Simon Bridges ,Michael Woodhouse. Are being Total Dicks.Politicing While we are facing a National crisis.Stay at home and Stop being a Dick Simon.Michael Woodhouse Stop taking cheap shots which haven't got any Scientific evidence or are pure lies.Outhouse claimed the 130 health workers infected were because of lack of PPE and proper safety in our hospitals.Fact Healthcare workers returning from overseas were infected passing Covid onto other workers before our borders were closed.Outhouse is a lying little S*?t
Most NZr are not silly ,should do a like poll on Bridges Woodhouse Hoskings not one of them would make 10%, My wife is from a blue family of 18, one of them put on facebook blue is not my favorite colour, almost all the family including children clicked Like, the three of them are going to come out of this so very disliked
dont forget about some certain mp's shoving up billboards all around wellington and the hutt right before lockdown stating how labour have done such a good job with covid19.
(It also makes me smile with the recollection of Stark, Ben Elton's comic novel about the reality of the company in the Stark consortium escape spaceship for those who brought about the end of the world).
Rising S Co. has planted about 10 private bunkers in New Zealand over the past several years. The average cost is $3 million for a shelter weighing about 150 tons, but it can easily go as high as $8 million with additional features like luxury bathrooms, game rooms, shooting ranges, gyms, theatres and surgical beds.
Anyone know if the resource consents on those will be in the public domain? eg the one in Canterbury that can house 300 people.
Quite possibly unconsented. If you're trying to hide from the zombie apocalypse, you wouldn't want the zombies to be able to just look up where you're hiding.
Thought it was more like negative 3 per barrel. Maybe a different benchmark.
The one I read was the calculated benchmark price for crude oil delivered to some town in Ohio in June.
They’re acutely short of oil storage space in the US. They’re rolling out old badges and storing oil in those because they have no tanks, and they’re starting to run out of those. Soon it will be cheaper to store oil in oil tankers parked offshore than it is to land it.
Meanwhile Brent Crude is about to go under USD30 / Barrel.
Personally I was suspicious of two VLCC oil tankers, from the same company, that collided in clear weather years ago, when the charter rates fell through the floor.
It will be a giggle in the rooms of Auckland ZB, Herald, Bridges, Paula, and the Kauri girl.
There are a couple of other serious problems that ought to get attention, however.
The major one is the ongoing violence of degraded dirty men who go about Killing and Violating their wives. They also force their evil on the children of the family.
The numbers attached to male violence are way way beyond the Current Coronova Virus.
However, there is a further treachery in Aotearoa. It is carried out by the Land Lord. The Land Lord makes the Virus look like a Xmas treat.
We must get rid of all Violent Men – on long long, penalties.
We also, must come together and refuse to pay Taxes on Housing until the Government itself pays for Just and Fair Housing.
As far as I can tell, all impetus to do anything has bounced off the heads of Jacinda et al. So many interesting alternatives on how to run things, all offered in vain. Opportunity lost. Although, was it really an opportunity if there was no intention to act? For a long time our governments have been mediocre middle management of the status quo. If reinfection rates begin again, there'll be no reason to do anything but stand by and console the bereaved – something Ardern is good at… "sympathising". "A population winnowing virus", or something like that. Nothing to really need a change for. Apparently we can afford to lose thousands, and blame them for not protecting themselves.
[lprent: Please try to stick to one handle, like the one you were using yesterday. I’ll let this one through. But be advised that shifting handles tends to be viewed by me as a pointer to a troll. I really don’t like trolls and I tend to express that strongly. Please read our policy and learn not to attract my moderating attention. ]
The worst is yet to come says the Director General of the WHO.
Hopefully we will be spared because of the brilliant management of the crisis thus far by the government and the health professional working in conjunction with on another.
There are just four nations in the world that look like they are going to crush the curve (excluding China who nobody trusts), New Zealand, Australia, Taiwan and South Korea. This is a remarkable alignment for us.
The Koreans in particular are technically minded, have a top-notch health care system, they are culturally wired for fast responses, their first instinct isn't to lie about everything, and they believe in math. They have provided the world with the best and most holistic information about this virus. I've been treating their dataset as the gold standard. This is a country with it's act together; we need partners like them to keep our technology systems running.
Taiwan is another nation in a similar position. While there is obvious political threats with the CCP poised to invade as soon as it thinks the world is not looking, the Taiwanese are an example of what China could and should have been if the CCP thugs were not running the mainland as a giant slave labour camp.
Australia is also responding well and is a fabulous supplier of raw materials with the potential for almost total energy independence if it wants to go there. It's already talking about rebooting local manufacturing as part of it's recovery efforts.
Together with NZ's superb agricultural exports (and as I write this I'm conscious that sustainable and regenerative techniques should be a core element of a high quality strategy) these four nations could readily form a new regional alliance. All four have competent and compatible governance, all four have high trust societies, and all four bring specific unique attributes to the trade table.
Yes the NZ economy has been hit hard by this event, but we are not on our own. We have some great strategic partners to reach out to who are highly compatible with us. Our relationship with China will remain significant, but no-one wants to be so dependent on them ever again.
We have a high-trust society with Australia? Like the kid who meets this guy who says come home with me and see my collection of Barbie dolls, train set, etchings.
I think you've misread a tad … I wasn't referring so much to the trust relationship between these four countries, as within their own societies.
Yes NZ and Australia have some significant political difficulties that we should be looking to resolve, but in every other social and economic respect they are both relatively high trust societies compared to many other nations.
I seem to read a lot here by various commenters about "sustainable and regenerative farming". The term is never explained, it is just used. I come from a farming background and have relatives who still farm, so I have a reasonable knowledge on current farming practises, with dairy and also sheep and beef. Not that I want to actually farm. After all I left the farming life.
What is different about "sustainable and regenerative" farming to the current form of NZ farming. Is it basically the same, though with a few tweaks? Or is it intended to signal a radical change in NZ farming? I suspect the latter, given who uses these references. And if so, how do those advocating this see that farming should change.
I'll probably be well advised to defer to people like weka and Paul G who've paid a lot more attention to this topic than I have for specific examples.
Having said that, as a matter of strong principle, I believe agriculture is one of the primary responsibilities of government. Farmers themselves are constrained by the need to stay in business this month, this year. While many do take a long-term view of their soil management, it is government that needs to take a long-term view of the whole picture. In this NZ already does pretty well, we always have.
But we do consistently fall short in some aspects; and in this there are more than a few alternative farmers who have consistently demonstrated that it's possible to farm productively with fewer inputs, less intensive stocking, better nutrient management, and improved animal welfare.
Personally I'm no fan of 'radical changes'. I don't think that's either achievable or even desirable to impose destabilising disruption. But if we took a more patient multi-decadal approach there are many 'tweaks' that we could implement, that as a whole would add up to something quite transformative over time.
Very different to the current, short term, model of "high input" agriculture.
Which relies on imported feed, fertiliser and depletion of soils and other resources, to make a short term gain.
I come from farming families too. Many wouldn't have been impressed with the current industrial farming.
There were some who took the view, "the only good tree is one that has been pruned to the ground" but most considered looking after the farm, soil and waterways, for the future, was part of farming.
A couple, in particular, were very proud that on their farms, they still had native stream life, unlike many other countries.
They would be horrified at the current, Federated Farmers, attitude.
I've been following with my son, he's been studying, farm management.
Even incremental improvements, in things like crop, animal rotation, once a day instead of twice daily milking, natural fertilisers, and preventing nitrates being lost to waterways, can improve both the environment, and farm efficiency.
Like wise the Canterbury Dairy farm and the Maniototo sheep farm. All high light that Traditional industrial farming is not as profitable ,sustainable nor is it kind to animals.
[Another typo in your user handle. Please be more careful!]
The most recent episode of Country Calendar provides a reasonably accessible example. Blurb:
Faced with falling profits, the owner of a big Central Otago station makes a radical move into regenerative agriculture and finds the profits soon flow.
Their was a reg a neg farmer on country calendar Sunday. (Usually they replay it early the next weekend) ,doing some interesting stuff.
Of course he was one of those high energy clever people so for it to catch on the government would need to capture his learnings and bottle it for easy digestion of the the rest of us.
We are in a hard left nationalist environment now. It beggars belief that a member of the neoliberal elite has held such a position for so long. A Galloway or Rachel Stewart type personality would provide the much needed journalistic rigour and intensity to reignite the show in my opinion.
Cripes, Kathryn has so much knowledge in her head, can handle a wide range of expertise, has a pleasant manner, and maintains her interest and energy in the frustrating world we create – don't diss her for sounding frazzled as she broadcasts from her bathroom or wherever. My feeling is that her questions become too long as she makes a short scenario around the problem or situation she is wanting to 'elucidate'.
Now Lisa Owen at the end of the day has apparently been employed to sound frazzled, high pitched, fast talking and sounds like a middle-class female exasperated with the world, with an upward whine to much of her pronouncements. What a turn-off.
Grey: Agree with you totally re Lisa Owen. A bit grating-she needs to take chill pill.
I wasn't dissing Ryan….I just think that show can be stressful where a whole series of interviews are done in a row on important topics…..but we need a show that does all of those interviews. I don't think it is just because we are in lock-down. It started before this.
My solution is two presenters….a bit more variation and a different character. Maybe a rotating second presenter.
Ryan has sounded tired and has not been laughing/getting laughs from the Friday comedians.
You're right Bearded Git I could imagine she is tired, you might be tempted to take a perk-up pill as artistic performers have often done. She might like that idea of a rotating second presenter but I would be afraid they would put on Jim Mora or the like. Someone who would be subtly, or not so, putting the self-satisfied, right wing approach which gives me such a pain I turn off, which negates the value of the public broadcaster to me.
If someone else was put on they would need to be compatible and who knows what this cardboard Radionz management would choose? Would we get a whole lot of amusing chatter? A little bit of that is good, but soon there is a pall of death to an enjoyable and informative show with too much shallow hah hah aren't we smart stuff.
Matthew Hooton was written about the bureaucratic mandarins hampering the government’s ability to move fast, especially at the moment – he also suggested that some “aren't happy taking orders from 30-somethings of any gender.”
I have been reading of this problem with the government’s departments for some time. If this is the case, once the Covid situation is under control I hope heads will roll and our fresh new government will have a fresh new team to work with.
Call it the school of hard knocks or the university of life. The world has changed so much and people cannot continue to carry on as if there is no pandemic.
Just look at what has happened with the price of oil.
In time the restraints which Covid-19 is causing, some solutions will be found.
“ had Monday's health information been more favourable – or Ardern wanted to take a risk – it was clear the bureaucracy simply wasn't ready for a move to level 3 this Wednesday night anyway.
Like all prime ministers, Ardern relies on the same mediocre and incestuous Wellington bureaucracy that delivered her the KiwiBuild fiasco, worsening child poverty and last year's comedic Budget "hack".
Ministry of Health boss Ashley Bloomfield has been praised for his handling of Covid-19. But, last year, even his ministry was responsible for the measles vaccine crisis, seemed unable to competently allocate the $1.9 billion in mental health funding from last year's budget, and has now been unable to tell a believable story on the availability of PPE to frontline health staff.
Now – despite having over a month to get organised – his ministry has failed to implement the testing and tracking systems necessary for a move to level 3. Talk of a contact-tracing app remains just that. The Beehive even claims it had to push the health authorities to conduct the random population testing required to see how widespread asymptomatic and undiagnosed Covid-19 is in the community.
Sexism among senior officials may explain some of Ardern's inability to achieve purchase over the bureaucracy, although the iron-hold Helen Clark had over Wellington suggests otherwise. Ageism is probably a bigger factor. Whatever their departmental "values statements", too many mandarins aren't happy taking orders from 30-somethings of any gender.
The day the lockdown was announced, Ardern promised that the definition of "essential services" would be available by close of business so parents would know whether they should send their children to school the next day. Despite the Prime Minister signing off the list before the 6pm TV news, MBIE bureaucrats held up its release until closer to midnight.
Inexplicably, no one in the bureaucracy was fired for making a fool of the Prime Minister in an emergency.
Similarly, Ardern's announcement of the details of level 3 last Thursday was necessary to give organisations time to prepare, despite its negative effect on compliance.
But important rules Ardern announced quickly turned out to be wrong or unimplementable.
Similarly, Ardern's announcement of the details of level 3 last Thursday was necessary to give organisations time to prepare, despite its negative effect on compliance.
But important rules Ardern announced quickly turned out to be wrong or unimplementable.
In health, hospitals and other providers have not yet received promised information on what medical procedures will be allowed under level 3.
There is no clarity on how the courts are meant to reopen under level 3.
Other major sectors have only just received the rules for what level 3 means for their operations, with no time to digest them.
Hunters haven't been told what rules were meant to start applying from Thursday morning.
With such uncertainty, the country would have faced a fiasco had it moved to level 3 this week.
The delay until next Tuesday allows the Prime Minister to demand the bureaucracy fix the confusion around level 3 it created. She must make clear to the most senior mandarins that jobs should be on the line if they do not.”
Janet I would like to see the politicians have some say in the choice of which officials would be employed that they need to work with. The idea of apolitical pointyheads dedicated to doing good public service is a vision not realised in practicality. There cannot be too much control by business either on government – I remember Maris O'Rourke in Education saying with the neolib set up that she had to wait till 11 pm to present her material to the Minister, as she was preceded by all the business lobbyists.
So more balance.
And here are some paras on serving in a government in transition to neolib from a piece by this very amazing woman who after years of hard yakka in Education has left much to thank her for. She sets a standard for other civil servants in NZ.
The Ministry started in 1989 and from the beginning was coping with substantial work pressures due to the speed of the reforms; an education system in flux where everything had changed at once; and the task of bringing together a number of disparate and separately organised activities into a coherent whole and creating a workable organization. I found when I took up the job that I was running three different and difficult organizations with a demoralised, disillusioned and bitter staff largely opposed to the reforms.
The complexity of all this was vastly under-estimated. Add to this mix an election coming up in 1990 and a new Minister of Education Phil Goff. I was responsible for implementing the most extensive administrative reforms ever to occur in NZ education and in the run up to the 1990 election this generated much negative energy and what appeared to be muddle and chaos. All this at a time when the Minister, the government and the party wanted positive energy and a smooth running system. It wasn’t easy. It wasn’t possible. And there were certainly times when a little wrist-slitting looked attractive. Labour lost the 1990 election, we had a new government and I had a new Minister Dr Lockwood Smith for the next 5 years.
I have always felt that success in a job is when no-one notices you have gone and the transition is smooth but the things you have implemented, the things you have DONE stay in place and last.
So by 1995 I had been in Wellington for almost seven years and had vaguely begun to feel it was time to move and that message went into the cosmos. I was head-hunted by the World Bank to be their first Director of Education. As a farewell my three ex Ministers had their photo taken together on the stairs and presented it to me with an award for bravery and courage under fire plus a copy of ‘Where the Wild Things Are’ by Maurice Sendak.
I hope not. One of New Zealand's strengths is that we do not have a politically appointed public service.
In fact I don't have to worry about this. There is simply no way that the PM, if she is re-elected, is going to overturn the basic systems of the public service.
Hooton, may well be right, that some civil servants don't find it so easy to work with young political leaders. That is not a systemic failure, it is simply part of the human condition. It exists in any organisation when the top leadership is quite a bit younger than their immediate subordinates. Over the years, I have seen a few examples of this, interestingly enough when I was much younger. But I have seen and experienced a lot more situations where youthful leadership drives energy and commitment from the wider team.
In any event it looks to me that our public service are doing an excellent job. Sure there may be some hiccups, which is hardly surprising given the size of the challenge. Not everything is going to work perfectly, not everyone finds their job easy to do, not everyone is completely up to speed, not everyone is equally competent.
Well I for one am deeply grateful that the director general of health has been a competent individual with all the background skills to have a decent understanding of public health.
Not the previous incumbent who had few relevant background skills " Mr Chuah was Chief Executive of Hutt Valley District Health Board. Mr Chuah is a qualified chartered accountant with more than 25 years health sector experience. " and didn't do so well.
It may not be "politicisation" but it is definitely neoliberalisation "anybody can be a manager – background skills not required." and the public service needs to rethink the criteria largely based on a neolib world view point.
In my experience the practice has been somewhat lacking, with bean counters, and cronies, typically with no knowledge of the sector, promoted beyond their competence level, in the two Government departments I'm most familiar with.
… he also suggested that some “aren't happy taking orders from 30-somethings of any gender
Christ, I can't say I blame them. Who the hell wants to take orders from Spice Girls fans and nauseating Millenials excitedly calling out "Cowabunga, Dude !" to each other ???
"Japan's exports fell more than forecast in March, down almost -12% year-on-year when a -9% fall was expected and the February fall was only -1%. It is almost certain April exports will fall much harder."
In an interconnected world what we do is only a small part of the equation…we can try to prop up sectors and open businesses asap but the fact remains demand has fallen off a cliff…and it isnt coming back anytime soon.
No different to the GFC.NZ will have sustain its economy by creating local demand.Until a vaccine is widely available.This is the time to fix homelessness by keeping the construction industry going building state houses and affordable houses. Infrastructure Transport bottlenecks.
very different to the GFC…that was a trust problem…nobody knew who was going to be left holding the baby so everything stopped…once the govs basically guaranteed those loses everyone went back to BAU….this is not a trust (liquidity) crisis….demand has plummeted and the environmental conditions mean that it cant return to prior levels anytime soon….liquidity isnt the problem.
Attempting to replace that global demand with national stimulus does not solve the problem when you need (not want) to import so much and almost guarantees a productivity loss
Pat so you have agreed with my argument but don't understand that trust has disappeared around the world already .whole industries have disappeared and will take 10 years to reestablish.So really the only option we have in the short term is to stimulate the local economy diversify as much as possible.The Financial fallout will be much higher than the GFC.But lessons learned will help countries who bailout mainstreet as opposed to Wall st will recover more quickly .Even Boris Johnston said overnight the biggest mistake made in the GFC was giving trillions to the corporates and forgetting about the people on the street he said he Won't be making that mistake this time.While Trump is letting all the money flow to the corporates while delaying and denying mainstreet funding.On Top of all his other f/ups the US is going to have a much longer slower recovery.
not sure how you get agreement with your claims from my reply…whether the lessons of the GFC will be learned is yet to be demonstrated and you completely miss the point about international v national economy.
Ever felt just a tad concerned that the affluent liberals who lead nominally 'left' parties might be a bit out of touch with the lives of the 'common man'? Don't worry, relax, it's all fine – check out Nancy Pelosi's fridge if you need more reassurance.
As opposed to The Man with the Golden Shower Shitter. I'd guess it's less than 50:50 that he even knows where his fridge is or what it even looks like, let alone what's in it.
It's also kinda hard to argue that Pelosi is way out of touch with her constituents.
California runs a jungle primary system when all the candidates from all the parties are tossed into one common pool, then the top two go on to fight it out one-on-one for the November general election. So it's quite common in California for the two candidates for any position in November to both be Dems.
Pelosi won her primary with 74%, second was Buttar (D) with 13%, third was Dennis (R) 8%.
Nah. He sends out minions like Chris Christie to get fresh ones. The congealed grease tastes better if it's just freshly cooled than if it's gone into a fridge.
Let me spell it out. Lots of people under neoliberalism are asset rich, but are an inch away from not having the cash flow to buy groceries. This is why even in NZ in wealthy towns there are food banks. If a family's mortgage requires two incomes to service and one of the couple loses their job, they're screwed.
It's also common knowledge that women and their kids take a drop in standard of living when a marriage ends.
People in the US who have lost their jobs because of covid come from all classes.
In all those scenarios people can own late model cars.
Read the article because it's pretty clear what is going on here.
I just got a flash back of an old commenter at this site called ' Randal' who used to berate the younger generations for their 'Hardly Davisons and flat screen TeeVees in the toilet' …
Did you bother to look at the photos in the mother jones link?
If not why don't you do so.
And not I will not be saying any such thing about it being fun to sleep in the streets covered by cardboard. Are you really so foolish as to regard such statements as equivalent?
In large parts of the US, if you need a car to get to work it's fairly likely to be more cost effective to drive something that's only a decade or so old, rather than pay the continual repairs on something older.
Then, when you lose that income from your job, keeping your car is still going to be a high priority. Because if you haven't got one, you won't be able to get back and forth to a new job.
I very happily walked around Manhattan on a number of visits. Does New York count as a "major" city? To be fair I was only on the Island. It is quite big though. It is amazing on a first visit. It seems as if you see something you have heard of on every corner. Then you get a bit blase.
I also walked a lot in Washington DC when I visited there. Only in DC though, not in the suburbs in the adjacent States.
And around San Francisco, although I was rather careful about where I went there. It might be only one block from a nice neighborhood to somewhere a bit scary.
It would still be pretty cold in Minneapolis at this time of year though I imagine.
22 million unemployed now, their loss of job comes with a loss of free health care and people are still waiting on their cheques from agent orange. How many of those cars are ticked up? Probably most of them.
It's getting pretty desperate over there and it's only just beginning for them.
Manhattan? You think every city in the states is like Manhattan? And Americans aren't particularly known for waiting for hours, sitting in their cars, for hand outs, it kinda goes against everything they stand for. Also I doubt most of those cars are paid for, like here, people get car loans, to look rich, then they go on blogs and harp about the poor.
As if there are not enough things to worry about these days – it is not a great time to have non-Covid health issues. Bloomfield et al say do not stop seeking medical help for non-Covid issues. But this is in a context when the health system is pre-occupied with Covid.
It has taken me 4 GP consultations at full cost – 2 on the phone, 2 in-person – to narrow down possibilities for the white stuff on my tonsil. In normal times it'd have probably taken 1 in-person consultation. I can afford it, others might not be able to.
So, the GP who looked at my throat today says it's not strep throat. It's either a stone (which is not a problem) or a growth (which is a problem). And she's referring me to a throat specialist.
Another GP had taken a throat swab a couple of weeks ago. The lab refused to process it, cos too busy with Covid. The GPs queried it, and now the lab has agreed to process it. But now they can't find my original swab. So the GP took another swab today.
So I probably have another few weeks to wait to find out if I have a problem or not.
I had thought maybe the GPs thought I was worrying needlessly by keeping going back to them: first when the antibiotics didn't work, then to ask why I hadn't had the results for my throat swab. The receptionist then booked me in for a phone consult with the young GP who did the swab.
But, next thing, the older more-experienced GP who had given me the antibiotics, phoned me, asked to see me in person, and cancelled the phone consult with the other GP. I got the impression she thought I maybe just had a non-problematic stone, and thus, that I was worrying needlessly.
Turned out, I think the older GP didn't want to say on the phone she was concerned that it might be a growth. In the car park, in full PPE, after she'd checked my throat, said it could be a growth or a stone, and said she was referring me to a throat specialist another car pulled up. The GP looked around and said it wasn't a very private space for this conversation.
She also seemed keen for my swab to be analysed. So, it was a bit of a shock, but it does show it's worth keeping on insisting on consultations & info about non-Covid concerns.
sounds like someone reviewed your situation, which is a good thing. They all seemed swamped that week or so around lockdown, but I'm guessing they've got more time now to be paying attention.
Also around the beginning and first couple of weeks of lock down, GPs were being instructed to do phone and video consultations as much as possible. People really didn't have much of an idea of how widespread C-19 might be in NZ communities.
And also part of the situation where our public health system has been allowed to atrophy over the last few decades.
While the testing and tracing capacity had been built up "exceptionally well", Prof Baker told Morning Report it was still not quite there yet.
"The wider question we need to come back to when the dust is settled is why did New Zealand allow its public health infrastructure to get to such a poor point? And we had so many warnings of this … a lot of us were saying for a long time that we were not ready for a pandemic. It's a very tough way to learn.
Labour and National are responsible for decades of under-funding of our public health system.
I hope the Ardern government follow through on claims they will work to rebuild the system, once the pandemic has been dealt with.
I'm afraid the question that needs to be answered is why did the Government do nothing to prepare for this between the end of January and the middle of March? Why did they not buy PPE then instead of finally putting money into it in the middle of April?
They just sat there.
[Simple task for you: shows us that you’re not lying this time, thanks – Incognito]
If Alwyn's 'considered' opinion @18.1 passed the sniff test, then I'd be surprised that the opposition National party didn't hold the Government to account re PPE supply, in a timely fashion (“end of January and the middle of March“). Maybe the opposition National party just sat there?
From his reply @18.1.1.1 it's clear that Alwyn was lying – no surprises there.
Before I start this "simple task" would you please tell me what you would regard as satisfactory evidence? It is, of course, generally accepted that it is almost impossible to demonstrate that something does not, and never has, existed. In this case I really don't think that the Government are going to give me access to all the accounts of the Health Department and you will possibly claim that because there might be a purchase of a mask hidden away somewhere I haven't proved my point.
So, before I take this task of Sisyphus on what evidence will you accept?
[When I said “simple task”, I meant it, not a “task of Sisyphus”. You know how it works here: when you make a statement(s) of fact, you need to (be able to) back it up with evidence for it to be judged a fact and not merely some made up shit that sounds good to you but is nevertheless made up BS and/or anti-Government propaganda. In this case, for example, you could link to a statement by the Director General of Health, the Minister of Health, or the Prime Minister showing that everything you said @ 18.1 is factually true and correct. To avoid wasting more time on you than is necessary and to stop your troll-like diversions, I have put you in Pre-Moderation to intercept your comments until you comply with this repeated Moderation request and complete your simple task or until I move you to the Blacklist – Incognito]
I'm afraid the question that needs to be answered is why did the Government do nothing to prepare for this between the end of January and the middle of March? Why did they not buy PPE then instead of finally putting money into it in the middle of April?
They just sat there.
Not very hard to show some evidence that the government did NOT "just sit there"
On 25 February, Ministry of health is reported as saying that they had already begun planning for a possible spread of the pandemic to NZ. This includes preparing to have the necessary protective medical equipment.
Mind you, imagine having the task (be it paid employment or self-anointed holy quest) of trying to sow enough alarm and despondency about the this government's covid response so that people should vote tory.
The NZ response broke the chart (damn can’t embed pic properly).
WA has a similar size population and has over the past 2 weeks had around 10 new cases. Yesterday there were none. It has been under a regime very similar to the Level 3 we are moving to. The borders are closed even to other Australians.
To expand upon "so?", how does that help Alwyn sow enough discontent to make nact seem palatable to the electorate?
WA has a number of different factors that might aid in keeping their numbers low, including the ability to do sub-national border control and possibly the heat.
Quite. Being a fuckwit about the pandemic is quite the position.
I'd be very surprised if alwyn lasts much longer let alone until the election campaign proper. We're now into that time of the election cycle when it's just easier to ban until after the election.
I must admit to noticing a distinct lack of tolerance on this site for any opinion that is questioning of the ministry response, preparedness or plans for non Covid related care during and as we exit Level 4 lockdown.
Really? You haven't seen Rosemary, myself and others talking about PPE?
People don't get modded for criticising the govt or the MoH. People get modded for astroturfing and trolling, and then creating work for the mods. Longstanding patterns of behaviour where the mods have to spend time repeating themselves tends to fuck us off because we all have better things to do with our time. This is what alwyn's problem is.
I did see Rosemary's comments and the number of people pooh poohing, you were certainly one of the notable exceptions prepared to discuss her concerns.
Carolyn's been putting up solid information and analysis too.
I think there's an unsaid agreement that in a time of crisis one doesn't want to undermine confidence in the ability of authorities to manage what we are going through. That's different from not critiquing at all or having no tolerance for critique. In the post I put up last week criticising the MoH on the PPE issue, the comments were evenhanded debate across a range of opinions, quite a bit of disagreement, from memory none of the bullshit that alwyn just did here.
I think you make a fair point that tolerance levels here are lower than usual; mine certainly are, as you undoubtedly have noticed. I think this is not too hard to understand. So, if you want to criticise you may have to watch the way you do this more than usual. You may also have to present more solid support for your reckons. Small words matter as they can substantially change the message. Please keep in mind that challenging your critique, even when valid, is not the same as fawning of the Government or the PM. My tolerance for these sorts of stupid simple-minded comebacks is near-zero.
Your final link was that the Department was assessing the situation.
That is fine. However after that date I never saw anything about whether they did get any more gear. Then we had report after report that said there was plenty of gear, from the DOH and complaints that we can't get any from the front line.
After that we had some individuals, and I haven't checked the names, but I think Mowbray, Morgan and Tindall were involved who were buying and importing the gear. At about mid March there were stories from importers that the Government was desperately trying to get some supplies but that nothing was available.
Now, a few days ago we had a Press Release that there was going to be a couple of hundred million available to buy it.
However I never saw anything until mid March then that they were actually buying the damn stuff. Looking at it? Yes. Buying it? Nothing for a long time.
I started gathering the links to justify my statements, thinking that you might at least consider them. Statements like "We didn't order any supplies at all" from the Minister weren't there. Surprise, surprise. On the other hand there was nothing until mid-March that they were going to put any money into getting any PPE.
However I collected –
The evidence, in repeated stories, that in spite of the claims by the DOH about all their stuff in stock, people on the front line couldn't get the items.
Then the reports by people who supply this stuff in New Zealand of the sudden heavy demand from the Government to import gowns by air but the orders couldn't be met. These were completely new orders and Government interest.This was just after the lock-down.
Then the statements by Robertson, repeated somewhat later by Clark that they were going to put a lot of money into buying the PPE goods. A couple of hundred million in fact. This was after the lock-down of course, and was the first time they had ever mentioned buying any.
Then I thought about what was likely to happen from some moderator or other who had said that
"I'd be very surprised if alwyn lasts much longer let alone until the election campaign proper. We're now into that time of the election cycle when it's just easier to ban until after the election."
And then I remembered being banned for a couple of months by the aforesaid moderator for saying that Shaw was out of the country on Census day. My evidence was rejected because it was a newspaper story from, if I remember accurately, the day before the Census saying Shaw would be up in the Islands with the PM on Census day. This was in the future tense and therefore not evidence at all apparently so I was banned.
Then I thought about how many people still post here who actually discuss interesting things in a rational manner. There are still 3 or 4 but that is all. There used to be posts by people like Colonial Viper, or Puckish Rogue or best of all Lanthanide. All gone and hardly anyone except for the KDS sufferers left.
So I have decided, stuff it. Why go to any trouble knowing I will shortly be banned again because I might say something truthful about the Green Party and their coming demise and be banned instantly. There isn't enough here worth reading any more.
I'm off. I'm afraid I can't say "Thanks for all the fish"
If you make factual statements here then you need to be able to back them up. If you cannot find anything to support your statements with then they were most likely just your opinions.
We don’t mind opinions at all, as long as they don’t masquerade as ‘facts’.
This rule is as old as the site, I believe [see what I did there?].
The reason why that Moderator mused that you might not last here is your pattern behaviour. It is not personal, but it is highly likely that it does become self-fulfilling if you believe it is. Moderation takes time and these are stressful times so Moderators do look for ways to avoid the extra burden of having to deal with recidivist behaviour.
Relitigating (past) Moderation is never going to help anybody; you only dig in and a deeper hole.
This is nothing new either.
The irony is that if you want to discuss things in a rational manner you need to be able to distinguish between fact and fiction. The three commenters whom you mentioned all have (considerable) history here. Just like you, they have chosen self-exile from the site quite a few years ago. Only one is currently serving a long ban because he dug in, just like you, and when offered a way out, he didn’t accept!? Yet, oddly enough, he’s still trying to send comments to the site!?
The fact you hold these three commenters in such high regard is quite telling. Even more telling is that you brandish with broad brush everybody else here as “KDS sufferers”. I could easily list quite a few regular commenters who would not fit that brand at all. I think it shows your prejudice towards this site and the people who comment here.
There’s nothing rational about cutting your nose off despite your face. I know this all too well because I’m somewhat of an expert in this.
Lastly, it is well known that you feel some (…) antipathy towards the Greens. This is not a bannable offence at all! However, the truth-threshold is higher than for more general topics and the tolerance for BS is correspondingly lower. If you want to criticise the Green Party then the onus is on you to make it correct and compelling yet you inevitably fail in this regard. I assume this is because you don’t distinguish clearly enough between fact and fiction and because of your demonstrable anti-Green bias.
In summary, if you accuse us of banning you, please know why and what you were banned for and be honest about it. Please don’t make up lame excuses that we cannot handle the truth about the Green Party, for example. It is not becoming of a mature adult who claims to want a rational and civil discussion here.
For the record: you have chosen to leave the site of your own accord.
I always liked the quote about "luck" from golfer Gary Player. He said that people always told him how "lucky" he was in playing out of a bunker and getting close to the hole.
His response was that he found that the more he practiced the luckier he was.
A wee while ago I had a debate with a colleague about whether it should be "clinical practise" as oppoosed to "clinical practice". It took some time, and involved colleague pointing to scholarly articles referring to clinical practise as "clinical practice", and me asking about how one would distinguish between the clinical practice at which the clinical practise was being practised and the clinical practise practised at the clinical practice even if only in a practice of the practise at the practice.
Last time they make me write rather than count, I hope. 👿
Lovely! The whole thing is easily settled if one substitutes the word 'advise' for 'practise' and 'advice' for 'practice'.
No problem with advice and advise, because we pronounce them differently.
But practise and practice (owing to stupid English spelling non-system) are pronounced the same, hence the massive error-rate, which annoys us true pedants.
P.S. It should be 'clinically practise' and 'clinical practice'. No other options available.
The best thing to do is to take turn about. That way one can be reasonably sure of a 50% right – 50% wrong scenario no matter what word is in contention. 😎
There are even bigger questions behind this though. Maybe others can help? Had bits of the health service needed for this epidemic been effectively privatised draining money away from essential government maintained services and making it more difficult to ramp up quickly because there needs to be contract renegotiations?
Healthline which has been quite a part of the response seems to be a multi year (8? 9? years) costing $257? million for the basics over these years. I struggle with who is actually running this and if money is being drained into supersized salaries for some and profits as well? Anybody know anything?
Just breathe. It's only a tweet. Wait to see what actually eventuates.
Even if it becomes something substantial, MAGog will quickly come under a lot of pressure from the only people he gives even a tiny rats about to start letting people back in. To help keep wages and salaries low.
This and the so called skills shortage lists have just been used to keep wages down across the economy and avoid doing any training. Some of the visa's have terms way beyond the time it would take to train people. It has also given lousy employers a free pass- some of them no one but somebody desperate for a visa would work for,
If true, another huge variable in the worlds future. For all his sins, I guess there is stability, albeit based on evil, in NK. If true, and he passes away and the old order collapses, could be a refugee crisis for China.
Interesting. It would have enormous consequences if there were to be a collapse of the Nth Korean regime. The dissolution of strong man regimes is rarely peaceful, and it could entail sustained cooperation between the Chinese, Sth Korean and American armed services to manage the humanitarian and refugee fallout alone.
A fast moving crisis in Nth Korea could determine the power balance in East Asia for decades. If you look at just the 20th century, East/West Germany, North/South Yemen, North/South Vietnam it was predicted that these divided nations would be very likely to ever recombine … yet all three did during events that lasted just weeks, not even months.
Big Fat Caveat. No-one really knows what is happening in the hermit kingdom, which makes early reports like this highly conditional. If true however, the timing would be appalling ….
So, it’s finally happened,
That thing you were afraid of,
Something’s come from overseas,
And taken your jobs,
Made it unsafe to walk the streets,
Kept you trapped in your home.
A dirty disease,
Your proud nation, gone.
But not me. Or me.
Or me. Or me.
No, you clap for me now.
You cheer as I toil,
Bringing food to your family,
Bringing food from your soil.
Propping up your hospitals,
Not some foreign invader.
Delivery driver. Teacher. Life saver.
Don’t say ‘go home’,
Don’t say ‘not here’,
You know how it feels for home to be a prison,
You know how it feels to live in fear.
So you clap for me now.
All this love you are bringing,
But don’t forget when it’s no longer quiet,
Don’t forget when you can no longer hear the birds singing,
Or see clear waters, that I crossed for you,
To make lives filled with peace,
And bring peace to your life too.
Come all you Gretas,
You Malalas,
You immigrants,
See what we have learned.
It only takes the smallest thing,
To change the world.
The world’s largest investment banks have provided more than $700bn of financing for the fossil fuel companies most aggressively expanding in new coal, oil and gas projects since the Paris climate change agreement, figures show.
The financing has been led by the Wall Street giant JPMorgan Chase, which has provided $75bn (£61bn) to companies expanding in sectors such as fracking and Arctic oil and gas exploration, according to the analysis.
The New York bank is one of 33 powerful financial institutions to have provided an estimated total of $1.9tn to the fossil fuel sector between 2016 and 2018.
The data shows the most aggressively expanding coal-mining operations, oil and gas companies, fracking firms and pipeline companies have received $713.3bn in loans, equity issuances and debt underwriting services from 2016 to mid-2019.
April has been a quiet month at A Phuulish Fellow. I have had an exceptionally good reading month, and a decently productive writing month – for original fiction, anyway – but not much has caught my eye that suggested a blog article. It has been vaguely frustrating, to be honest. ...
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We all know something’s not right with our elections. The spread of misinformation, people being targeted with soundbites and emotional triggers that ignore the facts, even the truth, and influence their votes.The use of technology to produce deep fakes. How can you tell if something is real or not? Can ...
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It is all very well cutting the backrooms of public agencies but it may compromise the frontlines. One of the frustrations of the Productivity Commission’s 2017 review of universities is that while it observed that their non-academic staff were increasing faster than their academic staff, it did not bother to ...
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1. Which of these would you not expect to read in The Waikato Invader?a. Luxon is here to do business, don’t you worry about thatb. Mr KPI expects results, and you better believe itc. This decisive man of action is getting me all hot and excitedd. Melissa Lee is how ...
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David Farrar writes: Graeme Edgeler wrote in 2017: In the first five years after three strikes came into effect 5248 offenders received a ‘first strike’ (that is, a “stage-1 conviction” under the three strikes sentencing regime), and 68 offenders received a ‘second strike’. In the five years prior to ...
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It is hard to see what Melissa Lee might have done to “save” the media. National went into the election with no public media policy and appears not to have developed one subsequently. Lee claimed that she had prepared a policy paper before the election but it had been decided ...
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Morning in London Mother hugs beloved daughter outside the converted shoe factory in which she is living.Afternoon in London Travelling writer takes himself and his wrist down to A&E, just to be sure. Read more ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – The recent announcement of the University Advisory Group, chaired by Sir Peter Gluckman, makes very clear where the Government’s focus and priorities lie. The remit of the Advisory Group is that Group members will consider challenges and opportunities for improvement in the university sector including: ...
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Rob MacCullough writes – Pundits from the left and the right are arguing that National’s Fast Track Bill that is designed to speed up infrastructure decisions could end up becoming mired in a cesspool of corruption. Political commentator ...
Looking at the headlines this morning it’s hard to feel anything other than pessimistic about the future of humanity.Note that I’m not speaking about the future of mankind, but the survival of our humanity. The values that we believe in seem to be ebbing away, by the day.Perhaps every generation ...
Swabbing mixed breed baby chicks to test for avian influenzaUh oh. Bird flu – often deadly to humans – is not only being transmitted from infected birds to dairy cows, but is now travelling between dairy cows. As of last Friday, Bloomberg News reports, there were 32 American dairy herds ...
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Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
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The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi, and Mema Paremata mō Tāmaki-Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, will travel to the Gold Coast to strengthen ties with Māori in Australia next week (15-21 April). The visit, in the lead-up to the 9th Australian National Kapa haka Festival, will be an opportunity for both ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
A significant milestone has been reached in the fight to strike an anti-Pasifika and unfair law from the country’s books after Teanau Tuiono’s members’ bill passed its first reading. ...
New Zealand has today missed the opportunity to uphold the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, says James Shaw after his member’s bill was voted down in its first reading. ...
Hon Paula Bennett has been appointed as member and chair of the Pharmac board, Associate Health Minister David Seymour announced today. "Pharmac is a critical part of New Zealand's health system and plays a significant role in ensuring that Kiwis have the best possible access to medicines,” says Mr Seymour. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order. “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin Ngā mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today. I am delighted ...
The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. “Our Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealand’s overseas missions. “Our diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealand’s interests around the world,” Mr Peters says. “I am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...
New Zealand is contributing NZ$7 million to support communities affected by severe food insecurity and other urgent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and Somalia, Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters announced today. “Over 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia, with a further 6.9 million people ...
Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith is congratulating Mataaho Collective for winning the Golden Lion for best participant in the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale. "Congratulations to the Mataaho Collective for winning one of the world's most prestigious art prizes at the Venice Biennale. “It is good ...
The Government is reforming financial services to improve access to home loans and other lending, and strengthen customer protections, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly and Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced today. “Our coalition Government is committed to rebuilding the economy and making life simpler by cutting red tape. We are ...
“China remains a strong commercial opportunity for Kiwi exporters as Chinese businesses and consumers continue to value our high-quality safe produce,” Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says. Mr McClay has returned to New Zealand following visits to Beijing, Harbin and Shanghai where he met ministers, governors and mayors and engaged in trade and agricultural events with the New ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul. “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
Asia Pacific Report A score of Palestine solidarity protesters draped themselves in white shrouds with mock blood in a sombre “die-in” demonstration at Te Komitanga Square — the heart of Auckland, New Zealand’s largest city — today as speakers urged people to take a stronger boycott against Israeli products. The ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Tackling violence against women will be the sole agenda item for a national cabinet meeting Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has convened for Wednesday. The meeting, held remotely, follows thousands of Australians attending rallies across ...
The protest outside the White House correspondents’ dinner hotel. Image: Anatolu video screenshot APR More than two dozen Palestinian journalists had called for a boycott of the dinner, writing an open letter urging their American colleagues not to attend. “You have a unique responsibility to speak truth to power and ...
“Our exporters should, therefore, be deeply concerned that the Fast-track Approvals Bill was not assessed for consistency with any of our free trade commitments prior to being introduced to the House,” says Gary Taylor, Chief Executive of the Environmental ...
NZCTU President Richard Wagstaff is calling on all political parties to support the new Member’s Bill from Labour’s workplace relations and safety spokesperson Camilla Belich MP that would ensure negligent companies are held accountable when their employees ...
A historian with an uncanny track record of predicting US election winners tells RNZ's Sunday Morning that President Biden looks to be on track for another term, but things could still go very wrong for him. ...
A historian with a track record of predicting US election winners tells RNZ's Sunday Morning that President Biden looks to be on track for another term, but things could still go wrong for him. ...
Ngaio Marsh House is one of Christchurch’s best kept secrets – and contains more than a few mysteries of its own.Trust Ngaio Marsh to leave more than a few mysteries scattered through her house long after her departure. For a start, there’s the curious concrete portal in the garden, ...
Appointment viewing has been lost to the mists of time, but memories of Montana Sunday Theatre can still be conjured by hitting play on a particular piece of classical music. “You’re not going to be able to sell it.” Over 30 years on, Karen Bieleski still recalls how the task ...
Performance Review King Luxon sat behind His massive polished oak desk. It is Performance Review time. There is a knock on the door. “Enter!” says the King. In steps Minister of Disabilities and Carer Pedicures, Penny Simmonds. “I can explain everything …” she begins. “Fine,” says King Luxon, pressing the ...
The pair opened their first fully collaborative exhibition, Nina for Flowers, last Saturday. Gabi Lardies visited their studio to find out who Nina is and what working together was like.‘It didn’t start out like, ‘This is a show about Nina,’” says Josephine Jelicich, gripping a thermos of peppermint tea. ...
Thank you, Dr Maximilian Oskar Bircher-Benner, for your brilliant invention. I’m another mid-20s Kiwi who had an OE last year. I hopped on my bicycle where France meets the Atlantic and cycled east. I pedalled through the Loire Valley, down rivers lined with willows and ancient wisteria-draped chateaus. I relished ...
Asia Pacific Report From France to Australia, university pro-Palestine protests in the United States have now spread to several countries with students pitching on-campus camps. And students at Columbia and other US universities remain defiant as campuses have witnessed the biggest protests since the anti-Vietnam war and anti-apartheid eras in ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards, Democracy Project (https://democracyproject.nz)New Zealand Government’s Fast Track legislation. Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government ...
Tara Ward talks to presenter Naomi Toilalo about the new TV show that turns food waste into a three course feast. Naomi Toilalo is standing in the warehouse at Good Neighbour Tauranga, helping unpack the two-and-a-half tonnes of rejected food that will arrive at the community support hub that day. ...
Scout is our latest Dog of the Month. This feature was offered as a reward during our What’s Eating Aotearoa PledgeMe campaign. Thank you to Scout’s human, Avril, for her support. Dog name: Scout (named after the little girl in To Kill a Mockingbird – she inherited the independent spirit ...
Megan Alatini takes us through her life in TV, including ‘terrible’ daytime TV, the class of Carol Hirschfeld and her most embarrassing TrueBliss moment. When she responded to a vague newspaper ad asking “do you have what it takes to be a popstar?” 25 years ago, Megan Alatini never guessed ...
A new exhibition in Wellington showcases the faces behind your local goods and services. Back in 1977, when I was a fine arts student at the University of Canterbury, I took a series of photographs of Christchurch shopkeepers. The photos were for a calendar – a project for my end ...
Toomaj and his resistance to tyranny through his songs have become an icon for the youth of Iran, so his sentence has hit the nation hard. Toomaj Salehi is not the first artist to pay the price for standing with the people. ...
My cousin Dylan and I spotted these big eels under the bridge that summer. We watched them lounging under the dark weed, facing into the flow of water, their mouths frozen open. Dylan and I couldn’t stop thinking about those eels. The night we went down to the creek, we ...
Newsroom, home of satire. My long-running weekly satirical series The Secret Diary has moved to Newsroom and will appear every Saturday, with Victor Billot’s wildly popular satirical Odes continuing to appear every Sunday. Diaries, Odes – while serious political columnists toil at meaningful opinions and stroke their chins to an ...
Tara Ward unravels the many nuanced layers of a cartoon about talking dogs.This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. It’s not often an episode of a children’s cartoon has adults sobbing into their sleeves, but that’s exactly what happened this week when ...
Working as a doctor in developing countries to help communities achieve better health outcomes is nothing short of a life goal for Jessica Tater. The University of Otago medical student has her sights firmly set on joining the international humanitarian organisation Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) when she qualifies ...
There’s an island in the far reaches of Auckland’s territory, sitting off the tip of the Coromandel Peninsula, 30 minutes by air from the city or four hours on the slow boat. Aotea Great Barrier is off-grid, it has a population of fewer than a thousand people … and most ...
Asia Pacific Report An Australian author and advocate, Jim Aubrey, today led a national symbolic one minute’s silence to mark the “blood debt” owed to Papuan allies during the Second World War indigenous resistance against the invading Japanese forces. “A promise to most people is a promise,” Aubrey said in ...
Asia Pacific Report The Freedom Flotilla is ready to sail to Gaza, reports Kia Ora Gaza. All the required paperwork has been submitted to the port authority, and the cargo has been loaded and prepared for the humanitarian trip to the besieged enclave. However, organisers received word of an “administrative ...
Pacific Media Watch Palestine solidarity protesters today demonstrated at the Auckland headquarters of Television New Zealand, accusing the country’s major TV network of broadcasting “propaganda” backing Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza. About 50 protesters targeted the main entrance to the TVNZ building near Sky Tower and also picketed a side ...
Opinion by Lynley Hood. Forty years on from my 1985 Fulbright Grant, my disquiet over the war in Gaza evoked some troubling questions. The answer to my first question – What is the primary purpose of the Fulbright Programme? – was on the Fulbright NZ website. It says: US Senator, ...
The ministers responsible for green-lighting major projects need to be open about potential conflicts of interest, says Transparency International. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anastasia Powell, Professor, Family and Sexual Violence, RMIT University It has been a particularly distressing start to the year. There is little that can ease the current grief of individuals, families and communities who have needlessly lost a loved one to men’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gregory Moore, Senior Research Associate, School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences, The University of Melbourne Lichen, the first described example of symbiosis.AdeJ Artventure/Shutterstock Once known only to those studying biology, the word symbiosis is now widely used. Symbiosis is the intimate ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kim Hemsley, Head, Childhood Dementia Research Group, Flinders Health and Medical Research Institute, College of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders University Olena Ivanova/Shutterstock “Childhood” and “dementia” are two words we wish we didn’t have to use together. But sadly, around 1,400 ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Whiteford, Professor, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University The government’s Economic Inclusion Advisory Committee has just published its second report. It was set up by Treasurer Jim Chalmers and Minister for Social Services Amanda Rishworth in 2022 to provide: ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne The Queensland state election will be held in October. A YouGov poll for The Courier Mail, conducted April 9–17 from a sample ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amin Naeni, PhD candidate at Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation, Deakin University There’s been much talk in recent months about what a possible second Donald Trump presidency in the United States could mean for Europe, Russia’s war in Ukraine, the ...
A brief round-up of submissions on the controversial proposed law. This is an excerpt from our weekly environmental newsletter Future Proof. Sign up here. Last week, submissions on the controversial Fast-track Approvals Bill closed just hours after the government released a list of stakeholder organisations who were sent letters advising how they could ...
A poem from Robin Peace’s new collection Detritus of Empire: feather / grass / rock. Cereal giving I see a woman’s hands, see her curious hands break a stalk as she walks through the tall prairie, the savannah, the steppe, wherever it was. See her idly bite the grass that ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Hemingway’s Goblet by Dermot Ross (Mary Egan Publishing, $38)A handsomely produced (debossed cover, lovely ...
The Commissioner's decision validates the longstanding efforts of the local community and ensures that Awataha Marae will be managed to serve the needs of the local community, particularly for hosting tangihanga. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tristan Salles, Associate professor, University of Sydney Examples of Australian landscapes.Unsplash Seventy thousand years ago, the sea level was much lower than today. Australia, along with New Guinea and Tasmania, formed a connected landmass known as Sahul. Around this time – ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Felicity Castagna, Lecturer, Creative Writing, Western Sydney University Day Day Market, ParramattaPhoto: Garry Trinh I live on the edge of Parramatta, Australia’s fastest-growing city, on the kind of old-fashioned suburban street that has 1950s fibros constructed in the post-war housing boom, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael Ryan, Teaching Fellow in Economics, University of Waikato GettyImagesfatido/Getty Images There is an ongoing global debate over whether the high inflation seen in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic can be lowered without a recession. New Zealand is not ...
The ‘Wicked Game’ heartthrob is in his late 60s now. That didn’t stop him putting on a lively, goofy and very sparkly show. Apart from ‘Wicked Game’, which graces a sultry playlist of mine simply called 💋, my last sustained Chris Isaak listening session took place when I was about ...
Analysis - Two ministers were stripped of portfolios in a warning to Cabinet, drama broke out at the Waitangi Tribunal, and the gang patch ban bill ran into opposition. ...
Tara Ward makes an impassioned plea for some vital pop culture merch. In April 1999, I became obsessed with a new reality television show called Popstars. Every Tuesday night, five strangers transformed into music royalty before my very eyes as Joe, Keri, Carly, Erika and Megan were chosen to form ...
PNG Post-Courier In the early hours of ANZAC Day, aerial photographs captured an impressive gathering of Australians and Papua New Guineans at Isurava in the Northern (Oro) Province. The solemn dawn service yesterday was held at a site steeped in history, where some of the fiercest battles of World War ...
The PSA is shocked that Oranga Tamariki has used the cost cutting drive to downgrade its commitment to Te Ao Māori and remove many specialist Māori roles. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Kemish, Adjunct Professor, School of Historical and Philosophical Inquiry, The University of Queensland There can be no more powerful symbol of the relationship between Australia and Papua New Guinea than the prime ministers of these neighbouring countries walking together on the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sharon Robinson, Distinguished Professor and Deputy Director of ARC Securing Antarctica’s Environmental Future (SAEF), University of Wollongong, University of Wollongong Andrew Netherwood Over the last 25 years, the ozone hole which forming over Antarctica each spring has started to shrink. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Viktoria Kahui, Senior Lecturer in Environmental Economics, University of Otago Getty Images/Amy Toensing Biodiversity is declining at rates unprecedented in human history. This suggests the ways we currently use to manage our natural environment are failing. One emerging concept focuses on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Timothy Colin Bednall, Associate Professor in Management, Swinburne University of Technology marvent/Shutterstock Finding the best person to fill a position can be tough, from drafting a job ad to producing a shortlist of top interview candidates. Employers typically consider information from ...
Wondering where to host your next BYO? Whether its a small gathering or a massive party, we’ve got some recommendations. I was first introduced to the concept of BYOs at Dunedin’s India Gardens, a legendary but sadly defunct establishment, which purveyed enormous quantities of mango chicken to Aotearoa’s drunkest future ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Julien Cooper, Honorary Lecturer, Department of History and Archaeology, Macquarie University Julien Cooper The hyper-arid desert of Eastern Sudan, the Atbai Desert, seems like an unlikely place to find evidence of ancient cattle herders. But in this dry environment, my new ...
The sector says it’s hopeful her replacement Paul Goldsmith will be able to throw it a lifeline, after six months with a minister deemed missing in action, writes Catherine McGregor in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign ...
The government can't just rely on axing public sector jobs and has to do more to cut spending, says the chief economist at a free market think tank. ...
Simon Bridges ,Michael Woodhouse. Are being Total Dicks.Politicing While we are facing a National crisis.Stay at home and Stop being a Dick Simon.Michael Woodhouse Stop taking cheap shots which haven't got any Scientific evidence or are pure lies.Outhouse claimed the 130 health workers infected were because of lack of PPE and proper safety in our hospitals.Fact Healthcare workers returning from overseas were infected passing Covid onto other workers before our borders were closed.Outhouse is a lying little S*?t
Most NZr are not silly ,should do a like poll on Bridges Woodhouse Hoskings not one of them would make 10%, My wife is from a blue family of 18, one of them put on facebook blue is not my favorite colour, almost all the family including children clicked Like, the three of them are going to come out of this so very disliked
dont forget about some certain mp's shoving up billboards all around wellington and the hutt right before lockdown stating how labour have done such a good job with covid19.
labour started politicising this long ago.
Since 19 October 2017?
Reading this Herald article about bunkers available for the rich, brings to mind that this will be an infection of a different kind.
(It also makes me smile with the recollection of Stark, Ben Elton's comic novel about the reality of the company in the Stark consortium escape spaceship for those who brought about the end of the world).
Really curious what kind of visa the dude at the start of that article has. And what will happen to him when it runs out.
Anyone know if the resource consents on those will be in the public domain? eg the one in Canterbury that can house 300 people.
Quite possibly unconsented. If you're trying to hide from the zombie apocalypse, you wouldn't want the zombies to be able to just look up where you're hiding.
Did you just call council staff zombies? 😛
I'm not sure they'd be talking to the media if they were unconsented.
so ultimately for a "king" and his support staff . In other words, self indulgence. Is that really the the kind of person we need in NZ ?
I was scratching my head at the 300 people one.
A remake of Logan’s Run.
they're going to kill anyone over 21?
Nah, of course not! Only Boomers.
you can actually build these pretty cheaply. I'd kinda love to do this if I ever built a house.
Check this out, good watch
There's now such a glut of oil that oil is selling for US$-30 a barrel.
That's effectively paying those US producers to keep it in the ground – or find massive above-ground storage.
https://edition.cnn.com/2020/04/20/investing/premarket-stocks-trading/index.html
I'm sure it won't last but …
That's a particularly weird moment.
Thought it was more like negative 3 per barrel. Maybe a different benchmark.
The one I read was the calculated benchmark price for crude oil delivered to some town in Ohio in June.
They’re acutely short of oil storage space in the US. They’re rolling out old badges and storing oil in those because they have no tanks, and they’re starting to run out of those. Soon it will be cheaper to store oil in oil tankers parked offshore than it is to land it.
Meanwhile Brent Crude is about to go under USD30 / Barrel.
At this rate they will need to just keep it in the ground
The May oil contracts expires tomorrow,at expiration they are required to take physical delivery at cushing Oklahoma.
Can't see much of a future in oil future trading.
Oil futures minus $US37/barrel.
Watching the tanker charter rates.
Huge demand for ships for temporary storage. Already cheaper to store it offshore.
Oil futures have gone negative.
Won't be investing in oil companies.
How long before it starts getting 'lost' at sea.
Yep. Expect a few, "insurance jobs".
Personally I was suspicious of two VLCC oil tankers, from the same company, that collided in clear weather years ago, when the charter rates fell through the floor.
Seemed a bit too, coincidental. 😀
Seventy years of prices.
https://www.macrotrends.net/1369/crude-oil-price-history-chart
It's a bizarre time to be alive.
I trade oil, it's not oil. oil was at $22 last I checked. It was some weird measurement.
Futures.
Which means infused might well consider selling, lol
I've been shorting since covid kicked in.
the shit that happened today though was crazy.
The Covid 19 is a very serious issue.
It will be a giggle in the rooms of Auckland ZB, Herald, Bridges, Paula, and the Kauri girl.
There are a couple of other serious problems that ought to get attention, however.
The major one is the ongoing violence of degraded dirty men who go about Killing and Violating their wives. They also force their evil on the children of the family.
The numbers attached to male violence are way way beyond the Current Coronova Virus.
However, there is a further treachery in Aotearoa. It is carried out by the Land Lord. The Land Lord makes the Virus look like a Xmas treat.
We must get rid of all Violent Men – on long long, penalties.
We also, must come together and refuse to pay Taxes on Housing until the Government itself pays for Just and Fair Housing.
As far as I can tell, all impetus to do anything has bounced off the heads of Jacinda et al. So many interesting alternatives on how to run things, all offered in vain. Opportunity lost. Although, was it really an opportunity if there was no intention to act? For a long time our governments have been mediocre middle management of the status quo. If reinfection rates begin again, there'll be no reason to do anything but stand by and console the bereaved – something Ardern is good at… "sympathising". "A population winnowing virus", or something like that. Nothing to really need a change for. Apparently we can afford to lose thousands, and blame them for not protecting themselves.
[lprent: Please try to stick to one handle, like the one you were using yesterday. I’ll let this one through. But be advised that shifting handles tends to be viewed by me as a pointer to a troll. I really don’t like trolls and I tend to express that strongly. Please read our policy and learn not to attract my moderating attention. ]
Oil has reached a negative price as storage facilities run out of capacity. This is … weird. And for the moment it's not good for green alternatives.
Also Saudi Arabia, Russia, Canada, Venezuela and other major producers must be nervous.
I believe It is a leading indicator of a depression, not just caused by a massive consumption drop caused by Covid.
Plant a garden – just because we live in NZ doesn't insulate us entirely from major currency issues.
Here it is for the record when the nay-sayers and Trump blame the WHO when it happens:
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=12326244
The worst is yet to come says the Director General of the WHO.
Hopefully we will be spared because of the brilliant management of the crisis thus far by the government and the health professional working in conjunction with on another.
There are just four nations in the world that look like they are going to crush the curve (excluding China who nobody trusts), New Zealand, Australia, Taiwan and South Korea. This is a remarkable alignment for us.
The Koreans in particular are technically minded, have a top-notch health care system, they are culturally wired for fast responses, their first instinct isn't to lie about everything, and they believe in math. They have provided the world with the best and most holistic information about this virus. I've been treating their dataset as the gold standard. This is a country with it's act together; we need partners like them to keep our technology systems running.
Taiwan is another nation in a similar position. While there is obvious political threats with the CCP poised to invade as soon as it thinks the world is not looking, the Taiwanese are an example of what China could and should have been if the CCP thugs were not running the mainland as a giant slave labour camp.
Australia is also responding well and is a fabulous supplier of raw materials with the potential for almost total energy independence if it wants to go there. It's already talking about rebooting local manufacturing as part of it's recovery efforts.
Together with NZ's superb agricultural exports (and as I write this I'm conscious that sustainable and regenerative techniques should be a core element of a high quality strategy) these four nations could readily form a new regional alliance. All four have competent and compatible governance, all four have high trust societies, and all four bring specific unique attributes to the trade table.
Yes the NZ economy has been hit hard by this event, but we are not on our own. We have some great strategic partners to reach out to who are highly compatible with us. Our relationship with China will remain significant, but no-one wants to be so dependent on them ever again.
The country which could have the worst outcome is Mexico. 1 in 7 have diabetes and 70 % are obese. Both are known to cause Covid-19 complications.
1 in 1000 in 30 states in the US are infected with Covid-19.
There are so many unknowns with the virus and this is making it difficult to manage the economy in real time.
Health workers have my respect the most, they are selfless and then essential workers.
That's our new de facto trade agreement right there.
Thanks for the summary RedL. It's an interesting overview – about South Korea etc.
We have a high-trust society with Australia? Like the kid who meets this guy who says come home with me and see my collection of Barbie dolls, train set, etchings.
I think you've misread a tad … I wasn't referring so much to the trust relationship between these four countries, as within their own societies.
Yes NZ and Australia have some significant political difficulties that we should be looking to resolve, but in every other social and economic respect they are both relatively high trust societies compared to many other nations.
But yes a reasonable point.
Red Logix,
I seem to read a lot here by various commenters about "sustainable and regenerative farming". The term is never explained, it is just used. I come from a farming background and have relatives who still farm, so I have a reasonable knowledge on current farming practises, with dairy and also sheep and beef. Not that I want to actually farm. After all I left the farming life.
What is different about "sustainable and regenerative" farming to the current form of NZ farming. Is it basically the same, though with a few tweaks? Or is it intended to signal a radical change in NZ farming? I suspect the latter, given who uses these references. And if so, how do those advocating this see that farming should change.
It is one of the many ways you can farm sustainably.
Regenerative farming is a pastural side shoot of Permaculture.
One of the NZ leaders in regenerative farming is
https://www.mangarara.co.nz/family-farm-produce/
I'll probably be well advised to defer to people like weka and Paul G who've paid a lot more attention to this topic than I have for specific examples.
Having said that, as a matter of strong principle, I believe agriculture is one of the primary responsibilities of government. Farmers themselves are constrained by the need to stay in business this month, this year. While many do take a long-term view of their soil management, it is government that needs to take a long-term view of the whole picture. In this NZ already does pretty well, we always have.
But we do consistently fall short in some aspects; and in this there are more than a few alternative farmers who have consistently demonstrated that it's possible to farm productively with fewer inputs, less intensive stocking, better nutrient management, and improved animal welfare.
Personally I'm no fan of 'radical changes'. I don't think that's either achievable or even desirable to impose destabilising disruption. But if we took a more patient multi-decadal approach there are many 'tweaks' that we could implement, that as a whole would add up to something quite transformative over time.
Very different to the current, short term, model of "high input" agriculture.
Which relies on imported feed, fertiliser and depletion of soils and other resources, to make a short term gain.
I come from farming families too. Many wouldn't have been impressed with the current industrial farming.
There were some who took the view, "the only good tree is one that has been pruned to the ground" but most considered looking after the farm, soil and waterways, for the future, was part of farming.
A couple, in particular, were very proud that on their farms, they still had native stream life, unlike many other countries.
They would be horrified at the current, Federated Farmers, attitude.
Wayne you probably have zero interest,but watch Country Calendar on Sunday nights for a glimpse into seriously innovative and successful farming
It's awe inspiring
Don't know if you can get it
On Demand but last CC would tell you all you need to know …sustainable sheep faring
The limitations are to be found in crippling bank mortgages,the biggest hindrance to better animal husbandry and farming practises
Yes that Country Calendar episode was very impressive. Imagine the amazing benefits if that farming system was widely adopted!
I've been following with my son, he's been studying, farm management.
Even incremental improvements, in things like crop, animal rotation, once a day instead of twice daily milking, natural fertilisers, and preventing nitrates being lost to waterways, can improve both the environment, and farm efficiency.
The last Country Calendar screened, showcased a King Country farmer walking the talk.
You should be able to view it on TVNZ on demand.
Like wise the Canterbury Dairy farm and the Maniototo sheep farm. All high light that Traditional industrial farming is not as profitable ,sustainable nor is it kind to animals.
[Another typo in your user handle. Please be more careful!]
Wayne,
The most recent episode of Country Calendar provides a reasonably accessible example. Blurb:
TVNZ OnDemand: Country Calendar 2020 e7 (should also be on YouTube in the next week of so)
Points that I took from it:
Edit: snap with multiple commenters on CC episode, obviously took too long to write …
Thank you everyone for your comments. I will have a look at the Country Calendar episode.
Their was a reg a neg farmer on country calendar Sunday. (Usually they replay it early the next weekend) ,doing some interesting stuff.
Of course he was one of those high energy clever people so for it to catch on the government would need to capture his learnings and bottle it for easy digestion of the the rest of us.
Kathryn Ryan sounding a bit frazzled on Nine to Noon today. Maybe its time they gave her a shorter slot somewhere else and tried a new face?
Most likely frustration with the logistics of broadcasting under the lockdown.
But I agree it’s well past time Nine to Noon had a bit of a refresh.
Maybe co-presenters would give her a breather between intense interviews.
Suggestions for the identity of a new co-presenter please.
Alex Perrottet did a good job looking after Morning Report (or was it Checkpoint?) a while back.
Karyn Hay might be a good unorthodox choice.
Could Jesse Mulligan move to Nine to Noon? And still do his telly stuff (I never watch that).
I like listening to Alison Ballance on Our Changing World.
Colin Peacock? He’s certainly made Mediawatch unmissable.
Mahinerangi Forbes would be awesome!
Not sure about Mulligan-he is fine where he is- but the rest are excellent options.
Karyn Hay has been doing a great job at 10PM I think that is her?
Jesse's better off where he can be the smartarse 6th former at the back that he is.
On Sunday last Sunday, Anthony Hill, the health and disability commissioner did not look or sound his vibrant self.
It may of been the topic which was a serious one, (care during labour and maternity complications).
We are in a hard left nationalist environment now. It beggars belief that a member of the neoliberal elite has held such a position for so long. A Galloway or Rachel Stewart type personality would provide the much needed journalistic rigour and intensity to reignite the show in my opinion.
Cripes, Kathryn has so much knowledge in her head, can handle a wide range of expertise, has a pleasant manner, and maintains her interest and energy in the frustrating world we create – don't diss her for sounding frazzled as she broadcasts from her bathroom or wherever. My feeling is that her questions become too long as she makes a short scenario around the problem or situation she is wanting to 'elucidate'.
Now Lisa Owen at the end of the day has apparently been employed to sound frazzled, high pitched, fast talking and sounds like a middle-class female exasperated with the world, with an upward whine to much of her pronouncements. What a turn-off.
Grey: Agree with you totally re Lisa Owen. A bit grating-she needs to take chill pill.
I wasn't dissing Ryan….I just think that show can be stressful where a whole series of interviews are done in a row on important topics…..but we need a show that does all of those interviews. I don't think it is just because we are in lock-down. It started before this.
My solution is two presenters….a bit more variation and a different character. Maybe a rotating second presenter.
Ryan has sounded tired and has not been laughing/getting laughs from the Friday comedians.
You're right Bearded Git I could imagine she is tired, you might be tempted to take a perk-up pill as artistic performers have often done. She might like that idea of a rotating second presenter but I would be afraid they would put on Jim Mora or the like. Someone who would be subtly, or not so, putting the self-satisfied, right wing approach which gives me such a pain I turn off, which negates the value of the public broadcaster to me.
If someone else was put on they would need to be compatible and who knows what this cardboard Radionz management would choose? Would we get a whole lot of amusing chatter? A little bit of that is good, but soon there is a pall of death to an enjoyable and informative show with too much shallow hah hah aren't we smart stuff.
If she'd shut up for 5 minutes she would last longer.
Matthew Hooton was written about the bureaucratic mandarins hampering the government’s ability to move fast, especially at the moment – he also suggested that some “aren't happy taking orders from 30-somethings of any gender.”
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=12326190
I have been reading of this problem with the government’s departments for some time. If this is the case, once the Covid situation is under control I hope heads will roll and our fresh new government will have a fresh new team to work with.
Call it the school of hard knocks or the university of life. The world has changed so much and people cannot continue to carry on as if there is no pandemic.
Just look at what has happened with the price of oil.
In time the restraints which Covid-19 is causing, some solutions will be found.
Hi Janet. Any chance of summarizing that article a little more?
I am very keen to learn more, but have cancelled my NZH subs to their online site some time ago.
Have cut and pasted paragraphs … hope that helps.
“ had Monday's health information been more favourable – or Ardern wanted to take a risk – it was clear the bureaucracy simply wasn't ready for a move to level 3 this Wednesday night anyway.
Like all prime ministers, Ardern relies on the same mediocre and incestuous Wellington bureaucracy that delivered her the KiwiBuild fiasco, worsening child poverty and last year's comedic Budget "hack".
Ministry of Health boss Ashley Bloomfield has been praised for his handling of Covid-19. But, last year, even his ministry was responsible for the measles vaccine crisis, seemed unable to competently allocate the $1.9 billion in mental health funding from last year's budget, and has now been unable to tell a believable story on the availability of PPE to frontline health staff.
Now – despite having over a month to get organised – his ministry has failed to implement the testing and tracking systems necessary for a move to level 3. Talk of a contact-tracing app remains just that. The Beehive even claims it had to push the health authorities to conduct the random population testing required to see how widespread asymptomatic and undiagnosed Covid-19 is in the community.
Sexism among senior officials may explain some of Ardern's inability to achieve purchase over the bureaucracy, although the iron-hold Helen Clark had over Wellington suggests otherwise. Ageism is probably a bigger factor. Whatever their departmental "values statements", too many mandarins aren't happy taking orders from 30-somethings of any gender.
The day the lockdown was announced, Ardern promised that the definition of "essential services" would be available by close of business so parents would know whether they should send their children to school the next day. Despite the Prime Minister signing off the list before the 6pm TV news, MBIE bureaucrats held up its release until closer to midnight.
Inexplicably, no one in the bureaucracy was fired for making a fool of the Prime Minister in an emergency.
Similarly, Ardern's announcement of the details of level 3 last Thursday was necessary to give organisations time to prepare, despite its negative effect on compliance.
But important rules Ardern announced quickly turned out to be wrong or unimplementable.
Similarly, Ardern's announcement of the details of level 3 last Thursday was necessary to give organisations time to prepare, despite its negative effect on compliance.
But important rules Ardern announced quickly turned out to be wrong or unimplementable.
In health, hospitals and other providers have not yet received promised information on what medical procedures will be allowed under level 3.
There is no clarity on how the courts are meant to reopen under level 3.
Other major sectors have only just received the rules for what level 3 means for their operations, with no time to digest them.
Hunters haven't been told what rules were meant to start applying from Thursday morning.
With such uncertainty, the country would have faced a fiasco had it moved to level 3 this week.
The delay until next Tuesday allows the Prime Minister to demand the bureaucracy fix the confusion around level 3 it created. She must make clear to the most senior mandarins that jobs should be on the line if they do not.”
Janet I would like to see the politicians have some say in the choice of which officials would be employed that they need to work with. The idea of apolitical pointyheads dedicated to doing good public service is a vision not realised in practicality. There cannot be too much control by business either on government – I remember Maris O'Rourke in Education saying with the neolib set up that she had to wait till 11 pm to present her material to the Minister, as she was preceded by all the business lobbyists.
So more balance.
And here are some paras on serving in a government in transition to neolib from a piece by this very amazing woman who after years of hard yakka in Education has left much to thank her for. She sets a standard for other civil servants in NZ.
The Ministry started in 1989 and from the beginning was coping with substantial work pressures due to the speed of the reforms; an education system in flux where everything had changed at once; and the task of bringing together a number of disparate and separately organised activities into a coherent whole and creating a workable organization. I found when I took up the job that I was running three different and difficult organizations with a demoralised, disillusioned and bitter staff largely opposed to the reforms.
The complexity of all this was vastly under-estimated. Add to this mix an election coming up in 1990 and a new Minister of Education Phil Goff. I was responsible for implementing the most extensive administrative reforms ever to occur in NZ education and in the run up to the 1990 election this generated much negative energy and what appeared to be muddle and chaos. All this at a time when the Minister, the government and the party wanted positive energy and a smooth running system. It wasn’t easy. It wasn’t possible. And there were certainly times when a little wrist-slitting looked attractive. Labour lost the 1990 election, we had a new government and I had a new Minister Dr Lockwood Smith for the next 5 years.
I have always felt that success in a job is when no-one notices you have gone and the transition is smooth but the things you have implemented, the things you have DONE stay in place and last.
So by 1995 I had been in Wellington for almost seven years and had vaguely begun to feel it was time to move and that message went into the cosmos. I was head-hunted by the World Bank to be their first Director of Education. As a farewell my three ex Ministers had their photo taken together on the stairs and presented it to me with an award for bravery and courage under fire plus a copy of ‘Where the Wild Things Are’ by Maurice Sendak.
https://commonwealthwomensvoices.wordpress.com/2009/11/15/maris-o%E2%80%99rourke/
I hope not. One of New Zealand's strengths is that we do not have a politically appointed public service.
In fact I don't have to worry about this. There is simply no way that the PM, if she is re-elected, is going to overturn the basic systems of the public service.
Hooton, may well be right, that some civil servants don't find it so easy to work with young political leaders. That is not a systemic failure, it is simply part of the human condition. It exists in any organisation when the top leadership is quite a bit younger than their immediate subordinates. Over the years, I have seen a few examples of this, interestingly enough when I was much younger. But I have seen and experienced a lot more situations where youthful leadership drives energy and commitment from the wider team.
In any event it looks to me that our public service are doing an excellent job. Sure there may be some hiccups, which is hardly surprising given the size of the challenge. Not everything is going to work perfectly, not everyone finds their job easy to do, not everyone is completely up to speed, not everyone is equally competent.
Well I for one am deeply grateful that the director general of health has been a competent individual with all the background skills to have a decent understanding of public health.
Not the previous incumbent who had few relevant background skills " Mr Chuah was Chief Executive of Hutt Valley District Health Board. Mr Chuah is a qualified chartered accountant with more than 25 years health sector experience. " and didn't do so well.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/95381385/directorgeneral-of-health-chai-chuah-fully-owns-38m-dhb-funding-botchup?rm=m
It may not be "politicisation" but it is definitely neoliberalisation "anybody can be a manager – background skills not required." and the public service needs to rethink the criteria largely based on a neolib world view point.
Agree with the principle.
In my experience the practice has been somewhat lacking, with bean counters, and cronies, typically with no knowledge of the sector, promoted beyond their competence level, in the two Government departments I'm most familiar with.
Christ, I can't say I blame them. Who the hell wants to take orders from Spice Girls fans and nauseating Millenials excitedly calling out "Cowabunga, Dude !" to each other ???
Hell on Earth.
RNZ and others are working from home.
"Japan's exports fell more than forecast in March, down almost -12% year-on-year when a -9% fall was expected and the February fall was only -1%. It is almost certain April exports will fall much harder."
https://www.interest.co.nz/news/104622/us-oil-prices-collapse-us-economic-activity-sinks-japanese-exports-dive-china-cuts
In an interconnected world what we do is only a small part of the equation…we can try to prop up sectors and open businesses asap but the fact remains demand has fallen off a cliff…and it isnt coming back anytime soon.
No different to the GFC.NZ will have sustain its economy by creating local demand.Until a vaccine is widely available.This is the time to fix homelessness by keeping the construction industry going building state houses and affordable houses. Infrastructure Transport bottlenecks.
very different to the GFC…that was a trust problem…nobody knew who was going to be left holding the baby so everything stopped…once the govs basically guaranteed those loses everyone went back to BAU….this is not a trust (liquidity) crisis….demand has plummeted and the environmental conditions mean that it cant return to prior levels anytime soon….liquidity isnt the problem.
Attempting to replace that global demand with national stimulus does not solve the problem when you need (not want) to import so much and almost guarantees a productivity loss
Pat so you have agreed with my argument but don't understand that trust has disappeared around the world already .whole industries have disappeared and will take 10 years to reestablish.So really the only option we have in the short term is to stimulate the local economy diversify as much as possible.The Financial fallout will be much higher than the GFC.But lessons learned will help countries who bailout mainstreet as opposed to Wall st will recover more quickly .Even Boris Johnston said overnight the biggest mistake made in the GFC was giving trillions to the corporates and forgetting about the people on the street he said he Won't be making that mistake this time.While Trump is letting all the money flow to the corporates while delaying and denying mainstreet funding.On Top of all his other f/ups the US is going to have a much longer slower recovery.
not sure how you get agreement with your claims from my reply…whether the lessons of the GFC will be learned is yet to be demonstrated and you completely miss the point about international v national economy.
Ever felt just a tad concerned that the affluent liberals who lead nominally 'left' parties might be a bit out of touch with the lives of the 'common man'? Don't worry, relax, it's all fine – check out Nancy Pelosi's fridge if you need more reassurance.
As opposed to The Man with the Golden
ShowerShitter. I'd guess it's less than 50:50 that he even knows where his fridge is or what it even looks like, let alone what's in it.Totally – I'm going for the lesser of two fridges.
It's also kinda hard to argue that Pelosi is way out of touch with her constituents.
California runs a jungle primary system when all the candidates from all the parties are tossed into one common pool, then the top two go on to fight it out one-on-one for the November general election. So it's quite common in California for the two candidates for any position in November to both be Dems.
Pelosi won her primary with 74%, second was Buttar (D) with 13%, third was Dennis (R) 8%.
Drumpster
Hamberders.
Nah. He sends out minions like Chris Christie to get fresh ones. The congealed grease tastes better if it's just freshly cooled than if it's gone into a fridge.
Early days of a pandemic and the idiot-left mirrors the idiot-right.
ffs
https://twitter.com/justinbaragona/status/1252344011131465728
Hoskings changes decades old global terminology and claims there are 7 business days in a week. Someone should tell business that.
But then this is yet another example of the slow erosion of the gains made for working families with the introduction of the 40 hour week.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12326116
I don't imagine Hoskings himself believed what he was saying but he'd backed himself into a corner.
Keeping 'Murica great.
MADA, Make America Diseased Again.
And hungry, again.
https://twitter.com/pdacosta/status/1252165627713933312
https://www.motherjones.com/food/2020/04/these-photos-show-the-staggering-food-bank-lines-across-america/
Those lines, quite heart breaking, what a pity there aren't protests against the obscene wealth discrepancy over there.
I find it hard to see that people are really desperate when they are driving to the food bank in a late model automobile.
poverty blindness is a thing.
Let me spell it out. Lots of people under neoliberalism are asset rich, but are an inch away from not having the cash flow to buy groceries. This is why even in NZ in wealthy towns there are food banks. If a family's mortgage requires two incomes to service and one of the couple loses their job, they're screwed.
It's also common knowledge that women and their kids take a drop in standard of living when a marriage ends.
People in the US who have lost their jobs because of covid come from all classes.
In all those scenarios people can own late model cars.
Read the article because it's pretty clear what is going on here.
I just got a flash back of an old commenter at this site called ' Randal' who used to berate the younger generations for their 'Hardly Davisons and flat screen TeeVees in the toilet' …
People berating beneficiaries for having smart phones used to be a thing too.
Weka
Hey Alwyn are you saying that lots of people drive to food banks in late model cars? Do me a favour.
Next you will be saying its fun to sleep on the streets covered by cardboard.
Alwyn is correctly reporting the photos as in the link above..
https://www.motherjones.com/food/2020/04/these-photos-show-the-staggering-food-bank-lines-across-america/
Luxury!
Did you bother to look at the photos in the mother jones link?
If not why don't you do so.
And not I will not be saying any such thing about it being fun to sleep in the streets covered by cardboard. Are you really so foolish as to regard such statements as equivalent?
Moderation note for you here: https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-21-04-2020/#comment-1704763.
OK, I've just seen it. I appended a question to it.
In large parts of the US, if you need a car to get to work it's fairly likely to be more cost effective to drive something that's only a decade or so old, rather than pay the continual repairs on something older.
Then, when you lose that income from your job, keeping your car is still going to be a high priority. Because if you haven't got one, you won't be able to get back and forth to a new job.
I guess Will Rogers had it right then.
"We are the first nation in the history of the world to go to the poor house in an automobile."
Of course he also said, just as accurately.
"I don’t make jokes. I just watch the government and report the facts."
Have you ever set out to walk anywhere in a major US city?
https://www.google.com/maps/search/von+maur+Minneapolis/@44.8531085,-93.4329738,2926m/data=!3m1!1e3
I very happily walked around Manhattan on a number of visits. Does New York count as a "major" city? To be fair I was only on the Island. It is quite big though. It is amazing on a first visit. It seems as if you see something you have heard of on every corner. Then you get a bit blase.
I also walked a lot in Washington DC when I visited there. Only in DC though, not in the suburbs in the adjacent States.
And around San Francisco, although I was rather careful about where I went there. It might be only one block from a nice neighborhood to somewhere a bit scary.
It would still be pretty cold in Minneapolis at this time of year though I imagine.
22 million unemployed now, their loss of job comes with a loss of free health care and people are still waiting on their cheques from agent orange. How many of those cars are ticked up? Probably most of them.
It's getting pretty desperate over there and it's only just beginning for them.
Unfortunately that is so very true. But plenty of money pouring in to the coffers of the fossil fuel companies courtesy of the Donald.
https://www.vox.com/2020/4/20/21224659/coronavirus-stimulus-money-oil-prices-fossil-fuels-bailout
Manhattan? You think every city in the states is like Manhattan? And Americans aren't particularly known for waiting for hours, sitting in their cars, for hand outs, it kinda goes against everything they stand for. Also I doubt most of those cars are paid for, like here, people get car loans, to look rich, then they go on blogs and harp about the poor.
I see people struggling, lining up to get food and feel empathy, you see the same thing and make a snide comment and troll, it's quite revealing.
As if there are not enough things to worry about these days – it is not a great time to have non-Covid health issues. Bloomfield et al say do not stop seeking medical help for non-Covid issues. But this is in a context when the health system is pre-occupied with Covid.
It has taken me 4 GP consultations at full cost – 2 on the phone, 2 in-person – to narrow down possibilities for the white stuff on my tonsil. In normal times it'd have probably taken 1 in-person consultation. I can afford it, others might not be able to.
So, the GP who looked at my throat today says it's not strep throat. It's either a stone (which is not a problem) or a growth (which is a problem). And she's referring me to a throat specialist.
Another GP had taken a throat swab a couple of weeks ago. The lab refused to process it, cos too busy with Covid. The GPs queried it, and now the lab has agreed to process it. But now they can't find my original swab. So the GP took another swab today.
So I probably have another few weeks to wait to find out if I have a problem or not.
that's not good. Fingers crossed they sort these issues out now going forward and put better systems in place.
Thanks, weka. It is a worry for me.
But I also wonder how many others are having difficulty getting appropriate medical attention for potentially serious, non-Covid conditions
I think it's an issue. Overseas reports suggest that less people are going to GPs and A and E for serious problems.
Yes. Very likely.
I had thought maybe the GPs thought I was worrying needlessly by keeping going back to them: first when the antibiotics didn't work, then to ask why I hadn't had the results for my throat swab. The receptionist then booked me in for a phone consult with the young GP who did the swab.
But, next thing, the older more-experienced GP who had given me the antibiotics, phoned me, asked to see me in person, and cancelled the phone consult with the other GP. I got the impression she thought I maybe just had a non-problematic stone, and thus, that I was worrying needlessly.
Turned out, I think the older GP didn't want to say on the phone she was concerned that it might be a growth. In the car park, in full PPE, after she'd checked my throat, said it could be a growth or a stone, and said she was referring me to a throat specialist another car pulled up. The GP looked around and said it wasn't a very private space for this conversation.
She also seemed keen for my swab to be analysed. So, it was a bit of a shock, but it does show it's worth keeping on insisting on consultations & info about non-Covid concerns.
sounds like someone reviewed your situation, which is a good thing. They all seemed swamped that week or so around lockdown, but I'm guessing they've got more time now to be paying attention.
Yes. That's very likely.
Also around the beginning and first couple of weeks of lock down, GPs were being instructed to do phone and video consultations as much as possible. People really didn't have much of an idea of how widespread C-19 might be in NZ communities.
And also part of the situation where our public health system has been allowed to atrophy over the last few decades.
No interviews from Winston today.
Wonder why.
Perhaps the fish are biting?
Or possibly the horse kicked him?
He’s at L5, which means physical distancing from the paparazzi by at least 200 m. I’m sure Simon will be happy to talk though, about relevant stuff.
Both very droll … lol
RNZ Reports:
Labour and National are responsible for decades of under-funding of our public health system.
I hope the Ardern government follow through on claims they will work to rebuild the system, once the pandemic has been dealt with.
I'm afraid the question that needs to be answered is why did the Government do nothing to prepare for this between the end of January and the middle of March? Why did they not buy PPE then instead of finally putting money into it in the middle of April?
They just sat there.
[Simple task for you: shows us that you’re not lying this time, thanks – Incognito]
I don't believe you.
I am hurt, truly hurt, that you would say such a thing. Mind you if you don't believe that you would be right.
If Alwyn's 'considered' opinion @18.1 passed the sniff test, then I'd be surprised that the opposition National party didn't hold the Government to account re PPE supply, in a timely fashion (“end of January and the middle of March“). Maybe the opposition National party just sat there?
From his reply @18.1.1.1 it's clear that Alwyn was lying – no surprises there.
See my Moderation note @ 2:19 PM.
"Simple task for you"
Before I start this "simple task" would you please tell me what you would regard as satisfactory evidence? It is, of course, generally accepted that it is almost impossible to demonstrate that something does not, and never has, existed. In this case I really don't think that the Government are going to give me access to all the accounts of the Health Department and you will possibly claim that because there might be a purchase of a mask hidden away somewhere I haven't proved my point.
So, before I take this task of Sisyphus on what evidence will you accept?
[When I said “simple task”, I meant it, not a “task of Sisyphus”. You know how it works here: when you make a statement(s) of fact, you need to (be able to) back it up with evidence for it to be judged a fact and not merely some made up shit that sounds good to you but is nevertheless made up BS and/or anti-Government propaganda. In this case, for example, you could link to a statement by the Director General of Health, the Minister of Health, or the Prime Minister showing that everything you said @ 18.1 is factually true and correct. To avoid wasting more time on you than is necessary and to stop your troll-like diversions, I have put you in Pre-Moderation to intercept your comments until you comply with this repeated Moderation request and complete your simple task or until I move you to the Blacklist – Incognito]
Alwyn:
Not very hard to show some evidence that the government did NOT "just sit there"
On 23 January, there is a report that the government had started rolling out their pandemic response plan.
On 25 February, Ministry of health is reported as saying that they had already begun planning for a possible spread of the pandemic to NZ. This includes preparing to have the necessary protective medical equipment.
On 27 Feb, it's reported the Ministry of Health is assessing how much PPE they have in DHBs and how much they need to order from overseas.
Doesn't look like just sitting there. No wonder you don't want to look for the evidence.
It does look like a health system that was not aywhere near prepared for a pandemic when the news of it broke.
Cheers for that.
Mind you, imagine having the task (be it paid employment or self-anointed holy quest) of trying to sow enough alarm and despondency about the this government's covid response so that people should vote tory.
The NZ response broke the chart (damn can’t embed pic properly).
https://twitter.com/belindajanenz/status/1251650473624399873
I suspect some of the Australian states would be very similar to our plot line if they were broken out.
So?
WA has a similar size population and has over the past 2 weeks had around 10 new cases. Yesterday there were none. It has been under a regime very similar to the Level 3 we are moving to. The borders are closed even to other Australians.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/datablog/ng-interactive/2020/apr/20/coronavirus-australia-numbers-how-many-new-cases-today-deaths-death-toll-covid-19-stats-graph-map-by-postcode
To expand upon "so?", how does that help Alwyn sow enough discontent to make nact seem palatable to the electorate?
WA has a number of different factors that might aid in keeping their numbers low, including the ability to do sub-national border control and possibly the heat.
Quite. Being a fuckwit about the pandemic is quite the position.
I'd be very surprised if alwyn lasts much longer let alone until the election campaign proper. We're now into that time of the election cycle when it's just easier to ban until after the election.
I must admit to noticing a distinct lack of tolerance on this site for any opinion that is questioning of the ministry response, preparedness or plans for non Covid related care during and as we exit Level 4 lockdown.
Really? You haven't seen Rosemary, myself and others talking about PPE?
People don't get modded for criticising the govt or the MoH. People get modded for astroturfing and trolling, and then creating work for the mods. Longstanding patterns of behaviour where the mods have to spend time repeating themselves tends to fuck us off because we all have better things to do with our time. This is what alwyn's problem is.
I did see Rosemary's comments and the number of people pooh poohing, you were certainly one of the notable exceptions prepared to discuss her concerns.
Carolyn's been putting up solid information and analysis too.
I think there's an unsaid agreement that in a time of crisis one doesn't want to undermine confidence in the ability of authorities to manage what we are going through. That's different from not critiquing at all or having no tolerance for critique. In the post I put up last week criticising the MoH on the PPE issue, the comments were evenhanded debate across a range of opinions, quite a bit of disagreement, from memory none of the bullshit that alwyn just did here.
I think you make a fair point that tolerance levels here are lower than usual; mine certainly are, as you undoubtedly have noticed. I think this is not too hard to understand. So, if you want to criticise you may have to watch the way you do this more than usual. You may also have to present more solid support for your reckons. Small words matter as they can substantially change the message. Please keep in mind that challenging your critique, even when valid, is not the same as fawning of the Government or the PM. My tolerance for these sorts of stupid simple-minded comebacks is near-zero.
Your final link was that the Department was assessing the situation.
That is fine. However after that date I never saw anything about whether they did get any more gear. Then we had report after report that said there was plenty of gear, from the DOH and complaints that we can't get any from the front line.
After that we had some individuals, and I haven't checked the names, but I think Mowbray, Morgan and Tindall were involved who were buying and importing the gear. At about mid March there were stories from importers that the Government was desperately trying to get some supplies but that nothing was available.
Now, a few days ago we had a Press Release that there was going to be a couple of hundred million available to buy it.
However I never saw anything until mid March then that they were actually buying the damn stuff. Looking at it? Yes. Buying it? Nothing for a long time.
I started gathering the links to justify my statements, thinking that you might at least consider them. Statements like "We didn't order any supplies at all" from the Minister weren't there. Surprise, surprise. On the other hand there was nothing until mid-March that they were going to put any money into getting any PPE.
However I collected –
The evidence, in repeated stories, that in spite of the claims by the DOH about all their stuff in stock, people on the front line couldn't get the items.
Then the reports by people who supply this stuff in New Zealand of the sudden heavy demand from the Government to import gowns by air but the orders couldn't be met. These were completely new orders and Government interest.This was just after the lock-down.
Then the statements by Robertson, repeated somewhat later by Clark that they were going to put a lot of money into buying the PPE goods. A couple of hundred million in fact. This was after the lock-down of course, and was the first time they had ever mentioned buying any.
Then I thought about what was likely to happen from some moderator or other who had said that
"I'd be very surprised if alwyn lasts much longer let alone until the election campaign proper. We're now into that time of the election cycle when it's just easier to ban until after the election."
https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-21-04-2020/#comment-1704912
And then I remembered being banned for a couple of months by the aforesaid moderator for saying that Shaw was out of the country on Census day. My evidence was rejected because it was a newspaper story from, if I remember accurately, the day before the Census saying Shaw would be up in the Islands with the PM on Census day. This was in the future tense and therefore not evidence at all apparently so I was banned.
Then I thought about how many people still post here who actually discuss interesting things in a rational manner. There are still 3 or 4 but that is all. There used to be posts by people like Colonial Viper, or Puckish Rogue or best of all Lanthanide. All gone and hardly anyone except for the KDS sufferers left.
So I have decided, stuff it. Why go to any trouble knowing I will shortly be banned again because I might say something truthful about the Green Party and their coming demise and be banned instantly. There isn't enough here worth reading any more.
I'm off. I'm afraid I can't say "Thanks for all the fish"
@ Alwyn,
Thank you for the response, which I released from Pre-Moderation as you can tell; I thought you’d given up and it seems you have indeed.
I will respond to it later, for the record.
For the record:
If you make factual statements here then you need to be able to back them up. If you cannot find anything to support your statements with then they were most likely just your opinions.
We don’t mind opinions at all, as long as they don’t masquerade as ‘facts’.
This rule is as old as the site, I believe [see what I did there?].
The reason why that Moderator mused that you might not last here is your pattern behaviour. It is not personal, but it is highly likely that it does become self-fulfilling if you believe it is. Moderation takes time and these are stressful times so Moderators do look for ways to avoid the extra burden of having to deal with recidivist behaviour.
Relitigating (past) Moderation is never going to help anybody; you only dig in and a deeper hole.
This is nothing new either.
The irony is that if you want to discuss things in a rational manner you need to be able to distinguish between fact and fiction. The three commenters whom you mentioned all have (considerable) history here. Just like you, they have chosen self-exile from the site quite a few years ago. Only one is currently serving a long ban because he dug in, just like you, and when offered a way out, he didn’t accept!? Yet, oddly enough, he’s still trying to send comments to the site!?
The fact you hold these three commenters in such high regard is quite telling. Even more telling is that you brandish with broad brush everybody else here as “KDS sufferers”. I could easily list quite a few regular commenters who would not fit that brand at all. I think it shows your prejudice towards this site and the people who comment here.
There’s nothing rational about cutting your nose off despite your face. I know this all too well because I’m somewhat of an expert in this.
Lastly, it is well known that you feel some (…) antipathy towards the Greens. This is not a bannable offence at all! However, the truth-threshold is higher than for more general topics and the tolerance for BS is correspondingly lower. If you want to criticise the Green Party then the onus is on you to make it correct and compelling yet you inevitably fail in this regard. I assume this is because you don’t distinguish clearly enough between fact and fiction and because of your demonstrable anti-Green bias.
In summary, if you accuse us of banning you, please know why and what you were banned for and be honest about it. Please don’t make up lame excuses that we cannot handle the truth about the Green Party, for example. It is not becoming of a mature adult who claims to want a rational and civil discussion here.
For the record: you have chosen to leave the site of your own accord.
Stay safe and well, Alwyn.
I was going to warn you that comment would attract attention.
But then I didn't.
Good luck…
I always liked the quote about "luck" from golfer Gary Player. He said that people always told him how "lucky" he was in playing out of a bunker and getting close to the hole.
His response was that he found that the more he practiced the luckier he was.
You certainly do get a lot of practice responding to moderation notes. Am unsure why you're not better at avoiding them.
I think that the views I express may differ from many others on this site.
That is only my impression of course. I could easily be wrong and they are really in the main stream of remarks here.
C'est la vie.
Throwing shade at the mods, now? Implying that you take up so much moderator time because of your differing views?
'practised' alwyn. You will get it right with more practice.
I like your persistence..
Yours in selective pedantry
Sorry but it is a valid alternative spelling and is the one used in the country where he said it. He was in the USA at the time.
https://www.google.com/search?q=practiced&oq=practiced&aqs=chrome..69i57j0l7.3742j1j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
But it wasn't a direct quote from written material. The spelling was your own.
McFlock is right, alwyn. A direct quote should be given in quotation marks.
And NZ's official language is British English, not US English.
How dare you debase our language, alwyn!!
Yours in righteous pedantry
A wee while ago I had a debate with a colleague about whether it should be "clinical practise" as oppoosed to "clinical practice". It took some time, and involved colleague pointing to scholarly articles referring to clinical practise as "clinical practice", and me asking about how one would distinguish between the clinical practice at which the clinical practise was being practised and the clinical practise practised at the clinical practice even if only in a practice of the practise at the practice.
Last time they make me write rather than count, I hope. 👿
Lovely! The whole thing is easily settled if one substitutes the word 'advise' for 'practise' and 'advice' for 'practice'.
No problem with advice and advise, because we pronounce them differently.
But practise and practice (owing to stupid English spelling non-system) are pronounced the same, hence the massive error-rate, which annoys us true pedants.
P.S. It should be 'clinically practise' and 'clinical practice'. No other options available.
Licence and license, I always get it wrong. Is there a simple rule?
The trick I learned in school was "ice is a thing you slip on".
Interesting re: "clinically practise". The entire thing still confuses me a bit, but that makes sense.
Practise, license, etc – switch the word to 'advise/advice' in that sentence, and you will instinctively pronounce the right choice.
-se = verb. -ce = noun
The best thing to do is to take turn about. That way one can be reasonably sure of a 50% right – 50% wrong scenario no matter what word is in contention. 😎
There are even bigger questions behind this though. Maybe others can help? Had bits of the health service needed for this epidemic been effectively privatised draining money away from essential government maintained services and making it more difficult to ramp up quickly because there needs to be contract renegotiations?
Healthline which has been quite a part of the response seems to be a multi year (8? 9? years) costing $257? million for the basics over these years. I struggle with who is actually running this and if money is being drained into supersized salaries for some and profits as well? Anybody know anything?
Good questions. I'd like to know the answers, too.
Trump is about to suspend all immigration into the United States.
OMG this is the neo-right moment writ large.
Just breathe. It's only a tweet. Wait to see what actually eventuates.
Even if it becomes something substantial, MAGog will quickly come under a lot of pressure from the only people he gives even a tiny rats about to start letting people back in. To help keep wages and salaries low.
https://edition.cnn.com/2020/04/20/politics/donald-trump-immigration-halt-coronavirus/index.html
Sure I will wait for the Executive Order to be signed.
Shutting the borders at both airport and Mexican border is a great base-energiser.
But great to see his polls going down again. Nice and quick for a "flag-rally" bump.
Pretty much the same as NZ at the moment; it's really only open to returning citizens and people who can show their travel is essential. It's my understanding everyone needs to obtain prior permission to even get on the plane.
Having said that I'm with you on the underlying sentiment; the era of relatively open borders is over for a while; maybe quite a while.
NZ 2019/20 brought in 150000 on temporary work visas,will this continue under border control?
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/119826510/call-for-freeze-on-temporary-visa-numbers-a-sixfold-increase-with-no-consultation
This and the so called skills shortage lists have just been used to keep wages down across the economy and avoid doing any training. Some of the visa's have terms way beyond the time it would take to train people. It has also given lousy employers a free pass- some of them no one but somebody desperate for a visa would work for,
Needs to stop .
Have they only just closed all of their borders?
Didn't we close ours to all but NZ citizens like 4 weeks or so ago?
Kangaroo on the deserted streets of Adelaide.
https://www.twitter.com/Protect_Wldlife/status/1252342963323023360
Nature is healing. We are the virus.
https://ruinmyweek.com/funny/nature-is-healing-we-are-the-virus/
Excellent wit in there
Kinda dry and wry.
Just love the way wild animals and birds (peacocks) are taking over human territory all around the world. And we think we are superior:
And in NZ:
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12326127
ROFL !!! Those goats were hilarious !!! Gonna show the girls, thanks so much for sharing 🙂
Brilliant
Kim Jong Un on his deathbed?
If true, another huge variable in the worlds future. For all his sins, I guess there is stability, albeit based on evil, in NK. If true, and he passes away and the old order collapses, could be a refugee crisis for China.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.cnn.com/cnn/2020/04/20/politics/kim-jong-un-north-korea/index.html
Interesting. It would have enormous consequences if there were to be a collapse of the Nth Korean regime. The dissolution of strong man regimes is rarely peaceful, and it could entail sustained cooperation between the Chinese, Sth Korean and American armed services to manage the humanitarian and refugee fallout alone.
A fast moving crisis in Nth Korea could determine the power balance in East Asia for decades. If you look at just the 20th century, East/West Germany, North/South Yemen, North/South Vietnam it was predicted that these divided nations would be very likely to ever recombine … yet all three did during events that lasted just weeks, not even months.
Big Fat Caveat. No-one really knows what is happening in the hermit kingdom, which makes early reports like this highly conditional. If true however, the timing would be appalling ….
Since the story is seemingly not based on hard evidence, there is not much point in getting too excited.
It never rains but it pours.
The world’s largest investment banks have provided more than $700bn of financing for the fossil fuel companies most aggressively expanding in new coal, oil and gas projects since the Paris climate change agreement, figures show.
The financing has been led by the Wall Street giant JPMorgan Chase, which has provided $75bn (£61bn) to companies expanding in sectors such as fracking and Arctic oil and gas exploration, according to the analysis.
The New York bank is one of 33 powerful financial institutions to have provided an estimated total of $1.9tn to the fossil fuel sector between 2016 and 2018.
The data shows the most aggressively expanding coal-mining operations, oil and gas companies, fracking firms and pipeline companies have received $713.3bn in loans, equity issuances and debt underwriting services from 2016 to mid-2019.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/oct/13/top-investment-banks-lending-billions-extract-fossil-fuels
That's GOLD 🙂
Cinny, I think you had replied to that tiktok I posted.
Sorry, I took it down. It came from facebook and you never can tell how far they have their tentacles into your private IT settings.
Funny though. @kyscottt if you want to find it.
Thanks MB for the tiktok addy 🙂 Miss 15 looked it up on her phone, she loved it 🙂
She said…. 'mum this girl is drunk, what is she on about….'
'listen carefully darling do you recognise that voice?'
'omg mummmmm it's trump'
'yes, and this is what he is like in his daily pressers too'
'wow!'
Ireland's Covid-19 numbers are frightening.
They currently have 15,652 cases, 687 deaths and 77 recovered. The population of Ireland is only 4.9 million.
https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/ireland/
could have been us.