Hobson’s Pledge Trust hobsonspledge.nz The four commissioners who replaced Tauranga city councillors yesterday imposed a Maori ward there, ignoring the pleas of 6000 residents who petitioned for a vote. The move was set up to look like a democratic process, with the four commissioners voting after three submissions
Maori Party referred to Police over donations Henry Cooke (Stuff): Maori Party referred to police over $328,000 in undeclared donations Rachel Sadler (Newshub): Maori Party undeclared donations: Electoral Commission notified as soon as error was noticed – party president Che Wilson David Farrar: Who are the mystery Maori Party funders?
Hobson’s Pledge Trust Since February 1, when referenda on Maori wards were outlawed by the Labour Government, 19 councils have outed themselves as soft touches by considering or resolving to establish segregated voting via Maori wards or constituencies for next year’s local body elections. They are the Hamilton,
Covid: India travel ban Sandeep Singh (RNZ): Indian travel ban leaves Kiwis stateless Audrey Young (Herald): Was Jacinda Ardern’s decision on India racist? (paywalled) 1News: Temporary India travel ban is not racist, Jacinda Ardern tells Q+A Stuff: Editorial – An inconvenient truth: Undermining rights key to securing our freedoms
This week, Jacinda Ardern finally fronted up and announced the trans-Tasman safe travel bubble will open from 19 April 2021. This isn’t a case of job done, however. This should be the first step in the Government laying out its roadmap for how it plans to safely reconnect New
Hon Judith Collins judithcollins.national.org.nz It is great to know that many people in Australia and New Zealand are going to be free of the travel restrictions of the past year by mid-April. I know that many of you supported my petition to the government to have the
Covid: India travel ban Luke Malpass (Stuff): Is the the ‘temporary’ India travel ban proportional or a massive overreaction? Keith Lynch (Stuff): What the numbers say about the India travel ban 1News: Michael Baker says halting arrivals from India ‘absolutely right thing to do’ 1News: Temporarily halting travellers from India
Vaccinations and leaked figures Jason Walls (Herald): ‘Leaked’ document shows NZ vaccine rollout is ‘miles’ behind schedule, says National Party Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): Government has vaccinated a third of its original target – leaked report Rachel Sadler (Newshub): How New Zealand’s vaccine programme will ramp up, why targets aren’t
Travel bubble announced with Australia Luke Malpass (Stuff): Trans-Tasman bubble brings palpable relief to Parliament Audrey Young (Herald): Jacinda Ardern manages expectations over transtasman bubble (paywalled) Herald: Editorial: Bubble a significant and welcome step Jo Moir (Newshub): The public handbrake on an Aussie bubble Hannah Martin (Stuff): Public health experts
Free Press ACT Party There’s something blowing in the wind, and it’s not friendly to the Government. Two weeks ago they were in trouble over Australian travel. There’s just no way to explain why quarantine-free travel has been one-way for so long. Why are we so far
Mental health crisis Kyle MacDonald (Herald): Jacinda Ardern has failed us on mental health – and it’s only going to get worse (paywalled) Henry Cooke (Stuff): ‘A lot of data and negative statistics’: Inside the battle behind dramatic edits and huge delays to a Government mental health report Tess McClure
Don Cockrill Maritime Pilotage Consultant. Speculation as to the cause of the now infamous Suez Canal grounding of Ever Given is inappropriate and unproductive. However, amongst all the media hype and sometimes less than well-informed comment there is a lack of background fact. It is worth putting the scale of
Vaccination System Has a Bug, Government Refuses Target In the last week we’ve seen some troubling news around the vaccination rollout, with a data privacy breach within the booking system being used for household contacts to book their COVID-19 vaccination. People accessing the system were able to pull the
Tracy Livingston outdoorsparty.co.nz 31 March 2021 URGENT- OPEN LETTER Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern Ministers of COVID-19 cc Attorney-General David Parker Director-General of Health Solicitor-General Una Jagose Chris James – Group Manager Medsafe Health and Disability Commissioner Dear Prime Minister, Attorney-General, Director-General of Health and Chris Hipkins Re Pfizer Vaccine
Housing crisis John Bishop (Stuff): Are speculators really the problem? Isn’t it the lack of houses? Daniel Dunkley (Stuff): Here’s why rental controls aren’t the answer Hannah Kronast (Newshub): Government could implement rental hike caps if necessary but it’s unlikely to be anytime soon – expert Brian
Bob McCoskrie National Director Family First The Labour Government has confirmed that it is going to prioritise a law change which will deem birth certificates meaningless and which will continue its pushing of confusing gender ideology. The bill provides for each parent who is notifying the birth of a child
