Yes and you have to pay when it's a required procedure. The system can reject you even going on the waiting list.
There's far too much of that ! Surgeons have expressed to private patients they should've been already via public. Some fixing dhb botched efforts even.
In the regions, like Northland , this has been the case for many years….we are waiting on surgery from the same surgeon. be it public or private , and the private ones get the jump on those provided by New Zealand's free health system.
Seen it frequently – medical specialists engaging in cartel behaviour by charging very high prices that can be leveraged through private insurance – the consumer buys insurance or faces painful delay.
The profession also restricts access into the profession and then again into specialist colleges. Many people perfectly intellectually capable of being doctors, and who would love to be doctors, can't get admission to medical schools.
Short-term fix would be to pay the Cubans to train a thousand or so (including specialists) for us – then import them to work in the public sector.
Yeah but, I had to get a hip op with a 7 month wait because there is only so much money allocated to hip operations, so I paid for it myself because it would cost me more to employ someone for 8 months or so to run my farm, I dont have health insurance because I'm 70 and 3 years premiums is about the same money, 21K. BTW, because I got it done just as I needed a stick to walk, I was able to be back on the tractor after 2 weeks and full on after 4 weeks, the extra 6-7 months on public would have meant not being able to walk on the farm like 10 years before for the other leg.
If everybody, particularly us old buggers, got what they wanted right now the health bill would be stratospheric with ironicly a lot of waste, its complex why' but having huge numbers of highly trained and expensive specialist medical staff hanging around doing SFA in times of little demand is one reason and no, an orthopedic surgeon can not do bypasses or brain surgery. Sure the wait is twice as long as it needs to be but there aren't that many surgeons about.
Anyway the thing that surprised me was that the actual surgeons charge was only about 20-25% of the bill, now if you get a free one you don't see the breakdown of the costs, things like overnight stays in a private hospital are expensive ( but about the same as public maybe even cheaper ) although surprisingly only about the cost of a nights quarantine at the moment. I cut my bill down by doing a runner on the second day, you can be quite quick on crutches, must have been the drugs.
Private practice does serve a purpose by taking a load of the public system.
The only thing that I would change is a tax break for people who pay for themselves, maybe not nessecarily those with insurance, in my case I saved the government 20k or so, happy to do so even though I couldn't really afford it ( I drive a 4th-hand 20 year old car ) but it was going to cost me that anyway and ironicly if I had employed a manager if one could have been found I would have gotten tax relief on those expenses.
Specialists have huge expenses, their insurance costs are well over 100kp/a, there is a compulsory retraining period every year which they pay for themselves and generally a nurse or office person as well and they don't start earning until late 30s. It is a mugs game. Although I did appreciate the Maserati parked outside though I think the Toyota Corolla was my mans one.
Sure – it's more complex than my mischievous Cuban suggestion implies. But the reason we have such marked inequality is because some people can get into privileged positions where they can indulge in cartel behaviour, price gouging and ticket clipping, externalisation of their costs onto the public, or feast on income streams derived solely from the ownership of assets. And other people can't – and whether you can or can't bears little or no relation to effort, skill, or contribution to society.
Agreed AB but the cost of a surgeon is a world price and there is a world shortage. A Cuban would be a good surgeon no doubt but for your safety his English would have to be first class and his knowledge of Aus/NZ practice sharpened up and of course he would still have to pay for his own insurance because if he made a fuck up ACC would be on his case so I'll bet your Cuban would pretty soon be nailing down the world price for his efforts.
"Seen it frequently – medical specialists engaging in cartel behaviour by charging very high prices that can be leveraged through private insurance – the consumer buys insurance or faces painful delay."
That's the American system that the likes of Goldsmith and other Tories would like to see in this country
Why do you think the health system has been rundown with shit descovered in the walls of hospitals when this administration took over?
with private insurance two years ago i waited ….. six week for an appointment, three weeks for a scan, three weeks for an appointment, three weeks for the steroid injection.
i have frozen shoulder syndrom. Getting of the drugs was nice.
But when you only have one specialist per town you wait. With or without insurance.
So it is not about having a surgeon available, it is about the capacity within the public health system.
To avoid privatisation there needs to be a criteria a person reaches that they can access funding to have the treatment done privately but the government pays.
Those who have private health insurance would not like this. People are dying on the waiting list or when they are acute the surgery may be best done when not acute. Surgeon may recommend surgery in a month, 4-5 months go by and finally surgery but other factors can come into play underlying health issues not related to the actual surgery.
Also problems occur with referrals, and people die needlessly.
So it is not about having a surgeon available, it is about the capacity within the public health system.
Nope. The public health system would have the capacity – if the doctors weren't moonlighting for the private sector to make a higher profit for themselves. The effect of this is that the people on the public waiting lists are there longer.
To avoid privatisation there needs to be a criteria a person reaches that they can access funding to have the treatment done privately but the government pays.
Simpler, and better, to just get rid of the private system. Its existence is only making the whole system worse. The people dying on the public waiting lists are doing so because of the private system.
Were surgeons paid enough in the public health system there would be no need to operate else where. So the capacity problem is the payment for the surgeon's service.
About 20 years ago I heard that a person could have private surgery at say Wakefield hospital and require an ICU bed and be transferred from Wakefield hospital to Wellington ICU.
If so an ICU bed would need to be available at a public hospital for a private operation.
Possibly a private hospital now has their own ICU or high risk procedures are not carried out in a private hospital.
Certainly Middlemore has a steady flow of botched private sector operations to fix, some terrible cases, and if you have a heart attack on the private sector operating tables you get rushed to the public system.
The private sector does a narrow range of operations with a narrow range of equipment. Mainly stuff that has a private demand and is profitable.
Those who run down the public sector health system don't mind it when they have their major car accident or heart attack or stroke. The fact is that the private system doesn't have to meet the costs of major surgery, an accident and emergency system or really risky stuff like major back surgery.
The public system doesn't have to meet the cost of vanity surgery like face-lifts (though as noted they do sometimes have to fix the poor outcomes when they occur) and if the wealthy can bypass the public system by paying to go private that does help.
Where I object is the public system winding down stuff they used to do as a matter of course like varicose vein surgery or breast reduction surgery where these are needed in the expectation that you will now get that down privately. I also mind the surgeons insisting on and charging for things like "compulsory consults" in the public system for things like grommet operations after a GP referral when in the private system they will simply take the GP referral direct. Such consults are a good slice of pocket money.
I don't mind them working in both either – there is a public good in having private sector surgeons develop and maintain expertise beyond the narrow range of private sector operations. It is part of the countries resilience building should severe things happen.
Awful to say this, the transfer with a cardiac arrest would be so no liability.
I thought public hospitals have there own insurance and I know they can tap into ACC.
Do you know anything about hospitals having insurance?
I have dealt with the HDC, coroner and a DHB. I have been blocked with ACC as the person did not have an executor. A day of reflection today as the anniversary of the death and the case is in bits, not active and no decision and ongoing investigation required.
In my case coroner did not even look at the ACC treatment injury form which is inaccurate and person came back from injury repair dying. Neither did coroner look at what the vascular surgeon said and injury was worse than what ICU put on the ACC form. ICU have misled ACC. No post mortem. The way a coroner can close a file without next of kin permission is not right, a family representative had the say on file being closed as letter was not addressed to next of kin. Everything that could have gone wrong did. A dead person has very few rights.
So when it comes to medical misadventure there is misadventure from those whose job it is to ensure everything which led to the death was looked into.
I know how the medical system and ACC operate. I have had dealings with both over many years and I am not a giver upper when I know I am being bull shitted to and mucked about. I do get pissed off with medical issues wasting my time but someone needs to take action against the flaws in the rubbish system.
I am about to apply for legal aid for a dead man once I find the right lawyer.
This is the way that NZ fills its medical needs – has done for a long time. It contracts with surgeons etc for part of their time, then they also have the private patients. That way top-class people can earn a decent income, and we have up to the minute techniques available.
What you say even happens with a surgeon/specialists consultation.
After ACC heavily grills you, (the branch medical advisor)private surgeons and private specialists are then funded to give treatment. Some surgeons and specialists are on a good wicket with ACC and they have the say over whether or not the injury will be treated.
Frank Macskacy has summed-up the situation very well:
"National will lose in September. And most likely in 2023 if the pandemic has not been defeated. Their laissez faire approach to government and economics has been revealed to be utterly inappropriate for the challenges in the Age of the Virus.
National has been caught out – like the proverbial possum frozen in the glare of oncoming headlights – as the human race struggles to adapt to the new norm of responding to the spread of contagion.
There is an inexorable inevitability to how politics has begun to change radically with the advent of a global pandemic."
Under MMP parties don't win or lose elections. Last election National won but lost, Labour lost but won, Greens came fourth and won their first stint in Government, and NZ First came third but somehow won the management of coalition negotiations and a disproportionate amount of Cabinet negotiations.
It's hard enough predicting what will happen in two months.
Trying to predict what will have happened with Covid, the economy, employment, how Labour will be doing, and who will be the leader of National by 2023 is a meaningless mug's game.
Only for those people who still can't adjust their brains to the electoral logistics of the MMP system that a clear majority of citizens voted for in the mid 1990s.
It makes perfectly good sense if you substitute the word 'winning' for 'gained the most votes'. It's not the information that's awry so much as the attitude
If you post your measurements @ Pete, I'll get out the Elna (actually a Brother with all the stitches), and run you up a lovely linen beige leisure suit for the summer. I feel the need to exercise my feminine side a little more (in this space going forward).
I might even extend to a pale blue number for @Wayne as well for his next rent-a-voice gig on the weekend 'incisive, and in-depth' mover and shaker TV Currant Fears "shows".
It'd all be quite entrepreneurial doncha think? I might even become a regular thing.
And I will crochet a nice Bennie and a shoulder bag for Pete and Wayne. No trouble as I have the time and they are very fortunate that the only colours of wool I have are light and dark blue. Don't worry I have enough balls of wool (30) I unravelled 2 good second hand jumpers I got from the op shop.
If the beige leisure suit clashes with the blue Bennie and shoulder bag Pete can wear them on separate days.
Vietnam – 413 cases of Covid-19 so far, no deaths, in a population of 98 million (from Worldometer data), has now banned all wildlife imports , dead or alive – a major source of zoonotic diseases. Vietnam must be the quiet, world leader in Covid-19 response.
Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia all have low infection and death rates, in an article yesterday Guardian ? New Scientist? the assumption is that as this is the area where Horseshoe Bats are native and endemic the locals may have an immunity built up over hundreds of years to corona type viruses. There is also no reason to suspect the numbers, there hasn't been an increase in funerals. Also it is now suspected that this is where it mutated and transferred to the Wuhan market.
It's getting them from point of entry to the 'facility'. That's manageable for Hamilton and Rotorua with a single bus trip. Going much further and all sorts of complications arise, which evidently became a factor in discarding Dunedin,and one of the many that ruled out Queenstown. There's also the problems of dealing with an infected person that requires hospitalisation.
longer term we will need facilities adapted for purpose. Hacking hotels is a good interim measure, but I'm betting that improved design will make the process better for people in Q. Here's hoping they focus on that as well as the security issues.
With the sense of entitlement some have I'd suggest the Chateau Tongariro. It has been used previously for health reasons – rehabilitating soldiers, asylum!
I don't think that people should be put off from putting their ideas forward because it has been on the media previously. Perhaps just give them a link of the source and they might come up with something even better, or add to the previous ideas. Squashing pesky insects personally is the preferred organic way, but let's not be organically destructive about people with ideas.
No squashing intended. Relaying an angle I'd seen discussed (but could not remember enough to link) and ended up just echoing Graeme at 5.1 to some extent.
Clearly, it is a one person noisy bucket, dragged around by Winston Peters who happens to be, Deputy PM of our NZ Parliament. He has his failings. So do I.
He reminds me of a very old greywarshark stalking around in a stuffy old dirty museum.
He has a friend in there – called Trotter. Who seems to be slipping away, having numerous weird upsets over tiny Lefties who refuse to sign up for War.
Being a Lawyer, our Deputy Prime Minister for one reason or another, failed some time back to pay considerable monies, belonging to the Citizens of New Zealand.
For which he blamed quite a number of Politicians – and said so out loud.
Being a Lawyer, he is able to accuse any number of Politicians, because he is free to name whom he wants in the Chamber.
Joe Blow – has no such Freedom.
I am not suggesting that greywarsharks are Lawyers – but I am tempted. However, I quickly realise that our messy greywarshark knows everything and is always right. Inside and out. He's a nice old thing.
While I appreciate anyone attempting to do political analysis about Peters, I'm not entirely sure what you are trying to say here, and I'm not seeing the connection with greywarshark other than to somehow diss her. Please leave the personal stuff out of your comments.
Hey that's not true, I don't know everything just a lot about some of the things I write about. And I like to cast my net wider than just thinking about myself and my preferences, so take an interest in what's going on around me, trying to be informed. That is all!
unless it can't or the people organising it won't. Not an excuse to break Q. We do need to adopt new cultural practices around funerals and grieving, and adapt.
some people manage change better than others. Having new cultural practices as the norm should help (rather than having to adapt personally under stress, which not everyone is good at).
I'm sill in favour of prosecuting people who abscond as well.
I suspect police holding facilities and prisons are not well equipped to deal with the health aspects of covid testing and possible infection. Doubtless we will find out more about how they got out; sadly it may make it harder for future "bubbles" in isolation to be able to gather together.
I could have said 'holding cell' – point is that they have forfeited usual justice process by breaching isolation. Needs to be a strong signal to other returnees that the consequences are immediate and firm. No bail, no returning to a hotel.
The risk of killing many many people is still pretty low though. Compare to someone drink and reckless driving and hitting a bus load of people maybe. If the person gets caught before they hit the bus, what happens to them that day?
I agree about strong signals, and I'll be curious as to why they're being returned to Q. But if we have another outbreak, we want people to feel good about going into isolation, be willing to be honest about symptoms, so I think there is a fine line between making Q a good experience or a punitive one.
Maybe hefty instant fines would straddle that line.
PaddyOT, why are you conflating the NZ situation with the US one when they are obviously very, very different? We have containment and contact tracing processes in place, better than we did when we had community transmission. The chances of mass deaths from a Q absconder is very low because of all the work we've done to date. This is the opposite of the US situation.
Maybe have them sign paperwork that holds them liable for the cost of the quarantine, the cost of retrieving them and hte cost of returning them to the quarantine centre should they break quarantine.
* 5 as in this case and you are quickly talking about money.
What about kindness and set up skype for them. Families sticking together and being co-operative will help us through our future travails, they are supposed to be important until apparently the state says they aren't, to it. We have the technology, where there is a will there's a way; we aren't trying to get to the moon which apparently the world can afford.
Surely the children would have just followed the mother, or the mother would have expected them to. Mother therefore not leading by example.
Surely 'someone' should be talking to Maori elders to get around the impasse caused by unattainable, for the moment, cultural norms so
funerals can be delayed
bodies embalmed to allow for this
Lower the expectation that families are expected to fling themselves across the world to go to tangi etc etc. it must be costing overseas NZ families $1000s to be here.
Generally children are not to be interned in Jail. There are secure facilities for children but they are not prisons.
Under the Sentencing Act 2002, a child or young person under 17 cannot be sentenced to prison or home detention unless they commit a Category 4 offence (e.g. murder, manslaughter, crimes against the State) or an offence where the maximum penalty is 14 years imprisonment or more.
Such a small group that I doubt there are useful patterns. Best to focus on the behaviour and modify that, which is the current approach (eg: station people at each site with power to arrest).
I agree at this stage but given this situation is likely to continue for some time, then an analysis might ultimately become useful for those who are in charge of these facilities and keeping the occupants inside them.
You would need dozens of escapes to see a statistically significant pattern that could be relied on to drive policy responses. It seems they are responding promptly enough to each one that arises.
As it has elsewhere in the world, the coronavirus found a hole in Australia’s system: It spread in part because of the sharing of a cigarette lighter among security guards working at a hotel where returning international travelers are being quarantined. Along with this the other vulnerabilities were quarantine hotel workers returning home to families and spreading the virus. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/world-australia-53259356
Returned NZers as Escapees may not be the next cause of another outbreak.
Some nurses who have been doing clinics in quarantine hotels here, are then going back to their shifts at hospitals. AND that these nurses working in our quarantine hotels are not mandatorily required to wear full PPE.
I would like to have some analysis about those returning full stop.
Ages
Groupings ie families singles, couples
how long away
are they returning to a home/job
where they have been living until now and for how long
do they hold PR or citizenship anywhere else.
But then I am nosy & cynical. It would certainly help allay my fear that many will be coming to rest & recuperate, possibly with the help of the social welfare system here before leaving again to go 'home' when the rest of the world settles down. So I am sceptical that they coming here with the idea of helping us get through the next bit of NZ's response to Covid-19 and that is to take the opportunity to make NZ a better place.
Air Commodore Darryn Webb has revealed the group of five entered New Zealand from Brisbane on flight NZ146 on July 21. Webb said the family's request for an exemption from isolation to attend the family member's funeral was refused because they had not been administered a day-3 Covid-19 test.
A further request was made yesterday to view the body of the deceased relative, which the Ministry of Health was working to organise, Webb said. These discussions were occurring with iwi, Maori wardens, and police.
Webb said the family was told their application was "looking positive" last night and that a decision would be made by 8pm.
At 6:58pm yesterday people were seen climbing over the perimeter fence of the Distinction Hotel.
They had flown over from Brisbane after the children’s father suffered a stroke and died on July 20.
…
The mother scrambled to create a new plan and eventually organised with hotel staff, police and Defence Force security staff for the man’s body to be taken to an empty facility nearby where the family could view the body for one hour, she said.
However, the plan was dependent on approval from the Ministry of Health, which kept pushing back the time it promised to give her an answer by, she said.
Clearly there were specific circumstances with this family, quite different from the previous individual instances, which only highlights how the instant simplistic "solutions" really aren't helpful. Countdown guy in Auckland was an idiot taking selfies, the one in Ellerslie had "issues" that required mental health workers, and this was a family desperate to go to a funeral, the reason they had returned to NZ.
Somebody at the press conference suggested ankle bracelets. Woods did well to answer it patiently, without rolling her eyes. Having something on (implanted in?) your body doesn't stop you moving. You don't get immobilised. That's a sci-fi movie.
I don't like the idea of ankle bracelets for people that haven't been convicted of a crime, but isn't the point of them that they notify the police if someone leaves the hotel? In real time.
Their application looking positive and decision at 8pm. Officials working hard to try and accomodate grieving family, then they blow it. If they are only here for the funeral, send them back right away. We did not need these types wasting police time and resourses. Name them, name and imprison their accomplices…………..
Many people will miss out on funerals. Many people did before Covid. Half my family overseas when a parent died and they chose not to come back, but we would have held the funeral for them. Plenty of help for people grieving e.g. counselling. Attending a funeral does't guarantee you don't have a complicated grief response.leave…..
What completely irresponsible people. I have no sympathy that they will miss out now
Yes Anker. These totally irresponsible idiots need a really hard lesson but so did those that aided and abetted the escape. The interview with the father of the dead person's only regret was that the family didn't succesfully escape. It is more than clear that these fwits should be hauled before the courts and punished. But the reality is that they won't be because they are maori. And that is racist. Justice should be colour blind but it isn't.
Bullshit. The people that aided and abetted these fwits have, to my knowledge, not been charged. My point to you and solkta is that despite clear evidence that people have acted to aid and abet that there is no charge because of "cultural sensitivity". CRAP.
You’re free to believe whatever you want to but you have zero evidence that those who aided the absconders have not been charged because they are Māori and “cultural sensitivity”. Your strong language won’t change that fact.
I doubt the Police have or could get enough evidence to convict anybody who helped these people. I doubt they even know who was involved. The four were arrested before they met up with their accomplice(s) and the one who made it to Auckland gave himself up.
If you know something more then please share it. Otherwise you are just talking out your arse.
Goodgrief ffs we don't even know who aided and abetted these people, i.e. if they were Maori……….when I posted my comment I didn't know the family were Maori and frankly IMHO it is irrelevant. Your speculation that they didn't charge the enablers because they were Maori is unacceptable.
The Judge gave this woman a very stern warning. I am disappointed the media published her side and the 17 years side of why they absconded. Its a pandemic. They would have known the might not get compassionate leave. The 17 year old got to see his father, but by absconding they prevented the other kids from doing this.
People can still grieve the loss of a parent without attending a funeral. This debacle created by the children's mother has made it so much worse for them
If the mother found it so important that her kids were close to their father, why did she haul them off to Queensland?
Or perhaps they were all there at one point but he was deported. In that case they can blame the Australian government.
Further evidence that Australia and Australian people simply do not get Coronavirus. The slack attitude of the AUS government and people is why nearly 50 people have died after they supposedly beat Covid.
Their surge in deaths is almost 50% of their initial deaths.
And to think we had the Plan-B people here backed in tone by the National Party claiming Australia got it right.
Make no mistake, if the National Party are the next government, Covid 19 will re-enter New Zealand
Her own actions have likely prevented closure for her children…………..What a bloody awful performance she has put her kids through.
Sometimes we don't always get what we think we need to get especially in a pandemic…….I know of many people in really bad situations because of this pandemic……………
Easy for us to say and judge from the sideline and the comfort of our keyboards. Until we walk in her shoes we have no idea what she was feeling let alone thinking; it must have been awful. Apparently, she tried to do the best for her children. I’d hazard a guess that better communication with and between the authorities might have prevented the whole thing from happening. The response: more security 🙁
Doing the best for your children in a pandemic under these circumstances, imho involves supporting them in their grief in Queensland as travelling during a pandemic with quarantine meant their trip was problematic from the get go.(no guarantee of getting compassionate leave). So she put her children through a horrendous trip with two weeks in quarantine. Just as they were waiting on a decision about getting to see the body, she decided to break the law and abscond by breaking open a window and climbing over a very high fence. Possibly one of them could have fallen and injured themselves or worst. Then put her children in the position when they were arrested by the police, while her 17 year old was on the run with police helicopter hovering. One child saw his fathers body, the others didn't. Then they appear in court and get a very stern message from the judge. I think these were very very poor choices for her children. She has also taught her children you don't need to worry about rules, if you really want to do something, just do it, break the law and risk arrest. Actually as I write this, I think this woman has shown appalling judgement.
I reserve no sympathy for any absconders. They are prioritizing themselves over everyone else in a pandemic, including the poor bloody police who have to arrest them, not knowing whether they have covid.
James Shaw throwing some shade on Winston Peters and NZF. Subtle zen vibe to Peters' brass knuckles.
"Ultimately the constellation of parties that make up the next Government is a result of the election," said Shaw, asked whether he'd be happy to work with NZ First again.
"That really is up to the voters of New Zealand… We have done an enormous amount in the last three years. Yes, there have been things we didn't get over the line – but in terms of the things that we did get over the line, we actually did get those things through as a result of our partnership with NZ First.
"It's not been comfortable at times – they have been a chaotic and disorganised partner in Government at times, but actually, you know, ultimately I think the people of New Zealand will judge what will make up the next Government. I'm pretty confident that we'll be in a position to form a Government with Labour."
Colbert on Trump last night. It's not the cognitive test Trump explains that's the only farcical take but a little bit further in the video is Trump's evaluation on the qualities of Dr. Deborah Birx.
Tiwai – there was a discussion yesterday about the power being freed up. Has the Government ensured that the extra supply being freed up will be used in the national interest by cancelling resource permits or some such if it is not?
I wouldn't put it past any power company to sign up to supply some dodgy enterprise so long as the return was sufficent to keep the executive salaries up.
At current share prices Meridian and Genesis (half of each) is about $7 billion. Makes you wonder if restoring state ownership, merging and the reducing power prices so benefits went further would not be a massively good investment. At some point privatisation should get push back otherwise every right wing government just sells more.
I wouldn't put it past any power company to sign up to supply some dodgy enterprise so long as the return was sufficent to keep the executive salaries up.
Business pay less per kw/h than residential so you'd think that they'd be keen to get that extra from residential users.
At some point privatisation should get push back otherwise every right wing government just sells more.
There was push-back but the government sold it off any way. As I say, we don't have a democracy – we have an elected dictatorship.
True but there was also a referendum showing that most people didn't want him to do that. If we were a democracy he, and the rest of National, would have changed those plans.
I'm not thinking of just push back at the time but actually looking at undoing some of this after the right is voted out. ACC has been about the only thing where the left made it very clear that they would renationalise if it was sold and losses would not be compensated for. We have things like the Hamilton prison that is a 35? year privatisation contract and it just gets left. It becomes a one way street with more and more going into the private sector.
Imagine the outrage from the right if say the teachers in public schools all worked for the one company that they owned. And a left government signed a 35 year contract with the company complete with manning formula's and wage escalation and site agreements so that future governments were committed to it.
Yea, well it's about time All infrastructure entities were (re)nationalized, back to the peoples' benefit. Lets see how socialist, Labour can be in the next 3 terms of government, let's see shades of Big Norm come through.
We've had our deliberations about our reactions to sexual misconduct by pollies, whether we're too tough or not tough enough. But things could be waaaay worse.
Let those words sink in and then let us revisit the things Bill O’Reilly said about Dr. George Tiller before Dr. Tiller was actually assassinated in 2009.
According to Salon O’Reilly brought up Dr. Tiller 27 times on his national show over four years (from 2005 to 2009 before Dr. Tiller was murdered). That’s almost seven times a year or every two months.
Here are some of the ways O’Reilly targeted Dr. Tiller on his national platform:
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Rob MacCullough writes – Here is my subjective ranking on a “most-left” to “most-right” scale of most of our major NZ Universities, with some anecdotal (and at times amusing) evidence to back up the claim.Extreme Left Auckland University of TechnologyEvidenceThe ...
Eric Crampton writes – I hadn’t thought about this one until a helpful email showed up in my inbox.It’s pretty obvious that income tax thresholds should automatically index with inflation – whether to anchor the thresholds in percentiles of the income distribution, or to anchor against a real ...
Jacqui Van Der Kaay writes – Parliament’s speaker had no option but to refer Green MP Julie Anne Genter to the Privileges Committee for her behaviour in the House last Wednesday evening. The incident, in which she crossed the floor to wave a book and yell at National ...
Gary Judd writes – The Dean of the law school at the Auckland University of Technology is someone called Khylee Quince. I have been sent her social media posting in which she has, over the LawNews headline “Senior King’s Counsel files complaint about compulsory tikanga Maori studies for ...
Cleo Paskal writes – WASHINGTON, D.C.: ‘Many of us have received phone calls from [the opposing camp] telling them if they join the camp they will be given projects for their wards and $300,000 [around US$35,000] each’, says former Malaita Premier Daniel Suidani. The elections in Solomon Islands aren’t ...
With hindsight, it was inevitable that (a) Hamas would agree to the ceasefire deal brokered by Egypt and Qatar and that ( b) Israel would then immediately launch attacks on Rafah, regardless. We might have hoped the concessions made by Hamas would cause Israel to desist from slaughtering thousands more ...
Placards and mourners outside the Kilbirnie Mosque following the Christchurch terror attack: MSD has terminated the Kaiwhakaoranga service, which has been used by 415 families since the attacks. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: The Government’s pledge to only cut ‘back office’ staff rather than ‘frontline’ services is on increasingly shaky ground, with ...
There’s been a few smaller public transport announcements over the last week or so that I thought I’d cover in a single post. Fareshare I’ve long called for Auckland Transport to offer a way to enable employer-subsidised public transport options. The need for this took on even more importance ...
Parliament’s speaker had no option but to refer Green MP Julie Anne Genter to the Privileges Committee for her behaviour in the House last Wednesday evening. The incident, in which she crossed the floor to wave a book and yell at National Minister Matt Doocey, reflects poorly on Genter and ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Who likes being sneered at? Nobody. Worse yet, when the sneerer has their facts all wrong, and might well be an idiot.The sneer in question is The adults are in charge now, and it is a sneer offered in retort to criticism of this new Government, no matter how well ...
When in government, Labour pushed to extend the Parliamentary term to four years, to reduce accountability and our ability to vote out a bad government. And now, they're trying to do it through the member's ballot, with a Four-Year Parliamentary Term Legislation Bill. The bill at least requires a referendum ...
A ballot for a single Member's Bill was held today, and the following bill was drawn: Public Works (Prohibition of Compulsory Acquisition of Māori Land) Amendment Bill (Hūhana Lyndon) The bill would prevent the government from stealing Māori land in breach of Te Tiriti o Waitangi. It ...
Simeon Brown, alongside Wayne Brown, is favouring a political figleaf now in exchange for loading up tens of millions in extra interest costs on Auckland ratepayers. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Ratings agency Standard & Poor’s is pushing back hard at suggestions from Local Government Minister Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown ...
Buzz from the Beehive One headline-grabber from the Beehive yesterday was the OECD’s advice that the government must bring the Budget deficit under control or face higher interest rates. Another was the announcement of a $1.9 billion “investment” in Corrections over the next four years. In the best interests of ...
Chris Trotter writes – Had Zheng He’s fleet sailed east, not west, in the early Fifteenth Century, how different our world would be. There is little reason to suppose that the sea-going junks of the Ming Dynasty, among the largest and most sophisticated sailing vessels ever constructed, would have failed ...
David Farrar writes – Two articles give a useful contrast in balance. Both seek to be neutral explainer articles. This one in the Herald on Social Investment covers the pros and cons nicely. It links to critical pieces and talks about aspects that failed and aspects that are more ...
The tikanga regulations will compel law students to be taught that a system which does not conform with the rule of law is nevertheless law which should be observed and applied…Gary Judd KC writes – I have made a complaint to Parliament’s Regulation ...
The future of Te Huia, the train between Hamilton and Auckland, has been getting a lot of attention recently as current funding for it is only in place till the end of June. The government initially agreed to a five year trial, through to April 2026, but that was subject ...
TL;DR: Hamas has just agreed to Israel’s ceasefire plan. Nelson hospital’s rebuild has been cut back to save money. The OECD suggests New Zealand break up network monopolies, including in electricity. PM Christopher Luxon’s news conference on a prison expansion announcement last night was his messiest yet.Here’s my top six ...
A homicide in Ponsonby, a manhunt with a killer on the run. The nation’s leader stands before a press conference reassuring a frightened nation that he’ll sort it out, he’ll keep them safe, he’ll build some new prison spaces.Sorry what? There’s a scary dude on the run with a gun ...
Hi,I know it’s been awhile since there’s been any Webworm merch — and today that all changes!Over the last four months, I’ve been working with New Zealand artist Jess Johnson to create a series of t-shirts, caps and stickers that are infused with Webworm DNA — and as of right ...
The OECD’s chief economist yesterday laid it on the line for the new Government: bring the deficit under control or face higher Reserve Bank interest rates for longer. And to bring the deficit under control, she meant not borrowing for tax cuts. But there was more. Without policy changes—introducing a ...
After a hiatus of over four months Selwyn Manning and I finally got it together to re-start the “A View from Afar” podcast series. We shall see how we go but aim to do 2 episodes per month if possible. … Continue reading → ...
In 2008, the UK Parliament passed the Climate Change Act 2008. The law established a system of targets, budgets, and plans, with inbuilt accountability mechanisms; the aim was to break the cycle of empty promises and replace it with actual progress towards emissions reduction. The law was passed with near-universal ...
Buzz from the Beehive Local Water Done Well – let’s be blunt – is a silly name, but the first big initiative to put it into practice has gone done well. This success is reflected in the headline on an RNZ report:District mayors welcome Auckland’s new water deal with ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate ConnectionsA farmworker cleans the solar panels of a solar water pump in the village of Jagadhri, Haryana Country, India. (Photo credit: Prashanth Vishwanathan/ IWMI) Decisions made in India over the next few years will play a key role in global ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – The Children’s Minister, Karen Chhour, intends to repeal Section 7AA from the Oranga Tamariki Act 1989 because it creates conflict between claimed Crown Treaty obligations and the child’s best interests. In her words, “Oranga Tamariki’s governing principles and its act should be colour ...
Geoffrey Miller writes – The gloves are off. That might seem to be the undertone of surprisingly tough talk from New Zealand’s foreign and trade ministers. Winston Peters, the foreign minister, may be facing legal action after making allegations about former Australian foreign minister Bob Carr on Radio New Zealand. ...
Brian Easton writes – This is about the time that the Treasury will be locking up its economic forecasts to be published in the 2024 Budget Economic and Fiscal Update (BEFU) on budget day, 30 May. I am not privy to what they will be (I will report on them ...
TL;DR:Winston Peters is reported to have won a budget increase for MFAT. David Seymour wanted his Ministry of Regulation to be three times bigger than the Productivity Commission. Simeon Brown is appointing a Crown Monitor to Watercare to protect the Claytons Crown Guarantee he had to give ratings agencies ...
The gloves are off. That might seem to be the undertone of surprisingly tough talk from New Zealand’s foreign and trade ministers. Winston Peters, the foreign minister, may be facing legal action after making allegations about former Australian foreign minister Bob Carr on Radio New Zealand. Carr had made highly ...
I could be a florist'Round the corner from Rye LaneI'll be giving daisies to craziesBut, baby, I'll wrap you up real safe Oh, I can give you flowers At the end of every dayFor the center of your table, a rainbowIn case you have people 'round to stay Depending on ...
TL;DR: The six key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to May 12 include:PM Christopher Luxon is scheduled to hold a post-Cabinet news conference at 4 pm today. Finance Minister Nicola Willis will give a pre-budget speech on Thursday.Parliament sits from Question Time at 2pm on ...
The price of the foreign affairs “reset” is now becoming apparent, with Defence set to get a funding boost in the Budget. Finance Minister Nicola Willis has confirmed that it will be one of the few votes, apart from Health and Education and possibly Police, which will get an increase ...
A listing of 26 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 28, 2024 thru Sat, May 4, 2024. Story of the week "It’s straight out of Big Tobacco’s playbook. In fact, research by John Cook and his colleagues ...
Yesterday I received come lovely feedback following my Star Wars themed newsletter. A few people mentioned they’d enjoyed reading the personal part at the beginning.I often begin newsletters with some memories, or general thoughts, before commencing the main topic. This hopefully sets the mood and provides some context in which ...
April 30 was going to be the day we’d be calling Mum from London to wish her a happy birthday. Then it became the day we would be going to St. Paul's at Evensong to remember her. The aim of the cathedral builders was to find a way to make their ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – Can’t remember the last book by a Kiwi author you read? Think the NZ government should spend less on the arts in favor of helping the homeless? If so, as far as Newsroom is concerned, you probably deserve to be called a cultural ignoramus ...
Eric Crampton writes – Grudges are bad. Better to move on. But it can be fun to keep a couple of really trivial ones, so you’re not tempted to have other ones. For example, because of the rootkit fiasco of 2005, no Sony products in our household. ...
A new report warns an estimated third of the adult population have unmet need for health care.Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāHere’s the six key things I learned about Aotaroa’s political economy this week around housing, climate and poverty:Politics - Three opinion polls confirmed support for PM Christopher Luxon ...
Today is May the fourth. Which was just a regular day when my mother took me to see the newly released Star Wars at the Odeon in Rotorua. The queue was right around the corner. Some years later this day became known as Star Wars Day, the date being a ...
Buzz from the Beehive Much more media attention is being paid to something Winston Peters said about former Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr than to a speech he delivered to the New Zealand China Council. One word is missing from the speech: AUKUS. But AUKUS loomed large in his considerations ...
Is the economy in another long stagnation? If so, why?This is about the time that the Treasury will be locking up its economic forecasts to be published in the 2024 Budget Economic and Fiscal Update (BEFU) on budget day, 30 May. I am not privy to what they will be ...
The annual list of who's been bribing our politicians is out, and journalists will no doubt be poring over it to find the juiciest and dirtiest bribes. The government's fast-track invite list is likely to be a particular focus, and we already know of one company on the list which ...
In the weeks after the October 7 Hamas attacks on Southern Israel I wrote about the possible 2nd, 3rd and even 4th order effects of the conflict. These included new fronts being opened in the West Bank (with Hamas), Golan … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – It is one of the oldest truisms that there is never a good time for MPs to get a pay rise. This week’s announcement of pay raises of around 2.8% backdated to last October could hardly have come at a worse time, with the ...
David Farrar writes – Newshub reports: Newshub can reveal a fresh allegation of intimidation against Green MP Julie-Anne Genter. Genter is subject to a disciplinary process for aggressively waving a book in the face of National Minister Matt Doocey in the House – but it’s not the first time ...
The Treasury has published a paper today on the global productivity slowdown and how it is playing out in New Zealand: The productivity slowdown: implications for the Treasury’s forecasts and projections. The Treasury Paper examines recent trends in productivity and the potential drivers of the slowdown. Productivity for the whole economy ...
Winston Peters’ comments about former Australian foreign minister look set to be an ongoing headache for both him and Luxon. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for subscribers features co-hosts and , along with regular guests on Gaza and ...
These puppet strings don't pull themselvesYou're thinking thoughts from someone elseHow much time do you think you have?Are you prepared for what comes next?The debating chamber can be a trying place for an opposition MP. What with the person in charge, the speaker, typically being an MP from the governing ...
The land around Lyme Regis, where Meryl Streep once stood, in a hood, on the Cobb, is falling into the sea.MerylThe land around Lyme Regis, around the Cobb that made it rich, has always been falling slowly but surely into the sea. Read more ...
Photo by Jari Hytönen on UnsplashIt’s that new day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when and I co-host our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm. Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream for our chat about the week’s news ...
Buzz from the Beehive Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters was bound to win headlines when he set out his thinking about AUKUS in his speech to the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. The headlines became bigger when – during an interview on RNZ’s Morning Report today – he criticised ...
The Post reports on how the government is refusing to release its advice on its corrupt Muldoonist fast-track law, instead using the "soon to be publicly available" refusal ground to hide it until after select committee submissions on the bill have closed. Fast-track Minister Chris Bishop's excuse? “It's not ...
As pressure on it grows, the livestock industry’s approach to the transition to Net Zero is increasingly being compared to that of fossil fuel interests. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / Getty ImagesTL;DR: Here’s the top five news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above ...
The New Zealand Herald reports – Stats NZ has offered a voluntary redundancy scheme to all of its workers as a way to give staff some control over their “future” amidst widespread job losses in the public sector. In an update to staff this morning, seen by the Herald, Statistics New Zealand ...
On Werewolf/Scoop, I usually do two long form political columns a week. From now on, there will be an extra column each week about music and movies. But first, some late-breaking political events:The rise in unemployment numbers for the March quarter was bigger than expected – and especially sharp ...
The Green Party is welcoming the announcement by the Minister Responsible for RMA Reform Chris Bishop to approve most of the Wellington City Council’s District Plan recommendations. ...
David Seymour has failed to get the sweeping cuts he wanted to the free and healthy school lunch programme, Labour education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
Hon Willie Jackson has been invited by the Oxford Union to debate the motion “This House Believes British Museums are not Very British’ on May 23rd. ...
Green Party MP Hūhana Lyndon says her Public Works (Prohibition of Compulsory Acquisition of Māori Land) Amendment Bill is an opportunity to right some past wrongs around the alienation of Māori land. ...
A senior, highly respected King’s Counsel with decades of experience in our law courts, Gary Judd KC, has filed a complaint about compulsory tikanga Māori studies for law students - highlighting the utter depths of absurdity this woke cultural madness has taken our society. The tikanga regulations will compel law ...
The Government needs to be clear with the people of the Nelson Marlborough region about the changes it is considering for the Nelson Hospital rebuild, Labour health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall said. ...
Ministers must front up about which projects it will push through under its Fast Track Approvals legislation, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
The Government is again adding to New Zealand’s growing unemployment, this time cutting jobs at the agencies responsible for urban development and growing much needed housing stock. ...
With Minister Karen Chhour indicating in the House today that she either doesn’t know or care about the frontline cuts she’s making to Oranga Tamariki, we risk seeing more and more of our children falling through the cracks. ...
The Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
Your Excellency Ambassador Meredith, Members of the Diplomatic Corps and Ambassadors from European Union Member States, Ministerial colleagues, Members of Parliament, and other distinguished guests, Thank you everyone for joining us. Ladies and gentlemen - In diplomacy, we often speak of ‘close’ and ‘long-standing’ relations. ...
The Therapeutic Products Act (TPA) will be repealed this year so that a better regime can be put in place to provide New Zealanders safe and timely access to medicines, medical devices and health products, Associate Health Minister Casey Costello announced today. “The medicines and products we are talking about ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop, today released his decision on twenty recommendations referred to him by the Wellington City Council relating to its Intensification Planning Instrument, after the Council rejected those recommendations of the Independent Hearings Panel and made alternative recommendations. “Wellington notified its District Plan on ...
Rape Awareness Week (6-10 May) is an important opportunity to acknowledge the continued effort required by government and communities to ensure that all New Zealanders can live free from violence, say Ministers Karen Chhour and Louise Upston. “With 1 in 3 women and 1 in 8 men experiencing sexual violence ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government will be delivering a more efficient Healthy School Lunches Programme, saving taxpayers approximately $107 million a year compared to how Labour funded it, by embracing innovation and commercial expertise. “We are delivering on our commitment to treat taxpayers’ money ...
New research on the impacts of extreme weather on coastal marine habitats in Tairāwhiti and Hawke’s Bay will help fishery managers plan for and respond to any future events, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. A report released today on research by Niwa on behalf of Fisheries New Zealand ...
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Winston Peters will lead a broad political delegation on a five-stop Pacific tour next week to strengthen New Zealand’s engagement with the region. The delegation will visit Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, and Tuvalu. “New Zealand has deep and ...
There has been a material decline in gas production according to figures released today by the Gas Industry Co. Figures released by the Gas Industry Company show that there was a 12.5 per cent reduction in gas production during 2023, and a 27.8 per cent reduction in gas production in the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins tonight announced the recipients of the Minister of Defence Awards of Excellence for Industry, saying they all contribute to New Zealanders’ security and wellbeing. “Congratulations to this year’s recipients, whose innovative products and services play a critical role in the delivery of New Zealand’s defence capabilities, ...
Welcome to you all - it is a pleasure to be here this evening.I would like to start by thanking Greg Lowe, Chair of the New Zealand Defence Industry Advisory Council, for co-hosting this reception with me. This evening is about recognising businesses from across New Zealand and overseas who in ...
It is a pleasure to be speaking to you as the Minister for Digitising Government. I would like to thank Akolade for the invitation to address this Summit, and to acknowledge the great effort you are making to grow New Zealand’s digital future. Today, we stand at the cusp of ...
New Zealand is urging both Israel and Hamas to agree to an immediate ceasefire to avoid the further humanitarian catastrophe that military action in Rafah would unleash, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The immense suffering in Gaza cannot be allowed to worsen further. Both sides have a responsibility to ...
A new online data dashboard released today as part of the Government’s school attendance action plan makes more timely daily attendance data available to the public and parents, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. The interactive dashboard will be updated once a week to show a national average of how ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced Rosemary Banks will be New Zealand’s next Ambassador to the United States of America. “Our relationship with the United States is crucial for New Zealand in strategic, security and economic terms,” Mr Peters says. “New Zealand and the United States have a ...
The Government is considering creating a new tier of minerals permitting that will make it easier for hobby miners to prospect for gold. “New Zealand was built on gold, it’s in our DNA. Our gold deposits, particularly in regions such as Otago and the West Coast have always attracted fortune-hunters. ...
Minister for Trade Todd McClay today announced that New Zealand and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will commence negotiations on a free trade agreement (FTA). Minister McClay met with his counterpart UAE Trade Minister Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi in Dubai, where they announced the launch of negotiations on a ...
New Zealand Sign Language Week is an excellent opportunity for all Kiwis to give the language a go, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. This week (May 6 to 12) is New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL) Week. The theme is “an Aotearoa where anyone can sign anywhere” and aims to ...
Six tertiary students have been selected to work on NASA projects in the US through a New Zealand Space Scholarship, Space Minister Judith Collins announced today. “This is a fantastic opportunity for these talented students. They will undertake internships at NASA’s Ames Research Center or its Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), where ...
New Zealanders will be safer because of a $1.9 billion investment in more frontline Corrections officers, more support for offenders to turn away from crime, and more prison capacity, Corrections Minister Mark Mitchell says. “Our Government said we would crack down on crime. We promised to restore law and order, ...
The OECD’s latest report on New Zealand reinforces the importance of bringing Government spending under control, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The OECD conducts country surveys every two years to review its members’ economic policies. The 2024 New Zealand survey was presented in Wellington today by OECD Chief Economist Clare Lombardelli. ...
The Government has delivered on its election promise to provide a financially sustainable model for Auckland under its Local Water Done Well plan. The plan, which has been unanimously endorsed by Auckland Council’s Governing Body, will see Aucklanders avoid the previously projected 25.8 per cent water rates increases while retaining ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters discussed the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and enhanced cooperation in the Pacific with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock during her first official visit to New Zealand today. "New Zealand and Germany enjoy shared interests and values, including the rule of law, democracy, respect for the international system ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop today released his decision on four recommendations referred to him by the Western Bay of Plenty District Council, opening the door to housing growth in the area. The Council’s Plan Change 92 allows more homes to be built in existing and new ...
Thank you, John McKinnon and the New Zealand China Council for the invitation to speak to you today. Thank you too, all members of the China Council. Your effort has played an essential role in helping to build, shape, and grow a balanced and resilient relationship between our two ...
The Government is modernising insurance law to better protect Kiwis and provide security in the event of a disaster, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly announced today. “These reforms are long overdue. New Zealand’s insurance law is complicated and dated, some of which is more than 100 years old. ...
The coalition Government is refreshing its approach to supporting pay equity claims as time-limited funding for the Pay Equity Taskforce comes to an end, Public Service Minister Nicola Willis says. “Three years ago, the then-government introduced changes to the Equal Pay Act to support pay equity bargaining. The changes were ...
Structured literacy will change the way New Zealand children learn to read - improving achievement and setting students up for success, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Being able to read and write is a fundamental life skill that too many young people are missing out on. Recent data shows that ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay says Canada’s refusal to comply in full with a CPTPP trade dispute ruling in our favour over dairy trade is cynical and New Zealand has no intention of backing down. Mr McClay said he has asked for urgent legal advice in respect of our ‘next move’ ...
The rights of our children and young people will be enhanced by changes the coalition Government will make to strengthen oversight of the Oranga Tamariki system, including restoring a single Children’s Commissioner. “The Government is committed to delivering better public services that care for our most at-risk young people and ...
The Government is making it easier for minor changes to be made to a building consent so building a home is easier and more affordable, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on making it easier and cheaper to build homes so we can ...
New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
Good evening – Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
People with an interest in the health of Northland’s marine ecosystems are invited to a public meeting to discuss how to deal with kina barrens, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones will lead the discussion, which will take place on Friday, 10 May, at Awanui Hotel in ...
Kiwi exporters are $100 million better off today with the NZ EU FTA entering into force says Trade Minister Todd McClay. “This is all part of our plan to grow the economy. New Zealand's prosperity depends on international trade, making up 60 per cent of the country’s total economic activity. ...
There are heartening signs that the extractive sector is once again becoming an attractive prospect for investors and a source of economic prosperity for New Zealand, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The beginnings of a resurgence in extractive industries are apparent in media reports of the sector in the past ...
The return of the historic Ō-Rākau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill. The Bill will entrust the 9.7-hectare battle site, five kilometres west ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced 25 new high-speed EV charging hubs along key routes between major urban centres and outlined the Government’s plan to supercharge New Zealand’s EV infrastructure. The hubs will each have several chargers and be capable of charging at least four – and up to 10 ...
The coalition Government will not proceed with the previous Government’s plans to regulate residential property managers, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I have written to the Chairperson of the Social Services and Community Committee to inform him that the Government does not intend to support the Residential Property Managers Bill ...
The Government has announced an independent review into the disability support system funded by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston says the review will look at what can be done to strengthen the long-term sustainability of Disability Support Services to provide disabled people and ...
“Show us the bird,” I found myself muttering at times while reading Hard by the Cloud House by Peter Walker, a deeply thoughtful, often hilarious, at times rambling – but somehow delightfully so – search for the story of a big bird. But not just any bird: the bird. This ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jack Marley, Environment + Energy Editor, UK edition DPVUE .images/Shutterstock Your home was probably designed for a climate that no longer exists. As long as humanity continues to burn fossil fuel, padding the heat-trapping blanket of gases in Earth’s atmosphere, the ...
A senior lawyer has filed a complaint about tikanga becoming a required law school module. Law lecturer Carwyn Jones explains what he’s getting wrong. “…the first law of Aotearoa, a law that served the needs of tangata whenua for a thousand years before the arrival of tauiwi.”– Ani Mikaere ...
In 2019, an Auckland woman woke up from surgery to find that she had undergone a treatment she didn’t consent to. She tells Alex Casey about her experience. From her very first period at the age of 14, Laura experienced “debilitating” levels of pain that forced her to withdraw from ...
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Had a recent chat with a guy , after 5 months of not sleeping drs have worked out what's wrong,.
He has too options for treatment go pay for private at about $14k and be treated in 3 weeks time or go public which will be 4 to 5 months wait .
The real kicker is it's the same surgeon that would be doing it in both cases.
This is how they are privatising health in nz .
+100
Seen it lots, very close.
Health is NZs ultimate 2-tier citizenship divider.
Yes and you have to pay when it's a required procedure. The system can reject you even going on the waiting list.
There's far too much of that ! Surgeons have expressed to private patients they should've been already via public. Some fixing dhb botched efforts even.
That's messed up.
In the regions, like Northland , this has been the case for many years….we are waiting on surgery from the same surgeon. be it public or private , and the private ones get the jump on those provided by New Zealand's free health system.
Seen it frequently – medical specialists engaging in cartel behaviour by charging very high prices that can be leveraged through private insurance – the consumer buys insurance or faces painful delay.
The profession also restricts access into the profession and then again into specialist colleges. Many people perfectly intellectually capable of being doctors, and who would love to be doctors, can't get admission to medical schools.
Short-term fix would be to pay the Cubans to train a thousand or so (including specialists) for us – then import them to work in the public sector.
Yeah but, I had to get a hip op with a 7 month wait because there is only so much money allocated to hip operations, so I paid for it myself because it would cost me more to employ someone for 8 months or so to run my farm, I dont have health insurance because I'm 70 and 3 years premiums is about the same money, 21K. BTW, because I got it done just as I needed a stick to walk, I was able to be back on the tractor after 2 weeks and full on after 4 weeks, the extra 6-7 months on public would have meant not being able to walk on the farm like 10 years before for the other leg.
If everybody, particularly us old buggers, got what they wanted right now the health bill would be stratospheric with ironicly a lot of waste, its complex why' but having huge numbers of highly trained and expensive specialist medical staff hanging around doing SFA in times of little demand is one reason and no, an orthopedic surgeon can not do bypasses or brain surgery. Sure the wait is twice as long as it needs to be but there aren't that many surgeons about.
Anyway the thing that surprised me was that the actual surgeons charge was only about 20-25% of the bill, now if you get a free one you don't see the breakdown of the costs, things like overnight stays in a private hospital are expensive ( but about the same as public maybe even cheaper ) although surprisingly only about the cost of a nights quarantine at the moment. I cut my bill down by doing a runner on the second day, you can be quite quick on crutches, must have been the drugs.
Private practice does serve a purpose by taking a load of the public system.
The only thing that I would change is a tax break for people who pay for themselves, maybe not nessecarily those with insurance, in my case I saved the government 20k or so, happy to do so even though I couldn't really afford it ( I drive a 4th-hand 20 year old car ) but it was going to cost me that anyway and ironicly if I had employed a manager if one could have been found I would have gotten tax relief on those expenses.
Specialists have huge expenses, their insurance costs are well over 100kp/a, there is a compulsory retraining period every year which they pay for themselves and generally a nurse or office person as well and they don't start earning until late 30s. It is a mugs game. Although I did appreciate the Maserati parked outside though I think the Toyota Corolla was my mans one.
Sure – it's more complex than my mischievous Cuban suggestion implies. But the reason we have such marked inequality is because some people can get into privileged positions where they can indulge in cartel behaviour, price gouging and ticket clipping, externalisation of their costs onto the public, or feast on income streams derived solely from the ownership of assets. And other people can't – and whether you can or can't bears little or no relation to effort, skill, or contribution to society.
Agreed AB but the cost of a surgeon is a world price and there is a world shortage. A Cuban would be a good surgeon no doubt but for your safety his English would have to be first class and his knowledge of Aus/NZ practice sharpened up and of course he would still have to pay for his own insurance because if he made a fuck up ACC would be on his case so I'll bet your Cuban would pretty soon be nailing down the world price for his efforts.
The only two things that the private sector does is:
Health, like telecommunications and power, needs to be a monopoly to get the best efficiencies.
AB @ 1.5 wrote
"Seen it frequently – medical specialists engaging in cartel behaviour by charging very high prices that can be leveraged through private insurance – the consumer buys insurance or faces painful delay."
That's the American system that the likes of Goldsmith and other Tories would like to see in this country
Why do you think the health system has been rundown with shit descovered in the walls of hospitals when this administration took over?
with private insurance two years ago i waited ….. six week for an appointment, three weeks for a scan, three weeks for an appointment, three weeks for the steroid injection.
i have frozen shoulder syndrom. Getting of the drugs was nice.
But when you only have one specialist per town you wait. With or without insurance.
So it is not about having a surgeon available, it is about the capacity within the public health system.
To avoid privatisation there needs to be a criteria a person reaches that they can access funding to have the treatment done privately but the government pays.
Those who have private health insurance would not like this. People are dying on the waiting list or when they are acute the surgery may be best done when not acute. Surgeon may recommend surgery in a month, 4-5 months go by and finally surgery but other factors can come into play underlying health issues not related to the actual surgery.
Also problems occur with referrals, and people die needlessly.
Nope. The public health system would have the capacity – if the doctors weren't moonlighting for the private sector to make a higher profit for themselves. The effect of this is that the people on the public waiting lists are there longer.
Simpler, and better, to just get rid of the private system. Its existence is only making the whole system worse. The people dying on the public waiting lists are doing so because of the private system.
Were surgeons paid enough in the public health system there would be no need to operate else where. So the capacity problem is the payment for the surgeon's service.
If the public health system paid more then the private system would just pay more again resulting in the same problem.
The only fix is to get rid of the private system.
Never enough for some and you have the solution.
And proof that the problem of long waits on the public health is caused by the private sector and their maldistribution of our resources.
About 20 years ago I heard that a person could have private surgery at say Wakefield hospital and require an ICU bed and be transferred from Wakefield hospital to Wellington ICU.
If so an ICU bed would need to be available at a public hospital for a private operation.
Possibly a private hospital now has their own ICU or high risk procedures are not carried out in a private hospital.
Certainly Middlemore has a steady flow of botched private sector operations to fix, some terrible cases, and if you have a heart attack on the private sector operating tables you get rushed to the public system.
The private sector does a narrow range of operations with a narrow range of equipment. Mainly stuff that has a private demand and is profitable.
Those who run down the public sector health system don't mind it when they have their major car accident or heart attack or stroke. The fact is that the private system doesn't have to meet the costs of major surgery, an accident and emergency system or really risky stuff like major back surgery.
The public system doesn't have to meet the cost of vanity surgery like face-lifts (though as noted they do sometimes have to fix the poor outcomes when they occur) and if the wealthy can bypass the public system by paying to go private that does help.
Where I object is the public system winding down stuff they used to do as a matter of course like varicose vein surgery or breast reduction surgery where these are needed in the expectation that you will now get that down privately. I also mind the surgeons insisting on and charging for things like "compulsory consults" in the public system for things like grommet operations after a GP referral when in the private system they will simply take the GP referral direct. Such consults are a good slice of pocket money.
I don't mind them working in both either – there is a public good in having private sector surgeons develop and maintain expertise beyond the narrow range of private sector operations. It is part of the countries resilience building should severe things happen.
Nothing changed in 20 years.
Awful to say this, the transfer with a cardiac arrest would be so no liability.
I thought public hospitals have there own insurance and I know they can tap into ACC.
Do you know anything about hospitals having insurance?
I have dealt with the HDC, coroner and a DHB. I have been blocked with ACC as the person did not have an executor. A day of reflection today as the anniversary of the death and the case is in bits, not active and no decision and ongoing investigation required.
The transfer with a cardiac arrest would be so no liability.
They just don't have the gear. Medical equipment is incredibly expensive.
Do you know anything about hospitals having insurance?
If you mean for medical mis-adventure that is covered by ACC.
In my case coroner did not even look at the ACC treatment injury form which is inaccurate and person came back from injury repair dying. Neither did coroner look at what the vascular surgeon said and injury was worse than what ICU put on the ACC form. ICU have misled ACC. No post mortem. The way a coroner can close a file without next of kin permission is not right, a family representative had the say on file being closed as letter was not addressed to next of kin. Everything that could have gone wrong did. A dead person has very few rights.
So when it comes to medical misadventure there is misadventure from those whose job it is to ensure everything which led to the death was looked into.
I know how the medical system and ACC operate. I have had dealings with both over many years and I am not a giver upper when I know I am being bull shitted to and mucked about. I do get pissed off with medical issues wasting my time but someone needs to take action against the flaws in the rubbish system.
I am about to apply for legal aid for a dead man once I find the right lawyer.
This is the way that NZ fills its medical needs – has done for a long time. It contracts with surgeons etc for part of their time, then they also have the private patients. That way top-class people can earn a decent income, and we have up to the minute techniques available.
What you say even happens with a surgeon/specialists consultation.
After ACC heavily grills you, (the branch medical advisor)private surgeons and private specialists are then funded to give treatment. Some surgeons and specialists are on a good wicket with ACC and they have the say over whether or not the injury will be treated.
Frank Macskacy has summed-up the situation very well:
"National will lose in September. And most likely in 2023 if the pandemic has not been defeated. Their laissez faire approach to government and economics has been revealed to be utterly inappropriate for the challenges in the Age of the Virus.
National has been caught out – like the proverbial possum frozen in the glare of oncoming headlights – as the human race struggles to adapt to the new norm of responding to the spread of contagion.
There is an inexorable inevitability to how politics has begun to change radically with the advent of a global pandemic."
https://fmacskasy.wordpress.com/2020/07/25/life-in-level-1-the-doom-of-national/
Under MMP parties don't win or lose elections. Last election National won but lost, Labour lost but won, Greens came fourth and won their first stint in Government, and NZ First came third but somehow won the management of coalition negotiations and a disproportionate amount of Cabinet negotiations.
It's hard enough predicting what will happen in two months.
Trying to predict what will have happened with Covid, the economy, employment, how Labour will be doing, and who will be the leader of National by 2023 is a meaningless mug's game.
Pretty good summation actually.
Only for those people who still can't adjust their brains to the electoral logistics of the MMP system that a clear majority of citizens voted for in the mid 1990s.
Feel free to point out which bit is wrong.
It makes perfectly good sense if you substitute the word 'winning' for 'gained the most votes'. It's not the information that's awry so much as the attitude
If you post your measurements @ Pete, I'll get out the Elna (actually a Brother with all the stitches), and run you up a lovely linen beige leisure suit for the summer. I feel the need to exercise my feminine side a little more (in this space going forward).
I might even extend to a pale blue number for @Wayne as well for his next rent-a-voice gig on the weekend 'incisive, and in-depth' mover and shaker TV Currant Fears "shows".
It'd all be quite entrepreneurial doncha think? I might even become a regular thing.
And I will crochet a nice Bennie and a shoulder bag for Pete and Wayne. No trouble as I have the time and they are very fortunate that the only colours of wool I have are light and dark blue. Don't worry I have enough balls of wool (30) I unravelled 2 good second hand jumpers I got from the op shop.
If the beige leisure suit clashes with the blue Bennie and shoulder bag Pete can wear them on separate days.
Last election National lost. Labour, NZFirst and the Greens won.
You don't like that truth and so you lie to yourself and others in the hope that we'll go back to a less democratic system.
The virus of dirty politics within the National caucus will not be eliminated or eradicated until the spreader is gone.
National have no show in eliminating Covid-19 were community transmission to return, they cannot even control Co-20 in their caucus.
Vietnam – 413 cases of Covid-19 so far, no deaths, in a population of 98 million (from Worldometer data), has now banned all wildlife imports , dead or alive – a major source of zoonotic diseases. Vietnam must be the quiet, world leader in Covid-19 response.
Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia all have low infection and death rates, in an article yesterday Guardian ? New Scientist? the assumption is that as this is the area where Horseshoe Bats are native and endemic the locals may have an immunity built up over hundreds of years to corona type viruses. There is also no reason to suspect the numbers, there hasn't been an increase in funerals. Also it is now suspected that this is where it mutated and transferred to the Wuhan market.
Adrian. That is what Lyn Prentice was explaining yesterday.
https://thestandard.org.nz/covid-19-a-human-adapted-virus/
Jonathan Pie skewers Boris Johnson's government about face masks.
We need to change our culture on this as well.
If there is a breach of the border and we return to Covid 2 , masks must be mandatory.
On the same subject.
"Karen, Please Just Wear A Mask"
Sarah Cooper
'How to mask'
Ffs! You and Bomber too. What is this…the AGM of misogynists anonymous?
https://www.businessinsider.com.au/men-less-likely-to-wear-masks-because-not-cool-study-2020-5?r=US&IR=T
https://www.fresnobee.com/opinion/editorials/article243747072.html
https://www.vogue.com/article/why-dont-men-wear-face-masks-when-their-female-partners-do
https://www.vogue.com/article/why-dont-men-wear-face-masks-when-their-female-partners-do
https://www.latimes.com/lifestyle/story/2020-06-22/masks-and-masculinity-better-fit
Is it possible to put kiwi's in quarantine at vacant RSE worker accommodation in the boonies? One road in one road out.
Some selfish people are messing it up for everyone, maybe city accommodation isn't the best place to house those in quarantine.
It's getting them from point of entry to the 'facility'. That's manageable for Hamilton and Rotorua with a single bus trip. Going much further and all sorts of complications arise, which evidently became a factor in discarding Dunedin,and one of the many that ruled out Queenstown. There's also the problems of dealing with an infected person that requires hospitalisation.
longer term we will need facilities adapted for purpose. Hacking hotels is a good interim measure, but I'm betting that improved design will make the process better for people in Q. Here's hoping they focus on that as well as the security issues.
Hotels are also a way to prop up the tourism industry a little longer.
With the sense of entitlement some have I'd suggest the Chateau Tongariro. It has been used previously for health reasons – rehabilitating soldiers, asylum!
The big problem with remote places is lack of access to health facilities and staff, apparently. Was discussed weeks ago in media.
I don't think that people should be put off from putting their ideas forward because it has been on the media previously. Perhaps just give them a link of the source and they might come up with something even better, or add to the previous ideas. Squashing pesky insects personally is the preferred organic way, but let's not be organically destructive about people with ideas.
No squashing intended. Relaying an angle I'd seen discussed (but could not remember enough to link) and ended up just echoing Graeme at 5.1 to some extent.
I don't think there vacant ones anywhere and there has to be a separate bathroom per room per person or family.
Access to mental health and addiction support services are a consideration too, sadly.
Don't think they would enjoy living in old woolsheds with holes in the walls and one toilet/wash handbasin for 12 people.
Besides. Why punish the thousands of people who have, and will comply with the isolation rules, because of a few idiots.
leave them alone ….they'll come home
I have never really known what "NZFirst" is.
Clearly, it is a one person noisy bucket, dragged around by Winston Peters who happens to be, Deputy PM of our NZ Parliament. He has his failings. So do I.
He reminds me of a very old greywarshark stalking around in a stuffy old dirty museum.
He has a friend in there – called Trotter. Who seems to be slipping away, having numerous weird upsets over tiny Lefties who refuse to sign up for War.
Being a Lawyer, our Deputy Prime Minister for one reason or another, failed some time back to pay considerable monies, belonging to the Citizens of New Zealand.
For which he blamed quite a number of Politicians – and said so out loud.
Being a Lawyer, he is able to accuse any number of Politicians, because he is free to name whom he wants in the Chamber.
Joe Blow – has no such Freedom.
I am not suggesting that greywarsharks are Lawyers – but I am tempted. However, I quickly realise that our messy greywarshark knows everything and is always right. Inside and out. He's a nice old thing.
While I appreciate anyone attempting to do political analysis about Peters, I'm not entirely sure what you are trying to say here, and I'm not seeing the connection with greywarshark other than to somehow diss her. Please leave the personal stuff out of your comments.
Hey that's not true, I don't know everything just a lot about some of the things I write about. And I like to cast my net wider than just thinking about myself and my preferences, so take an interest in what's going on around me, trying to be informed. That is all!
https://i.stuff.co.nz/national/122247176/police-charge-four-people-who-allegedly-escaped-covid19-isolation-in-hamilton
Why not straight to jail?
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12350876
If you are coming home to a funeral the funeral can wait……
unless it can't or the people organising it won't. Not an excuse to break Q. We do need to adopt new cultural practices around funerals and grieving, and adapt.
Yes. Many families already had to during lockdown.
some people manage change better than others. Having new cultural practices as the norm should help (rather than having to adapt personally under stress, which not everyone is good at).
I'm sill in favour of prosecuting people who abscond as well.
Agree. And hence my issue with not putting them in jail after capture. Why open the possibility of a repeat performance.
I suspect police holding facilities and prisons are not well equipped to deal with the health aspects of covid testing and possible infection. Doubtless we will find out more about how they got out; sadly it may make it harder for future "bubbles" in isolation to be able to gather together.
You'd hope they would be, what with the continual comings and goings they're very much noted for.
wouldn't that be decided at the court hearing today?
other offences that put people at risk don't automatically end in jail upon arrest eg drink driving.
I could have said 'holding cell' – point is that they have forfeited usual justice process by breaching isolation. Needs to be a strong signal to other returnees that the consequences are immediate and firm. No bail, no returning to a hotel.
Also, most other offences do not put many many lives at risk. It's why there are specific charges for these.
The risk of killing many many people is still pretty low though. Compare to someone drink and reckless driving and hitting a bus load of people maybe. If the person gets caught before they hit the bus, what happens to them that day?
I agree about strong signals, and I'll be curious as to why they're being returned to Q. But if we have another outbreak, we want people to feel good about going into isolation, be willing to be honest about symptoms, so I think there is a fine line between making Q a good experience or a punitive one.
Maybe hefty instant fines would straddle that line.
"The risk of killing many many people is still pretty low though."
Trump Falsely Claims ‘99 Percent’ of Virus Cases Are ‘Totally Harmless’ 5th July NY times.
148 000 deaths later….
PaddyOT, why are you conflating the NZ situation with the US one when they are obviously very, very different? We have containment and contact tracing processes in place, better than we did when we had community transmission. The chances of mass deaths from a Q absconder is very low because of all the work we've done to date. This is the opposite of the US situation.
Maybe have them sign paperwork that holds them liable for the cost of the quarantine, the cost of retrieving them and hte cost of returning them to the quarantine centre should they break quarantine.
* 5 as in this case and you are quickly talking about money.
What about kindness and set up skype for them. Families sticking together and being co-operative will help us through our future travails, they are supposed to be important until apparently the state says they aren't, to it. We have the technology, where there is a will there's a way; we aren't trying to get to the moon which apparently the world can afford.
this makes sense of the motivation at least.
Four childeren, the eldest 17 and the mother
I assumed that, but where does it say mother?
Surely the children would have just followed the mother, or the mother would have expected them to. Mother therefore not leading by example.
Surely 'someone' should be talking to Maori elders to get around the impasse caused by unattainable, for the moment, cultural norms so
funerals can be delayed
bodies embalmed to allow for this
Lower the expectation that families are expected to fling themselves across the world to go to tangi etc etc. it must be costing overseas NZ families $1000s to be here.
Four of them were kids. Good luck with sticking them in Parry.
Local cells. Don't get carried away.
Generally children are not to be interned in Jail. There are secure facilities for children but they are not prisons.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Youth_justice_in_New_Zealand
This has been the case in NZ since the 1925 Child Welfare Act.
I would be interested in an analysis of the type of people who break quarantine. Such questions as:
1) Are they outgoing, articulate people or are they loners?
2) Does one particular age group dominate?
3) Do they have family and friends who are keeping in touch with them?
4) Are they average citizens who, in normal circumstances, will have a full-time job?
5) What is the majority reason given why they choose to break out?
6) Or are they just ignorant idiots who can’t comprehend the reasons why they have to quarantine.
I think most would go for no.6, but that might be unfair on some of them.
Such a small group that I doubt there are useful patterns. Best to focus on the behaviour and modify that, which is the current approach (eg: station people at each site with power to arrest).
I agree at this stage but given this situation is likely to continue for some time, then an analysis might ultimately become useful for those who are in charge of these facilities and keeping the occupants inside them.
You would need dozens of escapes to see a statistically significant pattern that could be relied on to drive policy responses. It seems they are responding promptly enough to each one that arises.
Paperwork as the solution?
As it has elsewhere in the world, the coronavirus found a hole in Australia’s system: It spread in part because of the sharing of a cigarette lighter among security guards working at a hotel where returning international travelers are being quarantined. Along with this the other vulnerabilities were quarantine hotel workers returning home to families and spreading the virus. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/world-australia-53259356
Returned NZers as Escapees may not be the next cause of another outbreak.
Some nurses who have been doing clinics in quarantine hotels here, are then going back to their shifts at hospitals. AND that these nurses working in our quarantine hotels are not mandatorily required to wear full PPE.
I would like to have some analysis about those returning full stop.
Ages
Groupings ie families singles, couples
how long away
are they returning to a home/job
where they have been living until now and for how long
do they hold PR or citizenship anywhere else.
But then I am nosy & cynical. It would certainly help allay my fear that many will be coming to rest & recuperate, possibly with the help of the social welfare system here before leaving again to go 'home' when the rest of the world settles down. So I am sceptical that they coming here with the idea of helping us get through the next bit of NZ's response to Covid-19 and that is to take the opportunity to make NZ a better place.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12350897
the plot thickens.
And thickens.. https://i.stuff.co.nz/national/health/coronavirus/300065838/mum-who-escaped-coronavirus-isolation-i-wanted-to-give-my-children-closure
https://twitter.com/keith_ng/status/1286918872755404806
Clearly there were specific circumstances with this family, quite different from the previous individual instances, which only highlights how the instant simplistic "solutions" really aren't helpful. Countdown guy in Auckland was an idiot taking selfies, the one in Ellerslie had "issues" that required mental health workers, and this was a family desperate to go to a funeral, the reason they had returned to NZ.
Somebody at the press conference suggested ankle bracelets. Woods did well to answer it patiently, without rolling her eyes. Having something on (implanted in?) your body doesn't stop you moving. You don't get immobilised. That's a sci-fi movie.
I don't like the idea of ankle bracelets for people that haven't been convicted of a crime, but isn't the point of them that they notify the police if someone leaves the hotel? In real time.
Their application looking positive and decision at 8pm. Officials working hard to try and accomodate grieving family, then they blow it. If they are only here for the funeral, send them back right away. We did not need these types wasting police time and resourses. Name them, name and imprison their accomplices…………..
Many people will miss out on funerals. Many people did before Covid. Half my family overseas when a parent died and they chose not to come back, but we would have held the funeral for them. Plenty of help for people grieving e.g. counselling. Attending a funeral does't guarantee you don't have a complicated grief response.leave…..
What completely irresponsible people. I have no sympathy that they will miss out now
Yes Anker. These totally irresponsible idiots need a really hard lesson but so did those that aided and abetted the escape. The interview with the father of the dead person's only regret was that the family didn't succesfully escape. It is more than clear that these fwits should be hauled before the courts and punished. But the reality is that they won't be because they are maori. And that is racist. Justice should be colour blind but it isn't.
Ummm, i think you will find there is a surplus of Maori being "hauled before the courts and punished".
Bullshit. The people that aided and abetted these fwits have, to my knowledge, not been charged. My point to you and solkta is that despite clear evidence that people have acted to aid and abet that there is no charge because of "cultural sensitivity". CRAP.
I’ve got some facts for you: https://www.corrections.govt.nz/resources/research_and_statistics/quarterly_prison_statistics/prison_stats_march_2020
You’re free to believe whatever you want to but you have zero evidence that those who aided the absconders have not been charged because they are Māori and “cultural sensitivity”. Your strong language won’t change that fact.
I doubt the Police have or could get enough evidence to convict anybody who helped these people. I doubt they even know who was involved. The four were arrested before they met up with their accomplice(s) and the one who made it to Auckland gave himself up.
If you know something more then please share it. Otherwise you are just talking out your arse.
Goodgrief ffs we don't even know who aided and abetted these people, i.e. if they were Maori……….when I posted my comment I didn't know the family were Maori and frankly IMHO it is irrelevant. Your speculation that they didn't charge the enablers because they were Maori is unacceptable.
The Judge gave this woman a very stern warning. I am disappointed the media published her side and the 17 years side of why they absconded. Its a pandemic. They would have known the might not get compassionate leave. The 17 year old got to see his father, but by absconding they prevented the other kids from doing this.
People can still grieve the loss of a parent without attending a funeral. This debacle created by the children's mother has made it so much worse for them
It just smacks of entitlement
'
They have appeared before a judge and are on bail.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/122247703/alleged-isolation-escapee-told-new-zealanders-sick-and-tired-of-quarantine-breaches
You were saying?
If the mother found it so important that her kids were close to their father, why did she haul them off to Queensland?
Or perhaps they were all there at one point but he was deported. In that case they can blame the Australian government.
Further evidence that Australia and Australian people simply do not get Coronavirus. The slack attitude of the AUS government and people is why nearly 50 people have died after they supposedly beat Covid.
Their surge in deaths is almost 50% of their initial deaths.
And to think we had the Plan-B people here backed in tone by the National Party claiming Australia got it right.
Make no mistake, if the National Party are the next government, Covid 19 will re-enter New Zealand
I read several times that she wanted closure for her children.
Her own actions have likely prevented closure for her children…………..What a bloody awful performance she has put her kids through.
Sometimes we don't always get what we think we need to get especially in a pandemic…….I know of many people in really bad situations because of this pandemic……………
Easy for us to say and judge from the sideline and the comfort of our keyboards. Until we walk in her shoes we have no idea what she was feeling let alone thinking; it must have been awful. Apparently, she tried to do the best for her children. I’d hazard a guess that better communication with and between the authorities might have prevented the whole thing from happening. The response: more security 🙁
O.k. Incognito I hear your point of view.
Doing the best for your children in a pandemic under these circumstances, imho involves supporting them in their grief in Queensland as travelling during a pandemic with quarantine meant their trip was problematic from the get go.(no guarantee of getting compassionate leave). So she put her children through a horrendous trip with two weeks in quarantine. Just as they were waiting on a decision about getting to see the body, she decided to break the law and abscond by breaking open a window and climbing over a very high fence. Possibly one of them could have fallen and injured themselves or worst. Then put her children in the position when they were arrested by the police, while her 17 year old was on the run with police helicopter hovering. One child saw his fathers body, the others didn't. Then they appear in court and get a very stern message from the judge. I think these were very very poor choices for her children. She has also taught her children you don't need to worry about rules, if you really want to do something, just do it, break the law and risk arrest. Actually as I write this, I think this woman has shown appalling judgement.
I reserve no sympathy for any absconders. They are prioritizing themselves over everyone else in a pandemic, including the poor bloody police who have to arrest them, not knowing whether they have covid.
James Shaw throwing some shade on Winston Peters and NZF. Subtle zen vibe to Peters' brass knuckles.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2020/07/nz-election-2020-greens-throwing-everything-at-auckland-central-to-ensure-place-back-in-parliament.amp.html
Colbert on Trump last night. It's not the cognitive test Trump explains that's the only farcical take but a little bit further in the video is Trump's evaluation on the qualities of Dr. Deborah Birx.
https://youtu.be/ejKvwawO0uA
Seems there's now a viral fan base for her 'style' as the US's current focus.
Scarf fan defends naughty boys.
https://amp.rnz.co.nz/article/d79cae55-56a7-4277-b46e-6593d67ed591
https://www.nydailynews.com/coronavirus/ny-coronavirus-birx-trump-disinfectant-injection-20200426-pgl3lmbpjfd6he5qrffipyx6aq-story.html?outputType=amp
Tiwai – there was a discussion yesterday about the power being freed up. Has the Government ensured that the extra supply being freed up will be used in the national interest by cancelling resource permits or some such if it is not?
I wouldn't put it past any power company to sign up to supply some dodgy enterprise so long as the return was sufficent to keep the executive salaries up.
At current share prices Meridian and Genesis (half of each) is about $7 billion. Makes you wonder if restoring state ownership, merging and the reducing power prices so benefits went further would not be a massively good investment. At some point privatisation should get push back otherwise every right wing government just sells more.
Business pay less per kw/h than residential so you'd think that they'd be keen to get that extra from residential users.
There was push-back but the government sold it off any way. As I say, we don't have a democracy – we have an elected dictatorship.
While I agree with most of what you say about the power
parasitescompanies..I seem to recall Key winning an election saying he would flog off the the family silver.
True but there was also a referendum showing that most people didn't want him to do that. If we were a democracy he, and the rest of National, would have changed those plans.
I'm not thinking of just push back at the time but actually looking at undoing some of this after the right is voted out. ACC has been about the only thing where the left made it very clear that they would renationalise if it was sold and losses would not be compensated for. We have things like the Hamilton prison that is a 35? year privatisation contract and it just gets left. It becomes a one way street with more and more going into the private sector.
Imagine the outrage from the right if say the teachers in public schools all worked for the one company that they owned. And a left government signed a 35 year contract with the company complete with manning formula's and wage escalation and site agreements so that future governments were committed to it.
Yea, well it's about time All infrastructure entities were (re)nationalized, back to the peoples' benefit. Lets see how socialist, Labour can be in the next 3 terms of government, let's see shades of Big Norm come through.
We've had our deliberations about our reactions to sexual misconduct by pollies, whether we're too tough or not tough enough. But things could be waaaay worse.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mo1lDJrZKx8
https://twitter.com/donwinslow/status/1286814475899662336
Which one of two is the polly?
George Tiller allover again. They're going to get Fauci killed.
https://twitter.com/oliverdarcy/status/1286864655550500868
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1286864655550500868.html
Let those words sink in and then let us revisit the things Bill O’Reilly said about Dr. George Tiller before Dr. Tiller was actually assassinated in 2009.
According to Salon O’Reilly brought up Dr. Tiller 27 times on his national show over four years (from 2005 to 2009 before Dr. Tiller was murdered). That’s almost seven times a year or every two months.
Here are some of the ways O’Reilly targeted Dr. Tiller on his national platform:
https://drjengunter.com/2017/04/18/bill-oreilly-who-targeted-dr-george-tiller-now-cries-about-character-assassination/
'Murica
https://twitter.com/TalbertSwan/status/1286834171076386819
Southland District Mayor calls out Winston Peter to do some work and back up what he says.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/421908/tiwai-point-southland-mayor-keen-to-hear-winston-peters-solution
I imagine Gary Tong is pretty upset with Winston for blocking a relief package.
Wow… this is some pure crazy…
https://www.nzpublicparty.org.nz/
Indeed.
https://twitter.com/JoshVanVeen/status/1282581391469764609
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/opinion/122230329/one-crucial-question-will-decide-who-rules-us-after-the-election
Not someone I expected to say the Labour and Greens are the best option.