It's a shame. Megan Woods shown to be almost as slippery as her boss.
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https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/pol...f-human-rights
Coronavirus: National Party local official urges party to oppose lockdowns as 'breach of human rights'
Allan Chesswas, chair of the Stratford branch, wrote to Collins, party president Peter Goodfellow, and several other MPs late on Thursday night asking the party oppose Covid-19 lockdown and stop buying into what he called the “overblown drama” surrounding the virus.
“I do not and cannot consent to this ongoing breach of the basic human rights and civil liberties of everyday Kiwis,” he wrote.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/a...ectid=12356495
Crisis tests oppositions as well as governments.
It started out well with New Zealand's Epidemic Response Committee, a cross-party vehicle of agonistic democracy, where the opposition could openly hold the government to account, even under a state of emergency.
But the subsequent leaking of sensitive information for political gain by National Party members betrayed a lack of loyalty to government institutions, and to New Zealanders who entrust them with private information.
Now, the opposition is insinuating that the government publicly withheld information about the present outbreak.
Given how swiftly this coronavirus spreads, and how much the government has to lose from its spreading, it isn't politically rational for the government to cover it up. It is a cynical suggestion – and the opposition risks that many voters will see it as such.
This is a dangerous game. The opposition is undermining trust at a time when trust is incredibly important. New Zealand's strong levels of social and institutional trust are a key factor in our relatively successful pandemic response.
Its degradation diminishes the country's capacity to fend off Covid-19.
And it feeds into the paranoia that crises conjure up.
The opposition's appeals to paranoia only add more fuel to the online inferno.
He's a person speaking his mind. A rare thing in the PC woke world in which Labour and the Greens exist.
moka, be so kind as to explain the exit strategy from NZ's level one and associated closed borders. I'd really love to know so that I can explain to my grandchildren why it is they are still paying of the debt in thirty years time. I don't recall Labour telling us when they committed to spending 150+ billion dollars.
From what I can tell it must be based on the gamble of a vaccine becoming available to the public within the next 12 months (backdated to April). How's that working out?
At what point do we abandon the closed borders and write of 150+ billion to experience?
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/...ectid=12356709
Paywalled
Cindy - Shameless Mistress of Spin