As far as I am aware not one of the above named suggested that when the borders are opened they will have to remain that way forever more, with no possibility of closing them again one day if circumstances change.
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Not at all, I agree there has been a huge shortcomings & failure to use the time we had to prepare, as per Sir Brian Roches damming report.
Some discussion this at least partly down to systemic issues with the MoH, i.e. very conservative and bureaucratic (i.e. slow to respond/not agile enough ) & a stand alone Covid Agency needed, though Hipkins has so far resisted this.
It's interesting the govt set up this Covid Advisory under Sir Brian Roche to critique & suggest improvements to its covid strategy, and is now acting on some of those recommendations.
Probably didn't expect quite such a brutal assessment !
However, on another issue, Seymour & National continually get it wrong, which barely gets a mention, probably because they've been wrong so often, no one takes them seriously anyway.
If we'd implemented half of what they've suggested, we'd be completely screwed to put it bluntly.
I don't think it's been a very clever strategy to keep NZ closed for all this time, destroying whole industries like tourism & hospitality. We can not keep an economy or Government's books going by endlessly just printing money. Government has handed out over $6 BILLION dollars to businesses due to lockdowns and no end in sight.
I spoke to a friend in Europe last week who is in the tourism industry and relies on international tourism. His country has never closed their borders, only some restrictions but fully open for fully vaxed since May. His summer season which is now finished, had 70% of the 2019 traffic/revenue which was general through the industry. Constant dribble of COVID infections but no big hospitalisation numbers nor deaths. Contrary to what we're constantly being told in NZ, not everyone in Europe is sick or dying.
Good point - and this is something we should never forget. It is just not enough to trash the government as long as there is no better alternative available.
I am sure it could have been done much better, but the mixture of Game of Throne players and clowns on the opposition banks didn't so far convey confidence that they have got what it needs to do it better.
But who knows - maybe Shane Reti will tomorrow take the leads, teach them to do the haka and turn them from a bunch of navel gazing and often clueless lone fighters into a clued up high performance team?
Go Shane ... we need a better opposition! New Zealand needs you!