Blind ‘Trust’ in returning kiwis carrying the virus, caused the problem. Now Ardern struggles to trust her team of five million to move to level 2. “It required a high level of trust” was how, back in March, Bloomfield (and the PM) explained why thousands of returning Kiwis were allowed
Cautious, self-confessed ‘perfectionist’ Ardern was never going to allow Winston’s Aussie ski bunnies to frolic on our slopes this winter. (But the publicity of attending Morrison’s cabinet meeting by Skype was useful for her global brand building. Never mind that he almost forgot to cover it in his
“I used some pretty bad words” is the sort of language I might have heard in my primary teaching days from a guilty child caught out for swearing. This is Labour’s Deborah Russell’s juvenile explanation during an interview on Newstalk ZB, discussing her thoughtless question on the ERC
The four alert levels were introduced by the government to deal with the impending coronavirus crisis, which at the time worked. They are not a ‘thing’, just an invention which has outgrown its usefulness. Ardern’s daily media stand-ups, or to quote Andrea Vance’s ‘How Jacinda Ardern is using
The government’s tone-deafness to total border quarantine until yesterday will contribute massively to the approaching economic devastation. Jacinda has managed the public relations side of the crisis magnificently. However, as Sean Plunket also said yesterday on his Working Group, Dr Ashley Bloomfield and other officials made the key decisions
“Oops I did it again”, reads David Farrar’s headline on his Kiwiblog, referring to our naughty Health Minister David Clark’s other (concealed) breaches of the isolation rules, as daily laid down by his PM. I laughed out loud at the accuracy of Farrar’s reference. Lucky Clark has
The new Epidemic Response Committee chaired by the Opposition leader, Simon Bridges, got off to a good start this week with senior officials, ministers and experts being questioned over pandemic response decisions. Unlike Parliamentary Question Time, where with the input of self-styled court jester, Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters and
Editors note: Due to technical issues yesterday that prevented our articles from being viewed by most of our audience I have made the decision to republish them today. Despite new data in the US showing half of the people with the virus have no symptoms, the government still stubbornly refuses
Despite new data in the US showing half of the people with the virus have no symptoms, the government still stubbornly refuses to quarantine all Kiwis returning home. Back on February 18th Michael Woodhouse, shadow health spokesperson, was saying “The government needs to make sure adequate quarantine facilities are available
Requests by National party members of the Epidemic Response Committee and esteemed epidemiologist Sir David Skegg to fully quarantine all people coming into our country were met with a lukewarm response by top government officials being questioned on Tuesday. The rationale behind the question was if the country is suffering
In A Newspaper, Matthew Hooton informs us that Jacinda will get us through. Chris Trotter gets poetic with his ‘the incredible lightness of being Jacinda’, appearing to have taken leave of his senses. And then Paul Little’s warm and fuzzy ‘I’m glad Jacinda’s got our backs for
I applaud the Prime Minister and her government for her actions in recognizing the seriousness of the coronavirus and now moving rapidly to alert level 4 – shutting down the country this Wednesday. Phew, not before time. However, being of the left persuasion she must find it painful to have to
What do you know? Pollution levels are down, the sky can be seen over China and the canals in Venice are cleaner than ever in living memory. And what brought this about? The coronavirus pandemic. A real emergency, where thousands have already lost their lives, forced us to change our
Machiavelli would be proud of our PM, adopting his mantra: the end justifies the means. Facing election year with virtually no achievements to shout about, she predictably produces her incredibly cute toddler. Neve is possibly her most successful achievement in a term of failed ideas and policies and millions of
Wendy Geus Ardern’s rhetoric does not match her actions. Inserting herself into a private land dispute whilst calling for unity at Waitangi is farcical. Her actions are causing division, but her naivety propels her to ignore that, and her every comment further muddies the waters. Her politics are not
Wendy Simon Bridges ruling out NZ First as a prospective coalition partner has come with mixed public reaction, but approval from many National supporters. Even some non-supporters have voiced their approval of Bridges’ nailing his colours to the mast and ‘get(ting) some guts’ to quote former PM Sir John
