The Pook Family pukekos who forage up & down my stream became quite a large extended whanau. Sweety Pook produced broods at least 3 times a year.
ALL the adults, & any adolescent birds who can fly, feed & care for the pooklets. Bluey, the Patriarch or Koro, slept with all broods of pooklets every night, until they were old enough to build their own individual sleeping nests.
Another poster on a forum that I used to post on disagreed with my opinion about something one day, & dismissively suggested I go and talk to my pukekos about it!
So I did ! Aspen Pook just happened to be nearby over the fence at morning tea time.
I gave him a quick summary of the situation, & Aspen duly offered his view (on the poster, not the topic – try as I might I just could not get them interested in politics.)
So I went back to the forum & gave him 🐧 Aspen's opinion! 😎
There have been many "lockdowns" around the world. The word is used for very different approaches. Ours in 2020 was unquestionably a success, while others were half-hearted and failed.
I agree that Delta 2021 is tougher to beat. But when alternative actions to "lockdown" are proposed, we have to be hard-headed and honest about what they really entail.
Part of Victoria's "lockdown" was the use of private security (unlike NZ) and the same has been suggested by opposition parties here. But in Victoria the security breach – and virus outbreak – was so bad it led to a full inquiry and damning findings by the judge.
Unfortunately many of the alternatives are presented as easy options, when they are anything but.
& Victorias lockdown is barely comparable to NZs, apples & oranges. Lockdowns do work, unfortunately, and only work with public buy in. Crys of "we gotta give up!" undermine that public buy in & will ensure we clog up our crappy health system & a lot of sick &/or dead people.
Nope, Labour are doing the right thing, until science says otherwise.
The "no true socialism" thing is a bit like Christians predicting the apocalypse: the general direction might have been outlined, but there aren't any objective milestones along the way. Basically, everyone claims to be on the cusp of it, but heaven has not yet been achieved and everyone who claimed it before was in error: this time we're right, lol.
But NZ and Vic L4 are objectively different, both in specific businesses allowed to be open to the public and in the aggregate stringency index. Also, Vic imposed just enough to induce fatigue, so now they have (possibly superspreader?) anti-lockdown riots.
I’m still waiting for all those who kicked and screamed for the open border with Australia to take personal responsibility for our current situation. After all they were happy to take the revenue and profits.
That squeaky wheel's back with a vengeance. I don't think this government's got the balls to fight it. A particular vaccination rate being enough will be more down to luck than anything else.
Victoria's is recognised as being one of the strictest in the world.
Many, many countries have found a path through covid and are now moving on to a new normal. New Zealand is lagging as our governments policy is lockdown until 90% where there is Delta.
This is completely unrealistic. If you believe the "experts" 90% vaccination won't happen. if you believe lockdown critics, it's unfeasible to keep people locked down until 90% without major societal impacts that will last long after covid is globally accepted.
Dogmatically sticking to lockdowns until 90% is failing this country.
Victoria is far stringent than any other state in lockdown, and it's numbers are beginning to outpace NSW, who are starting to relax lockdown measures.
BTW, what is your problem with the cellphone data from the Google Mobility Report? Don’t like data taken on the ground because it doesn’t suit your ‘critical analysis’ and narrative? Sounds like you’re shooting down the medium (Twitter) instead of addressing the content. Now why would you that?
Please stop spamming this site with your reckons and other brain farts.
For starters, what is/was the stringency index of Victoria during its lockdown. Links required and not to other/more reckons.
What does the Horizon survey show is the possible vaccine uptake of the eligible population of 12+ in NZ? Look it up, Google is your friend. The onus is on you to provide support for your reckons.
Lockdown are not permanent measures, they’re temporary ones. The main reason lockdowns are less effective or fail is because breaches, same as breaches at the border and/or MIQ. When there’s a breach or leak the appropriate action is to correct it not throw away the baby with the bathwater and spit the dummy while getting your nappies in a twist.
Hospitalisation, ICU, and death are major societal impacts too.
Why do you believe “experts” and “lockdown critics” without any critical analysis?
I don't believe them without critical analysis. I'm questioning the pathway through their rhetoric.
Lockdowns cant' be permanent, but when they're the only tool in the toolbox as you haven't been to the hardware store in preparation, you need use your one hammer many times to insert the screws.
Stingency index? does it really matter? the lockdown isn't working. But as a good little authoritarian your response to lockdowns not working is new, better, more stringent lockdowns
Horizons poll is based on the opinion of survey respondents saying they would get the jab, which could take us to 90%. that’s a reckon
Countering rhetoric with reckons is a mug’s game. You believe your own ‘critical analysis’, that much is clear.
Lockdowns are not permanent measures. You seem to want to take them off the table and out of the toolbox forever with a written pledge by Government and Dr Bloomfield that they will never ever use Level 4 lockdowns again even when people are dropping like dead flies. Might have to change at least one Health Act. Mate, you’re dreaming!
Lockdown isn’t working because you say so? ‘kay, enough said.
Correcting breaches and leaks in/of our public health measures is not the same as “more stringent lockdowns”. Before you irk me more with putting words and meanings in my mouth you’d better start reading comments here better.
These results are from an online survey of 2,334 respondents in New Zealand aged 16 years of age or over. The survey was conducted between 24 and 29 August, 2021.
The sample is weighted on age, gender, employment status, ethnicity, personal income and region to match the 16+ population and at the most recent census. It is also weighted to reflect the overall percentage of New Zealanders 16+ vaccinated as at 11:59pm on 29 August 20211.
At a 95% confidence level, the survey has a maximum margin of error of ±2.0% overall.
That’s a whole load of ‘reckons’ there plus a comparison with all the previous surveys. However, as a true hard-out post-modernist, you think that your reckon is equal to that!?
Many, many countries have found a path through covid and are now moving on to a new normal.
The UK's "new normal" yesterday was 34,526 new cases and 167 deaths.
The US's "new normal" yesterday was 61,570 new cases and 1,217 deaths. https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/
One reason this "new normal" is 'acceptable' in the USA and the UK is that the governments of those countries failed so abysmally to prioritise health.
In the US of A, 710,000 tragic deaths have been attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic. That's a deaths rate of ~0.21% (i.e. slightly more than one in 500 US citizens), about three and a half times more than the recorded global average. In the UK, one in 500 have also died from COVID-19.
In NZ, 27 deaths have been officially attributed to the pandemic, giving a death rate of 0.00054%, 110 times less than the global average.
The point is, the USA's COVID death rate is ~385 times greater than NZ's. In this particular pandemic, you want to be this bloke (NZ); you do not want to be like these blokes (MUSAGA; FreedumUK).
Your narrative is just a repetition of the opinions of people like Key, Act and the brown nosing mindless mainstream media. The only thing you left out was the bit about Jacinta creating a “ climate of fear”.
An “orchestrated litany of lies” seems to be an apt description.
Dupe of feral with only 8 cases in NZ as opposed to 800 in Victoria you are spreading the virus of misinformation.
Trying to bundle one jurisdiction into a totally different country with borders and NZ's health system which can't cope with even small numbers of covid patients.
Oh dear, it doesn't sound promising next week for Auckland with headlines in Stuff like "Auckland's move to level 2 unlikely if status quo continues". When you click on the article the headline changes to below that doesn't sound as bad.
For the Labour right, success in elections comes from reassuring the ruling class that its wealth and power are safe in Labour’s hands. The left must be reduced to its customary role of marching, demonstrating, a political sideshow. Rupert Murdoch will put his arm round Starmer or his successor, as he did with Blair.
In a way it is useful for everyone to know for certain that UK Labour is no place for progressives, rather than deluding themselves. Will an alternative emerge?
That show of might may be to shore up his image at home, similar to what the Russians used to do, and North Korea. Things are faltering in their economy.
It can definitely dominate the South China Sea, maybe take Taiwan if it's happy to get a bloody nose in the process, but there are a number of areas that will still take decades to develop.
Their carrier force is still small and not yet anywhere close to the ballpark of 0 supercarrier task forces.
Their long range strike capabilities are apparently limited by their engine tech (something about forming the turbine blades as cohernet individual crystal structures).
Their hypersonic missiles are well-touted, but you need something to point them at. They mght or might not be able to have ubiqitous surveillance over SCS good enough to target vessels, but the Pacific in general? Probably not.
And a lot of their tech is relatively untested. E.g. Russia sent SU57s to Syria along with personell and ground equipment (and a dismal effort by Kuznetsov).
Anyone wonder why several NZ banks have had DDOS attacks and a major supermarket chain have sever IT disruptions recently? Someone's having fun: maybe a state actor just probing our infrastructure.
Agreed. War with China will wipe out civilization in a flash. We were incredibly close. Trump was psychotic enough to push the red button. De-escalation please.
I’ve come to the conclusion that Xi wants any de-escalation to be on China’s terms. And unfortunately the Americans want it to be on the US’s terms.
Both sides are really pushing hard at the edges of provoking the other. The Chinese by harrassing US & other foreign ships & planes, & the US and others by pointedly sailing into areas China’s claiming as ITS territorial waters.
A major live-firing incident might not be all THAT far off. Then we will see whether one or both sides can calm down & negotiate. Xi, I worry, is possibly wanting to actually TEST China’s military against the US in some kind of a skirmish. What the US then does will be the critical factor, I imagine.
Sorry Ad. Didn’t mean as “uncritical war porn”. Saw it as relevant to the recent post on the CPTPP VS NUCLEAR SUBS, & the extensive commenting that that generated on China’s armament drive & its worryingly muscular foreign & military postures, re Taiwan & its claims to the South China Sea.
This brief Aljaz tv news item looks at some of the most recent military hardware that the PRC is clearly adverstising to its potential adversaries. That drone they show is the biggest drone I think I’ve seen.
There used to be in some quarters a belief that the Chinese weren’t great at inventing stuff, that they were basically copiers (same argument was often made about the Japanese). They’ve certainly been long-criticised for basically forcing foreign companies operating there to hand over details of their trade secrets – effectively purloining their intellectual property.
But it appears to me that China is now fadt developing its own inventions – in areas such as AI & integrated military systems and hardware. It now seems to be past the point where it needs to get hold of other countries’ secrets.
Presumably at the same time they will publish the modelling that tells them the number of cases to be expected, and the number of deaths.
As another consequence of their plan, they also release their plans for instantly upgrading the ICU awards and how they are going to recruit the required doctors and nurses.
They care about their donor's businesses, not lives.
Judith Collins says the National Party plan to let Kiwis into the country for Christmas has been "expert-reviewed", but it apparently doesn't put a number on how many could die as a result.
But like driving, Collins says it will include some risk.
"When we drive cars, we understand that there are going to be some people who are injured and occasionally people will lose their lives," she told The AM Show on Wednesday. "It doesn't stop us driving cars."
Wrong analogy. When they find a technical fault with a type of plane all those planes tend to be grounded until checked and fixed if necessary. Driving a car is too innocuous, unless it is a car without WOF & Rego by an unlicensed and uninsured driver who’s over the limit and in bad weather conditions.
Innocuous. Definition "not harmful or offensive". Synonyms include " unexceptionable, harmless, unremarkable, commonplace."
There were about 350 New Zealand road deaths in 2019 and 320 in 2020. That is an unremarkable number is it? At what point would you begin to worry and how does the number that might bother you compare to the number of Covid 19 deaths that you will accept?
Obviously, the analogy was, as was Judith’s, to create a certain perception with the average Kiwi, who’d find driving a car rather innocuous indeed, I reckon, and generally considers themselves a better than average driver. That same person is unlikely to grasp for statistics of deaths caused by traffic accidents and compare those to predictions of fatalities caused by Covid-19, unless they’re you, obviously.
You’re grasping for straws to score a silly point, as per usual.
Your comment is dismissed as useless and irrelevant, as per usual.
Perhaps Judith has a car that once it has an accident, causes the car it just hit to careen of wildly and crash into another 3 or 4 cars, which in turn do the same, and so on, infinitely. (Or at least till all the cars on the road at the time are munted.)
According to Collins and Bishop, the plan has been peer reviewed by experts. However, during today's announcement the pair declined to reveal any names. "We're not naming the experts we engaged with publicly, because they're in prominent positions and don't wish to be named publicly," said Bishop.
Paora Goldsmith has become camera-shy in fear of falling into more self-inflicted holes. The good man has a reputation to uphold for when he has to find a new job at the end of 2023.
"So nothing that is not already either being done, or in the pipeline.".
Are the current Government really supercharging the rollout? The figures say the the opposite seems to be happening. In the first week of September, when they seemed to be trying, there were 387,000 first doses. Last week there were only 144,000. Why the slowdown? We have only vaccinated 65% of the total population so far so there would appear to be about 1,800,000 people who have had a single dose yet..
Have our Government ordered vaccine boosters? When did they do it, how many have been ordered and what are the delivery dates for these?
Expand our ICU capacity? Have the current Government really done that? We may have a bit more equipment but we don't appear to have the people to use them. According to ICU doctor Craig Carr, who is the New Zealand regional chair of the Australia NZ Intensive Care Society. "We now have more equipment compared with 18 months ago, but we actually have very few extra staff, and in some instances, we've got fewer staff,"
That is just 3 of the 10 items but I can't see that, as you appear to believe, the current Government is already doing these things. I haven't bothered to check out the other 7 items but I don't really expect to find the Ardern Government is doing any better there. Perhaps you could provide some evidence that they are, if you can find any.
The number of ICU beds has increased from 150 to nearly 700.
But that would need to increase to 2,000 or3,000 just to cope with Nationals policy.that would require 1,000's more trained staff do we steal them from other countries who are struggling.or do we wait 6 to 10 years of training to bring up the numbers.
National can make any claims they like but none can be met because by the time they theoretically get into power 2023 the world will be different.
Alwyn the govt has ordered nearly 6 million doses of astra zeneca. Millions of Johnson and johnson's vaccine.
Then the govt will have over 2 million spare doses of Pfizer enough to give all vulnerable groups a booster dose.
Mixing vaccines may give higher immunity.
Luckily we have the research from countries in a far worse situation than us.
i see that Hooton has crawled out from under his rock again. calls for govt to give up its Covid response, and civil disobedience if he doesn’t get his way. what a dork.
The scenes of violence and rioting in Australia against covid mandates and restrictions inflamed by Far Right figures and personalities.
Convince me that Mathew Hooton is a far worst than a dork.
Dictionary definition: Dork – A person regarded as stupid, foolish, awkward, clumsy, etc.
Calling for, (inciting), civil disobedience, against the government's efforts to contain the virus, needs to be condemned in the harshest terms. In my opinion the words sabateur and traitor are not too harsh to describe Mathew Hooton.
Nah, I’m trying to capture Jenny’s apparent ‘reasoning’ in simple logical language, i.e. the enemy of enemy is my friend kind of stuff and everything else flowing from there. Way too much focus on who some of the protesters are and not enough of the reasons why some do join the protests. Another variation is shooting the messenger but not addressing the message. You can also see this here on TS in how some commenters want to deal with people who have questions, doubts, reservations, hesitations about getting vaccinated against Covid-19; it is not open-minded listening to others’ concerns but hardline exlusion to far-out corners of our public health system if not of our society in general. A public debate is needed, as always, but not on those terms. IMHO.
Nah, I’m trying to capture Jenny’s apparent ‘reasoning’ in simple logical language,….
…….A public debate is needed, as always, but not on those terms. IMHO.
I have been very clear, that I think that this debate should be held with the various grass roots stake holders in society. Faith Groups, Unions, Employers, Sports Associations, etc.
It would be great if you could tell us where and with whom in your Honest Opininion this needed public debate should be held.
I looked it up, interesting story. Yes Hooton is a propaganda merchant for the other team. I think some of his Covid reckons are dangerous and irresponsible, in the middle of a life threatening pandemic, but not quite in the category of treasonous communications in wartime
A few other RW "influencers" have also been hyping civil disobedience, & sad we're not like the Australians. I bet Hooton would be nowhere near the Frontline.
In better & more sane news, the port workers are at 95% vaccinated! Showing disinformation can be fought against, & also very few people listen to fucking Hooton
On Monday, as the deadline for vaccinations for about 600,000 nursing home and hospital workers arrived, it seemed that bet had proved to be at least partially correct.
With just days or even hours to spare, thousands of health care workers got inoculated, according to health officials across the state. And while thousands more workers remained unvaccinated, and thus in danger of being suspended or fired, the rush of last-minute vaccinations appeared to blunt the worst-case scenarios for staffing shortages that some institutions had feared.
[…]
In the Bronx, Dr. Eric Appelbaum, the chief medical officer at St. Barnabas Hospital, said that some unvaccinated employees who had been anxious about getting the shot had simply put the matter out of their minds — until the mandate made it impossible to ignore any longer.
As recently as last Wednesday, more than 20 percent of the hospital’s roughly 3,000 staff members had yet to get their first dose. By late Monday morning, that number had plummeted to just 6 percent, Dr. Appelbaum said.
Top down, mandated restrictions by the appointed authorities work to a point. But only to the point where they start to encounter resistance, non-compliance and possibly even hostile defiance.
To get to 90% vaccination coverage, mandates, regulation and compulsion alone, will not be enough. We need to win hearts and minds as well.
The government need to fund a society wide targeted information blitz.
Every sector; Faith Groups, Unions, Employers, Sports Associations, need to be on board, and provided with the resources to encourage their parishoners, union members, employees, players & supporters, to get vaccinated.
Henry Cooke never mentioned the word mandate. I never said he did. I was talking about the government's mandated lockdowns, and other mandated restrictions, the internal border between Auckland and the rest of the country, and the MIQ facilities at the national border, both of which are continually dealings with openly defiant rule breakers. And more and more breaches.
I was pointing out that these government mandated restrictions on freedom of movement, (which I support), have their limitations, especially if the government can't take the people with them.
I was suggesting that we need to win people over to willingly support measures like vaccination, rather than force people to have vaccinations by top down mandates.
I think this is a fair comment. I don't know how you can possibley make out that this comment, makes me an 'authoritarian, fearful control freak'?
I am in fact a convinced democrat.
The more democracy the better.
So I can understand where you are coming from; Maybe you would like to explain your reasoning behind your ad hominem insults.
You said that “[t]op down, mandated restrictions by the appointed authorities work to a point” and that “[t]o get to 90% vaccination coverage, mandates [my bold], regulation and compulsion alone, will not be enough”. I suggest you learn to word your comments better if you’re not actually in favour of and advocating for mandates from above. As it stands, very many comments of yours come across with a distinct whiff of authoritarianism and its handmaid absolutism. Just saying.
"As it stands, very many comments of yours come across with a distinct whiff of authoritarianism and its handmaid absolutism. Just saying." Incognito
You keep saying this, but never give an example. How about give us just one example, just one, of my "very many comments" that you claim "come across with a distinct whiff of authoritarianism".*
|Even in this case. Dispite how you try and twist my meaning. I was very clear, I was not calling for more top down mandates. i was instead advocating an appeal to all groups to willingly support the government's vaccination campaign, How on earth you can claim that calling for more grass roots consultation with all the stakeholders in society rather than top down imposed mandates is something "Only authoritarians and other fearful control freaks do" escapes me.
“Has a whiff of…” is an admission by you that your disagreement is a subjective view.
This is not the first time that you have said you don't like "the smell" of my comments.
An emotional response, suggestive of smell, whiff etc, are not objective fact based criticisms.
(Typed words literally don't have a smell, even less so on a computer screen).
I am sorry you disagree with my views, but I do not apologise for them, just because you disagree with them.
All I ask is that if you don't like my views, but feel moved to comment on them, instead of indulging in fact free personal ad hominem insults, provide a rational fact based critique, of why I am wrong,
You never know, we all might learn something.
At the very least it will lift the level of debate.
You wrote this, and I’ve added my emphasis, so that you can follow my reading of it:
To get to 90% vaccination coverage, mandates, regulation andcompulsion alone, will not be enough. We need to win hearts and minds as well.
That doesn’t read to me as “i [sic] was instead [my bold] advocating an appeal to all groups to willingly [my bold] support the government's vaccination campaign”.
It reads to as in addition to. Your comments are ambiguous and lack clarity of meaning and they often don’t pass the sniff test.
I used the word 'instead' in the context of instead of mandated compliance alone. Not instead of all mandated compliance. You are deliberately trying to twist my meaning with selective cherry picking.
I am not against all regulation, (and never said I was) My view is that it needs, as much as is possible to be done with a mandate. Simply imposing regulations especially around sensitive areas of people's freedom of movement, (lockdowns), and bodily intrusion, (injections). Disempowers people and leads to the sort of scenes we saw in Australia. We don't want that here. If we want to get to 90% vaccine coverage, (which is a very high bar,) it is my opinion, that it can't be done with compulsion alone.
Therefore I suggested that the governent begin an outreach program to win over the various grass roots stakeholders in society. Unions, Faitth Groups, Sports Bodies, Employers, etc.
I really can't understand your objection to such an idea.
As usual, you’re going around in circles; so many words, so little clarity.
Let’s see whether you can shed any light on what you actually mean.
What specific “mandate”, “mandated compliance”, “regulation”, or “compulsion” do you have in mind when trying to achieve 90% vaccination coverage of the 12+ eligible population if it is not a mandate to get vaccinated?
Try keep your answer under 100 words and to the point, please.
Human beings are social creatures, generally speaking, where our peers go, we go.
If all the various disparate groups and organisations that make up our society can we won over to the vaccine campaign, their members will be won over too.
This initiative is being done in a partunership between the Canterbury District Health Board and local Businesses.
If we are to achieve the 90% target, which is something few countries have been able to achiever. It is my opinion; We need lots more initiatives like this.
…..An ambitious campaign has been launched to get 90 per cent of eligible Cantabrians jabbed by Labour Weekend – in less than four weeks time.
Businesses have thrown their weight behind the plan, which aims to make Canterbury the most Covid-19 protected region in the country.
…..Local marketing and communications company Harvey Cameron has collaborated with the Canterbury Clinical Network, the Canterbury District Health Board and the Canterbury Chamber of Commerce to produce a quick fire campaign – dubbed ‘90% Canterbury – we’re worth it’ – within days.
That doesn’t answer the question not does it provide any clarity of what you meant, just more bedazzled befuzzled irrelevant nonsense. At least you kept it <100 words, this time although you replied to yourself (!?) with something else that has no hint of “mandate”, “mandated compliance”, “regulation”, or “compulsion”, which is consistent with the piece by their colleague and fellow Stuff author Henry Cooke, as I commented on previously.
"Social media should shut down conspiracy theorists or at the very least promote science and vaccine efficacy."
Shutting them down is giving them currency. They simply find another platform, and scream how true they must be because they were shut down. Some real medical professionals giving simple explanations of the actual science is the way to go IMHO.
"As farmers, families like mine received an enormous amount of benefit from the state, had almost no constraints on our actions, and often paid almost nothing in tax. In terms of per capita investment by the state, there has never been such a privileged class in New Zealand history."
"At heart their message is simply a plea to stop the clocks. For some, it is proving very hard to move on from living in a past version of New Zealand where they were the nation’s most privileged citizens."
The politics of nostalgia in the Groundswell protests.
The ones that dont pay alot of tax (some do by the way) are the ones heavily indebted, the system is rigged in favour of the those that borrow and pour any money left over from interest rates into spending on capital development.
They dont want people debt free because they will be less productive, I read a ealy 1900s nz article that stated this but have never been able to find it again sorry.
As for the groundswell I'd love to see a reporter go ask a good number of them next time what they are in fact protesting, I'd imagine most haven't a clue,
Fonterra have many farmers in a bind. Banks have high self interest, so unless you are factory farming life can get difficult. Those farmers trying to pivot to less destructive farming methods need support with $ incentives to transition imo.
A bit sad really in that the farmers are not able to give a clear slant on just what their prime beef is. Is Groundswell really a farming lobby or people with a purely right wing political agenda? Not Fed Farmers or National Party? Hmmm?
Groundswell? Loose affiliation of the disgruntled, the disorientated and the dismayed. Bound to succeed in overturning what the rest of us have already come to terms with 🙂
It isn't just political power they want the clocks wound back for. A return to a time where the primary producer is paramaount in their local market, as opposed to having to meet the supermarkets often one-sided terms and conditions.
How is Stuff funding the daily stories about people missing out on MIQ spots? When ever they have comments on the story, the main theme is "yes, it's tough for everyone but we have to manage returns so our people and our economy are safeguarded". Yet story, after story, after story – it feels like a funded campaign.
Where is the story after story about people catching covid-19 in the community and having their lives turned upside down – where is the balance? Or just anyone who has been screwed by lockdown – funerals, hospital visits etc.
Yes. The media supported campaign to denigrate this government reminds me of similar campaigns from past political climes including the latter half of the Helen Clark regime followed by the insidious campaigns against David Shearer and his successor, David Cunliffe – not to mention the officially sanctioned effort (at least in part) to discredit Phil Goff. I noted Barry Soper's latest diatribe has another go at the "governmentruling by fear" meme :
These second rate tabloid journos are an integral ingredient of these insidious campaigns, while the first-class journalists and commentators have been banished to the back of the room. You find them in places like newsroom;
"he media supported campaign to denigrate this government "
You have got to be joking.
Tova O'Brien and Jessica Mutch McKay are might as well just put cheerleader outfits on with big "A"s on them at Ardern's pressers and when they write about the current govt
Do you know who said that? David Shearer. Labour didn't need the media to point out their shortcomings…they were eating each other from within. Watching National over recent months is almost like experiencing deja-vu.
Disclosure: I'm currently in MIQ – day one at the Crowne Plaza after returning from the UK where I've been living and working the past 3 years until my visa expired in August.
I've been (and still am) on 4 different private FB groups as I've gone through the process of securing an MIQ voucher over the past 4 months. There are 1000's of people in the groups, and there are often requests made to them/us from journalists/reporters for returnees stories. (and no shortage of stories). No funded campaign needed.
It was the loveliest of sights. Followed by hearing the familiar cadence of the kiwi accent, and the army/defence man on the bus telling us we'd be 'sweet as' once we'd had our first clear PCR and could have a daily walk. I didn't realise how much I missed the voices of people who sound like me! (Mind you, I've been living in Newcastle where the Geordie accent reigns and I'm not sure who had more trouble initially being understood- me, or them.)
Welcome back. Our son posted a video of a crowd of Kiwis doing a spontaneous haka on the Gold Coast. It was really rousing, and was greeted with cheers and clapping. Grant said he felt a real sense of "us".
This virus has made us rethink much. Hope it goes well for you. Feel free to chat here about your experiences. We haven't quite turned into Hobbits yet.
It would be interesting to know what kind of stories the journalists/reporters are after… whether they are interested in the good experiences or just the bad ones.
From what we have heard thus far, it seems to be mainly the bad ones.
Generally the reporters requests are for returnees experiences with specific aspects of the MIQ booking system and its evolution. For example, back in June/July they wanted to communicate with returning citizens about the use of third parties; the reasons people were resorting to it, and the actual technical process of booking. (This was when you had to sit at your computer refreshing constantly for hours at a time for weeks if you wanted any chance at all to book a spot – this was my experience, with a few all-nighters as well thrown into the mix)
There was also a call out for stories from people living with disabilities who were unable to use the system at all, as it wasn't set up to be accessible for them. (Kiwi citizens who are blind for example, or those with physical disabilities that wouldn't allow for the use of lightening fast keyboard use for hours on end)
There were requests from reporters for kiwi citizens who were being refused emergency allocations under the different criteria. (there are around 350 emergency allocations set aside every 2 weeks, but only 50% of them are generally allocated. Brigadier Rose King, joint head of MIQ, has said that "this is a limit, not a target".
Now they are interested in stories from returning citizens who are navigating the new MIQ booking system, which is more of a lottery system – so you enter your passport number when the lobby opens, and are then assigned a random number, which indicates where you will be in the queue for that specific room release. (They have just run the second room release under the new system yesterday)
There have been a couple of independent film-makers in the ex-pat community who put a call out for returnees to follow them through to their returns, and their experiences when back in NZ. (I don't like to be filmed so never put my hand up for these! Or any of the other requests.)
I guess the reality is that good news doesn't really get the ratings, and unfortunately, from the returning citizen's perspective, the MIQ booking system itself has been pretty horrible to navigate. And it really is the booking system itself, rather than the need to isolate/quarantine at a facility, that has so many returning citizens despairing.
I do feel very lucky to have been able to come home. It was a bit scary there for a while, as I didn't want to be an illegal overstayer in the UK, and be unable to work or rent. Thankfully the UK govt put in place a visa extension scheme called 'Exceptional Assurance' for citizens from countries with no flights home, or in the case of New Zealand, 'no room at the inn' so to speak, to at least make sure we don't end up with black marks on our passports. I don't know how much longer they will continue the scheme though, as they extended it somewhat begrudgingly again only after an intervention from the NZ High Commissioner.
Thankyou for your in-depth reply. It will take some time to digest it all.
I understand how stressful it must be for those desperate to return to NZ but I guess the government is trying to manage and absorb not too large a number of returnees at a time so as not to run the risk of compromising our Delta variant status. Hence the need to stagger the MIQ places over a longer period. Hopefully most will be able to return by Xmas or soon afterwards.
There was also a call out for stories from people living with disabilities who were unable to use the system at all, as it wasn't set up to be accessible for them. (Kiwi citizens who are blind for example,…
I find it a bit disingenuous they concentrate on the disabled because of course we are disadvantaged no matter what situation we find ourselves in. As someone who now has to live with severe arthritis I can attest to that. It comes across to me as an opportunity to include a few sob stories because they think it will create a stir among the great unwashed. I use the term "unwashed" only in a rhetorical sense.
Years ago I worked in a NZTV entity so I know a little bit how the journos' and broadcasters' minds work.
Anne, yes, that request did feel opportunistic – it came after an RNZ story on the 30 complaints to the Human Rights Commission about the lack of accessibility, one of which was spurred by the President of the Blind Union being unable to utilise the system. It felt like other media outlets were trying to play catch up with their own versions.
What feels yucky to me also, is the attempts to make MIQ and the issues of returning citizens into a political football game. It just ends up creating even more division between Kiwis who need to come home, and Kiwis at home. I really don't believe for a minute that Seymour or Collins care about Kiwis stuck overseas – it feels like they just see a crack in Labours wall, and want to wedge it open wider to score political points, flapping our stories about like gloating bait. But there is a crack…
I think given that New Zealand's ex-pat community is so large, and the ability to facilitate the numbers seeking to return is constrained by the infrastructure available to keep everybody safe – both returning kiwis and kiwis on the ground – sadly, it may be well into 2022 before the appx 30,000 who tried for spots in yesterdays room release can return. I really wish it was otherwise.
My goodness, you've got it sussed and you have only just arrived back into the country.
You are right about Seymour and Collins – and Chris Bishop. They have been playing politics with Covid from the start and with some success. They don't give a damn about the plight of overseas Kiwis. They're just using them as a stick to beat the government with. Sad that a lot of NZers are falling for it.
That was an enlightening piece on RNZ this morning. When FADS was highlighted the way it was, I couldn't help but think there was a 'deserving sick' vibe to the PTB thinking.
By alcohol industry, you mean consumers of alcohol.
I'm saying the public would barely notice the increase if it was simply passed on to them…..however under the philosophy of never let a chance go by I could easily imagine alcohol manufacturers and importers wail loudly so as to make additional profit under the mask of "It's a TAX"
Building specialised MIQ away from Auckland is actually a good idea. Just not in the way National intends. When the Northern Hemisphere Winter brings mountains of fresh corpses, New Zealand will belatedly realise it can't re-open borders in 2022 either
Personal statement: Brian Tamaki and his ungodly protest do not represent me. He is a public menace and a wolf in sheep's clothing, seeking to profit from a public health crisis. 2 Corinthians 11:5 warns against "super-apostles"
The Bible requires masking, quarantines and arguably vaccine passports:
45 “Anyone with such a defiling disease must wear torn clothes, let their hair be unkempt, cover the lower part of their face and cry out, “Unclean! Unclean!” 46 As long as they have the disease they remain unclean. They must live alone; they must live outside the camp.
It's not as bad as it sounds: 33 of the 45 are household contacts, of the 12 remaining, 6 have known links at the moment. And most of these cases were expected.
Chippie summed it up well at the presser: National promises Covid for Christmas!
Still at least 6 out and about probably another 6 on top… covids tentacles are winding back into the community… think thats the number to watch because Aucklands pretty damn busy and social distance is reducing… work bubbles are mixing… in the line for a pie and a coffee…
Do we hold our nerve, or do we go back to level 4 in a bid to stamp it out? Look how efficiently it spreads in NSW which is sorta in a level 3 lockdown…
Damn this second jab I had yesterday is washing me out much worse than the first one. I'm about 20% down in energy today whereas I was 10% down on the first one.
I won't go into too much detail on my first one as don't want to put anyone off except it involved a bit of vomiting the next day, but I was the opposite.
I thought I was good to go after the second – for a little over 24 hours and then it hit me. Came over all hot and flustered and generally feeling like shit so I took to the scratcher. Got up next AM as good as gold.
looks like I lucked out on those, then – barely any problems whatsoever. To the degree that I had a wee sore bit on my arm from the injection, then realised that I'd gotten the shot on the other arm lol.
2nd shot had nothing I can recall (except the memory loss maybe? lol).
First dose I was a bit crook second dose pretty much flattened me – runny nose, exhausted and aching all over = about 3 days of snoozing with sedatives and pain killers (from my prescription supply)
I found the best bet if you are working during the week is just try to get it if you can either on a Friday arvo' or Saturday. Then if you have a bit of a reaction you have a day or 2 to get over it.
When the world goes crazy about someone 'crossing the border' or 'escaping,' the report of the Auckland cop helping his whanau or friends doesn't read well at all.
The stories of the hardship and the harrowing stories about people missing funerals and weddings are legend already.
Accepting the news story as is, the man put his personal feelings and wishes ahead of his responsibilities. Fair enough, good for him. No doubt he weighed things up, looked at all the angles. He came to the right decision for him, the wrong decision for all others who have have suffered adverse border rulings.
But, the system expects everyone who is in a fraught position to bite the bullet and not cross. The system expects that border checks will stop them. Most will turn and go home, their attempt foiled. On the surface it is easy to infer the guy abused his position, his word or uniform to get through.
If his priority is to his family or friends let him leave the police and do other things. His mana will be enhanced in his whanau because he was prepared to sacrifice his job for them. Sure he was in a tough position. It's 2021, he and they haven't got that on their own.
He is a pillock, I'm sure his superiors will want his guts for garters.
They really haven't got a clue. When this virus passes and that will probably be 'hopefully faster than we might assume what then with all the excess beds and very expensive equipment that needs replacing even if isn't doing anything because of redundancy of the technology. In normal circumstances we have plenty of ICU/HDU beds. Now nurses, it takes a long time to train an ICU nurse .
1, they need patients to train on, even now we only have an extra 3 or 4 covid ones a day.
2.. there is a huge array of equipment to master it is almost a 5 year apprenticeship.
3.. it takes a pretty special person to be one. It is one on one care usually for 12 hours with very little time off ( 12 hours so that the number of nurse changes a day is minimised because changeovers are when mistakes happen ) and the expert observational skills required to look after someone who is pretty much comatose take a long time to acquire.
Its a 2 semester course at Auckland University , a few hours per week plus study. of course supervision still needed once graduated.
For this course, you can expect 40 hours of lectures, 160 hours of reading and thinking about the content and 100 hours of work on assignments and/or test preparation.
Its like teaching, to become 'fully qualified' means you have reached top of scale after 8-10 years. Still can be a classroom teacher during that time with mentoring
I think you mean surgical registrars – yes, as it so happens, I have heard of them.
As you rightly point out, training an ICU (Critical Care) Nurse requires much more than one course at University.
The question was not what nurses (or doctors) in training can do in and as part of their training, but how long it takes to train them and complete their training. It is even in National’s Plan, strangely enough:
It takes around a decade to train specialist nurses and doctors for ICU, which is time we don’t have.
Who would have thought?
Different candidates have different entry levels and thus different entry points. Well, duh!!
I think taking the vote on leadership away from labour members and allowing caucus to pick the leadership should be opposed, it's nothing but a power grab from the labour right, caucus may have given us Ardern but also Goff and Shearer there's nothing to say Ardern couldn't have won a primary.
Its a law like gravity: whenever a right-wing government is elected, they start attacking democracy. And now, after talking to their Republican and Tory and Fidesz chums at the International Democracy Union forum in Wellington, National is doing it here, announcing plans to remove election-day enrolment. Or, to put it ...
Yesterday Winston Peters focussed his attention on the important matter at hand. Tweeting. Like the former, and quite possibly next, orange POTUS, from whom he takes much of his political strategy, Winston is an avid X’er.His message didn’t resemble an historic address this time. In fact it was more reminiscent ...
Buzz from the Beehive A significant decline in natural gas production has given Resources Minister Shane Jones an opportunity to reiterate his enthusiasm for the mining and burning of coal. For good measure, he has praised an announcement from Genesis Energy that it will resume importing coal. He and Energy ...
“Follow the money” is the classic directive to journalists trying to understand where power and influence lie in society. In terms of uncovering who influences various New Zealand political parties and governments, it therefore pays to look at who is funding them. The political parties are legally obliged to make ...
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 ...
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 ...
David Farrar writes – The Herald reports: TVNZ says it is dealing with about 50 formal complaints over its coverage of the latest 1News-Verian political poll, with some viewers – as well as the Prime Minister and a former senior Labour MP – critical of the tone of the 6pm report. ...
Muriel Newman writes – When Meridian Energy was seeking resource consents for a West Coast hydro dam proposal in 2010, local Maori “strenuously” objected, claiming their mana was inextricably linked to ‘their’ river and could be damaged. After receiving a financial payment from the company, however, the Ngai Tahu ...
Alwyn Poole writes – “An SEP,’ he said, ‘is something that we can’t see, or don’t see, or our brain doesn’t let us see, because we think that it’s somebody else’s problem. That’s what SEP means. Somebody Else’s Problem. The brain just edits it out, it’s like a ...
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. ...
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 ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has attended the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva and outlined the Government’s plan to restore law and order. “Speaking to the United Nations Human Rights Council provided us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while responding to issues and ...
The Government and Rotorua Lakes Council are committed to working closely together to end the use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua. Associate Minister of Housing (Social Housing) Tama Potaka says the Government remains committed to ending the long-term use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua by the ...
The Minister Responsible for GCSB and the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security have been notified of this review, and have been provided a finalised Terms of Reference. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Minglu Chen, Senior Lecturer, Government and International Relations, University of Sydney Robert Way/Shutterstock As the past few years have illustrated so clearly, the Australia-China relationship is complicated. As such, it is crucial for Australians to develop a more nuanced understanding of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mariana Campbell, Research Lecturer, Conservation, Charles Darwin University Marilyn Connell Australian freshwater turtles are facing an alarming trend. Almost half of these species are listed as vulnerable, endangered or critically endangered. The Mary River turtle (Elusor macrurus) is one of Australia’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Debbie Passey, Digital Health Research Fellow, The University of Melbourne Algorithms have become integral to our lives. From social media apps to Netflix, algorithms learn your preferences and prioritise the content you are shown. Google Maps and artificial intelligence are nothing without ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Josephine Barbaro, Associate Professor, Principal Research Fellow, Psychologist, La Trobe University Unsplash We’ve come a long way in terms of understanding that everyone thinks, interacts and experiences the world differently. In the past, autistic people, people with attention deficit hyperactive disorder ...
PNG Post-Courier Papua New Guinea’s deputy opposition leader James Nomane has accused the government of “reckless economic management” that has forced devaluation to manage loan repayments in foreign currency and placate the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Prime Minister James Marape “must stop lying to the people of Papua New Guinea”, ...
Welcome to The Spinoff Bookseller Confessional, in which we get to know Aotearoa’s booksellers. This week: Jane Arthur, author of Brown Bird, and former bookseller at Good Books.The book I wish I’d writtenI have been working on not comparing myself to others. On accepting that what I can ...
The final decision on the Wellington District Plan makes it official: High-density housing is legal across most of Wellington. Housing minister Chris Bishop has announced his decision on the Wellington District Plan, approving a series of amendments to radically upzone most of Wellington, allowing tens of thousands of new townhouses ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards – Democracy Project (https://democracyproject.nz)Political scientist, Dr Bryce Edwards. “Follow the money” is the classic directive to journalists trying to understand where power and influence lie in society. In terms of uncovering who influences various New Zealand political parties and governments, it therefore pays to ...
RNZ News As Israel presses ahead with strikes in Rafah and seizing the Rafah crossing from Egypt, aid agencies are sounding the alarm of a “catastrophic humanitarian situation”. Rafah was “significant” because it was the only part in Gaza that had not been terribly damaged by the conflict, United Nations ...
With funding set to be scrapped for the Hamilton-Auckland commuter train, Te Huia enthusiast Georgie Dansey argues for it to be thrown a lifeline. It’s 5.45am and the chain of my crappy old bike falls off slugging up the one hill in Hamilton. I contemplate yeeting the bike into the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anna Cooke, Honorary Fellow, School of the Environment, The University of Queensland We feel ecological grief when we lose places, species or ecosystems we value and love. These losses are a growing threat to mental health and wellbeing globally. We all see ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Shauna Brail, Associate Professor, Institute for Management & Innovation, University of Toronto A shift to hybrid and remote work continues to affect worker presence in Toronto’s downtown.(Shutterstock) Downtown Toronto, the core of Canada’s largest city, continues to reel from the lingering ...
Responding to an Auditor-General's report slamming failures in the administration of the 2023 General Election, Taxpayers’ Union Policy and Public Affairs Manager, James Ross, said: ...
Productivity apps now make up a big chunk of the software market. But do they work? And why do they all have AI integrations?Despite being firmly on the record as a physical planner fan, I sometimes dream of something better than my pretty diary and its scrawled, ugly, interior ...
The Taxpayers’ Union says the Beehive need to lead by example, following reports of more than $50,000 spent upgrading video conferencing equipment and furniture in the Prime Minister’s office. Taxpayers’ Union Campaign Manager, Connor Molloy, ...
An objective list of the 50 most powerful people in New Zealand, as judged by the Spinoff Editorial Board. It’s power list season, baby, and we want in on the action. Sure, there’s the rich list and the powerful “c-suite” list and the young people with power (hmmm) but here, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Thalia Anthony, Professor of Law, University of Technology Sydney ShutterstockThis article contains information on deaths in custody and the names of deceased people, and describes ongoing colonial violence towards Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. First Nations people in Australia ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alex Simpson, Senior Lecturer in Criminology, Macquarie University Netflix Baby Reindeer’s phenomenal success has much to do with its writer and lead, Richard Gadd, who plays Donny in a tender semi-autobiographical account of sexual abuse, harassment and stalking. Gadd’s story has ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Collins, Laureate Professor in Nutrition and Dietetics, University of Newcastle KarolinaGrabowska/Pexels If you didn’t have food allergies as a child, is it possible to develop them as an adult? The short answer is yes. But the reasons why are much ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Paul Moon, Professor of History, Auckland University of Technology Ans Westra, self-portrait, c. 1963. National Library ref AWM-0705-F They try but invariably fail – those writers who believe they are capable of encapsulating in prose or verse the essence of ...
Stewart Sowman-Lund looks at the growing concern around the world in this extract from The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. What’s all this? When Covid-19 arrived on our shores in early 2020, some argued we were too slow, or crucially, ill-prepared for a pandemic. So ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Franco Montalto, Professor of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering and Director, Sustainable Water Resource Engineering Laboratory, Drexel University Water runs into a storm drain in a Los Angeles alley on Aug. 19, 2023, during Tropical Storm Hilary.Citizen of the Planet/Universal Images ...
The inquest into the death of Gore toddler Lachlan Jones has turned up a new witness who says he saw two teenagers and a small child in a high vis vest in the area where the boy’s body was found the day he died. Lachie’s body was discovered face up ...
Stories from the tenancy trenches, featuring spider infestations, cupboard rats and same-sex discrimination. Lucy’s brother was living in a damp 1930s building in Mt Eden where “he had to tie the cupboard doors closed so the rats didn’t get in”. Although he shared custody of his six-year-old son, his property ...
Simeon Brown, Chris Luxon, and Wayne Brown climbed into a hole and announced a plan to solve Auckland’s water woes. This is how it’ll work. New Zealand’s pipes are munted. They’re cracked and leaking, and struggling to handle all the extra poos excreted by our rising population. It’s a big, ...
I knew Taika Waititi quite well when he was a kid. His mother lived in a tall narrow house in Aro St, and my youngest sister had a similar house two doors along. They were both single mums, they each had a son aged seven. Taika and my nephew Stepan ...
Opinion: “As time passes, knowledge of the circumstances of the August 2016 outbreak will fade and its immediate impact will be lost.” This statement is from the 2017 report of the Official Inquiry into the Havelock North campylobacteriosis outbreak. The then National-led government established the inquiry after the outbreak left ...
Opinion: Nicholas Khoo looks at two key points in the high-stakes foreign policy pact debate – and asks if NZ can engage with as little drama as possible. The post Where to next for the Aukus ruckus? appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A,DIV,A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp'); Got a good quiz question?Send Newsroom your questions. The post Newsroom daily quiz, Wednesday 8 May appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Opinion: ‘Reference-class forecasting’ is at the heart of improving pricing a project and identifying the expected timeframe but it doesn’t appear to be in use here The post ‘Think fast and act slowly’ is failing big projects appeared first on Newsroom. ...
What do a sombrero in Argentina and cognitive driving tests have in common? Don’t worry, we’re not setting up a bad joke. Hinengaro Clinic dementia clinician Gregory Winkelman has the answer on today’s episode of The Detail. “We ask a patient’s spouse or son or daughter: If you went to ...
Wellington long jumper Phoebe Edwards is back and she’s having fun again. Until this year, Edwards, a top athlete in her teens, had never competed as a senior athlete in New Zealand. In March, the 26-year-old won a national long jump title in a lifetime best of 6.28m after ...
After replacing a fifth of their caucus in just four months, the Greens’ opportunity to reset, reshuffle and refocus on the Government is quickly slipping away The post Persistent Green Party scandals delay caucus reset appeared first on Newsroom. ...
ANALYSIS:By Olli Hellmann, University of Waikato When New Zealanders commemorate Anzac Day today on April 25, it’s not only to honour the soldiers who lost their lives in World War I and subsequent conflicts, but also to mark a defining event for national identity. The battle of Gallipoli against ...
By Robin Martin, RNZ News reporter A New Zealand local authority, Whanganui District Council, has passed a motion calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, condemnation of all acts of violence and terror against civilians on both sides of the conflict and the immediate return of hostages. It comes as ...
Asia Pacific Report The Aotearoa chapter of the Women’s International league for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) has appealed to the New Zealand government to call out Israel over the “cruel and barbaric use of force” in Gaza and demand a permanent ceasefire. The league’s open letter was sent to Prime ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The Albanese government will invest $566 million over a decade on data, maps and other tools to promote exploration and development in Australia’s resources industry. The project will fund “the first comprehensive map of what’s ...
Asia Pacific Report Following an open letter by Auckland University academics speaking out in support of their students’ right to protest against the genocidal Israeli war on Gaza, a group of academics at Otago University have today also called on New Zealand academic institutions to “repair colonial violence” and end ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Linda J. Graham, Professor and Director of the Centre for Inclusive Education, Queensland University of Technology Ryan Tauss/ Unsplash, CC BY Two male students have been expelled from a Melbourne private school for their involvement in a list ranking female students. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Martin, Visiting Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University The Reserve Bank is now assuming Australians will see no interest rate cuts this year – and quite possibly none before the next federal election, due next May. That’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Hayward, Emeritus Professor of Public Policy, RMIT University The Victorian budget offered more of the same on Tuesday, with the only change being how the budget papers were packaged. The usual shrink wrap was gone, hinting at savings in the pages ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The Coalition is demanding extensive amendments to the government’s legislation targeting non-citizens who refuse to co-operate with their removal. In a dissenting report to the senate inquiry into the legislation, the Coalition says it ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Vanita Yadav, Senior Research Fellow, Urban Transformations Research Centre, Western Sydney University Brett Boardman/Belvoir The complex and grappling issue of violence against women takes centre stage in the soul-stirring solo dance drama Nayika: A Dancing Girl. During a dinner conversation ...
Disruption to patient care from a nationwide junior doctors strike is bordering on unsafe, a senior doctor claims, despite what health officials say. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sarah Diepstraten, Senior Research Officer, Blood Cells and Blood Cancer Division, Walter and Eliza Hall Institute Ground Picture/Shutterstock The anti-cancer drug abemaciclib (also known as Vernezio) has this month been added to the Australian Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) to treat certain ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dominic McAfee, Postdoctoral researcher, marine ecology, University of Adelaide Robbie Porter, OzFish Unlimited Around Australia, hundreds of people are coming together to help a once-prized, but decimated and largely forgotten marine ecosystem. They’re busy restoring Australia’s native oyster and mussel reefs. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sara Webb, Lecturer, Centre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing, Swinburne University of Technology Austin Human/Unsplash How does Earth stop meteors from hitting Earth and hurting people? –Asher, 6 years 11 months, New South Wales Alright, let’s embark on a meteor ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rory Mulcahy, Associate Professor of Marketing, University of the Sunshine Coast Professional sports organisations regularly promote and develop initiatives to support diversity, equity and inclusion. While sport has the power to change attitudes by sparking conversations about political issues and social ...
Comment: The weekly Monday post-Cabinet press conference is a useful forum for observing Christopher Luxon and how he is developing into the job of Prime Minister. He attempts to convey the impression of a man of action, speaking fast, delivering memorised National Party strategies in a connect-the-slogans kind of way, ...
Double votes, missing ballot boxes, tired tech and stressed staff: how tick-tallying went astray at last year’s election. Cast your mind back to November 2023, that bleary-eyed post-election period duringwhichwewaited, andwaited, for a coalition deal to be hammered out. A distraction from the hotel-hopping of our ...
Can we stop or slow climate change?
A 15.45 minute video sponsored by the Gates Foundation which makes sobering viewing.
The conclusion seems to be: yes, we can, but by God, we’d better start acting quickly.
Thanks Tony.
.
The Pook Family pukekos who forage up & down my stream became quite a large extended whanau. Sweety Pook produced broods at least 3 times a year.
ALL the adults, & any adolescent birds who can fly, feed & care for the pooklets. Bluey, the Patriarch or Koro, slept with all broods of pooklets every night, until they were old enough to build their own individual sleeping nests.
Another poster on a forum that I used to post on disagreed with my opinion about something one day, & dismissively suggested I go and talk to my pukekos about it!
So I did ! Aspen Pook just happened to be nearby over the fence at morning tea time.
I gave him a quick summary of the situation, & Aspen duly offered his view (on the poster, not the topic – try as I might I just could not get them interested in politics.)
So I went back to the forum & gave him 🐧 Aspen's opinion! 😎
"Living with Covid" https://amp.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/sep/29/victorias-hospitals-strain-under-extraordinary-demand-as-covid-cases-surge
Our hospitals could not cope with this.
But Victoria is in lockdown, 270+ days of it. And it’s been world beating and lockdowns work to stop the spread.
time for Dan Andrews and Jacinda Adern to admit defeat and allow that lockdowns won’t beat delta.
There have been many "lockdowns" around the world. The word is used for very different approaches. Ours in 2020 was unquestionably a success, while others were half-hearted and failed.
I agree that Delta 2021 is tougher to beat. But when alternative actions to "lockdown" are proposed, we have to be hard-headed and honest about what they really entail.
Part of Victoria's "lockdown" was the use of private security (unlike NZ) and the same has been suggested by opposition parties here. But in Victoria the security breach – and virus outbreak – was so bad it led to a full inquiry and damning findings by the judge.
Unfortunately many of the alternatives are presented as easy options, when they are anything but.
& Victorias lockdown is barely comparable to NZs, apples & oranges. Lockdowns do work, unfortunately, and only work with public buy in. Crys of "we gotta give up!" undermine that public buy in & will ensure we clog up our crappy health system & a lot of sick &/or dead people.
Nope, Labour are doing the right thing, until science says otherwise.
We've had an incredibly successful response… now being consciously undermined by muppets (and a quite clear media narrative).
Yes, Level 4 with Bunnings. And aussies still marched.
Sounds the like arguments for socialism, <i> it wasn't real socialism</i>
Of course if you get the little flu you couldn’t in all good conscience partake of our socialist health facilities.
I'm double jabbed, wear a mask and don't have comorbities. As i'm responsible for my part in society beating this, it's unlikely i'll need too.
buuuutttt.. If i did need it then that's the price society pays for me paying taxes and acting responsibly.
Public goods aren't socialism.
Not quite.
The "no true socialism" thing is a bit like Christians predicting the apocalypse: the general direction might have been outlined, but there aren't any objective milestones along the way. Basically, everyone claims to be on the cusp of it, but heaven has not yet been achieved and everyone who claimed it before was in error: this time we're right, lol.
But NZ and Vic L4 are objectively different, both in specific businesses allowed to be open to the public and in the aggregate stringency index. Also, Vic imposed just enough to induce fatigue, so now they have (possibly superspreader?) anti-lockdown riots.
If we hadn't opened the aussie bubble we would most likely be ok still. Its Arderns on misstepon covid imho.
Pays to ignore the squeaky wheel sometimes.
I’m still waiting for all those who kicked and screamed for the open border with Australia to take personal responsibility for our current situation. After all they were happy to take the revenue and profits.
That squeaky wheel's back with a vengeance. I don't think this government's got the balls to fight it. A particular vaccination rate being enough will be more down to luck than anything else.
"… Jacinda Adern to admit defeat and allow that lockdowns won’t beat delta. "
This one might or might not beat Delta, but has already been a success in undoubtedly restraining what would otherwise be a huge outbreak by now
Yes 1 case went to 1000 total odd in a few days.
edit for ds
1000 total, not 1000 a day like in Sydney.
Sydney literally has people dropping dead from Covid in their own homes.
Our lockdown works because it's strict. Australia's ones were too muppety.
Victoria's is recognised as being one of the strictest in the world.
Many, many countries have found a path through covid and are now moving on to a new normal. New Zealand is lagging as our governments policy is lockdown until 90% where there is Delta.
This is completely unrealistic. If you believe the "experts" 90% vaccination won't happen. if you believe lockdown critics, it's unfeasible to keep people locked down until 90% without major societal impacts that will last long after covid is globally accepted.
Dogmatically sticking to lockdowns until 90% is failing this country.
nah
https://twitter.com/Thoughtfulnz/status/1440084603956461571
Amazing data and presentation there.
It shows NSW and VIC "lockdown" is equivalent to New Zealand's L3 or L2.5.
https://www.abs.gov.au/articles/state-economies-and-stringency-covid-19-containment-measures
Victoria is far stringent than any other state in lockdown, and it's numbers are beginning to outpace NSW, who are starting to relax lockdown measures.
But yeah, twitter
Thanks for the good link, which save me the effort of having to start moderating you. It doesn’t quite match the Oxford COVID-19 Government Response Tracker (https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/covid-stringency-index?tab=chart&country=~AUS), but at least you made an effort this time to back up your reckons.
BTW, what is your problem with the cellphone data from the Google Mobility Report? Don’t like data taken on the ground because it doesn’t suit your ‘critical analysis’ and narrative? Sounds like you’re shooting down the medium (Twitter) instead of addressing the content. Now why would you that?
Jim works harder than Jane.
That says nothing about whether Janice is handling both their workloads and then some.
Vic has a tough lockdown compared to Sweden, for example. They're both still half-arsing it though.
Victoria still had garden centres, cafes, gyms open didn't it? Now that's a shambles.
We're slow but not disastrous. 8 new infections yesterday.
Next Monday isn't too long to wait now.
First one to the hairdressers wins.
Yes Ad … 8 cases yesterday and 45 new cases today! That is quite a jump.
Miserable
Please stop spamming this site with your reckons and other brain farts.
For starters, what is/was the stringency index of Victoria during its lockdown. Links required and not to other/more reckons.
What does the Horizon survey show is the possible vaccine uptake of the eligible population of 12+ in NZ? Look it up, Google is your friend. The onus is on you to provide support for your reckons.
Lockdown are not permanent measures, they’re temporary ones. The main reason lockdowns are less effective or fail is because breaches, same as breaches at the border and/or MIQ. When there’s a breach or leak the appropriate action is to correct it not throw away the baby with the bathwater and spit the dummy while getting your nappies in a twist.
Hospitalisation, ICU, and death are major societal impacts too.
Why do you believe “experts” and “lockdown critics” without any critical analysis?
I don't believe them without critical analysis. I'm questioning the pathway through their rhetoric.
Lockdowns cant' be permanent, but when they're the only tool in the toolbox as you haven't been to the hardware store in preparation, you need use your one hammer many times to insert the screws.
Stingency index? does it really matter? the lockdown isn't working. But as a good little authoritarian your response to lockdowns not working is new, better, more stringent lockdowns
Horizons poll is based on the opinion of survey respondents saying they would get the jab, which could take us to 90%. that’s a reckon
Countering rhetoric with reckons is a mug’s game. You believe your own ‘critical analysis’, that much is clear.
Lockdowns are not permanent measures. You seem to want to take them off the table and out of the toolbox forever with a written pledge by Government and Dr Bloomfield that they will never ever use Level 4 lockdowns again even when people are dropping like dead flies. Might have to change at least one Health Act. Mate, you’re dreaming!
Lockdown isn’t working because you say so? ‘kay, enough said.
Correcting breaches and leaks in/of our public health measures is not the same as “more stringent lockdowns”. Before you irk me more with putting words and meanings in my mouth you’d better start reading comments here better.
I see you didn’t find the Horizon poll. You can find it in my recent (https://thestandard.org.nz/fearmongering-or-telling-it-how-it-is/). The potential uptake was 85.5% of the eligible 12+ population based on a scientifically conducted survey.
That’s a whole load of ‘reckons’ there plus a comparison with all the previous surveys. However, as a true hard-out post-modernist, you think that your reckon is equal to that!?
The UK's "new normal" yesterday was 34,526 new cases and 167 deaths.
The US's "new normal" yesterday was 61,570 new cases and 1,217 deaths.
https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/
One reason this "new normal" is 'acceptable' in the USA and the UK is that the governments of those countries failed so abysmally to prioritise health.
In the US of A, 710,000 tragic deaths have been attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic. That's a deaths rate of ~0.21% (i.e. slightly more than one in 500 US citizens), about three and a half times more than the recorded global average. In the UK, one in 500 have also died from COVID-19.
In NZ, 27 deaths have been officially attributed to the pandemic, giving a death rate of 0.00054%, 110 times less than the global average.
The point is, the USA's COVID death rate is ~385 times greater than NZ's. In this particular pandemic, you want to be this bloke (NZ); you do not want to be like these blokes (MUSAGA; FreedumUK).
Unite against COVID-19
https://covid19.govt.nz
That "new normal" you describe has mountains of corpses. If keeping our people alive is failure, then I'm happy enough with failure.
"New Zealand is lagging as our governments policy is lockdown until 90% where there is Delta. "
To my knowledge the government has never specified a percentage. You might be thinking of National there…
Your narrative is just a repetition of the opinions of people like Key, Act and the brown nosing mindless mainstream media. The only thing you left out was the bit about Jacinta creating a “ climate of fear”.
An “orchestrated litany of lies” seems to be an apt description.
Dukell, so Jacinda is 'dogmatic'!! Wow it was 'fixated' formerly.
How is "lock down failing this country"? Facts.
Now that is dogmatic, and fixated on "open up".
Dupe of feral with only 8 cases in NZ as opposed to 800 in Victoria you are spreading the virus of misinformation.
Trying to bundle one jurisdiction into a totally different country with borders and NZ's health system which can't cope with even small numbers of covid patients.
It's been a fairly crap lockdown. Ockyland might not have the level of social cohesion it prides itself on.
Not our type of lockdown. e.g. Elite swimming still happened. 5 people to visit!!
Oh dear, it doesn't sound promising next week for Auckland with headlines in Stuff like "Auckland's move to level 2 unlikely if status quo continues". When you click on the article the headline changes to below that doesn't sound as bad.
Covid-19: Auckland's boundary 'critical' if region moves down alert level – expert | Stuff.co.nz
Geez
Re Victoria
There were thousands out on the streets protesting the lockdown- that probably accelerated the spread.
So don't have lockdowns and have thousands out on the street and that will stop the spread.
DUH
Like the kid in the old Mitre 10 ad eh? "Aussies."
Then again Brian Tamaki wants to do it here.
(Is his problem he hasn't had much publicity lately? Or with the lockdowns and restrictions he can't vacuum up the usual cash?)
Yeah take their names (Tamikis lot) etc and fine them the cost of lockdowns
You do realise that bishops move diagonally, a bit underhand really.
Although they're not as devious movers as knights. A clear demonstration of this has made the news lately
He's anointed himself "Apostle" now.
Tamaki appointed himself Apostle Bishop Brian Tamaki, some time ago. Expect Our Lord Apostle Bishop Brian Tamaki to come next!
Checkmate
Well Bishops are somewhat handicapped they literally can't see half the whole world they live in
Keep an eye out for a surge after grand final celebrations.
They've not done the right thing by each other. They've many Brian tamakis and billy tk's egged on by MP's pushing antivaxer material.
Protests, flagrant breaches and footy finals bubbles bursting. They've a way to go.
They've a fair few proudboys too.
Note to Brian Tamaki… don't protest 'till it is safe to do so.
Interesting article from Ken Loach today on the current state of the UK Labour Party.
In a way it is useful for everyone to know for certain that UK Labour is no place for progressives, rather than deluding themselves. Will an alternative emerge?
Workers Party of Britain
https://workerspartybritain.org
Leader George Galloway.
Heres an alternative to traitorist Labour, who lost the way long long ago.
A SHOW OF CHINA'S FORCE IN THE AIR
Al Jazeera English Sep 29, 2021
China has shown off some of its most advanced aircraft, technology, and weaponry at its biggest air show.
New prototype drones that can carry missiles and go on reconnaissance missions are on display in the city of Zhuhai.
The show is being held as its rivalry with the US and other Western countries intensifies – along with disputes over the South China Sea and Taiwan.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7MWpuOJZiRU
Scary Gezza China is stretching its muslces .China has the technology and manufacturing capability to become the most advanced military on the planet.
Thanks in no small part on their ability to 'acquire' the technology others have developed.
Things maybe are not going so well there at the moment, this:
https://www.reuters.com/world/china/chinas-power-crunch-begins-weigh-economic-outlook-2021-09-27/
along with the building bubble bursting may keep them otherwise occupied
That show of might may be to shore up his image at home, similar to what the Russians used to do, and North Korea. Things are faltering in their economy.
we-ell not for a few years yet.
It can definitely dominate the South China Sea, maybe take Taiwan if it's happy to get a bloody nose in the process, but there are a number of areas that will still take decades to develop.
Their carrier force is still small and not yet anywhere close to the ballpark of 0 supercarrier task forces.
Their long range strike capabilities are apparently limited by their engine tech (something about forming the turbine blades as cohernet individual crystal structures).
Their hypersonic missiles are well-touted, but you need something to point them at. They mght or might not be able to have ubiqitous surveillance over SCS good enough to target vessels, but the Pacific in general? Probably not.
And a lot of their tech is relatively untested. E.g. Russia sent SU57s to Syria along with personell and ground equipment (and a dismal effort by Kuznetsov).
Anyone wonder why several NZ banks have had DDOS attacks and a major supermarket chain have sever IT disruptions recently? Someone's having fun: maybe a state actor just probing our infrastructure.
Why do we need more uncritical war porn here?
Agreed. War with China will wipe out civilization in a flash. We were incredibly close. Trump was psychotic enough to push the red button. De-escalation please.
I’ve come to the conclusion that Xi wants any de-escalation to be on China’s terms. And unfortunately the Americans want it to be on the US’s terms.
Both sides are really pushing hard at the edges of provoking the other. The Chinese by harrassing US & other foreign ships & planes, & the US and others by pointedly sailing into areas China’s claiming as ITS territorial waters.
A major live-firing incident might not be all THAT far off. Then we will see whether one or both sides can calm down & negotiate. Xi, I worry, is possibly wanting to actually TEST China’s military against the US in some kind of a skirmish. What the US then does will be the critical factor, I imagine.
Sorry Ad. Didn’t mean as “uncritical war porn”. Saw it as relevant to the recent post on the CPTPP VS NUCLEAR SUBS, & the extensive commenting that that generated on China’s armament drive & its worryingly muscular foreign & military postures, re Taiwan & its claims to the South China Sea.
This brief Aljaz tv news item looks at some of the most recent military hardware that the PRC is clearly adverstising to its potential adversaries. That drone they show is the biggest drone I think I’ve seen.
There used to be in some quarters a belief that the Chinese weren’t great at inventing stuff, that they were basically copiers (same argument was often made about the Japanese). They’ve certainly been long-criticised for basically forcing foreign companies operating there to hand over details of their trade secrets – effectively purloining their intellectual property.
But it appears to me that China is now fadt developing its own inventions – in areas such as AI & integrated military systems and hardware. It now seems to be past the point where it needs to get hold of other countries’ secrets.
I'll generate a post on a China-related matter so we can focus the debate again.
Generally I don't like video clips put up with very little commentary. Better to see one is capable of making a point.
Generally I believe I do provide some commentary or opinion when I post a link to an item. But noted, for the future, Ad. 👍🏼
All I can say to the idea that Chinese are only copiers is Gunpowder
Appears they may have actually copied that from the Mongols.
National’s COVID plan is being released at 10.
Presumably at the same time they will publish the modelling that tells them the number of cases to be expected, and the number of deaths.
As another consequence of their plan, they also release their plans for instantly upgrading the ICU awards and how they are going to recruit the required doctors and nurses.
It should make a fascinating read.
This very helpful graph by Gary Boyd is still live.
It shows NZ is running a similar number of cases at day 43 after first Delta as Victoria. 5 weeks later Victoria just registered over 1000 new cases.
That is what would be in store for us under the National Party plan.
https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-19-09-2021/#comment-1817021
Nationals policy is stating the obvious pathetic publicity stunt.
They care about their donor's businesses, not lives.
Judith Collins says the National Party plan to let Kiwis into the country for Christmas has been "expert-reviewed", but it apparently doesn't put a number on how many could die as a result.
But like driving, Collins says it will include some risk.
"When we drive cars, we understand that there are going to be some people who are injured and occasionally people will lose their lives," she told The AM Show on Wednesday. "It doesn't stop us driving cars."
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2021/09/coronavirus-judith-collins-urges-govt-to-adopt-national-s-covid-plan-admits-it-could-result-in-deaths.html
Wrong analogy. When they find a technical fault with a type of plane all those planes tend to be grounded until checked and fixed if necessary. Driving a car is too innocuous, unless it is a car without WOF & Rego by an unlicensed and uninsured driver who’s over the limit and in bad weather conditions.
"Driving a car is too innocuous".
Innocuous. Definition "not harmful or offensive". Synonyms include " unexceptionable, harmless, unremarkable, commonplace."
There were about 350 New Zealand road deaths in 2019 and 320 in 2020. That is an unremarkable number is it? At what point would you begin to worry and how does the number that might bother you compare to the number of Covid 19 deaths that you will accept?
Obviously, the analogy was, as was Judith’s, to create a certain perception with the average Kiwi, who’d find driving a car rather innocuous indeed, I reckon, and generally considers themselves a better than average driver. That same person is unlikely to grasp for statistics of deaths caused by traffic accidents and compare those to predictions of fatalities caused by Covid-19, unless they’re you, obviously.
You’re grasping for straws to score a silly point, as per usual.
Your comment is dismissed as useless and irrelevant, as per usual.
Perhaps Judith has a car that once it has an accident, causes the car it just hit to careen of wildly and crash into another 3 or 4 cars, which in turn do the same, and so on, infinitely. (Or at least till all the cars on the road at the time are munted.)
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/452528/covid-19-national-s-plan-calls-for-vaccination-targets-to-end-lockdowns-open-borders
So nothing that is not already either being done, or in the pipeline.
What a croc.
National's 10-steps:
10 bullet points, eh? Have they just joined Keys' 5 and Seymour's 5 together?
PowerPoint (and any more recent copycats from other 'technology providers') have a lot to answer for.
2. already done. duh
3. uh-huh. like how? by cutting the health system like your lot did last time.? hard to believe
4. already doing it. beginning to suspect that this isn't a "plan" merely a bunch of misinformed talking points.
5. see (4) above. repeating themselves now?
6. more bureaucracy? is this an attempt to kneecap the MOH or something? yayy let's invent new agencies in the middle of a crisis.
7. how, when will it be ready. can we also have lamborghinis and flying unicorns?
8. duh. "we are [already] working on new digital certificates"
9. like ivermectin? no thanks, lets follow proper medical advice
10. translation: "our plan will crash the health system and give everyone Covid, but we will chuck some more beds in ICU, she'll be right"
lol I wouldn't want my name on this list either
National’s ‘Opening Up’ plan – in a nutshell | The Spinoff
Paora Goldsmith has become camera-shy in fear of falling into more self-inflicted holes. The good man has a reputation to uphold for when he has to find a new job at the end of 2023.
Don't want to put their names to Nationals"Covid and hearses for Christmas".
Such transparency
As the Thai Bhuddist asked me with his bowl out: who gives a phuc?
Don't forget. "And tax cuts"!
"So nothing that is not already either being done, or in the pipeline.".
Are the current Government really supercharging the rollout? The figures say the the opposite seems to be happening. In the first week of September, when they seemed to be trying, there were 387,000 first doses. Last week there were only 144,000. Why the slowdown? We have only vaccinated 65% of the total population so far so there would appear to be about 1,800,000 people who have had a single dose yet..
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/300417126/covid19-nz-first-doses-drop-to-lowest-rate-since-july-government-still-consulting-on-vaccine-certificates
https://www.health.govt.nz/our-work/diseases-and-conditions/covid-19-novel-coronavirus/covid-19-data-and-statistics/covid-19-vaccine-data
Have our Government ordered vaccine boosters? When did they do it, how many have been ordered and what are the delivery dates for these?
Expand our ICU capacity? Have the current Government really done that? We may have a bit more equipment but we don't appear to have the people to use them. According to ICU doctor Craig Carr, who is the New Zealand regional chair of the Australia NZ Intensive Care Society. "We now have more equipment compared with 18 months ago, but we actually have very few extra staff, and in some instances, we've got fewer staff,"
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/covid-19-coronavirus-delta-outbreak-have-we-boosted-hospital-icu-capacity-enough/BYKEKZQYWNBFKWQ5ZEE5Q5PWNE/
That is just 3 of the 10 items but I can't see that, as you appear to believe, the current Government is already doing these things. I haven't bothered to check out the other 7 items but I don't really expect to find the Ardern Government is doing any better there. Perhaps you could provide some evidence that they are, if you can find any.
I understand it's 2 years to train an ICU nurse…..how's that crystal ball going
The number of ICU beds has increased from 150 to nearly 700.
But that would need to increase to 2,000 or3,000 just to cope with Nationals policy.that would require 1,000's more trained staff do we steal them from other countries who are struggling.or do we wait 6 to 10 years of training to bring up the numbers.
National can make any claims they like but none can be met because by the time they theoretically get into power 2023 the world will be different.
Alwyn the govt has ordered nearly 6 million doses of astra zeneca. Millions of Johnson and johnson's vaccine.
Then the govt will have over 2 million spare doses of Pfizer enough to give all vulnerable groups a booster dose.
Mixing vaccines may give higher immunity.
Luckily we have the research from countries in a far worse situation than us.
i see that Hooton has crawled out from under his rock again. calls for govt to give up its Covid response, and civil disobedience if he doesn’t get his way. what a dork.
Matthew Hooton on LinkedIn: Covid 19 Delta outbreak: Expert says 'very resistant' tail puts level
The scenes of violence and rioting in Australia against covid mandates and restrictions inflamed by Far Right figures and personalities.
Convince me that Mathew Hooton is a far worst than a dork.
Dictionary definition: Dork – A person regarded as stupid, foolish, awkward, clumsy, etc.
Calling for, (inciting), civil disobedience, against the government's efforts to contain the virus, needs to be condemned in the harshest terms. In my opinion the words sabateur and traitor are not too harsh to describe Mathew Hooton.
Let’s see if I have this right.
If opponents=bad then advocates=good
Not sure what you're saying there Incognito. But death-cult capitalism is self evidently "bad" for most of the human race, and the planet
Nah, I’m trying to capture Jenny’s apparent ‘reasoning’ in simple logical language, i.e. the enemy of enemy is my friend kind of stuff and everything else flowing from there. Way too much focus on who some of the protesters are and not enough of the reasons why some do join the protests. Another variation is shooting the messenger but not addressing the message. You can also see this here on TS in how some commenters want to deal with people who have questions, doubts, reservations, hesitations about getting vaccinated against Covid-19; it is not open-minded listening to others’ concerns but hardline exlusion to far-out corners of our public health system if not of our society in general. A public debate is needed, as always, but not on those terms. IMHO.
Ah right. Tribalism rather than actual arguments.
(You're not the only one).
I have been very clear, that I think that this debate should be held with the various grass roots stake holders in society. Faith Groups, Unions, Employers, Sports Associations, etc.
It would be great if you could tell us where and with whom in your Honest Opininion this needed public debate should be held.
Since you addressed this roblogic I won’t pre-empt his reply to you.
The main difference between roblogic and you is that he gets it and you don’t, generally speaking.
OK, so we won't censure Hooton for treason after all? Boring 😛
Remember what happened to Lord Haw Haw.
I looked it up, interesting story. Yes Hooton is a propaganda merchant for the other team. I think some of his Covid reckons are dangerous and irresponsible, in the middle of a life threatening pandemic, but not quite in the category of treasonous communications in wartime
The paid shill does as requested.
Soon he'll probably be pimping Jude's replacement as part of nationals PR machine just like he did with muller.
yes there's more than a whiff of a co-ordinated campaign of malcontents this week
A few other RW "influencers" have also been hyping civil disobedience, & sad we're not like the Australians. I bet Hooton would be nowhere near the Frontline.
In better & more sane news, the port workers are at 95% vaccinated! Showing disinformation can be fought against, & also very few people listen to fucking Hooton
If we were fighting a war Hooton would be locked up for undermining the effort .
The Locations of Interest list is down to under 100. Surely a good sign.
https://www.health.govt.nz/our-work/diseases-and-conditions/covid-19-novel-coronavirus/covid-19-health-advice-public/contact-tracing-covid-19/covid-19-contact-tracing-locations-interest
I don’t keep chickens, so entrail reading is not an option.
Bye.
A North Carolina-based hospital system has fired roughly 175 unvaccinated employees for failing to comply with its vaccine mandate.
Why it matters: It's one of the largest-ever cases of mass terminations spurred by a vaccine requirement. Over 99% of its 35,000 employees have adhered to the mandate, according to Novant director of media and influencer relations Megan Rivers.
https://news.yahoo.com/north-carolina-hospital-system-fires-174903386.html
Almost like mandates work…
On Monday, as the deadline for vaccinations for about 600,000 nursing home and hospital workers arrived, it seemed that bet had proved to be at least partially correct.
With just days or even hours to spare, thousands of health care workers got inoculated, according to health officials across the state. And while thousands more workers remained unvaccinated, and thus in danger of being suspended or fired, the rush of last-minute vaccinations appeared to blunt the worst-case scenarios for staffing shortages that some institutions had feared.
[…]
In the Bronx, Dr. Eric Appelbaum, the chief medical officer at St. Barnabas Hospital, said that some unvaccinated employees who had been anxious about getting the shot had simply put the matter out of their minds — until the mandate made it impossible to ignore any longer.
As recently as last Wednesday, more than 20 percent of the hospital’s roughly 3,000 staff members had yet to get their first dose. By late Monday morning, that number had plummeted to just 6 percent, Dr. Appelbaum said.
https://archive.li/r9YYT (nyt)
The vaccination campaign has 'hit a cliff'
"First doses have dropped massively"
Top down, mandated restrictions by the appointed authorities work to a point. But only to the point where they start to encounter resistance, non-compliance and possibly even hostile defiance.
To get to 90% vaccination coverage, mandates, regulation and compulsion alone, will not be enough. We need to win hearts and minds as well.
The government need to fund a society wide targeted information blitz.
Every sector; Faith Groups, Unions, Employers, Sports Associations, need to be on board, and provided with the resources to encourage their parishoners, union members, employees, players & supporters, to get vaccinated.
Your country needs you….
Your church needs you….
Your union needs you….
Your employer needs you….
Your family needs you….
Get vaccinated
Henry Cooke didn’t mention the word “mandate” once. Only authoritarians and other fearful control freaks do, without giving it much thought, it seems.
Henry Cooke never mentioned the word mandate. I never said he did. I was talking about the government's mandated lockdowns, and other mandated restrictions, the internal border between Auckland and the rest of the country, and the MIQ facilities at the national border, both of which are continually dealings with openly defiant rule breakers. And more and more breaches.
I was pointing out that these government mandated restrictions on freedom of movement, (which I support), have their limitations, especially if the government can't take the people with them.
I was suggesting that we need to win people over to willingly support measures like vaccination, rather than force people to have vaccinations by top down mandates.
I think this is a fair comment. I don't know how you can possibley make out that this comment, makes me an 'authoritarian, fearful control freak'?
I am in fact a convinced democrat.
The more democracy the better.
So I can understand where you are coming from; Maybe you would like to explain your reasoning behind your ad hominem insults.
You said that “[t]op down, mandated restrictions by the appointed authorities work to a point” and that “[t]o get to 90% vaccination coverage, mandates [my bold], regulation and compulsion alone, will not be enough”. I suggest you learn to word your comments better if you’re not actually in favour of and advocating for mandates from above. As it stands, very many comments of yours come across with a distinct whiff of authoritarianism and its handmaid absolutism. Just saying.
"As it stands, very many comments of yours come across with a distinct whiff of authoritarianism and its handmaid absolutism. Just saying." Incognito
You keep saying this, but never give an example. How about give us just one example, just one, of my "very many comments" that you claim "come across with a distinct whiff of authoritarianism".*
|Even in this case. Dispite how you try and twist my meaning. I was very clear, I was not calling for more top down mandates. i was instead advocating an appeal to all groups to willingly support the government's vaccination campaign, How on earth you can claim that calling for more grass roots consultation with all the stakeholders in society rather than top down imposed mandates is something "Only authoritarians and other fearful control freaks do" escapes me.
“Has a whiff of…” is an admission by you that your disagreement is a subjective view.
This is not the first time that you have said you don't like "the smell" of my comments.
An emotional response, suggestive of smell, whiff etc, are not objective fact based criticisms.
(Typed words literally don't have a smell, even less so on a computer screen).
I am sorry you disagree with my views, but I do not apologise for them, just because you disagree with them.
All I ask is that if you don't like my views, but feel moved to comment on them, instead of indulging in fact free personal ad hominem insults, provide a rational fact based critique, of why I am wrong,
You never know, we all might learn something.
At the very least it will lift the level of debate.
You wrote this, and I’ve added my emphasis, so that you can follow my reading of it:
That doesn’t read to me as “i [sic] was instead [my bold] advocating an appeal to all groups to willingly [my bold] support the government's vaccination campaign”.
It reads to as in addition to. Your comments are ambiguous and lack clarity of meaning and they often don’t pass the sniff test.
There is no contradiction.
I used the word 'instead' in the context of instead of mandated compliance alone. Not instead of all mandated compliance. You are deliberately trying to twist my meaning with selective cherry picking.
I am not against all regulation, (and never said I was) My view is that it needs, as much as is possible to be done with a mandate. Simply imposing regulations especially around sensitive areas of people's freedom of movement, (lockdowns), and bodily intrusion, (injections). Disempowers people and leads to the sort of scenes we saw in Australia. We don't want that here. If we want to get to 90% vaccine coverage, (which is a very high bar,) it is my opinion, that it can't be done with compulsion alone.
Therefore I suggested that the governent begin an outreach program to win over the various grass roots stakeholders in society. Unions, Faitth Groups, Sports Bodies, Employers, etc.
I really can't understand your objection to such an idea.
As usual, you’re going around in circles; so many words, so little clarity.
Let’s see whether you can shed any light on what you actually mean.
What specific “mandate”, “mandated compliance”, “regulation”, or “compulsion” do you have in mind when trying to achieve 90% vaccination coverage of the 12+ eligible population if it is not a mandate to get vaccinated?
Try keep your answer under 100 words and to the point, please.
'
Human beings are social creatures, generally speaking, where our peers go, we go.
If all the various disparate groups and organisations that make up our society can we won over to the vaccine campaign, their members will be won over too.
This initiative is being done in a partunership between the Canterbury District Health Board and local Businesses.
If we are to achieve the 90% target, which is something few countries have been able to achiever. It is my opinion; We need lots more initiatives like this.
That doesn’t answer the question not does it provide any clarity of what you meant, just more bedazzled befuzzled irrelevant nonsense. At least you kept it <100 words, this time although you replied to yourself (!?) with something else that has no hint of “mandate”, “mandated compliance”, “regulation”, or “compulsion”, which is consistent with the piece by their colleague and fellow Stuff author Henry Cooke, as I commented on previously.
No travel on airplanes without vaccination and testing.
Social media should shut down conspiracy theorists or at the very least promote science and vaccine efficacy.
"Social media should shut down conspiracy theorists or at the very least promote science and vaccine efficacy."
Shutting them down is giving them currency. They simply find another platform, and scream how true they must be because they were shut down. Some real medical professionals giving simple explanations of the actual science is the way to go IMHO.
"As farmers, families like mine received an enormous amount of benefit from the state, had almost no constraints on our actions, and often paid almost nothing in tax. In terms of per capita investment by the state, there has never been such a privileged class in New Zealand history."
"At heart their message is simply a plea to stop the clocks. For some, it is proving very hard to move on from living in a past version of New Zealand where they were the nation’s most privileged citizens."
The politics of nostalgia in the Groundswell protests.
An illuminating read.
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/stop-the-clocks-the-politics-of-nostalgia-in-the-groundswell-farmer-protests
+10
worth the read
The ones that dont pay alot of tax (some do by the way) are the ones heavily indebted, the system is rigged in favour of the those that borrow and pour any money left over from interest rates into spending on capital development.
They dont want people debt free because they will be less productive, I read a ealy 1900s nz article that stated this but have never been able to find it again sorry.
As for the groundswell I'd love to see a reporter go ask a good number of them next time what they are in fact protesting, I'd imagine most haven't a clue,
Fonterra have many farmers in a bind. Banks have high self interest, so unless you are factory farming life can get difficult. Those farmers trying to pivot to less destructive farming methods need support with $ incentives to transition imo.
Not sure how fonterra has farmers in a bind?
Do they still have to supply milk if involved and pay if they can't…or has that stopped?
Cant help you there sorry
A bit sad really in that the farmers are not able to give a clear slant on just what their prime beef is. Is Groundswell really a farming lobby or people with a purely right wing political agenda? Not Fed Farmers or National Party? Hmmm?
Top pun that man!!
Groundswell? Loose affiliation of the disgruntled, the disorientated and the dismayed. Bound to succeed in overturning what the rest of us have already come to terms with 🙂
Thanks Robert, very insightful.
It isn't just political power they want the clocks wound back for. A return to a time where the primary producer is paramaount in their local market, as opposed to having to meet the supermarkets often one-sided terms and conditions.
Not unreasonable in my view.
How is Stuff funding the daily stories about people missing out on MIQ spots? When ever they have comments on the story, the main theme is "yes, it's tough for everyone but we have to manage returns so our people and our economy are safeguarded". Yet story, after story, after story – it feels like a funded campaign.
Where is the story after story about people catching covid-19 in the community and having their lives turned upside down – where is the balance? Or just anyone who has been screwed by lockdown – funerals, hospital visits etc.
Yes. The media supported campaign to denigrate this government reminds me of similar campaigns from past political climes including the latter half of the Helen Clark regime followed by the insidious campaigns against David Shearer and his successor, David Cunliffe – not to mention the officially sanctioned effort (at least in part) to discredit Phil Goff. I noted Barry Soper's latest diatribe has another go at the "government ruling by fear" meme :
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/covid-19-delta-outbreak-barry-soper-labour-looks-rattled-and-pms-under-pressure/B7PTZL6XVH6ZQD4UGDIBMG5KPY/
These second rate tabloid journos are an integral ingredient of these insidious campaigns, while the first-class journalists and commentators have been banished to the back of the room. You find them in places like newsroom;
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/politics/covid-is-not-a-choice-for-sick-children-sir-john
"he media supported campaign to denigrate this government "
You have got to be joking.
Tova O'Brien and Jessica Mutch McKay are might as well just put cheerleader outfits on with big "A"s on them at Ardern's pressers and when they write about the current govt
"insidious campaigns against David Shearer and his successor, David Cunliffe "
"now that Mr Cunliffe has left the leadership race, he should quit Parliament altogether because Labour can do without him and his treachery."
Do you know who said that? David Shearer. Labour didn't need the media to point out their shortcomings…they were eating each other from within. Watching National over recent months is almost like experiencing deja-vu.
It would be nice if they pointed out that over 100 000 have come through miq ,just for balance.
173,000 was the last number I saw – hardly a hermit kingdom level
Disclosure: I'm currently in MIQ – day one at the Crowne Plaza after returning from the UK where I've been living and working the past 3 years until my visa expired in August.
I've been (and still am) on 4 different private FB groups as I've gone through the process of securing an MIQ voucher over the past 4 months. There are 1000's of people in the groups, and there are often requests made to them/us from journalists/reporters for returnees stories. (and no shortage of stories). No funded campaign needed.
Welcome back in NZ and here on TS
Thank you! It's wonderful to be back. (I got all tearful as we flew into the airport last night with the Southern Sky above me again…)
Nothing like seeing that land underneath you from the air once more.
It was the loveliest of sights. Followed by hearing the familiar cadence of the kiwi accent, and the army/defence man on the bus telling us we'd be 'sweet as' once we'd had our first clear PCR and could have a daily walk. I didn't realise how much I missed the voices of people who sound like me! (Mind you, I've been living in Newcastle where the Geordie accent reigns and I'm not sure who had more trouble initially being understood- me, or them.)
Welcome back. Our son posted a video of a crowd of Kiwis doing a spontaneous haka on the Gold Coast. It was really rousing, and was greeted with cheers and clapping. Grant said he felt a real sense of "us".
This virus has made us rethink much. Hope it goes well for you. Feel free to chat here about your experiences. We haven't quite turned into Hobbits yet.
I think I saw that video on FaceBook! It was great, and also homesickness inducing!
I still recall the first sight of aotearoa I had after 2 years away ! 24 years 11 months ago . Had a return ticket to the uk but never used it.
Hah! Yes, that first sighting is magical…
Welcome home NZFemme. 🙂
It would be interesting to know what kind of stories the journalists/reporters are after… whether they are interested in the good experiences or just the bad ones.
From what we have heard thus far, it seems to be mainly the bad ones.
Hello Anne,
Generally the reporters requests are for returnees experiences with specific aspects of the MIQ booking system and its evolution. For example, back in June/July they wanted to communicate with returning citizens about the use of third parties; the reasons people were resorting to it, and the actual technical process of booking. (This was when you had to sit at your computer refreshing constantly for hours at a time for weeks if you wanted any chance at all to book a spot – this was my experience, with a few all-nighters as well thrown into the mix)
There was also a call out for stories from people living with disabilities who were unable to use the system at all, as it wasn't set up to be accessible for them. (Kiwi citizens who are blind for example, or those with physical disabilities that wouldn't allow for the use of lightening fast keyboard use for hours on end)
There were requests from reporters for kiwi citizens who were being refused emergency allocations under the different criteria. (there are around 350 emergency allocations set aside every 2 weeks, but only 50% of them are generally allocated. Brigadier Rose King, joint head of MIQ, has said that "this is a limit, not a target".
Now they are interested in stories from returning citizens who are navigating the new MIQ booking system, which is more of a lottery system – so you enter your passport number when the lobby opens, and are then assigned a random number, which indicates where you will be in the queue for that specific room release. (They have just run the second room release under the new system yesterday)
There have been a couple of independent film-makers in the ex-pat community who put a call out for returnees to follow them through to their returns, and their experiences when back in NZ. (I don't like to be filmed so never put my hand up for these! Or any of the other requests.)
I guess the reality is that good news doesn't really get the ratings, and unfortunately, from the returning citizen's perspective, the MIQ booking system itself has been pretty horrible to navigate. And it really is the booking system itself, rather than the need to isolate/quarantine at a facility, that has so many returning citizens despairing.
I do feel very lucky to have been able to come home. It was a bit scary there for a while, as I didn't want to be an illegal overstayer in the UK, and be unable to work or rent. Thankfully the UK govt put in place a visa extension scheme called 'Exceptional Assurance' for citizens from countries with no flights home, or in the case of New Zealand, 'no room at the inn' so to speak, to at least make sure we don't end up with black marks on our passports. I don't know how much longer they will continue the scheme though, as they extended it somewhat begrudgingly again only after an intervention from the NZ High Commissioner.
Thankyou for your in-depth reply. It will take some time to digest it all.
I understand how stressful it must be for those desperate to return to NZ but I guess the government is trying to manage and absorb not too large a number of returnees at a time so as not to run the risk of compromising our Delta variant status. Hence the need to stagger the MIQ places over a longer period. Hopefully most will be able to return by Xmas or soon afterwards.
I find it a bit disingenuous they concentrate on the disabled because of course we are disadvantaged no matter what situation we find ourselves in. As someone who now has to live with severe arthritis I can attest to that. It comes across to me as an opportunity to include a few sob stories because they think it will create a stir among the great unwashed. I use the term "unwashed" only in a rhetorical sense.
Years ago I worked in a NZTV entity so I know a little bit how the journos' and broadcasters' minds work.
Anne, yes, that request did feel opportunistic – it came after an RNZ story on the 30 complaints to the Human Rights Commission about the lack of accessibility, one of which was spurred by the President of the Blind Union being unable to utilise the system. It felt like other media outlets were trying to play catch up with their own versions.
What feels yucky to me also, is the attempts to make MIQ and the issues of returning citizens into a political football game. It just ends up creating even more division between Kiwis who need to come home, and Kiwis at home. I really don't believe for a minute that Seymour or Collins care about Kiwis stuck overseas – it feels like they just see a crack in Labours wall, and want to wedge it open wider to score political points, flapping our stories about like gloating bait. But there is a crack…
I think given that New Zealand's ex-pat community is so large, and the ability to facilitate the numbers seeking to return is constrained by the infrastructure available to keep everybody safe – both returning kiwis and kiwis on the ground – sadly, it may be well into 2022 before the appx 30,000 who tried for spots in yesterdays room release can return. I really wish it was otherwise.
My goodness, you've got it sussed and you have only just arrived back into the country.
You are right about Seymour and Collins – and Chris Bishop. They have been playing politics with Covid from the start and with some success. They don't give a damn about the plight of overseas Kiwis. They're just using them as a stick to beat the government with. Sad that a lot of NZers are falling for it.
Nationals wish list .
Building stand alone miq facilities considering labour material shortages and that National are not in power so they can make any old claim it likes.
FAS disability costs should be funded by the alcohol industry.
Absolutely Tricledown.
That was an enlightening piece on RNZ this morning. When FADS was highlighted the way it was, I couldn't help but think there was a 'deserving sick' vibe to the PTB thinking.
By alcohol industry, you mean consumers of alcohol.
The actual change in consumer price would be quite low I believe
Are you trying to tell me the mega breweries would 'absorb' any new taxes or increase in excise?
I'm saying the public would barely notice the increase if it was simply passed on to them…..however under the philosophy of never let a chance go by I could easily imagine alcohol manufacturers and importers wail loudly so as to make additional profit under the mask of "It's a TAX"
Building specialised MIQ away from Auckland is actually a good idea. Just not in the way National intends. When the Northern Hemisphere Winter brings mountains of fresh corpses, New Zealand will belatedly realise it can't re-open borders in 2022 either
As with Tuberculosis, sanitoriums for safe recovery may well be needed for MIQ and as more people end up with long covid.
National's plan is bereft of any ideas for unvaccinated children under age 12.
No doubt users would have to pay for testing vaccine boosters and hospital stays?, true to their "User pays" values.
National. Promises Covid for Christmas!
What a cracker!
Ok, you asked for it…
Where do bad rainbows go?
Prism.
It's a light sentence.
Personal statement: Brian Tamaki and his ungodly protest do not represent me. He is a public menace and a wolf in sheep's clothing, seeking to profit from a public health crisis. 2 Corinthians 11:5 warns against "super-apostles"
https://www.gotquestions.org/super-apostles.html
The Bible requires masking, quarantines and arguably vaccine passports:
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Leviticus%2013%3A45-46&version=NIV
Once again, I am grateful our leader is more a New Testament type.
Excellent reference arkie, thanks! I will use that.
Ouch.
45 new cases.
I am thinking bye bye level 2 next week Auckland
If it is. I feel for you. 🙁
It's not as bad as it sounds: 33 of the 45 are household contacts, of the 12 remaining, 6 have known links at the moment. And most of these cases were expected.
Chippie summed it up well at the presser: National promises Covid for Christmas!
All together now:
The first day of Christmas,
National got for me
A trip to E.D. …
Still at least 6 out and about probably another 6 on top… covids tentacles are winding back into the community… think thats the number to watch because Aucklands pretty damn busy and social distance is reducing… work bubbles are mixing… in the line for a pie and a coffee…
Do we hold our nerve, or do we go back to level 4 in a bid to stamp it out? Look how efficiently it spreads in NSW which is sorta in a level 3 lockdown…
I suspect the govt will have to decide quickly….
Damn this second jab I had yesterday is washing me out much worse than the first one. I'm about 20% down in energy today whereas I was 10% down on the first one.
I won't go into too much detail on my first one as don't want to put anyone off except it involved a bit of vomiting the next day, but I was the opposite.
Reallybad the first. Perfectly fine the second.
Different bodies react differently I guess.
Nah, you just got them done the wrong way around. You booked your second first and your first second.
Better ring them up and get it redone in the right order.
Lol
I thought I was good to go after the second – for a little over 24 hours and then it hit me. Came over all hot and flustered and generally feeling like shit so I took to the scratcher. Got up next AM as good as gold.
The second shot apparently leaves some extremely fatigued. Sounds like Ad is one of them.
looks like I lucked out on those, then – barely any problems whatsoever. To the degree that I had a wee sore bit on my arm from the injection, then realised that I'd gotten the shot on the other arm lol.
2nd shot had nothing I can recall (except the memory loss maybe? lol).
Similar. Felt so tired after the second one that I had to lie down for about 4 hours – after that I was fine.
First dose I was a bit crook second dose pretty much flattened me – runny nose, exhausted and aching all over = about 3 days of snoozing with sedatives and pain killers (from my prescription supply)
Watch for any shortness of breath ,that needs a check, otherwise rest and fluids.
Cheers you lot got mine coming in t minus 9 days , how about stiff upper lip its allgood as a response
Don't worry. Side effects are short and for the vast majority very mild if any at all.
I found the best bet if you are working during the week is just try to get it if you can either on a Friday arvo' or Saturday. Then if you have a bit of a reaction you have a day or 2 to get over it.
Worked for me any way.
When the world goes crazy about someone 'crossing the border' or 'escaping,' the report of the Auckland cop helping his whanau or friends doesn't read well at all.
The stories of the hardship and the harrowing stories about people missing funerals and weddings are legend already.
Accepting the news story as is, the man put his personal feelings and wishes ahead of his responsibilities. Fair enough, good for him. No doubt he weighed things up, looked at all the angles. He came to the right decision for him, the wrong decision for all others who have have suffered adverse border rulings.
But, the system expects everyone who is in a fraught position to bite the bullet and not cross. The system expects that border checks will stop them. Most will turn and go home, their attempt foiled. On the surface it is easy to infer the guy abused his position, his word or uniform to get through.
If his priority is to his family or friends let him leave the police and do other things. His mana will be enhanced in his whanau because he was prepared to sacrifice his job for them. Sure he was in a tough position. It's 2021, he and they haven't got that on their own.
He is a pillock, I'm sure his superiors will want his guts for garters.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/covid-19-delta-outbreak-auckland-police-inspector-at-centre-of-alleged-border-favour-breach-is-top-iwi-liaison-officer/U6Q7DL7PB5HO5TJ4A2SXLEOICE/
Seems odd he couldn't get it organised as part of his job.
Another 500 CCU nurses and 200 ward nurses to staff the the extra 100 CCU beds and 800 ward beds proposed?
Dopey tory pricks really do live in lala land.
https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/21071149/nationals-covid-19-plan.pdf
Easy to talk shit in opposition… bit like Phil Twyford and his 10000s of kiwibuild homes…
They really haven't got a clue. When this virus passes and that will probably be 'hopefully faster than we might assume what then with all the excess beds and very expensive equipment that needs replacing even if isn't doing anything because of redundancy of the technology. In normal circumstances we have plenty of ICU/HDU beds. Now nurses, it takes a long time to train an ICU nurse .
1, they need patients to train on, even now we only have an extra 3 or 4 covid ones a day.
2.. there is a huge array of equipment to master it is almost a 5 year apprenticeship.
3.. it takes a pretty special person to be one. It is one on one care usually for 12 hours with very little time off ( 12 hours so that the number of nurse changes a day is minimised because changeovers are when mistakes happen ) and the expert observational skills required to look after someone who is pretty much comatose take a long time to acquire.
We are so lucky the Nats were put out to pasture.
Train an ICU nurse ?
Its a 2 semester course at Auckland University , a few hours per week plus study. of course supervision still needed once graduated.
For this course, you can expect 40 hours of lectures, 160 hours of reading and thinking about the content and 100 hours of work on assignments and/or test preparation.
https://courseoutline.auckland.ac.nz/dco/course/NURSPRAC/702A
Its like teaching, to become 'fully qualified' means you have reached top of scale after 8-10 years. Still can be a classroom teacher during that time with mentoring
So much ignorant nonsense, nowadays
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/coronavirus/300414293/covid19-icu-staff-plead-for-kiwis-to-be-vaccinated-amid-bed-nurse-shortage
Ever heard of surgical registars…they are specialist doctors in training. Still treat patients.
Same goes for existing RN, indeed the course mentioned above requires them to be working in intensive care while studying.
Thats how a major hospital works , people in training are everywhere.
I think you mean surgical registrars – yes, as it so happens, I have heard of them.
As you rightly point out, training an ICU (Critical Care) Nurse requires much more than one course at University.
The question was not what nurses (or doctors) in training can do in and as part of their training, but how long it takes to train them and complete their training. It is even in National’s Plan, strangely enough:
Who would have thought?
Different candidates have different entry levels and thus different entry points. Well, duh!!
That's also an un-modelled estimate where they've just halved the 80% numbers. Not particularly rigorous, mathematically or medically.
I think taking the vote on leadership away from labour members and allowing caucus to pick the leadership should be opposed, it's nothing but a power grab from the labour right, caucus may have given us Ardern but also Goff and Shearer there's nothing to say Ardern couldn't have won a primary.
You forgot Unions, expecting payback.