Open mike 17/03/2020

Written By: - Date published: 7:00 am, March 17th, 2020 - 79 comments
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Open mike is your post.

For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose.

The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy).

Step up to the mike …

79 comments on “Open mike 17/03/2020 ”

  1. Sanctuary 1

    Apparently the government is going to launch a war style campaign to mobilise and empower the population. It is important to understand this isn't just a rhetoric – it will require the whole nation to do it's bit to save lives from COVID-19.

    Meanwhile, in the dystopian UK, billionaire Richard Branson (worth eight billion NZ dollars) is asking for a 15 billion dollar bailout for his airline whilst demanding the 8,500 Virgin Atlantic employees take eight weeks unpaid leave. If he paid his staff $1000 a week it would cost $68,000,000 for eight weeks or about .85% of Branson's personal fortune.

    • Wayne 1.1

      Given that much of his wealth will be Virgin Airline shares, it is highly unlikely his current wealth is anything like $8 billion. How likely is it that he has a spare $68 million in actual cash?

      Thats the thing with most billionaires. Most of their wealth is in the companies they own. Sure they will have a lot of cash, but probably way less than you think. A lot of their spending is from lines of credit which they have due to their wealth of their shareholdings. That is all going to dry up.

      This whole thing is a bit like the GFC (except much worse). The govt has to prop up companies and banks as much as it does individuals. Otherwise you get a complete system wide crash. And then even governments can't help, at least not to the extent they could if the system wide crash can be avoided.

      • Right on cue – an apologist for the wealthy!

        The pitchforks are coming!

        • Wayne 1.1.1.1

          TV,

          You are misreading the point I am making. The challenge right now is to avoid a system wide crash, not precipitate it.

          I know a bunch of commenters, including you, on The Standard see this crisis as an opportunity to herald in the revolution. But that is not going to happen. The govt is going to do its best to sustain the economy, not destroy it.

          But in the aftermath it (the economy and all of us in it) will be different. Will global tourism ever fully recover, at least within the next 3 to 5 years? Maybe all airlines will be smaller for many years to come. Far less cruising holidays. Way more local tourism. Way less eating out. The hundreds of billions (including Kiwisaver investments in these sectors) invested in all these industries will be gone forever.

          It is not hard to think of other changes. But I am pretty sure that New Zealand farming as a source of export food will continue in essentially the same form as at present. The world will still need our food. As indeed does our economy and all of us in the towns and cities who are indirectly dependent on it. Bomber Bradbury's hope for the destruction of the export farming sector is not going to happen.

          • gsays 1.1.1.1.1

            Branson and his 'billionaire' ilk, and the aspirational middle class are the problem.

            I am sure Bransons business interests are arranged in ways that one can not impact on the other. Trusts or some other legal jiggery pokery that keeps him rich.

            It is time for this 'not as cash rich as I may think' business leader to realise (sell) some companies and pay his staff the redundancies they are due, not coming across all socialist when it suits him.

            • Wayne 1.1.1.1.1.1

              How do you sell an airline at the moment?
              Given that Branson is asking for state support so soon, probably shows how indebted he is. I am pretty certain the government will be expecting major shareholders (the likes of Branson and his cash) to step up as a condition of providing support to the airline, or any other business.

              • I Feel Love

                The "revolution" is happening, look at the Tax Payers Union for eg.

                • Wayne

                  I imagine the govt will be taking a bigger stake in Air NZ and any other large business that needs a special bailout. But they are hardly going to take equity stakes in all New Zealand business, big and small across all sectors. Way too complicated. On that point the Tax Payers Union has got it wrong.

                  • SPC

                    And subsidiaries of foreign companies, or ones with large foreign shareholdings?

                    Do we socialise losses there to get continued "foreign investment"?

                    The losses some local companies face is going to result in them being under-capitalised – in normal times they offer a share issue or seek a white knight partner. These are not normal times.

                    A government partner and later sale of the shareholding – on the market, or to one party is not unreasonable.

                    • KJT

                      There is a good argument for wage subsidies, allowance for later tax payments, for sole traders and small firms to keep them going.

                      Based on previous tax paid income, of course.

                      It is in banks, and suppliers, interest for businesses to continue, rather than default into bankruptcy, so in general a business has more options to help cashflow, than a wage earner, or welfare recipient.

                  • Ad

                    By a long way you are our most qualified commenter here, so hang in there Wayne.

                    Do encourage your previous colleagues to support this government's recovery package.

              • RedBaronCV

                As any rich person could tell you – you don't get something without paying for it- any govt subsidy anywhere around a billionaire should come with a reciprocal transfer of wealth in the form of equity or property transfer. The uk govt may end up owning a carribean island or two but hey…

          • Sabine 1.1.1.1.2

            you obviously feel content in your uselessness, but i am relieved to see that you find no issue with Socialism when it is obscenly weatlhy people who are hanging of the government tit.

            Richard Branson Wealth as per 2020 – 4.1 billion

            https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/aug/05/how-virgin-became-one-of-the-uks-leading-healthcare-providers

            lesser known is this,….the man does not make his money only on airplanes he does make a good portion of it in Healthcare, and thus stands to make much money from the current health crisis.

            Someone yesterday told you to go fuck yourself with your low concern trolling about 'socialism' for the poor. And i can only second that.

            As for airlines, they too can be nationalised, grounded, and when the world returns to something resembling normal people might go back to flying in a year of several. As for Richard Branson, he can get fucked too.

          • RedLogix 1.1.1.1.3

            Branson is an excellent example of an entrepreneur who has created remarkable wealth in many fields. He's done things beyond the capacity of the vast majority of people, yet envy of him is both palpable and deplorable. You are quite correct of course, wealthy people don't necessarily have a lot of spare cash lying around, and if his businesses goes under permanently, a lot of people will lose jobs. Yet it seems some commenters here would prefer these people lose their jobs, rather than a successful business they deeply resent get tided over a bad patch.

            There is of course a balance here. Many people have good reason to be angry about the way big banks were bailed out during the GFC, an event caused by their own actions, and yet were never held accountable for in any meaningful way. In the meantime millions of ordinary people lost a great deal. By all means consider bailing out Virgin, but there has to be a quid pro quo of some kind.

            For some years now I've been exploring the deeper nature of the so-called 'mixed model' economy. Why is it that societies which embrace both commercialism and socialism seem to deliver the best outcomes? What are the limits on both, when do they both go too far? What are the good features of both, and how do we construct social models that develop synergy between them?

            While my starting point is socialism, I'm increasingly frustrated by narrow ideologues here on the left whose obvious agenda is 'smash capitalism'; while at the same time I've never had a moment for those right wingers who refuse to acknowledge that all human success is built on a platform of social trust and cohesion.

            In this light I appreciate many of your comments here Wayne. Not that I always agree with you but that you do reach out across this deplorable political divide with good intent.

            Cheers

            • KJT 1.1.1.1.3.1

              Straight from Ayn Rands. "Rich people, are wealth creators".

              Yeah sure.

              Next right wing meme?

            • KJT 1.1.1.1.3.2

              Branson is a "prime example" of how to get rich by "socialising your loses" and privatising profits. While lowering wages and avoiding taxes at the same time.

              Finding a more original way of extracting wealth from the community.

              Not dissimilar to New Zealand's asset strippers and the runners down of former public assets

              Entrepreneurs, real ones, find something to sell that benefits people.

              Branson has, like bankers, almost certainly has destroyed more real wealth, than he has created.

              "Wealth creators" my arse.

              By all means bail out the soon to be jobless Virgin staff.
              Spending money on bailing out billionaire tax dodgers, sticks in my craw.

          • Ad 1.1.1.1.4

            Agree.

            The tourism we retain is going to be narrower, and much wealthier.

            Reminds me of Birch's first report after the oil crisis, which led to his Think Big.

            Will be a very interesting package this afternoon.

          • For once you are quite right, Wayne, I do hope this economic crisis will herald a revolution.

            I'd like to see the obscene inequality of this country levelled a little, by taxing the rich and closing the loopholes.

            I'd like to see the poor and those on welfare be able to live with dignity and have access to the occasional treat (whatever that may be).

            I'd like to see this country begin to take climate change seriously.

            In other words, a complete reset.

            I'm not holding my breath.

      • bill 1.1.2

        The govt has to prop up companies and banks as much as it does individuals.

        Why?

        …governments can't help, at least not to the extent they could if the system wide crash can be avoided.

        How so?

        Is your thinking on what constitutes "government" limited to a box that's jam packed with immovable notions of capitalism as some natural or inevitable expression of order?

        Coronavirus might be our last best chance to change the path we're on and stop with this crazy warming of the plant "because" bullshit. If you lack the imagination to envisage any way other than the same old way, then perhaps it's time for you to spend your days watching soaps because you have nothing of worth to offer.

        Alternatively, push at the constraints of the box that contains your patterns of thoughts, and you never know, you might be in line for a pleasant surprise or two.

        • Sabine 1.1.2.1

          nah, its all good. Captialism is what is gonna save us, one dead body at a time.

          https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/national/18309589.branson-criticised-virgin-atlantic-staff-forced-take-unpaid-leave/

          Billionaire Sir Richard Branson has been urged by Labour politicians to cover the wages of Virgin Atlantic staff forced to take unpaid leave due to the coronavirus.

          https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/richard-bransons-virgin-healthcare-paid-21366075

          EXCLUSIVE: Virgin Healthcare has been exposed as a 'parasite' on the NHS as a campaigner slams the firm as it's revealed it paid no corporation tax

          Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin healthcare group has not paid a penny in corporation tax while being handed £2billion worth of NHS and local authority deals.

          but essentially what our National Party Mouth (i guess they consider Benefit, Oravida and NO Bridges just too toxic for these trying times) Wayne wants is socialism, as without it non of these super rich and their rich man tit sucking Toadies would be where they are.

          • Matiri. 1.1.2.1.1

            Privatise the profits and socialise the losses.

            Branson/Virgin are also into trains, taking over some of the British Rail network – calls for the UK government to step in as there aren't any passengers any more.

      • mac1 1.1.3

        I note that a billionaire like the Democrat former presidential candidate Mike Bloomberg promised to give away $8 billion of his $62 billion wealth, so it must therefore be possible for him and billionnaires like Branson to liberate large amounts of wealth.

        How else do you give away 8% of your wealth? It must be available as cash.

        Secondly, Branson must have huge ability to borrow cash against his holdings.

        It's a bit rich to put 8500 employees on 8 weeks unpaid employment and cry poverty for yourself.

      • AB 1.1.4

        If Virgin is so indebted that it is going to fold – it may be better to let it fold and bail out the employees rather than Branson and the shareholders. This won't apply to all industries or companies, but the future of airlines has to be problematic.

        As a rule of thumb – helicopter money in a crisis should go to the bottom of the tree. Companies with reduced revenues can lay off staff, temporarily reduce labour costs and cut operations. Helicopter money shouldn't be used to prop up companies with bad fundamentals – or (as in the GFC) crooks who should be in gaol.

    • Gabby 2.1

      And what is mecfs when it's at home?

      • Barfly 2.1.1

        myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome

      • RedLogix 2.1.2

        Most people know it as chronic fatigue syndrome, or just ME. All serious viral infections have the potential to cause long-term damage that is poorly understood and treated.

        In my late 20's I got a very serious 3 month long attack of mononucleosis that decades later still comes back to bite me as a bout of deep fatigue if I overdo it. On the wider scale of things I consider myself fortunate, but from time to time it's proven a real bugger.

      • veutoviper 2.1.3

        Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome

        Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) is a disabling and complex illness.

        People with ME/CFS are often not able to do their usual activities. At times, ME/CFS may confine them to bed. People with ME/CFS have overwhelming fatigue that is not improved by rest. ME/CFS may get worse after any activity, whether it’s physical or mental. This symptom is known as post-exertional malaise (PEM). Other symptoms can include problems with sleep, thinking and concentrating, pain, and dizziness. People with ME/CFS may not look ill. However,

        • People with ME/CFS are not able to function the same way they did before they became ill.
        • ME/CFS changes people’s ability to do daily tasks, like taking a shower or preparing a meal.
        • ME/CFS often makes it hard to keep a job, go to school, and take part in family and social life.
        • ME/CFS can last for years and sometimes leads to serious disability.
        • At least one in four ME/CFS patients is bed- or house-bound for long periods during their illness.

        More here https://www.cdc.gov/me-cfs/about/index.html

        As well as an after effect of various viral diseases etc it often goes hand in hand with a wide range of autoimmune conditions such as Rheumatoid Arthritis, Thyroid authoimmune conditions, Pernicious Anemia, etc

  2. Bruce 3

    https://youtu.be/aox7CeOdmOY

    The run on toilet paper explained.

  3. Jimmy 5

    I hope Jacinda (or the authorities) get tough and make an example of anyone deliberately not self isolating, although it is going to be extremely hard to police. Saw on the news a reporter interviewing people arriving at airport, and some said they would not be isolating and would continue their travels around the country.

    • Sabine 5.1

      I hope that before she gets tough on anyone trying to make a living, she will get herself in front of some cameras and announce that

      a. there is a rent/mortgage/residential lease holiday for at the very least 3 month.

      b. the Ird is to send a check to any household (fuck means testing) of at least 3 $ grand per month if there is no rent/mortgage/residential lease so that people who are at home, not working, having lost their jobs cause the businesses are closed, bankrupt etc, can still pay the landlords, electricity utilities and food. You know that thing that keep us alive in general.

      and i hope she does it soon.

      Because i can see ;people being evicted for non payment of rents, having their electricity cut for non payment of bills, and then you will have these same people out in the streets not caring much about your fear of infection.

      Also, i would like to point out that our emergency services, Fire fighters, Ambulance Drivers, Nurses, Doctors, Police Officers and such are all equally at risk and so will be the Army.

      So frankly, she may actually have issues clamping down hard on people who will venture out and about and if only for finding some food when they run out.

      • bill 5.1.1

        I'm on board with your hopes there Sabine. But I suspect the main focus will be on large economic players and tweaking broad economic indicators, with only a few inconsequential measures being announced that might positively impact real people in everyday real life.

        In other words, I fully expect notions of financial economy to trump human economy and for there to be some ideological reliance on trickle down. I'd like to be wrong.

        • Sabine 5.1.1.1

          that is what i expect, but then i also expect sick people out and about, i expect a rise in crime with people breaking in and such in order to survive.

          The lady has a choice to make, prop the economy up by giving people money that will spend it to survive, or go feral and only prop her ilk up and watch rioting break out in a few weeks.

          her choice, and i hope she does have that brain, that kindness and that gentlerness that people have been raving about.

          Because if she does not, this is going feral very quickly. People don't take kindly to government sanctioned starvation.

      • RedLogix 5.1.2

        All those suggestions seem reasonable and doable. Essentially we hit a giant PAUSE button on the wider economy and then go to some form of Emergency UBI to keep core services running, and people in place so that we can recover when the virus finally burns out.

        It nothing new really, just a modified version of wartime conditions where govt's involvement in the economy greatly expands to ensure collective survival. The difficulty in the Western world is that most of us were not alive and do not remember the last time this happened to us in WW2, so there may be pushback and irrational behaviour. It will be interesting to see what happens.

  4. Adam Ash 6

    Great news, kinda. We are now testing people as they LEAVE New Zealand to go to the Pacific Islands.

    WHY AREN'T WE DOING THE SAME TESTING ON PEOPLE WHO ARE ARRIVING HERE???

    Travellers to Pacific Islands to undergo health check at Auckland Airport

    • WHY AREN'T WE DOING THE SAME TESTING ON PEOPLE WHO ARE ARRIVING HERE???

      1. The relative numbers of tests involved.

      2. Pacific Islands' much lower capacity to deal with an outbreak.

  5. Adam Ash 7

    Its worth repeating, to put the lie to the official line that we don't need to test people without symptoms…

    People without symptoms have been found to have higher virus loads than those with symptoms, meaning these unidentifiable carriers are more likely to spread the virus than those showing symptoms.

    This is why we should be testing as much as we can.

    Infected people without symptoms might be driving the spread of coronavirus more than we realized

    There can only be one response to this knowledge: SHUT THE GATE. NOW.

    • bill 7.1

      The gate needed to be closed before the spread of coronavirus reached NZ. It's here, and if WHO and others are to be believed, most of us will contract it over coming weeks and months.

      Widespread testing would be a sensible move. Question is whether the capacity exists to execute such an exercise. Obviously, given carriers can be asymptomatic, any testing would have to be random and geared more at understanding patterns of spread etc, (with appropriate broad measures taken or recommendations made in response to emerging patterns of infection) – rather than testing geared towards isolating known or identifiable individuals.

      • Sabine 7.1.1

        i would take it as the Germans did.

        60 – 70 % will get it. Many will die. And there will not be enough hospital beds for all.

        or as Governor Cuomo said about NY

        He expects everyone to have been exposed to it and to get ill of it one a time, so no point in testing, but put all efforts into containment via isolation and triage those that arrive at hospitals.

        Testing hopefully our Government looks at Germany and South Korea and their drive through testing.

        But i believe that most of us have already been exposed one way or another. It has had at least since last year November to make the rounds.

        And if the government could finally roll out plans that allow us to lowly tax paying citizen / worker / drones/ expendables to 'mitigate' this event, more people might be staying home. But so long as people have bills to pay people will go to work.

    • alwyn 7.2

      That is what the Director-General of the WHO was saying yesterday in his briefing introduction.

      "But the most effective way to prevent infections and save lives is breaking the chains of transmission. And to do that, you must test and isolate.

      You cannot fight a fire blindfolded. And we cannot stop this pandemic if we don’t know who is infected.

      We have a simple message for all countries: test, test, test.

      Test every suspected case."

      And what are we doing? There seems to be more interest in deciding that testing is not required than in facilitating it. I haven't seen anything indicating that it is a complicated or expensive process to carry out a test. In the same time as New Zealand has done 338 tests South Korea has done about 250,000. Sure, South Korea is a larger country. However if we measure the tests per million people they are doing about 70 times as many.

      https://ourworldindata.org/covid-testing

      Why are we so slow in this matter?

      • RedLogix 7.2.1

        Part of the problem was that just weeks ago WHO was giving very mixed messages, telling us not to shut down global travel and so on. For many weeks Tedros seems to have been more concerned to not embarrass his Chinese friends than to give clear unambiguous guidelines.

        • Sabine 7.2.1.1

          part of the problem is that people watched China weld its citizens into apartment blocks and believed that this will not impact them, cause bugger supply chains, bugger people travelling, bugger this and bugger that. .

          nothing to do with anything. The US is not in the predicament it is because of WHO but because of the shitstain in office who refused to acknowledge the issue since at the very least Jan 22nd when the first person was officially diagnosed in the US.

          And we are in this predicament because like the US we did fuck all for the longest of time, in essence preventing people from preparing/saving/building food stocks up, putting family emergency plans into place and so on and so forth.

          At some stage people have to either believe their own eyes, or they will continue to eat the shit that others shovel down their throats.

          • RedLogix 7.2.1.1.1

            We've watched Western govts everywhere take far too long to respond to this threat. And honestly while Trump has made an art form of incompetency, I do think given the highly fractious and deeply dysfunctional state of US politics, expecting any US President to have acted effectively is optimistic to say the least.

            We do enjoy shitting on Trump at every possible chance, and he certainly invites it … but he doesn't exist in a vacuum. The entire US political system from top to bottom has been sliding toward this febrile condition for decades.

            part of the problem is that people watched China weld its citizens into apartment blocks and believed that this will not impact them, cause bugger supply chains, bugger people travelling, bugger this and bugger that.

            And yes, that is a fair point. I personally still believe the real death toll in Wuhan is ten times bigger than the CCP has admitted to, but we will always lack solid evidence for this. Much of it was literally cremated.

            • Sabine 7.2.1.1.1.1

              there is one thing you are right about

              The shitstain is because people wanted him to be. Otherwise he would be right now holed up in his tower refusing to meet with people.

              the shitstain is because a political party lets him be. Otherwise they would have 25th him, demanded he resign over any of his many 'conflicts of interests'.

              the shitstain is because the conservative class the world over is in essence no more and no less then the shitstain, Mr. Branson from Virgin this and that – known tax evader, known sucker of the government tit, who expects his workers to survive without wages, while at the same time demanding the same workers bail him and his Air Company out.

              the shitstain is the result of 40 + years of vilifying the working class and elevating the idiocracy that modern conservatism needs to hide behind anti abortion, anti union, anti education, anti science and such.

              the shitstain is because people wanted it. because it was easier for them to listen to lies and inuendo rather then opening their eyes and see how bad they are really doing.

              As for China, China did what it believed it had to do, it did so very publicly, and i see no reason to engage in conspiracy theories when I can watch the current shitshow life online.

          • Poission 7.2.1.1.2

            Trump rejected the so called academic advice (also WHO)on travel bans from China in January,and implemented one anyway,

            https://twitter.com/ProfMJCleveland/status/1239399258689806336

      • McFlock 7.2.2

        Are we not testing every suspected case?

        As in clinically suspected, not pandemic anxiety?

        NZ:

        • 8 confirmed cases
        • 2 probable cases
        • 514 negative tests

        We have a positive test ratio of ~1% of all tests we conduct in people most likely to have it. 99% of tests are negative.

    • SPC 7.3

      Well at the moment. there is a policy of banning public gatherings because there might be public spread, but not closing schools because there is no known public spread.

      (NOTE The UK is going to have a lockdown without closing schools).

      An apparent absurdity.

      Why?

      (UK is still operating a public immunity by infection policy – allowing school children to spread to parents so they can be home together when they all get it – but do not want you to know this. The lockdown they now have will only slow transfer between young and more active adults without children. They of course expect those over over 70 to totally isolate for a year or so).

      The answer might be

      They just want to allow parents to go to work while there is no known community spread – children are themselves not at risk, and they will only operate the lockdown, including schools, when community spread is known (beyond identification and targeted isolation) and impacting on the health system – acting to prevent cases overwhelming it.

      I think testing locals with symptoms would mostly be pointless (99/100 or more have something else) – the ill will isolate anyhow. It is those without symptoms who would be spreading. It's more about obtaining a cross sample of test results from hotel, tourism, hospitality, sports workers etc to have knowledge if the young and active are spreading under the radar, or not?

  6. joe90 8

    thread

    https://twitter.com/DFisman/status/1239134892975427586

    “In the meantime, I advise top policymakers here in Korea and elsewhere to make data-informed mitigation at a national scale in a highly effective manner.”

    “When each county misses the golden time, – Washington, London, and Rome have all missed it and they are paying the terrible price – this C19 thing is rapidly moving…

    “… to hit the most vulnerable group of people, including the elderly and those with the existing medical conditions.”

    “The golden time”. That is perfect.

    The golden time for wide scale social distancing is before you have a crisis. If you are reacting

    To the crisis you are already too late.

    Those who are sick were infected 2-3 weeks ago. They are a lagging indicator for exponentially increasing infections THAT HAVE ALREADY HAPPENED

    https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1239134892975427586.html

  7. Andre 10

    Since some of our more conspiracy-minded regulars are not currently with us, I'll share this little gem to ensure everyone's eye-roll muscles are kept well-exercised.

    https://www.huffpost.com/entry/keri-hilson-5g-did-not-cause-coronavirus_n_5e6f8ba7c5b6dda30fce0348

    • Alice Tectonite 10.1

      Out stocking up on trolley loads of tinfoil? After all, panic buying is taking many forms…

      Apparently it's a fact that if you wear a tinfoil hat 5G doesn't fry your brain.*

      (* also works without the tinfoil hat)

  8. AB 11

    Some thoughts on where and to whom helicopter money should be distributed during a pandemic. The advice is "go big now or go home" .

  9. Muttonbird 12

    There's been some calls to close schools but I worry about the effect on the kids.

    Hipkins is right that it is the safest place for them right now, particularly mentally.

    Hundreds of thousands of households have been placed under enormous pressure overnight and this has a big impact on the children. School is the one place they can be which has routines and stability.

    To force them all home into a charged, uncertain and stressful environment will be very damaging for them.

    I hope officials bear this in mind when making decisions.

  10. Muttonbird 13

    Keeping your sniffles secret in a post-pandemic world.

    Found myself heading to the pharmacy on the weekend for some lozenges. Had anxiety that the simple action of buying cold relief medicine would label me a risk to society.

    Reality is if I get a cold now my family loses thousands of dollars.

    What kind of world do we live in?

    • weka 13.1

      a bloody strange one and overnight. I haven't followed today's announcement, is there anything there that will help your family?

    • BM 13.2

      We got some of this a while back, I do recommend getting some before it's all gone

      Put it on your hands in the morning and you've got protection for 24 hours, far superior to hand sanitizer.

      https://zoono.co.nz/collections/home

      • weka 13.2.1

        Here comes the BUT…

        I am not sure what evidence they have that their products will actually be that effective when people actually use them for real. Have they actually tested if the hand sanitiser stays on all day, even when people have been properly washing their hands several times a day? Have they actually tested if the surfaces really can stay “germ-free” when those surfaces aren’t in a lab but are in people’s actual homes and people are going about their actual lives in and around them?

        One of the concerns I have when people rush to buy products like this is that they may end up with a false sense of security and think they are more protected than they actually are, and then end up doing things that put them at higher risk of infection.

        In other words, don’t feel like you are putting your family at risk by not buying these products. There are plenty of cheaper options that we definitely know work in the real world.

        https://thespinoff.co.nz/science/07-03-2020/how-to-get-rid-of-covid-19-from-surfaces-the-right-way/

        Don't really have anything to say about it other than please don't rely on it if you are in contact with vulnerable people.

  11. Fireblade 14

    Three new Covid-19 cases diagnosed in NZ today.

    "Two of the new cases are in a Wellington family who recently returned from the United States, and the third is a Dunedin man who had recently travelled to Germany".

    https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2020/03/coronavirus-3-new-covid-19-cases-in-new-zealand.html

  12. Philip Ferguson 15

    In Britain, feminists are facing being purged from the Labour Party. Here, Nick Rogers, chair of Tottenham constituency LP in London writes about what is happening and the need to defend the feminists facing purging.

    https://rdln.wordpress.com/2020/03/10/british-labour-party-leaders-pledge-purge-of-feminists/

  13. Muttonbird 16

    Filming of Avatar also abandoned. That's every US studio now suspending operations in this country for the foreseeable future.

    Local productions also either closed or under pressure to close.

    That's probably about 3000 – 4000 contract workers instantly without work or any benefits. Often they are given less than 12 hours notice and are effectively sacked by memo.

    All because of an over-reaction to the flu…

    https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/coronavirus/120337742/coronavirus-avatar-filming-takes-hiatus-due-to-virus-fears

Recent Comments

Recent Posts

  • Relentlessly negative
    Negative yesterday, negative today. Negative all year, according to one departing reader telling me I’ve grown strident and predictable. Fair enough. If it’s any help, every time I go to write about a certain topic that begins with C and ends with arrrrs, I do brace myself and ask: Again? Are ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    52 mins ago
  • Scoring 4.6 out of 10, the new Government is struggling in the polls
    Bryce Edwards writes –  It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just show a minimal amount of flux in public support ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 hour ago
  • Promiscuous Empathy: Chris Trotter Replies To His Critics.
    Inspirational: The Family of Man is a glorious hymn to human equality, but, more than that, it is a clarion call to human freedom. Because equality, unleavened by liberty, is a broken piano, an unstrung harp; upon which the songs of fraternity will never be played. “Somebody must have been telling lies about ...
    2 hours ago
  • Don’t run your business like a criminal enterprise
    The Detail this morning highlights the police's asset forfeiture case against convicted business criminal Ron Salter, who stands to have his business confiscated for systemic violations of health and safety law. Business are crying foul - but not for the reason you'd think. Instead of opposing the post-conviction punishment and ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    2 hours ago
  • Misremembering Justinian’s Taxes.
    Tax Lawyer Barbara Edmonds vs Emperor Justinian I - Nolo Contendere: False historical explanations of pivotal events are very far from being inconsequential.WHEN BARBARA EDMONDS made reference to the Roman Empire, my ears pricked up. It is, lamentably, very rare to hear a politician admit to any kind of familiarity ...
    2 hours ago
  • Bryce Edwards: Scoring 4.6 out of 10, the new Government is struggling in the polls
    It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just show a minimal amount of flux in public support for the various parties in ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    3 hours ago
  • Bishop scores headlines with crackdown on unwelcome tenants – but Peters scores, too, as tub-thump...
    Buzz from the Beehive Housing Minister Chris Bishop delivered news – packed with the ingredients to enflame political passions – worthy of supplanting Winston Peters in headline writers’ priorities. He popped up at the post-Cabinet press conference to promise a crackdown on unruly and antisocial state housing tenants. His ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 hours ago
  • Will it make the boat go faster?
    Ele Ludemann writes – The Reserve Bank is advertising for a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion advisor. The Bank has one mandate – to keep inflation between one and three percent. It has failed in that and is only slowly getting inflation back down to the upper limit. Will it ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    7 hours ago
  • Bryce Edwards: Is Simon Bridges’ NZTA appointment a conflict of interest?
    Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi The fact that a ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    7 hours ago
  • Is Simon Bridges’ NZTA appointment a conflict of interest?
    Bryce Edwards writes – Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    7 hours ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' at 10:10am on Tuesday, March 19
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Gavin Jacobson talks to Thomas Piketty 10 years on from Capital in the 21st Century The SalvoLocal scoop: Green MP’s business being investigated over migrant exploitation claims Stuff Steve KilgallonLocal deep-dive: The commercial contractors making money from School ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    8 hours ago
  • Bernard's six newsy things on Tuesday, March 19
    It’s a home - but Kāinga Ora tenants accused of “abusing the privilege” may lose it. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Government announced a crackdown on Kāinga Ora tenants who were unruly and/or behind on their rent, with Housing Minister Chris Bishop saying a place in a state ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    9 hours ago
  • New Life for Light Rail
    This is a guest post by Connor Sharp of Surface Light Rail  Light rail in Auckland: A way forward sooner than you think With the coup de grâce of Auckland Light Rail (ALR) earlier this year, and the shift of the government’s priorities to roads, roads, and more roads, it ...
    Greater AucklandBy Guest Post
    10 hours ago
  • Why Are Bosses Nearly All Buffoons?
    Note: As a paid-up Webworm member, I’ve recorded this Webworm as a mini-podcast for you as well. Some of you said you liked this option - so I aim to provide it when I get a chance to record! Read more ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    12 hours ago
  • Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6.06 pm on March 18
    TL;DR: In my ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Monday, March 18:IKEA is accused of planting big forests in New Zealand to green-wash; REDD-MonitorA City for People takes a well-deserved victory lap over Wellington’s pro-YIMBY District Plan votes; A City for PeopleSteven Anastasiou takes a close look at the sticky ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    24 hours ago
  • Peters holds his ground on co-governance, but Willis wriggles on those tax cuts and SNA suspension l...
    Buzz from the Beehive Here’s hoping for a lively post-cabinet press conference when the PM and – perhaps – some of his ministers tell us what was discussed at their meeting today. Until then, Point of Order has precious little Beehive news to report after its latest monitoring of the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 day ago
  • Labour’s final report card
    David Farrar writes –  We now have almost all 2023 data in, which has allowed me to update my annual table of how  went against its promises. This is basically their final report card. The promise The result Build 100,000 affordable homes over 10 ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago
  • “Drunk Uncle at a Wedding”
    I’m a bit worried that I’ve started a previous newsletter with the words “just when you think they couldn’t get any worse…” Seems lately that I could begin pretty much every issue with that opening. Such is the nature of our coalition government that they seem to be outdoing each ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 day ago
  • Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    Geoffrey Miller writes – Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago
  • Gordon Campbell on Dune 2, and images of Islam
    Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture ...
    1 day ago
  • New Rail Operations Centre Promises Better Train Services
    Last week Transport Minster Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre. The new train control centre will see teams from KiwiRail, Auckland Transport and Auckland One Rail working more closely together to improve train services across the city. The Auckland Rail Operations Centre in ...
    1 day ago
  • Bernard's six newsy things at 6.36am on Monday, March 18
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson said in an exit interview with Q+A yesterday the Government can and should sustain more debt to invest in infrastructure for future generations. Elsewhere in the news in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 6:36am: Read more ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. It is more than just a happy ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    1 day ago
  • The Kaka’s diary for the week to March 25 and beyond
    TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to March 18 include:China’s Foreign Minister visiting Wellington today;A post-cabinet news conference this afternoon; the resumption of Parliament on Tuesday for two weeks before Easter;retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson gives his valedictory speech in Parliament; ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • Bitter and angry; Winston First
    New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters’s state-of-the-nation speech on Sunday was really a state-of-Winston-First speech. He barely mentioned any of the Government’s key policies and could not even wholly endorse its signature income tax cuts. Instead, he rehearsed all of his complaints about the Ardern Government, including an extraordinary claim ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    2 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    2 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    2 days ago
  • Out of Touch.
    “I’ve been internalising a really complicated situation in my head.”When they kept telling us we should wait until we get to know him, were they taking the piss? Was it a case of, if you think this is bad, wait till you get to know the real Christopher, after the ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • The bewildering world of Chris Luxon – Guns for all, not no lunch for kids
    .“$10 and a target that bleeds” - Bleeding Targets for Under $10!.Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.This government appears hell-bent on either scrapping life-saving legislation or reintroducing things that - frustrated critics insist - will be dangerous and likely ...
    Frankly SpeakingBy Frank Macskasy
    3 days ago
  • Expert Opinion: Ageing Boomers, Laurie & Les, Talk Politics.
    It hardly strikes me as fair to criticise a government for doing exactly what it said it was going to do. For actually keeping its promises.”THUNDER WAS PLAYING TAG with lightning flashes amongst the distant peaks. Its rolling cadences interrupted by the here-I-come-here-I-go Doppler effect of the occasional passing car. ...
    3 days ago
  • Manufacturing The Truth.
    Subversive & Disruptive Technologies: Just as happened with that other great regulator of the masses, the Medieval Church, the advent of a new and hard-to-control technology – the Internet –  is weakening the ties that bind. Then, and now, those who enjoy a monopoly on the dissemination of lies, cannot and will ...
    3 days ago
  • A Powerful Sensation of Déjà Vu.
    Been Here Before: To find the precedents for what this Coalition Government is proposing, it is necessary to return to the “glory days” of Muldoonism.THE COALITION GOVERNMENT has celebrated its first 100 days in office by checking-off the last of its listed commitments. It remains, however, an angry government. It ...
    3 days ago
  • Can you guess where world attention is focussed (according to Greenpeace)? It’s focussed on an EPA...
    Bob Edlin writes –  And what is the world watching today…? The email newsletter from Associated Press which landed in our mailbox early this morning advised: In the news today: The father of a school shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter; prosecutors in Trump’s hush-money case ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago
  • Further integrity problems for the Greens in suspending MP Darleen Tana
    Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the party’s decision to ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago
  • Jacqui Van Der Kaay: Greens’ transparency missing in action
    For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    3 days ago
  • Bernard’s Dawn Chorus with six newsey things at 6:46am for Saturday, March 16
    TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ Herald Thomas Coughlan Simeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • How Did FTX Crash?
    What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    4 days ago
  • Elections in Russia and Ukraine
    Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
    4 days ago
  • Bernard’s six stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15
    TL;DR: Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it:  We want our country to be a ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago
  • National’s clean car tax advances
    The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • Government funding bailouts
    Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Two offenders, different treatments.
    See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    4 days ago
  • Treaty references omitted
    Ele Ludemann writes  – The government is omitting general Treaty references from legislation : The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last Government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • The Ghahraman Conflict
    What was that judge thinking? Peter Williams writes –  That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 15
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop: Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • The day Wellington up-zoned its future
    Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Weekly Roundup 15-March-2024
    It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    4 days ago
  • That Word.
    Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago
  • The Hoon around the week to March 15
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Labour’s policy gap
    It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    5 days ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #11 2024
    Open access notables A Glimpse into the Future: The 2023 Ocean Temperature and Sea Ice Extremes in the Context of Longer-Term Climate Change, Kuhlbrodt et al., Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society: In the year 2023, we have seen extraordinary extrema in high sea surface temperature (SST) in the North Atlantic and in ...
    5 days ago
  • Melissa remains mute on media matters but has something to say (at a sporting event) about economic ...
     Buzz from the Beehive   The text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary.  It can be quickly analysed ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago
  • The return of Muldoon
    For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Will the rental tax cut improve life for renters or landlords?
    Bryce Edwards writes –  Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: What Saudi Arabia’s rapid changes mean for New Zealand
    Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    5 days ago
  • Racism’s double standards
    Questions need to be asked on both sides of the world Peter Williams writes –   The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • It’s not a tax break
    Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • The Plastic Pig Collective and Chris' Imaginary Friends.
    I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • Who is responsible for young offenders?
    Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on National’s fantasy trip to La La Landlord Land
    How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
    5 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 14
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop: The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • No, Prime Minister, rents don’t rise or fall with landlords’ costs
    TL;DR: Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Cartoons: ‘At least I didn’t make things awkward’
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
    5 days ago
  • Solving traffic congestion with Richard Prebble
    The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
    Greater AucklandBy Patrick Reynolds
    5 days ago
  • I Think I'm Done Flying Boeing
    Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    5 days ago
  • Invoking Aristotle: Of Rings of Power, Stones, and Ships
    The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
    6 days ago
  • Van Velden brings free-market approach to changing labour laws – but her colleagues stick to distr...
    Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • Why Newshub failed
    Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • Māori Party on the warpath against landlords and seabed miners – let’s see if mystical creature...
    Bob Edlin writes  –  The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they  follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • There’s a name for this
    Every year, in the Budget, Parliament forks out money to government agencies to do certain things. And every year, as part of the annual review cycle, those agencies are meant to report on whether they have done the things Parliament gave them that money for. Agencies which consistently fail to ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    6 days ago
  • Echoes of 1968 in 2024?  Pocock on the repetitive problems of the New Left
    Mike Grimshaw writes – Recent events in American universities point to an underlying crisis of coherent thinking, an issue that increasingly affects the progressive left across the Western world. This of course is nothing new as anyone who can either remember or has read of the late ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago

  • Positive progress for social worker workforce
    New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 hours ago
  • Minister confirms reduced RUC rate for PHEVs
    Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April.  ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 hours ago
  • Trade access to overseas markets creates jobs
    Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand.  Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    8 hours ago
  • NZ and Chinese Foreign Ministers hold official talks
    Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
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