Open mike 24/06/2020

92 comments on “Open mike 24/06/2020 ”

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1. Foreign waka 1

   24 June 2020 at 6:36 am

   Looking at the demands of returning Kiwis. To be honest, they have made the runner when things got tough years back instead of contributing and pulling up the sleeves. Now that the going gets tough at the other end, they come home asking the taxpayer to foot the bill for all their needs. Really?

   Well, my vote is now going to Winston, hands down. The only one not espousing political correct nonsense but rather dealing with the obvious. Logic and reason please.
   • I Feel Love 1.1

     24 June 2020 at 8:42 am

     That irony, coming back because we've been so successful in fighting this, yet not willing to help with that fight. Again, grateful to those that are just getting on with it, and all the staff and support people dealing with this, thank you.
   • Chris T 1.2

     24 June 2020 at 9:00 am

     Or they could have just been on their OE
     • I Feel Love 1.2.1

       24 June 2020 at 9:12 am

       Yet waited til now to come back …
   • Peter Chch 1.3

     24 June 2020 at 9:44 am

     I guess the consolation is that a few Student Loan Dodgers will get their comeuppance.
   • satty 1.4

     24 June 2020 at 10:18 am

     I can remember Winston telling the Kiwis abroad to come back home.

     Maybe the military should set up a tent / container city on an isolated island (maybe an unused ex-prison place). No fags, no booze, three meals from a field kitchen. That's the free option for returning Kiwis, otherwise you pay (and complain to) the quarantine hotel management, which is a private business, instead bitching and moaning about the government not providing you champagne and caviar for breakfast.

     They probably want first class public government services and tax cuts at the same time.
     • Halfcrown 1.4.1

       24 June 2020 at 11:34 am

       I agree with that, as I said on another post reopen Somes Island.
     • Gabby 1.4.2

       24 June 2020 at 1:15 pm

       Because obviously wealthy 'kiwis' should be able to buy a luxury quarantine.
     • Ed1 1.4.3

       24 June 2020 at 3:17 pm

       I know of two New Zealanders that were not able to get to the "rescue" from China, and are still in China, hoping to be able to get to New Zealand in July, depending on flights . . .

       The suggestion to return was heeded by a lot of New Zealanders – flights here were filled very quickly, and some may not have heard the warning in time. Certainly we now know there were a very large number of New Zealanders who were not able to get back to NZ at that time.
       • satty 1.4.3.1

         24 June 2020 at 3:29 pm

         Or unwilling… when the NZ government took COVID seriously and sent out clear warning signs, most other countries played the impacts of the pandemic down.

         While some might have "missed the boat/plane", as you describe, many overseas Kiwis ignored those warning and only now, after so many countries are seriously impacted, they decide to come home.

         Also interesting to note, that in the early stages the incoming people would have had to organise their own self-isolation accommodation, either squeeze in with NZ family, pay for rental home or pay for a hotel. So not sure why they seriously expect the government to pay for their 2 week isolation/quarantine luxury hotels (like Stamford, Pullman, Novotel, which cost – when I stayed their last for work – several hundreds of dollars a day!).
   • Gabby 1.5

     24 June 2020 at 1:13 pm

     But Winston invited them back.
     • Foreign waka 1.5.1

       24 June 2020 at 7:19 pm

       That was a month ago and yes, perhaps the flights are cancelled but some repatriate flights were undertaken.

       The point is: Many NZlaenders were going overseas because the grass was greener and they felt they did not get enough money to compensate for their work in their home country. Many were also fleeing the student loan repayments. Some might have gone on an OE.

       In all cases – I bluntly refuse to pay for their keep. Full stop, end of story.
2. Dennis Frank 2

   24 June 2020 at 6:59 am

   I saw, on One News last night, Todd say "it's a national disgrace". The meme must be stuck in his head now: https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/419646/covid-19-national-party-demands-answers-on-covid-19-testing-in-isolation

   I mused that it was rather unfair of the Nat leader to call National a disgrace when the quarantine shambles was a govt failure. I wonder how many others did likewise. Tricky, these contagious complex memes, they get into peoples heads and do their subversive thing. Perhaps Todd needs a competent media adviser? Oh wait, he's got Hooton for that… 🤩
   • Muttonbird 2.1

     24 June 2020 at 8:17 am

     Muller taking the, 'we don't have to prove it, just trust us' line.

     Not sure that will wash with most Kiwis weary of National Party untruths over the last 12 years.

     https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2020/06/coronavirus-todd-muller-backs-michael-woodhouse-despite-doubt-over-homeless-man-claim.html
   • ianmac 2.2

     24 June 2020 at 9:36 am

     ""it's a national disgrace" I see. You mean "its a National disgrace." So right.
   • Cinny 2.3

     24 June 2020 at 1:21 pm

     mullers one liner reminds me of a protest sign that I've used for a couple of elections… it reads

     "nick smith is a national disaster"
3. Dennis Frank 3

   24 June 2020 at 7:23 am

   Apocalypse now? No. Soon? Maybe – another pandemic, driven by a more contagious bug could do it. Eventually? Yeah, later this century though, so no worries…

   Notes from an Apocalypse: https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/features/mark-o-connell-interview-the-notes-from-an-apocalypse-to-be-a-machine-a9578961.html

   O’Connell zips around the world to meet people who are different in every way but their singular fixation on Armageddon. The book’s apocalyptic world tour journeys from the Scottish Highlands to the foothills of South Dakota, where a community of luxury bunkers built from missile silos peek out from grassy knolls, and onwards to New Zealand, the escape pod of choice for Silicon Valley’s millionaire tech-bros.

   Capitalism takes a beating in the book, a critique filtered through characters like Peter Thiel, the billionaire venture capitalist who co-founded PayPal and was one of Facebook’s earliest investors. Looking at the ultra-rich through the lens of crisis is enough to disgust anyone. In the middle of a pandemic during which shortages on PPE are killing people daily, Jeff Bezos is set to become the world’s first trillionaire. But O’Connell knows that blaming capitalism can be a cop-out: “My editor suggested I reduce the number of times I refer to the evils of capitalism, so I went through and took out about 50 per cent of them,” he says.

   Naomi Klein and David Wallace-Wells have both produced seminal works laying out what a future on earth could look like post-climate catastrophe – and it’s pretty apocalyptic… Doomsday capitalism is reaching younger generations, with designer face masks and Kardashian-endorsed bug-out bags stuffed with duct tape, waterproof matches and a 400-calorie apple cinnamon food bar with a five-year shelf-life. “Which Kardashian?” asks O’Connell.

   Many of O’Connell’s most astute ruminations are framed through parenting, something which has always been a challenge but lately has become even more so. “You often hear people say, ‘Well you can’t protect your kids from the world forever’,” says O’Connell, ”but I do feel that you have to try.”

   “You create this world that’s magical, good and safe. My kids believe in the tooth fairy and gnomes and Santa Claus, so does that mean I’m lying? Objectively speaking I am, but it’s also not that simple. You’re shaping their reality and I think it’s important not to let too much horror in at an early age,” he explains. “I suppose the job is to sort of mediate reality for kids that age, not terrify them and also not reveal how terrifying you yourself find the world.”

   Sounds like he's got the right idea. The world has always been part imaginal, part real. It's how the psyche operates. To co-create a better world we must first imagine it.
   • Ad 3.1

     24 June 2020 at 7:29 am

     Thankfully the world's remaining centrists, liberals and statists will save us.
     • Incognito 3.1.1

       24 June 2020 at 8:23 am

       Dennis is right, I can’t imagine Hell on Earth without gatekeepers to keep a lid on things the way they are. If not for them, all Hell would break loose.
       • Ad 3.1.1.1

         24 June 2020 at 9:28 am

         Has it not broken loose?
         • Andre 3.1.1.1.1

           24 June 2020 at 9:45 am

           Ain't seen nothing yet. Plenty left behind that could still break loose.
4. Bearded Git 4

   24 June 2020 at 7:30 am

   Corin Dann doing a good job on Morning Report right now asking Muller why the border control system is broken when NZ has no community transmission at all. Muller floundering.

   National’s problem is that they are attacking border controls that, by and large, are working very well.

   Chris Trotter’s latest article on Bowalley Road is very odd where it attacks Labour’s performance and supports National’s hollow claims. Talk about over-egging it.
   • tc 4.1

     24 June 2020 at 7:45 am

     Ahh no they weren't that's why JA put the military in charge, sorted now.

     We have consistent themes; strong leadership from JA, DP and media assisted spin from national.

     Woodhouse and his politics over people needs to be held accountable on behalf of honest kiwis if nothing else…..rip open the deception.
     • Bearded Git 4.1.1

       24 June 2020 at 7:59 am

       Note the "are working very well"…..earlier for a short period they were slow to implement the 3-day and 12-day testing but without military involvement I think this would have happened anyway.

       So there was a small window where border controls were less-than-adequate but (as you say tc) this was quickly fixed. (Megan Woods was superb on Morning Report yesterday).

       Muller and Woodhouse are whinging about controls that have prevented any community transmission-that is the acid test.
   • Stunned Mullet 4.2

     24 June 2020 at 7:54 am

     If Muller is floundering all it proves is that he is a git.

     The fact remains that the significant number of people who left isolation without a test followed by the amount of time taken to find out what happened and source the data is an appalling failure and we've escaped another outbreak by good luck rather than good management.

     There must be no more failures of this nature and i'm certainly pleased that the Minister Woods is now in charge from an oversight perspective rather than the Minister of Health.
     • Bearded Git 4.2.1

       24 June 2020 at 8:01 am

       Agree totally about Woods-she is a safe pair of hands. But the "appalling failure" line is the media's beat-up take on the situation-see my posts above.
       • Dennis Frank 4.2.1.1

         24 June 2020 at 8:09 am

         You are correct in that. But nowadays perception prevails over reality much of the time, and the media are driven more by perception. Reality bores too many media consumers. They need more than that. So beat-ups get produced by human nature.

         There’s also this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sturgeon%27s_law

         So 90% of journos will always be crap. Labour MPs likewise. Nat MPs? More than 95%. 😎
         • Bearded Git 4.2.1.1.1

           24 June 2020 at 8:13 am

           Agreed Dennis. Siouxsie Wills is doing a good job of putting the issue in perspective on Morning Report right now-well worth a listen.
       • Stunned Mullet 4.2.1.2

         24 June 2020 at 9:17 am

         Be assured it is an appalling failure if this kind of stuff up had occurred in a secondary healthcare setting think missing this many cancers etc … there would be hell to pay.
         • observer 4.2.1.2.1

           24 June 2020 at 9:27 am

           "This many cancers"

           And how many is that?
           • Stunned Mullet 4.2.1.2.1.1

             24 June 2020 at 10:26 am

             🙄
         • Sacha 4.2.1.2.2

           24 June 2020 at 9:30 am

           If cancers were contagious.
           • Stunned Mullet 4.2.1.2.2.1

             24 June 2020 at 10:27 am

             Are you retarded ?
             • Sacha …

               24 June 2020 at 2:30 pm

               Wash your mouth out.
     • SPC 4.2.2

       24 June 2020 at 2:41 pm

       National knew there was no testing pre the move to Level 1 and argued for a move to Level 1 long before this was done – they are empty suits.
5. Tricledrown 5

   24 June 2020 at 7:42 am

   National say they would be more competent but the faulty repairs to houses in the Canterbury earthquake show National would be worse.

   The report shows most repairs were as bad as the leaky homes another National failure.

   Woodhouse should put up or shut up!
   • dv 5.1

     24 June 2020 at 8:33 am

     Natz more compeent.
     HUH
     Remember when the NATZ back in feb? wanted

     To Have a bonfire of regulations

     AND

     Tax cuts.
     • ianmac 5.1.1

       24 June 2020 at 9:34 am

       And NZ should open the borders to foster trade and allow thousands of students in.
       • Barfly 5.1.1.1

         24 June 2020 at 9:37 am

         Tens of thousands of students
         • I Feel Love 5.1.1.1.1

           24 June 2020 at 2:54 pm

           In ODT today headline "quarantine possible in south island" or something and mentions hotels in Queenstown, & Queenstown mayor saying "I don't think so" (paraphrased), so fuk knows what National are on about.
           • Graeme 5.1.1.1.1.1

             24 June 2020 at 7:45 pm

             It’s quite odd, Jim Boult, Queenstown Lakes Mayor, was all in favour of overseas students coming into town and doing their 14 days quarantine in Queenstown a couple of weeks ago.

             https://www.odt.co.nz/regions/southland/quarantine-students-queenstown-plan-backedhttps://www.odt.co.nz/regions/southland/quarantine-students-queenstown-plan-backed
6. observer 6

   24 June 2020 at 8:33 am

   In this morning's interviews Muller doubled down on the Woodhouse claims. He backed his MP so strongly that he can't now separate his own leadership from the allegations. (A more experienced leader would say "he's just asking the questions" or similar waffle, keeping his distance).

   If he has evidence that Woodhouse is right, then Muller gets a win. If he doesn't then he is shooting himself in the foot, for no political gain. There are enough real issues with quarantine for National to focus on. They don't need to be making them up.
   • dv 6.1

     24 June 2020 at 8:45 am

     Surely the easiest way to show that Woodhouse is right is to comply with Wood request.
     • aj 6.1.1

       24 June 2020 at 9:19 am

       Woodhouse has backed himself and Muller into a corner, you are right, the only way out now is to comply because Woodhouse already looks slippery as an eel and it's all downhill from here if he tries weasal words again. In one sense I hope they front up with proof it happened, to demonstrate they don't have the best interests of the public in mind at all and are only interested in the political game.
   • Incognito 6.2

     24 June 2020 at 9:04 am

     The picture National is trying to paint is that the quarantine system is like a revolving door and people can just walk in and out as they please, all on the Taxpayers’ expense, while having unprotected kisses and cuddles.
   • Gabby 6.3

     24 June 2020 at 1:20 pm

     Right or wrong, Labour should be pushing the issue of the expense Woodlouse is putting the public to with his coyness.
7. Incognito 7

   24 June 2020 at 8:52 am

   National’s homeless person is a variation of their bene bashing theme, a no-hoper bottom-dweller who hacked the system and got something from the Taxpayer that they’re not entitled to without harsh consequences. JC would crush their carton board home, dirty old sleeping bag and all, with a swamp Kauri log covered in milk powder.

   The story is a dead cat on the table unless the homeless person is a super spreader, which makes no sense because they have just self-isolated for 14 days in a posh hotel. I’ve heard that those isolation hotels are almost as posh as our prisons. Can somebody please ask National how much it costs per day to be in prison?

   I hope they’ll find the homeless person and lock them up in prison. That’ll teach them what welfare is for: hardworking law-abiding citizens who find themselves in trouble through no fault of their own.
   • Hooch 7.1

     24 June 2020 at 9:24 am

     I may be wrong but wasn’t the original story based on the person in question not being able to provide an address when leaving isolation. That doesn’t mean they were a homeless person who walked off the street. They may genuinely not have known where they were going to be staying once released if they hadn’t lived in NZ for a while. With friends, family, or they needed a rental. I have family who moved back before lockdown who have been staying at multiple addresses while they work out where they will stay permanently.
     • Dennis Frank 7.1.1

       24 June 2020 at 9:32 am

       If so, the story has morphed somewhat. As stories do. There was a children's game where everyone sat in a circle and the starter whispered something to the person on one side who then repeated the whisper to the child on their other side & so on. When it reached around the circle back to the source the message is never the same as it was.

       Assuming Woodhouse is spinning it deliberately seems unfair. However if there was a Nat-sympathiser in the chain of messaging between him and the departmental source, or if that source was a Nat voter, spin becomes understandable.
       • Gabby 7.1.1.1

         24 June 2020 at 1:23 pm

         Seems perfectly fair to assume a woodlouse doesn't change its stripes.
     • Ed1 7.1.2

       24 June 2020 at 3:23 pm

       The claim was that the person was not entitled (or presumably required!) to go into isolation but tagged along behind some people who had come from a flight to quarantine, and was given a room. Whether they were prepared to give an address when leaving is another matter entirely. Woodhouse needs to give his sources of information, or be seen as a liar.
8. ianmac 8

   24 June 2020 at 9:31 am

   Here is another one calling for perspective and good on Gehan Gunasekara:

   Consider the attitudes of many of the very people now criticising the Government for its laxity in managing quarantine facilities towards bureaucracy and red tape. Those on the right of the political spectrum have tended not only to advocate for less regulation of business and society generally but have also blamed excessive regulation and administrative requirements for everything from the lack of affordable housing to business failures.

   https://www.newsroom.co.nz/2020/06/24/1245867/well-need-that-red-tape-if-we-want-to-beat-covid?utm_source=Friends+of+the+Newsroom&utm_campaign=e74bfd9258-Daily+Briefing+23.6.20_COPY_02&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_71de5c4b35-e74bfd9258-95522477
   • observer 8.1

     24 June 2020 at 9:46 am

     Yes, good piece.

     The new National leadership have been unclear about how much of the baggage they inherited from Bridges/Bennett is still their party's policy.

     But we have to assume it still is, unless they tell us it's been dumped. So National still want to have a "bonfire of red tape", and scrap 2 rules for every new one.
9. Adrian 9

   24 June 2020 at 9:57 am

   Muller on Morning Farce this morning claimed that no evidence that anything actually happened did not mean that there was no evidence that something did happen. On that logic we should just bin the entire Justice system because Everything Did Happen. Or as the greatest philosopher of our time Walter Sobchak in The big Lebowski opines " Say what you like about National (ist ) Socialism Dude, at least it was an ethos ", meaning Todd is obliquely advocating that we should go straight to the firing squad anytime anybody says anything about anybody else.

   And of course Universities should bring in overseas students immediately because they have plenty of Houses of Residence where they can isolate them. I'm 71 but I would be joining the thousands of students in the streets protesting that one, should be more fun than the 60s.
10. observer 10

    24 June 2020 at 10:04 am

    Remember those stories a while back about how Ardern was damaging NZ's relationship with Australia? That our reputation would suffer, across the Tasman?

    Let's ask the Australians how that panned out …

    https://poll.lowyinstitute.org/charts/confidence-in-political-leaders
11. Robert Guyton 11

    24 June 2020 at 10:51 am

    "So-called flying rivers are prevailing winds that pick up water vapor exhaled by forests and deliver rains to distant water basins."

    https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/06/controversial-russian-theory-claims-forests-don-t-just-make-rain-they-make-wind?
    • Dennis Frank 11.1

      24 June 2020 at 12:32 pm

      Good to see this. Science is ruled more by convention than discovery – resistance to Gaia remains entrenched in the establishment.

      Many meteorology textbooks still teach a caricature of the water cycle, with ocean evaporation responsible for most of the atmospheric moisture that condenses in clouds and falls as rain. The picture ignores the role of vegetation and, in particular, trees, which act like giant water fountains. Their roots capture water from the soil for photosynthesis, and microscopic pores in leaves release unused water as vapor into the air. The process, the arboreal equivalent of sweating, is known as transpiration. In this way, a single mature tree can release hundreds of liters of water a day. With its foliage offering abundant surface area for the exchange, a forest can often deliver more moisture to the air than evaporation from a water body of the same size.

      The Amazon flying river is now reckoned to carry as much water as the giant terrestrial river below it, says Antonio Nobre, a climate researcher at Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research.

      This is paradigm-shifting research, so expect resistance from scientists who need proof to shift them. They will await replication.

      China gets 80% of its water from the west, mostly Atlantic moisture recycled by the boreal forests of Scandinavia and Russia. The journey involves several stages—cycles of transpiration followed by downwind rain and subsequent transpiration—and takes 6 months or more. “It contradicted previous knowledge that you learn in high school,” he says. “China is next to an ocean, the Pacific, yet most of its rainfall is moisture recycled from land far to the west.”

      I recall being taught the physics of atmospheric convection cells (but recall no details) so it's easy for me to intuitively accept this new paradigm. It deepens our grasp of how Gaia operates as a global system. Then just factor in all the emerging evidence of airborne bacterial flows in the upper levels and you will find it increasingly difficult to retain the old science view that only parts matter. Rejection of whole systems has become increasingly untenable with the rise of the science of complexity.
      • Robert Guyton 11.1.1

        24 June 2020 at 12:36 pm

        Agreed. Nice response, Dennis. My fellow councillors were somewhat less forthcoming with encouraging words 🙂
        • Dennis Frank 11.1.1.1

          24 June 2020 at 1:08 pm

          Would be a waste of time telling them that even dinosaurs can dance. Would be fun watching them try to process that though! 🤣
      • aj 11.1.2

        24 June 2020 at 7:14 pm

        The Amazon flying river is now reckoned to carry as much water…

        There are 'pineapple expresses' everywhere aloft. This summer's Fiordland flooding event, for example. In fact multiple floods in recent times on the West Coast.
        • Dennis Frank 11.1.2.1

          24 June 2020 at 7:44 pm

          Thanks, very interesting. Just described those deriving from Hawaii & northern hemisphere consequences though. Would be good to read the equivalent backgrounder for the effects in Aotearoa you mentioned eh?

          I learnt about coriolis during my student days (physics grad) & it derives from global symmetry, but there's more to weather production than the spin of the planet. Land imbalance: more in the north than south. So weather becomes regional in consequence. Dunno how hemispherical assymetry affects/produces upper atmosphere flows…
12. greywarshark 12

    24 June 2020 at 11:50 am

    How interesting. Making rain, making wind. What makes the wind blow?

    Hanging washing this morning on a still winter's sunny morning. I played with the idea of making wind so as to get my washing dry and swept the rotary clothes line round and repeated, then change direction. When it stopped the clothes were moving slightly in a small breeze. By creating a small vortex could I affect the weather I wondered. Just a thought.

    Looked up wind related things on google. Some of what I found:

    For idle reading and learning this stack exchange post about USA parts, calling a very cold wind 'the hawk' is a great example of exchanging info about history and culture and knowledge from the past.

    https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/481458/origin-of-the-saying-the-hawk-is-out

    New ideas called for in the green economy – this one, what to do with old wind turbines.
    https://www.politico.eu/article/small-old-wind-towers-make-for-big-new-problems 2018
    and
    https://www.bbc.com/news/business-51325101 What happens to all the old wind turbines? 2020

    This on google was interesting – ebook. "The Botanical Lore of the California Indians: with Side Lights on Historical …By John Bruno Romero"

    On weather – folk lore: https://www.artofmanliness.com/articles/22-old-weather-proverbs-that-are-actually-true/

    Interesting on google: ‘The Lore of New Mexico by Marta Weigle and Peter White’
    Apparently there was a Little Ice Age between 1450-1850 and that affected New Mexico and resulted in some extreme weather conditions. Studying those and how they dealt with them could be informative for now – my thought.
    Publisher:Albuquerque : University of New Mexico Press, ©2003.
    At the Victoria University of Wellington, Kelburn Library.
    • OnceWasTim 12.1

      24 June 2020 at 1:25 pm

      "I played with the idea of making wind so as to get my washing dry and swept the rotary clothes line round and repeated, then change direction."

      Do I have the solution for you @Grey!

      You just line the current crop of the National Party up adjacent to your clothesline and get them to let loose. Votices and directional changes come naturally
      • greywarshark 12.1.1

        24 June 2020 at 1:59 pm

        OwT That would require a sheep dog of enormous size and skill. And they would prove to have hollow lungs, even without Covid-19 they would run out of puff, useless puffters.

        By the way, in your memory, have you heard of a contraption that can be put on a rotary clothes line to create air movement for faster drying. I think it was based on a spring attached to the line, that stretches and retracts which keeps the line going back and forth. I feel that some nifty craftsman in his shed once came up with that.
        • Drowsy M. Kram 12.1.1.1

          24 June 2020 at 3:43 pm

          "useless puffters" – sailing a bit close to the wind there, but I like your style.
          • greywarshark 12.1.1.1.1

            24 June 2020 at 5:55 pm

            Don't be a wimp DMK -it's tiring that some are always looking for something to find fault with.

            I was pleased to hear that killing people during rough sex is something that is going to be made illegal in Britain – now that was something to complain about.

            https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/2018751998/uk-to-ban-rough-sex-gone-wrong-should-new-zealand-follow
            • Drowsy M. Kram 12.1.1.1.1.1

              24 June 2020 at 6:21 pm

              You've ‘outed‘ me Grey; I am indeed a wimp, although I can be persuaded to 'get in behind' just causes.
13. Ad 13

    24 June 2020 at 11:52 am

    MoT have just put put a note saying that Cabinet have failed to agree on a light rail decision, so it will be put to the next government.

    Part of me says that sanity has prevailed, the other part says OMG another transport non-delivery.
    • mickysavage 13.1

      24 June 2020 at 12:04 pm

      Bloody Winston …
      • Sabine 13.1.1

        24 June 2020 at 12:13 pm

        what would the Labour Party do without 'bloody winston'? Maybe try harder to get consensus? lol
      • Ad 13.1.2

        24 June 2020 at 12:13 pm

        Among others:

        – The senior NZSuperfund execs who actively sabotaged the NZTA proposal.

        – Twyford for entertaining the alternative in the first place

        – Treasury for not stomping all over this with boots

        – Infrastructure Commission for being conspicuously silent

        – MoT and DPMC for not smacking heads together well before it got to the Cabinet table.

        and of course…

        – The Greens for getting smashed on a key transport issue, again

        It's a big loss for the thousands who would have been employed on the job as well.
      • OnceWasTim 13.1.3

        24 June 2020 at 12:43 pm

        Rome wasn't built in a day @Micky. It might have been quicker to have just given him a knighthood along with his BFF in the last QB Honours list, and an offer of some prestigious pozzy on the Whurl stage representing lil 'ole NuZull that punches above its weight.

        As far as a quick, 'efficient and effective' option in this space going forward, I'm still not sure why we're not looking/haven't looked at alternative options for passenger travel from that bustling international metropolis of Orcas to the Earport.

        Such as maybe getting on with 3rd railing where existing geography allows, and things like Tramtrains – off the heavy rail network at say Papatoetoe, down Wylie Road and then Puhinui Road. Bob's your Auntie. The freight stuff can come later after we've worried ourselves silly considering every other conceivable option.

        Could even work in places like Dunners City and points north to Dunners Mosgiel Earport. Even Lyttleton and/or Rolleston to Christ's Church Earport.

        Might even work work elsewhere – the Puke via Tearanga to points north.

        Patience! These things take time!!
        • greywarshark 13.1.3.1

          24 June 2020 at 2:03 pm

          Great OwT, you should have been writing the reports for this matter.

          Seeing nothing was ever going to happen about it, at least the participants could have had a laugh and some lively discussion. And it may have actually led to some really practical ideas. I understand the light rail was going to decimate the shopping areas it went through so that would not have been positive, going forward.
        • McFlock 13.1.3.2

          24 June 2020 at 3:30 pm

          DCC councillors have actually been looking at commuter rail over the recent few years. Apparenlty the delay is because schedulling a trial between heavy freight seasons needs to be done precisely, because it will have to use the main trunk line for the initial mosgiel/dunners (possibly not even palmerston) route
      • Bearded Git 13.1.4

        24 June 2020 at 2:14 pm

        It is not only Winston’s fault…the Nats should be backing this too…look at the fantastic light-rail system they have put in in recent years in Sydney
        • greywarshark 13.1.4.1

          25 June 2020 at 2:51 pm

          Light rail in Sydney.

          https://sydneylightrail.transport.nsw.gov.au/

          In image I'm viewing it has a wide area – two trains can pass side by side there is a vehicle lane each side; one has one lane plus along kerb parking and the other has two lanes plus a wide red area presumably for cycles, mobility carts.

          Wikpedia on it.

          https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light_rail_in_Sydney
    • roblogic 13.2

      24 June 2020 at 12:48 pm

      OK Winston you classic Boomer. You've had some good moments and some not so good.

      https://twitter.com/kylemacd/status/1275575719838355457?s=21
14. greywarshark 14

    24 June 2020 at 12:55 pm

    This Australian farmers initiative is raising funds and worth supporting. It's one of the few positive things coming out of Australia at present. As all of we townies know, farmers are all-knowing and custodians of the land and wouldn't do anything that would harm it, wouldn't make sense would it?

    However there may be some farmers who aren't really aware of what they could do better. I think that Australians are getting behind this group with new practices that they have proved work, and so are becoming more effective and more sustainable. Why they may become better at farming than we are, and burst that happy little thought bubble that has been floating above NZ heads for yonks.

    So find out what they are doing, the farming fraternity in both countries may yet be able to turn around and adopt better ways that allow them to last out long droughts and high temperatures – Australians farming inland know about those, and we have had a regional taste in recent years.

    https://themullooninstitute.org/donate

    https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#inbox/FMfcgxwJWXQcJfqjJtSqLfBhdBNMPwJD

    It's drawing people in to tell the story. So why not take the opportunity to listen?

    https://themullooninstitute.org/

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsJjHtfJv1c

    (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1woTLy4m2uw

    (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRPsS_Y36zM
15. observer 15

    24 June 2020 at 2:41 pm

    Woodhouse gets clobbered in Parliament at Question Time and starts to backtrack. This, only hours after Muller was on TV insisting Woodhouse was telling the truth.

    It is simply not good enough to shrug and "move on", the media have happily spread the lie, now they need to follow it up and spread the facts.
    • ianmac 15.1

      24 June 2020 at 3:47 pm

      They seem to be saying that the info came from inside the Health Department. A good exchange of question and answer on QT today ridiculing Woodhouse included across the whole 3minutes. of Q5

      https://ondemand.parliament.nz/parliament-tv-on-demand/?itemId=213277
    • RedBaronCV 15.2

      24 June 2020 at 4:07 pm

      Maybe Muller has a deep laid plan to basically kneecap Woodhouse. He keeps supporting him until the allegations prove false then he dumps on him hard, moves him down list places, out of shadow roles etc. Does Woodhouse belong to the same Nact faction as Muller or is he on the far right Judith Collins side?

      Popcorn is toasting.
16. James 16

    24 June 2020 at 8:10 pm

    I look forward on labour campaigning on how they can deliver ….. anything they promise.

    [TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
    
    • solkta 16.1

      24 June 2020 at 8:21 pm

      At least ya won't get spaghetti and pineapple.
    • Drowsy M. Kram 16.2

      24 June 2020 at 8:30 pm

      Tbh, I'd settle for Labour and National not campaigning on lies.

      Find the $11.7 billion fiscal hole – come on boy, find it!
      https://thestandard.org.nz/about-the-7-5-billion-surplus/
    • weka 16.3

      24 June 2020 at 9:00 pm

      Nice to see you again James. You know better than to troll my posts though.
17. greywarshark 17

    24 June 2020 at 9:03 pm

    edit
    Dear me.

    But is Britain’s sensible, silent majority now awakening from its slumber? Could it be that Poole and Oxford are the first signs of a great conservative fightback?…Sensible small-c conservatism is the prevailing view in Britain – the Tories must not forget this

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/06/11/poole-oxford-seeing-first-stirrings-silent-majority/

    There are some statues toppled which I think should be thought about rather than Taliban-like torn down in a flurry. But while Conservatives are rallying themselves for a cause, could they do something about the inroads that neolib is having on the UK lower class? If they have a vestige of pride and care for their fellow citizens in their great country, then employ it on behalf of those suffering very poor conditions and treatment from govt.

    Further from UK.
    First they came for Little Britain and I shrugged and said: “Fair enough, I suppose – although they could have just edited out the dodgy sketches and left the rest.”…

    Yes, a week of Black Lives Matter-inspired purging of British comedies featuring white performers in blackface has reached its nadir with news that “The Germans” episode of Fawlty Towers has been removed from UKTV’s archives.

    It’s a move as misguided as Basil Fawlty mounting a stuffed moose head on the wall or thrashing his Austin Countryman with a tree branch….
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/0/ze-germans-can-see-joke-fawlty-towers-earth-cant/
18. Eco Maori 18

    25 June 2020 at 6:30 pm

    Kia Ora

    Newshub.

    Learning more about Aotearoa history.

    Drones spotting Sharks it's cool how new technologies changes the Papatuanuku..

    Ka kite Ano.
19. Eco Maori 19

    25 June 2020 at 7:28 pm

    Kia Ora

    Te Ao Maori Marama.

    Its good to see more Wahine Shearing the leadership roles.

    Cartoons being made in Te reo is good.

    Ka kite Ano.
20. Eco Maori 20

    26 June 2020 at 8:48 am

    Kia Ora

    The Am Show.

    That's great.

    Duncan you can't count.

    The Labour lead government has handled the virus issues much better than the previous government could dream of.

    Ka kite Ano.
21. Eco Maori 21

    26 June 2020 at 6:31 pm

    Kia Ora

    Newshub.

    A tornado wow.

    That's good to hear Tova.

    That's the way welcome home be kind.

    Ka kite Ano.
22. Eco Maori 22

    26 June 2020 at 7:28 pm

    Kia Ora

    Te Ao Maori Marama.

    I just hope Maori journalists get more putea for their mahi.

    Toi tu toi ora contemporary art looks awesome is is great to see more Maori toi.

    Ka kite Ano.
23. Eco Maori 23

    27 June 2020 at 6:54 pm

    Kia Ora

    Newshub.

    Yes lawyers can chew through the cash in litigation cases.

    That's is cool the timelaps video of the Sun.

    Ka kite Ano

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