Labour / NZ First Government

[artemis]

Well National have you fooled but not the rest of the public.
Any fool could see how and why he was trying to seed rumors and create a story.
Dirty politics is just their way.

It is the nature of the beltway that information races through like lightning. Some of it is true, some is not, some is somewhere in between. But we the taxpayers should not have to wait weeks for Official Information requests to be answered, to only then find out that sometimes we have been deliberately misled. That may be dirty politics but just who is playing it.

We have seen some of it recently, and it certainly raises the question of what else? For senior politicians to ask questions or raise issues, surely that is a good thing. It is not helpful to call it dirty politics, scaremongering, politicising. It is helpful for those in charge to answer honestly if they know, or agree to check and report back if they don't know.

[Sir Ten]

We need a change of tact in our response to Covid:
- We are obliged to allow NZ citizens to return home
- Some returning kiwis will inevitably bring Covid across the border
- Regardless of the systems put in place (or the change in the responsible politicians), the virus will make its way into our society
- Bouncing in and out of lock down is unsustainable and ultimately futile
- The government needs to recognise the futility of eradication and refocus on managing Covid's presence in NZ and the likely long lead time on the development and dissemination of a vaccine (particularly for NZ)
- The refocused approach needs to better balance the health and economic impacts (too heavily weighted to the health impact at the moment)... where is the analysis evaluating the likely number of deaths based on what we now know about the virus? At what point does the cost of supporting eradication (through the likes of wage subsidies etc.) outweigh the likely loss of life (and when I say "loss of life", I don't mean the aggregate number of people dying, I mean a life expectancy adjusted figure - the value of a a 20 year old life is significantly higher than that of an 80 year old)
- The government should open up the domestic economy and focus on establishing the infrastructure to protect the vulnerable (it's easier to fund the cost of protecting the vulnerable if you actually have people/businesses employed and paying taxes)

It's naive to believe that politics doesn't play a part in this crisis. I think the election will have to be pushed out for practical purposes - i.e. people just won't be allowed to congregate to vote, but I actually think it's better for the country that we get it done and over with. We need a government with a new 3-year mandate (whatever the colour). Only then will a "change of tact" have any chance of occurring - prior to that, Labour won't risk a change in messaging and will continue to pursue the health-focused approach which has seen their support grow even further.

Personally, I would hold Jacinda up as a noble and noteworthy leader if she was able to disentangle herself from the politics and admit that eradication isn't practical. But I suspect there's a better chance of tax cuts...

[Bjauck]

More praise for Jacinda from overseas academics.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/a...ectid=12356461
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern's communication style during New Zealand's lockdown has been praised by academics who have studied her messaging to Kiwis throughout the pandemic.
The research study, co-authored by academics from four universities in Scotland, found informal videos from Ardern's home helped the country unite in the fight against Covid-19.
The study found she conveyed her messaging in a "clear and relatable way", helping create the "team of five million" come together.
The pandemic had severely tested the leadership and communication abilities of political leaders globally and required them to demonstrate not only effective planning but an ability to communicate clear and consistent messages in an empathetic manner as well.

I think the political reality is that as the daily fresh community case numbers keep rolling in, more votes will drift away from Labour. Maybe they will indeed need Winston again to have a chance of forming the next government.

[macduffy]

Personally, I would hold Jacinda up as a noble and noteworthy leader if she was able to disentangle herself from the politics and admit that eradication isn't practical. But I suspect there's a better chance of tax cuts...

The govt has, rightly, received much acclaim for its handling of the situation until recently. Now, they must also accept blame for deficiencies in border controls, particularly in the failure to adequately test the personnel involved.

[Balance]

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/hea...report-of-case

Now we have the government spreading false rumours!

‘Let’s Keep Spreading!’

[Sir Ten]

The govt has, rightly, received much acclaim for its handling of the situation until recently. Now, they must also accept blame for deficiencies in border controls, particularly in the failure to adequately test the personnel involved.

I don't disagree, but we are where we are. Blame lies where it lies. Politicians don't easily accept said blame.

I don't mean that flippantly, rather I just find the blame game fatiguing and ultimately wasted energy... Best to have them putting energy into coming up with a strategy that (a) prevents such deficiencies occurring again and (b) provides the country and businesses (the economic engine) with a plan that is supported by objective analysis that reduces the overhang of uncertainty.

[macduffy]

I don't disagree, but we are where we are. Blame lies where it lies. Politicians don't easily accept said blame.

I don't mean that flippantly, rather I just find the blame game fatiguing and ultimately wasted energy... Best to have them putting energy into coming up with a strategy that (a) prevents such deficiencies occurring again and (b) provides the country and businesses (the economic engine) with a plan that is supported by objective analysis that reduces the overhang of uncertainty.

"We are where we are" is a self-evident fact! There's no getting away from another fact, however, that the handling of the pandemic has political overtones. After all, it was the PM herself who declared this to be a "Covid 19 election"!

[artemis]

I don't disagree, but we are where we are. Blame lies where it lies. Politicians don't easily accept said blame.

I don't mean that flippantly, rather I just find the blame game fatiguing and ultimately wasted energy... Best to have them putting energy into coming up with a strategy that (a) prevents such deficiencies occurring again and (b) provides the country and businesses (the economic engine) with a plan that is supported by objective analysis that reduces the overhang of uncertainty.

Blaming is easily fixed. The person blamed just needs to stand up and say either - Yes I got it wrong, or No I got it right because.....

Like the AA - My name is xxxx and I am an alcoholic. Just like that - acknowledgement, no spin and no deflection. Open and transparent. (That sounds familiar.)

[Balance]

More praise for Jacinda from overseas academics.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/a...ectid=12356461
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern's communication style during New Zealand's lockdown has been praised by academics who have studied her messaging to Kiwis throughout the pandemic.
The research study, co-authored by academics from four universities in Scotland, found informal videos from Ardern's home helped the country unite in the fight against Covid-19.
The study found she conveyed her messaging in a "clear and relatable way", helping create the "team of five million" come together.
The pandemic had severely tested the leadership and communication abilities of political leaders globally and required them to demonstrate not only effective planning but an ability to communicate clear and consistent messages in an empathetic manner as well.

Well, what will the overseas academics think when they read this :

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So we now know that 63.5% of border frontline staff have NOT been tested as of Wednesday, 12th August 2020.

7 weeks (yes, 7 weeks) after this government made this announcement about the testing of front line staff :

Government announcement :

23 JUNE 2020

New COVID-19 testing strategy to keep New Zealand safe

https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/...w-zealand-safe

Regular health check and asymptomatic testing of all border facing workers

“Under our enhanced strategy, priority for testing will be given to those who are most likely to have been exposed to COVID-19 which is our border and airline staff and those arriving back in New Zealand.

These workers include:

Border workers in customs, biosecurity, immigration and aviation security at airports, and the people who clean at international airports or maritime ports in areas/conveniences visited by international arrivals

Staff who work in managed isolation and quarantine facilities, including those who drive people entering the country from the airport to the facilities

International air and maritime crew.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

All words and no action - that's Jacinda Adern, our hijab wearing PM with the gift of the gab to hoodwink many of those in the team of 5 million.

Well, those who consider themselves to be in the team of 5 million - come and kiss my arse if you are so desperate to believe an incompetent government who is actively putting NZers at risk by promising plenty but falling well short of delivering.

[Balance]

They were being tested on a regular schedule, which you would know if you'd watched the lunchtime press conference. Don't let facts get in the way of a rant eh? https://youtu.be/TccbsJD9k3A?t=1777

Wonder how Vagabond47 is feeling, swallowing whole the garbage fed to him.