Jacqui Dean looks to be just another M.P. compromised by her support of the alcohol industry……
‘When questioned by Māori Party MP Tariana Turia, on why she was unwilling to take the same prohibitory line on smoking cigarettes and drinking alcohol as she took on BZP, Ms Dean said Alcohol and tobacco have been with our society for many, many years; It is estimated that alcohol-related conditions account for 3.1% of all male deaths and 1.41% of all female deaths in New Zealand.
Dean’s Otago electorate is also home to approximately 5% of New Zealand’s wine production, described by the New Zealand Wine Growers Association as a new but aggressively expanding wine area, which is now New Zealand’s seventh largest wine region.’
There are so many ways that our standard of living and health is being decimated by the government and Treasury introduced neolib and freemarket systems. Alcohol has been around for ever but there was so much reaction about its affects in early NZ that it was banned, then reintroduced with control over hours, then after neolib some outlets could open 24/7. Alcohol can ruin people's will to work and stick to the tasks of their role in life, it also spreads to affect the family who adapt to the eccentricities of the addicted one, and the bad affects continue down generations.
So alcohol in excess taking us down. Further down the post Treetop 4.1 talks about micro businesses failing, and the bad affect on those trying to cope with that. I think small business failure is very high -within three years most have either gone bust, or found it was an expensive lesson as to what they shouldn't do, or they sell out, probably at a loss. No way should people draw on their Kiwisaver. It is interesting that Bill English made serious throat-clearing noises about people saving to impress the old-fashioned ignorant of economics, or old people for whom that idea worked until we had National hyperinflation. But actually the economy feeds off people spending, not people saving, and it keeps many so short on wages they have to borrow to get through till the next payday, so there is business profit to the lenders of that money which can not be more than 100% on the actual loan. Kind eh. So National lie about money and people still soak it up as long the end is blaming the poor for their circumstances.
She made it sound like the last 9 years. But I guess itll the standard nat method of tell a big porky defend it for a bit then back away quietly knowing that those less engaged will repeat the lie for them
You're onto National bwaghorn. I hadn't actually understood the whole process. But doesn't work for Labour. Promising thousands of houses in three years must have been industry-hype, but the Minister concerned with those funny-business people needs to be wary; these people are not your friends, and you are like innocent Mole going through the Wildwood with evil weasels watching, smirking with their pocket calculators red hot.
Since the Tea Party receded into history, then got Trumped, the latest hot trend in rightist politics in the US seems to be the one pioneered by an online anonymist: Q.
The insurgent QAnon movement is causing headaches for the Republican Party leadership, who appear to be unwilling to condemn the group for fear of losing much-needed votes, but are also unwilling to give direct credence to a conspiracy theory-driven movement that is loaded with political baggage.
For those who haven’t gone down the rabbit hole themselves, the broad QAnon narrative is a classic “new world order” conspiracy theory with an interactive and online twist. In QAnon world, the whole planet is controlled by a cabal of satan-worshipping pedophiles. Many QAnon adherents bizarrely believe that this cabal tortures children to extract a substance known as adrenochrome, which they purport (incorrectly) contains hallucinogenic and anti-aging properties. This cabal supposedly controls everything worth controlling, including politicians, the media, and entertainment.
Trump is believed to be battling this cabal with the help of a group of military intelligence officials known as “Q Team”. The QAnon faithful hold that these military intelligence officials are releasing coded messages about the operation to defeat the cabal on simple messageboards. The posts from the anonymous entity known as “Q” started on the infamous 4chan board, but now Q posts exclusively on 8kun. QAnon followers believe that by decoding these imageboard posts, they can learn the truth of this dramatic, secret war of good vs. evil.
At his Park Avenue penthouse — 62 floors high and with a sparkling nighttime view of the Manhattan skyline — billionaire Peter Thiel last fall introduced to his friends an immigration hardliner who he would back with over $1 million to try and transform the Republican Party. https://www.vox.com/recode/2020/7/27/21333636/peter-thiel-kris-kobach-kansas-senate-primary
Jesus would be thrilled that his followers are becoming so successful in infiltrating the US political establishment.
While QAnon followers aiming for national offices tend to draw the most attention, QAnon followers are also running for state offices. There are currently 12 known state-level candidates who have endorsed or given credence to the conspiracy theory or promoted QAnon content.
Looks like history repeating itself. Conservatives have been there & done that before, almost two centuries ago.
The first third party in the United States, the Anti-Masonic Party, was dedicated to the proposition that freemasons were running a shadow government and were secretly plotting to control the world. Though the Anti-Masonic Party was short lived, at their peak in 1833 they controlled 10.5% of the House of Representatives.
There's a lot of truth in the Q conspiracy– America *is* controlled by a cabal of crooks– but their solution (Trump) is wishful thinking in the extreme.
Looks like a sustained attempt by the chemical industry to poison nature is coming to an end, finally, here.
Between 1962 and 1987, the site was used by Ivon Watkins, later Ivon Watkins Dow, which mademost of the 2,4,5-T used in New Zealand at the Paritutu site. A byproduct of 2,4,5-T is dioxin, a known cause of cancer. Agent Orange, made of 2,4,5-T, was used in the Vietnam War as a defoliant.
Ivon Watkins Dow later became Dow Agrosciences, which became Corteva Agriscience in June last year following the 2017 merger between industrial giants DuPont and Dow Chemicals.
Climate Justice Taranaki spokeswoman Catherine Cheung said Corteva must decommission and remediate the site. "We don’t want to have contaminated land. It needs to be done properly.’’
I live just below the bottom of those photos in the report, around half a kilometer from their boundary, just far enough away to be free from paranoia.
If they sell their huge unused land-holding and subdivide, it may become the choice real estate option in New Plymouth: particularly the ocean view side, a millionaire's row in waiting. I'm right on the city edge, look out the back window to the countryside across the way & mountain above. Native frogs in my back yard come up from the stream in between suburb & countryside – glad to see the last of the agri-poisoners!
Dennis, taking in the photo, I envy you your home location, and I join with you in celebrating the exit of the blot on the lovely landscape. I hope the land is restored to health.
My cousin was born with a cleft palate which possibly comes from being exposed to the chemicals at the plant (her parents lived near there around the turn of the 1970's). The first 20 years of her life was spent in and out of hospital getting it fixed up.
Weir says the generally available statistics reveal 2000 businesses are liquidated every year in this country. “Around 45,000 [businesses] start in New Zealand yearly but about the same disappear. So while the number of businesses that officially fall into liquidation is relatively small relative to start-ups, most simply give up and disappear for reasons only the owners will know.”
When you really look at the stats you have to wonder why the politicians are so caught up on the idea that its small business that drives NZ.
This is classic Crusher. She's talking to the deep base who might not bother voting, not to someone who's been laid off because of covid.
Even if she gets to be PM (highly doubtful), I doubt the policy will start many more businesses than she crushed cars. $20K is just seed capital, the prospective business person then has to go and get a bank to support them, so has to have a pretty good business plan. You'd be looking at $100K finance package for a business that's going to do as well or better than wages. If the business plan is good enough to get the banks attention, then it wouldn't matter if the $20K was in cash or KiwiSaver, it's still an asset and the bank might prefer it being in KiwiSaver.
It effectively liquidates part of the person's Kiwisaver so it becomes an asset the bank now has access to. Pretty clear who would benefit from such a move.
In many cases it will be $20k into the pocket of some franchise owner – while the poor 'mark' who bought the franchise, will drive themselves slowly insane trying to scratch a living under impossible conditions.
They gave an example of a plumber who has been laid off. How stupid is that. They would only have been laid off because there is not enough work yet they are supposed to risk their retirement savings competing with their former boss in the same market.
And most plumbers aren't employees once they get past their training anyway. There's a shortage of them (this seems to be a recurring issue) and they tend to be well paid and independent.
Are you suggesting that people should not even try? I know you are quoting your % from an article you have read once in the past, but I'd really like to know what type of business/venture makes up that 70%.
Its not a question of not trying but accepting that things aren't going to get better simply because someone became self-employed on a down in the market.
But we do have to consider that National governs for the rich and those rich people are looking at those funds and thinking of how nice it would be if they were in their pockets instead of those of the poor. And so National invents some BS rhetoric that sounds good but will only work to shift those funds from the poor to the rich.
A 0% interest loan from the government would do it. Throw in freely available mentors and ongoing financial assistance (still at 0%) until its an obvious make/break and we'll probably get some good businesses going.
In fact, all business loans should be direct from government and be at 0% with no fees.
Mainstreamers inhabit a psychosocial head-space: normalcy. Representative democracy allows them to impose their hegemony on the rest of us via the binary format of National & Labour, here.
As Laing puts it: "The condition of alienation, of being asleep, of being unconscious, of being out of one’s mind, is the condition of the normal man. Society highly values its normal man. It educates children to lose themselves and to become absurd, and thus to be normal. Normal men have killed perhaps 100,000,000 of their fellow normal men in the last 50 years."
Mainstreamers exhibit their normalcy by empowering their political reps, trained by the education system, so the cause and effect relation between that and the hundred million of them who got eliminated in consequence, during the first half of the 20th century, never becomes clear to them. Normalcy is a fog in culture that persists.
Those who transcend normalcy see through the fog to the deeper reality that encompasses all. The sleep of normalcy Laing refers to above can then lead to awakening from the normal. BLM, woke, etc.
The Laingian concept of hypersanity, though modern, has ancient roots. Once, upon being asked to name the most beautiful of all things, Diogenes the Cynic (412-323 BCE) replied parrhesia, which in Ancient Greek means something like "uninhibited thought," "free speech," or "full expression."
Diogenes used to stroll around Athens in broad daylight brandishing a lit lamp. Whenever curious people stopped to ask what he was doing, he would reply: ‘I am just looking for a human being’ — thereby insinuating that the people of Athens were not living up to, or even much aware of, their full human potential.
Following Laing & the mid-20th century human potential movement, hippies became the spearhead of a cultural transformation that swept through western civilisation. Psychedelic drugs were used to decondition us. Normalcy evaporated.
Then a younger generation said "Nah! Too weird." They went back to the future via Thatcher, Reagan & Rogernomics. Normal transmission resumed. Good little consumer citizens, doing what they're told. When Diogenes was asked
where he came from, he replied: "I am a citizen of the world" (cosmopolites), a radical claim at the time, and the first recorded use of the term "cosmopolitan."
Some folks see the big picture, naturally. Some need intervention, such as from psychedelics, then they see it. The pandemic is producing intervention in normalcy, and imposing it on the masses. Only survivors will make the transition and become hypersane. The contagion curve shows no sign of levelling off.
The culling process (shown by the death numbers) remains a slow build. Gaia is patient, tolerant of slow learners – but eventually they will run out of time. Normal is the loser's option…
It may get recycled somewhat during the election campaign. Voters are meant to be cognizant that Labour or National will win. Trouble is, when they get so busy copying each other all the time, poor normal folk get bewildered and find it hard to identify the winner. In normalcy, I mean. The PM seems an abnormal blip on their mental horizon, so expect them to spot her as a winner.
Of course, politics is a contest of ideas and the general election is the Olympic Games of (NZ) politics. I wonder who will win the gold glitter this time. Life is all but an enduring competition trying to outdo your fellow humans. In the end, you die anyway. Such is life.
"The pandemic is producing intervention in normalcy, and imposing it on the masses."
Yes. People respond in lots of different ways to being forced awake. I had had some hopes for NZ that we would step up a bit more on this front. Maybe that is happening it's just not being reflected in the mainstream institutions yet. Is suspect that every community now has more people preparing and future proofing their lives. The election will be telling. Which way will NZ jump?
So JLR tables/doesn’t table 65,000 Nat donation transactions and details one Inner Mongolian donation of 150,000 dollars from a Chinese company with no known connections to NZ and not a word from the media that I have heard.
Does the deafening silence mean the media is actually doing a bit more research or just ignoring it?
Weren't there already media stories months ago about that donation? Which would be why he was safe to mention it without triggering the threatened lawyering.
“By its actions the Green Party has demonstrated to voters that its word cannot be trusted. That is fatal.”
“When a party can’t keep its word or commitments to its government partners, freely given, voters are entitled to view that party as untrustworthy,’ Peters said.
Ironic from Peter's now he is sabotaging the Coalitions deals.
NZ first will be last at the election.
Peter's is making a bigger Dick of himself every day the polls reflect his demise.He is out of touch with his messaging no ones listening.Back to the past ideas.
I wonder if the govt considered charging all returnees for meals. Food is something they would have had to pay for if not in isolation, so a charge of say $50 for for 3 meals a day would not seem unreasonable.
Interesting there hasn't been too much comparison with paying for returnees accom + food + power with how much benes or min wage workers make and have to live on.
All things considered, $285/day for the taxpayer to cover MIQ costs isn't that high.
That's accommodation, food, security, army costs, healthcare and the rest of whatever additional costs there are.
I have often opined on Twitter that while Citizens shouldn't be charged for returning, I'm not sure we should apply the same logic to permanent residents unless they are ordinarily resident in NZ.
Permanent Residents are citizens of another country. I'm not sure of just how many PR visas have been issued to people who then promptly buggered off overseas, but if I'm reading DIA figures correctly, it looks like 500k PR visas issued in the last 5 years alone. I can't find figures for prior to 2015. If the last 5 years is anything to go by, that's a lot of PRs coming back to NZ after they haven't set foot in NZ for many years since they got their PR visa.
It'd be nice to have the PR visa time bound requiring people to apply for citizenship after a set period like many other nations do.
The Ministry of Health is planning to fast-track the approval process for a Covid-19 vaccine, and won't rule out offering a supplier indemnity from any potential claims resulting from its use.
I have viewed a number of things online of late that bring vaccines into question.
These are 3 main ones below.
Kennedy said “it’s not hypothetical that vaccines cause injury, and that injuries are not rare. The vaccine courts have paid out four billion dollars” over the past three decades, “and the threshold for getting back into a vaccine court and getting a judgment – [the Department of Health and Human Services] admits that fewer than one percent of people who are injured ever even get to court.”
He mentioned another reason not to trust blindly any company currently producing vaccines in the United States. Each one of the four vaccine producers “is a convicted serial felon: Glaxo, Sanofi, Pfizer, Merck.”
“In the past 10 years, just in the last decade, those companies have paid 35 billion dollars in criminal penalties, damages, fines, for lying to doctors, for defrauding science, for falsifying science, for killing hundreds of thousands of Americans knowingly.”
Kennedy Jr is a long-term peddler of misinformation, misrepresentation and all-around bullshit that's just opportunistically using the increased interest in vaccines to grab more clicks. FFS, Kennedy is still a supporter of Andrew Wakefield, the proven fraudster willing to falsify data that played games with vulnerable kids' health apparently just to line his pockets from lawsuits. Kennedy's own family strongly repudiates his views and actions.
If a vaccine becomes available for use in New Zealand, it will have already undergone field trials involving tens of thousands of volunteers that will be very closely monitored. Because of our COVID-free status, we're likely to be a long way down the list to get supplies, so there will have been millions of people already vaccinated elsewhere in the world. So, there's very little to be concerned about here in NZ.
If it weren't for the gratuitous risk the unvaccinated pose to the very few people that have genuine medical reasons to not get particular vaccines, I'd be very much in favour of idiots sucked in by anti-vax bullshit to just let the disease cull themselves out of the herd
It seems most likely that covid vaccines will be released on scale because of the pandemic and bypass some of the usual processes in developing meds. This is likely to cause harm. It's ok to have a conversation about that potential harm and what it means. Downplaying that or out right denying is unhelpful, and will fuel the other side. Either side of the pro-anti debate taking dogmatic or fundamentalist positions won't serve us.
In this case, The Chairman is mindlessly posting clickbait by a repeatedly debunked proven bullshit artist without applying even the most rudimentary credibility checking. In this case, Kennedy is full of misrepresentations, distortions, partial truths and all the other tricks of those with intent to mislead.
It really gets tiresome seeing the same misinformation posted again and again. A brief search of something like anti-vax debunked brings up tons of articles examining the claims made and showing the actual facts of the matter. It's very basic level "ability to assess information credibility".
Personally I'm done with coddling the feels of idiots that see something then spread it around mindlessly. That kind of bullshit just helps the malicious among us get traction.
As for determining genuine medical reason, there are things like allergies to components, being immunosuppressed, previous reactions etc etc. Basic skills in navigating around information sources and assessing their credibility finds it very easily. Here's the CDC brief guidelines:
Two anti-vaxers that I know of for sure. Three more I don't know for sure either way, but are susceptible to the same bullshit clusters of beliefs and misinformation, and inability to try to fact-check, that seem to go hand-in-hand with anti-vax, so they're probables. I've lost count of how many have expressed concerns or hesitancy and then been pointed to accurate information, and then gone on to embrace vaccination.
Given my social circles and family tend to be in facts/evidence oriented occupations that value skepticism and consideration of alternatives highly, I consider those numbers of anti-vaxxers and hesitants fairly high.
My point here would be that ridicule and ostracisation is radicalising people away from science. I know these communities quite well, not from an outside, finger pointing, we can force you to change pov, but they're just normal parts of my community. Telling them they're stupid doesn't change them, it entrenches their views.
NZ is on the cusp of a number of radicalisations, and we really should be paying attention to this. Treating people who have concerns about the covid vaccine like shit won't make them more likely to accept the need for vaccination.
Myself, at the start of the pandemic I started off thinking a covid vax would be one of the few I might need in my remaining lifetime. Now I'm more cautious, not because of conspiracy theories, but because I can see it will be rushed and that there will be a disability cost and that we will vaccinate before having a good understanding of the disease, and pro-mandate people arguing that disability doesn't matter can in fact get fucked. If you want to solve the problem of lowered uptake, then address the valid concerns and support them being resolved in other ways. People mostly want to feel safe and secure, attend to that and it will get easier.
Anyone that has a genuine medical reason not to get vaccinated is one of the people vaccine programmes are trying to protect. But if you are genuinely one of those people, and you still choose to amplify anti-vax messages, I can take a darwinian view of that. I'm just disgusted on behalf of those with genuine medical reason not to be vaccinated that are put at unnecessary risk by that kind of stupidity.
As for valid concerns, one of the anti-vaxers main techniques is to take an absolutely miniscule number of problems and blow them way out of proportion. Furthermore, of the very very small number of reported reactions, a tiny proportion of those have any long-term effects and the vast majority fall into the category of short term discomfort.
Then there's the attribution problem where many of the long term problems blamed on vaccination aren't in fact due to vaccination, or at worst were an underlying latent problem that would very likely have occurred at some time due to illness, but the mild immune system stimulation that usually accompanies an effective vaccine happened to be the trigger.
I can't be arsed actually trying to put a number to it, but I'd guess the chances are pretty good that for any rural resident the drive to and from the clinic is way riskier than the vaccination.
you still haven't said who decides what is genuine. Is it the MoH? My GP? The CDC? Who? And how do they determine that? It's fine if you can't answer that, but having faith in an ideological position isn't good enough for health policy.
I'm not amplifying anti-vax messages, I'm saying that anti-vax and pro-mandatory vax position are both problematic and making the situation worse. That you can't tell the difference between what I am talking about and antivaxers basically supports my point there.
Exactly weka. Any medical intervention has risk attached and should only be pursued after careful thought. Both my children had most vaccinations but their are enough cases of damage to make you look carefully at what you are exposing your children too. To say we should blindly follow what we we are told is the right path has led to pain and guilt for some parents. Dogmatism when all you are trying to do is what is right by your children is never helpful
One of the big problems is that adverse reaction reporting has not been handled well historically. Even now, people are minimising adverse reactions as an acceptable cost, but the knowledge on this is foggy and messy.
Any Covid-19 vaccine will be different in that the most sensitive target population are the elderly, not children. Most clinical trials are done with healthy volunteers and elderly will be poorly represented if at all in such trials. This may have implications for assessing efficacy as well as risks of side effects (adverse events) occurring.
do you think there will be an initial vaccine for elderly people rather than one for the whole population? So more like a flu vaccine rather than a measles one?
Short answer is that I don’t know. I’d focus on the most vulnerable people first (i.e. mostly the elderly but also diabetics, etc.), i.e. a targeted roll out. For ‘herd immunity’ a much larger section of the population would need to be vaccinated. I have no idea if two vaccines would make sense from a medical PoV and/or logistically and economically. Interesting question though 🙂
we also don't know yet if it's possible to have a vaccine to immunise most of the population against covid, and how long that will last. If it ends up being like the flu vaccine then the conversation changes a bit.
So many extremely interesting things still being discovered about the illness and how it effects people's immunity, CV system, nervous system etc. I'm not seeing a good understanding yet about chronic illness from covid, and think there is good reason for caution with the vaccine. If we're vaccinating to 'go back to normal', I think we need to have a very robust discussion about all the costs of that.
As for determining genuine medical reason, there are things like allergies to components, being immunosuppressed, previous reactions etc etc. Basic skills in navigating around information sources and assessing their credibility finds it very easily. Here's the CDC brief guidelines:
So you have position that only genuine medical reasons are valid for not vaccinating, but you don't have a position on how that should be assessed in NZ? Or are you saying that the state should take the CDC list and apply it irrespective of individual clinical assessment?
I'm guessing I'm not on the CDC list. My GP has told me in the past to not get a flu vaccine. There will be many people in my situation who don't fit into your philosophical position on vaccines who would be at risk from the kind of mandates I suspect you would prefer. Medical science isn't infallible, and taking hardline positions makes good health care harder not better.
It may be that taking hardline positions makes good health care harder (but I'd like to see evidence of that before I accept it as likely fact), but any harmful effects will be tiny in relation to the harmful outcomes caused by the spreading of lies and misinformation that's currently going on, as exemplified by the anti-vax mob. 83 pointlessly dead Samoans being just one illustration of this.
Sure, I understand that the pro-mandated vax crowd are happy enough to sacrifice others on principle without actually designing good systems that might mitigate that. I equally understand why some parts of the community will say fuck you to that position.
I'd like to see some evidence that anti-vaxers were responsible for the Samoan deaths. Instead of say the NZ and Samoan govts, or the MoH in NZ. Or neoliberalism for that matter. It's pretty easy to point fingers.
Afaik, in NZ, the MoH position is that the number of intentional non-vaccinators is less of a problem than the number of people who don't vaccinate because of lack of access or awareness. The whole anti-anti-vax stuff occludes this.
Samoan children hospitalised with measles died after catching MRSA.
(A pity the article is behind the paywall..) It is an interesting read and goes a long way to explaining how a usually mild illness with an historic death rate of 1 in 10,000 cases had such a devastating impact in Samoa.
speaks of how The risk of any further outbreaks of vaccine preventable diseases of childhood is declining as immunisation coverage improves.
The most recently available (2014) estimates of vaccination coverage range from just above 90% for three doses of diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis (DTP),oral poliomyelitis (OPV)vaccine and the first dose of measles-rubella (MR) vaccinedown to 78% for a second dose of MR.
Tragically, in July 2018, two infants were killed when almost inexplicably nurses mixed the MMR vaccine with a muscle relaxant.
The government halted the vaccination program and the previously rising rates of vaccination plummeted. A vacuum demands to be filled, and in swooped the anti- European medicine brigade.
I've had a look for other reports suggesting the Samoan deaths were due to MRSA and found nothing other than the link to your paywalled Herald report. So for now, the credibility on that looks low.
But I'm trying hard to work out what you're trying to suggest here, Rosemary.
Best I can get to is you think that 83 kids dying that had measles (and maybe got MRSA at the hospital they went to for treatment) that were infected with measles because they weren't vaccinated, probably because of anti-vaxxer activity leveraging off a previous medical operator error (no fault whatsoever of the vaccine), that makes spreading around anti-vax misrepresentation and distortion all good?
@weka: There's a plethora of credible articles reporting that anti-vaxers had a significant role in Samoa's low vaccination rate, and a complete absence of anything credible saying the opposite.
The Samoan government suspended the country’s vaccination programme for 10 months, despite advice from the WHO that the country immediately restart the programme. By 2018, only 31% of infants had been vaccinated.
“When you pause for 10 months that’s enough time for thousands of kids [without immunity] to accumulate,” said Jose Hagan, regional immunisation specialist for the WHO.
…
“It’s really hard to know how much to attribute to the anti-vaxxer messaging,” said Hagan. “They’ve certainly been extremely active in Samoa, for perplexing reasons. They’re flying all the way to Samoa to spread this message.”
While these events played a part in reducing the immunity level; health experts and government sources in Samoa have told the Guardian that once the disease arrived on Samoa’s shores, its impact was worse than it needed to be because of mismanagement.
the thing that really bothers me, and it's why I have some understanding of the anti-vaxer position, is the blind faith that mainstream medicine is the best we can do and that mostly it's all good. I'd really like pro-mandatory vax people to spend some time looking at the very large body of evidence of where medical science has fucked up.
It seems most likely that covid vaccines will be released on scale because of the pandemic and bypass some of the usual processes in developing meds.
My understanding is that they're not so much bypassing the usual processes, as doing some of them in sync and speeding up the process and intervals between the stages.
E.g. different vaccines have different types of construction facility. Normally you wouldn't invest in building a factory unless the thing passed all trial phases, and then a business case was made for it (because capitalism).
But they know how to mass produce each vaccine early on in the development, so Gates is building something like seven factories for the seven most promising vaccines in development. Some, maybe all, of those will fail trials at some stage. But if one is shown to be effective and safe, millions of doses could be produced in short order.
And business plans in this case are pretty quick beyond calculating production costs, because we know the objective is to treat almost everyone, and there's solid funding for that goal.
But I haven't heard they're nixing the I, II, & III trials, which are the main safety and efficacy safeguards?
I would have thought time was a critical component of trials. Not for building factories but for seeing adverse effects, as well as allowing for appropriate processes between lab and human society.
I haven't checked to see who these two scientists are, but some interesting points in this article,
Some vaccines are fast-tracking through the regulatory system before studies are completed and with minimal details of experimental results being released. Executives of a big pharmaceutical company whose vaccine is among those closest to the finish line recently sold their stocks after releasing “positive results” that were superficial, partial and that included three of eight healthy young volunteers experiencing severe adverse events.
Events like this are causing the public to become skeptical. A promising vaccine should have solid data to back it up. Those touting vaccines against COVID-19 that are in clinical trials should be asked to provide comprehensive details and results of their study. This enables objective and rigorous evaluations by the broader scientific community. A lack of complete transparency would be cause for concern.
We also know that a lot of covid research is being released as preprints and not standing up to scrutiny. That alongside the huge issues that medical research has had with its peer review process in the past few decades, I'd say the rationales for caution are sound. The economic and financial pressures are going to be huge too, as well as career ones. Big potential for problems.
But the executives selling their stocks after an overtly positive announcement that had some not-so-positive details? Yeah, they don't think the company will be selling millions of doses of that vaccine. They think it won't finish the trials.
The time factor is always there – some things can't be rushed, cultures only grow at a regular rate, some reactions can take time to develop. But some things can be sped up with more work hours (overtime or additional staff), and some things (like building a factory and doing a trial) can be done at the same time without compromising safety.
The preprint issue is a common route in fast-evolving situations: if lots of people are facing the same unknown situation, knowing what others have tried as soon as possible is better than waiting for reviewer number 3 to argue why the wrong bayesian equation for confidence intervals was used. It was extremely effective during the 20(14?) ebola epidemic.
Bear in mind it's a global pandemic. We're not talking about a research paper into a condition which 5 people in the world have. We can sit back and ruminate upon these issues as an intellectual exercise because we aren't facing the same problems as most of the rest of the planet. If they produce a vaccine that actually has a genuine mortality rate, it could still be preferable to letting the damned covid have its way.
regulators decide if the vaccine's effectivenes and safety meet levels to be approved for general use – and they might take the current pandemic into account when doing that math.
Health officials decide if it gets added to the schedule, and for whom.
Funders, including employers, decide whether to pay for people to be vaccinated.
Governments will take the externalities into account when deciding whether vaccines should be mandatory (I doubt it, but dolt45 taught me never say never), or whether unvaccinated people will be in mandatory isolation to protect themselves and others, or whether it looks like enough people will get the jab to protect the decliners so who cares about them.
In NZ, I wouldn't be surprised if we kept the border controls and didn't vaccinate using the first vaccine to be released, at least for a few months. But in a place really hard-hit by covid-19, I would be equally unsurprised if they threw the first vaccine available at everyone possible, as long as the adverse reactions were at least an order of magnitude below what covid causes. If only to let the crematoria get some downtime.
I mean, it's not anything new in that regard, so we pretty much know the answers along the likely front of vaccine efficacy vs disease adversity, and the available supplies.
If there's a reasonable vaccine and a rando case comes up in a year or two, chances are the govt'll just vaccinate the people most at risk – known close contacts like family and any cops or medical staff who attended, alongside all the standard testing. There might even be a local lockdown. But what with the clusterfuck on the rest of the planet, there likely simply won't be enough stock to be lining up schoolkids and so on throughout the country on an annual basis (or however long the protection lasts).
They would probably also jab high-risk professions, e.g. border staff and people working in the isolation centres.
When global pandemic controls get it in hand, and more supplies are available, it's quite possible the MoH will enable GPs to prescribe/administer it, but pharmac won't fund routine administering like with the flu vaccine.
It'll be like if you want to travel to some parts of the planet 8 months ago, you have the option to drop $x00 on various shots for diseases endemic in those areas, but the govt won't give you those vaccines for free. can't remember the specifics, but a colleague went off the beaten track in Asia a few months ago and shots were an issue.
BUT
it might get added to the vaccine schedule in future years if covid isn't eradicatable, and just becomes endemic. So same as MMR or what have you.
If a vaccine becomes available for use in New Zealand, it will have already undergone field trials involving tens of thousands of volunteers that will be very closely monitored. Because of our COVID-free status, we're likely to be a long way down the list to get supplies, so there will have been millions of people already vaccinated elsewhere in the world. So, there's very little to be concerned about here in NZ.
So. The above being true, why would our government not expect the pharmaceutical company to be liable for any injury caused by their product?
Harm from a vaccine is currently one of the things ACC covers, so if the government did indemnify a vaccine manufacturer it would appear to make absolutely zero difference to any individuals within New Zealand. Any liability issue would appear to be between the government or ACC or Pharmac or Medsafe, and the manufacturer.
If it did happen, it wouldn't be the first time. From The Chairman's link:
The Ministry did not rule out offering indemnity to a vaccine supplier, as has happened previously.
Documents obtained under the Official Information Act show the previous Labour government accepted liability when it sourced a bird flu vaccine.
In May 2007, the Ministry of Health obtained 100,000 vaccines from Baxter Healthcare, at a cost of up to $3.4 million.
But as part of the purchase, the government had to provide indemnity to Baxter.
Exactly! The indemnity issue is not a health & safety one but a commercial/business decision so that companies feel free to register their product for the NZ market as it lowers their exposure to financial risk/liability in case something goes awry in a previously untested population (think Māori and Pacific Islanders who may have confounding risk factors).
With the policy the Nats are putting out it is obvious they have realised they have no way of winning the treasury benches this election or next.
The transport policy was just ridiculous. probably undoable given the geology of the Brynderwyns and Kaimais. And uncosted. So not a real policy at all. If they go into 2023 with it, general laughter all around.
The raiding Kiwisaver is just as silly, nonsense really. 70-80% of small busineses fail in the first few years. So no business and a big dent in your retirement savings.
As for the charging of all Kiwis returning. Typical punitive stuff. And given our Bill of rights, probably unenforceable.
Mugabe was an huge fan of cricket, apparently the white administration played cricket radio commentaries from all around the world into his cell 24 hours a day for years. Hated the game beforehand but realised he had to understand it and love it to stop it from having the effect they wanted.
It’s taken 12 years, and required a change to Parliament’s archaic rules, but a group of female MPs have come together to ban female genital mutilation, in all forms. A cross-party group threw aside party allegiances and joined forces to bring New Zealand’s laws around FGM in line with international guidelines. They created a joint Member’s Bill – a way for MPs to have new laws debated outside the Government programme.
Wall said FGM was “part of our legacy of sexual violence, sexual abuse, sexual exploitation”. “I think this is what Parliament's all about. It's about bringing positive change, and community-driven change in a way that de-politicised it. “For us, it was about being clear that any form of violence against women, we have to do everything we can to eliminate it and to stand up and say, these practices are archaic, and they will not be tolerated in New Zealand.”
National’s Anne Tolley took the idea first to Mallard, and then Parliament’s powerful business committee, which makes decisions on proceedings in the House. She’s now hoping for a permanent change to Standing Orders, the rules that govern Parliament.
“We went to the Speaker and asked if could we break with history basically, and have the bill in the name of four members to represent cross party. We are proposing that we change the Standing Orders to allow this to happen more often. So that if we want to do this, again, people don't have to go through that process of convincing the Speaker and taking it to the business committee and getting their approval. That it would just be a matter of course. There are cross party groups in a number of areas, working on mental health, on suicide, so [there are] a number of things that they would be able to put forward.”
Wall and Tolley are members of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, a global organisation of national parliaments. Tolley said she would be taking the idea to the forum.
Good to see this. The use of lateral thinking by parliamentarians is particularly welcome! Cross-party consensus is rare and I hope they succeed with their initiative to make it easier to get – and also in the international arena. Well done, all involved! 👍
Heron must be the most naive bugger in the universe. He didn't check Boags computer because he took her word, she said the bloody stuff came off her computer FFS.
Walker did it to show he wasn't racist, oh FFS he has form so he is.
And where is the howl from the media about why we are still paying Walker. I'm afraid it really grates on this taxpayer that we are tossing him apparently some $60000 to hang around until the election doing who knows what if anything for the electorate. Any other job -he'd have been down the road long time ago.
And an MP throwing a wobbly and leaking info because someone called him a racist, is completely childish.
Also I'm annoyed at the muller puff piece in yesterday's herald. Apparently his mental health difficulties are a result of hamish walkers actions. He won't be returning to Parliament this year but is another nat that is happy to take the pay packet
I don't believe for a moment that the leak was because he was upset over being called racist. This was pure dirty politics aimed at discrediting the government. The 'gosh I was so upset at being called racist' is pure smoke screen and a more 'palatable' story than the truth.
I laughed out loud at the story saying that he just coincidentally called Boag and she just happened to have something on hand to help…bollocks. Why is this story not featured in NZ Herald or Stuff today?
RadioNZ on Walker and his excuse for lacking probity and responsibility that is owed to people and their personal information.
He childishly lashed out because?… Spoilt baby syndrome? Outgoing National MP Hamish Walker told an inquiry he leaked personal Covid-19 patient details to the media due to the "distress of being labelled a racist".
Hamish Walker is still cited giving a misleading excuse to Heron QC and then Heron QC has not appeared to investigate this false justification for its flaws in the reports written findings. Heron's following analysis in the report seems to unwittingly validate Walker instead.
Walker was able to still state along the lines that being distressed about being called a racist because of his actions, ie. from "firing off a press statement warning up to 11,000 people were headed for Southland from India, Pakistan, Korea",
Walker to Heron then finger points deflecting to Boag and a ghost constituent of his.
( NB. The email is only about " confirmed COVID 19 cases as of 9.00am 2 July 2020. ( not the 11,000 Walker needed to validate his claim) Further, the email footer has the Privacy Act prohibitions and the title in caps MEDICAL IN CONFIDENCE )
Again to the investigator, (Heron), Walker MP, is able to still justify his illicit actions using his anger as a motive- similar to his earlier expressions to the media. " Calling me a racist is Labour's default tactic when they are unable to defend their blatant failures. It's not about race," ;
"It's about the countries these Kiwis are coming from.( re NIMBY xenophobia of Koreans, Pakastanis and Indians).
However, the smack in the face flaw is that even now we are to believe that Walker just wanted evidence to prove countries of origins. Walker stated that he was following up a constituent's concern he only " intended to identify the countries the returning New Zealanders were coming from."
The fact is millions of people could already have told Boag and Walker WHERE the confirmed and probable cases came from WITHOUT breaching the law and compromising individual's privacy and safety !!!! For months, then and still anyone can follow origins on a globally accessible public database.
"I've long been struck by the intensity of right-wing anger against relatively trivial regulations, like bans on phosphates in detergent and efficiency standards for lightbulbs," Krugman writes. "It's the principle of the thing: many on the right are enraged at any suggestion that their actions should take other people's welfare into account." According to Krugman, far-right Republicans equate irresponsibility with "freedom." "This rage is sometimes portrayed as love of freedom," Krugman observes. "But people who insist on the right to pollute are notably unbothered by, say, federal agents teargassing peaceful protesters. What they call 'freedom' is actually absence of responsibility."
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Do you believe New Zealand runs its general elections fairly and competently? As a voter, can you be confident that the votes on your ballot will be counted towards the final result? As a political scientist, I’ve been asked these questions many times and always answered “yes”, with very few ...
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Alwyn Poole writes – After being elected to Parliament in 2008 the maiden speech of Hipkins was substantially around education policy. He was Labour’s spokesperson for education 2011 – 2017. He was Minister for Education from 2017 until February 2023. This is approximately 88% of the time Labour ...
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Hi,If you’ve been digging through the newly launched Webworm store (orders are being dispatched worldwide as I type!) you’ll have noticed the best model we had was Calvin.This is Calvin.Calvin.Calvin is 7, and is the son of my producer over on Flightless Bird, Rob — aka “Wobby Wob”. Rob also ...
This video includes conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Adam Levy. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). Climate change is everywhere. And when something's everywhere it can feel like it's nowhere. So how do we get our heads ...
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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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The Green Party is welcoming Climate Change Minister Simon Watts’ continuation of Hon. James Shaw’s cross-party work on climate adaptation, now in the form of a Finance and Expenditure Committee Inquiry. ...
The National Government plans to cut 390 jobs at ACC, including roles in the areas of prevention of sexual violence, road safety and workplace safety. ...
The Government has been caught in opposition to evidence once again as it looks to usher in tried, tested and failed work seminar obligations for job-seeking beneficiaries. ...
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. ...
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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. ...
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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 ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced the upcoming Budget will include new funding of $571 million for Defence Force pay and projects. “Our servicemen and women do New Zealand proud throughout the world and this funding will help ensure we retain their services and expertise as we navigate an increasingly ...
New Zealand’s ability to cope with climate change will be strengthened as part of the Government’s focus to build resilience as we rebuild the economy, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “An enduring and long-term approach is needed to provide New Zealanders and the economy with certainty as the climate ...
Jobseeker beneficiaries who have work obligations must now meet with MSD within two weeks of their benefit starting to determine their next step towards finding a job, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “A key part of the coalition Government’s plan to have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker ...
A new standalone Social Investment Agency will power-up the social investment approach, driving positive change for our most vulnerable New Zealanders, Social Investment Minister Nicola Willis says. “Despite the Government currently investing more than $70 billion every year into social services, we are not seeing the outcomes we want for ...
Check against delivery Good morning. It is a pleasure to be with you to outline the Coalition Government’s approach to our first Budget. Thank you Mark Skelly, President of the Hutt Valley Chamber of Commerce, together with your Board and team, for hosting me. I’d like to acknowledge His Worship ...
Your Excellency Ambassador Meredith, Members of the Diplomatic Corps and Ambassadors from European Union Member States, Ministerial colleagues, Members of Parliament, and other distinguished guests, Thank you everyone for joining us. Ladies and gentlemen - In diplomacy, we often speak of ‘close’ and ‘long-standing’ relations. ...
The Therapeutic Products Act (TPA) will be repealed this year so that a better regime can be put in place to provide New Zealanders safe and timely access to medicines, medical devices and health products, Associate Health Minister Casey Costello announced today. “The medicines and products we are talking about ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop, today released his decision on twenty recommendations referred to him by the Wellington City Council relating to its Intensification Planning Instrument, after the Council rejected those recommendations of the Independent Hearings Panel and made alternative recommendations. “Wellington notified its District Plan on ...
Rape Awareness Week (6-10 May) is an important opportunity to acknowledge the continued effort required by government and communities to ensure that all New Zealanders can live free from violence, say Ministers Karen Chhour and Louise Upston. “With 1 in 3 women and 1 in 8 men experiencing sexual violence ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government will be delivering a more efficient Healthy School Lunches Programme, saving taxpayers approximately $107 million a year compared to how Labour funded it, by embracing innovation and commercial expertise. “We are delivering on our commitment to treat taxpayers’ money ...
New research on the impacts of extreme weather on coastal marine habitats in Tairāwhiti and Hawke’s Bay will help fishery managers plan for and respond to any future events, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. A report released today on research by Niwa on behalf of Fisheries New Zealand ...
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Winston Peters will lead a broad political delegation on a five-stop Pacific tour next week to strengthen New Zealand’s engagement with the region. The delegation will visit Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, and Tuvalu. “New Zealand has deep and ...
There has been a material decline in gas production according to figures released today by the Gas Industry Co. Figures released by the Gas Industry Company show that there was a 12.5 per cent reduction in gas production during 2023, and a 27.8 per cent reduction in gas production in the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins tonight announced the recipients of the Minister of Defence Awards of Excellence for Industry, saying they all contribute to New Zealanders’ security and wellbeing. “Congratulations to this year’s recipients, whose innovative products and services play a critical role in the delivery of New Zealand’s defence capabilities, ...
Welcome to you all - it is a pleasure to be here this evening.I would like to start by thanking Greg Lowe, Chair of the New Zealand Defence Industry Advisory Council, for co-hosting this reception with me. This evening is about recognising businesses from across New Zealand and overseas who in ...
It is a pleasure to be speaking to you as the Minister for Digitising Government. I would like to thank Akolade for the invitation to address this Summit, and to acknowledge the great effort you are making to grow New Zealand’s digital future. Today, we stand at the cusp of ...
New Zealand is urging both Israel and Hamas to agree to an immediate ceasefire to avoid the further humanitarian catastrophe that military action in Rafah would unleash, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The immense suffering in Gaza cannot be allowed to worsen further. Both sides have a responsibility to ...
A new online data dashboard released today as part of the Government’s school attendance action plan makes more timely daily attendance data available to the public and parents, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. The interactive dashboard will be updated once a week to show a national average of how ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced Rosemary Banks will be New Zealand’s next Ambassador to the United States of America. “Our relationship with the United States is crucial for New Zealand in strategic, security and economic terms,” Mr Peters says. “New Zealand and the United States have a ...
The Government is considering creating a new tier of minerals permitting that will make it easier for hobby miners to prospect for gold. “New Zealand was built on gold, it’s in our DNA. Our gold deposits, particularly in regions such as Otago and the West Coast have always attracted fortune-hunters. ...
Minister for Trade Todd McClay today announced that New Zealand and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will commence negotiations on a free trade agreement (FTA). Minister McClay met with his counterpart UAE Trade Minister Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi in Dubai, where they announced the launch of negotiations on a ...
New Zealand Sign Language Week is an excellent opportunity for all Kiwis to give the language a go, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. This week (May 6 to 12) is New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL) Week. The theme is “an Aotearoa where anyone can sign anywhere” and aims to ...
Six tertiary students have been selected to work on NASA projects in the US through a New Zealand Space Scholarship, Space Minister Judith Collins announced today. “This is a fantastic opportunity for these talented students. They will undertake internships at NASA’s Ames Research Center or its Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), where ...
New Zealanders will be safer because of a $1.9 billion investment in more frontline Corrections officers, more support for offenders to turn away from crime, and more prison capacity, Corrections Minister Mark Mitchell says. “Our Government said we would crack down on crime. We promised to restore law and order, ...
The OECD’s latest report on New Zealand reinforces the importance of bringing Government spending under control, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The OECD conducts country surveys every two years to review its members’ economic policies. The 2024 New Zealand survey was presented in Wellington today by OECD Chief Economist Clare Lombardelli. ...
The Government has delivered on its election promise to provide a financially sustainable model for Auckland under its Local Water Done Well plan. The plan, which has been unanimously endorsed by Auckland Council’s Governing Body, will see Aucklanders avoid the previously projected 25.8 per cent water rates increases while retaining ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters discussed the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and enhanced cooperation in the Pacific with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock during her first official visit to New Zealand today. "New Zealand and Germany enjoy shared interests and values, including the rule of law, democracy, respect for the international system ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop today released his decision on four recommendations referred to him by the Western Bay of Plenty District Council, opening the door to housing growth in the area. The Council’s Plan Change 92 allows more homes to be built in existing and new ...
Thank you, John McKinnon and the New Zealand China Council for the invitation to speak to you today. Thank you too, all members of the China Council. Your effort has played an essential role in helping to build, shape, and grow a balanced and resilient relationship between our two ...
The Government is modernising insurance law to better protect Kiwis and provide security in the event of a disaster, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly announced today. “These reforms are long overdue. New Zealand’s insurance law is complicated and dated, some of which is more than 100 years old. ...
The coalition Government is refreshing its approach to supporting pay equity claims as time-limited funding for the Pay Equity Taskforce comes to an end, Public Service Minister Nicola Willis says. “Three years ago, the then-government introduced changes to the Equal Pay Act to support pay equity bargaining. The changes were ...
Structured literacy will change the way New Zealand children learn to read - improving achievement and setting students up for success, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Being able to read and write is a fundamental life skill that too many young people are missing out on. Recent data shows that ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay says Canada’s refusal to comply in full with a CPTPP trade dispute ruling in our favour over dairy trade is cynical and New Zealand has no intention of backing down. Mr McClay said he has asked for urgent legal advice in respect of our ‘next move’ ...
The rights of our children and young people will be enhanced by changes the coalition Government will make to strengthen oversight of the Oranga Tamariki system, including restoring a single Children’s Commissioner. “The Government is committed to delivering better public services that care for our most at-risk young people and ...
The Government is making it easier for minor changes to be made to a building consent so building a home is easier and more affordable, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on making it easier and cheaper to build homes so we can ...
New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
Good evening – Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
People with an interest in the health of Northland’s marine ecosystems are invited to a public meeting to discuss how to deal with kina barrens, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones will lead the discussion, which will take place on Friday, 10 May, at Awanui Hotel in ...
Kiwi exporters are $100 million better off today with the NZ EU FTA entering into force says Trade Minister Todd McClay. “This is all part of our plan to grow the economy. New Zealand's prosperity depends on international trade, making up 60 per cent of the country’s total economic activity. ...
Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ) is supportive of the cross-party approach to climate adaptation announced by the Minister of Climate Change today. ...
The Sustainable Business Council (SBC) and Climate Leaders Coalition (CLC) welcome today’s announcement from Government around a bipartisan inquiry into an enduring climate adaptation framework for New Zealand. ...
The Free Speech Union welcomes the decision by the Department of Internal Affairs, and Minister Brooke Van Velden, to abandon proposals to further regulate online speech. ...
BusinessNZ is congratulating the Minister of Climate Change for his work in achieving cross-party consensus for a way forward on climate adaptation. ...
Recent research reveals the repeal of smokefree measures is not only bad for our health, but also the economy. The Government has repealed various smokefree measures to ensure it keeps collecting $1.2 billion a year in tobacco taxes, in order to pay for tax cuts already being delivered to ...
The club’s surprisingly good season is built on the desire to prove a random A-League YouTuber wrong… and a few other factors.“There’s no way that Wellington Phoenix play finals this year. I can’t see it happening at all.” Those are the words of Lachlan Raeside, an Australian football content ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By César Albarrán-Torres, Senior Lecturer, Department of Media and Communication, Swinburne University of Technology Apple TV+ As one of billions of bilingual individuals in the world, it disappoints me when a film or TV show with characters of a non-English-speaking background is ...
The under-utilised course is a waste of space, and with a little political will, it could be turned into something better. For the duration of her stay in Wellington, my long-suffering cousin listened to me rant about golf courses. They’re bad for the environment: water intensive and pesticide heavy. They ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Leah Ruppanner, Professor of Sociology and Founding Director of The Future of Work Lab, Podcast at MissPerceived, The University of Melbourne Shutterstock A recent report from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows US fertility rates dropped 2% in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amy Corderoy, Medical doctor and PhD candidate studying involuntary psychiatric treatment, School of Psychiatry, UNSW Sydney shop_py/Shutterstock Picture two people, both suffering from a serious mental illness requiring hospital admission. One was born in Australia, the other in Asia. Hopefully, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sarah Treby, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, RMIT University P.j.Hickox, Shutterstock Peatlands store more carbon per square metre than any other ecosystem on Earth. These waterlogged, mossy bogs beat even dense rainforests for their ability to act as carbon reservoirs. Under the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Goss, Adjunct Associate Professor, Health Research Institute, University of Canberra Government spending on health has been growing so rapidly that a decade ago the then health minister Peter Dutton called it “unmanageable” and “unsustainable”. Health spending grew in real terms by ...
New Zealand's largest electricity distributor is warning the country to hurry up with controls around charging electric vehicles or face unnecessary bills running into the billions. ...
New Zealanders have been asked to conserve energy this morning to combat a possible electricity shortfall, writes Stewart Sowman-Lund in this extract from The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. A call to conserve power New Zealand is facing a possible electricity shortfall, with people up ...
Writer Rebecca K Reilly breaks down the national book awards. What are the Ockhams?The Ockham New Zealand Book Awards are our annual national awards for books published for adults, and have existed in this form since 2016. There are four categories: Fiction, Poetry, General Non-fiction and Illustrated Non-fiction. There ...
Wellington City Council should keep its 34% ownership share in Wellington International Airport, argue Unions Wellington spokespeople Finn Cordwell and Ashok Jacob. Insanity, as the saying goes, is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Wellington City Council (WCC) is yet again proposing to dispose ...
New Zealand’s largest book publisher has undergone drastic changes this week, leaving its future role in local publishing uncertain. Two of the most recognisable local publishers in New Zealand are among those restructured out of Penguin Random House, it was announced this week. Head of publishing Claire Murdoch will leave ...
In 2021 the Public Interest Journalism Fund launched the Te Rito Journalism project, a $2.4 million initiative to boost diversity in New Zealand’s newsrooms. The initiative was in response to the decades-long shortage of Māori and Pacific journalists in the media industry. It was billed as New Zealand’s ...
The Black Ferns Sevens appeared to be a mile behind Australia at the halfway point of the 2023-24 SVNS international circuit. Winless in three tournaments, a cup quarter-final exit in Perth was one of their worst results. To add insult to injury, talismanic skipper Sarah Hirini had been ruled out ...
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Successive governments have tried, and failed, to count Māori. But with the return of social investment, it’s more important than ever to get good data. The post Government looks for a better way to count Māori appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Experts in financing social investment initiatives say New Zealand is in a prime position to tackle social issues via a social investment approach The post What will Willis’ social investment fund look like? appeared first on Newsroom. ...
By Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific journalist A former Tuvalu prime minister says while the New Zealand government’s oil and gas plans show it is concerned about its economy, he is more concerned about the livelihoods and survival of the Tuvalu people. Enele Sopoaga — who still serves as an MP ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Many people who follow federal budgets know about the magnificent “budget tree” in a parliamentary courtyard, which turns a glorious red in time for the May event. This week Treasurer Jim Chalmers posed by ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Samantha Bennett, Professor of Music, Australian National University Richard P J Lambert/flickr, CC BY The future belongs to the analogue loyalists. Fuck digital. As a tsunami of CDs, DAT tapes and samplers swept the recording industry in the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Catherine Strong, Associate professor, Music Industry, RMIT University This week American rapper Macklemore released a new track, Hind’s Hall, which has gained a lot of attention because of its explicitly political nature. The track is unapologetically pro-Palestine. It declares the artist’s ...
Explainer - The government from 2025 is mandating how state schools teach children to read. But what is structured literacy and how does it compare to other teaching methods? ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Danica Jenkins, Lecturer in European Studies, University of Sydney On a freezing spring night in March, Georgia’s national soccer team beat Greece in a nail-biter penalty shootout to qualify for the Euro 2024 championships. The atmosphere on the streets of the capital ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Somwrita Sarkar, Senior Lecturer in Design and Computation, University of Sydney The “latte line” is the infamous, invisible boundary that divides Sydney between the more affluent north-east and the south-west. Historically, people north of the line enjoy better access to jobs and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Dowdy, Principal Research Scientist in Extreme Weather, The University of Melbourne Nomad_Soul/Shutterstock In media articles about unprecedented flooding, you’ll often come across the statement that for every 1°C of warming, the atmosphere can hold about 7% more moisture. This ...
RNZ Pacific Former Fiji Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama has been sentenced to one year in prison, Fiji media are reporting. Bainimarama, alongside suspended Fiji Police Commissioner Sitiveni Qiliho appeared in the High Court in Suva today for their sentencing hearing for a case involving their roles in blocking a police ...
Acting Chief Human Rights Commissioner Saunoamaali’i Dr Karanina Sumeo says, “Addressing violence and abuse remains New Zealand’s most significant human rights issue affecting women. ...
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The PSA is alarmed that ACC is proposing to shed 309 jobs including 29 dedicated injury prevention jobs at a time when the number and cost of injuries is rising. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tom Baker, Associate Professor in Human Geography, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau Getty Images As local and regional councils struggle with inadequate infrastructure and unsustainable costs, New Zealand will be hearing a lot more about the potential solution offered by ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gary Sacks, Professor of Public Health Policy, Deakin University Drazen Zigic/Shutterstock In recent years, there’s been increasinghype about the potential health risks associated with so-called “ultra-processed” foods. But new evidence published this week found not all “ultra-processed” foods are linked ...
Fears that New Zealand is relying too heavily on low-cost forests to absorb its carbon dioxide emissions have been reignited by a report from the OECD. ...
Finance Minister Nicola Willis has confirmed the total dollar savings target from public sector cuts has been met, but the reductions have not been felt evenly across public agencies. Government departments were told to make savings set at 6.5 percent or 7.5 percent where headcount had grown by more than ...
She doesn’t have a single kind word for me and it’s getting under my skin.Want Hera’s help? Email your problem to helpme@thespinoff.co.nzDear Hera,I have two amazing friends that I absolutely adore. Grace (all names have been changed) and I lived together across 2023 and Olivia moved in with us this ...
Can Western science and Māori science work together to support our well-being? The Te Ohu Mō Papatūānuku (TOMP) Trials Project was a landmark case for healing the land and people with the guidance of Māori science and leadership. This is what happened when Papatūānuku (Earth) was contaminated by toxic discharge, ...
The District Plan is a blueprint for a bigger, better Wellington, through tens of thousands of new apartments and townhouses and a new approach to urban growth. Joel MacManus lays out the vision. The process of putting together Wellington’s new District Plan has been long and excruciating. As a city, ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mohan Singh, Professor of Agri-Food Biotechnology, School of Agriculture, Food and Ecosystem Sciences at the University of Melbourne., The University of Melbourne Tanja Esser/Shutterstock Australia’s vital agriculture sector will be hit hard by steadily rising global temperatures. Our climate is already ...
The Acumen Edelman Trust barometer reported that New Zealand’s political trust score now sits below the global average, a topic explored in a recent discussion paper by Maxim Institute. ...
Greenpeace Aotearoa executive director Russel Norman says, "The Fast-Track Bill is the most damaging piece of environmental legislation any Government has introduced in living memory. People are angry, and it’s time to march." ...
The school lunches programme has been retained – and will be extended to some preschoolers. So how is it going to cost $107 million less? To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. The minister with many hats David Seymour wears a number of hats, but this week ...
Jacqui dean just claimed national built 30 000 state houses. !!
On news hub
Did she raise her eyebrow?
No when challenged she stood her ground !!!
Bat shit crazy stuff coming out of national these days.
Jacqui Dean looks to be just another M.P. compromised by her support of the alcohol industry……
‘When questioned by Māori Party MP Tariana Turia, on why she was unwilling to take the same prohibitory line on smoking cigarettes and drinking alcohol as she took on BZP, Ms Dean said Alcohol and tobacco have been with our society for many, many years; It is estimated that alcohol-related conditions account for 3.1% of all male deaths and 1.41% of all female deaths in New Zealand.
Dean’s Otago electorate is also home to approximately 5% of New Zealand’s wine production, described by the New Zealand Wine Growers Association as a new but aggressively expanding wine area, which is now New Zealand’s seventh largest wine region.’
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacqui_Dean
There are so many ways that our standard of living and health is being decimated by the government and Treasury introduced neolib and freemarket systems. Alcohol has been around for ever but there was so much reaction about its affects in early NZ that it was banned, then reintroduced with control over hours, then after neolib some outlets could open 24/7. Alcohol can ruin people's will to work and stick to the tasks of their role in life, it also spreads to affect the family who adapt to the eccentricities of the addicted one, and the bad affects continue down generations.
So alcohol in excess taking us down. Further down the post Treetop 4.1 talks about micro businesses failing, and the bad affect on those trying to cope with that. I think small business failure is very high -within three years most have either gone bust, or found it was an expensive lesson as to what they shouldn't do, or they sell out, probably at a loss. No way should people draw on their Kiwisaver. It is interesting that Bill English made serious throat-clearing noises about people saving to impress the old-fashioned ignorant of economics, or old people for whom that idea worked until we had National hyperinflation. But actually the economy feeds off people spending, not people saving, and it keeps many so short on wages they have to borrow to get through till the next payday, so there is business profit to the lenders of that money which can not be more than 100% on the actual loan. Kind eh. So National lie about money and people still soak it up as long the end is blaming the poor for their circumstances.
Could be true… does she mean since 1936?
She made it sound like the last 9 years. But I guess itll the standard nat method of tell a big porky defend it for a bit then back away quietly knowing that those less engaged will repeat the lie for them
Report https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2020/07/national-housing-spokesperson-jacqui-dean-falsely-claims-they-built-30-000-state-homes-when-last-in-power.amp.html?__twitter_impression=true
fact check & Labour responds https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2020/07/nz-election-2020-jacinda-ardern-says-it-would-be-fantastic-if-national-s-false-housing-claims-were-true.amp.html
You're onto National bwaghorn. I hadn't actually understood the whole process. But doesn't work for Labour. Promising thousands of houses in three years must have been industry-hype, but the Minister concerned with those funny-business people needs to be wary; these people are not your friends, and you are like innocent Mole going through the Wildwood with evil weasels watching, smirking with their pocket calculators red hot.
Since the Tea Party receded into history, then got Trumped, the latest hot trend in rightist politics in the US seems to be the one pioneered by an online anonymist: Q.
Ah, good vs evil, where the christians come in. "Thiel is a self-described Christian", and kiwi since 2011 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Thiel#New_Zealand_citizenship)
Jesus would be thrilled that his followers are becoming so successful in infiltrating the US political establishment.
Looks like history repeating itself. Conservatives have been there & done that before, almost two centuries ago.
Jesus wouldn't recognize them on the street.
And when he did he would kick their asses all over the park.
There's a lot of truth in the Q conspiracy– America *is* controlled by a cabal of crooks– but their solution (Trump) is wishful thinking in the extreme.
Also, the Q propaganda is first-rate. Example
An alternative spelling is Putin.
Looks like a sustained attempt by the chemical industry to poison nature is coming to an end, finally, here.
I live just below the bottom of those photos in the report, around half a kilometer from their boundary, just far enough away to be free from paranoia.
If they sell their huge unused land-holding and subdivide, it may become the choice real estate option in New Plymouth: particularly the ocean view side, a millionaire's row in waiting. I'm right on the city edge, look out the back window to the countryside across the way & mountain above. Native frogs in my back yard come up from the stream in between suburb & countryside – glad to see the last of the agri-poisoners!
Dennis, taking in the photo, I envy you your home location, and I join with you in celebrating the exit of the blot on the lovely landscape. I hope the land is restored to health.
Thanks, Molly, yes it'll be an interesting space to watch for a while, I suspect!
My cousin was born with a cleft palate which possibly comes from being exposed to the chemicals at the plant (her parents lived near there around the turn of the 1970's). The first 20 years of her life was spent in and out of hospital getting it fixed up.
Collins cashing in your super to start a business.
SStupid idea considering 70% of businesses go broke in the first year,Desperate and Dumb
I would like to know the percentage of small established businesses which are failing.
A failed small business just does not have a financial affect, it has mental consequences as well.
https://nzbusiness.co.nz/article/fail-expos%C3%A9
When you really look at the stats you have to wonder why the politicians are so caught up on the idea that its small business that drives NZ.
Does being self employed count as a business?
If not why not?
Yes, small business are business the employ zero (self employed) to 20 employees
Interestingly the zero group comprises 372,429 businesses, 71% of all small businesses, and small businesses are 29% of all businesses.
I am learning a lot today with the links about small business.
How to save a business from failing and what is a small business.
"But it's our money!" is the RW argument. I'd like to see KS untouchable to all Partys meddling.
This is classic Crusher. She's talking to the deep base who might not bother voting, not to someone who's been laid off because of covid.
Even if she gets to be PM (highly doubtful), I doubt the policy will start many more businesses than she crushed cars. $20K is just seed capital, the prospective business person then has to go and get a bank to support them, so has to have a pretty good business plan. You'd be looking at $100K finance package for a business that's going to do as well or better than wages. If the business plan is good enough to get the banks attention, then it wouldn't matter if the $20K was in cash or KiwiSaver, it's still an asset and the bank might prefer it being in KiwiSaver.
It effectively liquidates part of the person's Kiwisaver so it becomes an asset the bank now has access to. Pretty clear who would benefit from such a move.
Deep down under it is the fact that right wingers think your a loser if you're an employee.
They want us all self employed and scrapping for every cent .
In many cases it will be $20k into the pocket of some franchise owner – while the poor 'mark' who bought the franchise, will drive themselves slowly insane trying to scratch a living under impossible conditions.
To be brutally honest if your at the point where you need to bust kiwi saver your probably not cut out to run you own business,
Brutal but honest.
They gave an example of a plumber who has been laid off. How stupid is that. They would only have been laid off because there is not enough work yet they are supposed to risk their retirement savings competing with their former boss in the same market.
And most plumbers aren't employees once they get past their training anyway. There's a shortage of them (this seems to be a recurring issue) and they tend to be well paid and independent.
If you have the qualifications and you are a half way decent plumber you would be out on your own anyway.
Are you suggesting that people should not even try? I know you are quoting your % from an article you have read once in the past, but I'd really like to know what type of business/venture makes up that 70%.
Its not a question of not trying but accepting that things aren't going to get better simply because someone became self-employed on a down in the market.
But we do have to consider that National governs for the rich and those rich people are looking at those funds and thinking of how nice it would be if they were in their pockets instead of those of the poor. And so National invents some BS rhetoric that sounds good but will only work to shift those funds from the poor to the rich.
where's all the "wealth creators"?
Trying to syphon up all the wealth that everyone else created as per normal.
There has to be a better way of getting 20K for a start up other than partially/fully gutting Kiwi saver.
A 0% interest loan from the government would do it. Throw in freely available mentors and ongoing financial assistance (still at 0%) until its an obvious make/break and we'll probably get some good businesses going.
In fact, all business loans should be direct from government and be at 0% with no fees.
R.D. Laing, the Scottish psychiatrist, introduced hypersanity more than half a century ago. https://www.psychologytoday.com/nz/blog/hide-and-seek/201908/hypersanity
Mainstreamers inhabit a psychosocial head-space: normalcy. Representative democracy allows them to impose their hegemony on the rest of us via the binary format of National & Labour, here.
Mainstreamers exhibit their normalcy by empowering their political reps, trained by the education system, so the cause and effect relation between that and the hundred million of them who got eliminated in consequence, during the first half of the 20th century, never becomes clear to them. Normalcy is a fog in culture that persists.
Those who transcend normalcy see through the fog to the deeper reality that encompasses all. The sleep of normalcy Laing refers to above can then lead to awakening from the normal. BLM, woke, etc.
Following Laing & the mid-20th century human potential movement, hippies became the spearhead of a cultural transformation that swept through western civilisation. Psychedelic drugs were used to decondition us. Normalcy evaporated.
Then a younger generation said "Nah! Too weird." They went back to the future via Thatcher, Reagan & Rogernomics. Normal transmission resumed. Good little consumer citizens, doing what they're told. When Diogenes was asked
Some folks see the big picture, naturally. Some need intervention, such as from psychedelics, then they see it. The pandemic is producing intervention in normalcy, and imposing it on the masses. Only survivors will make the transition and become hypersane. The contagion curve shows no sign of levelling off.
The culling process (shown by the death numbers) remains a slow build. Gaia is patient, tolerant of slow learners – but eventually they will run out of time. Normal is the loser's option…
Winners vs. losers; a nice dichotomy I had not heard in a while.
It may get recycled somewhat during the election campaign. Voters are meant to be cognizant that Labour or National will win. Trouble is, when they get so busy copying each other all the time, poor normal folk get bewildered and find it hard to identify the winner. In normalcy, I mean. The PM seems an abnormal blip on their mental horizon, so expect them to spot her as a winner.
Of course, politics is a contest of ideas and the general election is the Olympic Games of (NZ) politics. I wonder who will win the gold glitter this time. Life is all but an enduring competition trying to outdo your fellow humans. In the end, you die anyway. Such is life.
Nice. I've got a lot of time for Laing.
"The pandemic is producing intervention in normalcy, and imposing it on the masses."
Yes. People respond in lots of different ways to being forced awake. I had had some hopes for NZ that we would step up a bit more on this front. Maybe that is happening it's just not being reflected in the mainstream institutions yet. Is suspect that every community now has more people preparing and future proofing their lives. The election will be telling. Which way will NZ jump?
So JLR tables/doesn’t table 65,000 Nat donation transactions and details one Inner Mongolian donation of 150,000 dollars from a Chinese company with no known connections to NZ and not a word from the media that I have heard.
Does the deafening silence mean the media is actually doing a bit more research or just ignoring it?
Weren't there already media stories months ago about that donation? Which would be why he was safe to mention it without triggering the threatened lawyering.
Probably ignoring it. The MSM is, generally, supportive of National.
Watch the Garner interview with Dean, he's really trying to help her out but her BS even he can't let go by (even if he still slags off Labour).
Winnie, no sense of irony. https://i.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/300069404/dead-rat-spit-back-up-green-party-vote-to-repeal-waka-jumping-law-with-national-infuriating-winston-peters
Peters is singing for his last supper and it’ll be his swan song unless we have a rogue poll on 19 Sep.
Ironic from Peter's now he is sabotaging the Coalitions deals.
NZ first will be last at the election.
Peter's is making a bigger Dick of himself every day the polls reflect his demise.He is out of touch with his messaging no ones listening.Back to the past ideas.
I wonder if the govt considered charging all returnees for meals. Food is something they would have had to pay for if not in isolation, so a charge of say $50 for for 3 meals a day would not seem unreasonable.
…$50 for for 3 meals a day would not seem unreasonable.
Shopping wisely, one can feed an adult for a whole week on fifty bucks. Not including alcohol.
Interesting there hasn't been too much comparison with paying for returnees accom + food + power with how much benes or min wage workers make and have to live on.
It is a middle class 'problem', for sure. Which is why both Lab and Nats are addressing it in election year.
All things considered, $285/day for the taxpayer to cover MIQ costs isn't that high.
That's accommodation, food, security, army costs, healthcare and the rest of whatever additional costs there are.
I have often opined on Twitter that while Citizens shouldn't be charged for returning, I'm not sure we should apply the same logic to permanent residents unless they are ordinarily resident in NZ.
Permanent Residents are citizens of another country. I'm not sure of just how many PR visas have been issued to people who then promptly buggered off overseas, but if I'm reading DIA figures correctly, it looks like 500k PR visas issued in the last 5 years alone. I can't find figures for prior to 2015. If the last 5 years is anything to go by, that's a lot of PRs coming back to NZ after they haven't set foot in NZ for many years since they got their PR visa.
It'd be nice to have the PR visa time bound requiring people to apply for citizenship after a set period like many other nations do.
The proposed charge does not come anywhere near covering the costs. It is political theatre.
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/covid-quarantine-fees-about-emotion-not-economics
Keeps the hotels ticking . So they aren't getting the wage subsidies or laying off staff .
But of a work scheme in disguise.
500,000 is a staggering number, but it would be good to see analysis of time spent in NZ.
"It'd be nice to have the PR visa time bound requiring people to apply for citizenship after a set period like many other nations do."
This seems reasonable.
IFL, I suspect returnees wouldn't be expected to live on rice and beans.
darklol. Yet we expect thousands of others too.
Obviously not! Rice & beans. Also, are the detainees spending it all on alcohol, ciggies, drugs & pokies?
So who is going to be the bridesmaid NZ First or the Greens?
When it comes to NZ First they may not even make it to the after party?
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/422321/government-may-provide-indemnity-to-nz-supplier-of-covid-19-vaccine
I have viewed a number of things online of late that bring vaccines into question.
These are 3 main ones below.
https://youtu.be/dBvY9x2Nma0
https://youtu.be/zH2i7VeoSZE
Kennedy Jr is a long-term peddler of misinformation, misrepresentation and all-around bullshit that's just opportunistically using the increased interest in vaccines to grab more clicks. FFS, Kennedy is still a supporter of Andrew Wakefield, the proven fraudster willing to falsify data that played games with vulnerable kids' health apparently just to line his pockets from lawsuits. Kennedy's own family strongly repudiates his views and actions.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/116449847/the-disgraced-antivaxx-doctor-the-supermodel-and-the-measles-epidemic
https://arstechnica.com/science/2019/11/robert-f-kennedy-jr-is-the-single-leading-source-of-anti-vax-ads-on-facebook/
https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2019/05/08/robert-kennedy-jr-measles-vaccines-226798
https://www.sciencealert.com/anti-vaxxers-seize-virus-moment-to-spread-fake-news
If a vaccine becomes available for use in New Zealand, it will have already undergone field trials involving tens of thousands of volunteers that will be very closely monitored. Because of our COVID-free status, we're likely to be a long way down the list to get supplies, so there will have been millions of people already vaccinated elsewhere in the world. So, there's very little to be concerned about here in NZ.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/world/422197/covid-19-moderna-pfizer-start-decisive-vaccine-trials-eye-year-end-launches
https://www.news-medical.net/news/20200705/Oxford-COVID-19-vaccine-trials-move-to-stage-3-human-trials.aspx
If it weren't for the gratuitous risk the unvaccinated pose to the very few people that have genuine medical reasons to not get particular vaccines, I'd be very much in favour of idiots sucked in by anti-vax bullshit to just let the disease cull themselves out of the herd
who decides what a genuine medical reason is?
It seems most likely that covid vaccines will be released on scale because of the pandemic and bypass some of the usual processes in developing meds. This is likely to cause harm. It's ok to have a conversation about that potential harm and what it means. Downplaying that or out right denying is unhelpful, and will fuel the other side. Either side of the pro-anti debate taking dogmatic or fundamentalist positions won't serve us.
We need to be able to have conversations that address skepticism about the safety and efficacy of vaccines without demonizing doubters.
https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2019/05/08/robert-kennedy-jr-measles-vaccines-226798
Funny how bad-faith artists that get called on their bullshit are quick to cry demonisation.
Ummm. Andre, buddy. That quote came from one of your links…the one denouncing Robert Kennedy.
In this case, The Chairman is mindlessly posting clickbait by a repeatedly debunked proven bullshit artist without applying even the most rudimentary credibility checking. In this case, Kennedy is full of misrepresentations, distortions, partial truths and all the other tricks of those with intent to mislead.
It really gets tiresome seeing the same misinformation posted again and again. A brief search of something like anti-vax debunked brings up tons of articles examining the claims made and showing the actual facts of the matter. It's very basic level "ability to assess information credibility".
Personally I'm done with coddling the feels of idiots that see something then spread it around mindlessly. That kind of bullshit just helps the malicious among us get traction.
As for determining genuine medical reason, there are things like allergies to components, being immunosuppressed, previous reactions etc etc. Basic skills in navigating around information sources and assessing their credibility finds it very easily. Here's the CDC brief guidelines:
https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd/should-not-vacc.html
how many anti-vaxers do you know in real life Andre? How many people that aren't full on anti-vaxer but have concerns?
Two anti-vaxers that I know of for sure. Three more I don't know for sure either way, but are susceptible to the same bullshit clusters of beliefs and misinformation, and inability to try to fact-check, that seem to go hand-in-hand with anti-vax, so they're probables. I've lost count of how many have expressed concerns or hesitancy and then been pointed to accurate information, and then gone on to embrace vaccination.
Given my social circles and family tend to be in facts/evidence oriented occupations that value skepticism and consideration of alternatives highly, I consider those numbers of anti-vaxxers and hesitants fairly high.
My point here would be that ridicule and ostracisation is radicalising people away from science. I know these communities quite well, not from an outside, finger pointing, we can force you to change pov, but they're just normal parts of my community. Telling them they're stupid doesn't change them, it entrenches their views.
NZ is on the cusp of a number of radicalisations, and we really should be paying attention to this. Treating people who have concerns about the covid vaccine like shit won't make them more likely to accept the need for vaccination.
Myself, at the start of the pandemic I started off thinking a covid vax would be one of the few I might need in my remaining lifetime. Now I'm more cautious, not because of conspiracy theories, but because I can see it will be rushed and that there will be a disability cost and that we will vaccinate before having a good understanding of the disease, and pro-mandate people arguing that disability doesn't matter can in fact get fucked. If you want to solve the problem of lowered uptake, then address the valid concerns and support them being resolved in other ways. People mostly want to feel safe and secure, attend to that and it will get easier.
Anyone that has a genuine medical reason not to get vaccinated is one of the people vaccine programmes are trying to protect. But if you are genuinely one of those people, and you still choose to amplify anti-vax messages, I can take a darwinian view of that. I'm just disgusted on behalf of those with genuine medical reason not to be vaccinated that are put at unnecessary risk by that kind of stupidity.
As for valid concerns, one of the anti-vaxers main techniques is to take an absolutely miniscule number of problems and blow them way out of proportion. Furthermore, of the very very small number of reported reactions, a tiny proportion of those have any long-term effects and the vast majority fall into the category of short term discomfort.
Then there's the attribution problem where many of the long term problems blamed on vaccination aren't in fact due to vaccination, or at worst were an underlying latent problem that would very likely have occurred at some time due to illness, but the mild immune system stimulation that usually accompanies an effective vaccine happened to be the trigger.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/287411502_The_urban_myth_of_the_association_between_neurological_disorders_and_vaccinations
I can't be arsed actually trying to put a number to it, but I'd guess the chances are pretty good that for any rural resident the drive to and from the clinic is way riskier than the vaccination.
you still haven't said who decides what is genuine. Is it the MoH? My GP? The CDC? Who? And how do they determine that? It's fine if you can't answer that, but having faith in an ideological position isn't good enough for health policy.
I'm not amplifying anti-vax messages, I'm saying that anti-vax and pro-mandatory vax position are both problematic and making the situation worse. That you can't tell the difference between what I am talking about and antivaxers basically supports my point there.
Exactly weka. Any medical intervention has risk attached and should only be pursued after careful thought. Both my children had most vaccinations but their are enough cases of damage to make you look carefully at what you are exposing your children too. To say we should blindly follow what we we are told is the right path has led to pain and guilt for some parents. Dogmatism when all you are trying to do is what is right by your children is never helpful
One of the big problems is that adverse reaction reporting has not been handled well historically. Even now, people are minimising adverse reactions as an acceptable cost, but the knowledge on this is foggy and messy.
Any Covid-19 vaccine will be different in that the most sensitive target population are the elderly, not children. Most clinical trials are done with healthy volunteers and elderly will be poorly represented if at all in such trials. This may have implications for assessing efficacy as well as risks of side effects (adverse events) occurring.
https://theconversation.com/why-vaccines-are-less-effective-in-the-elderly-and-what-it-means-for-covid-19-141971
do you think there will be an initial vaccine for elderly people rather than one for the whole population? So more like a flu vaccine rather than a measles one?
Bit busy at the moment 🙁
Short answer is that I don’t know. I’d focus on the most vulnerable people first (i.e. mostly the elderly but also diabetics, etc.), i.e. a targeted roll out. For ‘herd immunity’ a much larger section of the population would need to be vaccinated. I have no idea if two vaccines would make sense from a medical PoV and/or logistically and economically. Interesting question though 🙂
we also don't know yet if it's possible to have a vaccine to immunise most of the population against covid, and how long that will last. If it ends up being like the flu vaccine then the conversation changes a bit.
So many extremely interesting things still being discovered about the illness and how it effects people's immunity, CV system, nervous system etc. I'm not seeing a good understanding yet about chronic illness from covid, and think there is good reason for caution with the vaccine. If we're vaccinating to 'go back to normal', I think we need to have a very robust discussion about all the costs of that.
So you have position that only genuine medical reasons are valid for not vaccinating, but you don't have a position on how that should be assessed in NZ? Or are you saying that the state should take the CDC list and apply it irrespective of individual clinical assessment?
I'm guessing I'm not on the CDC list. My GP has told me in the past to not get a flu vaccine. There will be many people in my situation who don't fit into your philosophical position on vaccines who would be at risk from the kind of mandates I suspect you would prefer. Medical science isn't infallible, and taking hardline positions makes good health care harder not better.
It may be that taking hardline positions makes good health care harder (but I'd like to see evidence of that before I accept it as likely fact), but any harmful effects will be tiny in relation to the harmful outcomes caused by the spreading of lies and misinformation that's currently going on, as exemplified by the anti-vax mob. 83 pointlessly dead Samoans being just one illustration of this.
Sure, I understand that the pro-mandated vax crowd are happy enough to sacrifice others on principle without actually designing good systems that might mitigate that. I equally understand why some parts of the community will say fuck you to that position.
I'd like to see some evidence that anti-vaxers were responsible for the Samoan deaths. Instead of say the NZ and Samoan govts, or the MoH in NZ. Or neoliberalism for that matter. It's pretty easy to point fingers.
Afaik, in NZ, the MoH position is that the number of intentional non-vaccinators is less of a problem than the number of people who don't vaccinate because of lack of access or awareness. The whole anti-anti-vax stuff occludes this.
83 pointlessly dead Samoans being just one illustration of this.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12333910
Samoan children hospitalised with measles died after catching MRSA.
(A pity the article is behind the paywall..) It is an interesting read and goes a long way to explaining how a usually mild illness with an historic death rate of 1 in 10,000 cases had such a devastating impact in Samoa.
As for spreading misinformation….
….this report from 2018
https://indopacifichealthsecurity.dfat.gov.au/sites/default/files/Samoa%20Report%20-Scoping%20Mission.pdf?v=1540363081
speaks of how The risk of any further outbreaks of vaccine preventable diseases of childhood is declining as immunisation coverage improves.
The most recently available (2014) estimates of vaccination coverage range from just above 90% for three doses of diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis (DTP),oral poliomyelitis (OPV)vaccine and the first dose of measles-rubella (MR) vaccinedown to 78% for a second dose of MR.
Tragically, in July 2018, two infants were killed when almost inexplicably nurses mixed the MMR vaccine with a muscle relaxant.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/world/south-pacific/117952035/nurses-fatal-vaccination-error-in-samoa-was-against-parents-wishes
The government halted the vaccination program and the previously rising rates of vaccination plummeted. A vacuum demands to be filled, and in swooped the anti- European medicine brigade.
The chronology is very important Andre.
I've had a look for other reports suggesting the Samoan deaths were due to MRSA and found nothing other than the link to your paywalled Herald report. So for now, the credibility on that looks low.
But I'm trying hard to work out what you're trying to suggest here, Rosemary.
Best I can get to is you think that 83 kids dying that had measles (and maybe got MRSA at the hospital they went to for treatment) that were infected with measles because they weren't vaccinated, probably because of anti-vaxxer activity leveraging off a previous medical operator error (no fault whatsoever of the vaccine), that makes spreading around anti-vax misrepresentation and distortion all good?
are you saying that low vax rates in Samoa in 2019 were due to anti-vaxers?
@weka: There's a plethora of credible articles reporting that anti-vaxers had a significant role in Samoa's low vaccination rate, and a complete absence of anything credible saying the opposite.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/dec/18/these-babies-should-not-have-died-how-the-measles-outbreak-took-hold-in-samoa
https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-d&q=samoa+measles+anti-vax
Best I can get to is you think that 83 kids dying that had measles …. makes spreading around anti-vax misrepresentation and distortion all good?
No, Andre, and do think you are deliberately misinterpreting the information supplied.
According to the 2018 report there were no worries about the uptake of vaccinations in Samoa. None.
Then in July two Samoan babies were killed by incompetent nurses.
The Samoan government suspended the (previously lauded ) vaccination program.
More about the multiple factors that led to the tragic deaths from this measles outbreak.
https://www.noted.co.nz/currently/currently-world/samoa-measles-how-its-faring-after-the-epidemic
There are numerous articles and studies detailing the extreme prevalence of MRSA in Samoa. Go and do the research.
…
I didn't read through the whole article.
/shrug.
by all means pull out what you think is in the Guardian piece that supports your assertion.
thanks, I'd forgotten that part of it. Buy hey, let's blame it all on the small % of people in NZ who choose not to vaccinate against measles.
weka….the vaccination rates in Samoa only fell after the two babies were killed by the criminally incompetent nurses.
yes, I got that (had forgotten about that side of it). I was being sarcastic about Andre's argument.
the thing that really bothers me, and it's why I have some understanding of the anti-vaxer position, is the blind faith that mainstream medicine is the best we can do and that mostly it's all good. I'd really like pro-mandatory vax people to spend some time looking at the very large body of evidence of where medical science has fucked up.
My understanding is that they're not so much bypassing the usual processes, as doing some of them in sync and speeding up the process and intervals between the stages.
E.g. different vaccines have different types of construction facility. Normally you wouldn't invest in building a factory unless the thing passed all trial phases, and then a business case was made for it (because capitalism).
But they know how to mass produce each vaccine early on in the development, so Gates is building something like seven factories for the seven most promising vaccines in development. Some, maybe all, of those will fail trials at some stage. But if one is shown to be effective and safe, millions of doses could be produced in short order.
And business plans in this case are pretty quick beyond calculating production costs, because we know the objective is to treat almost everyone, and there's solid funding for that goal.
But I haven't heard they're nixing the I, II, & III trials, which are the main safety and efficacy safeguards?
I would have thought time was a critical component of trials. Not for building factories but for seeing adverse effects, as well as allowing for appropriate processes between lab and human society.
I haven't checked to see who these two scientists are, but some interesting points in this article,
https://theconversation.com/fast-covid-19-vaccine-timelines-are-unrealistic-and-put-the-integrity-of-scientists-at-risk-139824
We also know that a lot of covid research is being released as preprints and not standing up to scrutiny. That alongside the huge issues that medical research has had with its peer review process in the past few decades, I'd say the rationales for caution are sound. The economic and financial pressures are going to be huge too, as well as career ones. Big potential for problems.
Caution is reasonable.
But the executives selling their stocks after an overtly positive announcement that had some not-so-positive details? Yeah, they don't think the company will be selling millions of doses of that vaccine. They think it won't finish the trials.
The time factor is always there – some things can't be rushed, cultures only grow at a regular rate, some reactions can take time to develop. But some things can be sped up with more work hours (overtime or additional staff), and some things (like building a factory and doing a trial) can be done at the same time without compromising safety.
The preprint issue is a common route in fast-evolving situations: if lots of people are facing the same unknown situation, knowing what others have tried as soon as possible is better than waiting for reviewer number 3 to argue why the wrong bayesian equation for confidence intervals was used. It was extremely effective during the 20(14?) ebola epidemic.
Bear in mind it's a global pandemic. We're not talking about a research paper into a condition which 5 people in the world have. We can sit back and ruminate upon these issues as an intellectual exercise because we aren't facing the same problems as most of the rest of the planet. If they produce a vaccine that actually has a genuine mortality rate, it could still be preferable to letting the damned covid have its way.
yeah, let's not sit back and ruminate, but let's lay everything out on the table and look at it properly.
Mortality isn't the only issue here, but even there, who gets to decide?
Decide what?
regulators decide if the vaccine's effectivenes and safety meet levels to be approved for general use – and they might take the current pandemic into account when doing that math.
Health officials decide if it gets added to the schedule, and for whom.
Funders, including employers, decide whether to pay for people to be vaccinated.
Governments will take the externalities into account when deciding whether vaccines should be mandatory (I doubt it, but dolt45 taught me never say never), or whether unvaccinated people will be in mandatory isolation to protect themselves and others, or whether it looks like enough people will get the jab to protect the decliners so who cares about them.
In NZ, I wouldn't be surprised if we kept the border controls and didn't vaccinate using the first vaccine to be released, at least for a few months. But in a place really hard-hit by covid-19, I would be equally unsurprised if they threw the first vaccine available at everyone possible, as long as the adverse reactions were at least an order of magnitude below what covid causes. If only to let the crematoria get some downtime.
decide who should be vaccinated.
What we don't yet know is the efficacy of any vaccine, so a lot of this is kind of moot until we do know.
I mean, it's not anything new in that regard, so we pretty much know the answers along the likely front of vaccine efficacy vs disease adversity, and the available supplies.
If there's a reasonable vaccine and a rando case comes up in a year or two, chances are the govt'll just vaccinate the people most at risk – known close contacts like family and any cops or medical staff who attended, alongside all the standard testing. There might even be a local lockdown. But what with the clusterfuck on the rest of the planet, there likely simply won't be enough stock to be lining up schoolkids and so on throughout the country on an annual basis (or however long the protection lasts).
They would probably also jab high-risk professions, e.g. border staff and people working in the isolation centres.
When global pandemic controls get it in hand, and more supplies are available, it's quite possible the MoH will enable GPs to prescribe/administer it, but pharmac won't fund routine administering like with the flu vaccine.
It'll be like if you want to travel to some parts of the planet 8 months ago, you have the option to drop $x00 on various shots for diseases endemic in those areas, but the govt won't give you those vaccines for free. can't remember the specifics, but a colleague went off the beaten track in Asia a few months ago and shots were an issue.
BUT
it might get added to the vaccine schedule in future years if covid isn't eradicatable, and just becomes endemic. So same as MMR or what have you.
If a vaccine becomes available for use in New Zealand, it will have already undergone field trials involving tens of thousands of volunteers that will be very closely monitored. Because of our COVID-free status, we're likely to be a long way down the list to get supplies, so there will have been millions of people already vaccinated elsewhere in the world. So, there's very little to be concerned about here in NZ.
So. The above being true, why would our government not expect the pharmaceutical company to be liable for any injury caused by their product?
Harm from a vaccine is currently one of the things ACC covers, so if the government did indemnify a vaccine manufacturer it would appear to make absolutely zero difference to any individuals within New Zealand. Any liability issue would appear to be between the government or ACC or Pharmac or Medsafe, and the manufacturer.
If it did happen, it wouldn't be the first time. From The Chairman's link:
Exactly! The indemnity issue is not a health & safety one but a commercial/business decision so that companies feel free to register their product for the NZ market as it lowers their exposure to financial risk/liability in case something goes awry in a previously untested population (think Māori and Pacific Islanders who may have confounding risk factors).
Dude, you've omitted one of the leading alt-covid voices.
///
https://twitter.com/jfreewright/status/1288258615543914497
With the policy the Nats are putting out it is obvious they have realised they have no way of winning the treasury benches this election or next.
The transport policy was just ridiculous. probably undoable given the geology of the Brynderwyns and Kaimais. And uncosted. So not a real policy at all. If they go into 2023 with it, general laughter all around.
The raiding Kiwisaver is just as silly, nonsense really. 70-80% of small busineses fail in the first few years. So no business and a big dent in your retirement savings.
As for the charging of all Kiwis returning. Typical punitive stuff. And given our Bill of rights, probably unenforceable.
Judith has given up. And it shows.
“Heron Report” due at 11am today.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/northern-advocate/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503450&objectid=12352201
Zimbabwe just confirmed a $3.5b deal to compensate white farmers.
https://edition.cnn.com/2020/07/29/africa/zimbabwe-compensation-white-farmers/index.html
Now that would be a really interesting proposal to run in Taranaki – especially to get the European farmers off those Waitara blocks.
Fotunately Mugabe was "interred in a steel-lined coffin under a layer of concrete", to prevent him climbing back out. Well, the family did use a different excuse. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/09/29/robert-mugabe-buried-steel-coffin-encased-concrete-family-claims/
But, after the spinning, what's the bet he'll be having a go? "Goddam sonsa bitches, no way am I gonna let them get away with that!"
Mugabe was an huge fan of cricket, apparently the white administration played cricket radio commentaries from all around the world into his cell 24 hours a day for years. Hated the game beforehand but realised he had to understand it and love it to stop it from having the effect they wanted.
News from last night: https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/122286406/mps-reach-across-the-house-to-ban-female-genital-mutilation
Good to see this. The use of lateral thinking by parliamentarians is particularly welcome! Cross-party consensus is rare and I hope they succeed with their initiative to make it easier to get – and also in the international arena. Well done, all involved! 👍
Great stuff.
This is excellent news – thanks for passing that on Dennis F.
Heron must be the most naive bugger in the universe. He didn't check Boags computer because he took her word, she said the bloody stuff came off her computer FFS.
Walker did it to show he wasn't racist, oh FFS he has form so he is.
And where is the howl from the media about why we are still paying Walker. I'm afraid it really grates on this taxpayer that we are tossing him apparently some $60000 to hang around until the election doing who knows what if anything for the electorate. Any other job -he'd have been down the road long time ago.
And an MP throwing a wobbly and leaking info because someone called him a racist, is completely childish.
Also I'm annoyed at the muller puff piece in yesterday's herald. Apparently his mental health difficulties are a result of hamish walkers actions. He won't be returning to Parliament this year but is another nat that is happy to take the pay packet
I don't believe for a moment that the leak was because he was upset over being called racist. This was pure dirty politics aimed at discrediting the government. The 'gosh I was so upset at being called racist' is pure smoke screen and a more 'palatable' story than the truth.
I laughed out loud at the story saying that he just coincidentally called Boag and she just happened to have something on hand to help…bollocks. Why is this story not featured in NZ Herald or Stuff today?
RadioNZ on Walker and his excuse for lacking probity and responsibility that is owed to people and their personal information.
He childishly lashed out because?… Spoilt baby syndrome? Outgoing National MP Hamish Walker told an inquiry he leaked personal Covid-19 patient details to the media due to the "distress of being labelled a racist".
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/422343/covid-19-privacy-leak-was-deliberate-and-politically-motivated-ssc-inquiry-finds
It's how the elite treat each other, it's us below the stairs that are dragged out in handcuffs and our houses turned upside down.
And likewise, Heron took Woodhouse at his word. The mystery homeless man must find comfort in this, at least. They must have gone to school together.
WELL, BUGGAR ME !
Is someone short a weetbix from their box ?
Hamish Walker is still cited giving a misleading excuse to Heron QC and then Heron QC has not appeared to investigate this false justification for its flaws in the reports written findings. Heron's following analysis in the report seems to unwittingly validate Walker instead.
Walker was able to still state along the lines that being distressed about being called a racist because of his actions, ie. from "firing off a press statement warning up to 11,000 people were headed for Southland from India, Pakistan, Korea",
Walker to Heron then finger points deflecting to Boag and a ghost constituent of his.
( NB. The email is only about " confirmed COVID 19 cases as of 9.00am 2 July 2020. ( not the 11,000 Walker needed to validate his claim) Further, the email footer has the Privacy Act prohibitions and the title in caps MEDICAL IN CONFIDENCE )
Again to the investigator, (Heron), Walker MP, is able to still justify his illicit actions using his anger as a motive- similar to his earlier expressions to the media. " Calling me a racist is Labour's default tactic when they are unable to defend their blatant failures. It's not about race," ;
"It's about the countries these Kiwis are coming from.( re NIMBY xenophobia of Koreans, Pakastanis and Indians).
However, the smack in the face flaw is that even now we are to believe that Walker just wanted evidence to prove countries of origins. Walker stated that he was following up a constituent's concern he only " intended to identify the countries the returning New Zealanders were coming from."
The fact is millions of people could already have told Boag and Walker WHERE the confirmed and probable cases came from WITHOUT breaching the law and compromising individual's privacy and safety !!!! For months, then and still anyone can follow origins on a globally accessible public database.
https://www.health.govt.nz/our-work/diseases-and-conditions/covid-19-novel-coronavirus/covid-19-current-situation/covid-19-current-cases/covid-19-current-cases-details
Sorry Mr.Walker but BS# to you. Please also note In your time frame up to 2 July people came from … everywhere. Southland should be so lucky.
Loved this analysis by Paul Krugman
"I've long been struck by the intensity of right-wing anger against relatively trivial regulations, like bans on phosphates in detergent and efficiency standards for lightbulbs," Krugman writes. "It's the principle of the thing: many on the right are enraged at any suggestion that their actions should take other people's welfare into account." According to Krugman, far-right Republicans equate irresponsibility with "freedom." "This rage is sometimes portrayed as love of freedom," Krugman observes. "But people who insist on the right to pollute are notably unbothered by, say, federal agents teargassing peaceful protesters. What they call 'freedom' is actually absence of responsibility."
Everybody knows that my predictions are never wrong*, so here they are:
TV1/Colmar Brunton poll at 6 pm –
Lab 52 Nat 35 Greens 4 NZF 2 ACT 4 Others 3
(*except the rogue ones, they didn't count)
I reckon you’ll be about right apart from the Greens will probably be just over the threshold between 5 and 6%.