Labour / NZ First Government

[justakiwi]

If that poll was taken again now, I suspect the result would be the same. I completed an online survey on the subject just this week, so no doubt the results of that will be out soon.

Try harder, westerly - article dated 12 April, over 2 weeks ago.

[jonu]

You are away with the fairies. In a situation like this, or any other emergency/crisis situation, of course the government must tell us “what to do.” Did you complain when you were told not to go into the city after the Christchurch earthquakes? Did you complain when you were told to stay away from the mosque after the terror attack? Would you complain if you heard a tsunami siren telling you to stay away from the coast? For Pete’s sake - the government has a role to play in any crisis situation and you and I, as citizens do as we are told.

It is as if you you have set yourself an “every minute of every day” mission to somehow convince NZ that Jacinda is the Devil. You have blinders on buddy.

The examples you give present clear and immediate visible threats. This virus is very unclear. Certainly a threat, but what action is needed and to what degree do we clamp the economy to deal with it? This is very unclear. The downside (health and economic) is yet to be felt, but will be for likely minimum 10 years. The threat to our civil liberties is extreme with no guarantee we will return to the previous status quo.

[justakiwi]

The fact that literally nothing is clear about this virus yet, is all the more reason for the government to take an extreme stance. We are slowly building a picture of this virus, but the reality is, it will be months, if not years, before we know exactly how it operates and how/if, it can be successfully treated or vaccinated against. It is a pandemic. That’s a fact. How can you possibly expect any government to automatically know how to deal with it? Our government has taken their responsibility seriously. They have made a decision to err on the side of caution and it has paid off. The cynics amongst you of course, will claim that we would have ended up where we are now without such stringent measures. But that is BS. None of you know that. Nobody does. You can compare us with other countries as much as you like to back your argument, but there are way too many variables for that argument to hold any water. Climate/weather, pollution, population density, standard of living, food/nutrition/diet, water quality, health/exercise and all other aspects of life in any particular country, may all influence the way this virus behaves or effects the population. Nobody has a rule book. Nobody has a crystal ball. Not you, not me, not even the medical researchers/scientists. At some point down the track, they might. But until then, I for one am very satisfied with the way our government has managed this, for us. There is literally no place I would rather be living right now. And no, there are no guarantees that life will ever return to normal. There are no guarantees in life. There never have been and there never will be. It will be what it will be.

The examples you give present clear and immediate visible threats. This virus is very unclear. Certainly a threat, but what action is needed and to what degree do we clamp the economy to deal with it? This is very unclear. The downside (health and economic) is yet to be felt, but will be for likely minimum 10 years. The threat to our civil liberties is extreme with no guarantee we will return to the previous status quo.

[jonu]

The fact that literally nothing is clear about this virus yet, is all the more reason for the government to take an extreme stance. We are slowly building a picture of this virus, but the reality is, it will be months, if not years, before we know exactly how it operates and how/if, it can be successfully treated or vaccinated against. It is a pandemic. That’s a fact. How can you possibly expect any government to automatically know how to deal with it? Our government has taken their responsibility seriously. They have made a decision to err on the side of caution and it has paid off. The cynics amongst you of course, will claim that we would have ended up where we are now without such stringent measures. But that is BS. None of you know that. Nobody does. You can compare us with other countries as much as you like to back your argument, but there are way too many variables for that argument to hold any water. Climate/weather, pollution, population density, standard of living, food/nutrition/diet, water quality, health/exercise and all other aspects of life in any particular country, may all influence the way this virus behaves or effects the population. Nobody has a rule book. Nobody has a crystal ball. Not you, not me, not even the medical researchers/scientists. At some point down the track, they might. But until then, I for one am very satisfied with the way our government has managed this, for us. There is literally no place I would rather be living right now. And no, there are no guarantees that life will ever return to normal. There are no guarantees in life. There never have been and there never will be. It will be what it will be.

It will be what Cindy decrees it to be.

That is where we differ.

[justakiwi]

Jacinda does not govern alone.

It will be what Cindy decrees it to be.

That is where we differ.

[jonu]

Jacinda does not govern alone.

True.

It will be what Cindy and Grant decree it to be.

[Joshuatree]

The fact that literally nothing is clear about this virus yet, is all the more reason for the government to take an extreme stance. We are slowly building a picture of this virus, but the reality is, it will be months, if not years, before we know exactly how it operates and how/if, it can be successfully treated or vaccinated against. It is a pandemic. That’s a fact.

How can you possibly expect any government to automatically know how to deal with it? Our government has taken their responsibility seriously. They have made a decision to err on the side of caution and it has paid off. The cynics amongst you of course, will claim that we would have ended up where we are now without such stringent measures. But that is BS. None of you know that. Nobody does. You can compare us with other countries as much as you like to back your argument, but there are way too many variables for that argument to hold any water. Climate/weather, pollution, population density, standard of living, food/nutrition/diet, water quality, health/exercise and all other aspects of life in any particular country, may all influence the way this virus behaves or effects the population.

Nobody has a rule book. Nobody has a crystal ball. Not you, not me, not even the medical researchers/scientists. At some point down the track, they might. But until then, I for one am very satisfied with the way our government has managed this, for us. There is literally no place I would rather be living right now. And no, there are no guarantees that life will ever return to normal. There are no guarantees in life. There never have been and there never will be. It will be what it will be.

Hear hear, we are in a lucky place with a safe pair of hands with a great team of advisors around her. Prob i have is with the dimwits who place an unhealthy fatty fast meal above their country and the people around them. Queueing close together (see bulls post) is the way to undo all the good that has been done.Looks like they will have to close these fast-food outlets again.

[blackcap]

Our government has taken their responsibility seriously. They have made a decision to err on the side of caution and it has paid off. .

]

That is where we disagree. I do not think they have erred on the side of caution at all. By going for such a hard lock down they have caused thousands of kiwi's to lose their jobs, people missing surgeries, people becoming poorer with adverse health outcomes, quite possible a lower life expectancy to come with lower quality of life. People in despair, people missing out on contacts that are so important for mental health as well as other health. This government have gone for the high risk approach to eliminate or eradicate, or whatever the flavor of the day seems to be, a virus that quite likely will be with us regardless.

[fungus pudding]

The fact that literally nothing is clear about this virus yet, is all the more reason for the government to take an extreme stance. We are slowly building a picture of this virus, but the reality is, it will be months, if not years, before we know exactly how it operates and how/if, it can be successfully treated or vaccinated against. It is a pandemic. That’s a fact. How can you possibly expect any government to automatically know how to deal with it? Our government has taken their responsibility seriously. They have made a decision to err on the side of caution and it has paid off.

You weren't doing too bad until you claimed the decision they made has paid off. We don't know that, and won't till the next decade or two has passed by and we can analyse suicide stats. heart attack, strokes, domestic violence killings and all that happy stuff. We might find that instead of a pay-off, there has been a cost. So far Sweden has 233 deaths per million as opposed to our 4, but their braniacs seem to think their approach will win long term.

[Balance]

You weren't doing too bad until you claimed the decision they made has paid off. We don't know that, and won't till the next decade or two has passed by and we can analyse suicide stats. heart attack, strokes, domestic violence killings and all that happy stuff. We might find that instead of a pay-off, there has been a cost. So far Sweden has 233 deaths per million as opposed to our 4, but their braniacs seem to think their approach will win long term.

Precisely the point - this government is shamelessly using the virus crisis to score political advantage rather than transparently keeping NZers up to date with the full picture.

For a government which has no hesitation spending taxpayers' funds to commission all manner of studies and scenarios, where is the study to assess how many suicides, premature deaths, sickness and health problems are going to occur because of this 'strictest' lockdown in the world?

We know simplistically that :

Unemployment -> Depression -> Health & Social Problems -> Deaths

What's the trade-off?