We are all in this together

Written By: - Date published: 10:02 am, November 2nd, 2021 - 206 comments
Categories: class, class war, covid-19, health, Maori Issues, uncategorized - Tags:

Politics is a funny beast.  It moves around and zig zags and sets of in interesting trajectories depending on what the underlying dominant response is.

Logic often does not matter.  The two most powerful emotions are fear and hope.

And Covid is the mother of all political transformers.  Last year in a balmy autumn as we watched the rest of the world fall apart sitting here in Aotearoa and joining off together to see Covid Alpha off was so satisfying.  The sense of exhileration we all had as the daily infection dwindled and then went to zero was intoxicating.  The sense of hope was strong.

But that was original Covid with a R value of about 2.5.

A couple of months ago Covid Delta hit.  It appeared in India and then spread throughout the world to be the dominant strain.  And with an R value of up to six the prospects of suppressing it and eliminating it were always going to be difficult.

As I commented earlier I believe the Vaccination program has been outstanding.  There has been a huge amount of bile thrown at it by National and its cheerleaders.  But right now we are in the upper half of the OECD in terms of vaccination rates, we are still excelling in terms of daily vaccination rates, we are looking at over 90% of the target population being vaccinated and this year so far we have had two deaths.

But we are now at the roller coaster stage of the pandemic where slight adjustments could be catastrophic.

The fulcrum is finely balanced.  Either we kick on and drive it down through a combination of increased vaccination rates and public health measures or we lose it and watch the infection rate spike.

It feels like National’s attacks are now having greater effect, at least among the gullible although polling has not really shifted.  They are engaged in a remarkable feat by insisting on a set date for reopening while at the same time complaining that measures are to stringent and not stringent enough

There has been a lot of angst about the effort.  Yesterday Des Gorman, who not only does not hold relevant medical qualifications showed that he also has absolutely no sociological qualifications by making some really naff comments on what was happening in the population of Tamaki Makaurau.

He said this:

“Aucklanders are barely able to hang in there at the moment, they’re trying their best. They’re not going out, they’re not mixing and mingling. They’re looking at sections of society who clearly are – the numbers are going up, and they’re asking ‘why am I sacrificing my lifestyle, my time with my family, what’s being achieved here?’,” he said.

Gorman said despite rising case numbers, it is safe to ease restrictions.

“I think it is, providing you distinguish between the vaccinated and the unvaccinated. Very clearly vaccinated people are a much lower risk to the health system and so they should have greater freedoms,” he said.

His class prejudice is showing.

The part of Auckland that is most highly vaccinated?

The wealthiest parts of Auckland.

The parts that are less vaccinated?  The poorest parts.

And sectors?  Maori and Pasifeka vaccination rates are still disturbingly low.  It seems that class and race are the strongest deciders on if you are vaccinated or not.

We are all in this together.  Gorman and his ilk need to realise that none of us are safe until all of us are safe.

206 comments on “We are all in this together ”

  • Comments are now closed

  1. Visubversa 1
    2 November 2021 at 10:10 am

    Did you hear Shane Reti on Morning Report? Straight out of the Iwi/Kiwi playbook. Talking about "vaccine utu" and Maori not getting vaccinated in order to stick it to the rest of us.

    • GreenBus 1.1
      2 November 2021 at 10:47 am

      Visubversa, I would agree with that. This is their chance to really put some hurt on the wealthy colonists. All this talk about poverty being responsible for low vax rates is just another neo liberal response. I struggle to condone all the extra effort required to get the last 10% vaxxed, it's like pulling teeth and not really have that big effect. The house to house calls must be hard work trying to convince these people against their instincts.

      The Vaccine passport will just drive a huge wedge between the have and have-nots even though the "nots" have had plenty of extra help to get it done, it must be a very unpalatable and personal apprehension driving this vaccine indifference. Heavens knows how this will end.

      • RedLogix 1.1.1
        2 November 2021 at 10:54 am

        This is their chance to really put some hurt on the wealthy colonists.

        Amazing how the narrative flips – suddenly the non-vaxxed go from anti-social arseholes to noble underdogs bravely fighting the evil colonists.

        • Ad 1.1.1.1
          2 November 2021 at 11:14 am

          Shane didn't do his fellow Northanders any favours making a special case for a special regional brand of moronic stupidity.

          • RedLogix 1.1.1.1.1
            2 November 2021 at 11:34 am

            If Shane really is running with that idea, whether it's backed by real community sentiment or not, it's an incredibly dangerous and stupid line to play. Right now I can't think of anything more calculated to inflame irrational ethnic tensions than this. The gang narrative was bad enough – this steps right into the Yugoslavia turd-storm.

            At the same time the left is floundering on this one too.

            • tc 1.1.1.1.1.1
              2 November 2021 at 12:26 pm

              Nationals doctor at largesse.

              Wonder what kind of a reception his medical peers give him now he's playing politics.

              If you're not part of the solution then you're part of the problem Shane.

              • garibaldi …
                2 November 2021 at 2:49 pm

                I think Shane must be under a certain woman's thumb. This approach by Shane smacks of Judith.

              • alwyn …
                2 November 2021 at 5:55 pm

                Well Shane Reti has definitely been part of the solution. He spent the days from 13 October to 15 October giving Covid 19 vaccinations in Northland.

                I imagine his medical peers were very grateful for the help.

                I wonder if any of the multitudinous Labour Health Ministers have done anything similar? I don't imagine that anyone on that side actually have current practising certificates but they could probably help by emptying the rubbish bins or suchlike.

            • georgecom 1.1.1.1.1.2
              2 November 2021 at 7:56 pm

              shows once more what a complete shambles his party has turned in to. no semblance of constructive logic

  2. weka 2
    2 November 2021 at 10:25 am

    there was a NZ liberal on twitter yesterday arguing that people who attended the rally on the weekend should be denied medical treatment if they get covid. I've also seen this argument for unvaccinated people. It's incredibly stupid from a public health perspective, but also from a political one. We also had a long term Standardista here effectively arguing for a police state against anti-vaxxers (extra-judicial arrests). The lack of class analysis (socioeconomic and ethnicity) from the left is increasingly concerning.

    I'm not saying this to 'but the left as well' (although that probably needs to be said), but to point to the break down of traditional political lines. We should be paying attention to this as well as the swing voters starting to look rightward.

    • Anne 2.1
      2 November 2021 at 11:35 am

      We also had a long term Standardista here effectively arguing for a police state against anti-vaxxers (extra-judicial arrests).

      If you are referring to a couple of comments of mine the other day (not searching for them because I move on quickly) then you must have missed the little emoticon indicating I was talking tongue in cheek.

      Sure… I do believe the police need to take a much harder line against the crazies embedded in the anti-vax movement, many of whom are going beyond what is acceptable behaviour and are harassing and threatening people both in-person and online as they go about their daily lives. To suggest I was calling for a "police state" is an over-reaction to the sentiments I expressed.

      Edit. Thank-you Stuart Munro @ 4. You have expressed my sentiments better than I did.

      • weka 2.1.1
        2 November 2021 at 12:10 pm

        nope, you were dead serious, not an emoticon on sight, and I checked carefully what you were meaning over a number of comments and you clarified.

        . https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-31-10-2021/#comment-1829161

        Here are the details of Joe's story,

        • a 70 year old woman in a shop was verbally harassed by anti-vaxxers
        • they asked about her vax status
        • when she said she was vaxxed they 'took' to her (I assume this wasn't physical)
        • they told her she was a danger to them because of shedding, and that she was going to die
        • the 70 year old was upset
        • the 70 year old politely told them to fuck off
        • there is no more context than that

        You said you wanted them reported to the police. I asked what for. You said,

        They need to be caught and arrested as an example to anyone else who thinks it is okay to behave in such a way.

        You didn't clarify what laws they should be arrested under, so I said this was police state (police being able to arrest without legislation).

        You tied this into actual criminal activity happening in Auckland, and appear to not understand the difference.

        So, again, here's my point. If people on the left want people, who they disagree with politically, arrested for politics, what will happen when that is applied to people we agree with. Climate action? Anti-racism? Ihumatao? Environmental activism?

        If you set the bar this low (anger in a shop), that is where we are heading.

        Joe takes this to mean that we shouldn't stand up to people we disagree with. That's binary thinking that is not supported by evidence.

        • weka 2.1.1.1
          2 November 2021 at 12:11 pm

          and, I'm on record saying I support arrest of protestors in Auckland where they are breaking the law. So please don't run binary thinking lines at me about how it's either lock 'em up or be nice to all the crazies.

          • Puckish Rogue 2.1.1.1.1
            2 November 2021 at 1:01 pm

            Its a crazy world innit?

            I agree, arrest protestors breaking the law but lawful protest then fill yer boots

            However I find it…interesting how many people who claim to be on the left support an authoritarian, fascist, police state crackdown

            • weka 2.1.1.1.1.1
              2 November 2021 at 1:08 pm

              well it's not like the left haven't done authoritarianism. This helps,

            • weka 2.1.1.1.1.2
              2 November 2021 at 1:11 pm

              However I find it…interesting how many people who claim to be on the left support an authoritarian, fascist, police state crackdown

              What bothers me about the left's response since covid is the number of people willing to give up rights without much discussion. Fear is a big part of it, people generally become more conservative when afraid, understandably.

              Some of us don't find the state particularly safe though, which is part of why so many people are not doing what they are told.

              • Puckish Rogue …
                2 November 2021 at 1:17 pm

                'What bothers me about the left's response since covid is the number of people willing to give up rights without much discussion. Fear is a big part of it, people generally become more conservative when afraid, understandably.'

                Easy to be left when the goings good but we all know what we need to lead us when the s**t hits the fan angel

        • Anne 2.1.1.2
          2 November 2021 at 1:43 pm

          You didn't go back far enough! My original comment included a winky emoticon after I suggested the police take drastic action (forgotten what it was now) against certain individuals tied up in the anti-vax movement.

          Too bloody right I'm serious! We've had enough of the arseholes who are causing no end of problems up here, and sabotaging the tremendous work of so many good people throughout Auckland and elsewhere – aaaand sabotaging our chances of getting out of lockdown and lead a more normal life.

          I'm not going to indulge in a war of words with you weka. You ought to know me well enough now to know my style of writing. If, in the course of the original dialogue, you took offence at something then I apologise, but bear in mind no offence was meant to anyone in any shape or form except the arseholes causing all of the trouble.

          • weka 2.1.1.2.1
            2 November 2021 at 1:50 pm

            You didn't go back far enough! My original comment included a winky emoticon after I suggested the police take drastic action (forgotten what it was now) against certain individuals tied up in the anti-vax movement.

            Nope again, that was a different conversation. People cannot be expected to read the whole of OM to understand what you meant.

            And now you've just said,

            Too bloody right I'm serious!

            So which is it? Joke or you meant it.

            I haven't taken offence. I've named your comments amongst others as displaying a disturbing tendency towards authoritarianism and I've given coherent political analysis of that. That's what we do here.

            In the absence of you saying you don't support police state type action against political protest I will continue to assume you do. You called for people to be arrested outside of the law, just own it if that's what you really want to have happen. If it's not, then just say so, and I'll amend my analysis. It's not just you, there are quite a few people making these statements on the left, as I said in my original comment.

        • mickysavage 2.1.1.3
          2 November 2021 at 7:51 pm

          I don't read Anne's comments in this way. And I feel a similar level of frustration with the actions of Tamaki and Co. Their reckless activities are going to spread the disease around.

          • weka 2.1.1.3.1
            2 November 2021 at 8:48 pm

            She wasn't talking about the Tamakis (and as I've already said, I think they should be in jail). She was talking about two women in a shop that got into an argument with the owner over vaccination. She wants them arrested for expressing their political beliefs. I'd have more sympathy for the position if I saw people calling for the arrest of people arguing for BAU in the face of climate change, because really, what's the actual difference apart from time frames?

            With the future we're going into, we need to hold on to as much democracy as we can, not whittle it away out of fear and stress. We will get to 90%+ from good policy and outreach, and understanding that even the people we disagree with are human beings with the same rights as the rest of us.

    • joe90 2.2
      2 November 2021 at 11:54 am

      We also had a long term Standardista here effectively arguing for a police state against anti-vaxxers (extra-judicial arrests).

      Since my septuagenarian vege lady was left in fear after being harassed in her shop over her vaccine status there's been an attack on a South Auckland Counsilor's office and Ngarewa-Packer's husband has been punched in response to their vaccine awareness efforts.

      Standing up to arseholes who think it's okay to undermine public health with threats, property damage and violence ain't arguing for a police state against anti-vaxxers (extra-judicial arrests).

      It's a refusal to be cowed by a motley collection of right wingers, white supremacists, anti-science loons, woo-believers and perennially malcontented fools.

      //

      • weka 2.2.1
        2 November 2021 at 12:00 pm

        if people are harrassing shopkeepers, tresspass them. If they're breaking the law while they do it, report them to the police. If someone is being physically violent, report them to the police.

        That's not what Anne was saying though, she was saying she wanted people arrested for being obnoxious in their politics. My response was to say how is that going to work with left wing activism? I got no answer from either of you. This is my point here: some left wing people who are losing their ability to tell the difference between what is legal and illegar are part of the problem, and it's politically dangerous.

        That neither of you can do both/and is also alarming. We can stand up to bullies and not call for extra-judicial arrests. This is a political blog ffs.

        • McFlock 2.2.1.1
          2 November 2021 at 12:37 pm

          There are current provisions under the health act that have been used. They have nothing to do with politics, and everything to do with health.

          One question is whether the arrested people get bail while awaiting trial.

          Another is whether everyone who gets up to the mic at a nutbar event gets arrested as a ringleader.

          Another is whether incitement (in person or on camera) to violate covid restrictions counts as obstructing a medical officer or something of that sort (a longer bow, but an interesting one). That bit in particular holds hands with "obnoxious".

          • weka 2.2.1.1.1
            2 November 2021 at 12:46 pm

            please show me the legislation that enables the police to arrest two people in a shop having a political argument about vaccination. That's what Anne was referring to and what I just clearly described upthread.

            Nothing to do with protesting in groups and breaking covid restrictions, and I've been on record for weeks saying people breaking covid restrictions to protest should be arrested. And I'm happy for people like Tamaki to not get bail if that's legal to do so.

            I also said last year that the BLM protest was a bad idea.

            I really wish people would take the time to understand what is being argued here because I'm sick of the binary 'if you say something against that you must be for this' stuff, it's tedious and not helping the debate.

            • McFlock 2.2.1.1.1.2
              2 November 2021 at 1:34 pm

              "Well heeled ladies of of a particular wellness persuasion traveling in a premium marque entered her shop and inquired about her vaccination status. When she enlightened them they took to her, telling her that not only was she a danger to them, because shedding, apparently, but that she was going to die along with every other vaccinated person."

              When medical officers are trying to get people vaccinated, that sort of deranged fearmongering hinders their efforts. Sure, S72 of the Health Act strongly suggests face to face hindering and physical obstruction, but is the outcome actually any different?

              • weka …
                2 November 2021 at 1:44 pm

                when I asked you to tell me what legislation the police could use to arrest two women in a shop having a political argument, I mean specifically.

                Yes, the outcomes are patently different.

                If you want to make debating politics illegal for some, please just say so. TS will probably not collapse under the irony.

                It's at this point I'll shift more to Rosemary's side. It's not like it's a secret that fear and disinformation has been used as tool in NZ for a long time for all sorts of topics. Why authoritarian responses from the left now?

                • McFlock …
                  2 November 2021 at 2:01 pm

                  S72 of the health act would be an interesting start.

                  Because the outcome is not different: it's actively stopping vaccination in the middle of a pandemic. That's not a political issue, it's whether the medical officer of health can do their job.

                  also, see: S4 summary offences act: offensive language (telling someone the vaccine will kill them is obviously meant to "alarm", and a store during opening hours being a public place).

                  • weka …
                    2 November 2021 at 2:02 pm

                    I won't know what you are talking about until you link.

                    • weka …
                      2 November 2021 at 2:50 pm

                      so you're thinking that a medical officer of health has authorised grocery store owners in the exercise or performance of powers or functions under section 70 or 71?

                      In what capacity exactly?

                      Are you wanting ASBOs in NZ? For anti-vaxxers only? Not other kinds of political agitation?

                      in any public place, addresses any words to any person intending to threaten, alarm, insult, or offend that person; or

                      Wait until you hear about this thing called twitter. Or TS at times. Or the local pub.

                    • McFlock …
                      2 November 2021 at 3:07 pm

                      Think? Meh. Maybe I'm wrong, or got the wrong section. The Health act is a long bow, like I said.

                      But ASBOs aren't needed in this instance because the summary offences act exists. Sure, things called twitter or pubs exist. The rules apply to everyone. It's just whether the effort is worth it.

                      With antivaxxers like the two in the examples, I certainly understand the inclination to make the effort. With folk like the Tamakis or speakers at their disease-fest, I hope the cops oppose bail.

                    • weka …
                      2 November 2021 at 3:23 pm

                      I hope the cops oppose bail too.

                      With the two women in the grocers, I would have thought tresspassing them would make more sense and is easier.

                      If someone comes back after you have given them a trespass notice they will have committed an offence. Call 111 and ask for Police.

                      https://www.police.govt.nz/advice-services/personal-and-community-safety/trespass-notices

                      Don't know what law the police use at that point.

                      We don't actually know what the problem was though, it's an anecdote. If they were refusing to sign in or wear masks, tresspass them. If they're talking politics, leave them alone. Honestly, if you start arresting people for talking about their anti vax views, all hell is going to break loose and the Tamakis will be the least of our worries.

                    • weka …
                      2 November 2021 at 3:25 pm

                      it also fucks me off that we think arresting people for spouting bullshit is a suitable replacement for letting Zuckerberg run riot through democracy and public health. We can try and stomp on a couple of women in a shop or some bad Māori selling drugs or whatever, but it's hardly going to solve the system problems.

                    • James 2 []
                      2 November 2021 at 9:17 pm

                      I can concur with Weka's comments on the Authoritarian Left coming out in Covid-19 response and turning off swing voters. I find it terrifying – more than the actual risk to me (vaccinated) from Covid-19 or unvaccinated people, and to the health system.

                      Both Left and Right have Authoritarian impulses, although usually the Right appeal to physical security (terrorism etc) and ramp up the fear factor to justify police powers, discrimination (Muslims etc), and defence spending. But now the Left has a taste of that strategy. …and quite like it.

                      This is on top of the (progressive) Left's dogmatic and autocratic tendencies in identity politics and cancel culture.

                      I still for the life of me can't understand why the response to Covid-19 has been split Left to Right in the way it has. The Left I knew was suspicious of discrimination, huge police powers, Government funding of the media, and a stronger supporter of rights to protest.

                      Who is going to be discriminated most by vaccine passports? Working class and disenfranchised. That's why Liberty, a Left-leaning human rights charity in the UK opposed them and said:

                      "While vaccine passports seem like a solution, they’re actually a by-product of the failings of this Government’s entire pandemic response. They look like a panacea, and they’re being presented as such. But they are a serious reinvention of our relationship to the state and potentially to our employers and as such they need serious debate."

                      The Left I knew also cared about whole well-being, mental health, child education, workers rights, domestic violence, etc. All these social costs (we can argue whether justified or not) have been quite blithely tossed aside in the obsession with Covid-19 deaths above anything in Left thinking. This is even before thinking on economic costs – which actually do impact on social issues too – not just for rabid capitalists.

                      Martyn Bomber points out the relative death rate from Covid-19 and bingo – everything Jacinda has or will do is justified. This is an utter poverty of thinking and a disaster when it becomes national policy writ-large.

                    • weka []
                      2 November 2021 at 9:43 pm

                      part of that is the difference between left and liberal. We haven’t had a strong natioanl politics for a long time around worker rights, health, and so on despite there still being peopleon the ground working all those areas. So it’s probably not surprising during the pandemic. What we’re seeing is largely the liberal response I think, where people who feel secure-ish under neoliberalism are willing to give up certain things for the sake of more security, especially because so many people trust Ardern. Some of those who aren’t so well served by neoliberalism might also be tempted by Labour being sternly paternalistic because of the promise of safety. I don’t think there is a lot of class analysis in that. Certainly the centre lefties on TS have tended to ignore or deny pretty standard left wing analysis for things like barriers in the health system to vaccination and healthcare.

                      Micky points to class in some of his posts, as does Ad (although he tends to swing between that and strongl favouring paternalism). What’s been alarming to me is seeing left wing people argue for things like vaccine mandates to get a benefit. This is horrific as is the lack of awareness of just how horrific it is. My main theory currently is that fear of covid sitting on top of the now permanent fear and stress of climate/eco crises, has caught many people out in terms of coping and being able to integrate into political philosophy.

                      I find the civil liberties and tech guys on twitter generally aware of the issues but they’re more focused on the near picture not the bigger picture. Hence most of last year how exactly the covid app was not going to be a data mining disaster wasn’t actually explained, there was a lot of ‘trust us, it’s fine’ messaging. Later it was explained well, along with pointing out that Labour have a policy of not data sharing, it’s not actually protected in law.

                      Too much is happening too fast while people are stressed and no-one can keep up. It’s a wild ride and we might get lucky or we might end up tossed out the boat into the rapids.

                    • weka []
                      2 November 2021 at 9:47 pm

                      btw, I’ve changed your name to James 2, because we have another James here. Feel free to choose another permanent name on your next comment (it will probably get caught in the filter but a mod will let it through)

                    • James 2 []
                      3 November 2021 at 10:01 am

                      (Weka – Apologies, I am and same James as from a couple of days ago. I thought I used the same email details. Feel free to use whatever "James" is suitable).

                      Interesting points to reflect on – thank you. I think there us something to your fear theories. The Left used to attack the Right for their fear narratives, but the Left is catching up. Not of course that there isn't serious challenges and concerns, but before the Left offered hope, an ideal, and a path – what are they offering now? Feels like guilt and fear to a large extent.

                      The at-home-worker bourgeoisie have ridden largely in comfort during lockdowns and other interventions, and supported Labour. New Zealand has suffered – what Bryce Edwards has exposed – a large transfer of wealth during Covid-19. Certainly that mirrors trends elsewhere, and would have likely happened under National/Act – but this is supposed to be Labour!

                      I wonder if the voter base will track moves away from traditional working class you see in the US Democrats and UK Labour, especially given the influence on identity politics obsessions.

                      I'm glad you brought up that privacy issue. The lack of statutory protections you identified, combined with the recent Court decision to somehow suggest Treaty principles can override privacy protections, is hugely concerning. I have heard repeated anecdotal evidence (treat with dash of salt) of tracking data being used for other purposes. Unfortunately, many of the elite iwi and their supporters share a very paternalistic and infantalising view of Maori – much like the "anti-racists" of America.

                      It's a warped world when the supposed Left support views (vaccination for benefit) that someone like Rodney Hide might support. But this is the prime example of cognitive dissonance and how humans make bad decisions under conditions of fear, stress and anxiety. But what should you do when your political philosophy cannot integrate something? Humility, and adjust your outlook, look to other elements or theories that provide use.

                      I also hate to sound like a Groundswell-er, but the mass funding of media, including for "misinformation", has had a huge effect too I think – particularly on the fear quotient. I think MSM have been so terrified/ideologically consonant/money influenced that they thought if they give a voice to even a moderately sceptical/opposing views, that will somehow valorise rabid anti-vaxxers or similar. I read an interesting article by Kate MacNamara on the quite cosy links between the usual experts (Wiles, Baker, etc) and Government spin machine. We should all be re-reading our copies of Manufacturing Consent.

                      This is all why I think a rebalancing is sorely needed and for me, the current Labour Government, being remarkedly unreflective (but almost auto-tuned to polls and focus groups), is unable to provide this.

                    • weka []
                      3 November 2021 at 11:12 am

                      we have a long term right wing commenter here called James. Please choose a different handle, thanks.

                    • weka []
                      3 November 2021 at 11:18 am

                      I’ve been aware of the pressure to support the collective effort. Definitely posts I would have wanted to write if I had had the time but that would have felt off in terms of public messaging. In two minds about this. Labour have taken the track they have and there is sense to support that now until we get to 90%+. But it’s a window not and indefinitely open door and I expect more criticism next year.

                      Their handling of 3 waters makes me think they’re in full paternalistic mode. I don’t trust them in setting up the new Disability Ministry, although hopefully the Greens are having input on that.

                    • McFlock …
                      2 November 2021 at 3:37 pm

                      Well, I wouldn't be opposed to cracking down on the… well I guess now it's "meta" bullshit, either.

                      But walking into a store, asking a question, and invoking doom when you get a response you don't like isn't just offering a different opinion. Tone and volume do add to the alarm felt by ambushed strangers who can't actually leave their shop unattended. Trespassing a jerk very much depends on the jerk – sometimes it's best to avoid it as much as possible, then take their reggo and get the cops or a bailiff or suchlike to deliver the notice later (but that doesn't actually help you at the time).

                      A counterpoint would be when I popped into a gift shop and in a couple of minutes the shop person was talking about how "man's law" didn't exist and we were all subject to "god's law" and so on. I left and never went back, but neither of us yelled at the other.

                    • weka []
                      2 November 2021 at 4:03 pm

                      Quite. We don’t know how the conversation started or what the harassment involved. But I’m still not seeing anything that rises to the level of calling the cops. My guess is they were being dickish and the shop person didn’t like what they were saying. Tensions are high in a lot of places.

        • joe90 2.2.1.2
          2 November 2021 at 12:56 pm

          I live in an area with a deprivation index of 10 and where a large number of the most criminally victimised portion of the city's population lives.

          Only 67.5% have had their first vaccination and 52.3% their second, mask exemptions are going for $50 a pop and folk are open about their preparedness to ignore covid and covid rules. IMO, a direct result of the activities of the ant-vaxx confluence.

          Any appeasement of these loons troubles me.

          • weka 2.2.1.2.1
            2 November 2021 at 1:04 pm

            I understand. I'm not convince that ridicule and arrest for disagreement are a useful strategy in resolving that and I think the authoritarian stuff will make it much worse. The push back needs to be more nuanced.

            I think the low vax rate in places is also due to long standing neglect by the rest of the country. Which is partly why I object the treating non-vaccinated people are one amorphous selfish/thoughtless/stupid lump and with no regard to class politics.

            This is the best thing I have seen written on this,

            https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/coronavirus/300440848/covid19-vaccination-how-mistrust-shadows-the-rollout-in-a-time-of-crisis

            That's not an anti-vax aragument. It's pointing to the complexities we need to navigate to solve the issue. Rose is clearly saying she's not being influenced or sharing anti-vax conspiracy stuff, there's something else going on. I think it's a big surprise to parts of society that not all people buy into the vaccinations are all good idea, or that science is god. But the reasons are very clear to those of us who have been around this a long time. For me it's the disability and alternative health sector, and many of the concerns are similar or overlap.

            Trust is core. I don't think can be gained by force. The problem isn't the vaccine mandates, it's the lack of strategy for bringing people along. As Rose says, she'd be more inclined to get vaxxed if she could buy a house. No team of 5m for her though.

          • Chris 2.2.1.2.2
            2 November 2021 at 3:31 pm

            And it'll be the poor who won't have the luxury of being able to work from home and will have employers demanding attendance at the workplace, so on top of all of this will be more likely to be exposed to infection.

        • theotherpat 2.2.1.3
          3 November 2021 at 7:12 am

          to coin an old phrase….the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few……

    • Rosemary McDonald 2.3
      2 November 2021 at 12:12 pm

      …that people who attended the rally on the weekend should be denied medical treatment if they get covid. I've also seen this argument for unvaccinated people.

      Only yesterday did one of our national garbage- piles -masquerading- as- journalism post an article about a wee tot whose cleft palate surgery was postponed at the last minute due to unforeseen overloading of the hospital's ICU and HDU. They somehow managed to work this story into yet another 'guilt trip the filthy unvaxxed into doing the right thing' hit piece. As far as I know, Hutt Hospital has no Covid patients…but what's wrong with a little conflation between friends?

      Because as we all know, it is entirely due to the selfish and irresponsible and psychopathic unvaxxed that our public hospitals can't cope with any stress. And it is only since Covid that there has been any surgery wait lists or overloaded EDs.

      Handy foil, that virus. And handy for the lockdown stressed vaccinated to be able to level opprobrium at those who are not. And why not target unvaccinated kiwis?

      As Jacinda 'the Kindness' Ardern said the other day we need…

      "…a way that we can keep vaccinated people safe from those who have not been."

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

      No.

      We are not all in this together.

      (P.S. Someone might like to have a wee word in the PM's ear and let her know that the Pfizer shot does not prevent infection or transmission and that the viral load of an infected vaccinated person is similar to that of an un-vaccinated person. The justification for her 'two classes of people' is based on false premises.)

      PPS Christ…just watching that interview again…she needs to put aside her pet modellers and look at some actual data and research and medical opinion from over seas about the ethics and medical justification for vaccinating children with the mRNA shots.

      • weka 2.3.1
        2 November 2021 at 12:25 pm

        thing that fucks me off about that is that anyone who does have a reaction to the vaccine is not going to be well looked after by the state. For all those reasons, the decades of basically not giving a shit about poverty and disability.

        And pro-vax people basically don't give a shit about this. I'm ok with vaccination if we can be honest, and we're just not. I can't even talk about this here in terms of the disability community because people are so utterly convinced that their google searches mean shit to people with chronic illnesses, they can't even see the issues let alone discuss them.

        • Rosemary McDonald 2.3.1.1
          2 November 2021 at 2:32 pm

          I can't even talk about this here in terms of the disability community

          Yes indeed. This makes it very difficult to discuss the pros and cons of the Pfizer shot when any kind of hesitation is seen as social media inspired anti vax ravings.

          Some people with disabilities live very finely balanced lives as some neurological issues can be exacerbated by change. The acknowledged side effects of the Pfizer shot include some of the manifestations of neurological precariousness. Dizziness and extremely low blood pressure caused by thermoregulatory impairment or orthostatic issues can be managed by modifying the sufferer's environment. Last I heard there is no antidote to the Pfizer shot, and you can't suck it out once its in there.

          Not that I'd ever talk about that in public…'cause, you know, anti-vaxxer!!!!wink

          And then there is the whole thing that the Ministry of Health has proven over the last twenty years (since they reluctantly took on the disabled) that they make a pantomime out of consulting with the community and have demonstrated time and time again that they don't really give a shit.

      • weka 2.3.2
        2 November 2021 at 12:27 pm

        As for your last bit, sure, and many people are going to be surprised in the next year or so when we get lower protection than many believe. But it's also true that it's not a linear thing. It's the relationship between vaccination, non-vaccination (including kids), death of individuals by vax status, how that impacts on the health system, and collective protection via transmission rates and how that impacts on individual death rates and impact on the health system.

        Also long covid, no idea how much they are taking that into account (have the bean counters looked at increasing the WINZ budget? Maybe the new disability Ministry will look after them, /darklol).

        So while you can pull out an isolated aspect of vaccination like viral load, the whole picture to me still looks way better if 90%+ people are vaccinated than if we had no or low vax rates. Of course, there were lots of other tools we could be using alongside that, and we won't because the MoH is conservative, and NZ wants BAU asap.

      • weka 2.3.3
        2 November 2021 at 12:29 pm

        Only yesterday did one of our national garbage- piles -masquerading- as- journalism post an article

        We actually need a reference for making claims like this, due to the heated nature of the debate and that it's going to go on for so long. Even just naming which media it is so people can look it up.

        • Rosemary McDonald 2.3.3.1
          2 November 2021 at 1:33 pm

          Sorry…I usually do provide links but I'm a little busy right now. ( A ewe who had a very traumatic lambing a week ago, and her surviving lamb, are requiring a large amount of convalescent support. Run a little ragged I am. )

          https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/covid-19-delta-outbreak-parents-of-vulnerable-children-fear-impact-of-virus/75P2PVMEGYHSWQHHT53DFMEEQA/

          https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/454646/parents-of-vulnerable-children-fear-impact-of-covid-19

          • weka 2.3.3.1.1
            2 November 2021 at 1:58 pm

            could you tell if the man asking the awkward questions was from the media? (had his back to camera)

          • weka 2.3.3.1.2
            2 November 2021 at 2:02 pm

            "They said if it was this side of Christmas, the surgeon would have to cancel his annual leave."

            From the RNZ piece. Good grief, imagine if the health system had to provide surgical services in January and some people had to take their annual leave at a different time.

            And yeah, shit that RNZ wrote all that without pointing out the baseline state of the health system in NZ and why it is the way it is.

            • mpledger 2.3.3.1.2.1
              3 November 2021 at 9:23 am

              I'm sorry, but a surgeon's planned annual leave has to come before non-emergency surgery. People have to put their own welfare first before helping others. Remember, these are people's jobs and employment law exists for them too – they shouldn't have to be saints.

              [When a surgeon takes leave has huge ramifications because there are a lot of people involved in surgery and pre- and post-operative hospital care. I would guess a day of surgery (say 5 patients) would impact on 50 other hospital employees, probably more.]

              • weka …
                3 November 2021 at 9:59 am

                I would guess we have enough surgeons in NZ to stagger holidays. This is a failure of planning and management (and I would guess historical patterns and doctor entitlement).

      • Molly 2.3.4
        2 November 2021 at 12:35 pm

        Thanks, Rosemary.

        Thought the current strategy was political rather than considered. Here our PM shows a disregard for harm and facts that will increase a divide rather than bridge it.

        • Rosemary McDonald 2.3.4.1
          2 November 2021 at 1:50 pm

          Thought the current strategy was political rather than considered.

          Yes. I fear Our Leader has made a blunder of monumental proportions with both her speech and that interview. Her body language is a giveaway too. All that hand-wringing when she's speaking about the truck loads of confidence the vaccinated will have once more people are vaccinated and they (the vaccinated) can feel safer….indicates a lack of confidence in what she is saying.

          For whatever reasons people have chosen not to have the Pfizer shot…Ardern has added another. Being told by Her Lady of the Kindness that you're a danger to the Good Folks and need to be kept apart from them would tend to make a few middle fingers twitch.

          I understand her little sortie Up North here today inspired a few hecklers.

          • weka 2.3.4.1.1
            2 November 2021 at 1:53 pm

            probably the most authoritarian thing I've seen from Ardern. Am curious what the game plan is, because it's not like the people that hate the government are going to disappear, and it's very likely they will grow if Labour entrench two classes of people long term. Do they think that they can force people to bend to her will? I guess so. But I expect resentment even in some of those that get vaxxed so they can take part in society again.

      • Puckish Rogue 2.3.5
        2 November 2021 at 1:47 pm

        A bit racist isn't it, knowing full well Maori are dragging the chain when it comes vaccination rates

        • Rosemary McDonald 2.3.5.1
          2 November 2021 at 2:10 pm

          A bit racist isn't it,

          Tbh, its all a bit weird. You'd think her Maori caucus would have told her that this is exactly the wrong way to win the reluctant and the recalcitrant over…especially with conversations around colonisation prevalent in that community. I don't think she and the rest of government have any idea of the depth of mistrust out in the margins.

          • Puckish Rogue 2.3.5.1.1
            2 November 2021 at 2:28 pm

            Well I'm a big believer in personal choice and, unfortunately, it will take a few deaths in the Maori community to change peoples minds

            • Rosemary McDonald 2.3.5.1.1.1
              2 November 2021 at 2:47 pm

              Actually…I have some optimism. Most Maori are young. Many are fit and take care of their health….most of the kuia and kaumatua up north here have been vaccinated and it is their kids who are kicking over the traces.

              We'll see.

      • Drowsy M. Kram 2.3.6
        2 November 2021 at 3:10 pm

        P.S. Someone might like to have a wee word in the PM's ear and let her know that the Pfizer shot does not prevent infection or transmission and that the viral load of an infected vaccinated person is similar to that of an un-vaccinated person.

        The "Miracle Injection from the Pfizer Gods" and other Covid-19 vaccines, while far from perfect, do provide partial protection against Covid-19 infection. And, if a Covid-19 infection does get established, then while peak viral load may be similar in the vaccinated and unvaccinated, the viral load decreases significantly faster in vaccinated individuals, which would explain why hospitalisations and deaths due to Covid-19 are substantially reduced by vaccination.

        Scientists are analysing the epidemiological data. Fortunately, with over 7 billion Covid-19 vaccine doses administered so far, there's plenty to analyse.

        Community transmission and viral load kinetics of the SARS-CoV-2 delta (B.1.617.2) variant in vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals in the UK: a prospective, longitudinal, cohort study [29 October 2021]

        Covid-19: One in four vaccinated people living in households with a covid-19 case become infected, study finds [29 October 2021]
        “The most statistically significant data point is that vaccinated people certainly have a faster rate of viral decline,” said Ferguson, “so they may potentially be infectious for less time, but they don’t necessarily have any reduced peak of viral load. Most transmission probably happens around that peak of viral load, which is why we think we’re still seeing substantial transmission rates from vaccinated people, both to unvaccinated people and to other vaccinated people.”

        Lalvani said the faster rate of decline in viral load in vaccinated people helped explain why they get fewer symptoms, quicker resolution of symptoms, and—crucially—have much lower risk of developing severe disease. The modelling showed, however, that vaccination did not affect the time people spent “in the window of highest infectiousness” during peak viral load, and only partially prevented transmission of the delta variant, he added. “This means that unvaccinated people cannot therefore rely on the immunity of the vaccinated population for protection, they remain susceptible to infection, and risk of serious illness and death.”

        What is the vaccine effect on reducing transmission in the context of the SARS-CoV-2 delta variant? [29 October 2021]
        This study confirms that COVID-19 vaccination reduces the risk of delta variant infection and also accelerates viral clearance in the context of the delta variant. However, this study unfortunately also highlights that the vaccine effect on reducing transmission is minimal in the context of delta variant circulation. These findings have immediate public health implications. Higher vaccination coverage rates need to be achieved because indirect protection from vaccinated to unvaccinated people remains suboptimal. The question of whether booster doses will improve the impact on transmission should be addressed as a top priority.

        Research efforts should be directed towards enhancing existing vaccines or developing new vaccines that also protect against asymptomatic infections and onward transmission. Until we have such vaccines, public health and social measures will still need to be tailored towards mitigating community and household transmission in order to keep the pandemic at bay.

        • I Feel Love 2.3.6.1
          2 November 2021 at 5:43 pm

          It's not going to stop her peddling that BS every freakin' day… & Someone to (again) show evidence that it does limit infection. The vaccination is safe & works.

          • weka 2.3.6.1.1
            2 November 2021 at 8:53 pm

            works with limitations, that Rosemary is pointing out. She's just balancing the people saying it's all good instead of being honest. The problem we have is when we get to 90%, are people going to not wear masks, wash hands, distance etc, because they think they're immune?

      • KJT 2.3.7
        3 November 2021 at 2:31 pm

        “Someone might like to have a wee word in the PM's ear and let her know that the Pfizer shot does not prevent infection or transmission and that the viral load of an infected vaccinated person is similar to that of an un-vaccinated person. The justification for her 'two classes of people' is based on false premises.)"

        “Someone should have a wee word in your ear" that you are mis leading people with cherry picking that gives an erroneous conclusion. A common tactic for people such as anti-vaccers and others.
        The statement that “vaccinated and unvaccinated have the same viral load”. Out of context, is intended to give people the idea that the chances of transmission is the same. Which is false.
        Research has shown that vaccinated people are much less likely to transmit covid than unvaccinated. And it has been conclusively proven that vaccination greatly reduces the chances of severe covid.
        Your statements are dangerously mis -leading

        • Rosemary McDonald 2.3.7.1
          3 November 2021 at 9:31 pm

          Research has shown that vaccinated people are much less likely to transmit covid than unvaccinated.

          You need to provide a reference or two…

          In the meantime… it gets very complicated.

          https://www.irishtimes.com/news/health/unvaccinated-people-with-covid-19-pose-greatest-risk-of-transmission-niac-1.4717069

          (you need to read the first three paragraphs)

          https://www.news10.com/news/coronavirus/vaccinated-just-as-likely-to-spread-delta-variant-within-household-as-unvaccinated-study/

          https://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3099(21)00648-4/fulltext

          And of course after 5/6 months you're going to need a booster because the Pfizer's ability to prevent symptoms has just about worn off.

          Vaccines offer protection from infection/transmission and symptoms for a limited time. Not a horse we can bet on in the long term.

          And so on.

          • weka 2.3.7.1.1
            3 November 2021 at 9:52 pm

            You made two claims,

            1. the Pfizer shot does not prevent infection or transmission
            2. the viral load of an infected vaccinated person is similar to that of an un-vaccinated person.
            1. Everyone knows that the Pfizer vaccine doesn't provide absolute immunity. That's not the same as not providing any immunity at all. Afaik, evidence still supports the idea that vaccination limits infection (people generally don't get as sick), and slows transmission (for a range of reasons).

            There's a semantic thing going on here. Rosemary says 'does not prevent' meaning in the absolute sense. People react because to them it does 'help prevent'. I really wish people would start communicating better on this.

            Also 'just as likely to spread in household' is not the same as 'just as like to spread in the community' (or other situations)

            Rosemary, do you accept that the vaccine helps limit transmission? It seems like you do to me, but I think others see you saying that the vaccine doesn’t work at all.

            1. that should be a simple enough thing to support or refute with a reputable link (Rosemary, and anyone else). The issue then becomes how to use that evidence in the covid response.

            I know it's tedious to have to keep providing links, but if we don't, it's just a round about of assertions and building tensions. I'm also going to ask that people don't just post links but give a short explanation of what is in the link.

          • Drowsy M. Kram 2.3.7.1.2
            3 November 2021 at 10:52 pm

            Vaccines offer protection from infection/transmission and symptoms for a limited time. Not a horse we can bet on in the long term.

            I take a punt on the 'flu vaccine horse' once a year, and haven't lost a bet yet.

            "Miracle Injection from the Pfizer Gods" et al. aren't perfect, but bear in mind that vaccine roll outs to protect against Covid-19 began less than a year ago.

            Large U.S. study finds majority of mRNA COVID-19 side effects are mild and temporary [1 November 2021]
            While serious side-effects from mRNA vaccinations have been reported to the government, these events tend to be rare. By age group, deaths related to vaccine side effects were lower than expected.

            The researchers confirm that vaccines remain the most effective weapon in preventing severe COVID-19 infection.

            Wouldn't be surprised if improved vaccines are developed as Covid-19 transitions to being an endemic global pathogen, and medical researchers learn more about its long-term impact on human health.

            The beauty of the newish mRNA vaccine technology is that precise, improved vaccines can be developed comparatively quickly.

            Flu, cancer, HIV: after Covid success, what next for mRNA vaccines?
            [1 November 2021]

            The Science Behind COVID-19 Vaccines: Parent FAQs

          • KJT 2.3.7.1.3
            4 November 2021 at 3:48 pm

            As you very kindly provided some for me.

            And an example of carefully thinking about what studies are saying.

            For example. A study that says "vaccinated are just as likely as vaccinated to spread delta within a household" is not evidence of the difference in transmission rates between vaccinated and unvaccinated in the community overall. Say vaccinated are a hundred times less likely to spread covid, they will still almost certainly spread it to someone who is sharing the same bed, kitchen and rooms, 24/7.

            • Shanreagh 2.3.7.1.3.1
              4 November 2021 at 3:58 pm

              I think one of the 'vaccinateds' needs to have an 'un' in front of it. Agree with this. Out in the community a way for both vaccinated and unvaccinated to minimise spread is to maintain mask wearing, hand hygiene and social distancing.

              At least in the US many anti vaxxed are also anti mask. I hope that sort of approach does not take off here. In the meantime as the power companies say during a power cut, 'treat all wires as live'. So treat all unmasked people as having the virus. wink

        • weka 2.3.7.2
          3 November 2021 at 9:56 pm

          The statement that “vaccinated and unvaccinated have the same viral load”. Out of context, is intended to give people the idea that the chances of transmission is the same. Which is false.

          Research has shown that vaccinated people are much less likely to transmit covid than unvaccinated. And it has been conclusively proven that vaccination greatly reduces the chances of severe covid.

          I'd really like to see an explanation suitable for lay people of how viral load relates to transmission, if anyone has one.

          This is complex stuff, not everyone has the time or capacity to read and interpret clinical trials or even science reporting.

          • KJT 2.3.7.2.1
            3 November 2021 at 11:12 pm

            It is not all that complicated.

            Symptoms like coughing and sneezing spread respiratory diseases. If vaccination reduces symptoms like that, even if the "viral load" is the same, which seems rather dubious, then the disease is less likely to spread.

            Masks work because they keep someones coughing, sneezing and puffing, contained.

            It is unfortunate that specialist reporters, especially science ones, apart from a few standouts, like New Scientist, have joined the Dodo.

            Also unfortunate that so many science publications/research papers are behind expensive paywalls. Leaving it to media to decide which ones to make public. Media that often have little ability to assess or understand them.

    • Patricia Bremner 2.4
      2 November 2021 at 2:37 pm

      Well I asked for people to be fined if they were breaking Health Orders if they organise rallies. Does that make me a fascist?

      • weka 2.4.1
        2 November 2021 at 2:53 pm

        why would that make you a fascist? Seriously, what you are on about. Can you really not tell the difference between enforcing a public health order, and denying people medical treatment based on their politics?

        I've said I wanted the people organising to be arrested (where the law is actually being broken). Are you really having so much trouble following my argument.

    • georgecom 2.5
      2 November 2021 at 8:24 pm

      vaccine reluctant v anti vaxxers weka. bit of a difference

      some of the hesitant might be those in the lower socio-economic echelons or the more deprived, the harder to reach elements

      I have seen the antivaxxers more of a white and middle class variant myself

      ethnicity and socio-economic can go some way to explaining the last to vaccinate populations, those who are now getting their jabs for example. the vaccine hesitant.

      I don't think it is particularly helpful to analyse the fringe or the wacko/odd elements. the picture is far less clear. if we throw together the amalgam of types represented at the recent 'freedom' rallies. white, older, middle classes, privileged maori, some mentally challenged, conservative – a widish spread.

      as for being punitive, here is my view. some people in society cannot be trusted to do the right thing. case in point where drugs are involved. selling and buying. a druggie is going to put getting their next hit over self isolation, isolating at home will take a back seat to a hit of p when the addiction needs servicing. so such people they need to be put in MIQ and some of them probably jail for the sake of keeping the community safe. if people cannot be trusted to do what they should do with covid I don't have much problem with some authoritarianism.

      if a druggy is in jail or the community and wants to access rehab, fully support the state funding such and making it easily accessible. if a gang wants to put it's people through a drug rehab that's fine as well if they stop dealing in P, if Destiny wants to run rehab that's fine as well as long as it is not tied in with a drive to get people converted and stuffing money in Tamaki's pocket.

      Your comment in a post further down sums things up well with the word 'nuanced'. A nuanced analysis of events (apart from comments about the National partys covid policies as that does warrant some scorn and ridicule I think).

      • weka 2.5.1
        2 November 2021 at 9:01 pm

        I might agree about the addict vision if I thought that a) prison wasn't going to make things worse and b) we actually funded the kind of rehab people need. The other option is to supply them with the drugs they need.

        The people I know who are anti-vax and well down the rabbit hole are Pākehā and not stupid. They're good people, and part of the community I live in. I don't consider them particularly fringe other than on this, but I guess it depends on what we mean by fringe. They tend to be apolitical and thus unaware of the connections between the current anti-vax movement and white supremacy or hard right politics. They have solid political reasons for not trusting government but it's not the kind of personal experience distrust that many Māori or poor or disabled people have.

        I think that ridicule and ostracisation is a short term gain strategy that will probably back fire. But then keeping people living in poverty and not honouring Te Tiriti has had the same effect. Likewise voting in neoliberal governments.

        • Shanreagh 2.5.1.1
          3 November 2021 at 11:45 pm

          They tend to be apolitical and thus unaware of the connections between the current anti-vax movement and white supremacy or hard right politics. They have solid political reasons for not trusting government but it's not the kind of personal experience distrust that many Māori or poor or disabled people have.

          I am perplexed by what 'solid political reasons' there would be that mean that people would put their own health and the possibly the health of others on the line.

          I can very easily see that mistrust could build up in some Maori, poor or disabled (though older Maori are getting the vaccinations in some areas as keepers of the memories about the 1918 flu epidemic)

          What would these solid political reasons be and why/how would they have become related to personal health?

          How would this sentiment be countered? Would it be likely that there are others?

          • weka 2.5.1.1.1
            4 November 2021 at 12:39 am

            A big part of the belief system is that the world is being run by people who are killing it. Let's call that neoliberal capitalism, but the focus is on uber wealthy with a lot of control outside of democratic processes. Nothing particularly controversial there.

            It includes pharmaceutical companies, a harder notion for some lefties to accept. There is a strong focus on the US government, again nothing particularly controversial, and a good reason to not trust government.

            I don't agree with a lot of the details but the broad strokes aren't that weird. Hell, I don't trust governments either in the week of COP26 and NZ basically saying we're going to fiddly the books on GHG emissions. Labour can't be trusted on housing, welfare, poverty etc.

            The concerns about freedom and loss of rights is also on point. What we are doing might be necessary but it's also dangerous.

            All that coupled with a belief in natural health and a distrust of mainstream medicine (again, the details might be off, but the broad strokes are often on point. Think how money influences what gets researched, or how broken peer review is) is where it converges with the covid/health issues.

            Personally, I have zero problem with people taking their own personal unvaccinated chances with covid. The issue is about how that may impact on others (through transmission, and health system use).

            There are people who still believe that covid is just like the flu. And who don't trust the MSM, so get their information off youtube and FB. It's pretty obvious that the MSM has bias, I personally don't find that a problem because I can think critically about what is being presented, but I've seen some fucking appalling coverage of things in my time, so it's not like I don't also understand why people who don't see their values being reflect have low trust.

            • Shanreagh 2.5.1.1.1.1
              4 November 2021 at 1:21 am

              Thanks for the explanation. I find it a tad unconvincing, a little like cutting one's nose off to spite one's face to put one's health (which is non political) at risk because of a political stance. And also a political stance that may be derived from happenings overseas? So I accept this a little but to put others at risk? To possibly get infected themselves then be part of a load on a possibly overloaded health system.

              Perhaps anti vaxx and part of a fringe group and not vaccine hesitant. To seek to talk to them will mean huge overturning of belief systems/possible slight conspiracy theories.

              If they can self isolate and mask up/socially distance when out then that would be some protection for them and others.

  3. weka 3
    2 November 2021 at 10:26 am

    I don't really understand the calls to open up Auckland early. Yes people and businesses are hurting, but we haven't gotten to a point of not being able to vaccinate to 90%, so why would we quit the containment process at this critical point?

    • Jimmy 3.1
      2 November 2021 at 12:22 pm

      The decision to open up a bit more will be political not based on science. Has there been a poll lately saying Labour's popularity is slipping? Or just their internal polling is telling them Aucklanders are getting annoyed and likely to vote elsewhere.

      • weka 3.1.1
        2 November 2021 at 12:29 pm

        Labour are between a rock and a hard place. I was meaning the people calling for the opening up before we get to 90% (left and right callers).

  4. Stuart Munro 4
    2 November 2021 at 10:34 am

    Unfortunately I don't think we are all in this together.

    Groups like Groundswell are doing their best to sabotage the vax effort, and a pool of fellow travelers including Leo Molloy, Whaleoil, and the Tamakis miss no opportunity to do likewise. It is folly to pretend that these persons, who are trying to build a local version of Trumpism, are anything but sociopaths, or that their antivax efforts are well intentioned or principled.

    We may have some sympathy for the poorly vaccinated communities, but none for those who conspire to mislead those communities for political or financial advantage.

    • mpledger 4.1
      3 November 2021 at 9:34 am

      If people don't go to church then the church doesn't get their income. When people don't go to church for a while then they may realise that they don't need the church after all. If you were members of a church that was entirely dependent on participants' incomes then you'd be playing the "freedom" and "covid-19 is a sham" cards to get people attending and paying.

  5. Warren Doney 5
    2 November 2021 at 10:41 am

    I think the move from level 4 to level 3 was the first indication they were responding to pressure from National and the media. The rushed way it looked makes me feel like it was two or three weeks before they planned to.

    Now that Labour is much better funded I expect they are working with polling and focus groups etc. to take the pulse of the country, but I can't help thinking that they probably don't take into account the effect that honesty, leadership, pushing back, and having the courage of their convictions would have. Perhaps that can't work if the RW media are doing their best to spin things though.

    Many on the left don't seem to realise how seriously Labour takes that pressure. I've suspected it for a while, and Willie Jackson let something slip the other day on Facebook. They came out of nine long years in opposition only through the grace of Winston, and even after the popularity boost they got from the shooting, Simon and RW media had caught up with them in the polls due to their campaign of attrition.

    • Ad 5.1
      2 November 2021 at 11:22 am

      Not even this government can sustain crisis-mode forever.

      We have only very late 2017 and 2018 to see what this government could do outside of full reaction mode.

      As a political market, Auckland is right at this moment fully up for grabs.

      Any citizen can forgive you for immediate actions inside a crisis: whether they forgive you for getting out the other side – well that's where you lose your political capital by the hour.

  6. Pete 6
    2 November 2021 at 10:43 am

    Increasing levels of angst at the current lockdown can be related to privilege?

    The privilege of thinking that death and illness with serious affects will not befall us and ours, they'll be for someone else.

    • Patricia Bremner 6.1
      2 November 2021 at 2:41 pm

      Yes Pete, and anger when the realisation that they are also at risk.

      • garibaldi 6.1.1
        2 November 2021 at 3:05 pm

        The way I see it is the only privilege involved is the privilege of being educated enough to realize a couple of jabs will very likely keep you clear of hospitalisation in a situation where the hospitals will not be coping because of overloading. If that is privilege then I plead guilty.

    • mpledger 6.2
      3 November 2021 at 9:37 am

      When I see people walking down Lambton Quay without masks, I think what lucky lives they must have led to believe that covid-19 is going to pass them by without any affect.

    • KJT 6.3
      3 November 2021 at 3:11 pm

      Privileged people may be correct, that it is less likely to affect them.

      They are able to work from home or not work at all. Had good healthcare all their lives. Have medical insurance to jump hospital waiting lists. Live in uncrowded houses and don't have to work in workplaces with a hundred others in close proximity. Have a place away from others, to hide if necessary.

      They weigh up the chances of getting covid seriously themselves, against "more important things" like holidays in exotic places. And the inconvenient loss of income if the "workers" are not working, when it is the workers that will get covid, not the business owners.

  7. RedLogix 7
    2 November 2021 at 11:17 am

    A good post Mickey and I appreciate the thought that went into it. You are spot on with this "Logic often does not matter. The two most powerful emotions are fear and hope." If nothing else a decade of experience here should have hammered this lesson home.

    A couple of things struck me as I was reading it. It's well and good to point to India "A couple of months ago Covid Delta hit. It appeared in India and then spread throughout the world to be the dominant strain. " but then you omit to examine what happened after that. Francesca raised this point last night. Note how our media was more than happy to fearmonger the India story when cases were rising – but have utterly ignored it when it turned into a story of hope.

    Secondly – and I think your post implicitly acknowledges this – that the first round of lockdowns in 2020 were a reasonable response given how little we knew at the time. But the precautionary principle cannot be used asymmetrically. It doesn't work to justify an action to avoid a risk, while at the same time ignoring the costs of that action. And there is no question that lockdowns come with substantial costs, economic, social and political.

    The second justification for lockdowns was to buy us time to prepare for COVID, but again that agenda was hi-jacked by the vax-only crowd who a year ago where promising they would be the silver bullet. As a result I don’t think we used the time we bought to the best effect.

    Thirdly it's clear that many of our most important institutions have failed us at critical points and the narrative was deeply politicised from the outset. People are not blind to this and have lost considerable trust as a result. To have these same institutions then double down with vax mandates and other forms of compulsion has only deepened the distrust.

    It's my view this last round of lockdowns were a mistake. With COVID now endemic globally there was nothing to be gained in the long run, and every chance they would fail. There were other more intelligent strategies we could have chosen. Sadly the tool that initially brought the nation together has turned against us, and now erodes the hidden fault lines that might divide us as a nation.

    • mickysavage 7.1
      2 November 2021 at 7:57 pm

      Thanks RL. I was really fond of elimination but I have come to the realisation that it is not a long term strategy. We might have beaten it this time with some luck. Maybe even the time after. But the time after that …

      Vaccinations are important. But there needs to be a whole lot more.

      Really smart leadership would marry the Covid response to the climate change response. We are in for a bumpy ride …

      • Ad 7.1.1
        2 November 2021 at 8:12 pm

        You never know; a small state with a coherent and battle-tested Labour government might well do precisely a little intersection of COVID and Climate.

        I think it just might start with Auckland.

  8. Stephen D 8
    2 November 2021 at 11:24 am

    National's whole attitude to the handling of the pandemic puzzles me.

    Their leadership have done their best to undermine the government at every turn. When mostly this is counter intuitive. Polls should be telling them that they way the pandemic is being handled appeals to the voting public. Not the opposite.

    At times the likes of Chris Bishop and Shane Reti have said some sensible things. But very few and far between.

    The questions going begging;

    1. Is Judith's policy the only policy?

    2. Are they using focus groups as per JK?

    3. If not why not?

    4. Do they seriously expect to win in 2023 with this behaviour, or have they, in their heart of hearts, given up already?

    5. I'm sure there are plenty more.

  9. Ad 9
    2 November 2021 at 11:28 am

    Mickey it's a noble idea, but one that's only sustained within crisis.

    Everyone can now see how not-together we are. Class. Ethnicity. Mobility. Digital resource. Autonomy. Helplessness and dependence. Mental damage both short and long term.

    We are shortly to head back to good old fashioned government. We've had too much of it in our lives and for too long. So Ardern is pulling back the whole media presence as of today:

    • Only one post-Cabinet briefing, as usual
    • One on Wednesday with Hipkins
    • One with Robertson on Friday

    So the entire political economy of crisis is evaporating, as it should.

    Now it's time they turned to the stuff that makes us not-together.

    • RedLogix 9.1
      2 November 2021 at 11:36 am

      Finally. Neither an individual nor a nation can sustain crisis mode indefinitely without disintegration. We're seeing the early signs of this already.

  10. DukeEll 10
    2 November 2021 at 11:42 am

    Don't like being locked down? sick of looking at our closest international neighbours with 80% double jabbed being able to party and enjoy themselves? Live in a nice part of Auckland and have done the responsible thing and been double jabbed?

    Check your fucking privilege wealthy dicks

    • RedLogix 10.1
      2 November 2021 at 11:53 am

      Exactly how does 'privilege' work to prevent people from being vaccinated in NZ?

      I could understand if there was some govt policy that stated only privileged people could access vaccines.

      I could understand if there was a big shortage of them.

      I could understand if it was really hard for people to access them in a timely fashion – but that idea gets weaker as each day passes.

      You tell me how this works. How exactly does me being vaxxed prevent anyone else from doing the same? Did my two jabs use up the whole fucking supply or something? /sarc.

      • weka 10.1.1
        2 November 2021 at 12:14 pm

        he didn't say that. He said that people complaining from wealthy suburbs about not being able to go out and play need to get a grip. It's pretty much what micky said in the post too. It's Māori in particular who are going to pay the price of opening up Auckland too soon. Why should they pay?

      • DukeEll 10.1.2
        2 November 2021 at 2:35 pm

        akshually, i was being argumentative towards Mickey's postulation as it ignores the people who have been left behind in the wealthy suburbs but have kept up with the joneses coz that's just what you do.

        I find this hate by postcode existentially depressing whether pro or anti vax.

        but anti vax most of all. secessionist wankers

        unable to vax, lots of sympathy

        • RedLogix 10.1.2.1
          2 November 2021 at 2:37 pm

          I find this hate by postcode existentially depressing whether pro or anti vax.

          I can def go with that yes

          • DukeEll 10.1.2.1.1
            2 November 2021 at 4:55 pm

            Cherry picking your answers from some clearly laid out criteria?

            You used to be cool round here, Starting to get the feeling you'd rather let lockdowns rule over freedom if freedom means you do something you personally don't agree with.

            Circular argument I know, but in the wider context of not having to listen to twenty somethings talk to world leaders with their jaws jutting out, I think it's important to make sacrifices for society. and sacrifices by definition are personal

            • RedLogix 10.1.2.1.1.1
              2 November 2021 at 5:13 pm

              For what it's worth – and I've said this before – I vaccinated more from a sense of duty than conviction.

              I think it's important to make sacrifices for society. and sacrifices by definition are personal

              Oddly enough it was the usually totally out-there maverick Eric Weinstein making just that argument – who settled the matter for me.

        • Patricia Bremner 10.1.2.2
          2 November 2021 at 2:53 pm

          yes

  11. Reality 11
    2 November 2021 at 12:11 pm

    Amidst all the loud demands for opening up, out there each day are teams of vaccinators doing their thankless task of trying to get the vaccine resistant to get vaccinated. And the health sector battling away ceaselessly in hospitals. While the privileged ones who want to go shopping seem to never give any thought to the mammoth task it has been to keep NZ with so few deaths and hospitalisations.

    • I Feel Love 11.1
      2 November 2021 at 1:19 pm

      Thank you Reality for thanking the thankless.

    • observer 11.3
      2 November 2021 at 1:48 pm

      Agree 100%.

      All those easy words (contact tracing, testing, vaccinating) are in fact real people who will never be in the headlines, and rarely thanked for their work.

      How often do we see a "vox pop" where they ask health workers how their day was? As opposed to random people on the street saying "no-brainer innit". We don't hear from the people who are too busy keeping us safe to complain to the TV cameras.

    • Patricia Bremner 11.4
      2 November 2021 at 2:54 pm

      yessmiley wonderful people.

  12. Patricia Bremner 12
    2 November 2021 at 12:23 pm

    We have to hope the clearance for children to have the vaccine comes through quickly enough to assist us to protect those with health issues and the unvaccinated by lifting our vaccinated rate to 95%. of the eligible.

    National and Act have been making noises which encourage the evangelical the hospitality and the groundswell activists. "Freedom and Individualism" aligns with the right.

    "Collective action for public good" aligns more with the left.

    We are hitting a wall of resistance born out of a long lock down without the resulting success, as cases rise people look for someone to blame for business failures, mental health strain and a growing sense of dread as cases rise.

    Cries of "They did not lock us down properly. Only some were locked down. Those people are not vaccinated. Why can't we get what we need ? We are being divided into vaccinated and unvaccinated by the pass. Freedom The Government has given up" and so on.

    Meantime we battle a pandemic, climate change and local woes with varying degrees of success.

    In hindsight some decisions may prove to be poor, but in most cases if they are based on welfare and wellbeing they will over all be helpful.

    It must have near killed Jacinda Ardern to learn how many would get ill with Delta, as it proved too difficult to eradicate. The modelling was horrible. We had a sense of anger to realise our "Sacrifices" were not removing the threat of covid. 7000 a week could not be true surely? Four weeks on there is a sense of resignation as reality hits. We now hope for 1400 instead of 7000 as vaccinations increase. Each point matters and represents less deaths and long term illness.

    Along with that is a balance of not overwhelming the health system, so health problems and accidents will receive treatment if needed. As well we wish to keep work loads and risk for health professionals at levels that don't break them. We need to recognise the huge input already to try to vaccinate a whole population.

    So vaccination to 90%+ of the eligible was a way to lessen these impacts. This target was set for each DHB. The aim was to achieve this before the years end.

    Our poor attitude to lived partnership meant one Maori Health provider had to take the Health Department to court to get health data for their Maori patients so they could target them. Well done John Tamihere, that will save lives.

    In spite of those set backs remote communities are being accessed by their own now they have been financed adequately, though that took public action and a visit by the Associate Minister of Health to some DHB's who were not passing on designated funding through poor relationships.

    The public felt that was too slow for Tairawhiti with their widespread people, and so when disparities became public donated $110 000 towards a mobile vaccination clinic. The locals expressed surprise as support poured in from round the country to the Givealittle page, showing ordinary folk wanted all to have the option of being vaccinated. The PM said all DHB's had been funded. (Yes, true, but why not Maori Health Providers?) Still paternalistic.

    This pandemic has hurt some wealthy during the lockdown, but will hit the poor harder when restrictions are lifted. It will lay bare the inequities in our society. What we do then really sets our future.

    • Ad 12.1
      2 November 2021 at 12:52 pm

      That Te Whanau Waipereira case against the Ministry of Health needs its own post all by itself.

      Te Whanau o Waipereira were seeking access to individualised data on Maori who were not vaccinated, so they could be traced and offered the vaccine.

      MoH refused, and got comprehensively told to re-think their decision not to release in the High Court.

      When the Royal Commission on COVID goes ahead, differential Maori outcomes need to be front and centre of it.

      Before COVID I used to think DHP's were a mechanism for different regions to respond appropriately to different regional groups. COVID has underscored that model has utterly failed, and actually the NGOs in some areas simply need to be allowed to do the job they are more effective at doing.

      • weka 12.1.1
        2 November 2021 at 1:16 pm

        What's individualised data? Is that names and contact details of non-vaccinated people? Major Privacy Act issue there. Which could be resolved if as you say we used culturally appropriate models. If Māori were seen as partners, then it would make sense to let them run health care for their people. Pāhekā would benefit from this too in the long run as Māori health models were adopted by the mainstream.

        • Ad 12.1.1.1
          2 November 2021 at 1:23 pm

          Yes the whole case was about whether public good interest in a pandemic overrides human privacy issues for individualised data for Maori.

          The Privacy Commission to the High Court fully supported Te Whanau O Waipereira's position.

          The Court found that it was appropriate to override privacy issues in the sharing of data.

          Given the degree of deprivation Maori are in, the data of Maori people are routinely shared across multiple Departments and Agencies like MSD, banks, debt collection agencies, Health, Corrections, Police, IRD, MoJ, Armed Forces, intelligence agencies for international crime, and more.

          So frankly MoH is just bordering on racist here.

          This whole 2021 vaccine rollout is a cruel lesson in how DHB public health rollouts work much worse for Maori – and yet it's Maori who need them more.

          I have little time for John Tamihere but they are right on this one.

          • weka 12.1.1.1.1
            2 November 2021 at 1:29 pm

            if the state had an actual partnership with Iwi they wouldn't need to override privacy issues. The people who get health care via Iwi would already know under what conditions data would be shared.

            This matters. National were on the verge of implementing their Big Data programme when they lost the 2017 election. They were rolling it out in beneficiaries so most of NZ including the left basically didn't give a shit. But see all those people out there not trusting the government? Giving away rights like this is part of that distrust.

            I saw Māori NGOs saying they were ready to set up a vaccine programme for their people earlier in the year and the MoH wouldn't let them. It's not bordering on racist, it is racist (institutional racism). That's a different, overlapping issue with privacy rights.

            Afaik health records are not routinely shared with a wide range of government departments, and there needs to be a good reason when they are. Certainly WINZ can't just ask for beneficiaries' health records and get them whenever they like. I'm guessing what is happening is the individuals are signing away their rights when they access services.

          • Patricia Bremner 12.1.1.1.2
            2 November 2021 at 2:08 pm

            Yes I understand that many have qualms about JH. Though he had a case here and laid bare the prejudice. It should be front page news.

            • Ad 12.1.1.1.2.1
              2 November 2021 at 2:09 pm

              He's well positioned now.

              His revenge against MoH officials for this and other slights will be served very cold.

      • SPC 12.1.2
        2 November 2021 at 3:43 pm

        The governments requirement of 90/90 vaccination rates for each health board was an indirect way to get the regional HB's to up their game and work with Maori agencies to achieve this goal – many NI HB's cannot met this target without doing this.

    • SPC 12.2
      2 November 2021 at 3:37 pm

      I would prioritise boosters for the oldies (the health compromised and health workers – to sustain a limited number of workers in their jobs) ) before the 5-11's – the 9 aged care home cases shows that break through infections are beginning – and for the oldies these can be fatal.

  13. Maurice 13
    2 November 2021 at 2:02 pm

    Pause for thought …

    https://www.theepochtimes.com/intolerance-of-dissenting-views-suppressing-tough-questions-about-inflation-afghanistan-covid-19-peter-thiel_4078910.html?utm_source=partner&utm_campaign=ZeroHedge

    In his keynote address to the National Conservatism Conference Oct. 31, billionaire tech entrepreneur Peter Thiel argued that false consensus has silenced debate on important questions,

    “If there’s a misinformation problem, it’s a centralized misinformation problem—and it’s the misinformation coming from the Ministry of Truth,” said Thiel.

  14. vto 14
    2 November 2021 at 2:40 pm

    Imagine if we had conscription today…

    imagine the protests…

    we have it so easy today…

    none of the queen's soldiers lining poor sods up at gunpoint to go kill queenie's enemies for her…

    conscription… vax mandate… ha ha ha ha ha ha ha the whole torrid story is an absolute mess of ignorance and hypocrisy

  15. Adrian 15
    2 November 2021 at 2:49 pm

    I too have had it with the stupidity of the anti-vaxxers, in conversation with one the other day I was informed that all one needed for disease protection was Vitamin D from the sun and belief, agreed VitD is very important but I asked if that was all you needed wouldn’t people in tropical areas never get sick or suffer from all of those tropical diseases. There was a brief halt in the flow of stupidity but normal service resumed pretty quickly, apparently their “ belief “ was not strong enough. We will just have to wait until they all get the Covid and then the stupidity may fade out or be buried.

    • RedLogix 15.1
      2 November 2021 at 3:11 pm

      but I asked if that was all you needed wouldn’t people in tropical areas never get sick or suffer from all of those tropical diseases.

      Not a strong argument – for a start there always is a much higher disease burden in the tropics from a whole range of pathogens that simply don't occur in temperate zones.

      Also rather surprisingly in modern times many people in the tropics live mostly inside and avoid the sun if at all possible. And given their darker skin tones are often surprisingly Vitamin D deficient.

      The point I've repeatedly made is that there are probably a range of sensible low cost, low risk measures we could have should have done, like universal VitD supplementing, if we really cared about public health rather than defending our tribal political agendas.

      So no surprise this is spilling over into real life.

      • Rosemary McDonald 15.1.1
        2 November 2021 at 3:42 pm

        Burden of Disease associated with low Vitamin D status in New Zealand

        Robert Scragg et al

        Suggests wider study and perhaps Vit D supplementation and advice to Maori and Pacifca that 'sun sense' protocols may not be entirely appropriate.

        Worth a read

        • SPC 15.1.1.1
          2 November 2021 at 3:45 pm

          Do not forget zinc – good for cell health – for the old and those suffering impacts of diabetes (kidney, lung and heart problems).

        • Molly 15.1.1.2
          2 November 2021 at 4:01 pm

          Told after my cancer diagnosis that optimal Vitamin D levels give a 50% protection rate. Paid for my own test and was at less than a tenth of the optimum level. After reading this result, my oncologist prescribed the supplement. Horse bolting and stable door comes to mind.

          Apparently, many women lose the ability to metabolise Vitamin D from sunlight. Along with mammograms, this knowledge would be useful to know. (The reluctance of the doctors I have met to suggest or prescribe supplements has been noticeable.)

          • Rosemary McDonald 15.1.1.2.1
            2 November 2021 at 4:49 pm

            My significant other was a guest on the hematology chemo ward around the time that this was unfolding. The poor registrar on the ward kept getting baled up by the sickened and desperate to see if they too could benefit from Vit C. A close family member didn't ask…just brought up powdered ascorbic acid and proceeded to administer it. SO has been taking 2000mg daily ever since. The chemo left him sun sensitive, so in recent times he's been popping Vit D as well. Zinc he has been taking at the advice of a pharmacist when the doctors were deciding what to do with the deep necrotising wound from a white tail spider bite. The pharmacist's Master's thesis was studying the effect of zinc supplementation on wound healing, and he was surprised that it was not SOP for stubborn wounds. There was a similar study done at Dunedin hospital that also showed positive results. He's kept taking it after the wound was sorted because it seems to ease some of the inflammatory stuff his skin is prone to…again the result of chemicals. Being a full time wheelchair user… maintaining his skin integrity is paramount.

            I do not know where the reluctance comes from with the medical profession…doctors especially…for what should be complementary products.

            I guess some of them perceive simple (and comparatively cheap) potions to be weird witchy woo…not real Science.

            Or they don't like it when we take responsibility for our own healing.

            Our Ministry of Health could have stepped up to the plate at the beginning of last year and challenged the lot of us to slim down and get fitter. They could have dug out the old Plunket books that extolled the virtues of cod liver oil (yum) and rosehip syrup or haliborange tablets.

            But no. They shut us all up and the MSM encouraged us to have inter house bake offs, sharing the results on faceache and messenger. Now, they're offering hamburgers and kfc at Maori and Pacifica targeted vaccination drives.

            And its not just here in Godzone. Free donuts after your vaccine folks?

            Sighs. Shakes head.

            • RedLogix 15.1.1.2.1.1
              2 November 2021 at 5:06 pm

              deciding what to do with the deep necrotising wound from a white tail spider bite.

              I copped one of those decades ago – took almost a year to heal. I had completely forgotten about that until I read your comment.

              But yes I think you have a solid core of support for what you're saying here. While I'm the resident fan-boy for modernity – and make no apology for it – that doesn't mean there isn't plenty of room for improvement. And modern health, diet, lifestyles – and a whole host of factors including inequality that play into it – are all overdue a major re-think.

              If there is one thing I'd love to see come out of COVID is a whole new debate on the real meaning of public health. It would be a noisy stoush but part of me suspects it's a project that really could unite NZ.

              • Rosemary McDonald …
                2 November 2021 at 5:17 pm

                took almost a year to heal. I found the dead white tail under Peter's hip when I was getting him up. Two wee red dots. This was Labour weekend 2010. Finally healed after much pissing around, two surgeries, and MRI and six weeks hooked up to a negative pressure wound healing gizmo. Almost a year from bite to final dressing removal. A nightmare.

                During this time, and while enjoying a three week sojourn on the plastics ward, we spent a fire alarm lockdown chatting with the medical photographer. His white tail spider bite (gardening, cleft of buttocks) was dealt to by medicos in Napier by lancing quite deeply the resulting swelling. Cleaned out (no infection) and packed with gauze while it healed from the bottom up. Most Kiwi doctors will deny it is a spider bite caused the wound. South African doctors on the other hand…they recognise a spider bite when they see one.

                • RedLogix …
                  2 November 2021 at 5:37 pm

                  Really interesting – learning something there. Thanks.

                • joe90 …
                  2 November 2021 at 8:41 pm

                  South African doctors on the other hand

                  Same. 20 years ago in A&E with an angry, infected, near-black wound the size of a 50c piece on the back of my calf. Nurses were pissing around treating it as a contusion when a yarpie quack took one look and said "that's a fucking spider bite". Had me hooked me up to IV antibiotics quick smart, put me through the roof digging around, dressed it and sent me home with the cannula in my arm. I returned a for couple of days in a row for more antibiotics and dressings and it took months to heal.

            • mpledger 15.1.1.2.1.2
              3 November 2021 at 9:54 am

              An academic nutritionist told my class that most nutrition supplements don't contain the vitamins they say they do or provide them in a way that the body can absorb well – supplements don't have to conform to the same standards as medicines. My impression is that it puts doctors in a tough spot – there may be a small body of evidence that a vitamin is helpful but that is not useful information if there is no product that can deliver that vitamin – otherwise the end game is expensive urine.

        • RedLogix 15.1.1.3
          2 November 2021 at 4:39 pm

          I assume you spotted the remarkable result from BioBank that Campbell recently highlighted that higher Vitamin D is associated with a lower risk of mortality from all causes of death?

          It was probably a shame that this substance was called a Vitamin – because in many ways it's better thought of as an essential hormone. Because we evolved as largely hairless mammals we normally photosythesized it quite nicely, and we developed a range of skin tones to adapt to the climate zone we lived in.

          Modernity has rather buggered this arrangement up, and it's really only in the past decade or so that we've come to fully appreciate this. Basically if you have a darker skin tone, you're no longer living in or near the tropics, and you live indoors much of the time – then you are almost certainly Vitamin D deficient without supplementation.

          The implications of this for NZ should be obvious as you have hinted at.

          • Rosemary McDonald 15.1.1.3.1
            2 November 2021 at 5:03 pm

            The implications of this for NZ should be obvious as you have hinted at.

            Dealing with the MOH over disability stuff, and trying to get their attention on the public health hazards of indiscriminate agrichemical use, there is no doubt in my mind that a large proportion of MOH bureaucrats are cognitively impaired to some degree.

            Or they are willfully and maliciously aiming for the worst possible health outcomes for most of us.

            Campbell has become quite the hero over the past few months. His pedantic attention to the minutiae of some of the papers he discusses has earned him some respect. Did you see that his opinions on aspiration of the IM injections got the fact check wand waved over it…by none other than our own H Petousis -Harris for one. Her evaluation piece did not place her in a good light at all. A miserableness of spirit.

      • swordfish 15.1.2
        2 November 2021 at 4:18 pm

        .

        The point I've repeatedly made is that there are probably a range of sensible low cost, low risk measures we could have should have done, like universal VitD supplementing, if we really cared about public health rather than defending our tribal political agendas.

        Yep … the uber-politicisation around Covid – most notably regarding anti-virals – has frequently bordered on the unhinged.

        • RedLogix 15.1.2.1
          2 November 2021 at 4:56 pm

          Yes this bad habit of starting with the political position and then selecting evidence to confirm it needs to be turned around – literally.

          I found Haidt's ideas on how we evolved to be political and moral creatures to be my turning point – understanding that there are good reasons why there are a range of differing political viewpoints. Basically we all share a number of common moral ideas, but differing personalities place differing weights on them, which means collectively we can access a wide range of responses when the ground shifts under us. It means as a species we can tolerate innovation and changes of environment better than any other. Good politics plays this game with a view to creating a unity of purpose – bad politics seeks to divide.

          In many ways you see this playing out in real-time here at TS.

          • Rosemary McDonald 15.1.2.1.1
            2 November 2021 at 5:06 pm

            …bad politics seeks to divide.

            I'll be honest…Ardern's efforts last week gave me the shits.

            Doom has overlaid the gloom.

  16. Adrian 16
    2 November 2021 at 2:57 pm

    In reply to various posters, if someone, unmasked of course, is yelling at you in close proximity about your fully vacced status, isn’t that a form of attack against your well being, and therefore a criminal offence, not unlike brandishing a deadly weapon? They would get more than a polite “ Fuck Off “ from me.

    • weka 16.1
      2 November 2021 at 3:02 pm

      has anyone said that that is ok?

    • McFlock 16.2
      2 November 2021 at 3:19 pm

      Assault includes the application of force or the threat of force.

      Giving more than a polite "Fuck off" gets tricky, though. You do have a right of self defense, but it needs to be reasonable as a response to the assault (threat: "I'm gonna hit you") and the likely assault the threat threatens (hitting you).

      It's not difficult as such, but the paperwork can be quite extensive. One would need to justify why one felt threatened, what one felt would be the repercussions should that continue, and why one's response was reasonable and proportional to that threat.

      It's not about making up excuses, more about being able to clearly describe why one felt in danger and therefore how one's response was the minimum required. And that escalation/de-escalation circumstance can change in a fraction of a second.

      • weka 16.2.1
        2 November 2021 at 4:12 pm

        Almost no one is in danger from another random person telling them their vaccine is going to kill then. Somewhat different where there is a power differential.

        Adrian made up the bit about not wearing masks. If the incident happened in an area with transmission and they were physically close then obviously that is a danger.

        Not hard to tell the difference between those two things

        • McFlock 16.2.1.1
          2 November 2021 at 4:21 pm

          Again, depends on their tone. Calmly saying it is weird and disconcerting, but not immediately threatening. Raised voice, large body language, and so on? All raise the likelihood that the next thing coming your way is a fist. So one can physically prevent that.

          If the incident happened anywhere in NZ, there's a danger. Who's to say the person coming into your store with wild theories didn't figure it would be fine for them to take the backroads out of Auckland?

          • weka 16.2.1.1.1
            2 November 2021 at 5:38 pm

            no idea what you are on about McFlock. It was simple story, I responded to it as it was presented. If people want to make up other stories to prove a point, have at it, but this is looking pretty silly.

            • McFlock 16.2.1.1.1.1
              2 November 2021 at 9:30 pm

              "Well heeled ladies of of a particular wellness persuasion traveling in a premium marque entered her shop and inquired about her vaccination status. When she enlightened them they took to her, telling her that not only was she a danger to them, because shedding, apparently, but that she was going to die along with every other vaccinated person."

              Hopeless obsessives going into people's workplaces to confront employees about crazy theories usually like to yell and make a big scene. Seen more than a couple of them in my time.

              If these particular folks were calm, had a relaxed and open body language, and used their indoor voices while claiming the person in the shop they chose to enter was presenting a real and serious threat to their own safety, not only is that somewhat incongruous, it still doesn't rule out the use of force unless they leave immediately upon being told to. S56, if I recall my security days correctly, of the act I linked to at 16.2. And it can be trivial to escalate that to self defense, if needs be.

              • weka …
                2 November 2021 at 9:45 pm

                are you saying that people in shop shouting about politics can be punched in self defense?

                • McFlock …
                  2 November 2021 at 10:32 pm

                  Depends how they're shouting, and how nutty their politics are.

                  Someone within a couple of feet, yelling about how I'm killing them? Big, aggressive posture for the camera, while store clerk keeps a relaxed and submissive posture?

                  Even if you, personally, think someone coming into a regular store and yelling about death is not an indicator of an irrational and possibly violent person, realistically most normal people would experience a stress reaction and become afraid of some manner of assault.

                  As long as other people are there, and/or security cameras are operating, if yelly mc'politics' makes any sudden gestures too close to anyone else, or suddenly turns towards or steps towards (ahem "advances upon", in the paperwork) anyone else, those other people can defend themselves as if from a physical assault and as long as they don't break yelly mcp too badly, the cops will just pick up yelly and take 'em away.

                  And they might even press charges against yelly for assault, disorderly, and a variety of other "you're a dickhead" offences.

                  • weka …
                    3 November 2021 at 11:22 am

                    not seeing a lot of shouty in this to warrant physical self defence strategies,

                    "Well heeled ladies of of a particular wellness persuasion traveling in a premium marque entered her shop and inquired about her vaccination status. When she enlightened them they took to her, telling her that not only was she a danger to them, because shedding, apparently, but that she was going to die along with every other vaccinated person."

                    • McFlock …
                      3 November 2021 at 4:47 pm

                      But then nor does "took to her" imply a calm, non-confrontational tone.

                      Adrian took it to mean "yelling". In that case there would be more than enough of a nucleus around which their desired outcome could condense, using a basic escalation model.

                      Whether that outcome involves the direct use of force at that time, or just enough conflict to make a reasonable police complaint for trespass or threatening behaviour, that's very much up to the person facing the stupid.

                    • weka …
                      3 November 2021 at 4:50 pm

                      Adrian made a bunch of shit up, like maskless.

                      I'm pretty sure that if the incident was as bad as you say, Joe would have conveyed that.

                      Don't even know what we're talking about now tbh, other than stretching the situation so far it doesn't make sense in an effort to beat back the nasty anti-vaxxers. Overegging things isn't going to help.

                    • McFlock …
                      3 November 2021 at 5:11 pm

                      Given this particular scenario was brought over from open mic rather than being one mentioned in the post, it's not unreasonable to consider different possible permutations of what transpired based upon the description.

                      If Adrian really wanted to give these two a shove out the door or a bit more, that would have been quite simple to engineer almost regardless of their volume or tone.

                      • The onus is on the trespasser to leave as quickly as reasonable, and 9 times out of 10 obssessives can't resist stopping for an extra word.
                      • We're not as bad as the US states that have the "hold your ground" license to kill laws, but nor are we expected to assume violence is unlikely until the punch is actually thrown.

                      Put those two together, there's a lot of freedom, as long as you can justify it with words. You can't hit someone just because you feel like it, but if a confrontation turns into a removal which turns into a self defense situation, well that's just unfortunate.

                    • weka …
                      3 November 2021 at 5:30 pm

                      right, you're coaching him on how to be physically violent, without getting an assault conviction, against two women who were stating politics you and Adrian disagree with but who probably weren't breaking the law.

                      Or, it's a hypothetical situation, nothing to do with what happened in the grocers, but the ideology is still clear enough.

                    • McFlock …
                      3 November 2021 at 8:58 pm

                      right, you're coaching him on how to be physically violent, without getting an assault conviction, against two women who were stating politics you and Adrian disagree with but who probably weren't breaking the law.

                      If they don't break the law, there's no need for force at all. Because they immediately leave. Those are the rules. I have nowhere told Adrian how to let the other fool escalate the situation to the point one can use force, nor any techniques to apply that can escalate defense of property to defense of self.

                      But your interpretation that people can come into a workplace and say whatever they want without any repercussions in response? If you're dealing with someone who knows the law and has worked a crowd for any length of time, that's complete bull.

                      As for "politics", active medical misinformation (even delivered with the sweetest manner) kills. Some "politics" shouldn't be treated as a mere difference of opinion. Some people should be thrown out the damned door when their "politics" endangers other people's lives.

    • Sabine 16.3
      2 November 2021 at 4:14 pm

      Dude in the current times it should be considered a form of assault by anyone – irrespective of being jabbed or not.

      Why?

      Because a jabbed person can transmit covid too. So if you are positive, meandering about in the public, unmasked, not keeping distance etc you can very well spread the stuff like butter on warm toast.

      Un-jabbed people are not more a danger to you personally then a jabbed one. They are however a danger to our underfunded, understaffed and under resourced health system. And that is why we are racing to get people jabbed, so that they don't fill our ICU beds of which we don't have enough, or enough fully trained and qualified staff to man these ICU beds.

  17. Alan 17
    2 November 2021 at 4:20 pm

    Bullshit Mickey, I know plenty of people that definitely do not fit into your so called 'privileged' category. Many of them are highly pissed off with the 'cannot be arsed' factions holding us back.

  18. Jimmy 18
    2 November 2021 at 4:33 pm

    There are many people in the less wealthy (poorest) suburbs of Auckland like Mangere, Manukau, Birkdale, Beachhaven, Stanmore Bay etc. that are also pissed off at the people who cant be bothered getting vaccinated.

  19. UncookedSelachimorpha 19
    2 November 2021 at 5:24 pm

    In my neck of the woods there is a small but very vocal anti-vax community (evangelical even). Unfortunately they are also anti-mask, and brag of having bogus mask exemptions. It is a bad combination, being unvaccinated makes mask wearing more important, of course.

    There is a lot of talk of the unvaccinated spreading disease. True to an extent, but to my mind the benefit of applying increased health measures to the unvaccinated (e.g. exclusion from crowded venues, indoor close contact situations) is more for their protection. Preventing the unvaccinated from catching covid is important for everyone – they are much more likely to develop serious disease, have a bad outcome and also clog up the health system.

  20. UncookedSelachimorpha 20
    2 November 2021 at 5:25 pm

    …Massive admiration for the sign holder in the Tamaki picture – couldn't agree more!!

Recent Comments

Recent Posts

  • “Financially reckless” Parker ignores election
    Environment Minister David Parker is pressing ahead with a report which will almost certainly advocate greater rights for Maori over water allocation. Parker has set up a working group to investigate allocation, and he has done so only 12 days before an election. And just over three weeks ago ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    2 hours ago

  • At a glance – Climate scientists would make more money in other careers
    On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
    Skeptical Science
    12 hours ago

  • Chris Trotter: Nostalgic for a joyous Left
    I WAS A CAPTAIN COOK MAN, Grant Robertson was a Robbie Burns man. If you know anything about the great student pubs of Dunedin in the 1970s, 80s and 90s, those allegiances should tell you a lot. While I was at varsity, the “Cook” had a reputation for entertaining more ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    13 hours ago

  • Spray, spray, spray. There we go. Problem solved.
    Good old WD40. Is there nothing it can't do?Door squeaking? No problem, WD-40.Chewing gum stuck to the carpet? No worries, WD-40. Crayon marks? Spanner rusted up? Zipper won't undo? WD-40. WD-40. WD-40. It can even waterproof your shoes, I hear.(More Than A Feilding makes no warranty as to the efficacy of WD40 ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    15 hours ago

  • Taxpayers might be piste off, as govt lending to ski field is lifted to $50m – but more corporate ...
    Buzz from the Beehive The distributions of two dollops of corporate welfare have been proudly announced in government press statements today, but neither mentions or relates to the further taxpayer funding for ski fields on the skids. The government’s official website tells of $7 million being provided to boost aerospace ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    16 hours ago

  • The police know they suck at the OIA
    In recent years I've done a long series of posts poking into police OIA data and how it hides how badly the police suck at carrying out their obligations under the Act. And in a response to a recent request, it seems the police have been doing the same. A ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    16 hours ago

  • Gordon Campbell on National’s disdain for the Press debate
    Christopher Luxon evidently thinks this election is SO in the bag that he can afford to spurn the still-undecideds, the entire South Island, and the old Christchurch money that still reads the Press and shops at Ballantynes. We should all shed a tear for the National Party candidates across the ...
    Gordon CampbellBy lyndon
    17 hours ago

  • ELIZABETH RATA: Two Treaties of Waitangi – the Articles Treaty and the Principles Treaty
    Elizabeth Rate writes – There are two versions of the Treaty of Waitangi.  The first is the 1840 Treaty – the ‘Articles Treaty’. The second is what I call the ‘Principles Treaty’. It dates from 1986 when the principles were first included in legislation. Astonishingly, the parliamentary ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    21 hours ago

  • Tuesday’s Chorus: When it's ok to borrow to invest
    Mayor Wayne Brown, a Northland land-banker himself, appears relaxed about borrowing to invest in land but not in, for example, transport infrastructure and services. File photo: Lynn Grieveson/Getty ImagesTL;DR: You couldn’t make this stuff up. A mayor determined to cut council debt by selling shares in a monopoly business because ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    21 hours ago

  • How well do our Rapid Transit Stations perform
    As we invest in our public transport network, it’s critical that we not only invest in transformative projects like the City Rail Link, but that we also get as much use as we can out of the network we already have – which will also maximise the outcomes of those ...
    Greater AucklandBy Matt L
    23 hours ago

  • Bryce Edwards: Ten reasons Labour’s support has halved
    The Labour Government was elected with 50 per cent of the vote three years ago, but current opinion polls show their vote could halve in this year’s election, which would be one of the biggest plunges in political history. Most polls have Labour on about 26 per cent. And the ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    24 hours ago

  • Elizabeth Rata: Two Treaties of Waitangi: The Articles Treaty and the Principles Treaty
    Commentary There are two versions of the Treaty of Waitangi.  The first is the 1840 Treaty – the ‘Articles Treaty’. The second is what I call the ‘Principles Treaty’. It dates from 1986 when the principles were first included in legislation. Astonishingly the parliamentary representatives who inserted the word ‘principles’ ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    24 hours ago

  • Climate Emergency!
    It’s hard not to become a bit blasé towards climate change headlines. Flooding kills hundreds - blah. Catastrophic droughts - blah blah. One-in-a-hundred year events happening every year - blah blah blah.The earth had its highest temperature on record - again. Think we’ve read that one.So many articles telling us ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 day ago

  • The Kākā Project: The economics of sufficiency
    The Kākā’s climate correspondent and had a chat with environmental historian and author Catherine Knight about why ‘feel good' actions like recycling and owning an electric car are unlikely to be enough to create a transition to zero emissions, let alone a just one. Knight says comments like ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago

  • Chippy misses a chance
    National leader Christopher Luxon has pulled out of any rescheduling of tonight’s Press debate, which has had to be cancelled because Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has Covid. The cancellation has given National an excuse to avoid a debate, which was always going to be a risk for Luxon. But ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    1 day ago

  • The Angry Majority.
    The People's Champion vs The People's Prosecutor: It is the news media’s job to elicit information from politicians – not to prosecute them. Peters’ promise to sort out TVNZ should be believed. If he finds himself in a position to carry out his threat, then it will only be because ...
    Bowalley Road
    2 days ago

  • Verrall is chuffed by govt’s latest push into pay equity while Woods enthuses about an $11m spend ...
    Buzz from the Beehive The headline on a ministerial press statement curiously expresses the government’s position when it declares:   Government shows further commitment to pay equity for healthcare workers. Is it not enough to declare just one commitment? Or is the government’s commitment to pay equity being declared sector by ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    2 days ago

  • A very worthy coalition partner for Seymour and Luxon
    There have been 53 New Zealand Parliaments so far. The 39th of them was elected in 1978. It was a parliament of 92 MPs, most of them men. The New Zealand Music Awards that year named John Rowles Male Vocalist of the Year and — after a short twelve months ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago

  • Labour still protecting the status quo
    Aotearoa has a cost of living crisis. And one of the major drivers of this crisis is the supermarket duopoly, who gouge every dollar they can out of us. Last year, the Commerce Commission found that the duopoly was in fact anti-competititve, giving the government social licence to fix the ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    2 days ago

  • Gordon Campbell on National’s myths about the desolated state of the economy
    Familiarity breeds consent. If you repeat the line “six years of economic mis-management” about 10,000 times, it sounds like the received wisdom, whatever the evidence to the contrary. Yes, the global pandemic and the global surge in inflation that came in its wake occurred here as well – but if ...
    Gordon CampbellBy lyndon
    2 days ago

  • MICHAEL BASSETT: Hapless Hipkins and his racism
    Michael Bassett writes – Without so much as batting an eyelid, Chris Hipkins told an audience on Saturday that there had been “more racism” in this election campaign than ever before. And he blamed it on the opposition parties, National, Act and New Zealand First. In those ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago

  • BRIAN EASTON: The ‘recession’ has been called off, but some households are still struggling
    While the economy is not doing too badly in output terms, external circumstances are not favourable, and there is probably a sizeable group of households struggling because of rising interest rates. Brian Easton writes – Last week’s announcement of a 0.9 percent increase in volume GDP for ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago

  • Monday’s Chorus: Richie Poulton's lament
    “You can't really undo what happens during childhood”, said the director of the Dunedin longitudinal study. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Richie Poulton, the director of the world-leading Dunedin longitudinal study showing how devastating poverty in early life is, died yesterday. With his final words, he lamented the lack ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago

  • North-western downgrades
    This is a guest post from reader Peter N As many of us know, Auckland Transport and Waka Kotahi are well into progressing works on the northwestern interim “busway” with services to kick off in just over a month from now on Sunday 12th November 2023. Some of the ...
    Greater AucklandBy Guest Post
    2 days ago

  • Has Webworm Found New Zealand’s Weirdest School?
    Hi,Before we talk about weird schools people choose to send their kids to, a few things on my mind. I adored the Ask Me Anything we did last week. Thanks for taking part. I love answering your weird and nosy questions, even questions about beans.I am excited and scared as Mister ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    2 days ago

  • Another mother of a budget
    A National government would make spending cuts on a scale not seen since the 1990 – 96 Bolger government.That much was confirmed with the release of their Fiscal Plan on Friday.Government spending is currently high as a percentage of GDP — as high as it was during the Muldoon ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    2 days ago

  • A crucial week starts as early voting opens in the NZ Elections … it’s been a ride so far. Are y...
    Chris Hipkins down with Covid, at least for 5 days isolation, National continue to obfuscate, ACT continues to double-down on the poor and Winston… well, he’s being Winston really. Voters beware: this week could be even more infuriating than the last. No Party is what they used to be ...
    exhALANtBy exhalantblog
    2 days ago

  • 2023 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #39
    A chronological listing of news and opinion articles posted on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Sep 24, 2023 thru Sat, Sep 30, 2023. Story of the Week We’re not doomed yet’: climate scientist Michael Mann on our last chance to save human civilisation The renowned US ...
    Skeptical Science
    3 days ago

  • Clusterf**ck of Chaos.
    On the 11th of April 1945 advancing US forces liberated the Nazi concentration camp of Buchenwald near Weimar in Germany. In the coming days, under the order of General Patton, a thousand nearby residents were forced to march to the camp to see the atrocities that had been committed in ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    3 days ago

  • The party of business deals with the future by pretending it isn’t coming
    Years and years ago, when Helen Clark was Prime Minister and John Key was gunning for her job, I had a conversation with a mate, a trader who knew John Key well enough to paint a helpful picture.It was many drinks ago so it’s not a complete one. But there’s ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago

  • 2023 More Reading: September (+ Old Phuul update)
    Completed reads for September: The Lost Continent, by C.J. Cutcliffe Hyne Flatland, by Edwin Abbott All Quiet on the Western Front, by Erich Maria Remarque The Country of the Blind, by H.G. Wells The Day of the Triffids, by John Wyndham A Tale of Two Cities, by Charles ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    4 days ago

  • Losing The Left.
    Descending Into The Dark: The ideological cadres currently controlling both Labour and the Greens are forcing “justice”, “participation” and “democracy” to make way for what is “appropriate” and “responsible”. But, where does that leave the people who, for most of their adult lives, have voted for left-wing parties, precisely to ...
    Bowalley Road
    4 days ago

  • The New “Emperor’s New Clothes”.
    “‘BUT HE HASN’T GOT ANYTHING ON,’ a little boy said ….. ‘But he hasn’t got anything on!’ the whole town cried out at last.”On this optimistic note, Hans Christian Andersen brings his cautionary tale of “The Emperor’s New Clothes” to an end.Andersen’s children’s story was written nearly two centuries ago, ...
    Bowalley Road
    4 days ago

  • BRYCE EDWARDS: The vested interests shaping National Party policies
      Bryce Edwards writes – As the National Party gets closer to government, lobbyists and business interests will be lining up for influence and to get policies adopted. It’s therefore in the public interest to have much more scrutiny and transparency about potential conflicts of interests that ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago

  • LINDSAY MITCHELL: A conundrum for those pushing racist dogma
    Lindsay Mitchell writes – The heavily promoted narrative, which has ramped up over the last six years, is that Maori somehow have special vulnerabilities which arise from outside forces they cannot control; that contemporary society fails to meet their needs. They are not receptive to messages and ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago

  • CHRIS TROTTER:  The greater of two evils
    Not Labour: If you’re out to punish the government you once loved, then the last thing you need is to be shown evidence that the opposition parties are much, much worse.   Chris Trotter writes – THE GREATEST VIRTUE of being the Opposition is not being the Government. Only very ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago

  • The Hoon around the week to Sept 30
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:Labour presented a climate manifesto that aimed to claim the high ground on climate action vs National, ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago

  • Litanies, articles of faith, and being a beneficiary
    Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on the past two weeks.Friday 29Play it, ElvisElection Hell special!! This week’s quiz is a bumper edition featuring a few of the more popular questions from last weekend’s show, as well as a few we didn’t ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    4 days ago

  • Litanies, articles of faith, and being a beneficiary
    Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on the past two weeks.Friday 29Play it, ElvisElection Hell special!! This week’s quiz is a bumper edition featuring a few of the more popular questions from last weekend’s show, as well as a few we didn’t ...
    More than a fieldingBy David Slack
    4 days ago

  • The ‘Recession’ Has Been Called Off, But Some Households Are Still Struggling
    While the economy is not doing too badly in output terms, external circumstances are not favourable, and there is probably a sizeable group of households struggling because of rising interest rates.Last week’s announcement of a 0.9 percent increase in volume GDP for the June quarter had the commentariat backing down ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    5 days ago

  • Climate Change: The wrong direction
    This week the International Energy Association released its Net Zero Roadmap, intended to guide us towards a liveable climate. The report demanded huge increases in renewable generation, no new gas or oil, and massive cuts to methane emissions. It was positive about our current path, but recommended that countries with ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago

  • “Racism” becomes a buzz word on the campaign trail – but our media watchdogs stay muzzled when...
    Buzz from the Beehive  Oh, dear.  We have nothing to report from the Beehive. At least, we have nothing to report from the government’s official website. But the drones have not gone silent.  They are out on the election campaign trail, busy buzzing about this and that in the hope ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago

  • Play it, Elvis
    Election Hell special!! This week’s quiz is a bumper edition featuring a few of the more popular questions from last weekend’s show, as well as a few we didn’t have time for. You’re welcome, etc. Let us press on, etc. 1.  What did Christopher Luxon use to his advantage in ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    5 days ago

  • Pure class warfare
    National unveiled its fiscal policy today, announcing all the usual things which business cares about and I don't. But it did finally tell us how National plans to pay for its handouts to landlords: by effectively cutting benefits: The biggest saving announced on Friday was $2b cut from the ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago

  • Ask Me Anything about the week to Sept 29
    Photo by Anna Ogiienko on UnsplashIt’s that time of the week for an ‘Ask Me Anything’ session for paying subscribers about the week that was for an hour, including:duelling fiscal plans from National and Labour;Labour cutting cycling spending while accusing National of being weak on climate;Research showing the need for ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago

  • Weekly Roundup 29-September-2023
    Welcome to Friday and the last one for September. This week in Greater Auckland On Monday, Matt highlighted at the latest with the City Rail Link. On Tuesday, Matt covered the interesting items from Auckland Transport’s latest board meeting agendas. On Thursday, a guest post from Darren Davis ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    5 days ago

  • Protest at Parliament: The Reunion.
    Brian’s god spoke to him. He, for of course the Lord in Tamaki’s mind was a male god, with a mighty rod, and probably some black leathers. He, told Brian - “you must put a stop to all this love, hope, and kindness”. And it did please the Brian.He said ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago

  • Labour cuts $50m from cycleway spending
    Labour is cutting spending on cycling infrastructure while still trying to claim the higher ground on climate. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Labour Government released a climate manifesto this week to try to claim the high ground against National, despite having ignored the Climate Commission’s advice to toughen ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago

  • The Greater Of Two Evils.
    Not Labour: If you’re out to punish the government you once loved, then the last thing you need is to be shown evidence that the opposition parties are much, much worse.THE GREATEST VIRTUE of being the Opposition is not being the Government. Only very rarely is an opposition party elected ...
    Bowalley Road
    5 days ago

  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #39 2023
    Open access notables "Net zero is only a distraction— we just have to end fossil fuel emissions." The latter is true but the former isn't, or  not in the real world as it's likely to be in the immediate future. And "just" just doesn't enter into it; we don't have ...
    Skeptical Science
    5 days ago

  • Chris Trotter: Losing the Left
    IN THE CURRENT MIX of electoral alternatives, there is no longer a credible left-wing party. Not when “a credible left-wing party” is defined as: a class-oriented, mass-based, democratically-structured political organisation; dedicated to promoting ideas sharply critical of laissez-faire capitalism; and committed to advancing democratic, egalitarian and emancipatory ideals across the ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    6 days ago

  • Road rage at Kia Kaha Primary School
    It is not the school holidays yet at Kia Kaha Primary School!It can be any time when you are telling a story.Telling stories about things that happened in the past is how we learn from our mistakes.If we want to.Anyway, it is not the school holidays yet at Kia Kaha ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago

  • Road rage at Kia Kaha Primary School
    It is not the school holidays yet at Kia Kaha Primary School!It can be any time when you are telling a story.Telling stories about things that happened in the past is how we learn from our mistakes.If we want to.Anyway, it is not the school holidays yet at Kia Kaha ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago

  • Road rage at Kia Kaha Primary School
    It is not the school holidays yet at Kia Kaha Primary School!It can be any time when you are telling a story.Telling stories about things that happened in the past is how we learn from our mistakes.If we want to.Anyway, it is not the school holidays yet at Kia Kaha ...
    More than a fieldingBy David Slack
    6 days ago

  • Hipkins fires up in leaders’ debate, but has the curtain already fallen on the Labour-led coalitio...
    Labour’s  Chris Hipkins came out firing, in the  leaders’ debate  on Newshub’s evening programme, and most of  the pundits  rated  him the winner against National’s  Christopher Luxon. But will this make any difference when New  Zealanders  start casting their ballots? The problem  for  Hipkins is  that  voters are  all too ...
    Point of OrderBy tutere44
    6 days ago

  • Govt is energising housing projects with solar power – and fuelling the public’s concept of a di...
    Buzz from the Beehive  Not long after Point of Order published data which show the substantial number of New Zealanders (77%) who believe NZ is becoming more divided, government ministers were braying about a programme which distributes some money to “the public” and some to “Maori”. The ministers were dishing ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago

  • MIKE GRIMSHAW: Election 2023 – a totemic & charisma failure?
    The D&W analysis Michael Grimshaw writes –  Given the apathy, disengagement, disillusionment, and all-round ennui of this year’s general election, it was considered time to bring in those noted political operatives and spin doctors D&W, the long-established consultancy firm run by Emile Durkheim and Max Weber. Known for ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago

  • FROM BFD: Will Winston be the spectre we think?
    Kissy kissy. Cartoon credit BoomSlang. The BFD. JC writes-  Allow me to preface this contribution with the following statement: If I were asked to express a preference between a National/ACT coalition or a National/ACT/NZF coalition then it would be the former. This week Luxon declared his position, ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago

  • California’s climate disclosure bill could have a huge impact across the U.S.
    This re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Andy Furillo was originally published by Capital & Main and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. The California Legislature took a step last week that has the potential to accelerate the fight against climate ...
    Skeptical Science
    6 days ago

  • Untangling South East Queensland’s Public Transport
    This is a cross post Adventures in Transitland by Darren Davis. I recently visited Brisbane and South East Queensland and came away both impressed while also pondering some key changes to make public transport even better in the region. Here goes with my take on things. A bit of ...
    Greater AucklandBy Guest Post
    6 days ago

  • Try A Little Kindness.
    My daughter arrived home from the supermarket yesterday and she seemed a bit worried about something. It turned out she wanted to know if someone could get her bank number from a receipt.We wound the story back.She was in the store and there was a man there who was distressed, ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    6 days ago

  • What makes NZFirst tick
    New Zealand’s longest-running political roadshow rolled into Opotiki yesterday, with New Zealand First leader Winston Peters knowing another poll last night showed he would make it back to Parliament and National would need him and his party if they wanted to form a government. The Newshub Reid Research poll ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    6 days ago

  • September AMA
    Hi,As September draws to a close — I feel it’s probably time to do an Ask Me Anything. You know how it goes: If you have any burning questions, fire away in the comments and I will do my best to answer. You might have questions about Webworm, or podcast ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    6 days ago

  • Bludgers lying in the scratcher making fools of us all
    The mediocrity who stands to be a Prime Minister has a litany.He uses it a bit like a Koru Lounge card. He will brandish it to say: these people are eligible. And more than that, too: These people are deserving. They have earned this policy.They have a right to this policy. What ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    7 days ago

  • More “partnerships” (by the look of it) and redress of over $30 million in Treaty settlement wit...
    Buzz from the Beehive Point of Order has waited until now – 3.45pm – for today’s officially posted government announcements.  There have been none. The only addition to the news on the Beehive’s website was posted later yesterday, after we had published our September 26 Buzz report. It came from ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    7 days ago

  • ALEX HOLLAND: Labour’s spending
    Alex Holland writes –  In 2017 when Labour came to power, crown spending was $76 billion per year. Now in 2023 it is $139 billion per year, which equates to a $63 billion annual increase (over $1 billion extra spend every week!) In 2017, New Zealand’s government debt ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    7 days ago

  • If not now, then when?
    Labour released its fiscal plan today, promising the same old, same old: "responsibility", balanced books, and of course no new taxes: "Labour will maintain income tax settings to provide consistency and certainty in these volatile times. Now is not the time for additional taxes or to promise billions of ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    7 days ago

  • THE FACTS:  77% of Kiwis believe NZ is becoming more divided
    The Facts has posted –        KEY INSIGHTSOf New Zealander’s polled: Social unity/division 77%believe NZ is becoming more divided (42% ‘much more’ + 35% ‘a little more’) 3%believe NZ is becoming less divided (1% ‘much less’ + 2% ‘a little less’) ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    7 days ago

  • Gordon Campbell on the cynical brutality of the centre-right’s welfare policies
    The centre-right’s enthusiasm for forcing people off the benefit and into paid work is matched only by the enthusiasm (shared by Treasury and the Reserve Bank) for throwing people out of paid work to curb inflation, and achieve the optimal balance of workers to job seekers deemed to be desirable ...
    Gordon CampbellBy lyndon
    7 days ago

  • Wednesday’s Chorus: Arthur Grimes on why building many, many more social houses is so critical
    New research shows that tenants in social housing - such as these Wellington apartments - are just as happy as home owners and much happier than private tenants. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The election campaign took an ugly turn yesterday, and in completely the wrong direction. All three ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    7 days ago

  • Bennie Bashing.
    If there’s one thing the mob loves more than keeping Māori in their place, more than getting tough on the gangs, maybe even more than tax cuts. It’s a good old round of beneficiary bashing.Are those meanies in the ACT party stealing your votes because they think David Seymour is ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    7 days ago

  • The kindest cuts
    Labour kicks off the fiscal credibility battle today with the release of its fiscal plan. National is expected to follow, possibly as soon as Thursday, with its own plan, which may (or may not) address the large hole that the problems with its foreign buyers’ ban might open up. ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    1 week ago

  • Green right turn in Britain? Well, a start
    While it may be unlikely to register in New Zealand’s general election, Britain’s PM Rishi Sunak has done something which might just be important in the long run. He’s announced a far-reaching change in his Conservative government’s approach to environmental, and particularly net zero, policy. The starting point – ...
    Point of OrderBy xtrdnry
    1 week ago

  • At a glance – How do human CO2 emissions compare to natural CO2 emissions?
    On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
    Skeptical Science
    1 week ago

  • How could this happen?
    Canada is in uproar after the exposure that its parliament on September 22 provided a standing ovation to a Nazi veteran who had been invited into the chamber to participate in the parliamentary welcome to Ukrainian President Zelensky. Yaroslav Hunka, 98, a Ukrainian man who volunteered for service in ...
    Open ParachuteBy Ken
    1 week ago

  • Youth justice programme expands to break cycle of offending
    The successful ‘Circuit Breaker’ fast track programme designed to stop repeat youth offending was launched in two new locations today by Children’s Minister Kelvin Davis. The programme, first piloted in West and South Auckland in December last year, is aimed at children aged 10-13 who commit serious offending or continue ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    17 hours ago

  • Major milestone with 20,000 employers using Apprenticeship Boost
    The Government’s Apprenticeship Boost initiative has now supported 20,000 employers to help keep on and train up apprentices, Minister for Social Development and Employment Carmel Sepuloni announced in Christchurch today. Almost 62,000 apprentices have been supported to start and keep training for a trade since the initiative was introduced in ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    19 hours ago

  • Government supporting wood processing jobs and more diverse industry
    The Government is supporting non-pine tree sawmilling and backing further job creation in sawmills in Rotorua and Whangarei, Forestry Minister Peeni Henare said.   “The Forestry and Wood Processing Industry Transformation Plan identified the need to add more diversity to our productions forests, wood products and markets,” Peeni Henare said. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    20 hours ago

  • Government backing Canterbury’s future in aerospace industry
    The Government is helping Canterbury’s aerospace industry take off with further infrastructure support for the Tāwhaki Aerospace Centre at Kaitorete, Infrastructure Minister Dr Megan Woods has announced. “Today I can confirm we will provide a $5.4 million grant to the Tāwhaki Joint Venture to fund a sealed runway and hangar ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    20 hours ago

  • Updated forestry regulations increase council controls and require large slash removal
    Local councils will have more power to decide where new commercial forests – including carbon forests – are located, to reduce impacts on communities and the environment, Environment Minister David Parker said today. “New national standards give councils greater control over commercial forestry, including clear rules on harvesting practices and ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    22 hours ago

  • New Zealand resumes peacekeeping force leadership
    New Zealand will again contribute to the leadership of the Multinational Force and Observers (MFO) in the Sinai Peninsula, Egypt, with a senior New Zealand Defence Force officer returning as Interim Force Commander. Defence Minister Andrew Little and Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta have announced the deployment of New Zealand ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • New national direction provides clarity for development and the environment
    The Government has taken an important step in implementing the new resource management system, by issuing a draft National Planning Framework (NPF) document under the new legislation, Environment Minister David Parker said today. “The NPF consolidates existing national direction, bringing together around 20 existing instruments including policy statements, standards, and ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Government shows further commitment to pay equity for healthcare workers
    The Government welcomes the proposed pay equity settlement that will see significant pay increases for around 18,000 Te Whatu Ora Allied, Scientific, and Technical employees, if accepted said Health Minister Ayesha Verrall. The proposal reached between Te Whatu Ora, the New Zealand Public Service Association Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • 100 new public EV chargers to be added to national network
    The public EV charging network has received a significant boost with government co-funding announced today for over 100 EV chargers – with over 200 charging ports altogether – across New Zealand, and many planned to be up and running on key holiday routes by Christmas this year. Minister of Energy ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • Safeguarding Tuvalu language and identity
    Tuvalu is in the spotlight this week as communities across New Zealand celebrate Vaiaso o te Gagana Tuvalu – Tuvalu Language Week. “The Government has a proven record of supporting Pacific communities and ensuring more of our languages are spoken, heard and celebrated,” Pacific Peoples Minister Barbara Edmonds said. “Many ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • New community-level energy projects to support more than 800 Māori households
    Seven more innovative community-scale energy projects will receive government funding through the Māori and Public Housing Renewable Energy Fund to bring more affordable, locally generated clean energy to more than 800 Māori households, Energy and Resources Minister Dr Megan Woods says. “We’ve already funded 42 small-scale clean energy projects that ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago

  • Huge boost to Te Tai Tokerau flood resilience
    The Government has approved new funding that will boost resilience and greatly reduce the risk of major flood damage across Te Tai Tokerau. Significant weather events this year caused severe flooding and damage across the region. The $8.9m will be used to provide some of the smaller communities and maraes ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago

  • Napier’s largest public housing development comes with solar
    The largest public housing development in Napier for many years has been recently completed and has the added benefit of innovative solar technology, thanks to Government programmes, says Housing Minister Dr Megan Woods. The 24 warm, dry homes are in Seddon Crescent, Marewa and Megan Woods says the whanau living ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago

  • Te Whānau a Apanui and the Crown initial Deed of Settlement I Kua waitohua e Te Whānau a Apanui me...
    Māori: Kua waitohua e Te Whānau a Apanui me te Karauna te Whakaaetanga Whakataunga Kua waitohua e Te Whānau a Apanui me te Karauna i tētahi Whakaaetanga Whakataunga hei whakamihi i ō rātou tāhuhu kerēme Tiriti o Waitangi. E tekau mā rua ngā hapū o roto mai o Te Whānau ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Plan for 3,000 more public homes by 2025 – regions set to benefit
    Regions around the country will get significant boosts of public housing in the next two years, as outlined in the latest public housing plan update, released by the Housing Minister, Dr Megan Woods. “We’re delivering the most public homes each year since the Nash government of the 1950s with one ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Immigration settings updates
    Judicial warrant process for out-of-hours compliance visits 2023/24 Recognised Seasonal Employer cap increased by 500 Additional roles for Construction and Infrastructure Sector Agreement More roles added to Green List Three-month extension for onshore Recovery Visa holders The Government has confirmed a number of updates to immigration settings as part of ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago

  • Poroporoaki: Tā Patrick (Patu) Wahanga Hohepa
    Tangi ngunguru ana ngā tai ki te wahapū o Hokianga Whakapau Karakia. Tārehu ana ngā pae maunga ki Te Puna o te Ao Marama. Korihi tangi ana ngā manu, kua hinga he kauri nui ki te Wao Nui o Tāne. He Toa. He Pou. He Ahorangi. E papaki tū ana ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago

  • Renewable energy fund to support community resilience
    40 solar energy systems on community buildings in regions affected by Cyclone Gabrielle and other severe weather events Virtual capability-building hub to support community organisations get projects off the ground Boost for community-level renewable energy projects across the country At least 40 community buildings used to support the emergency response ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago

  • COVID-19 funding returned to Government
    The lifting of COVID-19 isolation and mask mandates in August has resulted in a return of almost $50m in savings and recovered contingencies, Minister of Health Dr Ayesha Verrall announced today. Following the revocation of mandates and isolation, specialised COVID-19 telehealth and alternative isolation accommodation are among the operational elements ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago

  • Appointment of District Court Judge
    Susie Houghton of Auckland has been appointed as a new District Court Judge, to serve on the Family Court, Attorney-General David Parker said today.  Judge Houghton has acted as a lawyer for child for more than 20 years. She has acted on matters relating to the Hague Convention, an international ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago

  • Government invests further in Central Hawke’s Bay resilience
    The Government has today confirmed $2.5 million to fund a replace and upgrade a stopbank to protect the Waipawa Drinking Water Treatment Plant. “As a result of Cyclone Gabrielle, the original stopbank protecting the Waipawa Drinking Water Treatment Plant was destroyed. The plant was operational within 6 weeks of the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago

  • Govt boost for Hawke’s Bay cyclone waste clean-up
    Another $2.1 million to boost capacity to deal with waste left in Cyclone Gabrielle’s wake. Funds for Hastings District Council, Phoenix Contracting and Hog Fuel NZ to increase local waste-processing infrastructure. The Government is beefing up Hawke’s Bay’s Cyclone Gabrielle clean-up capacity with more support dealing with the massive amount ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago

  • Taupō Supercars revs up with Government support
    The future of Supercars events in New Zealand has been secured with new Government support. The Government is getting engines started through the Major Events Fund, a special fund to support high profile events in New Zealand that provide long-term economic, social and cultural benefits. “The Repco Supercars Championship is ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago

  • There is no recession in NZ, economy grows nearly 1 percent in June quarter
    The economy has turned a corner with confirmation today New Zealand never was in recession and stronger than expected growth in the June quarter, Finance Minister Grant Robertson said. “The New Zealand economy is doing better than expected,” Grant Robertson said. “It’s continuing to grow, with the latest figures showing ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago

  • Highest legal protection for New Zealand’s largest freshwater springs
    The Government has accepted the Environment Court’s recommendation to give special legal protection to New Zealand’s largest freshwater springs, Te Waikoropupū Springs (also known as Pupū Springs), Environment Minister David Parker announced today.   “Te Waikoropupū Springs, near Takaka in Golden Bay, have the second clearest water in New Zealand after ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago

  • More support for victims of migrant exploitation
    Temporary package of funding for accommodation and essential living support for victims of migrant exploitation Exploited migrant workers able to apply for a further Migrant Exploitation Protection Visa (MEPV), giving people more time to find a job Free job search assistance to get people back into work Use of 90-day ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago

  • Strong export boost as NZ economy turns corner
    An export boost is supporting New Zealand’s economy to grow, adding to signs that the economy has turned a corner and is on a stronger footing as we rebuild from Cyclone Gabrielle and lock in the benefits of multiple new trade deals, Finance Minister Grant Robertson says. “The economy is ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago

  • Funding approved for flood resilience work in Te Karaka
    The Government has approved $15 million to raise about 200 homes at risk of future flooding. More than half of this is expected to be spent in the Tairāwhiti settlement of Te Karaka, lifting about 100 homes there. “Te Karaka was badly hit during Cyclone Gabrielle when the Waipāoa River ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago

  • Further business support for cyclone-affected regions
    The Government is helping businesses recover from Cyclone Gabrielle and attract more people back into their regions. “Cyclone Gabrielle has caused considerable damage across North Island regions with impacts continuing to be felt by businesses and communities,” Economic Development Minister Barbara Edmonds said. “Building on our earlier business support, this ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago

  • New maintenance facility at Burnham Military Camp underway
    Defence Minister Andrew Little has turned the first sod to start construction of a new Maintenance Support Facility (MSF) at Burnham Military Camp today. “This new state-of-art facility replaces Second World War-era buildings and will enable our Defence Force to better maintain and repair equipment,” Andrew Little said. “This Government ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago

  • Foreign Minister to attend United Nations General Assembly
    Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta will represent New Zealand at the 78th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York this week, before visiting Washington DC for further Pacific focussed meetings. Nanaia Mahuta will be in New York from Wednesday 20 September, and will participate in UNGA leaders ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago

  • Midwives’ pay equity offer reached
    Around 1,700 Te Whatu Ora employed midwives and maternity care assistants will soon vote on a proposed pay equity settlement agreed by Te Whatu Ora, the Midwifery Employee Representation and Advisory Service (MERAS) and New Zealand Nurses Association (NZNO), Minister of Health Dr Ayesha Verrall announced today. “Addressing historical pay ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 weeks ago

  • New Zealand provides support to Morocco
    Aotearoa New Zealand will provide humanitarian support to those affected by last week’s earthquake in Morocco, Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta announced today. “We are making a contribution of $1 million to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) to help meet humanitarian needs,” Nanaia Mahuta said. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 weeks ago

  • Government invests in West Coast’s roading resilience
    The Government is investing over $22 million across 18 projects to improve the resilience of roads in the West Coast that have been affected by recent extreme weather, Prime Minister Chris Hipkins confirmed today.  A dedicated Transport Resilience Fund has been established for early preventative works to protect the state ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 weeks ago

Page generated in The Standard by Wordpress at 2023-10-03T18:19:11+00:00