Shift end. Radio tells me record day, 150,000 cases reported. Fears of second waves, concerns for -> insert overwhelmed health system/US State/Country name here. Bad. Home. Flick through recorded 6pm news. So sad. Then, man separated from luggage. What? Can someone invent a whinging entitled prat (WEP-20) test? Compulsory pre-flight screening for any signs of whingy-ness. Symptoms of self-importance? No boarding pass for you sir! You need to stay in the country you are in. Don’t come to New Zealand. We need to keep our borders safe from any infection. Protect our media from WEP-20 contagion (symptoms; whinging, moaning, complaining). Protect WEP-20 sufferers from any risk of being inconvenienced at a time when millions are suffering horrible debilitating illness and hundreds of thousands of people are dying. Just saying. Stay where you are. Stay away! Stay safe everyone.
It is extraordinary that modern technology means it has never been easier to know what is going on in the world, and yet we seem determined to focus on our navel, more than ever.
IMO, possibly the result of information over-load. Flooded with information about just about everything with most of it being contradictory causing a shut-down in cognition.
On top of that also being told to 'trust your gut' and 'common sense' both of which are the probably the worst possible pieces of advice ever.
Totally agree TSW! I cannot understand why the grizzlers get air time. Fancy that woman being whisked off in a bus to quarantine. Woe woe. "They didn't tell us we were on our way to Rotorua! We expect much more than a free quarantine in a hotel. We don't care what is best for NZ. We want special luxury deals. Don't you know who I am?"
A Hudson Institute nob, think Scooter Libby, Reagan, Kissinger, Pence, Dick Cheney, Netanyahu and Paul Ryan, and some dude who scams the desperate with his self-help claptrap say shit.
[Toby] Morris is now creative director of all the work The Spinoff team does for the WHO, and it has recruited a team of six to deliver web content, videos and animations.
A video created by The Spinoff was translated into six languages and used to open the World Health Assembly (WHA) this year, detailing how the WHO is responding to Covid-19. Most of the work relates to the pandemic – such as information on mask guidance that has had 28 million views and written explainer pieces – but it intersects with other streams the WHO works on, such as infographics for malaria and tuberculosis.
“You check your email in the morning and see the ebola team has been in touch,” says former Metro editor Henry Oliver, now part of the project. “Am I working on malaria or ebola today?”
…
“We’ve gone from a standing start to it feels like the main go-to agency on Covid-19, and increasingly on other things as well,” [Duncan] Greive said.
He said it would have been “unimaginable” if the world had not gone into widespread lockdown. But in the new environment, no one expected a team to be able to turn up to Geneva to pitch for the work, and New Zealand’s comparable success in fighting the virus gave local teams an advantage.
The government made numerous changes, as you well know. Ask the real estate agents who complain they can't get the flood of foreign buyers like they used to. Ask the visa scam "schools" who were closed down. Etc.
You tried to paint the current problems as a result of the previous governments policies being untenable in the current environment. Then you pointed out that the current government had already enacted policies that should have Reduced employment given current circumstances. I’m trying to work through your stupid before I go and play with my stupid
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Oh good Climaction – I'm sure you are a bloke and have a great can-do approach. You are the sort we need in NZ so get away from your keyboard and go and do something – now!
You can see how there is no time to waste as the world speeds up and it is quite mind-boggling seeing the Worldometer site. So if you can add your boggling to it al, something will be done and we expected it by yesterday.
Worldometer – I am sure it is recommended that sensitive persons do not watch it for more than 10 seconds or it might start a brain spasm.
While I watched World births went from 323,800 something to 324,000. Deaths today went to 136,200 in 20 secs. There is an imbalance there which we know about but won’t even try to think through the possibilities of being adult about it.
Wow look at the Public healthcare expenditure for today go up towards $13 billion. Public education and Public military are changing up as fast as the eye can see. Money spent on video games today about $240 million.
The majority of people have NFI how the economy works. Thing is, most economists don't know how the economy works. Most people think that money is the economy forgetting about the actual resources.
This is most clearly seen when people say that it would only cost a few thousand/millions to feed everyone taking absolutely no account of where the food will come from.
economists are very concerned about the allocation of resources and tend to talk around money and the actual price of something.
economics is the study of scarcity. One specialisation in that field could be the study of DTB’s understanding of what things really are and how that scarce knowledge could best be applied
Oh Climaction You join a select group of people who have to cut DTB off at the knees because he preaches a different sermon than your lot. The superiority is lofty, the sanctimony is superb, and the denunciation is damning,
economists are very concerned about the allocation of resources
That's what they tell us but their teachings don't support that. If they did then we wouldn't have private cars because their economies of scale are all wrong.
Looks like Labour's election campaign strategy will hinge on evasion of responsibility and accountability. Assuming that voters will be impressed by this, apparently. Strikes me as too much of a gamble.
Winston's position is likely to be more in accord with the public mood. However, holding someone responsible isn't the same as making the right person accountable! The principle of natural justice applies: punish the wrong-doer, then people will be satisfied that justice has been done.
All Ardern & Clark are likely to achieve with their preference for traditional Labour evasion of the need for effective enforcement is to make Labour seem like a bunch of wimps in the public mind. But perhaps they're betting that re-election is so likely that they can afford to be generous and lend National a helping hand…
I'm absolutely no fan of the Deputy Dawg, worse still his BFF, however without finding where things went wrong there's not much chance of ensuring they don't happen again. We don't need to burn the witches, just go with the Peter Principle if they don't want to keep doing the same thing and having the same things go wrong. Or use existing mechanisms such as the Chief Wonder Boy the SSC. As is usual, it can all be done in silence behind the scenes with an army of ex-journalist spin doctors used pacify the masses with some well-chosen words.
I'm not sure though they won't find out though despite what The Spinoff says, and already some people seem to 'think' they know already. Harman of Harman and Clark fame on RNZ's Sunday for example.
The sad thing for me is that JA might find that after the next election win, kindness and transformation is still not as easy as first thought.
Assuming that there is a single person responsible for any and all deficiencies foound, firing them isn't as good at solving the problem as determining whether what they did was abnormal practise for everyone else involved.
We're likely talking about relatively mundane and routine decisions made many times a day by many people on multiple sites. If it's a training issue rather than an individual deficiency, seeking out the scape-goat for the incident that gets discovered is worse than unproductive, as it can give everyone else false confidence that the system is robust even though they are unaware they are making the same mistakes as the person who got fired.
"We're likely talking about relatively mundane and routine decisions made many times a day by many people on multiple sites."
/agreed (There won't be a single person responsible)
And not all of those people necessarily got the memo. Understandable in the early stages of the emergency – not so much later on. I think Harman lays the blame at several people
Having a birds-eye view of the Bay Plaza Quarantine Hotel, I noticed that immediately after the shit hit the fan, some things changed organisationally pretty rapidly in the rear carpark.
It is necessary though to find out where the 'system' went haywire though and those (collectively or otherwise) responsible for that 'system' to try and make sure they fully understand what's required and don't keep making the same mistakes.
If necessary, we can burn the witches later – or not.
Personally, I just have a problem when the same people keep making the same mistakes (or even operate with bullying or racist attitudes) without any consequence as we see in some places in the PS. Sometimes they even get promoted.
yeah, not looking to punish individuals isn't the same as not investigating the failure. In fact it lets people speak openly about the failures they might feel responsible for without fear of losing their jobs.
There's been no hint of actual misconduct (e.g. bribes, or intentionally neglecting the job) so far. It's more a case of polishing a system that seems to have worked well and not have any major entrenched issues, rather than having to fix an absolute shitshow.
Their policy is to invite people like students back. Literally nowhere in their policy does it say anything about Covid being welcome back.
in your mind, figuratively, inviting students back = inviting Covid back.
persisting that it is literally their policy is figuratively stupid. Like blaming unemployment them as they were allowing foreigners to come study and invest while they were the government. 3 years ago
more transparent propaganda from Dennis. So a system put together in an emergency was found to be unable to scale to unprecedented demand without some glitches. so what!… lines of responsibility being rationalised, more resources being provided.
I believe most NZ (thats not you Dennis) can recognise a media gang up when they see it. the election results will reflect that.
maybe dennis and his fellow travellers are pi$$ed off because the economy isnt tanking like they had hoped. even herald has had to print that auck economy has hardly slowed. what a bugger!
Couldn't you say, Dennis, that Labour will campaign on fixing the quarantine problems – so they had better do that before the election. Nats and Seymour will gnash and whine. Winston will bet a buck each way. The Greens will be ignored.
Election outcomes are a consequence of mass psychology, and if Labour campaigned on "fixing the quarantine problems" most people would see that as credible if they had actually achieved that result.
Time will tell. Unfair to prejudge. But if you put someone in charge of quarantine admin, then fail to hold them accountable for consequent incompetence, it just sends the signal that anyone can get away with ignoring procedures.
Unwise, that! The effect on mass psychology is huge. That's the point, really. I gave them credit for being successful in the `team of five million' effort. It exhibited both competence and political nous. Now, however, I'm bemused and taken aback that they seem intent on doing the opposite. As if going for variety rather than consistency.
Let's check the record of commentators' predictions, vs actual public opinion, properly measured.
At every – yes, every – stage of the 4/3/2/1 process, there were loud voices in the media saying NZ should now be at a lower level, and there should be exceptions for A, B, C, and X, Y, Z.
And at every – yes, every stage, public opinion said the opposite. I've seen at least 8 different surveys (TV1, TV3, Spinoff etc) which showed 80-90% support, over the 4 stages.
Surely we must have grasped by now that an individual person's opinion is generated instantly, because no field work is required, only an open mouth. Whereas public opinion requires proper methodology, to return reliable data. So the false headlines come days or weeks before the real evidence.
Only a fool believes the reckons before the results. Let's not be fools, eh?
Verification of public opinion via stats takes time, and any ebbing faith in govt management of the pandemic has yet to show, so I was indicating a likelihood based on past experience of mass psychology. Responses to perceptions of social (in)justice tend to be visceral and widespread!
Accountability in governance is a perennial social necessity. It's a serious concern when political leaders evade that necessity. Makes them seem irresponsible. Delinquent, even. To teeter themselves at the top of that slippery slope is reckless and foolhardy. Better to enforce accountability, so as to retain the public's faith in your political expertise – that's my advice to them.
reading a post in FB from the Spinoff which claims the government is scrambling over the latest covid cases. this assertion is just tripe. the meedja have had a field day with covid and just because they are spinning on their own axis and threatening to disappear up their own fundamental orifice has no relation to the decisions of government. the meedja in New Zealand is riddled with infantilised noo noo heads obsessed with their own importance
One Medium (like a fortune-teller who acts as a medium between us and the spirit-world)
Two Media. The news media consist of TV (a visual medium along with cartoons, posters, photos, etc) Radio (an auditory medium) and the printed medium (newspapers, magazines, etc.)
Most people don't care now, apparently.
Todd Muller keeps saying,"The criteria is…" One criterion, 2 criteria
George W Bush famously asked, "What is our children learning?" Todd is obviously keen to take us in a similar direction..
Sad.. (Sheep is a clever but unusual example! Like fish, deer.. unusual)
There will be an equal and opposite reaction to the success. Let us hope the pendulum swing is reaching its peak and now returning to its usual place.
The prime minister has used her energy wisely. Chasing those who made errors while dealing with the huge numbers of returning residents is perhaps overload at present. Those errors have been corrected and the whys may be dealt with in a later inquiry.
Some of these visitors/ returnees are still expecting unrealistic outcomes, in spite of free accommodation food and medical care, plus free transport from the airport to their 14/28 day isolation, and they still complain to the press. Some seeking to shorten the isolation time for a variety of reasons. That at least has been stopped. Also the idea of testing being optional has been corrected firmly. Day 3 and 12 seems sensible, 28 day stay on refusal seems reasonable in the face of a tricky virus.
What part of possibly infected do they not grasp? To hear some saying they should be able to pick up food and drink at the airport is just amazing hubris, or total denial of where they have come from and what they may be carrying.
So many are returning they are being bussed to hotels in outlying towns now. So far a city worth of people has come in, at a cost of 81 million.
The huge influx of returning Kiwis who have lost employment overseas is a new problem for this Government. They will put strain on our infrastructure, and in Auckland with a current water shortage they will need to be placed far and wide in NZ.
The ability to divide Kiwis into us and them exists…'we' fought it and succeeded and 'they' came back to be part of that success. In real terms people go where the work or support is. We have to accept their right to return, it is enshrined in law.
However, perhaps in these unusual times we should give those people a card telling them what our expectations are, and where people have a certain level of assets that they contribute to the costs entailed. It is human nature to value what we pay for.
Those in the press and opposition trying to paint a picture of failure, using every bump in this new road of coping as a cause for wild statements, may find the pendulum swings back and cuts a swathe in their arguments.
One of the things the opposition will point to is the huge and growing group of returning unemployed. I wonder if they will count the returnees as a new group, or add them to the current group. The only answer is to raise benefit levels to allow the system to keep functioning rather than grinding people down. Allowing people to get involved in the digital age, regenerative farming and horticulture, the arts and creative sectors, construction and trades, or anything which supports sustainable living.
"Some of these visitors/ returnees are still expecting unrealistic outcomes "
Well said -About the only request I don't find unrealistic is the one for a test. As far as I am concerned they can have one every day if they want. The press does love it's sob stories but maybe there is a benefit in that it sorts out public attitudes.
But if the flood is becoming so great and more airlines are returning then it's likely to overwhelm the border isolation? Busing to outlying towns -ouch.
Maybe we need a hard priority list and quarantine bookings. I haven't seen a number for the citizens who no longer live here and may return but large? I asked yesterday and apparently permanent residency can be hung onto even if the person no longer bothers to reside in NZ and hasn't for a considerable period. So if they are not habitually resident why do they get any priority at all? At best they have become drive by residents probably for welfare purposes only. Then we appear to be allowing import of sports teams for competitions (okayyyy) plus those on work permits for the infrastructure projects – can't they and the farmers find a few people to employ out the returning citizens or horrors some of our newly unemployed and have been living here which was how the policy was sold
Labour don't have an enviable position in that they have to sort out a decade of lax anything goes migration from National and the luxury of doing it gradually has now gone.
With so many Kiwis ( New Zealand born citizens) returning home and maybe unable to find employment here should we not be sending the migrant workers still in NZ back to their homelands now? We hear of non- kiwi “permanent residents “ clamoring for their partners and children elsewhere in the world to be allowed to come “home” to NZ but do you hear of these people thinking to join their partners instead?
And anyone returning should not be expecting 2 weeks free food and lodgings in guarantine or anywhere !
It is much more likely that the work visas will not be renewed, that is the current work visa applies till it runs out. Only only in exceptional circumstances would it be renewed.
That would be fair to the people on the work visas and fair to the returning New Zealand citizens and permanent residents.
Once again a Nact created problem They handed out work visa's like crack cocaine to the Nact voters who were intent on paying no attention to employment laws and who didn't want to pay a decent wage. Now they are addicted and they are whinging at the government to keep giving them a fix. Some for FFS are being let back in for the infrastructure programmes rather than local hire.
The visa's had the sept extension so all they expire on the same day- but if the large number that need to go don't start going soon there will be no airline seats for them.
We need to start now dragging the expiry dates back a bit so the march expirys get to week 1 sept, the april expiry are now week 2, etc
It seems so hard to remember that we aren't talking about imported boxes of toilet paper when migrant workers are mentioned. We wanted them, they applied, we accepted them, and can't just throw them out of the cot like disgruntled babies. More gruntle needed Immigration, and some round-table discussion and fact checking and systems change required to be implemented in stages, being fair and practical.
*We* didn't want them – a lot of people could see that they were putting a strain on housing and infrastructure while driving down wages and employment conditions.
Some businesses wanted them so that they could get cheap labor.
Some political parties wanted them so that they could drive down workers conditions and pay and make themselves look good by artificially driving up GDP.
Like most capitalists they want to take all the profits but get out of paying the costs.
Bit I am talking about the matter as the migrants would see it. We, the country appeared to want them, our government did and let them in. These are people who applied, were accepted, organised their lives to come here and 'we' in power, ie the government have that power to decide what to do with them.
What we, the public felt about that or anything, has been of no account for decades. So I can have some idea of how unhappy the migrants are feeling. Perhaps you are in a position to control matters that are of importance to you.
VIC COVID19 CASE UPDATE: 19 new cases 4 linked to known outbreaks 4 hotel quarantine 3 from routine testing 8 under investigation 10 new community transmission cases.@10NewsFirstMelb#springst
The state of Victoria has introduced new Covid-19 restrictions which take effect from 11:59pm on Sunday 21 June. Below is a summary from the Premier's statement.
* The number of visitors you can have at your home will reduce to five. Outside the home, families and friends can meet in groups up to ten.
* Restaurants, pubs, auction halls, community halls, libraries, museums and places of worship – maximum of 20 people in any one space until 12 July.
* Gyms, cinemas, theatres and TABs can open – only with a maximum of 20 people.
* Businesses need to ensure those who can work from home continue to do so, at least until 31 July.
* If we keep seeing high case numbers each day, we will consider putting whole suburbs back into lockdown.
Yeah – National would have been a million times worse, (most of these discussions we wouldn't even been having)- and still would be so I don't see that as an electoral point in their favour.
Labour at least have tried, not always succeeded, listened adjusted and do not spend their time on blame shifting although they have a number of areas where they might well say- "National caused this ".
The area's where I think they may be misreading public opinion and listening to only small self interested groups who want the neo lib model are:
– mass tourism particularly the "I can live on the roadside for free crowd"
– a neo lib labour market underpinned overcompetition from a lax migration polciy and minimal labour laws which large groups of employers largely ignore anyway.
Wages in this country have barely moved in the last 30 years apart from at the top (who are grossly over rewarded) and the minimum wage shifts at the bottom. To return to that model when so many are facing job loss and reduced incomes and do not have drive by access to residence in a number of countries needs a lot more policy change than the BAU model they seem to be sticking with.
There's a real life example of just how bad things would have been if we had listened to National:
The study’s authors concluded: “Our findings indicate that provision of misinformation in the early stages of a pandemic can have important consequences for health outcomes.”
With National telling us that we needed to do less, to open up our borders earlier we can guarantee that more people would have died.
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That is a convoluted way to try and find entries for say myself or other commenters or subjects. It adds extra buttons and sites to get what used to be a simple list with one request while looking at The Standard..
For instance on Google : Andre – 1st up June 8 2020 – No posts found.
15/6/20 One from you – I use link and it takes me to the top of the page and I have to scroll down page to find you.
Next – 2 days ago @author "feijoa" Then 7 June, 14 June, 18 June.
This was going down the page.
Not in date order, not useful and convenient. Everyone hasn't all day to play around on their computer.
feijoa, you have that right The current propaganda exercise is, "it's a debacle, disaster, stuff up, put in any suitable adjective. "The country needs National", I add "like a hole in my head!!"
They know we are doing well, but anything to make people anxious is being said and printed. Definitely Dirty Politics.
"Today there are two new confirmed cases of COVID-19 to report in managed isolation facilities in New Zealand."
"As with the five other cases reported in recent days, these two cases were recent arrivals from overseas and both were detected within our managed isolation facilities. Neither involves community transmission."
In other words, except for the two women that started this whole thing, the border quarantines and managed isolation appear to have been doing the job we expect from them.
Some people (i.e. opponents and moaners) complained that Ardern's press conferences before and during lockdown were like talking to children. Like a primary school teacher or talking to mentally challenged, Nat MPs said.
And now we know why she had to do this. Here are the facts:
Fact 1: There have been stuff-ups in the quarantine system.
Fact 2: People are arriving at the border from other countries, with Covid-19.
Fact 3: Fact 2 is 100% unrelated to fact 1.
The number of cases we now have is 7. If the quarantine was perfect, without a single mistake, ever, then the number of Covid-19 cases in new Zealand would be (drum roll …)
Seven.
How hard is it to understand this? Too hard for some, it seems.
In fact better than any country with 500 cases or more,but you wont here the media saying that ,only country with 500 or more infections with no border transmissions
Too early to say? That was a day 3 test advised today day 6. Are there not tests that return results sooner. And why not a day 1 test for the pre infected?
I must admit I was not impressed to find that they had only picked up 2 asymptomatic spreaders on day 12 of isolation ( not quarantine). That should have been a lot earlier
they had only picked up 2 asymptomatic spreaders on day 12 of isolation ( not quarantine). That should have been a lot earlier
It asks the question, where did they pick up the virus. Was it community transfer within one of our isolation hotels? or did they pick it up in, say, the 24 hrs before arrival here, very mild cases, which was not detected in earlier test (s)
And the other groups that were granted on compassionate grounds to leave the 14days early, I recall something like 320 ( but my recollection may be out). We are so fortunate that only these 2 have been confirmed, imagine if there has/is more. So it is NOT only these 2 sisters, that the system had on the team of 5m had been found to be faulty, especially in the case of Deiderick John Grant, known as DJ Rogue funeral.
Even the two sisters weren’t that out of control. Someone made a compassionate judgement and allowed them to travel, in controlled circumstances, to Wellington to support their recently widowed father. OK, something went wrong and they dealt with it themselves, which was not been ideal. But they were tested in Wellington and found to be positive and went into a quarantine bubble, hopefully still able to support their Dad.
Somehow the National Party got hold of it and made a political football out of it. I wonder what the sisters think of that.
12 June-Chris Bishop (National, ex-tobacco industry stooge) lobbied vigorously for the 2 UK women to be given compassionate exemption because they were friends of a friend of his in the UK
Q. Why has the media accepted that the two women were constituents of Bishop when they are not? (Bishop lied)
Q. Why has Bishop not released the text of his contacts between him and his friend in the UK, between him and the 2 women and between him and the quarantine centre managers?
Q. Did Bishop request that his friend's friends should only be released after a negative test?
Q. Why did one of the women hide her Covid-19 symptoms?
Absolutely BG. No one involved in any of it is actually a constituent of Mr. Bishop. Add to that the fact that he has tried to distance himself from UK based intermediary who contacted him on behalf of the sisters, and you start to get the impression at least that there is another link that perhaps the National Party would prefer not to reveal.
Yesss – I wonder what it is. But aren't MP's elected and paid for by the us NZ citizens and taxpayers. So exactly why was Bishop advocating for them? He should have been advocating for the people living here who don't want covid.
I wonder when there is going to be a back lash against people coming into the country who complain.
Latest is people arriving from planes being put on a bus and finding out they were going to Rotorua complaining to the media. Dreadful for them! Poor things (sarc)
Also earlier on Stuff a women with a baby, (nothing to do with Covid complaining about not getting on a plane to Taupo for her mum's birthday, because baggage got closed off before she could be processed…………….What are we suppose to do shed tears with her. Stupid that they even bother to report this stuff.
The bus trip to Rotorua wouldn’t have been that much longer than going into the CBD. They were lucky that they’re only in Rotorua, next option is on a charter flight and down to Queenstown or Christchurch.
Re open Somes Island for these people. Better still send these whinging self entitled non entities to Tiri. Not far from the airport, quick trip up the Motorway to Gulf Harbour then a pleasant trip by boat to the island. The only problem being, there is no accommodation there and they will have to live under canvas. These whinging poor things might discover how it is for the millions of refugees living in these type of conditions and realise how lucky they are to be able to return to NZ.
No wait! Forget that idea, Tiri is a magnificent bird sanctuary which I would not like to see polluted, also the whinging could drown out the bird song.
Jacinda Ardern got all the plaudits internationally for “beating Covid”, but New Zealand’s success was never really down to her – or her Government. It came from all of us; the team of five million.
Both/and. Her negation of govt agency as determinant is fatuous. The country did what the govt required. The success resulted from unison.
And really, form a committee?? We've seen the failure of that approach continuously since the 1970s:
The Government has no choice now but to urgently order an independent inquiry – one that includes sweeping powers to investigate and inspect facilities on the ground.
We know that both National and Labour always sweep things under the carpet, and any consequent report is designed to carefully fudge all relevant issues. Any such inquiry would waste time and space. The govt knows who screwed up. They just don't want to tell us. We're meant to have blind faith they'll get it right next time. Politicians hold the public in contempt. Nothing new.
I thought it must just be me about these incoming expats etc grizzling about their accommodation etc. It beggars belief the entitlement of some people. Surely to God they would be just so relieved to be home again and just get on with the 14 days quarantine and be thankful for small mercies.
When are these people going to be asked to pay for their 14 days quarantine. Surely its not too much to ask these returning passengers to pay for their accommodation and be darned grateful they are home. Nothing but a bunch of whinging selfish people. Its time Jacinda tempered her kindness with a tiny wee bit of mongrel.
Woods and Webb just gave a press conference on this, and they were (rightly) making no apology for putting people in quarantine, wherever and whenever needed.
They said that over 200 people will arrive tomorrow, and over 500 on Tuesday. The numbers are increasing, and the countries of origin have very high Covid-19 cases (UK, India).
It would be nice if the reporters at the press conference were listening, and also had a basic grasp of arithmetic.
No Whispering Kate, I too am really struck by people returning who are whinging!
Latest from the press conference was a reporter relaying the complaint that someone on the bus to Rotorua complained they weren't even given any water!!!!!! FFS. two hour trip. Grow up or go back. I was sorry the military guy wasn't more old school and didn't tell them to shut up and obey orders. He does seem competent though as does Megan
For starters citizens need priority ( and ones without dual nationality first).
So why isn't the flow being cut back by changing the permanent resident visa conditions so that there is no right of re entry unless they have met the conditions over the last two years that they had to meet before being granted the visa. Being a taxpayer, being actually present in the country for most of the last two years and all the other signs of permanent habitation and contributing to the land of Aoteoroa. They have the passport of another country so they are not stateless. The change could be backdated to say Jan 1 2020 with a transistion period before they have to leave again. Coming back now means they are likely welfare tourists which we can't afford and frankly I don't see local appetite for paying for this on top of quarantine.
Actually a great idea, Shanreagh. Our Hospitality industry's problem would be solved, and the whingers would become a source of income for our beleaguered economy.
And yes I have family overseas and we have let them know that if and when they decide to return home they had better observe our quarantine laws or there will be hell to pay at our place.
The President received a report that only about 25 people were assembled in the overflow space the campaign had reserved for a crowd Trump claimed five days earlier would top 40,000.
Though Trump formally launched his campaign one year ago in Orlando, he started telling people in recent weeks that the Tulsa event was the "real launch." He reasoned that his abysmal poll numbers were only because of the coronavirus lockdowns …
Once viewed inside the White House and Trump's campaign as a reset button for a presidency beset by crises and self-inflicted wounds, Saturday evening's campaign rally in Tulsa instead became plagued with pitfalls, a disappointing microcosm of the blindspots, denial and wishful thinking that have come to guide the President as he enters one of the most precarious moments of his first term.
I'm intrigued that they're bussing people to the regions straight from the airport. I wonder what the benefits are over a two-stage system, transferring people to the regions after a couple of weeks, and replacing their berths in the Auckland hotels with new arrivals?
That way the people most likely to be discovered to have it are in closer proximity to the quarantine residences and a tertiary hospital set up for covid treatment.
After a couple of weeks their isolation should be finished and they're let loose to do as they please.
Maybe they've shifted to having all the arrival from a specific day or two go to the same hotel. To minimise the possibility of a fresh arrival infecting someone that's just about to leave.
It's unfair to call them that, obviously. They may have all kinds of personal circumstances we don't know about. And we can have sympathy, to a degree.
But some of them need to start reading the room, before complaining to the media. People who have lost jobs and businesses and loved ones in NZ lockdown are not going to be a very receptive audience to arrivals complaining about their hotels.
yes some appear to be somewhat entitled however there are hundreds (or thousands over time) who may wish to return home not to mention the obligations and rights under international law…..we dont know (and nor do we need to) the circumstances that necessitated their returns ….and charging for an enforced quarantine is the sort of thing Id expect from those that espouse the 'efficiency of market forces'….no thanks
People who have lost jobs and businesses and loved ones in NZ lockdown are not going to be a very receptive audience to arrivals complaining about their hotels.
I suspect that the majority of the population are already not receptive to these whinging arrivals. Indeed it smacks to some degree of some of them using the situation to indulge in their 15 minutes of fame.
The problem with this latest batch being sent to Rotorua is that a bunch of rich, entitled permanent residents at the Stamford Hotel are kicking up blue murder which has prompted the new military chief to temporarily bypass the place until a few things are sorted.
With 700 due to arrive within the next 48 odd hrs they're probably running out of suitable places to put them.
We could get that catering firm that Nact though was good enough for the hospitals to feed them. That should increase the whinging to a jet engine sized roar.
Looks like the sane and rational Bolton is part of "The Resistance" now, along with other caring and thoughtful individuals like David Frum, Karl Rove, and William Kristol.
Given the data and increasing numbers of corona virus infected people recorded, I believe we should hold all flights landing from overseas until the logistics of the arrangements are air tight. There is no way that it is acceptable to invite the virus into the county. Yes, people might be p… off. But crunch the numbers and compare a few hundred people vs 5 million. If we get another 20 or so corona positive we are on the way to be shut down again. A nightmare in the making.
You say "another 20 or so", but you know the number in the community is currently zero, right? So saying "another" is misleading, and linking it to lockdown is false.
Nat MPs Kaye and Woodhouse on the news with residents of central Auckland hotel, complaining about returning Kiwis being quarantined there.
That is the same Kaye and Woodhouse who want to bring in thousands of foreign students for the second semester (= now) and put them in quarantine in … um, central Auckland hotels.
Sure, Nats are gonna Nat, but will any reporter ever be awake to ask the obvious questions?
You say "another 20 or so", but you know the number in the community is currently zero, right? So saying "another" is misleading, and linking it to lockdown is false.
Professor Michael Baker made a very important point this morning, RNZ. He said that as long as there is no community transmission, it means the disease is still eliminated from New Zealand.
Cases may be arriving and showing up while people are in isolation, and it's only a quirk of the way international stats are collected that mean they are added to the New Zealand total. Long may it last – and it will be a massive fight to keep it that way.
Another point about 'opening the borders' and forming 'bigger bubbles'. I think the events recently in Victoria Australia show that they have a big problem on their hands at the moment and I can't see New Zealand allowing free travel between other states and New Zealand. I suspect the usual suspects promoting opening up won't be quite so loud in the coming few weeks.
“So I had intended to get up here and talk about how racist Robert E. Lee was, but I’m gonna talk about you Connie. Sitting over there shopping while we talking about Robert E. Lee.”
on a funnier note, apparently the nats have released a meme of a 17 June speech where "Todd Muller DESTROYS Labour".
I mean, it's not a terrible speech, but they went with "amazing crescendo music library hits #57" as the background music. On a loop. The music reaches a passionate high about three times at random points during the speech (with random shots of a largely empty and bored-looking House), and finishes at roughly the time he stops talking.
I laughed quite a bit. The juxtaposition is quite something.
Down our way we have an annual meteorological event in November called the Dr Muller Frost. Commemorating a venerated doctor who was always late to arrive for a baby's delivery, it names after him a late frost that threatens grape vines, tomatoes and potatoes. You're pretty safe from a Dr Muller frost after Labour Day though! 😉
Overseas these types videos are part of right wing campaigns – designed to hook in people who think they are funny then turning them into a voter. think Boris used them in the UK – along with ssoccer games sharing etc that grduaally turn political. The left needs to counter these.
Can anyone explain to me why Kiwiblog gets 400 comments regularly and the blogs of the Left, or the heart of NZ, get a 100 odd? Lazy reactive know-nothingness beats memory I think. Thankfully, no one takes their uncles seriously beyond that circle. Sadly, no one much follows the good auld tradition of democratic politics.
Angry right wingers wave hands and flap gums a lot more than the left of politics. It's hard work getting all the BS and talking points out. Might also explain why the right have won a lot of battles around the world in recent decades
We had current events in Primary. That Dutch train held up by terrorists. Trees … forests.
What really matters.
I think climate change is everything. You know, our grandchildren …children … and old age! Evidence. Scuffing about with mindless day to day politics is beneath us and irrelevant. Modern comfort has no future. Though as a history bloke I enjoy the 'footnotery' of you lot.
Near doubling of age of oldest coherent ice core on tap? Studies of paleoclimate help us to understand our own recent creation of accidental rapid climate change and what we may expect from our blunder. Among many other sources of paleoclimate data, ice cores stand out for their near "tape ...
Samoa's independent "kingmaker", Tuala Iosefo Ponifasio, has finally made his decision, joining the opposition FAST Party. But this doesn't mean they'll be the government, because last night Samoa's electoral commission suddenly decided to create another (HRPP) MP, creating a 26-26 deadlock. The reason for this is that Samoa has a ...
This morning the government announced a major shakeup for the health system, abolishing DHBs and centralising control under a single entity. I don't know enough about health policy to comment on whether this is a good idea or not, but it doesn't bode well that the government is spinning this ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections It’s hard to lose a long-term friendship. That happened to me last year. My friendship did not survive my unwillingness to “stay in my lane.” I met my friend – let’s call him T – while I was a student at Cornwall School ...
Future Proofed: KiwiRail needs to become an all-electrically-powered, broad-gauged, and comprehensively re-equipped state-owned enterprise with state-of-the-art locomotives and rolling-stock. An infrastructure project of massive proportions and prodigious expense is required. But, when it is completed, New Zealand will have a sustainable, twenty-first century transportation network, capable of carrying both passengers ...
Back in December, the government purchased Ihumatāo. Officially the purchase was for a housing project, but whether any houses actually get built (and who will own them) is subject to negotiation. And now, the Auditor-General has ruled the purchase unlawful: The deal struck by the government and Fletcher Building ...
Speculation about the National Party’s leadership has died down, after a fortnight of rumours and overt positioning by supposed challengers to Judith Collins. She lives on as leader for a bit longer, and Christopher Luxon and Simon Bridges have been put in their place. National now desperately needs to focus ...
The government is planning to reform the health system. But in the leadup, they've issued new guidance for DHB members, gagging them from criticising the government: A new code of conduct banning health board members from making “political comment” may have been timed to dull criticism of imminent changes ...
Susan St John & Terry Baucher The bright line test has been extended to ten years. Tax deductibility for the cost of a mortgage for landlords is to be removed. These steps are a start, but there is more to be done. In Susan and Terry, we have two advocates ...
As New Zealand and Australia celebrated its close ties with the opening of the Trans-Tasman Covid-19 bubble, Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta today was looking a little further north. Shortly after those first flights had taken off, reminding us all of the world beyond our shores, Mahuta gave just her second ...
Recently I was told I needed to go to the Youtube channel of Dr Sam BaileyA and watch one of her videosB. So I did. This particular video is called The Truth About Virus Isolation, and yes it’s on Youtube, and no I’m not linking directly because I refuse to ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Peter Sinclair This edition of Yale Climate Connections’ “This Is Not Cool” video explores the “disinformation ecosystem” in and beyond the issue of global climate change. “How did we get here?” independent videographer Peter Sinclair asks rhetorically at the start of the ...
Once upon a time, the left fought for the universal right to freedom of speech. Today, many self-proclaimed progressives cheer on the censorship of their political opponents. But it’s not just right-wingers who suffer from cancel culture. The left itself is often the primary victim. Dan Kovalik is a labour lawyer, peace ...
For Our Own Good? Police officers knocking on New Zealanders’ doors on account of what they might think, or what they have said, is more likely to make the rest of us think we are living in Nazi Germany – not drawing lessons from it. The disharmony such heavy-handed state ...
by Don Franks Details of proposed new hate speech laws have been revealed in a December Cabinet paper obtained by Newsroom. The paper, seeking to “strengthen the protections against hate speech”, would extend existing provisions against incitement and hate speech. It would also move hate speech offences from the Human Rights Act to ...
Listing of articles linked to on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Apr 11, 2021 through Sat, Apr 17, 2021 Not having had a chance to garner much attention by the time last week's review was published, the last article in that batch - First-Ever Observations From ...
Every year in April, the trees start changing colour, the clocks go back an hour, and the national greenhouse gas figures are released and promptly forgotten. They take fifteen months to prepare, so by the time they come out it’s very easy for commentators to point out that they are ...
While checking my spam folder (before yeeting the contents permanently) I noticed that I’d been sent a bunch of email ‘newsletters’ from the group “Voices for Freedom.” Out of interest I opened one, just in case the contents were worth a post or two – & indeed they were. The ...
Humans are hard-wired to classify, categorise and compare, or in other words, to taxonomize. We may be born tabula rasa but quickly are taught that the world is divided into types of things, subtypes of those and assorted other categories. The operative term is “taught” rather than “realise.” Taxonomies are ...
The Labour Government received plaudits this week for its historic announcement that it will ban the live export of animals by sea. It’s said to be a world first. The decision comes after years of pressure, which increased after last year’s tragedy when the ship Gulf Livestock 1 left New ...
As one does on a Friday evening, I yesterday made a point of heading along to the Dunedin Public Library’s event, Mystery in the Library. This was a panel of local crime-fiction writers, and a follow-up to a similar one in April 2019 (no prizes for guessing why ...
Now is about the time that the Government is getting its Budget Strategy togetherIn the week before the budget – the 2021 one is to be delivered on Thursday 20 May – there is a strange ritual in which all the commentariat and lobbyists (who are not necessarily distinct from ...
Climate Change Minister James Shaw has admitted that the government is not doing enough on climate change: Appearing on Breakfast alongside Greenpeace director and former Green Party leader Russel Norman, the current Greens co-leader was asked: “Are you as Government living up to promise of delivery implicit in those ...
We can all agree that a free press (and free media more generally) are important factors in a well-functioning democracy. But I am beginning to wonder if they provide us with an unalloyed benefit. I am an avid consumer of daily news – whether delivered by the press or by ...
Yes They Can - So Why Don't They? In matters relating to child poverty, homelessness, mental health, climate change and, of course, Covid-19, the answers are right in front of the Government's collective nose - often in the form of reports it has specifically commissioned. Why can’t Jacinda and her ...
Richard Edwards, Janet Hoek, Anaru Waa, George Thomson, Nick Wilson (author details*) We congratulate the NZ Government on its proposed Action Plan for the Smokefree Aotearoa 2025 goal. Here we examine the evidence for three key ideas outlined in the plan: permitting tobacco products to be sold in only ...
Punished, But Not Prevented: Though bitterly contested by those firmly convinced that the Christchurch Mosque Shootings represent something more than the crime of a Lone Wolf terrorist, the Royal Commission’s finding that no state agency could have prevented Brenton Tarrant from carrying out his deadly intent – except by chance ...
The Government has announced it intends making sex self-identification possible this year, as a priority. That would mean anyone could change the sex documented on their birth certificate by a simple declaration that they “identify” as the opposite sex. Speak Up For Women have launched a campaign encouraging New Zealanders ...
The travel bubble with Australia has not brought room for others to come into the MIQ system from overseas. Instead, spaces are being decommissioned. Why? The system is leaky. The government cannot afford to let riskier people into those spaces, because the system can’t handle them. My column in Insights ...
A Second Term Labour-led Government in New Zealand,a new Biden-led Administration in the US, a continuance of the Johnson Government in the UK: different approaches to major issues, same global problems – and discontent rising. Some warranted, some unwarranted, but as each emerges from the Covid pandemic, what ...
I will update this post as new information comes to handWhat has happened? Recently the vaccine safety watch dogs in Europe noted reports of unusual types of blood clots in people vaccinated with the AstraZeneca (AZ) COVID-19 vaccine. This prompted investigations across many countries to ascertain what, why, and ...
Alex Ford, University of Portsmouth and Gary Hutchison, Edinburgh Napier UniversityWithin just a few generations, human sperm counts may decline to levels below those considered adequate for fertility. That’s the alarming claim made in epidemiologist Shanna Swan’s new book, “Countdown”, which assembles a raft of evidence to show that ...
Just like last year, this year's General Assembly of the European Geosciences Union (EGU) will happen virtually instead of in person in Vienna. Contrary to last year, the organizers decided early on to hold their conference online and planned for it accordingly (quite a difference to last year's scramble where they switched ...
Time for a strange rant. A very strange rant. But bear with me, because this is serious business. A True Story, by Lucian of Samosata is not Science-Fiction. What on earth am I talking about? Well, it was one of those Wikipedia rabbit holes. I was reading ...
By Kate Evans for UndarkOne of New Zealand’s most spectacular fossil sites originated 23.2 million years ago. It was formed in a valley dotted with small volcanoes, when rising magma deep below the Earth’s surface came into contact with groundwater. Lava and water don’t mix — they explode. The ...
A Thorn In Their Side: As Chair of the Auckland Regional Council, Mike Lee made sure Auckland’s municipal resources remained in Aucklanders’ hands. Not surprisingly the neoliberal powers-that-be (in both their centre-left and centre-right incarnations) hated this last truly effective standard-bearer for democratic-socialist values and policies.MIKE LEE is the closest ...
It’s always something of a shock to come across a page run by a health-focused business that contains substantial misinformation. This one left me gobsmacked, given the sheer number of statements that are demonstrably untrue. And while a fair bit of the content is prefaced by the statement that it’s ...
Previously (9 February) I wrote about how business consultants Ernst & Young were used to do a hatchet job on the former senior management team at Canterbury District Health Board (CDHB). While this hatchet job was planned in 2019 its gestation was much longer. Its underlying causes involved differences in ...
Flying beneath the radar of guilt Fight or Flight: How Advertising for Air Travel Triggers Moral Disengagement(open access) by Stubenvoll & Neureiter not only takes an interesting approach to decomposing the effects of airline travel advertisements but also helps us to understand the general psychological landscape of our often conflicted ...
Yesterday I got told to “do some research” &, by extension, to think critically. The biologist in me cringed a little when I read it (and not because of the advice about doing research). Biology teachers I know suggested that perhaps everyone should take the NCEA standard that ...
Lis Ku, De Montfort University Since the onset of the pandemic, everyone from newspaper columnists to Twitter users has advanced the now idea that extroverts and introverts are handling the crisis differently. Many claim that introverts adapt to social distancing and isolation better than extroverts, with some even suggesting that ...
A friend of mine pointed me in the direction of this blog post by New Zealand’s “Plan B” group. While initially this group opposed the government’s use of lockdowns to manage covid19 outbreaks in this country, they seem to have since moved on to opposing the rollout of vaccines against ...
Twenty years after it invaded, the US is finally leaving Afghanistan. What's surprising is that it took them so long - its been clear for over a decade that their presence there was pointless and just pissing people off. But imperial pride leads to exactly this sort of stupidity. Their ...
The government has announced that it will ban the export of livestock by sea. Huzzah! A vile, cruel and unconscionable trade will be ended! But there's a catch: the ban won't kick in until 2023, giving farmers two ful years to continue to profit from extreme animal cruelty. But why ...
Today is unexpectedly a Member's Day - the Business Committee granted it early in the year, to make up for time list to government business. First up is a two-hour debate on the budget policy statement, with questions to Ministers, replacing the general debate. Then its the second reading of ...
. . Two stories which appeared almost side-by-side on RNZ’s website. Parent, Miranda Cross, was quoted as saying; “I think the expectations are that we can at least send our kids to school where they will receive an education.” An American parent would probably demand; “I think the expectations are ...
Time for reviewing something a bit different. Move over Tolkien adaptations, hello Japanese splatter movie. Specifically, a certain 2009 movie called Vampire Girl vs. Frankenstein Girl. I watched this one a few days ago with some acquaintances, never having seen it before, and not being familiar with the manga ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Jeff Masters, PhD An above-average Atlantic hurricane season is likely in 2021, the Colorado State University (CSU) hurricane forecasting team says in its latest seasonal forecast issued April 8. Led by Dr. Phil Klotzbach, with coauthors Dr. Michael Bell and Jhordanne Jones, the CSU ...
How seriously does the Māori Party take issues of corruption and the untoward influence of big money in politics? Not very, based on how it’s handling a political finance scandal in which three large donations were kept hidden from the public. The party is currently making excuses, and largely failing ...
The annual inventory report [PDF] of New Zealand's greenhouse gas emissions has been released, showing a significant increase in emissions: (Note that this is UNFCCC accounting, not the weird fudged figures the Climate Change Commission is using). Emissions increased by almost 2 million tons in 2019, from 80.6 MT ...
The melody from the classic movie Wizard of Oz echoes as Jacinta Ruru explains what inspired her to attend university, and her ambition to help create a more just society in Aotearoa. Jacinta, who affiliates to Raukawa and Ngāti Ranginui, specialises in the research areas of indigenous peoples and the law. ...
Stuff reports that National is refusing to back the Climate Change Commission's recommendations, which is apparently a Bad Thing: The National Party says it can’t support the Climate Change Commission’s draft plan to cut New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions unless changes are made. If National maintains this position when ...
Driven, accountable, unafraid to test limits and connected to the communities she serves are traits that come to mind when thinking about Dr Anne-Marie Jackson. (Ngāti Whātua, Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Kahu o Whangaroa, Ngāti Wai) She specialises in Māori physical education and health research disciplines while incorporating tikanga Māori and Te ...
This is my first post for a while. I have been a bit overwhelmed by other work in the last several weeks, with teaching and other commitments, and the blog has sadly suffered. But I’m still here. This morning, while sitting in a car in the permanent traffic jam through ...
Predatory Morality: Is geopolitical consultant, Paul Buchanan, right? Does the rest of the world truly monitor New Zealand’s miniscule contribution to the international arms trade so closely? Are foreign chancelleries truly so insensitive to their own governments’ complicity in the world’s horrors that they expect all other sovereign states to ...
Anna Källén, Stockholm University and Daniel Strand, Uppsala University A middle-aged white man raises his sword to the skies and roars to the gods. The results of his genetic ancestry test have just arrived in his suburban mailbox. His eyes fill with tears as he learns that he is “0.012% ...
March 2021 The housing crisis right now in New Zealand is one of our biggest contributors to income and wealth inequality. “With the explosive increase in sales and prices, those with houses have their income and/or wealth rapidly increasing, and those who are not on the property ladder are falling ...
Samoans went to the polls on Friday, and delivered a stinging blow to Prime Minister Tuilaepa Aiono Sailele Malielegaoi one-party state. Pre-election Malielegaoi's Human Rights Protection Party had controlled 44 of 49 seats in Parliament, while using restrictive standing orders to prevent there from even being a recognised opposition in ...
Prof Nick Wilson, Dr Jennifer Summers, Prof Michael BakerIn this blog we briefly consider a new Report from a European think tank that aims to identify an optimal COVID-19 response strategy. It considers mortality data, GDP impacts, and mobility data and suggests that COVID-19 elimination appears to be superior ...
Something I missed on Friday: the Māori Party has been referred to police over failure to disclose donations over $30,000. Looking at the updated return of large donations, this is about $320,000 donated to them by three donors - John Tamihere, the National Urban Māori Authority, and Aotearoa Te Kahu ...
Stormy Seas: Will Jacinda Ardern's Labour Government stand behind the revolutionary proposals contained in He Puapua – the 20-year plan devised by a government appointed working group to realise the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in Aotearoa/New Zealand?“GETTING AHEAD of the story” is one of the most ...
We have not been fans of the Climate Change Commission’s draft report. New Zealand has an Emissions Trading Scheme with a binding cap, and a declining path for net emissions in the covered sector. Measures taken within the covered sector cannot reduce net emissions. NZU not purchased by one sector get ...
For several decades under Labour and National-led governments New Zealand has claimed to have an independent (and sometimes autonomous) foreign policy. This foreign policy independence is said to be gained by having a “principled but pragmatic” approach to international relations: principled when possible, pragmatic when necessary. More recently NZ foreign ...
The Green Party welcomes the major healthcare reforms announced today by the Minister of Health, including the creation of a Māori Health Authority – Manatū Hauora Māori as we call it. ...
We’re committed to ensuring that our health system works for all New Zealanders – so we’re taking big steps to improve health outcomes, support our frontline workers, and promote equitable access to healthcare across the country and across communities. ...
I tēnei tau i Waitangi, I whakahua ake te Tira o Te Mātāwaka o te Pātī Kākāriki i tā rātau aronga matua, ki te waihanga I tētahi Manatū Hauora Māori, mā Māori te kawe, mā Māori ngā whakahaere. Ko tā te tira; Kua rongohia ngā karanga a ngā Tangata Whenua, ...
During Waitangi this year the Green Party’s Te Mātāwaka caucus announced their priority for an independent Māori Health Authority. We have heard the call from Tangata Whenua wanting any authority to be independent, and properly resourced. ...
The Greens welcome $6.6 million from the Government’s $455 million programme to increase access to mental health and addiction services for our Pasifika communities in Auckland and Wellington. ...
The Green Party is putting a Member’s Bill into the ballot today which will be a significant step towards overhauling the Social Security Act by embedding a tikanga Māori framework into the welfare system. ...
The Green Party have reaffirmed their strong commitment to the union movement in Aotearoa New Zealand by renewing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with E Tū. ...
Soon, more kids in Aotearoa will have access to the in-school mental health support that has boosted the resilience of tamariki and whānau in Canterbury. ...
The Green Party supports the open letter released today by a cross-sector coalition calling for the Government to treat all drug use as a health issue, to repeal and replace the Misuse of Drugs Act 1975. ...
Small businesses are not only the heart of our economy – they’re also the heart of our communities. They provide important goods and services, as well as great employment opportunities. They know and love their locals. And after a tough year, they need our support! ...
Green Party spokesperson for Pacific Peoples Teanau Tuiono MP, supports the demand from Pasifika communities fighting for climate action as their homelands are more at risk in the Pacific region. ...
The Green Party supports the six demands for climate action put forward by School Strike for Climate NZ, who are striking across the country today. ...
The Ministry of Justice Māori victimisation report, released today, reinforces what we already know about the impact of systemic racism in Aotearoa and that urgent action is needed. ...
Ricardo Menéndez March’s Members Bill to ensure that disabled New Zealanders do not face discrimination for having a disability assist dog was today pulled from the biscuit tin to be debated in Parliament. ...
New Zealand will open a new Trade Commission in Fiji later this year, Trade and Export Growth Minister Damien O’Connor has announced. “Fiji is New Zealand’s largest trading partner in the Pacific region”, Damien O’Connor said. “Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, annual two-way trade between New Zealand and Fiji was ...
HON ANDREW LITTLE SPEECH Morena tātau katoa. Tēnā tātau kua karahuihui mai nei i tēnei ata, Ki te whakarewa te rautaki hauora matua o Aotearoa, Kia hua ko te oranga pai o te motu. Tena tatau katoa. INTRODUCTION Welcome. Today, I am laying out for you a plan to ...
All DHBs will be replaced by one national organisation, Health New Zealand A new Māori Health Authority will have the power to commission health services, monitor the state of Māori health and develop policy New Public Health Agency will be created Strengthened Ministry of Health will monitor performance and advise ...
We talk a lot about being a transformational Government. Some imagine this statement means big infrastructure builds, massive policy commitments all leading up to a single grand reveal. But this is what I see as transformation. Something quite simply and yet so very complex. Māori feeling comfortable and able to ...
On Wednesday morning, Minister of Health Andrew Little and Associate Minister of Health (Māori) Peeni Henare are announcing major health reforms. You can watch the announcement live here from 8am Wednesday. ...
New research into the probability of an Alpine Fault rupture reinforces the importance of taking action to plan and prepare for earthquakes, Acting Minister for Emergency Management Kris Faafoi says. Research published by Dr Jamie Howarth of Te Herenga Waka - Victoria University of Wellington today, shows there is a ...
Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta and Defence Minister Peeni Henare today announced that New Zealand is deploying a Royal New Zealand Air Force P-3K2 Orion maritime patrol aircraft in support of United Nations Security Council (UNSC) sanctions on North Korea. The Resolutions, adopted unanimously by the UNSC between 2006 and 2017, ...
The Transmission Gully Interim Review has found serious flaws at the planning stage of the project, undermining the successful completion of the four-lane motor north of Wellington Infrastructure Minister Grant Robertson and Transport Minister Michael Wood said. Grant Robertson said the review found the public-private partnership (PPP) established under the ...
Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta announced today that Australian Foreign Minister Hon Marise Payne will visit Aotearoa New Zealand for the first face-to-face Foreign Ministers’ Consulations since the COVID-19 pandemic began. “Australia is New Zealand’s closest and most important international partner. I’m very pleased to be able to welcome Hon Marise ...
Hundreds more families who were separated by the border closure will be reunited under new border exceptions announced today, Immigration Minister Kris Faafoi said. “The Government closed the border to everyone but New Zealand citizens and residents, in order to keep COVID-19 out, keep our economy open and keep New ...
Hon Nanaia Mahuta, Foreign Minister 8.30am, 19 April 2021 [CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY] Speech to the NZCC Korihi Pō, Korihi Ao E rongo e turia no Matahau Nō Tū te winiwini, Nō Tū te wanawana Tū Hikitia rā, Tū Hapainga mai Ki te Whai Ao, Ki te Ao Mārama Tihei Mauri ...
The Government is supporting a new project with all-wool New Zealand carpet company, Bremworth, which has its sights on developing more sustainable all-wool carpets and rugs, Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor announced. The Ministry for Primary Industries is contributing $1.9 million towards Bremworth’s $4.9 million sustainability project through its Sustainable Food ...
New Zealand is providing further support to Timor-Leste following severe flooding and the recent surge in COVID-19 cases, Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta announced today. “Our thoughts are with the people of Timor-Leste who have been impacted by the severe flooding and landslides at a time when the country is ...
A ceremony has been held today in Gisborne where the unclaimed medals of 28 (Māori) Battalion C Company soldiers were presented to their families. After the Second World War, returning service personnel needed to apply for their medals and then they would be posted out to them. While most medals ...
The Government is committed to increasing the number of mothers who breastfeed for longer to give babies born in New Zealand the best start in life. The Ministry of Health recommends that babies are exclusively breastfed for the first six month but only about 20 percent of children at this ...
New Zealand has today added its voice to the international condemnation of the malicious compromise and exploitation of the SolarWinds Orion platform. The Minister Responsible for the Government Communications Security Bureau, Andrew Little, says that New Zealand's international partners have analysed the compromise of the SolarWinds Orion platform and attributed ...
An expert consenting panel has approved the Queenstown Arterials Project, which will significantly improve transport links and reduce congestion for locals and visitors in the tourism hotspot. Environment Minister David Parker welcomed the approval for the project that will construct, operate and maintain a new urban road around Queenstown’s town ...
Economic and Regional Development Minister Stuart Nash says a landmark deal has been agreed with Amazon for The Lord of the Rings TV series, currently being filmed in New Zealand. Mr Nash says the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) secures multi-year economic and tourism benefits to New Zealand, outside the screen ...
The Government welcomes the findings from a rapid review into the health system response to lead contamination in Waikouaiti’s drinking water supply. Sample results from the town’s drinking-water supply showed intermittent spikes in lead levels above the maximum acceptable value. The source of the contamination is still under investigation by ...
Transport Minister Michael Wood today marked the start of construction on the New Zealand Upgrade Programme’s Papakura to Drury South project on Auckland’s Southern Motorway, which will create hundreds of jobs and support Auckland’s economic recovery. The SH1 Papakura to Drury South project will give more transport choices by providing ...
CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY E ngā mana, e ngā reo, e ngā karanga maha o te wa, tēnā koutou, tēna koutou, tēna tātou katoa. Ki ngā mana whenua, ko Ngāi Tahu, ko Waitaha, ko Kāti Māmoe anō nei aku mihi ki a koutou. Nōku te hōnore kia haere mai ki te ...
Transport Minister Michael Wood today marked the completion of upgrades to State Highway 20B which will give Aucklanders quick electric bus trips to and from the airport. The State Highway 20B Early Improvements project has added new lanes in each direction between Pukaki Creek Bridge and SH20 for buses and ...
The Government is putting in place a review of the work being done on animal welfare and safety in the greyhound racing industry, Grant Robertson announced today. “While Greyhound Racing NZ has reported some progress in implementing the recommendations of the Hansen Report, recent incidents show the industry still has ...
The infringement fee for using a mobile phone while driving will increase from $80 to $150 from 30 April 2021 to encourage safer driving, Transport Minister Michael Wood announced today. Michael Wood said too many people are still picking up the phone while driving. “Police issued over 40,000 infringement notices ...
Pacific people in New Zealand will be better supported with new mental health and addiction services rolling out across the Auckland and Wellington regions, says Aupito William Sio. “One size does not fit all when it comes to supporting the mental wellbeing of our Pacific peoples. We need a by ...
New measures are being proposed to accelerate progress towards becoming a smokefree nation by 2025, Associate Minister of Health Dr Ayesha Verrall announced. “Smoking or exposure to second-hand smoke kills around 12 people a day in New Zealand. Recent data tells us New Zealand’s smoking rates continue to decrease, but ...
More children will be able to access mental wellbeing support with the Government expansion of Mana Ake services to five new District Health Board areas, Health Minister Andrew Little says. The Health Minister made the announcement while visiting Homai School in Counties Manukau alongside Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Associate ...
The Government’s COVID-19 response has meant a record number of people moved off a Benefit and into employment in the March Quarter, with 32,880 moving into work in the first three months of 2021. “More people moved into work last quarter than any time since the Ministry of Social Development ...
A stocktake undertaken by France and New Zealand shows significant global progress under the Christchurch Call towards its goal to eliminate terrorist and violent extremist content online. The findings of the report released today reinforce the importance of a multi-stakeholder approach, with countries, companies and civil society working together to ...
Racing Minister Grant Robertson has announced he is appointing Elizabeth Dawson (Liz) as the Chair of the interim TAB NZ Board. Liz Dawson is an existing Board Director of the interim TAB NZ Board and Chair of the TAB NZ Board Selection Panel and will continue in her role as ...
The Government has announced that the export of livestock by sea will cease following a transition period of up to two years, said Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor. “At the heart of our decision is upholding New Zealand’s reputation for high standards of animal welfare. We must stay ahead of the ...
WORKSHOP ON LETHAL AUTONOMOUS WEAPONS SYSTEMS Wednesday 14 April 2021 MINISTER FOR DISARMAMENT AND ARMS CONTROL OPENING REMARKS Good morning, I am so pleased to be able to join you for part of this workshop, which I’m confident will help us along the path to developing New Zealand’s national policy on ...
For the first time, all 18 prisons in New Zealand will be invited to participate in an inter-prison kapa haka competition, Corrections Minister Kelvin Davis announced today. The 2021 Hōkai Rangi Whakataetae Kapa Haka will see groups prepare and perform kapa haka for experienced judges who visit each prison and ...
The Government has introduced the Counter-Terrorism Legislation Bill, designed to boost New Zealand's ability to respond to a wider range of terrorist activities. The Bill strengthens New Zealand’s counter-terrorism legislation and ensures that the right legislative tools are available to intervene early and prevent harm. “This is the Government’s first ...
Coal boiler replacements at a further ten schools, saving an estimated 7,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide over the next ten years Fossil fuel boiler replacements at Southern Institute of Technology and Taranaki DHB, saving nearly 14,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide over the next ten years Projects to achieve a total ...
Attorney-General David Parker today announced the appointment of Cassie Nicholson as Chief Parliamentary Counsel for a term of five years. The Chief Parliamentary Counsel is the principal advisor and Chief Executive of the Parliamentary Counsel Office (PCO). She is responsible for ensuring PCO, which drafts most of New Zealand’s legislation, provides ...
Every part of Government will need to take urgent action to bring down emissions, the Minister for Climate Change, James Shaw said today in response to the recent rise in New Zealand’s greenhouse emissions. The latest annual inventory of New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions shows that both gross and net ...
Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister David Clark says Aotearoa New Zealand has become the first country in the world to introduce a law that requires the financial sector to disclose the impacts of climate change on their business and explain how they will manage climate-related risks and opportunities. The Financial ...
Exceptional employment practices in the primary industries have been celebrated at the Good Employer Awards, held this evening at Parliament. “Tonight’s awards provided the opportunity to celebrate and thank those employers in the food and fibres sector who have gone beyond business-as-usual in creating productive, safe, supportive, and healthy work ...
Applications are now invited from all councils for a slice of government funding aimed at improving tourism infrastructure, especially in areas under pressure given the size of their rating bases. Tourism Minister Stuart Nash has already signalled that five South Island regions will be given priority to reflect that jobs ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The Morrison government has cancelled the belt and road agreements Victoria has with China. In the first decisions under the government’s new foreign arrangements scheme allowing it to quash arrangements states, territories and public universities ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Scott Morrison says he hopes to focus the conversation at this week’s Biden climate summit on the question of how to achieve net-zero emissions, declaring there has been enough conversation about the timing. Ahead of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Sunday is ANZAC day – and this year it comes at a particularly important time for Australia’s military image. Last week, Scott Morrison announced Australia’s remaining troops will leave Afghanistan by September, following President Biden’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nathan James Enriquez, PhD Student, University of New England Tyrannosaurus rex is perhaps the most famous of all dinosaurs. It and its closest kin, a group referred to as “tyrannosaurs”, have been embedded in popular culture as powerful and mobile predators. Consider ...
A View from Afar: Midday Thursday (NZST, Wednesday 7pm US EDST) – Join this LIVE recording of this week’s podcast where Selwyn Manning and Paul Buchanan will debate: How this week, New Zealand’s minister of foreign affairs, Nanaia Mahuta, delivered a significant speech detailing how this Labour-led Government defines its ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Patrick Stokes, Associate Professor of Philosophy, Deakin University In the 1840s, a series of strange books started to appear in Copenhagen. The books were credited to outlandish pseudonyms: Victor Eremita (“victorious hermit”), Hilarious Bookbinder, Vigilius Haufniensis (“the watcher in the marketplace”), and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Evangeline Mantzioris, Program Director of Nutrition and Food Sciences, University of South Australia A drink with your breakfast, lunch or dinner can make your meal more enjoyable. But have you considered whether your drink of choice may affect the way your body ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Pi-Shen Seet, Professor of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, Edith Cowan University Prime Minister Scott Morrison has highlighted workforce skills as the “single biggest challenge facing the Australian economy” in recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic. Employer surveys also show it’s a top concern. Adding ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Corbould, Associate Professor, Contemporary Histories Research Group, Deakin University The unprecedented conviction of police officer Derek Chauvin for the murder and manslaughter of George Floyd is testament to the hard work of Black Lives Matter organisers and protesters. It might seem ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ana Manero, Research Fellow, Australian National University Recent flooding in the Sydney Basin pushed thousands from their homes and left others facing enormous insurance costs. These events show how traumatic and costly it can be to live in areas vulnerable to disaster. ...
The NZ Alcohol Beverages Council (NZABC) supports the Government’s targeted approach to primary and community healthcare announced today by the Minister of Health, Hon. Andrew Little, in response to the Health and Disability System Review. “The majority ...
ProCare, New Zealand’s largest network of independent general practices, welcomes the Government’s Health reforms acknowledging they have the potential to significantly transform the future of healthcare to achieve a less complicated and fairer system ...
The EMA says if the goals of the health reforms announced today are realised, productivity will increase as people will have a better base level of wellness which will enable them to work. Chief Executive Brett O’Riley says the consistency of access to and ...
Pacific Media Watch newsdesk Fiji has dropped three places in the latest Reporters Without Borders World Press Freedom Index and been condemned for its treatment of “overly critical” journalists who are often subjected to intimidation or even imprisonment. The Paris-based global media freedom watchdog has criticised many governments in the ...
This morning the Government announced a proposal for a suite of changes to the composition of the New Zealand Health Sector These changes are an extension of those announced in June 2020, and look at the reformation of a health system which includes: - A ...
In a set of sweeping health reforms announced today, district health boards will be abolished and a new Māori Health Authority will be established. Here, doctors and experts react to news of the biggest change to the health system in a generation. David Galler, intensive care specialist at Middlemore Hospital ...
The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) is consulting on outstanding aspects of the upcoming regime governing conduct in the financial sector. “We are consulting on regulations covering matters such as requirements for claims handling ...
Reporters Without Borders The Asia-Pacific region’s authoritarian regimes have used the covid-19 pandemic to perfect their methods of totalitarian control of information, while the “dictatorial democracies” have used it as a pretext for imposing especially repressive legislation with provisions combining propaganda and suppression of dissent. The behaviour of the region’s ...
Announcements today by the Government on the first steps towards a major restructure of the health and disability system have been broadly welcomed by the Disability Rights Commissioner Paula Tesoriero. Minister of Health Andrew Little outlined plans ...
Government procurement practices should not be skewed towards political targets, says the New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union in response to new calls for indigenous procurement policies . Union spokesman Louis Houlbrooke says, “Government procurement should ...
An essay published by The Spinoff Ātea editor Leonie Hayden on the new drama series Vegas, and Māori representation on screen, prompted an overwhelming response from Māori working in the sector. Here, the Vegas co-creator, writer, showrunner and executive producer Michael Bennett (Te Arawa) defends the series and his authorship ...
Although global trading patterns are still recovering from the Covid pandemic, the positive outcome for New Zealand is that it has strengthened demand for the kind of foodstuffs we produce. In particular the dairy trade is booming and though the current production season is beginning to tail off, Fonterra’s latest ...
Health, health and health were the subjects of three ministerial posts – two of them were speeches – on the Beehive website this morning. They spell out the government’s plans for comprehensively overhauling the country’s health system. They also step up the pace in the government’s perturbing programme of creating ...
Covid-19 has created both challenges and opportunities for small businesses – that’s why online business advice platform Manaaki has partnered with Kiwibank to offer mentorship and grants for SMEs.If there’s one element that has linked every small business across New Zealand (and much of the world) over the past year, ...
Actor, protestor and overall blimmin’ legend, Rawiri Paratene is about to retire from the stage. Sam Brooks spoke to him as he prepares to say goodbye. Before our interview, Rawiri Paratene ONZM (Ngā Puhi, Te Rarawa) said, through a publicist, that he would be a better interviewee if I brought ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tony Walker, Vice-chancellor’s fellow, La Trobe University Chinese President Xi Jinping’s muscular speech to the Boao Forum Asia annual conference was clearly designed to send a signal to the United States that China regarded the change of administration as an opportunity for ...
General Practice New Zealand (GPNZ) has welcomed today’s announcement of major reforms designed to create a more equitable and fit for purpose national health system. GPNZ Chair and Karori GP Dr Jeff Lowe said: ‘There are no surprises in the overall ...
The New Zealand Medical Association (NZMA) has welcomed the health sector reforms announced today by Minister of Health Andrew Little, and the bold systemic and legislative changes they involve. NZMA Chair Dr Kate Baddock said “the announcements are what ...
E tū, one of the largest unions for DHB-employed and contracted health workers, aged care, community, and disability support service workers, welcomes the Government’s announcement to reform and centralise health services to achieve consistency in conditions ...
The union representing ambulance officers has called on the Government to include national ambulance services under the newly-announced Health NZ to ensure the service is fully-funded and free to all. "We strongly support the proposed changes to ...
The Veils singer talks us through his first big onstage disaster, first musical hero and more in our new video and podcast interview series.The list of past winners of the Smokefree Rockquest is stacked with the familiar names of artists who’ve since gone on to enjoy successful music careers. One ...
The Council of Trade Unions is concerned that today's consumer price index (CPI) data shows that for the poorest New Zealanders the cost of living continues to rise well ahead of the official headline increase rate of 1.5%. CTU Economist Craig Renney ...
The Association of Salaried Medical Specialists Toi Mata Hauora says the Government has chosen a bold path of health reform, but increased health funding and investment must sit alongside. The Health Minister Andrew Little has announced a generational ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nicholas Steyn, Research assistant, University of Auckland With the opening of a quarantine-free travel corridor between New Zealand and Australia this week, it’s easy to forget COVID-19 is still spreading globally, faster than ever, with more than three million deaths recorded worldwide. ...
Australia Week: With the trans-Tasman travel bubble finally open, no one would blame you for jumping on a plane straight to the outback. But if airfares aren’t in your budget, here’s how to do a tour of Australia, New Zealand.To mark the opening of the trans-Tasman bubble, The Spinoff is ...
Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin has been found guilty of the second-degree murder, third-degree murder and manslaughter of George Floyd this morning, New Zealand time. Chauvin stands to spend up to 40 years in prison for second-degree murder, up to 25 years for third-degree murder and up to 10 years ...
Te Pūtahitanga o Te Waipounamu is encouraged by this morning’s announcement of major reforms to the healthcare system, including the establishment of a long-awaited Māori Health Authority, and calls for Government to look to Whānau Ora as a model. ...
District health boards will be abolished, and a new Māori Health Authority will be established, in a set of sweeping health system reforms announced by the government today. Alex Braae explains what it’s all about. What’s all this then?A massive new level of centralisation is coming to the health system, after ...
The Council of Trade Unions is broadly supportive of the bold reforms to our health sector as announced today. "What will be imperative is the inclusion of working peoples voices and perspectives though this period of upheaval and change," ...
Amalgamation of DHBs is necessary, but going from 20 DHBs to just one authority takes centralisation too far, says the New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union . The Union ’s 2019 report Productivity in the Health Sector: Issues and Pressures argued in ...
In what is described as a big win for New Zealand health research the Productivity Commission’s latest report recommends that “the Government should use its intended major health system reform to improve the mandate, funding and incentives for DHBs ...
National Urban Māori Authority chair Lady Tureiti Moxon and CEO John Tamihere have applauded Health Minister Andrew Little for having the courage to finally set Māori health on a long overdue road to recovery. This morning’s announcement that a stand-alone ...
Because Covid denial and medical misinformation are rife at wellness festivals, the upcoming NZ Spirit Festival, featuring Rachel Hunter, had help from anti-conspiracy campaigners to send a clear message to its presenters. Anke Richter explains.This autumn equinox, Earth Beat – “Aotearoa’s most innovative and earth-friendly music and arts festival” – ...
Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage. Click here to subscribe to Bryce Edwards’ Political Roundup and New Zealand Politics Daily. Today’s contentIhumātao unlawful government spend Henry Cooke (Stuff): Auditor-General rules the $29.9m the Government used to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael Mintrom, Professor, Monash University On Monday, Scott Morrison announced a royal commission into veteran suicides — the fourth royal commission set up under his prime ministership. But while Morrison says he hopes this will be a “healing process” and it comes ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Vincent Ho, Senior Lecturer and clinical academic gastroenterologist, Western Sydney University On Monday, Victorian health authorities released figures showing they’d received 389 reports of “gastro” outbreaks so far in 2021. The health department said this was four times higher than the average. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Pauline Lenancker, Research scientist, James Cook University The invasive ant world is a competitive one, rife with territorial battles and colony raids. And yellow crazy ants (Anoplolepis gracilipes), one of the world’s worst invasive species, have an especially interesting trait: they’re the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Romain Fathi, Senior Lecturer, History, Flinders University The number of Australians attending Anzac Day dawn services has fallen by about 70% between 2015 — the centenary of the Anzacs’ landing at Gallipoli — and 2019. Last year, Anzac Day dawn services were ...
The Government will consolidate all 20 District Health Boards into a single, national health service and create a new Māori Health Authority with commissioning powers, Marc Daalder reports New Zealand will have a single government organisation running its hospitals and other health services, similar to the United Kingdom's National Health ...
Welcome to The Spinoff’s live updates for April 21, bringing you the latest news updated throughout the day. Get in touch at stewart@thespinoff.co.nz8.00am: New Covid-19 case is UK variant, linked to recent arrivalGenomic testing has confirmed a direct link between the latest case of Covid-19 – a worker at Auckland ...
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Transmission Gully puts unrealistic PPPs on notice, new Covid case in the community, and major health reform announcements coming this morning.A scathing review has outlined how the budget blew out for major Wellington road Transmission Gully. As Stuff’s Thomas Coughlan reports, the contract ...
Distressing revelations about life in emergency housing continue to emerge, including a woman being punched unconscious by another motel resident, putting her in hospital. ...
Aotearoa Solidarity Aotearoa NZ will be joined by members of the public and the peace community in gathering outside the Chinese Consulate in Auckland, to protest the persecution of Uyghurs, on Wednesday 21st April, from 4:45 pm to 6 pm. ...
The blown out cost of Transmission Gully is pushing up over $3.5 billion, and it's still not complete. Commuters and truckies could now be driving 27km down Transmission Gully into Wellington this morning, if it weren’t for fundamental flaws in tendering out the project. But after the publication of an uncompromising project ...
As pioneering Kiwi trampolinist Maddie Davidson endures an agonising wait to make the Tokyo Olympics, she's learning new tricks - including the unusual Half Triffus. It’s rare to see a basketballer who isn’t tall, or a sprinter who isn’t muscular. But surprisingly, trampolinists come in all shapes and sizes, according to ...
A new report offers counter-narratives to deploy against New Zealand's far right, Marc Daalder reports A European Union-funded study has praised Jacinda Ardern's response to the March 15 terror attack and offered suggestions for how New Zealand can counter far-right narratives in the future. The report surveyed 12 far-right groups, ...
Bruce Ansley on a publication which seeks to educate journalists on firearms In March 1961 Keith Holyoake’s National government demanded that all 20-year-old men enter a lottery. Their birthday dates would go into a barrel and if their names were drawn, why, they’d score three years in the army, off ...
With Joe Biden in office, a serious plan to combat climate change is finally in sight — but the clock is ticking, and there is no more room for error, writes Jeff Goodell for Rolling Stone magazine The Earth’s climate has always been a work in progress. In the 4.5 ...
Electric vehicles are much hyped but bring their own problems when it comes to cutting carbon emissions, writes Victoria University of Wellington’s Ralph Chapman One of the authors of a recent paper comparing the costs and emissions of electric and petrol-powered cars in Aotearoa New Zealand, Associate Professor Ralph Chapman, says ...
New Zealand needs to change its approach to housing completely, and treat it as a public right, like health and education, property developer Mark Todd tells Eleanor Black Mark Todd doesn’t want to talk about the housing crisis, although that’s ostensibly what we met to discuss. Topics of greater interest ...
The key to vibrant and sustainable cities is mixed-use development in main activity centres, yet New Zealand has taken the path towards American suburbia. Urban systems expert Dr Tom Logan calls for an integrated response to the climate and housing crises which could rejuvenate our downtowns. The news often covers the housing ...
Forest & Bird supports Save Kennedy Point (SKP) and others who have filed an injunction and judicial review aimed at halting marina construction activity on Waiheke Island, until Kennedy Point Boat Harbour Limited (KPBL) has properly set ...
Peace Action Wellington is hosting an Anzac-weekend peace event called The Climate of War: white supremacy, climate justice and militarism that challenges the meaning and purpose of Anzac Day. The free, public event will be held on Saturday, 24 April ...
Australia Week: Alex Casey has a chat with Egg Boy, aka Will Connolly, the Aussie teen who went viral after egging Fraser Anning in 2019. To mark the opening of the trans-Tasman bubble, The Spinoff is casting an eye across the ditch all week – read our Australia Week content here. It ...
It’s a region known for its breathtaking natural beauty and vilified primary industries. So where does Buller’s acclaimed innovation hub fit into it all? Michael Andrew went to find out.In May 2018, a Japanese businessman named Hiroki Koga stepped off a plane at Westport airport and blinked in the West ...
Shift end. Radio tells me record day, 150,000 cases reported. Fears of second waves, concerns for -> insert overwhelmed health system/US State/Country name here. Bad. Home. Flick through recorded 6pm news. So sad. Then, man separated from luggage. What? Can someone invent a whinging entitled prat (WEP-20) test? Compulsory pre-flight screening for any signs of whingy-ness. Symptoms of self-importance? No boarding pass for you sir! You need to stay in the country you are in. Don’t come to New Zealand. We need to keep our borders safe from any infection. Protect our media from WEP-20 contagion (symptoms; whinging, moaning, complaining). Protect WEP-20 sufferers from any risk of being inconvenienced at a time when millions are suffering horrible debilitating illness and hundreds of thousands of people are dying. Just saying. Stay where you are. Stay away! Stay safe everyone.
You deserve a +1 for that.
It is extraordinary that modern technology means it has never been easier to know what is going on in the world, and yet we seem determined to focus on our navel, more than ever.
IMO, possibly the result of information over-load. Flooded with information about just about everything with most of it being contradictory causing a shut-down in cognition.
On top of that also being told to 'trust your gut' and 'common sense' both of which are the probably the worst possible pieces of advice ever.
Totally agree TSW! I cannot understand why the grizzlers get air time. Fancy that woman being whisked off in a bus to quarantine. Woe woe. "They didn't tell us we were on our way to Rotorua! We expect much more than a free quarantine in a hotel. We don't care what is best for NZ. We want special luxury deals. Don't you know who I am?"
Interested in China, Hong Kong and the riots in the USA?
This is being touted as the interview you must see.
tl;dw
Falun Gongster says shit.
/
I don't believe so, Joe.
Here is another must see interview from a totally different source.
Again tl;dw
A Hudson Institute nob, think Scooter Libby, Reagan, Kissinger, Pence, Dick Cheney, Netanyahu and Paul Ryan, and some dude who scams the desperate with his self-help claptrap say shit.
A future path for NZ business: https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/121881009/how-a-kiwi-media-company-became-the-world-health-organisations-latest-covid19-weapon
Let’s all stop what we are doing and make government funded videos for each other
6 jobs created to replace how many lost? This is why labour could lose the election. It’s shills have no idea how the economy works.
But National knew. It works by importing lots and lots of people. GDP goes up, property goes up, simple!
There's a slight flaw in that plan now. But they're sticking with it.
Weird comment. Labour had two years to stop that and change the economy? If it just carried as National were doing they are as much to blame.
The government made numerous changes, as you well know. Ask the real estate agents who complain they can't get the flood of foreign buyers like they used to. Ask the visa scam "schools" who were closed down. Etc.
So labour is responsible for the economy and its growing unemployment?
All governments are ultimately responsible (more accurately, accountable) for the economy. Again, as you well know.
Playing dumb is really tedious, and I'll let you play alone.
You tried to paint the current problems as a result of the previous governments policies being untenable in the current environment. Then you pointed out that the current government had already enacted policies that should have Reduced employment given current circumstances. I’m trying to work through your stupid before I go and play with my stupid
edit
Oh good Climaction – I'm sure you are a bloke and have a great can-do approach. You are the sort we need in NZ so get away from your keyboard and go and do something – now!
You can see how there is no time to waste as the world speeds up and it is quite mind-boggling seeing the Worldometer site. So if you can add your boggling to it al, something will be done and we expected it by yesterday.
Worldometer – I am sure it is recommended that sensitive persons do not watch it for more than 10 seconds or it might start a brain spasm.
https://www.worldometers.info/
While I watched World births went from 323,800 something to 324,000. Deaths today went to 136,200 in 20 secs. There is an imbalance there which we know about but won’t even try to think through the possibilities of being adult about it.
Wow look at the Public healthcare expenditure for today go up towards $13 billion. Public education and Public military are changing up as fast as the eye can see. Money spent on video games today about $240 million.
The majority of people have NFI how the economy works. Thing is, most economists don't know how the economy works. Most people think that money is the economy forgetting about the actual resources.
This is most clearly seen when people say that it would only cost a few thousand/millions to feed everyone taking absolutely no account of where the food will come from.
You’re talking about accountants and financiers.
economists are very concerned about the allocation of resources and tend to talk around money and the actual price of something.
economics is the study of scarcity. One specialisation in that field could be the study of DTB’s understanding of what things really are and how that scarce knowledge could best be applied
Oh Climaction You join a select group of people who have to cut DTB off at the knees because he preaches a different sermon than your lot. The superiority is lofty, the sanctimony is superb, and the denunciation is damning,
That's what they tell us but their teachings don't support that. If they did then we wouldn't have private cars because their economies of scale are all wrong.
Interesting how the WHO being a public-funded organisation is the main point you saw in that.
Looks like Labour's election campaign strategy will hinge on evasion of responsibility and accountability. Assuming that voters will be impressed by this, apparently. Strikes me as too much of a gamble.
Winston's position is likely to be more in accord with the public mood. However, holding someone responsible isn't the same as making the right person accountable! The principle of natural justice applies: punish the wrong-doer, then people will be satisfied that justice has been done.
All Ardern & Clark are likely to achieve with their preference for traditional Labour evasion of the need for effective enforcement is to make Labour seem like a bunch of wimps in the public mind. But perhaps they're betting that re-election is so likely that they can afford to be generous and lend National a helping hand…
Find the witch and burn her!
I'm absolutely no fan of the Deputy Dawg, worse still his BFF, however without finding where things went wrong there's not much chance of ensuring they don't happen again. We don't need to burn the witches, just go with the Peter Principle if they don't want to keep doing the same thing and having the same things go wrong. Or use existing mechanisms such as the Chief Wonder Boy the SSC. As is usual, it can all be done in silence behind the scenes with an army of ex-journalist spin doctors used pacify the masses with some well-chosen words.
I'm not sure though they won't find out though despite what The Spinoff says, and already some people seem to 'think' they know already. Harman of Harman and Clark fame on RNZ's Sunday for example.
The sad thing for me is that JA might find that after the next election win, kindness and transformation is still not as easy as first thought.
Assuming that there is a single person responsible for any and all deficiencies foound, firing them isn't as good at solving the problem as determining whether what they did was abnormal practise for everyone else involved.
We're likely talking about relatively mundane and routine decisions made many times a day by many people on multiple sites. If it's a training issue rather than an individual deficiency, seeking out the scape-goat for the incident that gets discovered is worse than unproductive, as it can give everyone else false confidence that the system is robust even though they are unaware they are making the same mistakes as the person who got fired.
"We're likely talking about relatively mundane and routine decisions made many times a day by many people on multiple sites."
/agreed (There won't be a single person responsible)
And not all of those people necessarily got the memo. Understandable in the early stages of the emergency – not so much later on. I think Harman lays the blame at several people
Having a birds-eye view of the Bay Plaza Quarantine Hotel, I noticed that immediately after the shit hit the fan, some things changed organisationally pretty rapidly in the rear carpark.
It is necessary though to find out where the 'system' went haywire though and those (collectively or otherwise) responsible for that 'system' to try and make sure they fully understand what's required and don't keep making the same mistakes.
If necessary, we can burn the witches later – or not.
Personally, I just have a problem when the same people keep making the same mistakes (or even operate with bullying or racist attitudes) without any consequence as we see in some places in the PS. Sometimes they even get promoted.
back later
yeah, not looking to punish individuals isn't the same as not investigating the failure. In fact it lets people speak openly about the failures they might feel responsible for without fear of losing their jobs.
There's been no hint of actual misconduct (e.g. bribes, or intentionally neglecting the job) so far. It's more a case of polishing a system that seems to have worked well and not have any major entrenched issues, rather than having to fix an absolute shitshow.
If the country goes back into lock-down as a result of this incompetence, Labour risk bearing the brunt come election time.
There has not yet been a single case of community transfer, after we got to zero. Not one.
So no, we won't be going into lockdown. Not unless we deliberately invite the virus in. That is literally the opposition's policy.
Figuratively is the word you are looking for.
No, it is literally true.
National's stated policy is to invite thousands of people from Covid-19 countries to NZ, right now.
https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA2006/S00104/under-national-international-students-would-be-back.htm
Their policy is to invite people like students back. Literally nowhere in their policy does it say anything about Covid being welcome back.
in your mind, figuratively, inviting students back = inviting Covid back.
persisting that it is literally their policy is figuratively stupid. Like blaming unemployment them as they were allowing foreigners to come study and invest while they were the government. 3 years ago
Climaction – please re-read and correct that error-ridden nonsense. And check out that you really understand the meaning of figurative.
Not Achieved at present, but you may re-submit.
Yeah nah !
more transparent propaganda from Dennis. So a system put together in an emergency was found to be unable to scale to unprecedented demand without some glitches. so what!… lines of responsibility being rationalised, more resources being provided.
I believe most NZ (thats not you Dennis) can recognise a media gang up when they see it. the election results will reflect that.
maybe dennis and his fellow travellers are pi$$ed off because the economy isnt tanking like they had hoped. even herald has had to print that auck economy has hardly slowed. what a bugger!
Couldn't you say, Dennis, that Labour will campaign on fixing the quarantine problems – so they had better do that before the election. Nats and Seymour will gnash and whine. Winston will bet a buck each way. The Greens will be ignored.
Election outcomes are a consequence of mass psychology, and if Labour campaigned on "fixing the quarantine problems" most people would see that as credible if they had actually achieved that result.
Time will tell. Unfair to prejudge. But if you put someone in charge of quarantine admin, then fail to hold them accountable for consequent incompetence, it just sends the signal that anyone can get away with ignoring procedures.
Unwise, that! The effect on mass psychology is huge. That's the point, really. I gave them credit for being successful in the `team of five million' effort. It exhibited both competence and political nous. Now, however, I'm bemused and taken aback that they seem intent on doing the opposite. As if going for variety rather than consistency.
Let's check the record of commentators' predictions, vs actual public opinion, properly measured.
At every – yes, every – stage of the 4/3/2/1 process, there were loud voices in the media saying NZ should now be at a lower level, and there should be exceptions for A, B, C, and X, Y, Z.
And at every – yes, every stage, public opinion said the opposite. I've seen at least 8 different surveys (TV1, TV3, Spinoff etc) which showed 80-90% support, over the 4 stages.
Surely we must have grasped by now that an individual person's opinion is generated instantly, because no field work is required, only an open mouth. Whereas public opinion requires proper methodology, to return reliable data. So the false headlines come days or weeks before the real evidence.
Only a fool believes the reckons before the results. Let's not be fools, eh?
Verification of public opinion via stats takes time, and any ebbing faith in govt management of the pandemic has yet to show, so I was indicating a likelihood based on past experience of mass psychology. Responses to perceptions of social (in)justice tend to be visceral and widespread!
Accountability in governance is a perennial social necessity. It's a serious concern when political leaders evade that necessity. Makes them seem irresponsible. Delinquent, even. To teeter themselves at the top of that slippery slope is reckless and foolhardy. Better to enforce accountability, so as to retain the public's faith in your political expertise – that's my advice to them.
reading a post in FB from the Spinoff which claims the government is scrambling over the latest covid cases. this assertion is just tripe. the meedja have had a field day with covid and just because they are spinning on their own axis and threatening to disappear up their own fundamental orifice has no relation to the decisions of government. the meedja in New Zealand is riddled with infantilised noo noo heads obsessed with their own importance
The media is one sick puppy.
xanthe – you know that media is a plural noun? I would agree with 'are sick puppies'.
no I did not know that ! so what is the singular? or are (is?) they like sheep linguistically as well as behaviorally ?
One Medium (like a fortune-teller who acts as a medium between us and the spirit-world)
Two Media. The news media consist of TV (a visual medium along with cartoons, posters, photos, etc) Radio (an auditory medium) and the printed medium (newspapers, magazines, etc.)
Most people don't care now, apparently.
Todd Muller keeps saying,"The criteria is…" One criterion, 2 criteria
George W Bush famously asked, "What is our children learning?" Todd is obviously keen to take us in a similar direction..
Sad.. (Sheep is a clever but unusual example! Like fish, deer.. unusual)
"One Medium (like a fortune-teller who acts as a medium between us and the spirit-world)"
yeah. channeling the spirit world! thems the critters.
The word has two meanings. When used to mean the main means of mass communication it can be either plural or singular:
https://www.lexico.com/definition/media
There will be an equal and opposite reaction to the success. Let us hope the pendulum swing is reaching its peak and now returning to its usual place.
The prime minister has used her energy wisely. Chasing those who made errors while dealing with the huge numbers of returning residents is perhaps overload at present. Those errors have been corrected and the whys may be dealt with in a later inquiry.
Some of these visitors/ returnees are still expecting unrealistic outcomes, in spite of free accommodation food and medical care, plus free transport from the airport to their 14/28 day isolation, and they still complain to the press. Some seeking to shorten the isolation time for a variety of reasons. That at least has been stopped. Also the idea of testing being optional has been corrected firmly. Day 3 and 12 seems sensible, 28 day stay on refusal seems reasonable in the face of a tricky virus.
What part of possibly infected do they not grasp? To hear some saying they should be able to pick up food and drink at the airport is just amazing hubris, or total denial of where they have come from and what they may be carrying.
So many are returning they are being bussed to hotels in outlying towns now. So far a city worth of people has come in, at a cost of 81 million.
The huge influx of returning Kiwis who have lost employment overseas is a new problem for this Government. They will put strain on our infrastructure, and in Auckland with a current water shortage they will need to be placed far and wide in NZ.
The ability to divide Kiwis into us and them exists…'we' fought it and succeeded and 'they' came back to be part of that success. In real terms people go where the work or support is. We have to accept their right to return, it is enshrined in law.
However, perhaps in these unusual times we should give those people a card telling them what our expectations are, and where people have a certain level of assets that they contribute to the costs entailed. It is human nature to value what we pay for.
Those in the press and opposition trying to paint a picture of failure, using every bump in this new road of coping as a cause for wild statements, may find the pendulum swings back and cuts a swathe in their arguments.
One of the things the opposition will point to is the huge and growing group of returning unemployed. I wonder if they will count the returnees as a new group, or add them to the current group. The only answer is to raise benefit levels to allow the system to keep functioning rather than grinding people down. Allowing people to get involved in the digital age, regenerative farming and horticulture, the arts and creative sectors, construction and trades, or anything which supports sustainable living.
"Some of these visitors/ returnees are still expecting unrealistic outcomes "
Well said -About the only request I don't find unrealistic is the one for a test. As far as I am concerned they can have one every day if they want. The press does love it's sob stories but maybe there is a benefit in that it sorts out public attitudes.
But if the flood is becoming so great and more airlines are returning then it's likely to overwhelm the border isolation? Busing to outlying towns -ouch.
Maybe we need a hard priority list and quarantine bookings. I haven't seen a number for the citizens who no longer live here and may return but large? I asked yesterday and apparently permanent residency can be hung onto even if the person no longer bothers to reside in NZ and hasn't for a considerable period. So if they are not habitually resident why do they get any priority at all? At best they have become drive by residents probably for welfare purposes only. Then we appear to be allowing import of sports teams for competitions (okayyyy) plus those on work permits for the infrastructure projects – can't they and the farmers find a few people to employ out the returning citizens or horrors some of our newly unemployed and have been living here which was how the policy was sold
Labour don't have an enviable position in that they have to sort out a decade of lax anything goes migration from National and the luxury of doing it gradually has now gone.
RedBaronCV It's gopod to read some reasoned comment after some of the flimsy, baiting stuff further up.
With so many Kiwis ( New Zealand born citizens) returning home and maybe unable to find employment here should we not be sending the migrant workers still in NZ back to their homelands now? We hear of non- kiwi “permanent residents “ clamoring for their partners and children elsewhere in the world to be allowed to come “home” to NZ but do you hear of these people thinking to join their partners instead?
And anyone returning should not be expecting 2 weeks free food and lodgings in guarantine or anywhere !
It is much more likely that the work visas will not be renewed, that is the current work visa applies till it runs out. Only only in exceptional circumstances would it be renewed.
That would be fair to the people on the work visas and fair to the returning New Zealand citizens and permanent residents.
Once again a Nact created problem They handed out work visa's like crack cocaine to the Nact voters who were intent on paying no attention to employment laws and who didn't want to pay a decent wage. Now they are addicted and they are whinging at the government to keep giving them a fix. Some for FFS are being let back in for the infrastructure programmes rather than local hire.
The visa's had the sept extension so all they expire on the same day- but if the large number that need to go don't start going soon there will be no airline seats for them.
We need to start now dragging the expiry dates back a bit so the march expirys get to week 1 sept, the april expiry are now week 2, etc
It seems so hard to remember that we aren't talking about imported boxes of toilet paper when migrant workers are mentioned. We wanted them, they applied, we accepted them, and can't just throw them out of the cot like disgruntled babies. More gruntle needed Immigration, and some round-table discussion and fact checking and systems change required to be implemented in stages, being fair and practical.
*We* didn't want them – a lot of people could see that they were putting a strain on housing and infrastructure while driving down wages and employment conditions.
Some businesses wanted them so that they could get cheap labor.
Some political parties wanted them so that they could drive down workers conditions and pay and make themselves look good by artificially driving up GDP.
Like most capitalists they want to take all the profits but get out of paying the costs.
Bit I am talking about the matter as the migrants would see it. We, the country appeared to want them, our government did and let them in. These are people who applied, were accepted, organised their lives to come here and 'we' in power, ie the government have that power to decide what to do with them.
What we, the public felt about that or anything, has been of no account for decades. So I can have some idea of how unhappy the migrants are feeling. Perhaps you are in a position to control matters that are of importance to you.
Bubble??? In Victoria 25 new cases yesterday, reported people who know they have covid19 continue to work and socialize
Victoria Covid-19 cases today.
The state of Victoria has introduced new Covid-19 restrictions which take effect from 11:59pm on Sunday 21 June. Below is a summary from the Premier's statement.
* The number of visitors you can have at your home will reduce to five. Outside the home, families and friends can meet in groups up to ten.
* Restaurants, pubs, auction halls, community halls, libraries, museums and places of worship – maximum of 20 people in any one space until 12 July.
* Gyms, cinemas, theatres and TABs can open – only with a maximum of 20 people.
* Businesses need to ensure those who can work from home continue to do so, at least until 31 July.
* If we keep seeing high case numbers each day, we will consider putting whole suburbs back into lockdown.
https://www.premier.vic.gov.au/statement-from-the-premier-45/
Quite right, Anker. It's all hypothetical, but we have Natz past little glories to judge them by.
They would, without doubt, have bowed to the 'economic' imperative and moved down levels quicker than the coalition did.
They would have opened the borders by now, especially to lucrative Chinese students (they are owned by China, after all) and
Their management of quarantine would have been abysmal – one only has to remember the psa kiwifruit problem and mbovis to realise that.
I'm no fan of Winnie, but we should all be thankful he chose to go into coalition with Labour.
Yeah – National would have been a million times worse, (most of these discussions we wouldn't even been having)- and still would be so I don't see that as an electoral point in their favour.
Labour at least have tried, not always succeeded, listened adjusted and do not spend their time on blame shifting although they have a number of areas where they might well say- "National caused this ".
The area's where I think they may be misreading public opinion and listening to only small self interested groups who want the neo lib model are:
– mass tourism particularly the "I can live on the roadside for free crowd"
– a neo lib labour market underpinned overcompetition from a lax migration polciy and minimal labour laws which large groups of employers largely ignore anyway.
Wages in this country have barely moved in the last 30 years apart from at the top (who are grossly over rewarded) and the minimum wage shifts at the bottom. To return to that model when so many are facing job loss and reduced incomes and do not have drive by access to residence in a number of countries needs a lot more policy change than the BAU model they seem to be sticking with.
There's a real life example of just how bad things would have been if we had listened to National:
With National telling us that we needed to do less, to open up our borders earlier we can guarantee that more people would have died.
Your search function returns "nothing nothing nothing nothing"
Wrong. My search function involves going to google, typing in my search and adding site:thestandard.org.nz. Returns plenty.
edit
That is a convoluted way to try and find entries for say myself or other commenters or subjects. It adds extra buttons and sites to get what used to be a simple list with one request while looking at The Standard..
For instance on Google : Andre – 1st up June 8 2020 – No posts found.
15/6/20 One from you – I use link and it takes me to the top of the page and I have to scroll down page to find you.
Next – 2 days ago @author "feijoa" Then 7 June, 14 June, 18 June.
This was going down the page.
Not in date order, not useful and convenient. Everyone hasn't all day to play around on their computer.
Reading all the vitriole in the media, smashing Jacinda and Ashley, I would say Dirty Politics is back.
Divide and rule is the oldest political trick in the book, and that is exactly what the Nats and the media are doing.
Kia kaha everybody
feijoa, you have that right The current propaganda exercise is, "it's a debacle, disaster, stuff up, put in any suitable adjective. "The country needs National", I add "like a hole in my head!!"
They know we are doing well, but anything to make people anxious is being said and printed. Definitely Dirty Politics.
Ministry of Health media release.
"Today there are two new confirmed cases of COVID-19 to report in managed isolation facilities in New Zealand."
"As with the five other cases reported in recent days, these two cases were recent arrivals from overseas and both were detected within our managed isolation facilities. Neither involves community transmission."
https://www.health.govt.nz/news-media/media-releases/2-new-cases-covid-19-4
In other words, except for the two women that started this whole thing, the border quarantines and managed isolation appear to have been doing the job we expect from them.
Indeed.
Some people (i.e. opponents and moaners) complained that Ardern's press conferences before and during lockdown were like talking to children. Like a primary school teacher or talking to mentally challenged, Nat MPs said.
And now we know why she had to do this. Here are the facts:
Fact 1: There have been stuff-ups in the quarantine system.
Fact 2: People are arriving at the border from other countries, with Covid-19.
Fact 3: Fact 2 is 100% unrelated to fact 1.
The number of cases we now have is 7. If the quarantine was perfect, without a single mistake, ever, then the number of Covid-19 cases in new Zealand would be (drum roll …)
Seven.
How hard is it to understand this? Too hard for some, it seems.
Case in point: read the replies.
Right wingers have a permanent Idiocy Virus.
In fact better than any country with 500 cases or more,but you wont here the media saying that ,only country with 500 or more infections with no border transmissions
Too early to say? That was a day 3 test advised today day 6. Are there not tests that return results sooner. And why not a day 1 test for the pre infected?
I must admit I was not impressed to find that they had only picked up 2 asymptomatic spreaders on day 12 of isolation ( not quarantine). That should have been a lot earlier
It asks the question, where did they pick up the virus. Was it community transfer within one of our isolation hotels? or did they pick it up in, say, the 24 hrs before arrival here, very mild cases, which was not detected in earlier test (s)
And the other groups that were granted on compassionate grounds to leave the 14days early, I recall something like 320 ( but my recollection may be out). We are so fortunate that only these 2 have been confirmed, imagine if there has/is more. So it is NOT only these 2 sisters, that the system had on the team of 5m had been found to be faulty, especially in the case of Deiderick John Grant, known as DJ Rogue funeral.
2400 people have been released early without a test.
Even the two sisters weren’t that out of control. Someone made a compassionate judgement and allowed them to travel, in controlled circumstances, to Wellington to support their recently widowed father. OK, something went wrong and they dealt with it themselves, which was not been ideal. But they were tested in Wellington and found to be positive and went into a quarantine bubble, hopefully still able to support their Dad.
Somehow the National Party got hold of it and made a political football out of it. I wonder what the sisters think of that.
Hadn't their father died just before they came here?
Apparently the timeline is:
7 June they arrive in NZ
12 June they applied for the compassionate exemption. Later that day their parent died. As a result, their application was expedited.
13 June they traveled to Wellie, with detour and meetup along the way.
Not sure which parent died.
You missed:
12 June-Chris Bishop (National, ex-tobacco industry stooge) lobbied vigorously for the 2 UK women to be given compassionate exemption because they were friends of a friend of his in the UK
Q. Why has the media accepted that the two women were constituents of Bishop when they are not? (Bishop lied)
Q. Why has Bishop not released the text of his contacts between him and his friend in the UK, between him and the 2 women and between him and the quarantine centre managers?
Q. Did Bishop request that his friend's friends should only be released after a negative test?
Q. Why did one of the women hide her Covid-19 symptoms?
Absolutely BG. No one involved in any of it is actually a constituent of Mr. Bishop. Add to that the fact that he has tried to distance himself from UK based intermediary who contacted him on behalf of the sisters, and you start to get the impression at least that there is another link that perhaps the National Party would prefer not to reveal.
Exactly Scott….
Perhaps Bishop is advocating on behalf of the bereaved spouse.
Yesss – I wonder what it is. But aren't MP's elected and paid for by the us NZ citizens and taxpayers. So exactly why was Bishop advocating for them? He should have been advocating for the people living here who don't want covid.
mother.
as well.
I wonder when there is going to be a back lash against people coming into the country who complain.
Latest is people arriving from planes being put on a bus and finding out they were going to Rotorua complaining to the media. Dreadful for them! Poor things (sarc)
Also earlier on Stuff a women with a baby, (nothing to do with Covid complaining about not getting on a plane to Taupo for her mum's birthday, because baggage got closed off before she could be processed…………….What are we suppose to do shed tears with her. Stupid that they even bother to report this stuff.
The bus trip to Rotorua wouldn’t have been that much longer than going into the CBD. They were lucky that they’re only in Rotorua, next option is on a charter flight and down to Queenstown or Christchurch.
There’s probably a connection to the palaver around using the Stanford Plaza https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/coronavirus/300038948/hotel-residents-concerned-over-reports-of-quarantined-travellers-arriving
Answer to anker @12
Agree 100%
Re open Somes Island for these people. Better still send these whinging self entitled non entities to Tiri. Not far from the airport, quick trip up the Motorway to Gulf Harbour then a pleasant trip by boat to the island. The only problem being, there is no accommodation there and they will have to live under canvas. These whinging poor things might discover how it is for the millions of refugees living in these type of conditions and realise how lucky they are to be able to return to NZ.
No wait! Forget that idea, Tiri is a magnificent bird sanctuary which I would not like to see polluted, also the whinging could drown out the bird song.
Not fair to Tiri and the inhabitants there – winged! It is a special island and the intention is to keep pests off it.
" It is a special island and the intention is to keep pests off it"
Ha, ha. I like it grey
.
Tracy Watkins being silly: https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/coronavirus/300038914/coronavirus-the-only-way-to-restore-confidence-is-to-order-an-urgent-inquiry-into-our-border-failures
Both/and. Her negation of govt agency as determinant is fatuous. The country did what the govt required. The success resulted from unison.
And really, form a committee?? We've seen the failure of that approach continuously since the 1970s:
We know that both National and Labour always sweep things under the carpet, and any consequent report is designed to carefully fudge all relevant issues. Any such inquiry would waste time and space. The govt knows who screwed up. They just don't want to tell us. We're meant to have blind faith they'll get it right next time. Politicians hold the public in contempt. Nothing new.
A day ending in 'y' then.
I thought it must just be me about these incoming expats etc grizzling about their accommodation etc. It beggars belief the entitlement of some people. Surely to God they would be just so relieved to be home again and just get on with the 14 days quarantine and be thankful for small mercies.
When are these people going to be asked to pay for their 14 days quarantine. Surely its not too much to ask these returning passengers to pay for their accommodation and be darned grateful they are home. Nothing but a bunch of whinging selfish people. Its time Jacinda tempered her kindness with a tiny wee bit of mongrel.
Woods and Webb just gave a press conference on this, and they were (rightly) making no apology for putting people in quarantine, wherever and whenever needed.
They said that over 200 people will arrive tomorrow, and over 500 on Tuesday. The numbers are increasing, and the countries of origin have very high Covid-19 cases (UK, India).
It would be nice if the reporters at the press conference were listening, and also had a basic grasp of arithmetic.
Yes, but that would require independent thought. Most reporters now seem to go in with prepared questions only. Gotcha ones…
No Whispering Kate, I too am really struck by people returning who are whinging!
Latest from the press conference was a reporter relaying the complaint that someone on the bus to Rotorua complained they weren't even given any water!!!!!! FFS. two hour trip. Grow up or go back. I was sorry the military guy wasn't more old school and didn't tell them to shut up and obey orders. He does seem competent though as does Megan
For starters citizens need priority ( and ones without dual nationality first).
So why isn't the flow being cut back by changing the permanent resident visa conditions so that there is no right of re entry unless they have met the conditions over the last two years that they had to meet before being granted the visa. Being a taxpayer, being actually present in the country for most of the last two years and all the other signs of permanent habitation and contributing to the land of Aoteoroa. They have the passport of another country so they are not stateless. The change could be backdated to say Jan 1 2020 with a transistion period before they have to leave again. Coming back now means they are likely welfare tourists which we can't afford and frankly I don't see local appetite for paying for this on top of quarantine.
Despite what Megan Woods says permanent residents don't have "an absolute right of entry" because the rules could be changed and should be changed, Looking at the inflowthis is likely to get worse. We may yet have an over run health system from incomers bringing their infections and whining with them.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/300039338/returning-kiwis-may-have-to-wait-overseas-as-quarantine-hotels-fill-up
Just imagine how much they will be moaning if they decide not to allow a test for Covid-19 and have to wait a month instead of 2 weeks to be released.
Actually a great idea, Shanreagh. Our Hospitality industry's problem would be solved, and the whingers would become a source of income for our beleaguered economy.
And yes I have family overseas and we have let them know that if and when they decide to return home they had better observe our quarantine laws or there will be hell to pay at our place.
Trump's campaign already had speed wobbles. Now it seems to have hit the skids: https://edition.cnn.com/2020/06/21/politics/trump-campaign-trail-coronavirus/index.html
I googled Biden's campaign slogan out of curiosity but got no revelation. Some good suggestions though:
A Return to Slightly Less Bad
Took One Idea from Bernie, Stop Complaining
Not Racist Recently
Actually, playing the redemption card could work with all them christians in the USA:
Hasn't Voted for the Iraq War In Over 15 years!
Can't go wrong with being traditional, it always works:
Yet Another Old White Rich Male
But my favourite so far has to be:
Putting the `er' back in America 😆
I'm intrigued that they're bussing people to the regions straight from the airport. I wonder what the benefits are over a two-stage system, transferring people to the regions after a couple of weeks, and replacing their berths in the Auckland hotels with new arrivals?
That way the people most likely to be discovered to have it are in closer proximity to the quarantine residences and a tertiary hospital set up for covid treatment.
After a couple of weeks their isolation should be finished and they're let loose to do as they please.
Maybe they've shifted to having all the arrival from a specific day or two go to the same hotel. To minimise the possibility of a fresh arrival infecting someone that's just about to leave.
It's more the trickle has become a flood, just on the news now the said there is 700 people coming in over the next 2 days .
Time to start charging nzs fair weather's kiwis for their isolation,it will slow the buggers down .
fair weather kiwis?…how do you know?
It's unfair to call them that, obviously. They may have all kinds of personal circumstances we don't know about. And we can have sympathy, to a degree.
But some of them need to start reading the room, before complaining to the media. People who have lost jobs and businesses and loved ones in NZ lockdown are not going to be a very receptive audience to arrivals complaining about their hotels.
yes some appear to be somewhat entitled however there are hundreds (or thousands over time) who may wish to return home not to mention the obligations and rights under international law…..we dont know (and nor do we need to) the circumstances that necessitated their returns ….and charging for an enforced quarantine is the sort of thing Id expect from those that espouse the 'efficiency of market forces'….no thanks
I suspect that the majority of the population are already not receptive to these whinging arrivals. Indeed it smacks to some degree of some of them using the situation to indulge in their 15 minutes of fame.
The problem with this latest batch being sent to Rotorua is that a bunch of rich, entitled permanent residents at the Stamford Hotel are kicking up blue murder which has prompted the new military chief to temporarily bypass the place until a few things are sorted.
With 700 due to arrive within the next 48 odd hrs they're probably running out of suitable places to put them.
We could get that catering firm that Nact though was good enough for the hospitals to feed them. That should increase the whinging to a jet engine sized roar.
Bolton's book has been posted online.
Nice, but you may want to give thought as to what Prentice will do when he finds illegal downloads published on this site.
Delete it, should it be a problem.
Looks like the sane and rational Bolton is part of "The Resistance" now, along with other caring and thoughtful individuals like David Frum, Karl Rove, and William Kristol.
Given the data and increasing numbers of corona virus infected people recorded, I believe we should hold all flights landing from overseas until the logistics of the arrangements are air tight. There is no way that it is acceptable to invite the virus into the county. Yes, people might be p… off. But crunch the numbers and compare a few hundred people vs 5 million. If we get another 20 or so corona positive we are on the way to be shut down again. A nightmare in the making.
You say "another 20 or so", but you know the number in the community is currently zero, right? So saying "another" is misleading, and linking it to lockdown is false.
I agree with that Foreign 200%
Nat MPs Kaye and Woodhouse on the news with residents of central Auckland hotel, complaining about returning Kiwis being quarantined there.
That is the same Kaye and Woodhouse who want to bring in thousands of foreign students for the second semester (= now) and put them in quarantine in … um, central Auckland hotels.
Sure, Nats are gonna Nat, but will any reporter ever be awake to ask the obvious questions?
Observer 20.1 and 21
+100
Professor Michael Baker made a very important point this morning, RNZ. He said that as long as there is no community transmission, it means the disease is still eliminated from New Zealand.
Cases may be arriving and showing up while people are in isolation, and it's only a quirk of the way international stats are collected that mean they are added to the New Zealand total. Long may it last – and it will be a massive fight to keep it that way.
Another point about 'opening the borders' and forming 'bigger bubbles'. I think the events recently in Victoria Australia show that they have a big problem on their hands at the moment and I can't see New Zealand allowing free travel between other states and New Zealand. I suspect the usual suspects promoting opening up won't be quite so loud in the coming few weeks.
He's not holding anything back.
Interesting and thought-provoking review of a book on "white fragility".
Something to mull over.
Here's a great overview of the topic:
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/why-its-so-hard-to-talk-to-white-people-about-racism_b_7183710
on a funnier note, apparently the nats have released a meme of a 17 June speech where "Todd Muller DESTROYS Labour".
I mean, it's not a terrible speech, but they went with "amazing crescendo music library hits #57" as the background music. On a loop. The music reaches a passionate high about three times at random points during the speech (with random shots of a largely empty and bored-looking House), and finishes at roughly the time he stops talking.
I laughed quite a bit. The juxtaposition is quite something.
Down our way we have an annual meteorological event in November called the Dr Muller Frost. Commemorating a venerated doctor who was always late to arrive for a baby's delivery, it names after him a late frost that threatens grape vines, tomatoes and potatoes. You're pretty safe from a Dr Muller frost after Labour Day though! 😉
Overseas these types videos are part of right wing campaigns – designed to hook in people who think they are funny then turning them into a voter. think Boris used them in the UK – along with ssoccer games sharing etc that grduaally turn political. The left needs to counter these.
Parties do not beat those by responding to them.
Really? Odd tactic, to be so laughably terrible that they gain votes.
Just looked cheap to me, and the speech wasn't any better.
Can anyone explain to me why Kiwiblog gets 400 comments regularly and the blogs of the Left, or the heart of NZ, get a 100 odd? Lazy reactive know-nothingness beats memory I think. Thankfully, no one takes their uncles seriously beyond that circle. Sadly, no one much follows the good auld tradition of democratic politics.
Angry right wingers wave hands and flap gums a lot more than the left of politics. It's hard work getting all the BS and talking points out. Might also explain why the right have won a lot of battles around the world in recent decades
We had current events in Primary. That Dutch train held up by terrorists. Trees … forests.
What really matters.
I think climate change is everything. You know, our grandchildren …children … and old age! Evidence. Scuffing about with mindless day to day politics is beneath us and irrelevant. Modern comfort has no future. Though as a history bloke I enjoy the 'footnotery' of you lot.
So much beard-stroking, so little time
Kia Ora
Newshub.
That's is cool testing people for the virus on arrival.
No the tree planting after Cyclone bolar was massive. The credit for native trees planting could be good.
Ka kite Ano.
Kia Ora
Te Ao Maori News.
I think it's sad the way they sacked the Warriors Coach when they have other issues to sort.
That's awesome Whakatohea Iwi getting there Waitangi settlement sorted finally.
Ka kite Ano.