A Stunt Scene from Mission Impossible*
In NZ politics, the perception of fairness matters more than actual fairness.
Social issues
What Now Phil Goff?
The Chief Executive of Watercare Raveen Jaduram has resigned. With Auckland Council’s recent Council Controlled Organisation review having been concluded and the recommendations released is this the opportunity to require meaningful change of Watercare?
Why we need to get on with the election
A coalition of losers has appeared demanding that the election is be delayed. Update: Ardern has announced a short deferral of election day to October 17.
Covid-19 vs 1918 influenza
Reading a number of articles in the NZ Herald in recent days calling for change in how we handle outbreaks of covid-19 in NZ. The implied precept is the damage covid-19 poses to the population of NZ over time is less than the immediate economic damage. That covid-19 is like the flu and results in herd immunity. However it is far worse than the influenza pandemic of 1918, much longer lasting and we probably won’t reach herd immunity naturally for generations.
test post
https://twitter.com/TheAlanRichards/status/1304896549399547912
The top seven things Covid has changed
Covid has fundamentally changed society for the better in surprising ways.
Joe Biden’s Four Surprising Vectors for Success
He’s old, boring, uninspiring, and offends no-one: surely he’ll fail miserably as President? But he has a stronger chance than any Democrat President since LBJ of getting very strong domestic reforms done.
TheY aRe onlY aSKing qUestiOns
Yesterday National suggested a wide based and interesting conspiracy theory involving the Government and the Ministry of Health and all of the Health Boards suppressing news of community spread of Covid 19 for political advantage while at the same time complaining that the Government should be consulting with them on decisions.
Will National politicise the new Covid outbreak? *
*Rhetorical question. Of course they will.
Well that is a bit shit. Auckland level 3. Rest of NZ level 2
Four cases of community transmission from the same family – presumably without an obvious cause. Lock down for 3 days in the Auckland super city area at level 3 starting noon Wednesday. Level 2 for everywhere else outside of Auckland. Allows time for contact tracing and a later decision once facts are known. Good response.
Why you should vote Labour this election
Four very good reasons why you should vote Labour in this election.
Vote No to Cannabis Reform
Ten reasons to vote against cannabis law reform this election.
Jacinda Ardern’s Labour Government: Style over substance or a guiding light for progressive politics?
Critics have dismissed the Jacinda Ardern government as being one of style over substance. This is unfair given the challenges this government has faced and the policy achievements it has had. However, it is a government that has much work to do if it wins a second term. And its over-reliance on Jacinda as party leader is a huge strategic risk, especially when the governments front bench is perceived, rightly or wrongly, to be lightweight.
IT doESN’t aDD up
For a few days now Gerry Brownlee has been peddling this dog whistle conspiracy campaign that the Government is hiding bad news about Covid and we should all be really concerned.
Covid recovery and bouncing forward
Central to the Transition movement from the outset has been the idea of resilience. Usually framed as the ability to ‘bounce back’, it is seen in the Transition movement as being better imagined as the capacity to ‘bounce forward’, i.e. to use it as the opportunity to move forward to something better. How then to ‘bounce forward’ from COVID-19 in such a way that we also move to a way of doing things consistent with the scale of the climate crisis?
NZ First is in trouble in Northland
More bad news for NZ First. It looks like their hope that Northland could provide a get out of jail free card is misplaced.
Jacinda’s speech to the Labour campaign launch
Jacinda Ardern’s speech to the Labour 2020 campaign launch.
The return of John Key
In a sign of desperation National has trotted out John Key to campaign that the country’s success in containing Covid should be put to risk because of a misguided perception that it would be good for the economy.
The Covid election
I normally do not do this, tempting fate and all that. But the forces behind this election are so strong that it would take a really dramatic event to change current momentum.
National’s policy platform
For a party that promised to be a policy factory National’s policy offerings are severely deficient.
Go Well Ruth Dyson
Ruth Dyson has given a very funny very incisive valedictory speech in Parliament and will bow out of politics at this election. She deserves our thanks.
National seats at risk in Auckland
National has a crop of new candidates in Auckland all wanting to be in Parliament. But judging by what has happened so far you have to wonder if there are further allegations that may emerge which may ankle tap carefully stage managed campaigns.
National’s week from hell
A review of National’s week which is as bad as any week I can remember.
Mea culpa
Back in 2017 I was upset, we had a leadership vote only in caucus – just before the election. I didn’t realise at the time that Andrew Little was actually stepping down in favour of Jacinda Ardern. She’d had the potential, but I hadn’t realised that Little thought she was up for the task. I’m delighted with the result. Thank you Andrew.
Expand Five Eyes
With the growing assertions by the Chinese government across the eastern Pacific including in Hong Kong and our own repudiation of an extradition treaty, there are now calls to expand the Five Eyes intelligence network to include Japan.
The Heron Report
The Heron Report has been released and reinforces the public perception that this was a cynical misuse of confidential information by National for political purposes and a clusterfuck of epic proportions.
Quarantine costs – critics fruitlessly whine
I’m reasonably happy with where the coalition wound up on the quarantine cost recovery. It sends a clear economic signal to businesses and the fools who want to travel during a global pandemic. It will discourage some of the stupidity of the travel addicted. It also balances the legal position. Something that most of the critics clearly aren’t thinking through and cause them to whine without realistic alternatives
Hong Kong principles
According to our Prime Minister, today’s announcement that New Zealand is suspending extradition arrangements with Hong Kong is because of our principles. But it is not immediately clear what these principles are, other than falling into line with our Five Eyes spying partners. Some history is important.
How do you tell when Judith is saying something that is not true?
Judith Collins has backed away from telling a mistruth about escape statistics during her time as Minister of Corrections by claiming that her eyebrow was raised and this is evidence that what she was saying was a joke.
Pandemic: a flourishing enterprise. Business needs to get real.
A few weeks ago we were at 14 million cumulative confirmed cases of Covid-19 worldwide. A million more cases in just 4 days. Now a few weeks later, we are at 16 million confirmed cases worldwide. The lobbyists and business groups affected by our blocked borders need to get real. We won’t be opening our borders until we get a widely used vaccine later next year (at the earliest). It is too expensive to do so.
Latest Newshub Reid Research poll – yet another rogue poll
Tova O’Brien said that it would be a bombshell result and it was.
Happy 40th birthday Jacinda!
The woman who has led us through a terrorist attack, a significant natural disaster and who has safely guided us through an international Pandemic and who has led with aroha and compassion is turning 40 today.
The Greens are thinking ahead
The Greens have released a detailed policy document that sets out what they want to achieve if they are part of the next Government and their Labour Relations policies could be considered to be more pro union than Labour’s policies.
Folly of the year
What is the strangest recent proposal for development in New Zealand?
Association of Conspiracy Theorists
Act is proposing to introduce measures that will limit the amount of money people on benefits can spend on alcohol and tobacco. But not guns.
COVID-19: A human adapted virus
It has been obvious about COVID-19 that it is very well adapted to humans. It has evolved a good entry system to the humans, often has mild symptoms, long pre-symptomatic infectious period, and doesn’t kill many of its hosts. What has been less obvious is where it came from. It looks more like South East Asia rather than China.