Open mike 17/06/2020

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, June 17th, 2020 - 68 comments
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68 comments on “Open mike 17/06/2020 ”

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  1. Peter 1
    17 June 2020 at 8:06 am

    Good news! Todd's found a job for Simon and Paula. He's sending them to Auckland airport for the next 6 months to make sure those charged with implementing the quarantine rules do the job properly.

    It might seem a bit extreme but he'll see it as a good investment if it saves him from needing to be on RNZ of a morning doing his dork impression.

    • observer 1.1
      17 June 2020 at 8:31 am

      Yes, Todd Muller has been doing his round of media interviews this morning, and obviously he's critical of the failure that led to 2 Covid-19 cases yesterday. That's fair enough – his job is to hold gov't to account, and this was a major stuff-up. A free hit for Todd.

      But amazingly he then pivots to National's "plan" to bring in thousands of international students immediately. They would be in "quarantine", he says.

      He doesn't say where. But we know the answer – the same places that are used now. Hotels, motels, especially in Auckland. And we all know that young people away from home always follow the rules (every student hostel that says "No alcohol, no drugs" is like a monastery, eh?).

      Armed guards on the doors? Kids walking up and down corridors for weeks when there's a city to explore outside? Or supervised walks on crowded streets, which have gone so well already? What's the genius quarantine plan, Todd?

      • Graeme 1.1.1
        17 June 2020 at 8:45 am

        Well it looks like National are looking at student quarantine in Queenstown

        Penny Simmons is the Nat candidate for Invercargill. Can see it working well in Queenstown, not.

        • observer 1.1.1.1
          17 June 2020 at 8:55 am

          Hundreds of students coming to party town. Some will be free of their parents for the first time in their lives. But they won't look out the window and even think about going outside. It's like National have never met a young person.

          • Graeme 1.1.1.1.1
            17 June 2020 at 9:37 am

            And of course quarantine in Queenstown will feature prominently in SIT’s marketing.

          • bwaghorn 1.1.1.1.2
            17 June 2020 at 11:10 am

            But think of those poor starving rental owners who might have to start working for a living .

          • RosieLee 1.1.1.1.3
            17 June 2020 at 3:09 pm

            And look at the Covid rates which still exist in the countries they're coming from. Insanity.

      • Peter 1.1.2
        17 June 2020 at 9:24 am

        That's what Simon and Paula are for. The scheme will be the same except there'll be thousands of overseas students. S&P will make sure that no Ministry of Health person stuffs up.

        • greywarshark 1.1.2.1
          17 June 2020 at 10:08 am

          I note that S&P is the initials for Standard & Poor the well-known effective financial stability and probity firm. And in an acronym-driven word a similar sounding one is S&M. That fits into the thoughts of National also. No doubt other terms will come to mind.

  2. Sanctuary 2
    17 June 2020 at 8:08 am

    If my social media is any guide the biggest losers from the recent border breach is the media (they are being blamed for a constant drum beat of clickbait human tragedy stories designed to take Jacinda down a peg or two by painting her government monstrously inhuman and uncaring) and National and business (for consistantly demanding the borders open) in that order which only goes to show that when things are against you you can't win a trick. The MSM is hugely unpopular at the moment, although they live in one of those weird feedback loops where criticism is taken as evidence of success and stinging criticism is dismissed as beastley personal attacks from the wrong headed. For National, the social media feedback should be all the evidence they need that they just need to stop talking about the Covid response (and being associated with the evil virus) and talk about statues and slides or something.

    I see the Hosking ZB Taliban is being primed to switch it's vote to ACT, both Hawkesby and Hosking have indulged in a remarkably coordinated (perish the thought that Kate is a bubble head doing the bidding of her husband!) endorsement of David Seymour, while Hawkesby is warming to the crusade against the Unite for Recovery campaign. Apparently people have "written to her" (how delightfully quaint, but perhaps keeping with ZB's superannuated audience of boomer Karens and Kevins) confessing to a feeling of anxiety at being told to buy local.

    • ScottGN 2.1
      17 June 2020 at 8:23 am

      Mmm…personally I wouldn’t put much faith in your own social media reflecting your opinion back at you.

      But certainly there are questions around the way the media and Opposition tried to cast the government as inhumane and uncaring when they rolled out the original limitations around funerals and other family gatherings.

      • Sanctuary 2.1.1
        17 June 2020 at 8:27 am

        Funnily enough, my (very active) social media reflects my hobbies and wider interests rather than my politics, which I largely keep to myself on social media platforms like Instagram, twitter, FB, WhatsApp or even Tik Tok. But I do accept that social media by it's nature is quite self-selecting.

    • tc 2.2
      17 June 2020 at 8:25 am

      Agree and IMO they're irresponsible and owned behaviour could drive the creation of independent public broadcasting isolated from political meddling.

      Oz have the legislative template, between rnz and tvnz the resources exist with a commercial channel carving away as ad revenue subsidy.

      Proper legacy stuff if they've the courage to put up with the bs and spin the private operators will scream constantly with.

      That $50m was whined for by interests not serving nz's common benefit so a call is there to be made.

      • Sanctuary 2.2.1
        17 June 2020 at 8:33 am

        Much of the MSM coverage has reflected the dynamics of the ailing private media sector – the bias towards simple, feeling based human interest story telling to drive clickbait and a rump of an over-aged chummy coterie of senior establishment journalists considerably to the right of the general public and biased in favour of business interests and their lobbyists.

      • greywarshark 2.2.2
        17 June 2020 at 10:14 am

        Edit
        'ZB's superannuated audience of boomer Karens and Kevins) confessing to a feeling of anxiety at being told to buy local. '

        The explanation of the anxiety is that it involves change, and thinking from a community and national support angle and being asked to give thought to that rather than just have the hand out. Their feelings will be that the oldies have gone through so much and want to cling to their customary shibboleths.

  3. Reality 3
    17 June 2020 at 8:47 am

    After having Hosking/Hawkesby and their ilk jumping up and down about Jacinda/Ashley forgetting about kindness, and ruining the economy, by taking time to go to level 1, will they admit they have egg on their faces? Admittedly these two cases seem to have arisen from a lapse in procedure, but Bridges/Muller/Peters/universities have been piling on the pressure to open up and the media has made much of the hard luck tales of bereft family members. Unfortunate this has happened, but perhaps a timely reminder of the risks of opening up.

    • observer 3.1
      17 June 2020 at 8:59 am

      Based on the usual media memory cycle, we'll need a top-up of new virus cases every couple of weeks, in order to keep the virus out. The paradox of stupidity.

      • ScottGN 3.1.1
        17 June 2020 at 9:03 am

        Yeah I think that the chances of the media casting a critical eye over their own behaviour on the matter of funeral attendances since we went into lockdown are about zero.

    • Peter Chch 3.2
      17 June 2020 at 9:17 am

      Reality check: without the nasty MSM the breach of quarantine by the two teenagers who went AWOL, the two women who tested positive due to incompetence, and have potentially spread c19 far and wide, the ludicrous and extremely dangerous management of the entire isolation/quarantine at Novotel would never even have seen the light of day.

      The incompetence of how the borders were managed (or totally neglected prior to lockdown) starting way back in February, also were only highlighted by the same MSM.

      Blaming the MSM for the obvious incompetence of the Health Minister and others is just ridiculous. If the procedures were followed, this problem would not have occurred. Nothing to do with the media.

      • I Feel Love 3.2.1
        17 June 2020 at 9:24 am

        The "media" also aren't one thing, John Campbell to Mike Hosking and many many views in between, from the sensible to the wacky and irresponsible (depending on ones own point of view). Though I expect an end to the "I can't go to a funeral" stories.

        • observer 3.2.1.1
          17 June 2020 at 10:45 am

          Clear distinction between the reporting (essential) and the reckons (too often uninformed and useless).

          Latest example: Brook Sabin on Stuff

          He thinks NZ is to blame for no trans-Tasman bubble, and in the same breath says that Australia still has the virus. So we should totally quarantine and not quarantine, or something.

      • Anne 3.2.2
        17 June 2020 at 10:28 am

        Blaming the MSM for the obvious incompetence of the Health Minister and others is just ridiculous.

        That is as big a cop-out as blaming the MSM for the breach.

        The protocol was made abundantly clear time and again by the PM, the Health Minister and the DG of Health. Not only that, they all three have been stressing the need for continued vigilance since we moved to Level 1.

        If every time a public servant or whoever mucked up big time – and it happens from time to time – their top man/woman had to resign we would never have a prime minister or any ministers – let alone a Public Service. Anarchy would prevail.

        Put the blame fairly and squarely on the shoulders where it lies – the person or persons who did not follow correct process at the border and/or the person/persons who allowed the women to travel to Wellington even though they had not been tested.

        • Peter Chch 3.2.2.1
          17 June 2020 at 11:13 am

          Anne, yes I take your point, but right from the beginning in February and March, there seems to have been a continual disconnect between what was supposed to be happening at our borders (eg, temperature checks and serious attempt at screening) and what was actually happening. Same with the dangerous fiasco of a lack of an effective system at Novotel from the beginning.

          When a disconnect like that persists for so long, something beyond individual people failing to follow set procedures seems to be present. At some point the Minister should have become aware of the systemic failures and shown a bit of leadership. I certainly hope he does how with, as he said this morning, enforcing accountability.

  4. xanthe 4
    17 June 2020 at 9:24 am

    It was maby a bad idea for the high court to allow itself to be brought in to the process

    https://courtsofnz.govt.nz/assets/cases/Christiansen-v-The-Director-General-of-Health-Reasons-NZHC-887.pdf

    this did impose considerable extra work in managing "compassionate grounds" at a time when the public health was very busy with more important matters. good on the minister for calling time on this but i guess that also now can be challenged in court,

    one good outcome (assuming we dont end up back in level4) is that people might just have been getting a bit complacent. a good wake up

    • ianmac 4.1
      17 June 2020 at 11:53 am

      Xanthe. Pardon my ignorance but the decision on the judgement that you so kindly published above has me uncertain to what the outcome was. Was/is the judgement for or against the Health Act?

      • You_Fool 4.1.1
        17 June 2020 at 2:43 pm

        That judgement was to overturn the refusal to allow the applicant to leave quarantine early so he could visit his dying father. I.e. the same situation as these 2 sisters who were granted permission after this decision.

        What this means is that at first the MoH was being harsh and saying no visits, then the courts said that they shouldn't be harsh, then we got 2 covid cases.

        • Descendant Of Smith 4.1.1.1
          17 June 2020 at 5:02 pm

          I read the judgement as saying that the MOH failed to consider the request under either the compassionate or exceptional grounds (despite being led to water to those grounds by the applicant), relied on other policy criteria only e.,g. written rules, that meant they failed to exercise discretion but were formulaic in their decision making (courts have previously ruled on public servants following formulas where discretion is allowed e.g. the corrections and housing cases referred to, and that given these delays and the imminent death of the father the court should make a ruling now rather than direct MOH to properly exercise discretion by considering the case under compassionate or exceptional.

          Pretty straightforward really – surprised it got so far.

  5. Muttonbird 5
    17 June 2020 at 10:25 am

    The circling vultures have landed on the carcass of Bauer Media.

    Mercury Capital (the name says it all) is to buy Bauer Australia and New Zealand. I understand private equity firms specialise in taking troubled companies, stripping them of any remaining value and dumping the leftovers in a ditch. Happy to be proven wrong here if it helps NZ stories be told, but I'm not optimistic.

    Remember Bauer bought these assets from ACP Media for $800 million just 8 years ago.

    https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/money/2020/06/bauer-media-s-kiwi-business-reportedly-purchased-by-australia-s-mercury-capital.html

    • Peter Chch 5.1
      17 June 2020 at 11:21 am

      Maybe they will asset strip, or maybe relaunch the titles in digital form only. Let's face it, like it or not, print is dead or soon will be.

      What's your thoughts on the future of the titles if Mercury does try and resurrect them?

      I certainly miss North and South. Some great investigative journalism there over the years (eg, Swedish backpacker case, National Womens scandel and so on).

      • Muttonbird 5.1.1
        17 June 2020 at 12:04 pm

        Bauer appeared to have a go at a couple of digital platforms where they recreated stories from the print edition. It was basically an article online though, not a web experience.

        The investigative side has been pressured heavily by fairfax and stuff who do semi-interactive digital long form journalism full of great visuals and graphic transitions. A designed web experience as opposed to what Bauer was up to.

        There is money available from the restructured NZ on air for web based media and video documentaries which is what has prompted fairfax and stuff to move into that area.

        Bauer is a family owned 150 year old publishing business out of Hamburg. That doesn't scream agility in the modern era to me.

        The other problem with running print alongside digital is you are competing with yourself.

        Maybe they'll keep one Listener/North&South type title and mount a digital challenge to the other players.

    • xanthe 5.2
      17 June 2020 at 3:59 pm

      Well what i wnt to know is will I get my listener subscription back, handed over the monies the night before bauer torched it… damn

  6. Herodotus 6
    17 June 2020 at 11:30 am

    If it is good for a photo opportunity, then to our speaker front up when the crap hits the fan.

    And for balance the Covid 19 was always going to happen and will continue that is something we will have to learn to live with on this planet for many years to come – Hopefully we will be better with incursions of the disease.

    No wonder our PM and Min of Finance are under so much pressure – A team of 2 to carry the country. I would guess that there are 3 Labour list candidates that had a job in Wellington , but no more.

    $180k on consultants – that is 8 months full time for a survey or junior consultant engineer, or 6 months form a senior engineer for this.

    https://www.parliament.nz/en/get-involved/features/parliament-opens-playground-on-international-children-s-day/

  7. Morrissey 7
    17 June 2020 at 11:35 am

    The Search function on this site is not working.

    Why the hell not? frown

    https://i.imgur.com/UoVWnOc.gif

  8. Andre 8
    17 June 2020 at 11:59 am

    It's so unfair to be picking on him. Obviously it's just his bone spurs playing up again.

  9. observer 9
    17 June 2020 at 2:32 pm

    In Parliament National's Woodhouse alleges that the 2 women "kissed" somebody who helped them on their journey. Gets all excited about his big reveal.

    How low can National get? Does he want the women to resign? From what?

    • dv 9.1
      17 June 2020 at 3:13 pm

      AND they still drove to want with o stopping!!

      I assume Woodhouse has advised those got kissed to get tested.

      • ianmac 9.1.1
        17 June 2020 at 3:24 pm

        Yesterday Bloomfield said that the two women were able to discretely pee on the side of the road.

        • mac1 9.1.1.1
          17 June 2020 at 3:35 pm

          Woodhouse told by the Minister if he had information such as he asked the Minister about, he should have informed the authorities then, and not brought it in at first recounting at Question Time.

          What is more important? Covid-19 tracing or attempting to point score in the House?

  10. ianmac 10
    17 June 2020 at 3:21 pm

    Todd Muller gave a remarkably passionate speech -without apparent text, during the general Debate today. Nothing but criticism of the Government of course.

    A different performance from all previous outing. Look out!

    https://ondemand.parliament.nz/parliament-tv-on-demand/?itemId=213063

    • Tiger Mountain 10.1
      17 June 2020 at 3:53 pm

      Todd Conehead has been a non event so far, maybe he has had the electrodes on and a spot of media training. Call me cynical, but his pre election performance really will not matter to the tory faithful who will tick “Party Vote National” as they are hardwired to do.

      • mac1 10.1.1
        17 June 2020 at 4:11 pm

        Tiger Mountain, in previous elections when National did poorly, some of those hard-wired National voters stayed away from the polls, some voted NZF, some to small fringe parties.

        Those tory faithful have options- New Conservative, NZF, ACT, and others or to stay away.

    • Cinny 10.2
      17 June 2020 at 8:49 pm

      🤔 😂Bahahahaha hahahaha 😂 LMAO !!! 🤣 ROFL !!! 😉 *composes herself*

      Sorry about that… after intensely 🕵️‍♀️ listening and 👓 watching mullers five minute rehearsed speech, I'm not sure if we share the same view on said topic.

  11. Ad 11
    17 June 2020 at 3:30 pm

    For those who like a quick and generous summary of Prime Minister Ardern:



    • ianmac 11.1
      17 June 2020 at 4:50 pm

      I thought perhaps since she is single, I might ask her to marry me. Perhaps not. But a really nice video.