Nice to see Biden continuing the Trump tradition of outright lying about covid…
"Biden’s response to a mother attending with her eight-year-old daughter, who asked Biden when her children — who “often ask if they will catch COVID, and if they do, will they die” — would be vaccinated.
“First of all, kids don’t get … COVID very often, it’s unusual for that to happen,” Biden told the little girl. “Number two, you’re not likely to be able to be exposed to something and spread it to mommy and daddy, and it’s not likely mommy and daddy are able to spread it to you.”
“I wouldn’t worry about it baby,” Biden assured her."
Though, of course, when Biden lies and spreads #fakenews its called 'Empathy'..one of the "tools in the tool box' the liberals and centrists wheel out at as their get out of jail free cards…
Yeah, the poor delusional bastard is obviously equally ignorant about defense policy, because he told some other kid that Santa would be able to fly across the border to deliver presents. /sarc
Seriously, talking to a kid is not the same as telling the white house press corps shit about injecting bleach or whatever.
I think it's being; taken for a ride, that NZ nurses want to stop, rather than start. The sense that the NZNO is not organizing for the benefit of NZ nurses is not lessened by their apparent disdain for their members:
"Given that in last year, we've had a CEO, two presidents, one vice president and three board members resign is a sign, a clear indication that something is not right within the governance group."
Board members had agreed the review would be a chance to counter the misinformation and negative comments.
Kaiwhakahaere or Māori co-president Kerri Nuku, who was chairing the meeting, said she was "looking forward to the review" and wanted "the facts to speak for themselves" as she believed that the way the board had behaved had "not been anything but reputable".
However, after receiving the report in December the board then decided to restrict who could read it, making it available to only those former board members who had participated in it..
Governance committee chair Andrew Cunningham conceded the board has had "some failings" over the last two years but was disappointed at the members' demands to see the entire report.
"We're at this point where we're in this state of flux and we have such awesome potential to actually flip it and go into something that's really cool.
"And we're just about there and then people are doing this, which is really disappointing.
"I'm just disappointed that they don't want to come along for the ride."
The Herald will be getting a rap over the knuckles this morning. The Ninth floor of the Beehive is not amused. How dare they publish an article giving the views of Auckland Medical School Professor Dr Gorman on the lockdown and the Government's actions?
Dr Gorman is, unfortunately, rather naive in his views, at least in my opinion. He seems to think the Government's activities were solely for the alleviation of risk from the Covid 19 cases. In my view they were intended to distract people's attention from the continued shambles that is their Housing policy. Get people to stop talking about the Government's failures and back to applauding St Jacinda for saving tens of thousands of lives is the meme of the day.
When Dr Gorman says "For example, the Ministry of Health on Saturday night decided not to tell the Government for 12 hours – for 12 hours, according to the Prime Minister – that there was an outbreak, which meant that any opportunity she had to shut down the Big Gay Out and America's Cup [on Sunday] had gone." he demonstrates his confusion. The aim of the delay seems to be intended to avoid the shutting down of The Big Gay Out. That was a major interest of a significant proportion of the devoted Jacinda worshippers and they were not to be inconvenienced.
Stuff on the other hand may be getting a gold star stuck on their editor's forehead. They have gone with policy and published a fawning column by Thomas Coughland. We no longer have a gold, or even a platinum system of tracing. We now have "the “Ferrari” of international Covid plans".
Get with the story Herald. Follow the example of Stuff and get with the flow. After all, you do want some of the latest $55 million slush fund don't you?
The MoH and Jacinda Ardern's governments have done a fantastic job on Covid-19 response. We are the envy of the world for both health and economy outcomes. Our economy is not only performing better than every one else's but better than we expected too.
Why wouldn't you trust what they are doing?
I'll tell you why, because of bitterness and crazy paranoia. There are not good attributes to have when discussing the effectiveness of this country’s Covid-19 response.
Are you, for instance, claiming the MoH deliberately put the country at risk because it is full of gay people who vote Labour and wanted to go to the Big Gay Out???
Well. After reading the first paragraph of what you have written I see that that there will be a gold star for you in the mail within a week or two. You are certainly 100% behind the Government line.
Now, what is going to be done about the housing crisis?
But you don't want anything done about the housing crisis otherwise you wouldn't rail so hard against measures such as a CGT, wealth tax, or land tax.
You are quite happy for the problem to continue because I suspect you personally benefit from it and it provide a stick with which to beat Jacinda Ardern with.
Come back to me when you've shown some broad compassion for those less fortunate. I won't hold my breath.
It is a bit off topic but I will very briefly note that I am opposed to all 3 of the policies you mention because the proposals to implement them all propose to do so while excluding the family home. That makes things much worse, not better.
However I will not discuss it here further as the point of my comment was to do with our Covid 19 reactions and erratic Government policy.
I have commented previously on the effects of capital gains taxes on house prices in other economies which have a CGT environment, and in particular in the Australian situation. Right now I am interested in our Covid 19 policies. If you want to see what I have said on the other subject I am sure you will be able to find my comments on this site.
It can feel like looking at another planet, rather than a country on the other side of the world. New Zealand is currently enjoying a life we can only eye enviously from afar – from spectator-filled rugby stadiums to New Year's celebrations.
The country has become something of a poster child for its handling of the Covid epidemic.
And yet some still doggedly insist it's a shambles
And yet some still doggedly insist it's a shambles
I think it has something to do with following the statements of the leader of your favourite political party rather than looking at the actions for what they are/were and what they achieved.
I note that with the latest outbreak in the community the viruses that accompanied the last outbreak have also reappeared:
the 'Moaning Minnie' virus
and
the 'Grumble/grouch' virus
These are subtly different viruses much the same as the UK Covid-19 variant is different to the original one.
I can still recall my shock at the National Party (Simon Bridges) standing up in Parliament not to say…'we stand united and want to help and support the plans for meeting this unknown enemy' but to treat it as some sort of party political happening. I actually expected him to cross the floor of the house to stand next to the PM.
I don't think my standards are too high, I do think that ethical & moral standards in NP have slipped mightily.
Right now I am interested in our Covid 19 policies.
So why did you bring up housing?
Your second paragraph @5 was specifically devoted to the bizarre theory the government is using Covid-19 to distract from and cover up the housing crisis? And I suspect that was your motivation for the entire comment.
"In my view they were intended to distract people's attention from the continued shambles that is their Housing policy."
I suspect it had more to do with the pressure coming from the hospo industry in Auckland and SMEs….they erred on the side of employment on this occasion which some will not agree with but they obviously think the processes are sufficient to contain it.
Well or they could send money to all these employers and sme's – money that is not linked to some staff, but rather to be used to pay the rent/overheads for the time of the shut down, but they did not.
No, we get a bullshit lockdown for a few days , and then we get a bullshit loosening of the lockdown, and then we get another bullshit shutdown for a few days, and rinse repeat. But its all good for those that can work remotely or work for government – money for nothing and – all gendered people for free.
If 3 cases are enough to warrant a lockdown 3 for the largest city in the country then surely 5 cases should be enough to warrant the continuation of the lockdown until they are sure no more cases are coming up. Everything else is shambles and a container load of horse manure that goes to waste in the gilded halls of the government.
Shambles? For all that Covid bullshit ("bullshit lockdown"; "bullshit loosening of the lockdown"; "another bullshit lockdown"), NZ could be doing much worse. They must be drowning in bullshit in the US and Europe – not a nice way to go imho.
this last lookdown was warranted. Firstly, and imo it should go and stay until and unless it is clear that there is no more community transmission
yesterday we were told taht there were two more cases. And we were also told its ok to go back to normal.
So yeah, this lockdown was bullshit – made so by the governments idiocy in going back to level 1 as if all is normal also Yesterday.
So either we need to go into lockdown anytime there is a community transmission / outbreak or not.
Everything else is bullshit.
Not sure what your comment about the secessionist in the US who got herself shot in the face while planning to shot someone else in the face but surely you saw something there…..
If you don’t understand the reasoning and decision making of the latest one you haven’t been paying attention or you’re letting your beliefs cloud your thinking.
Agreed. And since it has been an almost constant pressure from all areas of the hospo industry (including tworism) since this shit show kicked off you'd have thought the Government would have acquired a bit of immunity against it by now.
Up North here there was no small surprise at the Level being lifted. We kinda assumed/hoped it would continue for at least another week. Not that we don't like Aucklanders or anything….
Not just hospo industry, dentists, doctors with planned surgeryes, people with planned surgeries in AKL, children going to school, people going to work, etc.
NOT Everyone in this country is working remotely with enough resources to simply just stay home at the horrible noise of the mobile phone.
As i said also, i don't want a wage subsidy – again a load of bullshit imo, but rather that the government helps people pay their bills when they are being in lockdown courtesy of the government.
Maybe people need to understand that you can have government paid subsidies to keep people in lockdown when it is needed, or it can go the way of the US and not pay a dime to affected groups of people and then watch them go to work despite the risk to themselves, their families and others.
And a year in this pandemic, i really had hoped that the government had wrapped its head around this particularity of people, that a. they don't like to be locked up, b. they need to earn money to pay for all that government sanctioned capitalism, and last but least, if they don't give people good enough reasons for a lockdown and financial aid for those that can't just stay at home, some day no one is going to listen to them, their little phone alarm, their preachy tv sessions of kindness and such and people will just go out to work, to their appointments because why not.
I too would have liked this lockdown to last at least 14 – 16 days.
but then, hey they can just send us back into lockdown tomorrow if they find a few more people with Covid. right?
btw, if one is on Home D the government via Winz pays for all your living costs. So yeah, bullshit alright.
I always highly value your impartial opinion but today your radar seems a little off.
The piece by Thomas Coughlan – you may want to pay a little more attention to the spelling of his name – is hardly fawning.
If you had actually read the piece, which of course you had not, you would have known that neither Mr Coughlan nor Stuff had coined the term “Ferrari” in this context – writers hardly ever write their own headlines anyway.
In fact, it was economist and modeller Rodney Jones who came up with the term.
You fascinate me. How do you think I found, and commented on this statement if I hadn't read the article? And I may not have attributed the comment to the person who first wrote it but the comment was in the article, and not only in the headline as you seem to be suggesting and certainly was, at least in my opinion, enthusiastically supported as being valid by the author of the piece.
For your benefit it was in, and I quoted from, the third paragraph which says, in full,
"The question for New Zealanders is whether Cabinet’s decision yesterday represents a new, more confident and possibly more cavalier evolution of the country's Covid-19 response, which one economist and modeller described as the “Ferrari” of international Covid plans."
IMHO, you’re too easily fascinated, see too much fawning, and fall for Ferrari headlines.
I didn’t see the full quote in your beautifully crafted comment @ 5 because it wasn’t there, only the part-quote, which was selective and misleading to suit your narrative. It did not come with proper attribution either, which is another sign of being disingenuous and not commenting here in good faith. It wouldn’t be the first time for you, would it?
I too heard the interview with Professor Gorman this morning. He builds a very compelling argument around the core premise of “what is our risk appetite”? This seems a very basic question to me and yet one I’m not sure we have a clear and consistent view on.
He makes another valid point about the political theatre of alert level announcements. When it takes 15 minutes of preamble each time before you get to the key message, you know the whole thing is more designed to be a show than a public service announcement.
You misunderstand that much of the “show” is part of clear and effective communication to the whole NZ population. Key messages and reasoning need to be repeated every time. Not everyone is as ‘with it’ as Alwyn and you. I too sit there impatiently just waiting for the decision but I’m not the typical audience. I cannot stand watching & listening and go by the written Live Updates on Stuff. Mostly, I can’t be bothered and get on with things and don’t find out what’s been decided until somebody tells me many hours later.
Anyone remember the Business Roundtable. The odious old boys club with their creep economic policies. The days of crony capitalism when the 1%ers had their cronies in positions of power. The self entitled BRT with their noses deep in the trough and pockets open expecting the state to shovel money into it. Government by the 1% for the 1%
The Business Round Table was a think tank not an "old boys club". It still exists. It merged with another think tank about 10 years ago and renamed to the NZ Initiative. It still published really well researched papers on a variety of topics to help stimulate debate on policies.
Why? They are a right-wing think tank. That is not unusual. There are also left-wing think tanks. The point of them is to push out ideas to solve societies problems from a particular perspective. There is nothing sinister or underhand in that.
They should have been a "think again" tank Gosman. Sadly for NZ there was not much thinking in the enactment of their agenda. It was a one way swinging door, a totally porous membrane
The unjustified system of new zealand breaches Te Treaty of Waitangi in many ways. Times are changing but not fast enough to stop tangata whenua from being thrown out to the crap heap of the prison system that will unload many negative effects on their future there tamariki future and Mokopuna futures.
Criminal Justice System: Why New Zealand’s Drug Laws Need to Change
By Emilia Sullivan
Māori, despite only making up 15% of the population, make up 52.8% of New Zealand’s prison population, with almost half being incarcerated for drug offences. In 2015, the (now former) Commissioner of Police Mike Bush acknowledged that New Zealand police have an ‘unconscious bias’ toward Māori. Five years on, things have not changed. Māori are still disproportionately represented in the prison system, with a large portion of these being non-violent drug offences. Something has clearly gone wrong in our justice system’s approach to reducing harm caused by drugs, and it needs to be rectified by Māori, for Māori.
I ran across a recent essay from The Brothers Krynn, which attempts to map common horror monsters onto the Seven Deadly Sins: https://canadianculturecorner.substack.com/p/horror-monsters-and-vice My interest, however, is not in the meat of the piece, but rather the opening paragraph: It is an interesting fact that in recent decades, Vampires have ...
Buzz from the Beehive Transport Minister Simeon Brown dutifully issued advice to all road users to keep safe on our roads during the Easter weekend. He encouraged them to stay safe, plan their journeys ahead of time, and be patient with other drivers while travelling around this Easter long weekend. ...
Oliver Hartwich writes – New Zealanders recently learned about a new feature film. It will be about former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern – and taxpayers will subsidise it to the tune of NZ$800,000. Ardern had nothing personally to do with either the film or the subsidy. But her government’s ...
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This story by Naveena Sadasivam and Kate Yoder was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. The long-awaited jobs board for the American Climate Corps, promised early in the Biden administration, will open next month, according to details shared exclusively ...
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When Parliament passed the Intelligence and security Act in 2017, they assured us all that it was full of safeguards. Any intrusive surveillance of New Zealanders would be subject to a "triple lock", requiring the approval of the Minister and (supposedly independent) Commissioner of Intelligence Warrants, as well as post-facto ...
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Don Brash writes – As everybody who is not blind and deaf is aware, there is a huge political preoccupation with climate change at the moment, a widespread (though by no means unanimous) belief that global temperatures are rising mainly as a result of the greenhouse gases created ...
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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 ...
Buzz from the Beehive China has loomed large in Beehive considerations over the past 24 hours, largely because of that country’s mischief-making in the cyber espionage department. Two media statements emerged on that subject hard on the heels of the PM baulking at questions put to him on RNZ’s Morning ...
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Bryce Edwards writes – When she was campaigning to be Minister of Finance last year, Nicola Willis pledged that she would resign from the job if she failed to deliver tax cuts in her first Budget. Now, it’s that pledge, along with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s ...
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The furore. In case you didn’t notice there was a controversy in the weekend involving dolphins in a little town off the South Island. Don’t panic, they haven’t declared independence and resumed whaling, this was simply a sailing event.The problem began when racing was cancelled on the opening day of ...
For 20 years or more, the case for a meaningful capital tax gains has been mulled over and analysed to death, including by the tax working group chaired by Sir Michael Cullen. More than once, the International Monetary Fund has said a CGT would be a good idea for New ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: The Public Health Communications Centre (PHCC) call for urgent preventive action and a risk assessment survey of long covid in this briefing noteLocal scoop: NZ road deaths surpass OECD rates, so why is the govt reversing safety plans? ...
This story was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. This story is part of a collaboration with Grist and WABE to demystify the Georgia Public Service Commission, the small but powerful state-elected board that makes critical decisions about everything from raising ...
This is a guest post from Robert McLachlan Global warming is accelerating; 2023 was off the charts. We need to stop burning fossil fuels. In New Zealand, transport accounts for half of all fossil fuels burnt. In the Emissions Reduction Plan, transport emissions fall 41% by 2035. As the ...
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Faced with a barrage of criticism over the promised tax cuts from usually supportive commentators, Finance Minister Nicola Willis yesterday reaffirmed her intention to include them in this year’s Budget. The Government is up against it over the cuts just about every way it turns. Commentators like Fran O’Sullivan, Matthew ...
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The Inspector General of Intelligence and Security (IGIS) recently released a report in which he exposes the existence of a foreign intelligence partner-controlled technological “capability” inside the headquarters of the GCSB, NZ’s 5 Eyes-affiliated signals intelligence collection and analysis agency. … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – Nearly three decades after the introduction of MMP and multiparty governments there should be a greater level of understanding about their finer points than often appears to be the case. The reaction to the despicable outburst from the Deputy Prime Minister at the weekend highlights ...
The sweet kisses from fruit of summerHave slowly been turning dullerYou say, "those times"And "remember the daysWhen we went outside and there still was the shade?"Taking no reason into play…Autumn. Clear, blue days shortening to longer nights, growing colder. Aotearoa.That’s us. The temperature dropping, the looming car crash - so ...
Bryce Edwards writes – “It is often said that behind every great man is a great woman”. This is the pitch by the National Party Botany electorate branch to attend their “Ladies Afternoon Tea with Amanda Luxon”. For $110 including GST, you can turn up on Saturday 20 April ...
David Farrar writes – The Electoral Commission has published the expense returns for political parties for the 2023 election. I’ve put them in a table with how many votes a party got so we can see the spend per vote. National only spent $3.34 for every vote they got, almost ...
Winston Peters’ headline-making actions over the past week may have been a show of political power intended to strengthen his hand in Budget negotiations. It was no accident that his State of the Nation speech was as it was. He made it as New Zealand First Leader, not as Deputy ...
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:Former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson bowed out of politics this week, giving a series of exit ...
Graham Adams writes — If you love the law or sausages, as the saying goes, best not to look too closely at how they are made. And after watching the orgy of self-pity when Newshub’s closure was announced on February 28, television journalism should definitely be added to the list of those ...
Venerable New Zealand political commentator, Chris Trotter (https://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/), is a sad creature these days. Once one of the most reliable Leftist writers out there – Economic Left at that – Trotter seems to have absorbed the worldview of Auckland culture-war obsessives. It is not for me to categorise what he ...
The Coalition Government’s plan to ‘get Auckland moving’ is a cuts cover-up that will ultimately cost Aucklanders more to move around the city, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Slashing the Ministry of Pacific Peoples by 40% will have a devastating impact on pacific communities and further highlights how little this government cares about anything other than cutting taxes for the wealthiest few. ...
Labour has proposed an urgent inquiry to investigate the ever-increasing profits of supermarkets, aiming to lower costs for shoppers and food producers alike, says Labour Spokesperson for Commerce and Consumer Affairs Arena Williams and Primary Production Spokesperson Cushla Tangaere-Manuel. ...
With 14% of jobs on the line at the Ministry for Ethnic Communities, the responsible Minister Melissa Lee is failing to stand up for the very communities she’s meant to be representing. ...
COURT OF APPEAL: TRIFECTA OF VICTORY FOR NZ FIRST, TRIFECTA OF FAILURE FOR OPPONENTS For the third time since April 2020, New Zealand First has defeated the Serious Fraud Office and all those complicit in a malicious attack against a political party going about its lawful business in a lawful ...
The Green Party stands with people who live in public housing, people in dire housing need, experts and advocates in demanding better than the Government’s archaic approach to housing those who need our support the most. ...
New Zealand has recently lost the hosting rights of some major international sporting events including the America’s Cup, the Rugby Championship, Netball World Cup, and the Wellington Sevens. We are now at a huge risk of losing SailGP as well. And it won’t stop there. The recent issues with SailGP ...
A Member’s Bill drawn this week would modernise insurance law and make things fairer and more transparent for consumers, Christchurch Central MP Duncan Webb said. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues has confirmed she was aware of funding issues in mid-December and did nothing to stop it. On 14 March, she signed off on changes that were announced and implemented on 18 March without any consultation with disability communities. ...
Green Party MP Julie Anne Genter says her members' bill is an opportunity for the coalition government to plug the gap in electric vehicle incentives. ...
The National Government continues to talk about irresponsible tax cuts that will only drive up inflation, despite the country entering a technical recession. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues must act urgently to reinstate flexibility around the funding for disability support and apologise to disabled carers. ...
This story has been initiated by a leftie shill reporter who proactively sought to call a member of a former band, which disbanded twelve years ago, give their biased appraisal of what was said in my speech, and concocted a ham-fisted attempt at a story that does nothing but show ...
The Government has accepted Labour’s change to the Road User Charge (RUC) discount for hybrid vehicles, meaning there will still be some incentive for people to buy greener vehicles. ...
Many in the mainstream media have taken what was said in New Zealand First’s State of the Nation Speech in Palmerston North on Sunday and deliberately, deceitfully, and ignorantly misrepresented what I said and why I said it. The headlines and commentary on the news stated that I compared ‘co-governance ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
Good afternoon. Thank you for, in your very busy lives, turning up to this meeting today. On October 14th last year New Zealanders overwhelmingly voted for change. That is exactly what this new government is bringing. New Zealand First campaigned to ‘take back our country’ and stop the disastrous economic ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track 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 publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
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 publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed the passing of legislation to move light electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) into the road user charges system from 1 April. “It was always intended that EVs and PHEVs would be exempt from road user charges until they reached two ...
New Zealand is strengthening its ability to combat illegal fishing outside its domestic waters and beef up regulation for its own commercial fishers in international waters through a Bill which had its first reading in Parliament today. The Fisheries (International Fishing and Other Matters) Amendment Bill 2023 sets out stronger ...
Economists Carl Hansen and Professor Prasanna Gai have been appointed to the Reserve Bank Monetary Policy Committee, Finance Minister Nicola Willis announced today. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is the independent decision-making body that sets the Official Cash Rate which determines interest rates. Carl Hansen, the executive director of Capital ...
Apartment owners and buyers will soon have greater protections as further changes to the law on unit titles come into effect, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “The Unit Titles (Strengthening Body Corporate Governance and Other Matters) Amendment Act had already introduced some changes in December 2022 and May 2023, and ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters will travel to Egypt and Europe from this weekend. “This travel will focus on a range of New Zealand’s traditional diplomatic and security partnerships while enabling broad engagement on the urgent situation in Gaza,” Mr Peters says. Mr Peters will attend the NATO Foreign ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown is encouraging all road users to stay safe, plan their journeys ahead of time, and be patient with other drivers while travelling around this Easter long weekend. “Road safety is a responsibility we all share, and with increased traffic on our roads expected this Easter we ...
About 1.4 million New Zealanders will receive cost of living relief through increased government assistance from April 1 909,000 pensioners get a boost to Superannuation, including 5000 veterans 371,000 working-age beneficiaries will get higher payments 45,000 students will see an increase in their allowance Over a quarter of New Zealanders ...
Ensuring social housing is being provided to those with the greatest needs is front of mind as the Government restarts social housing tenancy reviews, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. “Our relentless focus on building a strong economy is to ensure we can deliver better public services such as social ...
The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary will not go ahead, with Cabinet deciding to stop work on the proposed reserve and remove the Bill that would have established it from Parliament’s order paper. “The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary Bill would have created a 620,000 sq km economic no-go zone,” Oceans and Fisheries Minister ...
Dam safety regulations are being amended so that smaller dams won’t be subject to excessive compliance costs, Minister for Building and Construction Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on reducing costs and removing unnecessary red tape so we can get the economy back on track. “Dam safety regulations ...
The coalition Government is expanding the medium-scale adverse event classification to parts of the North Island as dry weather conditions persist, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced today. “I have made the decision to expand the medium-scale adverse event classification already in place for parts of the South Island to also cover the ...
The passing of legislation giving effect to coalition Government tax commitments has been welcomed by Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “The Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill will help place New Zealand on a more secure economic footing, improve outcomes for New Zealanders, and make our tax system ...
Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins and Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds today announced plans to transform our science and university sectors to boost the economy. Two advisory groups, chaired by Professor Sir Peter Gluckman, will advise the Government on how these sectors can play a greater ...
The Budget will deliver urgently-needed tax relief to hard-working New Zealanders while putting the government’s finances back on a sustainable track, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The Finance Minister made the comments at the release of the Budget Policy Statement setting out the Government’s Budget objectives. “The coalition Government intends ...
The coalition Government will look at options to address a zoning issue that limits how much financial support Queenstown residents can get for accommodation. Cabinet has agreed on a response to the Petitions Committee, which had recommended the geographic information MSD uses to determine how much accommodation supplement can be ...
Cabinet has agreed to a short extension to the final reporting timeframe for the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care from 28 March 2024 to 26 June 2024, Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden says. “The Royal Commission wrote to me on 16 February 2024, requesting that I consider an ...
The coalition Government is delivering an $18 million boost to New Zealanders needing to travel for specialist health treatment, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says. “These changes are long overdue – the National Travel Assistance (NTA) scheme saw its last increase to mileage and accommodation rates way back in 2009. ...
The Government is recognising the innovative and rising talent in New Zealand’s growing space sector, with the Prime Minister and Space Minister Judith Collins announcing the new Prime Minister’s Prizes for Space today. “New Zealand has a growing reputation as a high-value partner for space missions and research. I am ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has confirmed New Zealand’s concerns about cyber activity have been conveyed directly to the Chinese Government. “The Prime Minister and Minister Collins have expressed concerns today about malicious cyber activity, attributed to groups sponsored by the Chinese Government, targeting democratic institutions in both New ...
Independent Reviewers appointed for School Property Inquiry Education Minister Erica Stanford today announced the appointment of three independent reviewers to lead the Ministerial Inquiry into the Ministry of Education’s School Property Function. The Inquiry will be led by former Minister of Foreign Affairs Murray McCully. “There is a clear need ...
State Highway 1 across the Brynderwyns will be open for Easter weekend, with work currently underway to ensure the resilience of this critical route being paused for Easter Weekend to allow holiday makers to travel north, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Today I visited the Brynderwyn Hills construction site, where ...
Introduction Good morning to you all, and thanks for having me bright and early today. I am absolutely delighted to be the Minister for Infrastructure alongside the Minister of Housing and Resource Management Reform. I know the Prime Minister sees the three roles as closely connected and he wants me ...
New Zealand stands with the United Kingdom in its condemnation of People’s Republic of China (PRC) state-backed malicious cyber activity impacting its Electoral Commission and targeting Members of the UK Parliament. “The use of cyber-enabled espionage operations to interfere with democratic institutions and processes anywhere is unacceptable,” Minister Responsible for ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced New Zealand will provide logistics support for the upcoming Solomon Islands election. “We’re sending a team of New Zealand Defence Force personnel and two NH90 helicopters to provide logistics support for the election on 17 April, at the request ...
The European Union Free Trade Agreement Legislation Amendment Bill received Royal Assent today, completing the process for New Zealand’s ratification of its free trade agreement with the European Union. “I am pleased to announce that today, in a small ceremony at the Beehive, New Zealand notified the European Union ...
Public consultation on the terms of reference for the Royal Commission into COVID-19 Lessons has concluded, Internal Affairs Minister Hon Brooke van Velden says. “I have been advised that there were over 11,000 submissions made through the Royal Commission’s online consultation portal.” Expanding the scope of the Royal Commission of ...
Hardworking families are set to benefit from a new credit to help them meet their early childcare education (ECE) costs, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. From 1 July, parents and caregivers of young children will be supported to manage the rising cost of living with a partial reimbursement of their ...
A specialised Independent Technical Advisory Group (ITAG) tasked with preparing and publishing independent non-binding advice on the design of a "green" (sustainable finance) taxonomy rulebook is being established, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “Comprising experts and market participants, the ITAG's primary goal is to deliver comprehensive recommendations to the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins has thanked the Chief of Army, Major General John Boswell, DSD, for his service as he leaves the Army after 40 years. “I would like to thank Major General Boswell for his contribution to the Army and the wider New Zealand Defence Force, undertaking many different ...
25 March 2024 Minister to meet Australian counterparts and Manufacturing Industry Leaders Small Business, Manufacturing, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly will travel to Australia for a series of bi-lateral meetings and manufacturing visits. During the visit, Minister Bayly will meet with his Australian counterparts, Senator Tim Ayres, Ed ...
Government commits almost $3 million for period products in schools The Coalition Government has committed $2.9 million to ensure intermediate and secondary schools continue providing period products to those who need them, Minister of Education Erica Stanford announced today. “This is an issue of dignity and ensuring young women don’t ...
Good morning, it’s great to be here. First, I would like to acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of Building Surveyors and thank you for the opportunity to be here this morning. I would like to use this opportunity to outline the Government’s ambitious plan and what we hope to ...
Minister for Pacific Peoples Dr Shane Reti has announced the Government’s commitment to the Auckland Secondary Schools Māori and Pacific Islands Cultural Festival, more commonly known as Polyfest. “The Ministry for Pacific Peoples is a longtime supporter of Polyfest and, as it celebrates 49 years in 2024, I’m proud to ...
Before moving onto the substance of today’s address, I want to recognise the very significant and ongoing contribution the Breast Cancer Foundation makes to support the lives of New Zealand women and their families living with breast cancer. I very much enjoy working with you. I also want to recognise ...
New Zealand has notched up a first with the launch of University of Canterbury research to the International Space Station, Science, Innovation and Technology and Space Minister Judith Collins says. The hardware, developed by Dr Sarah Kessans, is designed to operate autonomously in orbit, allowing scientists on Earth to study ...
Introduction Thank you for inviting me to speak with you today and I’m sorry I can’t be there in person. Yesterday I started in Wellington for Breakfast TV, spoke to a property conference in Auckland, and finished the day speaking to local government in Christchurch, so it would have been ...
The Coalition Government is contributing more than $1 million to support the establishment of an emergency multi-agency coordination centre in Northland. Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell announced the contribution today during a visit of the Whangārei site where the facility will be constructed. “Northland has faced a number ...
New Zealanders have enjoyed a broader range of voices telling the story of Aotearoa thanks to the creation of Whakaata Māori 20 years ago, says Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka. The minister spoke at a celebration marking the national indigenous media organisation’s 20th anniversary at their studio in Auckland on ...
Commercial catch limits for some fisheries have been increased following a review showing stocks are healthy and abundant, Ocean and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The changes, along with some other catch limit changes and management settings, begin coming into effect from 1 April 2024. "Regular biannual reviews of fish ...
COMMENTARY:By Ronny Kareni Since the atrocious footage of the suffering of an indigenous Papuan man reverberates in the heart of Puncak by the brute force of Indonesia’s army in early February, shocking tactics deployed by those in power to silence critics has been unfolding. Nowhere is this more evident ...
Analysis - Nicola Willis is holding firm on tax cuts despite the economic outlook being worse than forecast and critics urging her to wait, writes Peter Wilson for The Week In Politics. ...
Opposition MPs and unions are criticising a proposal by New Zealand’s Ministry of Pacific Peoples to cut staff by 40 percent. The country’s largest trade union — The Public Service Association — says the ministry has informed staff that it is looking to shed 63 of 156 positions. Opposition MPs ...
A poem by Poetry Aotearoa Yearbook 2024 featured poet Carin Smeaton. Daughtr of the 90s when she gets promoted to usherette a baby blu eel carries her all the way up to mothership she’s hovering high she lets the underaged in to see keanu reeves she lets the only lonely ...
Analysis by Keith Rankin. Keith Rankin, trained as an economic historian, is a retired lecturer in Economics and Statistics. He lives in Auckland, New Zealand. My earlier article – Can ‘Good’ be the Greater Evil? – looked at the issue of how wars should end, and how Good versus Evil ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 AMMA by Saraid de Silva (Moa Press, $38)A stunning debut novel reviewed by Brannavan ...
From Steve Martin to Ricky Stanicky, a pick’n’mix of things worth watching and listening to this long weekend. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. If you’re at a loss for something to occupy yourself with this Easter, don’t panic: The Spinoff’s got ...
Jesus had dinner with his 12 disciples right before he died. Noted historian Madeleine Chapman finds out who really deserved to be there.First published in 2018 but let’s be honest, the subject is timeless. As you sit on your couch this Easter Sunday, eating a chocolate egg you know ...
The newly-promoted Northern League club is on a mission to return to the National League for the first time in two decades. Plenty about domestic football in New Zealand has changed in that time – but the sense that this amateur competition is not an entirely level playing field remains. ...
Comment: Every year on February 2, a dozen men in tuxedos and top hats approach the burrow of a groundhog in Gobbler’s Knob, Pennsylvania and entice the beaver-like rodent to emerge and predict the weather. If the groundhog, named Punxsutawney Phil, sees its own shadow when it is summoned, legend ...
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Auckland Council has put a deadline on new weather-impacted property owners applying for categorisation as government funding looks set to run out. Councillors have voted to support a deadline of September 30 for property owners who haven’t accessed support to come forward and engage with the council’s recovery office. It ...
NONFICTION 1 BBQ Economics by Liam Dann (Penguin Random House, $40) “It’s official,” wrote Dann nine days ago in the Herald, where he works as business editor at large, “we’re in recession.” Yeah, great. He delivered the bad stats: “GDP fell 0.1 percent in the December 2023 quarter, compared with ...
By Anneke Smith, RNZ News political reporter A petition urging the New Zealand government to provide urgent humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people has been tabled in the House. More than 200 people gathered on Parliament’s forecourt today and they were met by MPs from Labour, the Greens and Te ...
Pacific Media Watch The Paris-based global media freedom watchdog RSF (Reporters Without Borders) has appealed for information about the “disappearance” of Palestinian journalist Bayan Abusultan. She was reportedly last seen on March 19 among people “sequestered” in this week’s raid and siege of Al Shifa hospital by Israeli troops in ...
EDITORIAL:The Jakarta Post It happens again and again; indigenous Papuans fall victim to Indonesian soldiers. This time, we have photographic evidence for the brutality, with videos on social media showing a Papuan man being tortured by a group of plainclothes men alleged to be the Indonesian Military (TNI) members. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robyn J. Whitaker, Director of the Wesley Centre for Theology, Ethics, and Public Policy & Associate Professor, New Testament, Pilgrim Theological College, University of Divinity A strange and eclectic range of activities takes place across these few weeks of the year. Some ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Panizza Allmark, Professor Visual & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University It’s Easter weekend, which means many of us will be kicking back with the greatest hits on repeat. But whether you’re a boomer, or an ‘80s or ’90s kid, you might be ...
RNZ Pacific Fiji’s Acting Public Prosecutor has filed an appeal against the sentences of former prime minister Voreqe Bainimarama and suspended police chief Sitiveni Qiliho in their corruption case. Bainimarama was granted an absolute discharge for attempting to pervert the course of justice while Qiliho received a conditional discharge with ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Arosha Weerakoon, Senior Lecturer and General Dentist, School of Dentistry, The University of Queensland Casezy idea/Shutterstock How does toothpaste work? What did people use before toothpaste was invented? – Amelia, age 7, Meanjin (Brisbane) Thanks for your ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brett Hallam, Associate professor, UNSW Sydney IM Imagery/Shutterstock Solar SunShot is well named. The Australian government announced today it would plough A$1 billion into bringing back solar manufacturing to Australia, boosting energy security, swapping coal and gas jobs for those ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Dix, Research Fellow in Nutrition & Dietetics, The University of Queensland Easter is the time for chocolate. The shops are full of fantastically packaged and shiny chocolates in all shapes and sizes, making trips to the supermarket with children more challenging ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emma Felton, Adjunct Senior Researcher, University of South Australia Even in a stubborn cost-of-living crisis, it seems there’s one luxury most Australians won’t sacrifice – their daily cup of coffee. Coffee sales have largely remained stable, even as financial pressures have ...
Mining company Trans-Tasman Resources has unexpectedly withdrawn its application for a consent to suck the valuable metals vanadium and titanium from the Taranaki seafloor, as it apparently wagers on the Government’s new fast-track process. It had spent two-and-a-half days putting its case to the Environmental Protection Agency’s decision-making committee, at ...
Contrary to the Associate Minister of Education’s claims, analysis of Healthy School Lunches Programme - Ka Ora, Ka Ako assessments has revealed it provides excellent value for the taxpayer dollar, as a groundswell of public opposition to Government ...
Greenpeace says wannabe Taranaki seabed miner Trans-Tasman Resources is likely banking on Christopher Luxon’s fast-track process to side-step proper scrutiny of its Taranaki seabed mining proposal by bailing out of the Environmental Protection Agency hearing ...
Kiwis Against Seabed mining today slammed Australian owned would-be seabed miner Trans Tasman Resources (TTR) for abandoning its application to the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) to mine the seabed of the South Taranaki Bight. The company ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katie Attwell, Associate Professor, School of Social Sciences, The University of Western Australia Ground Picture/Shutterstock Months after COVID vaccines were introduced in 2021, governments and private organisations mandated them for various groups. Health and aged care workers were among the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Dzurak, Scientia Professor Andrew Dzurak, CEO and Founder of Diraq, UNSW Sydney Diraq For decades, the pursuit of quantum computing has struggled with the need for extremely low temperatures, mere fractions of a degree above absolute zero (0 Kelvin or ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne A national Essential poll, conducted March 20–24 from a sample of 1,150, gave the Coalition a 50–44 lead including undecided, a reversal ...
The Taxpayers’ Union has today made a formal request under the Regulations of the People’s Republic of China on Open Government Information () for information held about how New Zealand Members of Parliament are spending taxpayer ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robert Nelson, Honorary Principal Fellow, The University of Melbourne A Byzantine depiction of the Eucharist in Saint Sophia Cathedral, Kyiv.Jacek555/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA A nasty quarrel arose in the 11th century over what kind of bread should be used in holy ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Patrick Hesp, Professor, Flinders University Patrick Hesp In some parts of Australia, coastal dunes are retreating from the ocean at an alarming rate, as waves carve up the beach and wind blows the sand inland. But coastal communities are largely ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Luke Heemsbergen, Senior Lecturer, Digital, Political, Media, Deakin University With an impressive 60% of the US smartphone market, Apple is undeniably big, but not a clear monopoly. Yet, years of innovation by Apple have effectively given the company its own exclusive ...
Whether you’re facing layoffs or are just an emotional junior staffer, it’s always a good idea to scout out a good crying place before you need it. It’s an incredibly hard time for Wellington. Across the city, thousands of public servants are hearing tough news about redundancies and layoffs. Government ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Miller-Jones, Professor, Curtin University Nuclear explosions on a neutron star feed its jets. Danielle Futselaar and Nathalie Degenaar, Anton Pannekoek Institute, University of Amsterdam, CC BY-SA How fast can a neutron star drive powerful jets into space? The answer, it ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Daryl Adair, Associate Professor of Sport Management, University of Technology Sydney Earlier this week, independent MP Andrew Wilkie accused the AFL of conducting “off the books” illicit drug testing to identify players using substances of abuse, then inappropriately withdrawing them from matches ...
The Government’s announcement that it will scrap plans for a vast marine sanctuary around the Kermadec Islands is ‘shameful’ and will make it impossible for Aotearoa New Zealand to meet its international commitments, says the World Wide Fund for Nature ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Quiggin, Professor, School of Economics, The University of Queensland Shutterstock The federal government has bowed to pressure from the car industry, announcing it will relax proposed emissions rules for utes and vans and delay enforcement of the new standards ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Suzanne Rutland, Professor Emerita, University of Sydney In his latest book, Jewish Life in Medieval Spain, Jonathan Ray focuses on the tumult of the 14th century in Spain – a time of the plague, civil strife and war between the two largest ...
While creating a slate of world-class shows, Whakaata Māori also developed a generation of world-class creatives. Television is an odd word. It mixes the Ancient Greek and Latin languages, and its most literal meaning is “far-off sight”. In the contemporary and living language of te reo Māori, “whakaata” as a ...
Yesterday the UN Security Council passed a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Israel’s war on Gaza. This significant step and the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza prompted an urgent debate in the New Zealand Parliament. Leader ...
The Government’s decision to reduce access to continuous glucose monitors (CGM) not only threatens the lives of children with type 1 diabetes and increases the potential for ‘Dead in Bed’ syndrome, but also threatens the health of their parents an ...
Apples are available year-round, but the wide variety on offer involves intensive scientific research – and large-scale commercialisation. What’s beautiful, red, sweet and crunchy? Tony Martin’s favourite kind of apple: Sassy. The CEO of apple and pear breeding organisation Prevar, Martin’s fondness for Sassy represents professional success as well as ...
Family violence specialist service Shine is calling on employers to stop asking for proof of domestic violence in order for employees to access domestic violence leave. The call comes five years after the introduction of the Domestic Violence ...
The Deputy Chairperson of the Finance and Expenditure Committee is calling for public submissions on the Budget Policy Statement 2024. The Budget Policy Statement 2024 (BPS) sets out the Government's priorities for the 2024 Budget. It explains the approach ...
Brutal government spending cuts that will see the size of the Ministry for Pacific Peoples slashed by 40% will hit Pasifika communities hard, the PSA says. The Ministry has told staff that it is seeking voluntary redundancies, and to redeploy and reassign ...
I live with five people I mostly love, but our different ideas about generosity are starting to really irk me.Want Hera’s help? Email your problem to helpme@thespinoff.co.nzDear Hera,This is a bit of a random one but here goes. I’m 22 and work an OK job (OK meaning I get paid ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Maria Nicholas, Senior Lecturer in Language and Literacy Education, Deakin University Earlier this month, the New South Wales government announced it would roll out programs for gifted students in every public school in the state. This comes amid concerns gifted school ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christopher Rudge, Law lecturer, University of Sydney Massachusetts General Hospital In a world first, we heard last week that US surgeons had transplanted a kidney from a gene-edited pig into a living human. News reports said the procedure was a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Tombs, Howard Paterson Chair of Theology and Public Issues, University of Otago The 5th-century Maskell panel showing Jesus in a loincloth.British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA When Jesus is shown on the cross, he is almost always depicted wearing a loincloth around ...
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Here is a very interesting short Joe Biden Interview from 2015.not much has changed…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0BxI01IiwMw
Nice to see Biden continuing the Trump tradition of outright lying about covid…
Though, of course, when Biden lies and spreads #fakenews its called 'Empathy'..one of the "tools in the tool box' the liberals and centrists wheel out at as their get out of jail free cards…
Biden sounds here nearly as ignorant and as much a wishful thinker as Trump.
Yeah, the poor delusional bastard is obviously equally ignorant about defense policy, because he told some other kid that Santa would be able to fly across the border to deliver presents. /sarc
Seriously, talking to a kid is not the same as telling the white house press corps shit about injecting bleach or whatever.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/opinion/124265465/political-leaders-language-seeks-to-manipulate-us
No, it isn’t.
The Force is strong with this family.
Good piece by Jess Berentson-Shaw.
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/scared-shouting-and-standing-in-the-way
In other words:
Feel their fear and do it anyway!
I think it's being; taken for a ride, that NZ nurses want to stop, rather than start. The sense that the NZNO is not organizing for the benefit of NZ nurses is not lessened by their apparent disdain for their members:
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/436641/call-for-nurses-organisation-to-release-review-into-board-s-performance
Darned if I know why Andrew should be 'disappointed'.
The Herald will be getting a rap over the knuckles this morning. The Ninth floor of the Beehive is not amused. How dare they publish an article giving the views of Auckland Medical School Professor Dr Gorman on the lockdown and the Government's actions?
Dr Gorman is, unfortunately, rather naive in his views, at least in my opinion. He seems to think the Government's activities were solely for the alleviation of risk from the Covid 19 cases. In my view they were intended to distract people's attention from the continued shambles that is their Housing policy. Get people to stop talking about the Government's failures and back to applauding St Jacinda for saving tens of thousands of lives is the meme of the day.
When Dr Gorman says "For example, the Ministry of Health on Saturday night decided not to tell the Government for 12 hours – for 12 hours, according to the Prime Minister – that there was an outbreak, which meant that any opportunity she had to shut down the Big Gay Out and America's Cup [on Sunday] had gone." he demonstrates his confusion. The aim of the delay seems to be intended to avoid the shutting down of The Big Gay Out. That was a major interest of a significant proportion of the devoted Jacinda worshippers and they were not to be inconvenienced.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/covid-19-coronavirus-auckland-out-of-lockdown-jacinda-ardern-sounds-warning-professor-des-gorman-criticises-alert-level-response/KFA6K7SS55MHX4BONF33FUVBSM/
Stuff on the other hand may be getting a gold star stuck on their editor's forehead. They have gone with policy and published a fawning column by Thomas Coughland. We no longer have a gold, or even a platinum system of tracing. We now have "the “Ferrari” of international Covid plans".
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/300233040/covid19-contact-tracing-ferrari-will-be-enough-to-contain-future-outbreaks
Get with the story Herald. Follow the example of Stuff and get with the flow. After all, you do want some of the latest $55 million slush fund don't you?
The MoH and Jacinda Ardern's governments have done a fantastic job on Covid-19 response. We are the envy of the world for both health and economy outcomes. Our economy is not only performing better than every one else's but better than we expected too.
Why wouldn't you trust what they are doing?
I'll tell you why, because of bitterness and crazy paranoia. There are not good attributes to have when discussing the effectiveness of this country’s Covid-19 response.
Are you, for instance, claiming the MoH deliberately put the country at risk because it is full of gay people who vote Labour and wanted to go to the Big Gay Out???
It seems that way.
Well. After reading the first paragraph of what you have written I see that that there will be a gold star for you in the mail within a week or two. You are certainly 100% behind the Government line.
Now, what is going to be done about the housing crisis?
But you don't want anything done about the housing crisis otherwise you wouldn't rail so hard against measures such as a CGT, wealth tax, or land tax.
You are quite happy for the problem to continue because I suspect you personally benefit from it and it provide a stick with which to beat Jacinda Ardern with.
Come back to me when you've shown some broad compassion for those less fortunate. I won't hold my breath.
It is a bit off topic but I will very briefly note that I am opposed to all 3 of the policies you mention because the proposals to implement them all propose to do so while excluding the family home. That makes things much worse, not better.
However I will not discuss it here further as the point of my comment was to do with our Covid 19 reactions and erratic Government policy.
Why?
Why? This is Open Mike.
I have commented previously on the effects of capital gains taxes on house prices in other economies which have a CGT environment, and in particular in the Australian situation. Right now I am interested in our Covid 19 policies. If you want to see what I have said on the other subject I am sure you will be able to find my comments on this site.
Nah. Why does exempting the family home make things much worse?
Simple question.
The outcomes of those policies have made NZ the envy of world.
And yet some still doggedly insist it's a shambles
We don't know how lucky we are…
I like this version of the Fred Dagg classic with the old timey NZers and places…..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYvMeT2GC14
I think it has something to do with following the statements of the leader of your favourite political party rather than looking at the actions for what they are/were and what they achieved.
I note that with the latest outbreak in the community the viruses that accompanied the last outbreak have also reappeared:
the 'Moaning Minnie' virus
and
the 'Grumble/grouch' virus
These are subtly different viruses much the same as the UK Covid-19 variant is different to the original one.
I can still recall my shock at the National Party (Simon Bridges) standing up in Parliament not to say…'we stand united and want to help and support the plans for meeting this unknown enemy' but to treat it as some sort of party political happening. I actually expected him to cross the floor of the house to stand next to the PM.
I don't think my standards are too high, I do think that ethical & moral standards in NP have slipped mightily.
So why did you bring up housing?
Your second paragraph @5 was specifically devoted to the bizarre theory the government is using Covid-19 to distract from and cover up the housing crisis? And I suspect that was your motivation for the entire comment.
That's Advance NZ territory right there.
"In my view they were intended to distract people's attention from the continued shambles that is their Housing policy."
I suspect it had more to do with the pressure coming from the hospo industry in Auckland and SMEs….they erred on the side of employment on this occasion which some will not agree with but they obviously think the processes are sufficient to contain it.
Well or they could send money to all these employers and sme's – money that is not linked to some staff, but rather to be used to pay the rent/overheads for the time of the shut down, but they did not.
No, we get a bullshit lockdown for a few days , and then we get a bullshit loosening of the lockdown, and then we get another bullshit shutdown for a few days, and rinse repeat. But its all good for those that can work remotely or work for government – money for nothing and – all gendered people for free.
If 3 cases are enough to warrant a lockdown 3 for the largest city in the country then surely 5 cases should be enough to warrant the continuation of the lockdown until they are sure no more cases are coming up. Everything else is shambles and a container load of horse manure that goes to waste in the gilded halls of the government.
Shambles? For all that Covid bullshit ("bullshit lockdown"; "bullshit loosening of the lockdown"; "another bullshit lockdown"), NZ could be doing much worse. They must be drowning in bullshit in the US and Europe – not a nice way to go imho.
this last lookdown was warranted. Firstly, and imo it should go and stay until and unless it is clear that there is no more community transmission
yesterday we were told taht there were two more cases. And we were also told its ok to go back to normal.
So yeah, this lockdown was bullshit – made so by the governments idiocy in going back to level 1 as if all is normal also Yesterday.
So either we need to go into lockdown anytime there is a community transmission / outbreak or not.
Everything else is bullshit.
Not sure what your comment about the secessionist in the US who got herself shot in the face while planning to shot someone else in the face but surely you saw something there…..
Yeah, life is BS and then you die.
All lockdown decisions are a balancing act.
If you don’t understand the reasoning and decision making of the latest one you haven’t been paying attention or you’re letting your beliefs cloud your thinking.
I was temporarily overwhelmed by all that "bullshit" – better now. All the best.
btw, we are not a commie country, we are captialism true and through.
see Wekas post about kids being hungry every day, and their parents.
And that too is due to goverments bullshittery, the current ones, the key ones, the clark ones the shipley ones etc.
…the pressure coming from the hospo industry…
Agreed. And since it has been an almost constant pressure from all areas of the hospo industry (including tworism) since this shit show kicked off you'd have thought the Government would have acquired a bit of immunity against it by now.
Up North here there was no small surprise at the Level being lifted. We kinda assumed/hoped it would continue for at least another week. Not that we don't like Aucklanders or anything….
Not just hospo industry, dentists, doctors with planned surgeryes, people with planned surgeries in AKL, children going to school, people going to work, etc.
NOT Everyone in this country is working remotely with enough resources to simply just stay home at the horrible noise of the mobile phone.
As i said also, i don't want a wage subsidy – again a load of bullshit imo, but rather that the government helps people pay their bills when they are being in lockdown courtesy of the government.
Maybe people need to understand that you can have government paid subsidies to keep people in lockdown when it is needed, or it can go the way of the US and not pay a dime to affected groups of people and then watch them go to work despite the risk to themselves, their families and others.
And a year in this pandemic, i really had hoped that the government had wrapped its head around this particularity of people, that a. they don't like to be locked up, b. they need to earn money to pay for all that government sanctioned capitalism, and last but least, if they don't give people good enough reasons for a lockdown and financial aid for those that can't just stay at home, some day no one is going to listen to them, their little phone alarm, their preachy tv sessions of kindness and such and people will just go out to work, to their appointments because why not.
I too would have liked this lockdown to last at least 14 – 16 days.
but then, hey they can just send us back into lockdown tomorrow if they find a few more people with Covid. right?
btw, if one is on Home D the government via Winz pays for all your living costs. So yeah, bullshit alright.
I always highly value your impartial opinion but today your radar seems a little off.
The piece by Thomas Coughlan – you may want to pay a little more attention to the spelling of his name – is hardly fawning.
If you had actually read the piece, which of course you had not, you would have known that neither Mr Coughlan nor Stuff had coined the term “Ferrari” in this context – writers hardly ever write their own headlines anyway.
In fact, it was economist and modeller Rodney Jones who came up with the term.
Please sharpen up.
"which of course you had not".
You fascinate me. How do you think I found, and commented on this statement if I hadn't read the article? And I may not have attributed the comment to the person who first wrote it but the comment was in the article, and not only in the headline as you seem to be suggesting and certainly was, at least in my opinion, enthusiastically supported as being valid by the author of the piece.
For your benefit it was in, and I quoted from, the third paragraph which says, in full,
"The question for New Zealanders is whether Cabinet’s decision yesterday represents a new, more confident and possibly more cavalier evolution of the country's Covid-19 response, which one economist and modeller described as the “Ferrari” of international Covid plans."
Did you read past the headline of the piece?
IMHO, you’re too easily fascinated, see too much fawning, and fall for Ferrari headlines.
I didn’t see the full quote in your beautifully crafted comment @ 5 because it wasn’t there, only the part-quote, which was selective and misleading to suit your narrative. It did not come with proper attribution either, which is another sign of being disingenuous and not commenting here in good faith. It wouldn’t be the first time for you, would it?
Please sharpen up or ship out, thanks.
I too heard the interview with Professor Gorman this morning. He builds a very compelling argument around the core premise of “what is our risk appetite”? This seems a very basic question to me and yet one I’m not sure we have a clear and consistent view on.
He makes another valid point about the political theatre of alert level announcements. When it takes 15 minutes of preamble each time before you get to the key message, you know the whole thing is more designed to be a show than a public service announcement.
You misunderstand that much of the “show” is part of clear and effective communication to the whole NZ population. Key messages and reasoning need to be repeated every time. Not everyone is as ‘with it’ as Alwyn and you. I too sit there impatiently just waiting for the decision but I’m not the typical audience. I cannot stand watching & listening and go by the written Live Updates on Stuff. Mostly, I can’t be bothered and get on with things and don’t find out what’s been decided until somebody tells me many hours later.
Anyone remember the Business Roundtable. The odious old boys club with their creep economic policies. The days of crony capitalism when the 1%ers had their cronies in positions of power. The self entitled BRT with their noses deep in the trough and pockets open expecting the state to shovel money into it. Government by the 1% for the 1%
The Business Round Table was a think tank not an "old boys club". It still exists. It merged with another think tank about 10 years ago and renamed to the NZ Initiative. It still published really well researched papers on a variety of topics to help stimulate debate on policies.
Ha ha. Still transparently right-wing to my mind.
Yes. Unashamedly so.
That just demonstrates their lack of self-awareness. Ha.
Why? They are a right-wing think tank. That is not unusual. There are also left-wing think tanks. The point of them is to push out ideas to solve societies problems from a particular perspective. There is nothing sinister or underhand in that.
IT WAS A JOKE
They should have been a "think again" tank Gosman. Sadly for NZ there was not much thinking in the enactment of their agenda. It was a one way swinging door, a totally porous membrane
The odiousity of the round table is well known.
In what way was or is it odious?
The unjustified system of new zealand breaches Te Treaty of Waitangi in many ways. Times are changing but not fast enough to stop tangata whenua from being thrown out to the crap heap of the prison system that will unload many negative effects on their future there tamariki future and Mokopuna futures.
Criminal Justice System: Why New Zealand’s Drug Laws Need to Change
By Emilia Sullivan
Māori, despite only making up 15% of the population, make up 52.8% of New Zealand’s prison population, with almost half being incarcerated for drug offences. In 2015, the (now former) Commissioner of Police Mike Bush acknowledged that New Zealand police have an ‘unconscious bias’ toward Māori. Five years on, things have not changed. Māori are still disproportionately represented in the prison system, with a large portion of these being non-violent drug offences. Something has clearly gone wrong in our justice system’s approach to reducing harm caused by drugs, and it needs to be rectified by Māori, for Māori.
Ka kite Ano
Link below
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.equaljusticeproject.co.nz/articles/mori-and-the-criminal-justice-system-why-new-zealands-drug-laws-need-to-change2020%3fformat=amp