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Covid-19

Daniel Andrews: Jacinda Ardern’s Twin in Failure

Daniel Andrews: Jacinda Ardern’s Twin in Failure

Daniel Andrews is just under a decade older than Jacinda Ardern, but the two have much else in common. Both are Arts-degree socialists from religious families who’ve never in their adult lives held a job outside politics. More recently, both oversaw draconian responses to the Wuhan pandemic – and both

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Quarantine Chaos Is Costing Us

Quarantine Chaos Is Costing Us

New Zealand’s borders remain closed to the world, with returning residents forced into managed isolation facilities. The government’s 26 temporary quarantine facilities – which are essentially commandeered hotels – have the capacity to accommodate 6,849 people. They are almost full. Several residents are reported to have behaved badly. Some

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Pandemic Stocktake

Pandemic Stocktake

Dr Muriel Newman nzcpr.com At Labour’s annual conference last weekend, COVID-19 dominated Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s speech: “Our strong health response now gives us an economic head start, the ability to move from responding to Covid-19, to recovering and rebuilding… So today my ask of you is

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Face of the Day

Face of the Day

Coronavirus: Man accused of fleeing isolation facility now in prison The man accused of cutting his way out of a Hamilton isolation facility and visiting a liquor shop has been sent to Spring Hill prison. Martin James McVicar, 52, appeared before community magistrate Robyn Paterson in Hamilton District Court on

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Lockdown Aftermath

Lockdown Aftermath

My main takeaways regarding New Zealand and its culture during and post lockdown are as follows: The PM has exuded comfort and kindness. But her coalition has also pushed through very controversial legislation under “urgency” during the crisis. Votes for prisoners and a rise in the minimum wage are examples

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Daily News Roundup – 10 July 2020

Daily News Roundup – 10 July 2020

Tiwai Point to close Hamish Rutherford (Herald): Government subsidising practically everything plays hardball with Rio Tinto (paywalled) Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): Sudden closure of aluminium smelter worst outcome for jobs, consumers and the environment Brian Fallow (Herald): Tiwai closure sad news – and an opportunity for the environment (paywalled) Heather du Plessis-Allan

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NZ Govt Confirms It Won’t Test for Virus Prevalence

NZ Govt Confirms It Won’t Test for Virus Prevalence

Press Release covidplanb.co.nz The Government has formally confirmed that it will not use any of the current or future serology tests to assess how widespread the Covid19 disease has been in New Zealand. In answer to an Official Information Request by the Covid Plan B group, the Director

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Daily News Roundup – 9 July 2020

Daily News Roundup – 9 July 2020

National Party Covid-19 patient privacy leak Claire Trevett (Herald): The harm for Todd Muller in Hamish Walker’s Icarus moment (paywalled) Cat MacLennan (RNZ): National’s attacks not what we need right now Richard Harman (Politik): How Walker was persuaded to resign Pattrick Smellie (BusinessDesk): Does Hamish Walker understand what’

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Daniel Andrews Goes All Xi Way

Daniel Andrews Goes All Xi Way

The Andrews government has gone the full Wuhan in its response to the sudden surge in COVID-19 cases in that state – and once more demonstrated that the most authoritarian states are almost always the worst-performing. From the beginning, Andrews has slavishly followed Beijing’s lead: cover-up, clamp down and stuff

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Daily News Roundup – 8 July 2020

Daily News Roundup – 8 July 2020

National Party revealed as source of Covid-19 privacy leak Audrey Young (Herald): National’s failures on patient leak from top to bottom (paywalled) Luke Malpass (Stuff): National leader Todd Muller found wanting in first real test of moral leadership Jo Moir (RNZ): How the Hamish Walker Covid-19 patient detail leak

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Letter from the North: July 7

Letter from the North: July 7

More details are emerging of the problems with Leicester. In attempts to escape the lockdown, creative pleasure seekers have been caught trying to book coaches to take them to nearby Nottingham to coincide with the re-opening of public houses. The police got wind of this and put a stop to

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“Instead We Can Dismiss”

“Instead We Can Dismiss”

Chris Penk The BFD has serialised National MP Chris Penk’s book Flattening the Country by publishing an extract every day. Today is the final extract. “Instead we can dismiss” Let us finish as we began, observing that it was only supposed to be the curve that got flattened, not

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To Be, or Not to Be…

To Be, or Not to Be…

A family member came home shocked, as he was shouted at by a woman when out in the community. He was shouted at for not being in the right place. A friend was challenged and harangued as she walked her dog on a leash across a park. The challengers believed

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Using Fear to Indoctrinate

Using Fear to Indoctrinate

I recently read a good column in the UK Daily Express by Frederick Forsyth, a no-nonsense octogenarian, who was pointing out that brainwashed Britain must stop living in fear. Frederick is of the stoic species of humanity and doesn’t suffer fools gladly. In his opinion piece he bemoans in

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