You are a lowly charge nurse from Manila (where politics is a nasty and corrupt game} and you get a call from your boss saying a high profile National MP is asking that two high falutin' women get released early. What do you do? Buckle under the pressure or stivk to your guns?
[With allegations such as these, you have to provide at least some back-up, e.g. a link or something, anything. This is a place for robust debate, not for wild unhinged conspiracy theories about a Filipino nurse FFS. You’re in Pre-Moderation until you provide support for your allegations or withdraw – Incognito]
Is this scenario entirely your hypothetical, or repeating a vaguely plausible rumour from elsewhere, or based on a report from a generally plausible source? If it's the latter, any chance of linky?
But that scenario seems at odds with how the exemption process is apparently supposed to work. Where the decisions on exemptions are made well away from anywhere near the frontline of working with the isolated and quarantined people.
It doesn't appear to be in dispute that the women were in fact granted an official exemption through the official process. That was expedited after the death of the womens’ parent. So if backchannel pressure was applied, the pressure point would likely have been within the MoH bureaucracy, not at the charge nurse and their supervisor level.
I think I'll just discuss your consistant abuse of power in relation to me with MickeySavage and Advantage 🙂
[Please also send an e-mail to Lprent to make your case; are they friends of yours? Meanwhile you’re free to smear “a lowly charge nurse from Manila” here on TS without a shred of evidence that they are somehow involved in the “politics and power” and some kind of weird ‘conspiracy’ – Incognito]
I'd be genuinely sorry to see you cop a ban; you make energetic and sometimes provocative contributions here (something past my talent level) and this flare up seems … unnecessary.
Incognito is the best moderator TS has ever had and I'd be inclined to give him/her a pass on this even if you do feel a bit done over this time. Moderation is not easy and everyone who has done it for a while inevitably clashes with someone on some issue.
When this story first broke a few days ago I had a picture in my mind of a MoH local official (likely a woman health worker) being put upon to grant the exemption for these two women.
We don't know what happened yet but what's the bet if it turns out to be something along these lines, the poor mug who was put upon will be made to carry the can.
I can't imagine a system where an MP would be talking directly (as the first point of contact) to a charge nurse on this matter. They contact the organisation at a much higher level, then the organisation deals with it thereafter.
From what has been publicly stated, it seems that Bishop contacted the relevant Minister which is what I would expect.
I'm guessing the couple contacted bishop's office once they got to Wellywood to say thanks. Because that's what usually happens when an MP helps to solve a constituents dilemma, especially if it's a major one.
If so bishop's office would have asked how they got on, the couple would have told him about their experience. If that happened bishops office should have immediately contacted the ministry to make them aware of the holes in the system.
Is this scenario entirely your hypothetical, or repeating a vaguely plausible rumour from elsewhere, or based on a report from a generally plausible source?
If I may add, I took Sanctuary's wording as a fiction, purely to illustrate an example of power imbalance that may be in play.
I can't imagine a system where an MP would be talking directly (as the first point of contact) to a charge nurse on this matter.
Wasn't suggesting as much Wayne. I'm just saying that somewhere along the 'chain of command' from the email sent by Bishop to the on the ground staff, someone put pressure on someone else to grant an exemption.
It seems, after all their strident calls for opening the borders, opening up the Australia bubble (with new 21 cases there yesterday) allowing in international students (in properly managed isolation in Queenstown lol) and compassionate relaxation of the rules etc etc, that opinion in this country is hardening against any such moves.
People are beginning to realise that ‘fortress NZ’ might really be the only option for the immediate future.
A number of quite conservative people are coming to the same conclusion re ‘fortress NZ’–a term that drives some absolutely berserk–that keeping the border stitched up is the way to go in the medium term.
In the Far North where I am, while a few NZ First and National people got publicly excited about the Iwi Covid Checkpoints, a hell of a lot of Pākehā supported them–they would not have lasted 5 minutes if that was not the case. Even tory FNDC Mayor John Carter was a supporter. Nat Northland MP Matt King, was “outrager” in chief, but he bottled it when Hone Harawira invited him to attend a checkpoint for a morning to see how they were being operated.
I hope the Nats keep on whinging, and pissing people off, because for once there is a good degree of national unity on something of importance–call me old fashioned but a deadly pandemic is of existential import for many of us.
Frankly in the early days I think we should have had quite a few more of those . Properly run by locals under police advice – locals had the resource and the motivation – to find all the people granting themselves an exemption.
I realise in the Far North there was a lot of Pākehā support for the checkpoints. People genuinely believed they were for their good. Matt King didn't want them and made a fuss to prove he was Mr Tough, all for Laura Norder and wanted to make some point about himself and Iwi. It was about himself being more powerful and having status.
The upshot of it all? It is most likely that King, having putting himself forward like that with the fear of death and gratitude for those who tried to ave them being a distant memory, the survivors will vote for him. Unfortunately.
Agree, and added to that, they've trumpeted from the roof tops the human error debacles
At the same time they want to multiply the opportunities for human error by opening the borders.
But seriously, the media with their lack of fact checking.
Pure click bait as a business model.The most recent being Patrick Gower last night declaring that the military official being promoted had already been in charge of quarantine, when in fact he'd been overseeing repatriation flights
A reasonable explanation of the new regime by Richard Harman
"The military are effectively taking over the management of the Covid-19 border isolation and quarantine facilities and processes. In effect, they will now be coming over the top of the Police, Aviation Security and the Ministry of Health. They will not be working as armed guards at facilities; the Police and Aviation Security will still do hard enforcement. Their main role will be a management and logistics one which up till now has largely been the responsibility of the Police and the Ministry of Health.
Is it too much to expect of our journalists that they do a little fact checking and reading?
I suspect their problem is inability to figure out the right questions to ask and the right people to ask. Delineation of the lines of accountability and responsibility has been conspicuous by its absence in public life in Aotearoa since the 1980s – and in the public service for much longer probably. Fudging and cover-ups by the political left & right became normalised long ago.
Which public servant was given operational responsibility for border control and/or quarantine arrangements? Has any journo asked the Director General of Health that? Instead we get the usual headless-chook blame game:
"I have no reason to doubt that Bloomfield et co, and even the hapless David Clark *genuinely* believed they were in possession of the facts. That procedures were being followed. That we *were* in possession of what we said we were, doing what we said we were doing, things working basically as they almost ideally should. And that the shock and fury many of us have experienced to find out that this is not, in fact, the case – has been an emotion they’ve felt, too. Because it seems like they’ve been operating in almost as much of an informational void about this as we have." https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2020/06/19/but-what-of-the-real-culprits-covid-quarantine-crisis-and-the-rush-to-judgement-and-blame/
So the powers that be issue instructions, then the public service fail to implement them, then there's a media circus in which everyone fails to explain what went wrong. The public interest lies in learning from the experience: collusion between political left & right prevents identification of the person who screwed up, so we can never learn. It would be refreshing if the media were to report this part of the explanation, so public anger could then focus on how to change the system so as to produce appropriate public service as the outcome!!
"Multiple layers of questionable communication let alone accountability and command-and-control, between often-competent and certainly well-meaning people at the top, and often-competent and certainly well meaning people at the bottom, that have allowed the *incompetent* exceptions to not so much *test* the rule as seemingly become it."
So while "it’s easy and cathartic to focus upon the faces at the top, and fixate that they’re somehow the sum totality of the problem. To do so, in this instance allows the ACTUAL cause of these lapses to fester quietly out of sight. Safe in its relative anonymity and lack of true accountability."
So Judith Collins told the AM Show audience this morning that the PM had been lying (think she also included the DGH) because such misdirection of the public's attention is traditional – it's how the establishment maintain the problem. True leadership by a politician in this situation would be to accurately identify the decision-maker who failed, and cite their formal responsibility as conferred by their employer to prove the point.
LPrent maybe can answer that technical point. Here's something worth considering:
where in the chain of command did the failures to effectively enforce the quarantine restrictions occur, who made compassionate exemptions without testing, and why anyone in a position of authority would cover up the possibility that a lethal disease had escaped isolation. Instead, given that the quarantine regime is now under military control, questions should be asked as to why that step was needed.
Method used: 1. copy selected text 2. paste here 3. click on quote symbol at top of comment window
TS inserts quote via tab relocation to the right for visual layout optimisation, and note the quote button remains on until you push it again to write your own text beneath.
Pablo's essay is very good. It points to relevant questions around military competence, govt competence, public service competence. Also reinforcing my point about the usual fudging of accountability by all political players & media…
For what it's worth we used to have an informal convention here that if you were quoting from another comment in the same thread we'd just put it in quote marks and italics.
If it was a quote from an external site (or another post), we'd use the blockquote method you are discussing above, and add the link.
I’d never insist anyone had to do this, but I find it a nice enhancement.
You can select a block of text and then click the speech mark icon in the bar above to create an indented speech marked quote. Weka had shown Dennis how to do this but he keeps forgetting.
Got to turn off the WYSIWYG editor for the old-school method to work. If you don't then highlight the text you want to quote and then click on the quote marks in the tool panel.
Could be related to my poor old deprecated MBP and browser. Checked with another browser (Chrome, which I detest because it slows the machine down) and toolbar is there.
One positive of it is that I’ve now got a working spell check dictionary to sort my atrocious spelling.
How much of this is provided by aviation security and who or what are they? I'm confused – are they hired directly by a govt dept, what background and training do they have , what payment levels and who do they report to?
I ask because at an earlier level ( when Wellington supposedly wasn't doing quarantine) I saw 3 muppets with "aviation security" on the vis vest walking shoulder to shoulder ( so 3 across) along a central wellington pavement. We were supposed to be doing social distancing but there was none between them and since they were hogging the pavement it made it difficult for everyone else too.
Emirates have announced this morning that they are coming back into New Zealand from 1 July. International travel is opening back up, so I don't think there is any chance of Fortress New Zealand.
Just need the numpties at the border to do their job. No one leaves the hotel unless they have returned two negative tests.
Temporary border measures, visas, travel and essential service support.
Travel to New Zealand
New Zealand’s border is closed to most travellers and entry is strictly controlled. All arrivals are tested for COVID-19 and a 14-day managed quarantine or isolation is mandatory.
New Zealand citizens, permanent residents and residents with valid travel conditions returning to New Zealand do not need approval from Immigration New Zealand before travelling. "
What are "valid travel conditions"? I thought it was only citizens and permanent residents -(who were habitually resident here) so we didn't get a wave of people coming in who were permanent residents but didn't bother living here any more but found the welfare attractive. And that limited group of partners etc had to apply for a waiver.
Also that bulk extension of visa's done to sept. I hope it only extended those in the country at the time of lockdown and if you are out or have left the original expiry date holds.
Plus who are they finding to fly in- and do we need more quarantine spaces?
I wondered about a prefab hutch and an enclosed run in the auckland airport carparks or using Soames island where gainful tree planting would be the order of the day- but I know these are not really a goer. I'd be happier with either of those though – I too like to cook for myself mainly because I need to know what's in my food.
Fortress NZ is probably the only option until there's an vaccination against Covid-19 and its been implemented across the whole population. Until then we'd have a serious chance of a major outbreak from people coming into the country.
What will happen, and is already happening, is better methods of treating the virus. Cases are still going up around the world, and so is the death rate, but not by so much.
The reality is covid-19 will probably become endemic and will be treated much the same way as a bad case of the flu. Building up your immune system can do much to counter the nasty thing.
Oh shit. It appears there are now documented instances of people falling ill with COVID a second time after they have been considered recovered and cleared by tests. Hopefully this stays an extreme rarity.
Covid 19 coronavirus: There may be no immunity, new Wuhan study suggests – Humans may never develop immunity against Covid-19, according to new research on antibodies by Chinese and American scientists…
At least a quarter of the more than 23,000 samples tested could have been infected with the virus at some stage, according to the scientists. But only 4 per cent had developed antibodies as of April.
.
Coronavirus immunity appears to last for ‘at least two months’ after diagnosis –
…The study was led by researchers and clinicians at St George’s, University of London and St George’s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in collaboration with colleagues at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Mologic Ltd and Institut Pasteur de Dakar, Senegal. It analysed antibody test results from 177 individuals diagnosed with COVID-19 infection from a viral test.
Yep. I have been expecting that was going to be the case. The antibody creation seems to mostly happen in severe symptom cases.
That makes any vaccine have to balance on a knife edge. Has to trigger a 2nd level immune response without making people sick too crook. Add another year or two…
Does anyone have a document that shows how the 14 day quarantine / isolation worked, and who’s doing the work, supervising the work and where the money’s going.
Is it MOH operating in the hotels, or are the hotels effectively running the whole show?
I have little doubt that much of the actual frontline hands on work will have been contracted out to 'providers'. This has been a long term tactic of the Ministry so they can abdicate, or at least dilute their culpability when things go to shit.
Again.
If you have the time and energy you could do an OIA…and share?
I would be very interested in who's up who and who's paying.
At rack rates plus no doubt. Not that they let many rooms at those rates in real life. And I assume that largely people are doing their own room cleaning – if not they should be. and the rooms should be left for a couple of days before cleaning and reuse.
But isn’t it time to move on and use NZ owned facilities rather than shoving our dosh down offshore tax haven companies?
Idiots, tattoos, ubiquitous cameras and digital breadcrumb trails. It's getting a lot harder to use protests as cover to get your jollies with a bit of mindless destruction.
The Harold story about the misaligned real and tat eyebrows gave me an actual lol.
I s'pose going along with fake tats, ginning up some clothes with slightly obscure references to groups you really didn't like might also be useful if you've got wanton destruction in mind. It's not as if various alt-righters and even the cops are averse to that, it seems.
Given the pandemic surfaced suddenly earlier in the year and spread so quickly, the planning and organisation required to set up quarantine facilities etc was a massive undertaking. Large numbers of people would have been brought in to deal with this who had to learn on the job more or less. There are not hundreds of people waiting around to do this work in normal times. So in my view it was not surprising there have been some problems. Every business or organisation has problems from time to time, whether public or private. To vilify Dr Bloomfield is uncalled for. Every war (and this is a war) has setbacks.
Business lobbying for relaxation, the universities, the opposition, all put immense pressure on, so maybe things got relaxed too soon because of the initial success. Perhaps we can all be more realistic now.
A New Zealand woman has been left heartbroken after the Government suspended all compassionate exemptions for people in managed isolation while she was mid-air.
Annette Loveland was en route to New Zealand from Australia on Tuesday with a pending application after her dad died of cancer when the Government made the announcement.
I have sympathy for the predicament of the sisters but less sympathy for this one. She runs to the Herald with her story and infers Jacinda Ardern and co. are ruthless and callous. No comprehension of what happened and its effect on the country as a whole. Just all about herself.
I expect she thinks there will be an outpouring of sympathy for her and the Govt. will be forced into granting an exemption. There will be sympathy of course but an exemption? You're out of luck there Ms Loveland.
She is doing a big "woe is me" routine on the basis that her unwarranted expectations of being granted the enormous privilege of exemptions didn't actually happen.
Because a couple of women that were granted that enormous privilege went on to grossly abuse it, putting others at risk of disease and the whole country at risk of having to go back into lockdown.
So yeah, nah, I'm having trouble stirring much sympathy after that display of snowflake privilege from her. Especially as she appears to show zero understanding of what the effects on the rest of us might be from isolation and quarantine failures.
Most Australians couldn't get their heads around the idea of compassion and community-wide bubbles going together. They have been living in an individualistic and self-centred bubble all this, and going into last century, and it is very strong. They know how to build bubbles that last over there!
This means that people coming in are seeing exemption as the rule not the exception. I don't want any slackening so people are either going to have to leave earlier or accept quarantine?
That's the part I don't get. Why not wait until the exemption had been granted? Surely the risk of being denied the exemption is incumbent upon her in this case?
Spare me the privileged snowflake routine. Shit happens. Deal with it.
We've just come out of a lockdown where my mum wasn't allowed to go visit my dad in hospital when he was balanced on the edge. They live a short walk from the hospital, at the time there weren't even any COVID cases in the region, and throughout the COVID epidemic the nearest COVID infection was over 40km away from their remote community.
BTW, here’s the whine in Harold for those wondering what this is about:
There's kindness and then there's stupidity. Compassionate exceptions to travel restrictions during an epidemic are well into the stupidity – as we’ve just learned.
It sucks. I'm really sorry for her. But no exemptions for funerals. Maybe if the person is still alive but expected to die, to see them one last time. But not funerals.
Letting possibly infected people go to funerals is a great way of spreading the disease.
RNZ midday news informed us that Megan Woods has been put in charge of the quarantine system. I presume that means she will advise the operational person who administers it. Clearly a tacit concession by the PM that the current minister of health can't be relied on to do so.
Good news that someone who has established a reputation for competence is doing that job now! And whoever gave false assurances to the Director General (& PM indirectly) may be wondering if their anonymity can be preserved much longer. Lying about public safety seems bad behaviour for a public servant. I trust this individual will be prosecuted.
How can the establishment evade being made accountable to the public? My advice is to claim that the administration of public health is so complex that nobody is responsible for anything anymore. Complex systems are inherently random. Wheel in an expert in the science of complexity to say so at a govt press conference.
Then they could say the quarantine system `fell through the cracks'. That's always a good line to use. Just one of those things. Shit happens…
I think it's time they leased on a exclusive occupancy basis a couple of these hotels or other suitable premises rather than scattering everyone around the town, made any necessary physical and staffing adjustments and went to it. One isolation person was quoted as missing having his cup of coffee made (along with the no booze) which suggests quite a lot of "space sharing" with staff. Lets not make it tooo attractive – if you really need to be here you will do this. Also time for some cost recovery with the increased price of the airline tickets that everyone seems to be able to afford?
Seems common sense. Stories emerging of lax admin suggest nobody in control and nobody paying attention to what has been happening. It's not like quarantine is rocket science, eh? Yet the Dept of Health can't cope with requirements. Quite a contrast between the Director General's personal performance in recent months & the shambles his department is now displaying…
Well, no, it's more a hurdle of a maturing system settling in for the long term.
Every decision has a certain margin for error – how thoroughly to go through each line in a questionnaire, whether to test people at the start of quarantine or well after their last likely exposure (the flight) to make sure the disease has had time to appear on a test, transfer car keys without contact but forget to make sure they can read a map, etc.
People settle into a routine and the laxities compound against each other. Then something fucks up, hopefully without too bad a repercussion, and people start a longer term routine of upholding standards.
As I've said on here before, we need to grasp the reality of quarantine – not the fantasy of a prison on an island. They are in hotels.
Consider the daily issues you would face. Do you lock the corridors, the lifts? Do you allow a fire exit? Do you allow exercise? If so, where? If you think somebody is having close contact, how do you punish them? Handcuffs? What does 'contactless' delivery really mean? Food, medicine, everything from toilet paper to changing light bulbs, who does it and how?
The roles of hotel staff are very different from prison guards. All while dealing with people saying "Please, just one exception, just this once". Refused 100 times, allowed once … we've seen what happens.
Not to mention that hotels aren't kitted out for people staying in them all the time, let alone separation.
Gyms and pools are not designed to be the only source of recreation for all the guests. Sure, you can make a prison exercise yard in a parking lot, but even then there can be issues with other buildings.
Then there's how you separate the different cadres of quarantine, so someone fresh off a plane doesn't infect someone about to be released.
And what about something that is actually airborne/micro-aerosol spread? Filtering and separating air conditioning to different quarantine zones?
Plus the systems theory of having a massive number of moving parts and a massive penalty for failure.
Actually, it is a bit like rocket science, come to think of it…
Yeah, valid points. Complex systems can't be encompassed by simple rules. Yet the basics of contagion risk are where the admin seems to have broken down – as if the health dept personnel weren't actually thinking about `what if this person is a carrier?'. Someone doing their job properly, someone conscientious, would think about that all the time, eh?
MoH doesn't have hundreds of people in a freezer, ready to defrost when required. But "health dept personnel" sounds better than "temp agency nurse who bounces between retirement homes and GP vaccine days".
10-15min/consult. 6 contact hrs a day. 24-36 people per day, same people, same checklist.
Repetition breeds shortcuts. It's not an individual problem, it's a systems problem. Just like forgetting to make sure the women had a map/satnav in the car.
People who have the skills to organise quarantine for thousands of extra people are alive and well and unemployed, living in Queenstown or willing to move there.
National wants to mobilise them immediately. That is literally their policy, their promise.
Because the Opposition have maligned Clarke for so long it makes sense to put a new face on this contentious issue. Tough on Clarke but thats politics – I guess.
This story iked me a lot yesterday and still rankles as a click-bait 'opinion' piece.
It would have had some relevance had there been some evidence or an authorative poll to back it up. Instead, the story contains no further direct reference to a 'fall from grace' and just for the record he's still one of my many hero's of this pandemic so far.
The man has fronted up without fail, he's mostly answered very directly the hard questions asked, he can't have had much of a break or sleep in the last 3 months. As far as I've been able to tell amongst my wider bubble Bloomfield is still right up there. I haven't heard anyone but a few journalists and opposition politicians suggesting otherwise. For many people, he's one of that small team who shone a light and held our hands guiding through the mental gymnastics many people had to do to struggle through lock-down.
Now it seems he's become just a target to get to the government. I feel he's a person that has probably experienced this whole event to be a roller coaster of the ride, and probably had to dig deep to keep up the calm and reasoned approach. To now knock him down on the failing of others is not reasonable.
Best wishes to him, because NZ is going to need him for a a few years yet.
Just a quess but isn't that area around downtown Auckland a bit of a shitfight with all the road closures for the new underground rail. And if I recall most of roads in that area are generally heading for the bridge and north.
Even if the cell phone had no data they could have rung the friends and got verbal directions from the point they were at. Still sniffs like it was pre-arranged where were they when they rang- and among the casualties is the gym owner in auckland who has lost 2 weeks income plus from closing and no doubt a customer decrease.
Just watched Dr Bloomfield live online update us. Another excellent performance and he says over 700 tests will be done today to catch up especially for those who are near the end of their 14 days. If the person refuses the test the can be held for up to 28days.
Looking tired but handled the questions clearly and confidently. Again my thanks and admiration for a great NZer.
"From hero to zero". The journalist responsible for the headline is not a poet, otherwise they would know the tyranny of rhyme, how a poor poet becomes dominated by rhyme and meaning suffers.
I too feel he has done a huge job well only to be let down by the unthinking and unsupervised further down the chain. We need to repurpose the public service in his image not the one we have.
Frankly the people running the road blocks voluntarily in Tai tokerau and Tairawhiti have shown a great deal more professionalism customer service and insight into what they were there for than the current border set up.
Queensland is soon to start charging $200 a night for the 14 days mandatory quarantine for overseas arrivals. That idea might cut the numbers of incoming arrivals into Auckland down to manageable proportions! Its been free up to now.
With their overseas jobs gone, a lot of them will be coming back to claim NZ benefits I guess. and probably some of them owe Foreign Affairs for their expensive airfares.
And so in the end he did nothing at all,
But basked on the shingle wrapped up in a shawl.
And I think it was dreadful the way he behaved –
He did nothing but basking until he was saved.
Reading between the lines of the reports so far, it appears the officers were basically ambushed doing a routine traffic stop. That's a situation where the officers being armed would have likely made very little difference.
Looking at the figures for testing these last couple of days and they seem huge compared to the number in border isolation. Does this mean that most of the testing was not being done? And why are they going to set up quarantine in places that don't receive international flights? It's just shoveling the risk to all parts of the country so we couldn't even lock down just one section. Plus if Air NZ are going to use domestic flights to shift these people there is another whole level of risk there. I won't be going any were near their planes.
And could all government and private companies like AirNZ stop putting patronising "stuff" in their press release about "there is no risk" when quite clearly there frequently is a risk even if small. It’s a well informed public out here with time on there hands and zero tolerance I suspect for this sort of PR schtick
Case in point – talking about aircrew overseas being safe because they are "whisked " to and from the airport and use crew lounges. The shuttle drivers, any staff in crew lounges plus other countries aircrews are not faceless non carriers of covid.
Please, can something be done about the perma-moderation Ad seems to be on? It sure would be nice to see those comments when they're written, rather than having them appear some random time later.
As I understand it, Andre, the problem is at Ad's end. If a regular user misspells their email address, the comment goes into limbo. That is the issue here.
Does the mod that releases the comment have to correct the email address every time? Might it work to just approve the comment as effectively a new user? Sure, we could end up with 893 Ads with slightly different email addresses and avatars, but would that really matter?
You've described the solutions perfectly, Andre. The mod has to do one of those two things, and usually it's the former, correcting the email, then approving it. Either way, it's a pain in the proverbial for all concerned.
There is an option to get a permanent login, which saves having to manually write the email address. Not entirely sure how to set that up, as authors get it by default, but those that do have that option ticked have their comments appear with a grey background. Mmmm, special!
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Buzz from the Beehive Here’s hoping for a lively post-cabinet press conference when the PM and – perhaps – some of his ministers tell us what was discussed at their meeting today. Until then, Point of Order has precious little Beehive news to report after its latest monitoring of the ...
David Farrar writes – We now have almost all 2023 data in, which has allowed me to update my annual table of how labour went against its promises. This is basically their final report card. The promiseThe result Build 100,000 affordable homes over 10 ...
I’m a bit worried that I’ve started a previous newsletter with the words “just when you think they couldn’t get any worse…” Seems lately that I could begin pretty much every issue with that opening. Such is the nature of our coalition government that they seem to be outdoing each ...
Geoffrey Miller writes – Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. ...
Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture ...
Last week Transport Minster Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre. The new train control centre will see teams from KiwiRail, Auckland Transport and Auckland One Rail working more closely together to improve train services across the city. The Auckland Rail Operations Centre in ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson said in an exit interview with Q+A yesterday the Government can and should sustain more debt to invest in infrastructure for future generations. Elsewhere in the news in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 6:36am: Read more ...
Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. It is more than just a happy ...
TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to March 18 include:China’s Foreign Minister visiting Wellington today;A post-cabinet news conference this afternoon; the resumption of Parliament on Tuesday for two weeks before Easter;retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson gives his valedictory speech in Parliament; ...
New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters’s state-of-the-nation speech on Sunday was really a state-of-Winston-First speech. He barely mentioned any of the Government’s key policies and could not even wholly endorse its signature income tax cuts. Instead, he rehearsed all of his complaints about the Ardern Government, including an extraordinary claim ...
A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
“I’ve been internalising a really complicated situation in my head.”When they kept telling us we should wait until we get to know him, were they taking the piss? Was it a case of, if you think this is bad, wait till you get to know the real Christopher, after the ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
.“$10 and a target that bleeds” - Bleeding Targets for Under $10!.Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.This government appears hell-bent on either scrapping life-saving legislation or reintroducing things that - frustrated critics insist - will be dangerous and likely ...
“It hardly strikes me as fair to criticise a government for doing exactly what it said it was going to do. For actually keeping its promises.”THUNDER WAS PLAYING TAG with lightning flashes amongst the distant peaks. Its rolling cadences interrupted by the here-I-come-here-I-go Doppler effect of the occasional passing car. ...
Subversive & Disruptive Technologies: Just as happened with that other great regulator of the masses, the Medieval Church, the advent of a new and hard-to-control technology – the Internet – is weakening the ties that bind. Then, and now, those who enjoy a monopoly on the dissemination of lies, cannot and will ...
Been Here Before: To find the precedents for what this Coalition Government is proposing, it is necessary to return to the “glory days” of Muldoonism.THE COALITION GOVERNMENT has celebrated its first 100 days in office by checking-off the last of its listed commitments. It remains, however, an angry government. It ...
Bob Edlin writes – And what is the world watching today…? The email newsletter from Associated Press which landed in our mailbox early this morning advised: In the news today: The father of a school shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter; prosecutors in Trump’s hush-money case ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the party’s decision to ...
For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ HeraldThomas CoughlanSimeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
TL;DR:Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it: We want our country to be a ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading → ...
Ele Ludemann writes – The government is omitting general Treaty references from legislation : The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last Government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty ...
What was that judge thinking?Peter Williams writes – That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read:Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop:Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
Buzz from the BeehiveThe text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary. It can be quickly analysed ...
For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
Questions need to be asked on both sides of the worldPeter Williams writes – The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read:Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop:The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
TL;DR:Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
Bob Edlin writes – The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
Every year, in the Budget, Parliament forks out money to government agencies to do certain things. And every year, as part of the annual review cycle, those agencies are meant to report on whether they have done the things Parliament gave them that money for. Agencies which consistently fail to ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – Recent events in American universities point to an underlying crisis of coherent thinking, an issue that increasingly affects the progressive left across the Western world. This of course is nothing new as anyone who can either remember or has read of the late ...
The thing about life’s little victories is that they can be followed by a defeat.Reader Darryl told me on Monday night:Test again Dave. My “head cold” last week became COVID within 24 hours, and is still with me. I hear the new variants take a bit longer to show up ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read:Angus Deaton on rethinking his economics IMFLocal scoop: The people behind Tamarind, the firm that left a $500m cleanup bill for taxpayers at Taranaki’s Tui oil well, are back operating in Taranaki under a different company name. Jonathan ...
Normally when we talk about accessing public transport it’s about improving how easy it is to get to, such as how easy is it to cross roads in a station/stop’s walking catchment, is it possible to cycle to safely, do bus connections work, or even if are there new routes/connections ...
Politicians are not renowned for telling the truth. Some tell us things that are verifiably not true. They offer statements that omit critical pieces of information. Gloss over risks, preferring to offer the best case scenario.Some not truths are quite small, others amusing in their transparency. There are those repeated ...
The pressure is mounting on the Government as it finalises its Budget Policy Statement, but yet more predicted revenue ‘goes missing’. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Climate Commission has delivered another funding blow to the National-ACT-NZ First coalition Government’s tax-cutting plans, potentially carving $1.4 billion off the ‘climate ...
The Government now faces the prospect of having to watch another tax raise the price of petrol when, only six days ago, it abolished the Auckland Regional Fuel tax. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon argued that the regional fuel tax imposed costs on lower-income people with less fuel-efficient vehicles and that ...
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 ...
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. ...
The New Zealand public voted for a change in direction at the 2023 general election and that is exactly what this coalition government has been delivering in its first 100 days. There was an immediate focus on the economy, easing the cost of living, cracking down on law and order ...
The Government has left the health system as an afterthought, announcing half-baked targets at the last minute of their 100-day plan, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
Kiwis are still waiting for their promised cost of living support after 100 days of a National Government that is taking us backwards, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own – and it’s hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
100 days of National taking NZ backwardsThe National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own – and it’s hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
The Government must commit to funding free and healthy school lunches, as thousands of people sign the petition to keep them, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti says. ...
If the Government was serious about moving families into public housing, they would build more houses so there is actually somewhere for people to go. ...
The free and healthy school lunches programme feeds our kids, helps them to learn, and saves families money – but it is at risk under this Government, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
The Government’s proposed changes to Firearms Prohibition Orders (FPO) add almost nothing new and are merely an attempt to distract from its plans to loosen gun laws, police spokesperson Ginny Andersen and justice spokesperson Dr Duncan Webb said. ...
The great Victorian era English politician Lord Macauley stood in the British House of Parliament and said, "The gallery in which the reporters sit has become a fourth estate of the realm".He understood and outlined even way back then, the significant role and influence media have in a democracy. ...
The government’s attack on Māori health this week is committing tangata-whenua to a premature death, says Te Pāti Māori. “The government have begun their onslaught on Māori health with the abolishment of the Māori Health Authority and smokefree laws in the same day” said health spokesperson and co-leader, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. ...
Today marks a tragic milestone for New Zealanders as the Coalition Government side with big tobacco to repeal the Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products (Smoked Tobacco) Amendment Act 2022, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins and Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall said. ...
New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April. ...
Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand. Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships. “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland Acknowledgements and opening Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. “March 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,” Mr Luxon says. “Today we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024 Acknowledgements and opening Morena, Nga Mihi Nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Thanks Nate for your Mihi Whakatau Good morning. It’s a pleasure to formally open your conference this morning. What a lovely day in Wellington, What a great ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters held discussions in Jakarta today about the future of relations between New Zealand and South East Asia’s most populous country. “We are in Jakarta so early in our new government’s term to reflect the huge importance we place on our relationship with Indonesia and South ...
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters has announced that the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, will visit New Zealand next week. “We look forward to re-engaging with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussing the full breadth of the bilateral relationship, which is one of New Zealand’s ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has today opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre, which will bring together KiwiRail, Auckland Transport, and Auckland One Rail to improve service reliability for Aucklanders. “The recent train disruptions in Auckland have highlighted how important it is KiwiRail and Auckland’s rail agencies work together to ...
The Government is proud to support the 10th edition of Crankworx Rotorua as the Crankworx World Tour returns to Rotorua from 16-24 March 2024, says Minister for Economic Development Melissa Lee. “Over the past 10 years as Crankworx Rotorua has grown, so too have the economic and social benefits that ...
Legislation implementing coalition Government tax commitments and addressing long-standing tax anomalies will be progressed in Parliament next week, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The legislation is contained in an Amendment Paper to the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill issued today. “The Amendment Paper represents ...
Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard has today announced that the Government has agreed to suspend the requirement for councils to comply with the Significant Natural Areas (SNA) provisions of the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity for three years, while it replaces the Resource Management Act (RMA).“As it stands, SNAs ...
Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has classified the drought conditions in the Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts as a medium-scale adverse event, acknowledging the challenging conditions facing farmers and growers in the district. “Parts of Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts are in the grip of an intense dry spell. I know ...
The Government is helping farmers eradicate the significant impact of facial eczema (FE) in pastoral animals, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “A $20 million partnership jointly funded by Beef + Lamb NZ, the Government, and the primary sector will save farmers an estimated NZD$332 million per year, and aims to ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has completed a successful visit to India, saying it was an important step in taking the relationship between the two countries to the next level. “We have laid a strong foundation for the Coalition Government’s priority of enhancing New Zealand-India relations to generate significant future benefit for both countries,” says Mr Peters, ...
Cabinet has agreed to provide $7 million to ensure the 2024 ski season can go ahead on the Whakapapa ski field in the central North Island but has told the operator Ruapehu Alpine Lifts it is the last financial support it will receive from taxpayers. Cabinet also agreed to provide ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
Lower fruit and vegetable prices are welcome news for New Zealanders who have been doing it tough at the supermarket, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Stats NZ reported today the price of fruit and vegetables has dropped 9.3 percent in the 12 months to February 2024. “Lower fruit and vege ...
Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all. Chair, I am honoured to address the sixty-eighth session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all. Chair, I am honoured to address the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
The coalition Government is supporting farmers to enhance land management practices by investing $3.3 million in locally led catchment groups, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “Farmers and growers deliver significant prosperity for New Zealand and it’s vital their ongoing efforts to improve land management practices and water quality are supported,” ...
Good evening everyone and thank you for that lovely introduction. Thank you also to the Honourable Simon Bridges for the invitation to address your members. Since being sworn in, this coalition Government has hit the ground running with our 100-day plan, delivering the changes that New Zealanders expect of us. ...
Recommendations from the Climate Change Commission for New Zealand on the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) auction and unit limit settings for the next five years have been tabled in Parliament, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “The Commission provides advice on the ETS annually. This is the third time the ...
The coalition Government is beginning its fight to lower building costs and reduce red tape by exempting minor building work from paying the building levy, says Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk. “Currently, any building project worth $20,444 including GST or more is subject to the building levy which is ...
Proposed changes to tax legislation to prevent the over-taxation of low-earning trusts are welcome, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The changes have been recommended by Parliament’s Finance and Expenditure Committee following consideration of submissions on the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill. “One of the ...
Assalaamu alaikum. السَّلَام عليكم In light of the holy month of Ramadan, I want to extend my warmest wishes to our Muslim community in New Zealand. Ramadan is a time for spiritual reflection, renewed devotion, perseverance, generosity, and forgiveness. It’s a time to strengthen our bonds and appreciate the diversity ...
Former Transport Minister and CEO of the Auckland Business Chamber Hon Simon Bridges has been appointed as the new Board Chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) for a three-year term, Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced today. “Simon brings extensive experience and knowledge in transport policy and governance to the role. He will ...
Good morning all, it is a pleasure to be here as Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology. It is fantastic to see how connected and collaborative the life science and biotechnology industry is here in New Zealand. I would like to thank BioTechNZ and NZTech for the invitation to address ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says he is looking forward to the day when three key water projects in Northland are up and running, unlocking the full potential of land in the region. Mr Jones attended a community event at the site of the Otawere reservoir near Kerikeri on Friday. ...
Associate Finance Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government has agreed to restore deductibility for mortgage interest on residential investment properties. “Help is on the way for landlords and renters alike. The Government’s restoration of interest deductibility will ease pressure on rents and simplify the tax code,” says ...
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You are a lowly charge nurse from Manila (where politics is a nasty and corrupt game} and you get a call from your boss saying a high profile National MP is asking that two high falutin' women get released early. What do you do? Buckle under the pressure or stivk to your guns?
[With allegations such as these, you have to provide at least some back-up, e.g. a link or something, anything. This is a place for robust debate, not for wild unhinged conspiracy theories about a Filipino nurse FFS. You’re in Pre-Moderation until you provide support for your allegations or withdraw – Incognito]
Is this scenario entirely your hypothetical, or repeating a vaguely plausible rumour from elsewhere, or based on a report from a generally plausible source? If it's the latter, any chance of linky?
I was talking to someone who would know about how politics and power works in a nuts and bolts sense in NZ, that was how they posed it to me.
Well, ok.
But that scenario seems at odds with how the exemption process is apparently supposed to work. Where the decisions on exemptions are made well away from anywhere near the frontline of working with the isolated and quarantined people.
It doesn't appear to be in dispute that the women were in fact granted an official exemption through the official process. That was expedited after the death of the womens’ parent. So if backchannel pressure was applied, the pressure point would likely have been within the MoH bureaucracy, not at the charge nurse and their supervisor level.
https://www.health.govt.nz/our-work/diseases-and-conditions/covid-19-novel-coronavirus/covid-19-current-situation/covid-19-border-controls/covid-19-managed-isolation-and-quarantine
See my Moderation note @ 7:39 AM.
I think I'll just discuss your consistant abuse of power in relation to me with MickeySavage and Advantage 🙂
[Please also send an e-mail to Lprent to make your case; are they friends of yours? Meanwhile you’re free to smear “a lowly charge nurse from Manila” here on TS without a shred of evidence that they are somehow involved in the “politics and power” and some kind of weird ‘conspiracy’ – Incognito]
See my Moderation note @ 8:52 AM.
Sanctuary
I'd be genuinely sorry to see you cop a ban; you make energetic and sometimes provocative contributions here (something past my talent level) and this flare up seems … unnecessary.
Incognito is the best moderator TS has ever had and I'd be inclined to give him/her a pass on this even if you do feel a bit done over this time. Moderation is not easy and everyone who has done it for a while inevitably clashes with someone on some issue.
ditto.
When this story first broke a few days ago I had a picture in my mind of a MoH local official (likely a woman health worker) being put upon to grant the exemption for these two women.
We don't know what happened yet but what's the bet if it turns out to be something along these lines, the poor mug who was put upon will be made to carry the can.
I can't imagine a system where an MP would be talking directly (as the first point of contact) to a charge nurse on this matter. They contact the organisation at a much higher level, then the organisation deals with it thereafter.
From what has been publicly stated, it seems that Bishop contacted the relevant Minister which is what I would expect.
I'm guessing the couple contacted bishop's office once they got to Wellywood to say thanks. Because that's what usually happens when an MP helps to solve a constituents dilemma, especially if it's a major one.
If so bishop's office would have asked how they got on, the couple would have told him about their experience. If that happened bishops office should have immediately contacted the ministry to make them aware of the holes in the system.
Least that's my guess.
If I may add, I took Sanctuary's wording as a fiction, purely to illustrate an example of power imbalance that may be in play.
I also, aj.
Maybe Sanctuary would escaped blame if he/she had added that silly 'sarc' tag.
I sometimes think that the 'sarc' tag should be abolished because the people who need it are beyond help..
But then I find that I have made a blunder.
But I agree that Sanctuary may have been over-harshly interpreted.
Wasn't suggesting as much Wayne. I'm just saying that somewhere along the 'chain of command' from the email sent by Bishop to the on the ground staff, someone put pressure on someone else to grant an exemption.
Fighting abuse of blog power by using your connections with the blogging "elite". Superb!
Titirangi elite, no less. Don't you forget it!
Omg lol
Im so down with the kids and on the street
Have the Natz scored another own goal?
It seems, after all their strident calls for opening the borders, opening up the Australia bubble (with new 21 cases there yesterday) allowing in international students (in properly managed isolation in Queenstown lol) and compassionate relaxation of the rules etc etc, that opinion in this country is hardening against any such moves.
People are beginning to realise that ‘fortress NZ’ might really be the only option for the immediate future.
A number of quite conservative people are coming to the same conclusion re ‘fortress NZ’–a term that drives some absolutely berserk–that keeping the border stitched up is the way to go in the medium term.
In the Far North where I am, while a few NZ First and National people got publicly excited about the Iwi Covid Checkpoints, a hell of a lot of Pākehā supported them–they would not have lasted 5 minutes if that was not the case. Even tory FNDC Mayor John Carter was a supporter. Nat Northland MP Matt King, was “outrager” in chief, but he bottled it when Hone Harawira invited him to attend a checkpoint for a morning to see how they were being operated.
I hope the Nats keep on whinging, and pissing people off, because for once there is a good degree of national unity on something of importance–call me old fashioned but a deadly pandemic is of existential import for many of us.
Frankly in the early days I think we should have had quite a few more of those . Properly run by locals under police advice – locals had the resource and the motivation – to find all the people granting themselves an exemption.
I realise in the Far North there was a lot of Pākehā support for the checkpoints. People genuinely believed they were for their good. Matt King didn't want them and made a fuss to prove he was Mr Tough, all for Laura Norder and wanted to make some point about himself and Iwi. It was about himself being more powerful and having status.
The upshot of it all? It is most likely that King, having putting himself forward like that with the fear of death and gratitude for those who tried to ave them being a distant memory, the survivors will vote for him. Unfortunately.
Agree, and added to that, they've trumpeted from the roof tops the human error debacles
At the same time they want to multiply the opportunities for human error by opening the borders.
But seriously, the media with their lack of fact checking.
Pure click bait as a business model.The most recent being Patrick Gower last night declaring that the military official being promoted had already been in charge of quarantine, when in fact he'd been overseeing repatriation flights
A reasonable explanation of the new regime by Richard Harman
"The military are effectively taking over the management of the Covid-19 border isolation and quarantine facilities and processes. In effect, they will now be coming over the top of the Police, Aviation Security and the Ministry of Health. They will not be working as armed guards at facilities; the Police and Aviation Security will still do hard enforcement. Their main role will be a management and logistics one which up till now has largely been the responsibility of the Police and the Ministry of Health.
Continue reading at https://www.politik.co.nz/2020/06/19/what-the-military-are-really-doing-in-the-covid-19-battle/ | Politik
Is it too much to expect of our journalists that they do a little fact checking and reading?
Is it too much to expect of our journalists that they do a little fact checking and reading?
I suspect their problem is inability to figure out the right questions to ask and the right people to ask. Delineation of the lines of accountability and responsibility has been conspicuous by its absence in public life in Aotearoa since the 1980s – and in the public service for much longer probably. Fudging and cover-ups by the political left & right became normalised long ago.
Which public servant was given operational responsibility for border control and/or quarantine arrangements? Has any journo asked the Director General of Health that? Instead we get the usual headless-chook blame game:
"I have no reason to doubt that Bloomfield et co, and even the hapless David Clark *genuinely* believed they were in possession of the facts. That procedures were being followed. That we *were* in possession of what we said we were, doing what we said we were doing, things working basically as they almost ideally should. And that the shock and fury many of us have experienced to find out that this is not, in fact, the case – has been an emotion they’ve felt, too. Because it seems like they’ve been operating in almost as much of an informational void about this as we have." https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2020/06/19/but-what-of-the-real-culprits-covid-quarantine-crisis-and-the-rush-to-judgement-and-blame/
So the powers that be issue instructions, then the public service fail to implement them, then there's a media circus in which everyone fails to explain what went wrong. The public interest lies in learning from the experience: collusion between political left & right prevents identification of the person who screwed up, so we can never learn. It would be refreshing if the media were to report this part of the explanation, so public anger could then focus on how to change the system so as to produce appropriate public service as the outcome!!
"Multiple layers of questionable communication let alone accountability and command-and-control, between often-competent and certainly well-meaning people at the top, and often-competent and certainly well meaning people at the bottom, that have allowed the *incompetent* exceptions to not so much *test* the rule as seemingly become it."
So while "it’s easy and cathartic to focus upon the faces at the top, and fixate that they’re somehow the sum totality of the problem. To do so, in this instance allows the ACTUAL cause of these lapses to fester quietly out of sight. Safe in its relative anonymity and lack of true accountability."
So Judith Collins told the AM Show audience this morning that the PM had been lying (think she also included the DGH) because such misdirection of the public's attention is traditional – it's how the establishment maintain the problem. True leadership by a politician in this situation would be to accurately identify the decision-maker who failed, and cite their formal responsibility as conferred by their employer to prove the point.
Have you forgotten how to use the quote tool already? My neighbors chickens are easier to train than you.
Better tell me too Soltka
I assumed Dennis was quoting from Curwen's article in the Daily Blog
At least everything inside the quote marks
What's the correct way?
Easy, actually, just follow the simple instructions the site provides (see FAQ). I forgot to use that technique…
Nope
Didnt work Dont know if its my MAC laptop or what
LPrent maybe can answer that technical point. Here's something worth considering:
Method used: 1. copy selected text 2. paste here 3. click on quote symbol at top of comment window
TS inserts quote via tab relocation to the right for visual layout optimisation, and note the quote button remains on until you push it again to write your own text beneath.
Pablo's essay is very good. It points to relevant questions around military competence, govt competence, public service competence. Also reinforcing my point about the usual fudging of accountability by all political players & media…
For what it's worth we used to have an informal convention here that if you were quoting from another comment in the same thread we'd just put it in quote marks and italics.
If it was a quote from an external site (or another post), we'd use the blockquote method you are discussing above, and add the link.
I’d never insist anyone had to do this, but I find it a nice enhancement.
You can select a block of text and then click the speech mark icon in the bar above to create an indented speech marked quote. Weka had shown Dennis how to do this but he keeps forgetting.
Thank you !
Will have a practice!
The old-skool method probably still works. Get the instructions from FAQ up top.
https://thestandard.org.nz/faq/comment-formatting/#quoting
Let's see what it does here: <blockquote>quoted text</blockquote>
edit: Nope, didn’t like that on initial posting.
2nd edit: Yup, old-skool method works correctly in the edit window.
Got to turn off the WYSIWYG editor for the old-school method to work. If you don't then highlight the text you want to quote and then click on the quote marks in the tool panel.
Or just press the source button
That toolbar has been missing for a week or so on my desktop (Mac Safari 11.1.2)
Odd. I will have a look on my partners MacBook pro this evening.
Could be related to my poor old deprecated MBP and browser. Checked with another browser (Chrome, which I detest because it slows the machine down) and toolbar is there.
One positive of it is that I’ve now got a working spell check dictionary to sort my atrocious spelling.
Old dogs, new tricks. I plead guilty. Must do better next time! 😥
naughty dogs go to bed.
The quote tool has gone from my desktop over the past week. Still there on my phone but a pain to use.
"they want to multiply the opportunities for human error"
Yup. Or as the great Allen Curnow wrote: "The mud-backed mirrors in your head multiply the possibilities of human error..."
Curnow summed up the human condition about forgetting very well. Thanks AB
Francesca – Agree with your points at 2.2. Particularly this you said:
…they've [those crying against the 'Fortress NZ' type policies] trumpeted from the roof tops the human error debacles
At the same time they want to multiply the opportunities for human error by opening the borders.
But seriously, the media with their lack of fact checking.
How much of this is provided by aviation security and who or what are they? I'm confused – are they hired directly by a govt dept, what background and training do they have , what payment levels and who do they report to?
I ask because at an earlier level ( when Wellington supposedly wasn't doing quarantine) I saw 3 muppets with "aviation security" on the vis vest walking shoulder to shoulder ( so 3 across) along a central wellington pavement. We were supposed to be doing social distancing but there was none between them and since they were hogging the pavement it made it difficult for everyone else too.
Emirates have announced this morning that they are coming back into New Zealand from 1 July. International travel is opening back up, so I don't think there is any chance of Fortress New Zealand.
Just need the numpties at the border to do their job. No one leaves the hotel unless they have returned two negative tests.
Its pretty fucking simple.
"All passengers will only be accepted on flights if they comply with the eligibility and entry criteria requirements of their destination countries."
https://www.stuff.co.nz/travel/news/121880239/emirates-to-restart-new-zealand-flights-next-month
"COVID-19: Key updates
Temporary border measures, visas, travel and essential service support.
Travel to New Zealand
New Zealand’s border is closed to most travellers and entry is strictly controlled. All arrivals are tested for COVID-19 and a 14-day managed quarantine or isolation is mandatory.
New Zealand citizens, permanent residents and residents with valid travel conditions returning to New Zealand do not need approval from Immigration New Zealand before travelling. "
https://www.immigration.govt.nz/about-us/covid-19/coronavirus-update-inz
No change Enough
No change other than more flights coming in from countries with covid…..
My point was exactly that though. Nothing needs to change at the border, other than people doing their job correctly
What are "valid travel conditions"? I thought it was only citizens and permanent residents -(who were habitually resident here) so we didn't get a wave of people coming in who were permanent residents but didn't bother living here any more but found the welfare attractive. And that limited group of partners etc had to apply for a waiver.
Also that bulk extension of visa's done to sept. I hope it only extended those in the country at the time of lockdown and if you are out or have left the original expiry date holds.
Plus who are they finding to fly in- and do we need more quarantine spaces?
Would it be too much to ask those in quarantine to wear an ankle bracelet?
Maybe they could be put up at different baches or unused RSE accommodation and have groceries delivered.
I'd be annoyed doing quarantine in a hotel, for two reasons, the lack of kitchen facilities and lack of fresh air.
I wondered about a prefab hutch and an enclosed run in the auckland airport carparks or using Soames island where gainful tree planting would be the order of the day- but I know these are not really a goer. I'd be happier with either of those though – I too like to cook for myself mainly because I need to know what's in my food.
Fortress NZ is probably the only option until there's an vaccination against Covid-19 and its been implemented across the whole population. Until then we'd have a serious chance of a major outbreak from people coming into the country.
Probably Fortress New Zealand forever then as it is very debateable as to whether there will be a vaccine.
What will happen, and is already happening, is better methods of treating the virus. Cases are still going up around the world, and so is the death rate, but not by so much.
The reality is covid-19 will probably become endemic and will be treated much the same way as a bad case of the flu. Building up your immune system can do much to counter the nasty thing.
Oh shit. It appears there are now documented instances of people falling ill with COVID a second time after they have been considered recovered and cleared by tests. Hopefully this stays an extreme rarity.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=12341141
This morning about how people with poor immune responses can harbour the disease but appear asymptomatic, for a long time.
Latest from NZ Herald more detail – they have some worthwhile stuff! https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=12341160 – Today Fri 19 June:
Covid 19 coronavirus: There may be no immunity, new Wuhan study suggests – Humans may never develop immunity against Covid-19, according to new research on antibodies by Chinese and American scientists…
At least a quarter of the more than 23,000 samples tested could have been infected with the virus at some stage, according to the scientists. But only 4 per cent had developed antibodies as of April.
.
Three days ago – 16 June : https://www.sciencefocus.com/news/coronavirus-immunity-appears-to-last-for-at-least-two-months-after-diagnosis/
Coronavirus immunity appears to last for ‘at least two months’ after diagnosis –
…The study was led by researchers and clinicians at St George’s, University of London and St George’s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in collaboration with colleagues at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Mologic Ltd and Institut Pasteur de Dakar, Senegal. It analysed antibody test results from 177 individuals diagnosed with COVID-19 infection from a viral test.
Yep. I have been expecting that was going to be the case. The antibody creation seems to mostly happen in severe symptom cases.
That makes any vaccine have to balance on a knife edge. Has to trigger a 2nd level immune response without making people sick too crook. Add another year or two…
Does anyone have a document that shows how the 14 day quarantine / isolation worked, and who’s doing the work, supervising the work and where the money’s going.
Is it MOH operating in the hotels, or are the hotels effectively running the whole show?
I went looking or that information myself last night and was unsurprised that the Mystery had only just updated their page…https://www.health.govt.nz/our-work/diseases-and-conditions/covid-19-novel-coronavirus/covid-19-current-situation/covid-19-border-controls/covid-19-managed-isolation-and-quarantine…and I can't find the prior version.
I have little doubt that much of the actual frontline hands on work will have been contracted out to 'providers'. This has been a long term tactic of the Ministry so they can abdicate, or at least dilute their culpability when things go to shit.
Again.
If you have the time and energy you could do an OIA…and share?
I would be very interested in who's up who and who's paying.
Chatter around town is that it was a nice little earner for the hotels, hence the push to have students doing their 14 days in Queenstown.
Best laid plans might have gone a tad pear shaped on them….
I wonder f they were being paid per person regardless of length of stay. That would incentivise them to get em out by Friday as it were.
Well, it's guaranteed occupancy when most other places are almost empty, two weeks at a stretch.
At rack rates plus no doubt. Not that they let many rooms at those rates in real life. And I assume that largely people are doing their own room cleaning – if not they should be. and the rooms should be left for a couple of days before cleaning and reuse.
But isn’t it time to move on and use NZ owned facilities rather than shoving our dosh down offshore tax haven companies?
Idiots, tattoos, ubiquitous cameras and digital breadcrumb trails. It's getting a lot harder to use protests as cover to get your jollies with a bit of mindless destruction.
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2020/06/masked-arsonist-mightve-gotten-away-with-it-if-she-hadnt-left-etsy-review/
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=12341085
Sucks to be her. Never commit crime if you're dressed uniquely. Fake tats might be a thought, though.
The Harold story about the misaligned real and tat eyebrows gave me an actual lol.
I s'pose going along with fake tats, ginning up some clothes with slightly obscure references to groups you really didn't like might also be useful if you've got wanton destruction in mind. It's not as if various alt-righters and even the cops are averse to that, it seems.
Given the pandemic surfaced suddenly earlier in the year and spread so quickly, the planning and organisation required to set up quarantine facilities etc was a massive undertaking. Large numbers of people would have been brought in to deal with this who had to learn on the job more or less. There are not hundreds of people waiting around to do this work in normal times. So in my view it was not surprising there have been some problems. Every business or organisation has problems from time to time, whether public or private. To vilify Dr Bloomfield is uncalled for. Every war (and this is a war) has setbacks.
Business lobbying for relaxation, the universities, the opposition, all put immense pressure on, so maybe things got relaxed too soon because of the initial success. Perhaps we can all be more realistic now.
Oh dear:
I have sympathy for the predicament of the sisters but less sympathy for this one. She runs to the Herald with her story and infers Jacinda Ardern and co. are ruthless and callous. No comprehension of what happened and its effect on the country as a whole. Just all about herself.
And amplified by the media!
So the media cranks up the bleeding heart industry hoping to provoke an error from the gov covid response which it can then amplify
I expect she thinks there will be an outpouring of sympathy for her and the Govt. will be forced into granting an exemption. There will be sympathy of course but an exemption? You're out of luck there Ms Loveland.
She just lost her father to cancer and is locked up in a hotel for two weeks. I would hope there is an outpouring of sympathy for her.
She is doing a big "woe is me" routine on the basis that her unwarranted expectations of being granted the enormous privilege of exemptions didn't actually happen.
Because a couple of women that were granted that enormous privilege went on to grossly abuse it, putting others at risk of disease and the whole country at risk of having to go back into lockdown.
So yeah, nah, I'm having trouble stirring much sympathy after that display of snowflake privilege from her. Especially as she appears to show zero understanding of what the effects on the rest of us might be from isolation and quarantine failures.
Yes, but…… these are exceptional times and we are working in a team of five million.
There will be many other people who have experienced her situation, not just in NZ but all over the world.
A better use of her time, rather than contacting the media would be to make contact with support groups etc.
Contact the media and do a story afterwards about how she made it through such a rough time. Such a story would educate and provide help to others.
So? She should have stayed in Australia rather than expecting to get an exemption.
Not from me. The danger to NZ is people coming in from outside.
Most Australians couldn't get their heads around the idea of compassion and community-wide bubbles going together. They have been living in an individualistic and self-centred bubble all this, and going into last century, and it is very strong. They know how to build bubbles that last over there!
This means that people coming in are seeing exemption as the rule not the exception. I don't want any slackening so people are either going to have to leave earlier or accept quarantine?
You have no sympathy for a woman who's only reason for travelling to New Zealand was because her father died of cancer?
The rules changed while she was on the plane, meaning she is now locked up for 14 days mourning her father's death alone.
Wow. you have absolutely no heart do you?
We're in the middle of a pandemic We've all had to make sacrifices.
I care about the lives taken /or damaged by coronavirus, and want to see us all get through this.
No-one is questioning that.
I am questioning why someone would have no sympathy for a person who is mourning her fathers death alone in a hotel for two weeks.
She wouldn't be alone if she had stayed in Australia.
She would have stayed in Australia if she had any idea the rules would change while she was in the air.
She left expecting to get a privilege that wasn't guaranteed anyway.
Her Dad died
When I learn that someone close to a person has died, I feel sympathy for that person.
I thought that was a natural humane emotion, but clearly other people like to kick others when they are at their lowest point.
What's feeling sympathy for her got to do with making sure that nobody else dies due to a viral outbreak?
That's the part I don't get. Why not wait until the exemption had been granted? Surely the risk of being denied the exemption is incumbent upon her in this case?
Spare me the privileged snowflake routine. Shit happens. Deal with it.
We've just come out of a lockdown where my mum wasn't allowed to go visit my dad in hospital when he was balanced on the edge. They live a short walk from the hospital, at the time there weren't even any COVID cases in the region, and throughout the COVID epidemic the nearest COVID infection was over 40km away from their remote community.
BTW, here’s the whine in Harold for those wondering what this is about:
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12341161
Oops: Thanks Andre. Copied but forgot to link. Distracted.
Spare me the privileged snowflake routine. Shit happens. Deal with it.
Excellent! Ditch the whole kindness spiel.
Quick…someone tell the PM.
There's kindness and then there's stupidity. Compassionate exceptions to travel restrictions during an epidemic are well into the stupidity – as we’ve just learned.
Bags of sympathy. Bags n bags. It's bad luck but not the end of the world.
It sucks. I'm really sorry for her. But no exemptions for funerals. Maybe if the person is still alive but expected to die, to see them one last time. But not funerals.
Letting possibly infected people go to funerals is a great way of spreading the disease.
I agree
My comment was in response to Anne at comment 7. Just pushed the wrong butong
If it was so important for someone to attend a funeral in these times why not store the body and wait till all are able to attend .
What about making sure you get your share of the deceased worldly goods?
Looks like Minister Dr Woods is about to "help" Minister Clark.
Announcing shortly.
RNZ midday news informed us that Megan Woods has been put in charge of the quarantine system. I presume that means she will advise the operational person who administers it. Clearly a tacit concession by the PM that the current minister of health can't be relied on to do so.
Good news that someone who has established a reputation for competence is doing that job now! And whoever gave false assurances to the Director General (& PM indirectly) may be wondering if their anonymity can be preserved much longer. Lying about public safety seems bad behaviour for a public servant. I trust this individual will be prosecuted.
How can the establishment evade being made accountable to the public? My advice is to claim that the administration of public health is so complex that nobody is responsible for anything anymore. Complex systems are inherently random. Wheel in an expert in the science of complexity to say so at a govt press conference.
Then they could say the quarantine system `fell through the cracks'. That's always a good line to use. Just one of those things. Shit happens…
I think it's time they leased on a exclusive occupancy basis a couple of these hotels or other suitable premises rather than scattering everyone around the town, made any necessary physical and staffing adjustments and went to it. One isolation person was quoted as missing having his cup of coffee made (along with the no booze) which suggests quite a lot of "space sharing" with staff. Lets not make it tooo attractive – if you really need to be here you will do this. Also time for some cost recovery with the increased price of the airline tickets that everyone seems to be able to afford?
Seems common sense. Stories emerging of lax admin suggest nobody in control and nobody paying attention to what has been happening. It's not like quarantine is rocket science, eh? Yet the Dept of Health can't cope with requirements. Quite a contrast between the Director General's personal performance in recent months & the shambles his department is now displaying…
Well, no, it's more a hurdle of a maturing system settling in for the long term.
Every decision has a certain margin for error – how thoroughly to go through each line in a questionnaire, whether to test people at the start of quarantine or well after their last likely exposure (the flight) to make sure the disease has had time to appear on a test, transfer car keys without contact but forget to make sure they can read a map, etc.
People settle into a routine and the laxities compound against each other. Then something fucks up, hopefully without too bad a repercussion, and people start a longer term routine of upholding standards.
It's not like quarantine is rocket science, eh?
As I've said on here before, we need to grasp the reality of quarantine – not the fantasy of a prison on an island. They are in hotels.
Consider the daily issues you would face. Do you lock the corridors, the lifts? Do you allow a fire exit? Do you allow exercise? If so, where? If you think somebody is having close contact, how do you punish them? Handcuffs? What does 'contactless' delivery really mean? Food, medicine, everything from toilet paper to changing light bulbs, who does it and how?
The roles of hotel staff are very different from prison guards. All while dealing with people saying "Please, just one exception, just this once". Refused 100 times, allowed once … we've seen what happens.
And so on.
Not to mention that hotels aren't kitted out for people staying in them all the time, let alone separation.
Gyms and pools are not designed to be the only source of recreation for all the guests. Sure, you can make a prison exercise yard in a parking lot, but even then there can be issues with other buildings.
Then there's how you separate the different cadres of quarantine, so someone fresh off a plane doesn't infect someone about to be released.
And what about something that is actually airborne/micro-aerosol spread? Filtering and separating air conditioning to different quarantine zones?
Plus the systems theory of having a massive number of moving parts and a massive penalty for failure.
Actually, it is a bit like rocket science, come to think of it…
Yeah, valid points. Complex systems can't be encompassed by simple rules. Yet the basics of contagion risk are where the admin seems to have broken down – as if the health dept personnel weren't actually thinking about `what if this person is a carrier?'. Someone doing their job properly, someone conscientious, would think about that all the time, eh?
MoH doesn't have hundreds of people in a freezer, ready to defrost when required. But "health dept personnel" sounds better than "temp agency nurse who bounces between retirement homes and GP vaccine days".
10-15min/consult. 6 contact hrs a day. 24-36 people per day, same people, same checklist.
Repetition breeds shortcuts. It's not an individual problem, it's a systems problem. Just like forgetting to make sure the women had a map/satnav in the car.
People who have the skills to organise quarantine for thousands of extra people are alive and well and unemployed, living in Queenstown or willing to move there.
National wants to mobilise them immediately. That is literally their policy, their promise.
And we think we've got problems now …
Because the Opposition have maligned Clarke for so long it makes sense to put a new face on this contentious issue. Tough on Clarke but thats politics – I guess.
Coronavirus: The road trip that turned Ashley Bloomfield from hero to zero
This story iked me a lot yesterday and still rankles as a click-bait 'opinion' piece.
It would have had some relevance had there been some evidence or an authorative poll to back it up. Instead, the story contains no further direct reference to a 'fall from grace' and just for the record he's still one of my many hero's of this pandemic so far.
The man has fronted up without fail, he's mostly answered very directly the hard questions asked, he can't have had much of a break or sleep in the last 3 months. As far as I've been able to tell amongst my wider bubble Bloomfield is still right up there. I haven't heard anyone but a few journalists and opposition politicians suggesting otherwise. For many people, he's one of that small team who shone a light and held our hands guiding through the mental gymnastics many people had to do to struggle through lock-down.
Now it seems he's become just a target to get to the government. I feel he's a person that has probably experienced this whole event to be a roller coaster of the ride, and probably had to dig deep to keep up the calm and reasoned approach. To now knock him down on the failing of others is not reasonable.
Best wishes to him, because NZ is going to need him for a a few years yet.
Some things that puzzle me about the trip
How did they get the car? If they went to the owners, how did they get there?
Got lost. Why didn't the owners of the car give them some directions how to get on MW south?
And if they called the car owners for help. they must have a cell phone. Thus access to google maps?
Friends of the two women had been supplying non-contact supplies and they dropped off the non-connect loan car.
Thanks IMac.
But didn't give directions on how to ge south?
They left the key with an official
Didn't see the women at that point
If the women were in a bit of a state , can imagine the best way to direct would have been by driving/leading on to the correct motorway
Just a quess but isn't that area around downtown Auckland a bit of a shitfight with all the road closures for the new underground rail. And if I recall most of roads in that area are generally heading for the bridge and north.
Even if the cell phone had no data they could have rung the friends and got verbal directions from the point they were at. Still sniffs like it was pre-arranged where were they when they rang- and among the casualties is the gym owner in auckland who has lost 2 weeks income plus from closing and no doubt a customer decrease.
In my circles too aj
Full of admiration at how professional he's been, never losing his cool while others constantly try to trip him up
A true public servant, serving the people
Just watched Dr Bloomfield live online update us. Another excellent performance and he says over 700 tests will be done today to catch up especially for those who are near the end of their 14 days. If the person refuses the test the can be held for up to 28days.
Looking tired but handled the questions clearly and confidently. Again my thanks and admiration for a great NZer.
He had to explain "informed consent" to a reporter. At a health briefing. Seriously.
He didn't say "FFS, come back when you have the first clue". Which is why none of his critics could do his job.
heh very true
“my thanks and admiration for a great NZer.”
I second that.
"From hero to zero". The journalist responsible for the headline is not a poet, otherwise they would know the tyranny of rhyme, how a poor poet becomes dominated by rhyme and meaning suffers.
From headline to deadline is a very short time.
I too feel he has done a huge job well only to be let down by the unthinking and unsupervised further down the chain. We need to repurpose the public service in his image not the one we have.
Frankly the people running the road blocks voluntarily in Tai tokerau and Tairawhiti have shown a great deal more professionalism customer service and insight into what they were there for than the current border set up.
Queensland is soon to start charging $200 a night for the 14 days mandatory quarantine for overseas arrivals. That idea might cut the numbers of incoming arrivals into Auckland down to manageable proportions! Its been free up to now.
I might quibble about the price per night a little but if you can afford the higher priced airfares then why not.
With their overseas jobs gone, a lot of them will be coming back to claim NZ benefits I guess. and probably some of them owe Foreign Affairs for their expensive airfares.
Sample
Thanks Dennis!
Another cop killed in line of duty. They were unarmed:
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12341272
New Zealand's police lives matter to me.
Reading between the lines of the reports so far, it appears the officers were basically ambushed doing a routine traffic stop. That's a situation where the officers being armed would have likely made very little difference.
Looking at the figures for testing these last couple of days and they seem huge compared to the number in border isolation. Does this mean that most of the testing was not being done? And why are they going to set up quarantine in places that don't receive international flights? It's just shoveling the risk to all parts of the country so we couldn't even lock down just one section. Plus if Air NZ are going to use domestic flights to shift these people there is another whole level of risk there. I won't be going any were near their planes.
And could all government and private companies like AirNZ stop putting patronising "stuff" in their press release about "there is no risk" when quite clearly there frequently is a risk even if small. It’s a well informed public out here with time on there hands and zero tolerance I suspect for this sort of PR schtick
Case in point – talking about aircrew overseas being safe because they are "whisked " to and from the airport and use crew lounges. The shuttle drivers, any staff in crew lounges plus other countries aircrews are not faceless non carriers of covid.
The 6000 or so cover all those possibles in the community who were I think connected to the the two women. Pretty amazing actually.
The 700 is for those in managed isolation/quarantine especially those nearing the 14days. So far no positives in either group.
One cop dead today. An inevitable extension of BLM movement, or just a West Auckland bogan hyped up on P?
501s from Oz?
I'd be astonished if BLM had anything to do with it. That's not their style.
Klobuchar's withdrawn from consideration to be Biden's VP nom.
With her history as a prosecutor in Minnesota, the murder of George Floyd more or less quashed any chance she might have had.
Please, can something be done about the perma-moderation Ad seems to be on? It sure would be nice to see those comments when they're written, rather than having them appear some random time later.
As I understand it, Andre, the problem is at Ad's end. If a regular user misspells their email address, the comment goes into limbo. That is the issue here.
Does the mod that releases the comment have to correct the email address every time? Might it work to just approve the comment as effectively a new user? Sure, we could end up with 893 Ads with slightly different email addresses and avatars, but would that really matter?
You've described the solutions perfectly, Andre. The mod has to do one of those two things, and usually it's the former, correcting the email, then approving it. Either way, it's a pain in the proverbial for all concerned.
There is an option to get a permanent login, which saves having to manually write the email address. Not entirely sure how to set that up, as authors get it by default, but those that do have that option ticked have their comments appear with a grey background. Mmmm, special!
https://thestandard.org.nz/policy/#logins
And in the meantime it looks like the CCP has declared 'virtual' war on Australia.
Early days but if this keeps up Australia will be forced into a defensive response.
Australia reacts limply to a foreign initiative. Five eye partners are not Australia's future, due to geographical closeness to Asia and dependence on Asian trade. CPC screws yellow peril Australia.
Why would someone be bidding $995 for a small three-leaved plant on Trademe? ie Hoya Obovata Variegata
https://www.trademe.co.nz/home-living/outdoor-garden-conservatory/plants-trees/indoor/listing-2661211028.htm?rsqid=e6f29f8372b34f89a2e7743c5264cc95-001
Anyone? Closes Sat 20 June 9.06 am Next minimum bid $1,000.