Editorial Note: At the time of writing and when this post was scheduled the service had not been cancelled. It is possible that by the time this publishes things may have changed.
The Black Caps are playing their One Day series against Australia behind closed doors. The series will go ahead, but because of Covid-19, no one will be allowed to go to the games.
But the memorial service for the March 15 mosque murders will go ahead.
The Pasifika Festival this weekend has been cancelled, because now that Covid-19 has been declared a pandemic, one of the first things we do is to halt all public events.
But the memorial service for the March 15 Mosque murders will go ahead.
The Australian Grand Prix and the Supercars race has been cancelled, or at least postponed, due to concerns about the risk to the public attending a crowded event.
But the memorial service for the March 15 mosque murders will go ahead… in an indoor venue.
The My Chemical Romance concert on 25 March at Western Springs has been cancelled.
But the memorial service for the March 15 mosque murders will go ahead… in an indoor venue.
In the US, Disneyland is closed. Major league baseball games have been cancelled. Basketball games have been cancelled. The PGA Tour has cancelled the Players Championship, and the Masters is likely to be cancelled too.
But the memorial service for the March 15 mosque murders will go ahead… in an indoor venue. Even though the Muslim community has already said that this is not the way they do things and that they do not want to hold the service, it is going ahead anyway.
What does this say about our lightweight prime minister?
It says that she puts her own election campaign ahead of the health and safety of New Zealanders. It says that she doesn’t care one little bit about anything, except her public and international image. She will look serious, frown, hug people and generally play to the cameras for the world to see.
It would have been bad enough if the event was going ahead in an outdoor venue, where at least it might be possible to stay 1 metre away from everyone, as health professionals recommend. In an indoor venue, it will be almost impossible to do that. When you consider how many outdoor events have been cancelled, both here and around the world, going ahead with this event is complete madness. It is selfish and dangerous.
But that’s our prime minister for you. Your health is not as important as her image on the international stage. After all, that cushy job at the UN is not quite in the bag yet.
I encourage all of you to avoid as many public events as possible. It is better to be safe than sorry, and it won’t be for long. Most of these events will be rescheduled. Your health, however, may be at risk if you do not.
You may think I am overreacting. If countries like Italy, Denmark and the USA are cutting themselves off from the rest of the world, then clearly this is serious. The problem is not that this is merely a form of flu. The problem is that there is no immunity to it. The other problem is that it is enormously contagious.
So, please don’t go to the memorial service for the mosque shootings. Your health is far more important than Jacinda’s vanity, and so it should be. It should be to Jacinda too, but we all know the truth. Nothing is more important to her than a photo opportunity.
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