’s been any Webworm merch — and today that all changes!Over the last four months, I’ve been working with New Zealand artist Jess Johnson to create a series of t-shirts, caps and stickers that are infused with Webworm DNA — and as of right ...
The OECD’s chief economist yesterday laid it on the line for the new Government: bring the deficit under control or face higher Reserve Bank interest rates for longer. And to bring the deficit under control, she meant not borrowing for tax cuts. But there was more. Without policy changes—introducing a ...
After a hiatus of over four months Selwyn Manning and I finally got it together to re-start the “A View from Afar” podcast series. We shall see how we go but aim to do 2 episodes per month if possible. … Continue reading → ...
In 2008, the UK Parliament passed the Climate Change Act 2008. The law established a system of targets, budgets, and plans, with inbuilt accountability mechanisms; the aim was to break the cycle of empty promises and replace it with actual progress towards emissions reduction. The law was passed with near-universal ...
Buzz from the Beehive Local Water Done Well – let’s be blunt – is a silly name, but the first big initiative to put it into practice has gone done well. This success is reflected in the headline on an RNZ report:District mayors welcome Auckland’s new water deal with ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate ConnectionsA farmworker cleans the solar panels of a solar water pump in the village of Jagadhri, Haryana Country, India. (Photo credit: Prashanth Vishwanathan/ IWMI) Decisions made in India over the next few years will play a key role in global ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – The Children’s Minister, Karen Chhour, intends to repeal Section 7AA from the Oranga Tamariki Act 1989 because it creates conflict between claimed Crown Treaty obligations and the child’s best interests. In her words, “Oranga Tamariki’s governing principles and its act should be colour ...
Geoffrey Miller writes – The gloves are off. That might seem to be the undertone of surprisingly tough talk from New Zealand’s foreign and trade ministers. Winston Peters, the foreign minister, may be facing legal action after making allegations about former Australian foreign minister Bob Carr on Radio New Zealand. ...
Brian Easton writes – This is about the time that the Treasury will be locking up its economic forecasts to be published in the 2024 Budget Economic and Fiscal Update (BEFU) on budget day, 30 May. I am not privy to what they will be (I will report on them ...
TL;DR:Winston Peters is reported to have won a budget increase for MFAT. David Seymour wanted his Ministry of Regulation to be three times bigger than the Productivity Commission. Simeon Brown is appointing a Crown Monitor to Watercare to protect the Claytons Crown Guarantee he had to give ratings agencies ...
The gloves are off. That might seem to be the undertone of surprisingly tough talk from New Zealand’s foreign and trade ministers. Winston Peters, the foreign minister, may be facing legal action after making allegations about former Australian foreign minister Bob Carr on Radio New Zealand. Carr had made highly ...
I could be a florist'Round the corner from Rye LaneI'll be giving daisies to craziesBut, baby, I'll wrap you up real safe Oh, I can give you flowers At the end of every dayFor the center of your table, a rainbowIn case you have people 'round to stay Depending on ...
TL;DR: The six key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to May 12 include:PM Christopher Luxon is scheduled to hold a post-Cabinet news conference at 4 pm today. Finance Minister Nicola Willis will give a pre-budget speech on Thursday.Parliament sits from Question Time at 2pm on ...
The price of the foreign affairs “reset” is now becoming apparent, with Defence set to get a funding boost in the Budget. Finance Minister Nicola Willis has confirmed that it will be one of the few votes, apart from Health and Education and possibly Police, which will get an increase ...
A listing of 26 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 28, 2024 thru Sat, May 4, 2024. Story of the week "It’s straight out of Big Tobacco’s playbook. In fact, research by John Cook and his colleagues ...
Yesterday I received come lovely feedback following my Star Wars themed newsletter. A few people mentioned they’d enjoyed reading the personal part at the beginning.I often begin newsletters with some memories, or general thoughts, before commencing the main topic. This hopefully sets the mood and provides some context in which ...
April 30 was going to be the day we’d be calling Mum from London to wish her a happy birthday. Then it became the day we would be going to St. Paul's at Evensong to remember her. The aim of the cathedral builders was to find a way to make their ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – Can’t remember the last book by a Kiwi author you read? Think the NZ government should spend less on the arts in favor of helping the homeless? If so, as far as Newsroom is concerned, you probably deserve to be called a cultural ignoramus ...
Eric Crampton writes – Grudges are bad. Better to move on. But it can be fun to keep a couple of really trivial ones, so you’re not tempted to have other ones. For example, because of the rootkit fiasco of 2005, no Sony products in our household. ...
A new report warns an estimated third of the adult population have unmet need for health care.Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāHere’s the six key things I learned about Aotaroa’s political economy this week around housing, climate and poverty:Politics - Three opinion polls confirmed support for PM Christopher Luxon ...
Today is May the fourth. Which was just a regular day when my mother took me to see the newly released Star Wars at the Odeon in Rotorua. The queue was right around the corner. Some years later this day became known as Star Wars Day, the date being a ...
Buzz from the Beehive Much more media attention is being paid to something Winston Peters said about former Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr than to a speech he delivered to the New Zealand China Council. One word is missing from the speech: AUKUS. But AUKUS loomed large in his considerations ...
Is the economy in another long stagnation? If so, why?This is about the time that the Treasury will be locking up its economic forecasts to be published in the 2024 Budget Economic and Fiscal Update (BEFU) on budget day, 30 May. I am not privy to what they will be ...
The annual list of who's been bribing our politicians is out, and journalists will no doubt be poring over it to find the juiciest and dirtiest bribes. The government's fast-track invite list is likely to be a particular focus, and we already know of one company on the list which ...
In the weeks after the October 7 Hamas attacks on Southern Israel I wrote about the possible 2nd, 3rd and even 4th order effects of the conflict. These included new fronts being opened in the West Bank (with Hamas), Golan … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – It is one of the oldest truisms that there is never a good time for MPs to get a pay rise. This week’s announcement of pay raises of around 2.8% backdated to last October could hardly have come at a worse time, with the ...
David Farrar writes – Newshub reports: Newshub can reveal a fresh allegation of intimidation against Green MP Julie-Anne Genter. Genter is subject to a disciplinary process for aggressively waving a book in the face of National Minister Matt Doocey in the House – but it’s not the first time ...
The Treasury has published a paper today on the global productivity slowdown and how it is playing out in New Zealand: The productivity slowdown: implications for the Treasury’s forecasts and projections. The Treasury Paper examines recent trends in productivity and the potential drivers of the slowdown. Productivity for the whole economy ...
Winston Peters’ comments about former Australian foreign minister look set to be an ongoing headache for both him and Luxon. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for subscribers features co-hosts and , along with regular guests on Gaza and ...
These puppet strings don't pull themselvesYou're thinking thoughts from someone elseHow much time do you think you have?Are you prepared for what comes next?The debating chamber can be a trying place for an opposition MP. What with the person in charge, the speaker, typically being an MP from the governing ...
The land around Lyme Regis, where Meryl Streep once stood, in a hood, on the Cobb, is falling into the sea.MerylThe land around Lyme Regis, around the Cobb that made it rich, has always been falling slowly but surely into the sea. Read more ...
Buzz from the Beehive Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters was bound to win headlines when he set out his thinking about AUKUS in his speech to the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. The headlines became bigger when – during an interview on RNZ’s Morning Report today – he criticised ...
The Post reports on how the government is refusing to release its advice on its corrupt Muldoonist fast-track law, instead using the "soon to be publicly available" refusal ground to hide it until after select committee submissions on the bill have closed. Fast-track Minister Chris Bishop's excuse? “It's not ...
As pressure on it grows, the livestock industry’s approach to the transition to Net Zero is increasingly being compared to that of fossil fuel interests. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / Getty ImagesTL;DR: Here’s the top five news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above ...
The New Zealand Herald reports – Stats NZ has offered a voluntary redundancy scheme to all of its workers as a way to give staff some control over their “future” amidst widespread job losses in the public sector. In an update to staff this morning, seen by the Herald, Statistics New Zealand ...
On Werewolf/Scoop, I usually do two long form political columns a week. From now on, there will be an extra column each week about music and movies. But first, some late-breaking political events:The rise in unemployment numbers for the March quarter was bigger than expected – and especially sharp ...
David Farrar writes – The Herald reports: TVNZ says it is dealing with about 50 formal complaints over its coverage of the latest 1News-Verian political poll, with some viewers – as well as the Prime Minister and a former senior Labour MP – critical of the tone of the 6pm report. ...
Muriel Newman writes – When Meridian Energy was seeking resource consents for a West Coast hydro dam proposal in 2010, local Maori “strenuously” objected, claiming their mana was inextricably linked to ‘their’ river and could be damaged. After receiving a financial payment from the company, however, the Ngai Tahu ...
Alwyn Poole writes – “An SEP,’ he said, ‘is something that we can’t see, or don’t see, or our brain doesn’t let us see, because we think that it’s somebody else’s problem. That’s what SEP means. Somebody Else’s Problem. The brain just edits it out, it’s like a ...
Our trust in our political institutions is fast eroding, according to a Maxim Institute discussion paper, Shaky Foundations: Why our democracy needs trust. The paper – released today – raises concerns about declining trust in New Zealand’s political institutions and democratic processes, and the role that the overuse of Parliamentary urgency ...
This article was prepared for publication yesterday. More ministerial announcements have been posted on the government’s official website since it was written. We will report on these later today …. Buzz from the BeehiveThere we were, thinking the environment is in trouble, when along came Jones. Shane Jones. ...
David Seymour has failed to get the sweeping cuts he wanted to the free and healthy school lunch programme, Labour education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
Hon Willie Jackson has been invited by the Oxford Union to debate the motion “This House Believes British Museums are not Very British’ on May 23rd. ...
Green Party MP Hūhana Lyndon says her Public Works (Prohibition of Compulsory Acquisition of Māori Land) Amendment Bill is an opportunity to right some past wrongs around the alienation of Māori land. ...
A senior, highly respected King’s Counsel with decades of experience in our law courts, Gary Judd KC, has filed a complaint about compulsory tikanga Māori studies for law students - highlighting the utter depths of absurdity this woke cultural madness has taken our society. The tikanga regulations will compel law ...
The Government needs to be clear with the people of the Nelson Marlborough region about the changes it is considering for the Nelson Hospital rebuild, Labour health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall said. ...
Ministers must front up about which projects it will push through under its Fast Track Approvals legislation, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
The Government is again adding to New Zealand’s growing unemployment, this time cutting jobs at the agencies responsible for urban development and growing much needed housing stock. ...
With Minister Karen Chhour indicating in the House today that she either doesn’t know or care about the frontline cuts she’s making to Oranga Tamariki, we risk seeing more and more of our children falling through the cracks. ...
The Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop, today released his decision on twenty recommendations referred to him by the Wellington City Council relating to its Intensification Planning Instrument, after the Council rejected those recommendations of the Independent Hearings Panel and made alternative recommendations. “Wellington notified its District Plan on ...
Rape Awareness Week (6-10 May) is an important opportunity to acknowledge the continued effort required by government and communities to ensure that all New Zealanders can live free from violence, say Ministers Karen Chhour and Louise Upston. “With 1 in 3 women and 1 in 8 men experiencing sexual violence ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government will be delivering a more efficient Healthy School Lunches Programme, saving taxpayers approximately $107 million a year compared to how Labour funded it, by embracing innovation and commercial expertise. “We are delivering on our commitment to treat taxpayers’ money ...
New research on the impacts of extreme weather on coastal marine habitats in Tairāwhiti and Hawke’s Bay will help fishery managers plan for and respond to any future events, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. A report released today on research by Niwa on behalf of Fisheries New Zealand ...
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Winston Peters will lead a broad political delegation on a five-stop Pacific tour next week to strengthen New Zealand’s engagement with the region. The delegation will visit Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, and Tuvalu. “New Zealand has deep and ...
There has been a material decline in gas production according to figures released today by the Gas Industry Co. Figures released by the Gas Industry Company show that there was a 12.5 per cent reduction in gas production during 2023, and a 27.8 per cent reduction in gas production in the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins tonight announced the recipients of the Minister of Defence Awards of Excellence for Industry, saying they all contribute to New Zealanders’ security and wellbeing. “Congratulations to this year’s recipients, whose innovative products and services play a critical role in the delivery of New Zealand’s defence capabilities, ...
Welcome to you all - it is a pleasure to be here this evening.I would like to start by thanking Greg Lowe, Chair of the New Zealand Defence Industry Advisory Council, for co-hosting this reception with me. This evening is about recognising businesses from across New Zealand and overseas who in ...
It is a pleasure to be speaking to you as the Minister for Digitising Government. I would like to thank Akolade for the invitation to address this Summit, and to acknowledge the great effort you are making to grow New Zealand’s digital future. Today, we stand at the cusp of ...
New Zealand is urging both Israel and Hamas to agree to an immediate ceasefire to avoid the further humanitarian catastrophe that military action in Rafah would unleash, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The immense suffering in Gaza cannot be allowed to worsen further. Both sides have a responsibility to ...
A new online data dashboard released today as part of the Government’s school attendance action plan makes more timely daily attendance data available to the public and parents, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. The interactive dashboard will be updated once a week to show a national average of how ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced Rosemary Banks will be New Zealand’s next Ambassador to the United States of America. “Our relationship with the United States is crucial for New Zealand in strategic, security and economic terms,” Mr Peters says. “New Zealand and the United States have a ...
The Government is considering creating a new tier of minerals permitting that will make it easier for hobby miners to prospect for gold. “New Zealand was built on gold, it’s in our DNA. Our gold deposits, particularly in regions such as Otago and the West Coast have always attracted fortune-hunters. ...
Minister for Trade Todd McClay today announced that New Zealand and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will commence negotiations on a free trade agreement (FTA). Minister McClay met with his counterpart UAE Trade Minister Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi in Dubai, where they announced the launch of negotiations on a ...
New Zealand Sign Language Week is an excellent opportunity for all Kiwis to give the language a go, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. This week (May 6 to 12) is New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL) Week. The theme is “an Aotearoa where anyone can sign anywhere” and aims to ...
Six tertiary students have been selected to work on NASA projects in the US through a New Zealand Space Scholarship, Space Minister Judith Collins announced today. “This is a fantastic opportunity for these talented students. They will undertake internships at NASA’s Ames Research Center or its Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), where ...
New Zealanders will be safer because of a $1.9 billion investment in more frontline Corrections officers, more support for offenders to turn away from crime, and more prison capacity, Corrections Minister Mark Mitchell says. “Our Government said we would crack down on crime. We promised to restore law and order, ...
The OECD’s latest report on New Zealand reinforces the importance of bringing Government spending under control, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The OECD conducts country surveys every two years to review its members’ economic policies. The 2024 New Zealand survey was presented in Wellington today by OECD Chief Economist Clare Lombardelli. ...
The Government has delivered on its election promise to provide a financially sustainable model for Auckland under its Local Water Done Well plan. The plan, which has been unanimously endorsed by Auckland Council’s Governing Body, will see Aucklanders avoid the previously projected 25.8 per cent water rates increases while retaining ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters discussed the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and enhanced cooperation in the Pacific with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock during her first official visit to New Zealand today. "New Zealand and Germany enjoy shared interests and values, including the rule of law, democracy, respect for the international system ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop today released his decision on four recommendations referred to him by the Western Bay of Plenty District Council, opening the door to housing growth in the area. The Council’s Plan Change 92 allows more homes to be built in existing and new ...
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MONGREL MOB LEADER THREATENS PETERS WITH LEGAL ACTION
"Originally published by Māori Television
A Mongrel Mob leader accused of helping a Covid-positive sex worker obtain documentation to travel to Northland has lashed out at the allegations and threatened legal action.
…Hawke's Bay Mongrel Mob leader Harry Tam says the claims levelled by former Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters are not true. "If Winston said it, he needs to prove it… If he's not going to apologise, we will need to look at legal action," Tam said.
Peters appeared on TV3's Newshub on Saturday morning levelling the allegations which had been circulating on social media and encrypted messaging app 'WhatsApp' on Friday night.
"This person came here with a gang member assigned essential worker status, falsified the reason she was coming," Peters said. "[She] engaged with people at a hotel in Whangārei… and went to a marae up North which hid her from the public and, dare I say it, the police. The police got a warrant to arrest her."
Peters claimed the Government found out about the situation "days and days ago".
"How he got up North, that is very difficult to understand in terms of the permit system, but he brought in, under false premises, this woman with him. The rest, sadly, is catastrophic," Peters said.
Tam told Te Ao Māori News that Peters was off the mark, while he had travelled to Tāmaki under a government exemption to support efforts to get gang members vaccinated, he travelled alone and had never been to Northland since arriving in Auckland.
…
Tam said mainstream media had been irresponsible in its coverage of the allegations first raised by a reporter at an impromptu press conference on Friday evening.
'It's the media's job to check these things.'"
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/covid-19-delta-outbreak-mongrel-mob-hit-back-at-winston-peters-over-northland-claims/63YJXDDR3A7PLZDK7O4XHVKZQQ/
…………………..
What a hoot. Will be interesting to see where this goes, if anywhere. Tam must not be short of money for lawyers….
You missed out this paragraph while cutting around the photo; Gezza. It seems to be the core of the issue:
Peters may be too used to having parliamentary privilege! But he was not speaking in parliament, and he's not even an MP anymore. A reminder why it is important to cite sources, and always use the term; allegedly (however sarcastically), in any potentially defamatory statement based on hearsay. Particularly onsite where unfounded speculation may sometimes put TS at legal risk and waste mod time.
I think you skimmed over my post too quickly, Forget now?
That paragraph is in there. The only bit that isn’t is your quotation:
“I didn’t bring anyone with me. Where did he get his information from? What is his source?’ he said.”
which I figured readers could see when they clicked on the article link.
The quote was the paragraph I was referring to; Gezza (the preceding paragraph was included for context – probably should have italicized for clarity). So your omission was intentional? I assumed that you had simply made a cut and paste typo.
Just watched the original Peters interview, which was a bit embarrassing really. But he certainly wasn't being taken out of context. Relevant section starts at 1:30 mark on video. The interviewer goes out of his way to offer Peters a lifeline at 2:13 "How do you know all this?…", but he'd rather drown:
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2021/10/gang-leader-harry-tam-denies-winston-peters-claims-he-helped-infected-woman-breach-covid-boundary-sparking-northland-lockdown.html
Yes, I just watched the whole interview. Peters seems to have dug himself into a hole over the claims Tam & the infected exemption letter cheat travelled together. It remains to be seen whether Peters subsequently issues a correction and/or Tam actually initiates Legal proceedings.
But, beyond that issue, Peters got in some solid body blows against the government for other shortcomings. In particular, that the Health Dept adopted completely the wrong strategy for prioritising Māori & Pasifika vaccinations in not involving Māori heath orgs in the rollout – a claim which is being made increasingly often in numerous media sources.
Also in the very slow vaccine supplies we had to start off with.
‘
From the Left and the Right, and the Centre;
Winston Peters is, a "political pro." (Amanda Gillies). A "political predator" (Mark Richardson). An "opportunist" (Duncan Garner).
Peters is all these things.
"Whenever there's civil unrest, when anything's going down no matter how small the group might be, Winston is in there politically grandstanding." M.R.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2017/07/winston-peters-a-political-predator-mark-richardson.html
The rough sleepers, drug users, sex workers, prisoners, the gangs, are the lowest and most alienated and marginalised sections of our New Zealand society.
It was always known, (and feared), that if the virus got into these marginalised communities that the virus would be hard to contain and would spread like wildfire.
I see the infections in the gangs as a symptom of the government's failure to control the virus, not the cause of it, as some like Peters are trying to make out.
It is notable that these groups were not singled out for blame and scapegoating, until after the drop in alert level, which just as predicted by some experts, infection numbers reversed their decline and started rising again.
Lockdowns are like herd immunity, the harder the Lockdown, the more people who practice it, even the few, who don't are protected.
It will be interesting to see, (from an epidemioligist modeling point of view), if the irresponsible actions of the two alleged sex workers who travelled illegally throughout Northland on their business, spark off a major outbreak.
In a time of national crisis scapegoating and blaming is dangerous and should have no place.
Whatever the eventual outcome. Let us hope that this is the end of Winston Peters predatory and opportunistic brand of politics.
Do you think Peters has been set up?
Dunno. He’s a wily old fox. One would think he normally has his radar on for signs of that ?
I am looking forward to the court case.
Me too. Peters has form for allegations that aren’t subsequently backed up by him. But he usually makes them within the protection of the House.
Must say that while I wasn't happy with the last election result it was the best result out of all the bad options
Winston is a blight and I'd rather see National/Act stay in opposition if it meant Winston got back in
DV @ 1.2
It's possible somebody was set up and it flowed from there. I commented along the lines yesterday that there were some nasty right-wing political buggers floating around the North in the past, and they're probably still there.
In my (limited) recent interaction with the gangs, what struck me most forcefully about them was their poverty.
Count me in; if Harry Tam has to set up a 'Give a Little' page, for a legal case against Peters.
The lowest members are very poor, the leaders are not poor.
This may be true, it may not.
Whatever.
The fact is, even if Harry Tam is financially better placed than most of his gang's members, Tam would soon be reduced to absolute poverty in litigation with Winston Peters, who has far greater resources and the backing of some people with very deep pockets.
For this reason I think Harry Tam, though he may want to, would be ill advised to take a case against Winston Peters.
No it is true, no maybe about it.
As far as I'm concerned I'd love to see these duke it out in court and, best case scenario, financially cripple both of them
‘
Jenny how to get there
10 October 2021 at 8:29 am
…..Count me in; if Harry Tam has to set up a 'Give a Little' page, for a legal case against Peters.
Jenny how to get there
10 October 2021 at 10:18 am
This may be true, it may not.
Whatever…..
Really?
From the States:
As Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters was on $326,697 per year, and had to pay tax on that.
If I had to guess, I would guess that Harry Tam would be getting way less than his American counterparts. But assuming, (just for argument's sake), that a New Zealand gang leader like Harry Tam had an analogous business plan and salary to match that of his American soul mates. Then Harry Tam might be able to match Winston Peters, in meeting the costs of litigation. Except for one difference, unlike Winston Peters, Harry Tam does not have the backing of secret wealthy donors, prepared to hide their donations in trusts and slush funds.
To the States again:
It is clear to me that there is no way Harry Tam can afford the costs of litigation, to be able to take Winston Peters to court, not unless Tam received lots of small donations from thousands of ordinary New Zealanders.
If Tam goes down the path of litigation, for him to have a 'Give a Little' page would be a necessity. Whether it would get much support is another question.. But I would flick him a $20.
Me too. I remember how he settled the MM in Dunedin – got them calmed down and stable and helping out their neighbours in South Dunedin.
Then the Gnats wrecked all his work so they could pretend to be 'tough on crime'. Crime went up.
Tam got the MM “calmed down” from what?
How did National “wreck all his work” exactly?
And who was committing the crime when it “went up”.
He was a social worker, back in the day. He took a not inconsiderable personal risk and approached the Dunedin chapter of the MM. Got them their welfare entitlements, found them housing. They stopped accepting prospects.
How did National “wreck all his work” exactly?
They found 'reasons' to back out of everything that he'd arranged.
who was committing the crime when it “went up”
Chiefly a new gang, ultra violent, forget their name but they lived near Ravensdown.
Is Harry Tam still living with his mum, Jenny?
I don't know, but I doubt it. The US has very weak welfare provision compared to New Zealand. I would guess that Tam and his family have a state home. At least I hope so.
The point I was trying to make; Despite the 'conventional wisdom' gangs don't make a lot of money.
I am also guessing, that because of our welfare safety net, New Zealand gangs are not as viciously murderous and criminaly mercenary as they are in the U.S.
Thank goodness.
That's your choice but maybe consider flicking the money to a charity instead
Count me in; if Harry Tam has to set up a 'Give a Little' page, for a legal case against Peters.
Yeah, nah. Harry won't be taking any legal action. He knows he'd be cross-examined and would almost certainly be asked what he had to do to earn his gang patch.
It's been reported that Harry is a convicted wife-beater. You can see why Winston won't be going to court anytime soon.
Tam was convicted in 1994 of assaulting his wife and was sentenced to three months' periodic detention and six months' supervision.
Mildon says she experienced abuse herself.
"One time Harry attacked me in the middle of the night while I was in bed asleep and tried to strangle me. The police have evidence and photographs," she told Newshub.
"Harry says I'm a liar and a violent, jealous woman, who beat him three times…. People accuse you of things they're actually doing themselves."
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2021/08/harry-tam-s-ex-on-alleged-abuse-intimidation-and-how-mongrel-mob-linked-rehab-funding-is-conflict-of-interest.html
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/ex-con-gets-corrections-department-policy-job/MIZR5J4QSBIJESQ3KIWOGNHXI4/
What the hell does the information you provided have to do with the legal action that has been proposed?
Unlike your proposition, the justice system is supposed to rely on evidence relevant to the case and to exclude the irrelevant history of the person who seeks a remedy for an alleged defamation.
You find it irrelevant and all cool. Others don't and all cool with that as well.
Since we are bringing up the past criminal outrages, as apparently relevant to this case: Winston Peters is a politician who has, at various times in his career, opportunistically appealed to the worst racist views and paranoia of Pakeha New Zealand against Asians and even Maori to gain increased electoral support.
At the height of Peters Asian bashing campaign, inflamed by Peters racist rhetoric, there were a number of unprovoked physical attacks and bashings of Asian New Zealanders one of the most notorious occuring in Queen Street.
Are you cool with that as well?
Past drink driving charges for example amongst others don't count. They get included in hearings.
I don't have an issue either way, but the pick and chose which can be brought up I find interesting.
Lets not go down that particular road again
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/70225493/could-the-chinese-sounding-names-stunt-be-labours-orewa
'Leader Andrew Little has admitted he knew use of the figures would lead to calls of racism and that the analysis is crude.'
This again?
It was and is a perfectly valid linguistic technique. The only reason it became a story is that lazy and incompetent reporters figured they had a stick they could use to beat the Left. Little may have many faults, but being motivated by racism to express concern about the out of control property speculation which has pushed housing out of reach of 60% of New Zealanders isn't one of them.
It has no more credibility than the antisemitism slur used on Corbyn – a political vehicle for the unelectable Starmer, and a way for Israeli intelligence to negate one of the few informed voices on the Palestinian question.
Tam is a Vietnamese name. So I guess Harry Tam triggers at least two of Winston Peters hates, Asians and gangs.
To earn a gang patch especially at the time he got his usually included rape of some description
Not that I'm saying he did of course just that it was an accepted part of the culture he willingly chose to join.
A rape culture one could say.
https://teara.govt.nz/en/gangs/page-4
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/2838209/What-the-gang-patch-means
Do you really believe the respondent's previous criminal history will counter any definitive proof that Peters made shit up?
.
https://i.imgur.com/dYgtMw0.gif
What an effective strategy to get a vax-reluctant community in a particular region, to get vaxxed, pronto, would claims of an invasion by a busy, Covid-infected sex-worker be.
More effective if you got sex as a reward for your second jab.
One good prick deserves another.
Maybe that's what the Northland case was doing? "Vaccination Incentive Contractor" sounds like "essential work" to me.
Concern raised (and ignored) regarding the current treatment path for children and young people with gender dysphoria:
Top Trans Doctors Blow the Whistle on ‘Sloppy’ Care
This is the US, where healthcare is not standardise, but the approach seems to be consistent.
Interesting read.
There certainly does seem to be an insistence on only reporting one side of the issue.
I follow Blaire White on youtube and she brings up issues like this all the time and why shes for transitioning at 18 not younger.
Her video on being pushed to do sex work was also eye opening:
Interesting video. Thanks, PR.
A slight diversion but this guy is a former mma fighter, is a trainer, manager, cornerman, referee and commentates so he knows his stuff
(A really good voice as well)
This is his take on the latest trans fight, from a knowledgeable, insiders perspective.
Homegrown weekend entertainment, thread:
https://twitter.com/vaughndavis/status/1446705379170086912?s=21
The Herald online has very regular stories about broadcasters. I don't click on them. Some I know are broadcasters even though I've never heard or seen them broadcast.
Important stories: "Why I never eat bread," or "Shock over my cat," or "Worst time of the year for…"
Kim Hill is a voice on the radio. I don't need to know what she eats for breakfast or some personal tragedy she went through just before her 4th birthday.
Yes agreed or some personality does a clap back or something and its the most amazing thing ever, apparantly.
Would never vote for the dude, but Seymour did a good job on Q and A there with an obviously biased Jack Tame.
Was quite funny
Seymour has a carefully cultivated pretense of being harmless, non-scary and well-intentioned. But before he appeared on the programme, Q&A did us the service of a tiki tour through the various gruesome far-right ghouls who have been his predecessors as former ACT's leaders. I had to leave the room, there is only so much loathing one person can process.
Did you just call ACT far right?
Lol
Sorry but that is funny. In so many ways it is unbelievable. You managed to both exagerate seeming opinions of Seymour while belittling the actual affect the far right nut jobs have on the rest of the worlds vulnerable at the same time.
Let me guess. You think Ardern is far left?
A pretty fair definition of "far right" would be "somebody who undermines the vaccination programme by attacking a service which encourages those we most need to reach and get vaccinated, and he does so simply because of their race".
No
As much as you seemingly want it to be so. That isn't the definition of far right.
Get back to me when you read the actual one.
If it helps and Wikipedia is a bit shit, so wouldn’t go with all of this, this might help your understanding
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Far-right_politics
Just out of interest do you think Labour are far right from their "Asian sounding surnames" of house buyers and Winston is fro his "Two Wongs don't make a white" stuff.
Or is that just conveniently ignored?
Well,, I think the Labour thing is more tory narrative than accuracy (after all, probabilistic linkage is a key feature of the IDI), but Winston stood by Ron "keep Muslims off planes" Prosser. So definite far right tendencies in that regard.
But ACT are pretty far right compared to most other parties (although juco is trying to nab their territory).
TBF, Nazis like them.
http://norightturn.blogspot.com/2019/10/act-backed-by-nazis.html
Vladimir Putin loves ABBA. ABBA band members must be evil assassinating scum
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/feb/06/vladimir-putin-russia-abba-tribute-concert
No, it just means that ABBA's music appeals to Putin.
Just as ACT's politics appeals to some people in the NZ political far right.
AB He models on Key, a wolf in sheep's clothing.
I think comparing Seymour to Key is a bit silly.
Seymour is good, but not Key popularity
Admit has the easy going thing on his side. But a bit
There are many possible grounds for comparing Seymour to Key. In disingenuousness they are probably about equal – but in terms of efficacy in achieving their nefarious objectives, Key rates highly, but Seymour doesn't rate at all.
Just watched it and yes he had a slow start but finished strongly and did well, a nice touch to talk about breast cancer as well
Yeah. It hasn't been mentioned in media much, but would be interesting to know how many, not only breast cancer screenings, but also other cancer screenings have been turfed over Covid and how many mean it makes it too late.
While idiot journalists still ask "How many deaths from Covid are acceptable?"
Probably never will know.
It is a stupid question given the circumstances whether it is asked to any party.
Seymour basically just answered with "How many others are acceptable to avoid your imaginary number of Covid deaths?"
Yeah I don't like that line of questioning either.
Like if the government lowered the speed limit on all roads to 10kms we'd probably have fewer deaths but we are all ok with (or at least accept) that certain numbers of people are going to die each year
It is quite ugly and I admit I am probably being an arsehole. But we were talking about it at work the other day.
I actually went for 650ish. (Would never say that as a politician as you would be screwed)
Just an easy flu + car crash deaths a year.
You could add all the cancer numbers of deaths on, but makes it too complicated.
Obviously zero is better, but it is what it is and we have to accept/deal with the hand we are dealt
Edit:And suicides
I'm sure all the politicians have a number to be under but I'm of the view that all the information is out there so get vaccinated or don't, mask up or don't, self isolate as much as possible or don't and lets all open up
I find it a bit weird that people think the govt and opposition parties don't take into account different loss of life acceptable or unacceptable into consideration every day.
If they didn't they would be a bit shit considering their resources.
Ardern will have a nightmare figure, an acceptable figure and a easy win next election figure.
She is a brainy chick
“She is a brainy chick”
…………………………………
I see no evidence for that conclusion. While she is not stupid, she is mostly only concentrating on ONE thing – Covid. And she is voluble in deflecting & refusing to acknowledge any shortcomings in the strategies to date.
By now she SHOULD be well-versed in the numbers and the strategies, & she & Robertson have somehow got out of sync a time or two. Her other areas of responsibility she seems less familiar with & less on top of. Child povidy, anyone?
Jacinda Ardern is well versed in what is needed going forward. She is acknowledged as an inspirational Leader, and our covid stats and GDP bear this out. You may not like her style, but to say "only covid" does not flatter you.
Child poverty is worse everywhere because.. Covid. Our biggest issue currently. You are doing what JK used to do.. attacking strength. I C U.
Somebody has smartened up her te reo Māori pronunciation. Surely someine can take her aside now & smarten up her English pronunciation.
🙄 *Someine = someone
The thing about the speed limit is that it won't save lives if people start to ignore it.
For all of those causes of death mentioned, the government spends literally millions every year to try to stop people dying from them. But with covid's infection rate, it's not like we can half arse it and just have an "acceptable" number of dead. That shit spreads. Even with moderate controls, we need absurdedly high vax rates across the board to avoid literally thousands of deaths a year.
Sure, number of people dying directly from covid under different circumstances is part of the decision-making matrix, but it's definitely not the only number. Turns out a healthy society is better for the economy than being a plagueland, even if the tory narrative doesn't agree.
And the last couple of years raises the wider question about whether maybe we've been accepting preventable deaths because we were used to them and they were lower than 50 years ago, but actually we can do a lot better if we did things like border tests for influenza, rsv, and maybe a few others.
A reminder of how our media are doing with COVID.
https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2020/7/8/how-new-zealands-media-endangered-public-health
Stuff Comments continues to be the sewer of conspiracy theories and flat out fibs. Of course that is commonplace on social media (and blogs!) but Stuff is supposed to be a professional media outlet with moderation on their comments threads (as they claim). Sadly, they barely bother.
Example: Tracy Watkins' column (itself bad enough) is open for
liescomments. So we get rubbish like this –why was the prime minister a last minute cancellation on Friday for the press conference? No one was informed least of all the press gallery. She then surfaced in Rotorua only to once again disappear without informing anyone of her movements
Yes, the PM of New Zealand mysteriously disappears and hides because it's a Conspiracy!11!!
Anybody with Google (i.e anybody at all) could fact-check in 5 seconds and see where the PM has been. Then you chuck the pork pies in the bin. That is literally the job of the moderators employed by Stuff. Or rather, it should be. But they can't be arsed.
You did exceptionally well to find a Stuff article they were allowing comments on. These days they’re rarer than hens’ teeth.
I don’t really understand your apparent apoplexy about the comments on Watkins column (tho I’d put her in the Sir John Key fangirl club) because from my perspective most Stuff journos have been afflicted by Jacindamania since she first rescued Labour from electoral oblivion & only a few of the opinion writers generally dare to criticise her.
The comments are not the column.
(I don't agree with Watkins much either, but op-eds are like that, always gonna vary. Obviously not the issue here).
The comment I quoted appears to have been removed now, after several hours, which illustrates how hopeless their system is. They only remove the lies after they are challenged – as I did in this case and I expect many others did too. Other misinformation remains and who has the time to spend their Sunday cleaning up the Stuff website? It is their job.
They are legally and ethically the publisher, and moderating is a minimum requirement. "Opinion" is not a defence: "Ardern eats kittens" is an opinion, and also defamation.
The sprinkler lady has competition.
https://twitter.com/patriottakes/status/1446656664023678979
😮 I’d never heard of the crazy sprinkler lady before. OMG. What an embarrassment to her county. Has to be a US Southerner, I suppose, from the accent.
Amerika has the best out & out wackos in the world. And probably the most of them of any country, too.
Barry knew.
Soper?
“A man brutally attacked while walked home in Flaxmere says he felt a blow on his neck and ran and fell, not realising he had been stabbed. The man was then stabbed three more times on the back before he was able to get up and run again to an area with houses, where his calls for help were answered.
Police and the man’s family are now appealing for help to find the alleged attacker behind the stabbing, which occured bout 5am on Saturday on Chatham Rd, near Chatham Park.
The victim, a man in his 20s, told Hawke’s Bay Today he was walking home from a nightclub at the time.
“I’m not too sure where he came from [the attacker], I just remembered seeing him by a truck and felt myself being hit,” he said. ‘I didn’t realise I was stabbed but I ran and fell – I think that’s when he stabbed my back up.'”
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/hastings-man-stabbed-four-times-while-walking-home-in-flaxmere-tried-to-run-from-attacker/SNLRAVYNSCRCH225CDMU2INKCI/
…………………………………….
The police have a description & and are asking for any witnesses or those who might know something about this to contact them.
Man, wtf is wrong with our little paradise bubble in the South Pacific? How do so many whackos or haters end up walking our streets?
Probably just a coincidence:
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/300163523/prisoner-numbers-fall-1089-over-last-12-months-largest-drop-in-over-20-years
Hmmm. Now that you've raised this matter, it does sound like a prison shanking-type of attack. Wonder if it was random or the victim was specifically targeted – wearing the wrong colours in the wrongvend of town, or whatever?
FkniPad!
*wrong end
Yeah could be anything.
Wrong place at wrong time, wrong colours, looked at his girl in the bar, a girl looked at him in the bar, owes him money, mistaken identity, said something on the way home…
Lots of gang activity in Flaxmere
Or this: https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/auckland-motorway-road-rage-shooters-jail-term-thrown-out-gets-home-detention-instead/YGIOSDMJMCVV3WQTFV2HGXBIYI/#
Best explanation yet to why the government changed tack.
The likely net result is countries such as Singapore, Australia and New Zealand will see less suffering and tragedy than Europe or the US saw last year. Exposing a vaccinated population to the virus is different because vaccines protect people from the most harmful effect of COVID-19 infections.
Singapore, for example, has recorded 46,637 new cases in the last four weeks, but on Thursday only 297 required oxygen and 40 people were so sick they had to be in intensive care.
Some people still die. Last week, Singapore recorded its 100th death related to COVID-19. As of Thursday, fatalities had reached 136. As those tents outside hospitals show, the surge in cases has put the health system under pressure.
[…]
On Thursday, Singapore reported 3483 new infections. Teo believes the true number is likely twice that, or even more. People who don’t feel ill don’t get tested, he notes.
Some 98.4 per cent of those who tested positive in the last 28 days had no, or mild, symptoms. But for 18 months people have been living in fear. Now policymakers have to change that messaging.
“Australia and Singapore share many common experiences.” Teo says. “Since the pandemic began, our countries have done so well telling people that ‘you don’t want to be affected; it affects you, your household, the whole community’.
“Now we’re saying, ‘even if you are infected, it’s OK, stay at home, stay isolated, recover and that will be all right for you’.
https://www.afr.com/world/asia/singapore-s-immunity-trap-a-lesson-for-australia-20211007-p58y2y
60 cases today. All but 3 in Auckland.
How many are because of the "protest" a week ago? Throw the book at the "Apostle" and his mate because they are supposed to be planning another.
The government should bring in the $4000 instant fines.. that caused a sudden drop in takers for protests in QLD and NSW.
It may give our tractor friends food for thought about Novembers planned repeat.
OK truth.
It is about time we had this. I don't care what you say or who you vote for. I don't care if you would never vote for another party out of some seird nutty principle I don't get.
Rate the leaders NOW. (purely personal opinion)
Ardern – 6/10
Let's face it. She was a bit shit Monday and Tuesday getting the message across, when tcomunication has always been her greatest asset. Maybe her annoyed boyfriend will stop tweeting about it . And no matter how much you try to justify it, your vaccine roll out was one of the shittest in the world. And targets aren't bad.
Collins 2/10
Give it up love. Mate Your writing is on the wall so likely you might as well be holding the piece of chalk
Seymour 9/10
Would never vote for the dude, but winner on every day so far.. The fact he is even mentioned is interesting. Also did a good interview with one dumb journalist.
Ardern – 7/10 While I agree with your rating that she still manages to convince a helluva lot of people that she knows what shes doing and is in control of the situation means she gets a higher rating from me
Collins – 1/10 The media hate her and won't give her the time of day (the fix is in) but National still shouldn't roll her
Seymour – 8/10 Is doing very well but just needs a little more polishing
The Greens – Conspicuous by their absence so no rating, would probably recommend that JAG never be interviewed on live tv ever again
It is actually weird that.
I didn't even consider putting in the Greens, as as you say they seem absent as.
Heard that JAG's interview turned a bit ugly. Can't find atm
A bit ugly is one way of putting it:
https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2021/10/genter_walks_out_of_interview_about_bill_she_introduced.html
Far out
Thanks man
Train wreck. And we are paying them shitloads to remember what bills they want.
And that is a senior one. Imagine how shit the other list lot are.
Conspicuous by their absence…
Careful now Puckish, there's some you don't want to provoke.
Marama Davidson turned up for a photo op at the opening of a bus door, which reflects the Greens' full and enthusiastic support of the vaccination campaign.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/covid-19-delta-outbreak-new-vaccination-bus-shot-cuzz-hits-auckland-streets/JZMDL3PD6S7CDWOFAOREV2TWMY/
I'm sure they're doing very important things, behind the scenes
Just a point seymour doesnt have to do anything .
In opposition you can say anything you like of course however you have to be careful otherwise you find yourself in a kiwibuild situation
Yes, but pointing out cancer patients and other patients are being screwed because their appointments are being put off because of covid is frankly not opposition moaning.
It is basic fact.
Giving points rating MPs in handling Covid?
Rating Collins and Seymour is like rating players for a rugby test who didn't even get picked in the squad.
I'll have to watch Seymour on Q+A before I rate any of them.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=SiEcG8mukYk
Seymour started the interview with that goofy-looking grin. He shouldn't try to smile for the cameras when it doesn't come naturally. There's nothing wrong with just having an 'interested' look on one's face when the cameras start rolling for a tv interview.
Ok. Jack Tame I rate as probably TVNZ's worst political interviewer. He wasted far too much time trying to get Seymour to name an acceptable number of Covid deaths, when no political leader is going to go there.
He should have been thinking on his arse & asking Seymour questions related to ACT's strategic Covid plan. Like, HOW does he propose to get MOH to work with private industry over rapid antigen testing, vaccine rollouts, exactly what additional capacity for ICU has he calculated would become available & where from, & where would it go into place. That sort of thing.
Corin Dann would leave Jack Tame in the dust. Q+A is rooted with Tame. That's why I've given up watching it altogether. They've send an overgrown boy to do an adult's job.
Ratings:
Ardern – 5/10. This week's announcements were a thoroughly confusing omnishambles. Not at all like the start of the Covid campaign last year when stuff was dropped in all our letterboxes & the messaging was expressly simple,comprehensive, & clear – at least in the English language versions. I think Ardern's credibility/ believability has taken a hit last week.
Collins – 0/10. Dead woman walking. There is nothing Collins can do or say that will persuade anywhere near enuf voters that she would be an acceptable PM of this country. She's an unmitigated disaster for National, & everyone with a functioning brain knows it. Best thing Ardern & Labour have going for them.
Seymour – 7/10. Actually currently probably IS the leader of the Opposition. Sounds credible, is able to make his plan sound sensible, is a good, clear communicator, handled Tame well – in fact he ended up owning the lad.
He's a p***k Gezza. He dismembers the truth to the point where he doesn't even try to hide it because he knows the media will let him get away with it. I despair at the idiots out there in voter-land who seem unable to see through the shallow little toad.
A lot of that support is most likely waiting to rush back to National when Collins is rolled. As long as their next choice isn’t Bridges, or another loon.
Your problem is with that is the last couple of polls show the nats are pretty much on their election numbers and it is Labour leaking the numbers.
@ Chris T
Not how it looks to me:
At the Public Health blog yesterday Prof Nick Wilson, Dr Jennifer Summers and Prof Michael Baker advocate for more and stricter regional borders including blocking minor roads with containers. They suggest regional areas of elimination and for now suppression in Auckland but perhaps back to elimination later.
https://blogs.otago.ac.nz/pubhealthexpert/the-need-for-an-updated-strategic-approach-to-covid-19-control-in-aotearoa-nz/
I agree with Rod Jackson. If we all follow the rules, DELTA can be eliminated.
"If you follow the rules, it works … the reason we didn't stamp this outbreak out was people didn't follow the rules," he said.
Not mentioned is the undermining of public solidarity by the chattering classes, the Media and the Opposition.
Don't believe Rod Jackson – Taiwan just did it.
How?
The Long Road Back to Zero — Taiwan’s Covid Recovery
Taiwan's big outbreak wasn't Delta – it was alpha. Also significant is which community the virus infects. Even Michael Baker thoughr that the level of compliance in South Auckland's most deprived wouldn't have improved if Auckland had stayed at level 4 any longer. Note that Victoria locked down hard and fast as well but has failed to quash the nasty virus because of significant lack of compliance and is now at the 1800 to 1900 cases per day level. Having said that, Singapore is getting over 3000 cases a day but hardly any serious illness or deaths with over 80% full vaccination and generally compliant population. It's not a great time to be in government and have to make such difficult decisions.
Very true Koff – good to see the stats behind the info. Thanks.
And note that Taiwan seem to have achieved this without extensive lockdowns. The really smart thing they seem to have done is ramp up their own domestic production of comfortable and effective facemasks.
By paying attention to details, like non-scratchy materials, design to minimise fogging of eye glasses and loops that go around the back of the head rather than irritating the ears – plus of course high grade filtration – they've made it far easier for people to use them routinely and effectively.
"Taiwan's big outbreak wasn't Delta – it was alpha"
So far, it seems it seems they same tools have worked to both prevent the delta transmission as well as suppress the alpha outbreak.
UK public servant showed how to be true to the task. Chilcot looked into Tony Blair and saw right through him. But it took seven years.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/oct/05/sir-john-chilcot-obituary
His seven-year-long inquiry into the conflict ruined the reputation of Tony Blair, Labour’s most successful leader since Clement Attlee, by exposing his subservient relationship with the US president, George W Bush, and confirming that the UK and the US had not exhausted the peace process when they went to war to topple the Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.
That decision cost 179 British lives, and the death of around 150,000 Iraqis. The wrecked country subsequently saw the rise, and later fall, of the terrorist group Islamic State, and is still suffering from the impact of the war today.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Chilcot
https://www.ft.com/stream/e563944f-58ae-46f6-ac21-c4a2b9c9a4e1
Collins puts the boot in to Ardern…
……………………………………..
“National Party leader Judith Collins is calling on the Prime Minister to “come out from the shadows” after several days of no-shows at previously daily press conferences.
Collins says for neither Jacinda Ardern or any of her ministers being forced to front – especially today when the Ministry of Health announced 60 new Covid cases in a written statement – is poor timing as the outbreak slowly spreads around the North Island.
“New Zealanders will be unsettled by the news – delivered via written statement – that we have 60 new community cases today and yet our Prime Minister did not even get one of her senior ministers to stand in for her at the podium.
“National have been critical at times about the unnecessary press conferences that were held when case numbers were very low, but if Jacinda Ardern thought it necessary to speak directly to the media then, why now with 60 cases is she missing in action?
“It is clear there are questions that Prime Minister Ardern does not want to be asked.”
Collins said the Government needed to front foot the role of gangs in spreading Covid around New Zealand.”
More…
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/covid-19-delta-outbreak-judith-collins-calls-on-jacinda-ardern-to-front-clearly-questions-pm-does-not-want-to-be-asked/C47MHT564MFYNSPU5XNSK4JF4E/
If Judith thinks Rotorua, Hawke's Bay, Gisborne etc are "the shadows", no wonder National lost so many seats in the provinces. Again, it's all performative, role play with no meaning … the alternative whinge is "why doesn't the PM get out of Wellington and meet real Kiwis?". Yawn.
I suppose the next page in the tired old playbook is to claim that tomorrow's post-Cab only happens because National boldly demanded it, never mind that it happens every week.
Well, at least it gives Granny Herald’s churnalists something to write about on a slow Sunday afternoon.
Wonder if Newshub and/or One News at 6 will give Collins any coverage of this tonite?
Her leadership rivals will be hoping they do.
The public tuned out long ago.
Tru dat.
So true observer, and I have not heard one word of criticism about her christian buddy the apostle from the apparently devout Collins. Those 60 cases dovetail with his protest.
Maybe you should spend more time looking
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2021/10/national-leader-judith-collins-would-not-have-allowed-brian-tamaki-s-anti-lockdown-protest-in-auckland.html
That link perfectly sums up Collins.
First, the bluster, the bravado. Then when pressed she admits …
"Clearly you can't have the ministers interfering in police actions or inaction"
So she agrees entirely with Ardern. Everything else is for show.
The stupid thing is that not long ago Collins et al. were complaining about the daily 1 pm updates were purely political stunts and now after Ardern has been out doing great work in the provinces getting people to buy into vaccination she's accused of not fronting.
This opposition for opposition's sake, this contrarian mood, this exaggeration and dramatics has not not worked to convince the centre. The contrarian Right will not see National back into power. Now we read that National MPs are financially illiterate.
I knew that when a National MP grumped about high country stations selling for good prices because it would put up the local body rates on farms…………..
Amazing to hear so many people complain about our "loose border", after so many businesses begged us to open up again.
Looks like 60 is going to rocket up through the hundreds though.
Hold tight Auckland.
Where the f is the government ? no real contact with us for since Thursday, and look at what as happened since then. There are people moving thru boarders, how does someone cross the boarder on multi occasions, I thought that there would be only the actual move? This lack of govt contact is leaving opportunity for people to fill the void left open, which imo is reducing confidence in the govts efforts.
Auckland's rapidly heading for 90% first shot so Ardern and team are taking the show to the provinces and boonies where the resisters are. Makes good sense to me.
We are approaching 150 cases since Thursday. Case in Katikati, A very close contact to the Northland person with Covid and there where abouts is unknown. Should those in Northland be concerned or is the MIA understood to be within Auckland? So the PM is in the East Cape taking the show to the provinces, what of a plan for those other areas that need a boost, what are the plans for them ? Is our government only 1 person and the rest are surplus, IMO the governments should have sufficient talent to cover the PM's absence ? Or are the current events beyond the govt ?
There has been little development previously that that still warranted government announcements at 1:00, yet now nothing?
Collins and Seymour can hardly complain about rising case numbers. They want to 'learn to iive with the virus'. It's here in all its glory. They should enjoy its presence.
Good.
https://www.icij.org/investigations/pandora-papers/chilean-president-sebastian-pinera-to-be-criminally-investigated-due-to-pandora-papers-revelations/
It was always going to spread here and so far the government's measures have protected us from an overloaded hospital system and the threat of social conflict due to the disproportionate effect of covid on the underclass, elderly, Maori and Pasifika.
I think that’s a fair assessment.
The early Māori & Pasifika vaccine rollout inadequacies were becoming a potential source of real anger & potential conflict but thank goodness sane heads have prevailed on all sides & things are looking much improved with some innovative approaches to getting vaccines to the actual communities concerned, after MOH finally started really listening to – and properly talking with – whanau/aiga/community leaders.
Put the entire North Island in level 4 for a fortnight, and cut off the South Island. It's not going to stop the gang muppets, but it'll keep everyone else safe.
Einsteins.
https://twitter.com/nealejones/status/1447038648260591620
Yep, parr for the course…
I had a National candidate come in the shop one election trying to tell me how great their proposed tax cuts were going to be for me. I replied that it it would be nice to be paying tax. After a bit of bluster implying that I was some weirdo that actually enjoyed paying tax the penny dropped and he departed, very swiftly. But the expression at moment of comprehension was unforgettable.