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April 1, 2020 8:00am by Kokila Patel

General Debate 01 April 2020

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artemisia

The Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment reports on the oil and gas ban.

A new report has found that a two-year-old ban by the government on new oil and gas exploration would be costly, would do little for the environment and was done without proper consultation.

If the report is available on the Commissioner’s website it is well hidden. Top of the pops on the site – too many tourists coming here. Meantime –

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/business/413037/oil-and-gas-ban-lacked-consultation-report
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April 1, 2020 8:02am
- PhilBest
  
  This is Winston’s fault
  
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  April 1, 2020 8:20am
- Michael NZ
  
  There were no cabinet papers!
  
  Who goes to a committee meeting with no papers?
  How do you debate an issue with no papers?
  How do you have the minutiae type convos or email discussions before a meeting to thrash things out without papers?
  
  That’s for committee work, how much more important the nations business.
  Never vote for NZF, Labour and Greens again if you don’t want this level of incompetance again.
  
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  April 1, 2020 8:28am
  - Yvette
    
    Michael NZ, note too that the Coalition Agreement specifically mentions –
    • Record a Cabinet minute regarding the lack of process followed prior to the National-led government’s sponsorship of UNSC2334.
    
    “Lack of process” was that UNSC2334 was not considered by Cabinet, as was the gas/oil exploration ban not considered in the same way – with Winston well aware of what he wasn’t doing.
    What an aerosol.
    
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    April 1, 2020 9:06am
    - Loddenthinks
      
      Yvette: well spotted, and let’s not forget that the only possible reason for the CoL to record such a minute was spite.
      
      Labour was all for NZ’s disgraceful sponsorship of this pointless and vile resolution, I believe something like the 53rd that the UN had taken out to punish the nasty Israelis for daring to exist.
      
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      April 1, 2020 11:31am
  - stewmar
    
    Never vote for NZF, Labour and Greens again if you don’t want this level of incompetance again
    
    Preaching to the converted
    
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    April 1, 2020 9:43am
    - Michael NZ
      
      There are Lurkers, Stewmar.
      I know a handful some regular and some who come and go.
      I quote you lot often and even cut and paste some of the more reasoned and erudite of you! and send it on. 🙂
      
      I have been known to write a letter to the editor to the censors some days, often to no avail…
      
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      April 1, 2020 12:49pm
  - tf78
    
    I don’t think they keep minutes or records of meetings either. No paper trail – no blame.
    
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    April 1, 2020 9:50am
    - Sacha
      
      I think the oil/gas shut down was born out of the euphoria of finding themselves in Power, and the post election love affair between the Greens and Labour.
      Now we can DO this! they thought, and they did.
      The ensuing silence speaks of the realisation that it wasn’t the brightest action, and now they don’t know how to back down without losing face.
      Haha.
      
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      April 1, 2020 11:03am
      - freethinker
        
        Sacha – In a strange way it may prove to be not such a disaster as Global oil production exceeding historical consumption by 20 Million barrels a day and demand falling as storage fills up. I read that some this week the bid on some Canadian heavy sour oil used for Bitumen was bid at 95c a barrel. With WTI at $20 and Brent crude $26 we may yet see $10 before storage on land & in tankers is full so possibly years of oil in storage unless demand picks up quickly. So oil consumption will become another lead indicator of economic activity.
        Hopefully Sept will restore a National Govt who reverse cindys Craptains calls and our oil production will pick up just as prices skyrocket
        
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        April 1, 2020 1:19pm
    - Paulus
      
      Ask Clare Curren how to do it !
      
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      April 1, 2020 1:38pm
- Suze Wainwright
  
  That’s rubbish! I know a few private school-educated, well off, professional, middle-aged female Jacindamaniacs who steadfastly believe Cindy solved climate change with her ‘decisive leadership’ oil exploration ban.
  
  (Oddly enough, the very same people bemoan petrol prices when they’re high…)
  
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  April 1, 2020 8:29am
  - cmm
    
    Professional diverged from intelligent a long time ago.
    
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    April 1, 2020 9:22am
    - Michael NZ
      
      Same with Educated (degrees) CMM
      
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      April 1, 2020 12:51pm
  - G152
    
    They are
    Petrol prices in the US are $1 -2 PER GALLON
    
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    April 1, 2020 9:35am
    - alwyn
      
      I suppose that $2.00 is a possible value, somewhere in the US.
      However the current values in Los Angeles, or New York City, are that the very lowest numbers for Regular Gasoline are about $US2.60/gallon. That is around $NZ4.38 or about $NZ1.16/litre.
      That is a lot cheaper than here but nothing like as low as you suggest.
      
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      April 1, 2020 11:16am
    - RW Capitalist
      
      Lowest I saw reported 99.9c/gal(USD)
      About 45c/l NZD
      
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      April 1, 2020 1:27pm
  - JackRabbit
    
    And I know a few of those same people who believe that “the cloud” really is in the real clouds. Servers in giant balloons, or “up there”, pointing to the sky, or something similar they cannot be specific about.
    
    There are also sincere socialists who believe dictatorship is necessary to achieve redistribution of wealth and socialism, because the average person cannot see the benefits of said socialism until they have no choice but to accept it. Which is sort of up there with “you will only really believe God exists when you meet him after you are dead, so hurry up and drink your Koolaid.”
    
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    April 1, 2020 10:22am
    - Michael NZ
      
      Jack correct, yes it is phase 1.
      Dictatorship of the proletariat.
      
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      April 1, 2020 12:52pm
  - carl wiekart
    
    There is no shortage of educated people who are just sheep who absorb whatever information they think they need to, to be smart.
    
    They will get their climate info from the newspaper of course and if you read stuff who has a policy of not publishing anything that may go against the CO2 is bad mantra then what do you expect.
    
    There is so much good info on just how deceptive the CO2 argument is if you want to actually read papers from actual scientists rather than a journalists narrative for their employer who in the aforementioned publication believe there is now no room for debate.
    
    For those of you interested in the science that doesn’t support the climate crisis I try and publish good science (and humour) each day here https://www.facebook.com/crediblescience/
    
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    April 1, 2020 11:39am
- projectman
  
  The too many tourists one has been fixed.
  
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  April 1, 2020 11:22am
MrTips

Speaking of April Fools, Siouxsie Wiles has really removed any doubt. Publicly bagging an Auckland Uni colleague on twitter , making a hash of it (suddenly realised he’s actually more qualified than her to talk about infectious disease spread) and then adopting frumpy throw pillow stance.

What.a.dumb.thing.to.do.
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April 1, 2020 8:04am
- hullkiwi
  
  Let’s see a Microbiologist who lectures at AUT (basically a Nursing School pretending to be a Medical School). versus a Peofessor from a Medical School. For the benefit of us all, can someone enlighten us about Wiles specialist knowledge in Public Health & epidemiology?
  
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  April 1, 2020 8:54am
- graham
  
  Reading the comments on Siouxsie’s original piece are enlightening and entertaining.
  
  One fangirl says “Hey @SiouxsieW – I think you’re fabulous. And reading this thread – I’ve had a grand old time muting many male, pale and stale on twitter”. Presumably completely unaware of the supreme irony in referring to “male, pale and stale” whilst undoubtedly abhorring all forms of racism, sexism, Islamaphobia, etc.
  
  Someone else points out that Siouxsie complaining about someone who “studies diet not infectious diseases” commenting on the lockdown is a bit rich, considering it’s not that dissimilar to Siouxsie (a microbiologist) commenting on economic policy with her calls for a Universal Basic Income.
  
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  April 1, 2020 8:57am
  - artemisia
    
    Dr Wiles is not just commenting on a UBI, she says the government should trial it. And in her tweet links to a UBI petition from Action Station Aotearoa.
    
    Join the dots.
    
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    April 1, 2020 9:26am
  - Sacha
    
    I always thought that Siouxsie was an obscure pop singer with a made-up name, cleverly adapted from a North American Indian tribe.
    I would have at least amended the spelling, if I wanted to be taken seriously – or, if I was of Sioux descent, be more respectful of my heritage.
    
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    April 1, 2020 11:11am
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  The woman is well out of her depth.
  
  She is not a Public Health expert. She is not medically trained.
  
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  April 1, 2020 9:02am
  - Prince
    
    She’s untouchable as part of the old girls network – J, Hills, Anika, Jess.
    
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    April 1, 2020 9:16am
    - Loddenthinks
      
      Prince: don’t forget Ali #HerToo
      
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      April 1, 2020 11:33am
      - Tony Stuart
        
        And Lizzie. Especially Lizzie. Never EVER forget Lizzie!!
        
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        April 1, 2020 1:16pm
      - Loddenthinks
        
        @Tony Stuart: I was trying my level best
        
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        April 1, 2020 3:20pm
  - Blackface Twin Reverb
    
    The supposedly intelligent business people on Linkedin praising how wonderful she is, is truly sickening.
    
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    April 1, 2020 9:18am
    - Michael NZ
      
      Just keep a record so you know who not to do business with in the future or down grade them on any buying/appointment lists you have.
      
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      April 1, 2020 12:54pm
  - EssenX
    
    Correct.
    
    So why does the media keep going to her to ask questions that are obviously out of her scope of expertise?
    
    Are journalists really that lazy? There is Skeggs, Baker, and I imagine a great number of doctors who can provide better answers than Wiles on certain topics.
    
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    April 1, 2020 9:53am
    - Jack5
      
      Radio NZ and TVNZ have led the media pack in promoting Siouxie Wiles.
      
      This may be because she is a feminist activist.
      
      Here’s a petition started by Wiles tackling Lego about the gender of its miniature models of people:
      
      https://www.change.org/p/lego-stop-gender-stereotyping-your-minifigures
      
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      April 1, 2020 11:06am
    - freethinker
      
      Essen- better answers from kindy kids, just ask Cindy, she get her ideas from them.
      
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      April 1, 2020 1:28pm
  - Suze Wainwright
    
    For a number of her fans it’s the pink hair that really achieves the communication cut through (along with the assertive, in control, feminine persona)
    
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    April 1, 2020 10:01am
  - kowtow
    
    And yet the Media Pardy keep trotting her out as their expert.
    
    I smell a rat.
    
    Actually its a kind of Pied Piper thingy , she’s got the colour and the following , and everyone , including the gubmint are dancing to the tune.
    
    Who’s going to be able to pay the piper when the chickens come home to roost .
    
    And tailors will be out of a job as the Emperor has no clothes
    But the boy who cried wolf will be silenced by hate speech laws….
    
    I’ll get my coat.
    
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    April 1, 2020 10:09am
    - artemisia
      
      Well done, most cliches in one post in living memory. (Yes I know it was deliberate…. It was deliberate wasn’t it?)
      
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      April 1, 2020 1:57pm
      - kowtow
        
        I;ll get my coat is the hint …….ie boringly poor humour ,out of touch , realises over done , leaves in embarasment.
        
        From the fast show .
        
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        April 1, 2020 3:36pm
  - MrTips
    
    Indeed, and this is the guy she’s bagged:
    https://www.arphs.health.nz/about-us/our-team/senior-medical-team/jane-doe/
    
    medically trained and modelled infectious disease on more than one occasion.
    
    Astounding how silly Wiles has been.
    
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    April 1, 2020 10:22am
  - theoldbloke
    
    Not medically trained????
    
    You mean she didnt train as a medical doctor(MD)??
    
    From her wiki entry
    After completing her PhD,
    Thesis
    Development of bespoke bioluminescent reporters with the potential for in situ deployment within a phenolic-remediating wastewater treatment system (2003).
    
    Wiles moved to Imperial College London for a post-doctoral research position on tuberculosis. In 2007 she became a lecturer at Imperial College’s Department of Infectious Diseases and Immunity,[7] and in 2009 was awarded a Sir Charles Hercus Fellowship from the Health Research Council of New Zealand and moved to the University of Auckland.[5] Wiles is the head of the university’s Bioluminescent Superbugs Lab.[1][3]
    
    In 2013 she won the Prime Minister’s Prize for Science Media Communication which includes prize money of NZ$100,000.[1][4]
    
    I have pondered why TV has selected her as Commentataor.
    Her Hair, Her Name, Her ability to natter on.
    Maybe she knows somebody who knows somebody..
    
    SHe is now a celebrity and believes whatever she says about anything…is important.
    
    London to a ton of Bricks she will get her own TV show when the dust settles and will end up like Nigel Latte, raanting on about stuff he has no expertise in.
    
    But she will be rolling in Dosh 🙂
    
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    April 1, 2020 6:55pm
- Loddenthinks
  
  I can’t abide that woman, I really can’t. Fake, preachy, and as it turns out, incompetent.
  
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  April 1, 2020 9:06am
  - James Stephenson
    
    Seems my immediate reaction of “Fuck off, there’s only one Siouxsie” was valid then.
    
    https://youtu.be/M6rrTROoZIw
    
    (Spot Robert Smith in there too, Cure fans)
    
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    April 1, 2020 9:40am
    - Loddenthinks
      
      I knew that was who it was going to be before I clicked, great song and great artist. The next one that came up on my feed, which is a big favourite too, is probably more appropriate to the current situation.
      
      Any Specials fans will know what it is before clicking too: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZ2oXzrnti4
      
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      April 1, 2020 12:02pm
  - greybeard
    
    You mean this S. Wiles ?
    
    https://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/on-air/mike-hosking-breakfast/audio/siouxsie-wiles-on-why-we-are-unlikely-to-see-a-coronavirus-outbreak-in-new-zealand/
    
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    April 1, 2020 10:06am
    - lastmanstanding
      
      She just blew any credibility right there. Ignore her. Puffed up little know it all.
      
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      April 1, 2020 1:35pm
  - Classic Liberal
    
    Sums up our govt 🙁
    
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    April 1, 2020 10:56am
- John Warren
  
  She dyes her hair pink and styles herself “Siouxsie”. We’re dealing with a weapons grade attention seeker here, who loves the sound of her own voice, possesses some skill at self-promotion, and is painfully unaware of her transgressions into idiocy.
  
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  April 1, 2020 9:54am
  - fisho
    
    I assume she has North American native heritage with a name like that. Surely it’s not simply a case of cultural misappropriation.
    
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    April 1, 2020 11:16am
    - Maggy Wassilieff
      
      Her birth name is Susanna Wiles.
      
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      April 1, 2020 1:28pm
    - John Warren
      
      From her Wikipedia page:
      
      “Wiles was born in the United Kingdom, grew up in the UK and South Africa and was raised by health conscious, left-wing parents.”
      
      “She is a fan of Lego and likes to play with it while being a critic of the gender bias introduced into the Lego minifigures.”
      
      Look the woman is clearly accomplished, and I have no wish to diminish her actual achievements, but even the best guest can outstay his welcome, and at the point where she’s loudly oracling outside her expertise and pushing her lefty opinions down everybody’s throats, I’m feeling a need to wrap the party up.
      
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      April 1, 2020 2:03pm
- tf78
  
  Gosh – it’s a whole different world on ‘the other side’. I don’t like it.
  
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  April 1, 2020 9:57am
- Belinda
  
  Shes a media whore, saw a post on twitter , where she actively encouraged anyone from the media to contact her, basically said “dont think im too busy to talk to you if you’re from the media” then a week later, “Id love a day off but I’m too busy.“
  
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  April 1, 2020 7:47pm
- numcrun
  
  She has been confidently giving out dangerous and wrong information such as “masks are no help” and “the COVID-19 virus is only spread through the air by coughing and sneezing” long after it was clear that these are both BS.
  
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  April 6, 2020 1:52am
Happychappy

Jacinda Ardern ignored this message on the 17/03/2020 from the World Health Organization and decided she new better, but now 14 days later decide the same slogan test, test, test relevant and needed because she fucked up.
The World Organization Director of Health noted some Countries could do more to contain the CORID-19 outbreak and called on urgent action to ramp up efforts to identify, isolate, then contact and trace people withe the disease.
” We have a simple message for all Countries: test, test, test.” he said on the 17/03/2020.
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/03/coronavirus-covid-19-testing-disease/
Why would you not.listen and risk thousands of peoples lives.
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April 1, 2020 8:12am
- Padraig Payne
  
  It is pretty clear that the surge in cases we are seeing now is the result of all the people who arrived over the two weeks prior to the border closing who were simply given a pamphlet and told to have a nice day.
  
  I recall on 13 March the PM defending the Christchurch memorial proceeding on the basis that we had no cases of community transmission. When in fact there were hundreds of such cases. They just had not been picked up yet. I know hindsight is wonderful etc etc, but that does not apply here. It was clear as day at the time that the response was complacent and here we are.
  
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  April 1, 2020 8:27am
  - Brian McDonald
    
    Yes, hindsight is wonderful. There is no indication that NZ was in a position to test more than it was doing, the steady increase indicates that as well as the comments by Bloomfield yesterday, but once again there is the diversion in the Chch memorial which didn’t happen anyway. Guidance has been coming from modeling at Auckland Uni, Otago Medical School, and the London School of medicine. NZ has taken the best advice and taken what measures it can including building stocks of test equipment, PPE, making hospital beds available, training Doctors to able to work in CCU, establishing mobile testing stations so maybe its time to put hindsight aside and concentration on the now.
    The current issue is now that we have testing kits available to test up to 3,500 per day should we not be reserving at least 5% of those to random people throughout the country not showing symptoms because that is the next data we need?
    
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    April 1, 2020 9:31am
    - Brian McDonald
      
      Unfortunately, the panic buyers from the supermarkets would have flooded open testing opportunities within minutes and NZ would have been left with no test kits had the authorities not treated them like gold, and avoided using them with strict conditions. We should be grateful for their prudence.
      
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      April 1, 2020 9:36am
      - Brian McDonald
        
        ‘without’
        
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        April 1, 2020 9:41am
      - Maggy Wassilieff
        
        Brian,
        we had over 2 months to get prepared… if not years.
        
        As Prof Skeggs pointed out yesterday.. NZ lacks a Centre for Disease Control and has seriously underfunded Public Health for years.
        
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        April 1, 2020 9:51am
    - KevO'Brien
      
      It could be helpful if they did a NZ wide random test to gain a profile of the population infection. With a little bit of will they should be able to do that within a week.
      
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      April 1, 2020 10:17am
      - Classic Liberal
        
        Antibody tests. Quite a few of us may already have had it while it was still under the radar.
        
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        April 1, 2020 11:03am
      - Brian McDonald
        
        Yes, that is the next obvious testing.
        Arguably and with the presence of mind that should have always been part of testing – even to the level of 5% as said above. Though I have no idea if it was considered then or not.
        
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        April 1, 2020 12:35pm
    - Brian McDonald
      
      Maggie no doubt the good doctor is right, but we can’t stand on the side of the road looking at the truck in the ditch that wouldn’t have been there if the road had been repaired.
      This looking back is well…. backward.
      
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      April 1, 2020 11:07am
      - Maggy Wassilieff
        
        This looking back is well…. backward.
        
        If we want to learn from our errors we should analyse what went wrong previously and endeavour not to make those mistakes again..
        
        I think it was a major error that Jacinda Ardern and her CoL came to power in NZ..
        
        If you think we should just gloss over her failures and sail forth into the future with her at the helm, then I reckon I want to paddle my own waka.
        
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        April 1, 2020 12:51pm
  - PhilBest
    
    “…When in fact there were hundreds of such cases. They just had not been picked up yet…”
    
    This can’t be emphasized enough. It is beyond incompetence that the medical authorities have not wanted to, as early as possible, get a random test done to determine a likely actual rate of contagion.
    
    Proceeding to make massively costly (to the economy) policy on the basis of belatedly “confirmed” infections and subsequent death rates rather than likely actual infections and death rates, stinks of either terminal illogic and incompetence, or an agenda. Frankly we should have nil faith in the competence of all these touchy care-ey medical “experts” who failed to call for the right statistical approach from the start. Now it’s too late to do this, we need antibodies tests now.
    
    I was impressed years ago with an essay “The Decline and Fall of the West” by Mike Alder, and he emphasized the loss of the attribute of LOGIC as playing a major role. This is writ large in this current crisis. The cleverest mathematical modellers in the world picking the wrong “input” in the first place. “Garbage out” conclusions, destructive policy making from politicians who also lack the logic to cross-examine their own “expert” advisors.
    
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    April 1, 2020 9:34am
    - KevO'Brien
      
      This is not clever: at that level of skill it must be deception, if not deliberate, then stupid self deception.
      
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      April 1, 2020 2:54pm
- Suze Wainwright
  
  Ah, I knew I’d heard that ‘test, test, test’ expression from somewhere else before…
  
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  April 1, 2020 8:32am
  - hullkiwi
    
    Simon Bridges also repeated it in the days following the Dir Gen of the WHO saying it. So, the SLG is late to the party again & this after there have been incidents of people being turned away from testing who have gone on to contract COVID-19 & in the case of the Wesport woman…..she was diagnosed in the first instance with flu!
    
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    April 1, 2020 8:58am
    - Maggy Wassilieff
      
      Not only was the PM late to the party , she was actively fudging the truth in Parliament two weeks ago when Bridges was asking why NZ wasn’t do more testing.
      
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      April 1, 2020 9:53am
      - KevO'Brien
        
        It was easier to test the new arrivals, they were sure to show some were infected.
        
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        April 1, 2020 10:19am
  - Tall Man
    
    VD clinic ?
    
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    April 1, 2020 9:08am
    - John Warren
      
      Who remembers Rodney Rude encountering Prince Charles at the VD clinic?
      
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      April 1, 2020 9:56am
      - sooty
        
        .
        
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        April 1, 2020 12:02pm
      - Tall Man
        
        Vaguely but couldn’t track a link down.
        
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        April 1, 2020 1:50pm
- Simon
  
  Will Ardern make it the election? She aint coping too well as it is. There is just no substance. With her its all about messaging. She cant spin the wreckage of NZ economy.
  
  As worse things get the more pressure applied. She cant disappear overseas for a couple of weeks.
  
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  April 1, 2020 8:32am
  - Blackface Twin Reverb
    
    She’s fine.
    She’s not making the decisions, just putting the Comms degree to good use as a script reader…
    
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    April 1, 2020 9:25am
  - Crisplion
    
    You’re right of course Simon. But at the risk of sounding as pessimistic as Sir Cullen’s Sidekick, elections in crises tend to favour incumbents, and I fear that it’s all too likely that many people will uncritically swallow the media line about what a fabulous job Ardern is doing. I would truly love to be wrong – but as much as I enjoy KB, it is, like any political blog, an echo chamber.
    
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    April 1, 2020 9:26am
    - Tall Man
      
      You have a point but… 17% undecided in most polls will prove you wrong.
      
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      April 1, 2020 10:37am
    - thirteenstars
      
      Oh, fear not. They are no only swallowing it, they are regurgitating it in very foul style all over those of us who still possess a functioning frontal lobe.
      
      It’s a mindless, sickening kind of conformity of view to which NZers are far too prone. It’s as if the conformity itself is considered a social virtue, like the dobbing in.
      
      Ardern will be elected–actually elected, this time–in something approaching a landslide. With National out to lunch these past many months, her victory was almost certain anyway; now it’s a shoe-in. She certainly won’t need Peters and she may hardly need the Greens.
      
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      April 1, 2020 11:34am
      - freethinker
        
        Bet the farm on it .. [deleted – OTT. Mod.]
        
        1 2
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        April 1, 2020 1:38pm
  - James Stephenson
    
    Unfortunately a lot of people seem to be swallowing the MSM’s line that she hasn’t put a foot wrong.
    
    A mate of mine posted something in praise of her on Bookface a couple of days ago and boy did I get shot down when I took a contrary stance. One can but hope that planting seeds of doubt in these oblivious types’ heads will bear fruit when the time comes to put ticks in boxes again.
    
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    April 1, 2020 9:43am
    - kowtow
      
      As long as all the major Media Pardy organs , ie TVNZ, RNZ, TV3 , Al Beeb , Al Jazeera, etc daily keep images of the Italian military death convoys showing people who died WITH the virus as opposed to FROM the virus , she will be more than safe.
      
      Another example newshubs magicradio were playing an ad for Ryan Bridges’ show of a crying nurse phoned in to say they were snowed under, not copping and saying stay at home.
      
      Well the Medical Director of Health has told us the system is working at only 50 % capacity.
      
      Very emotive advertising but either way someone is lying.
      
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      April 1, 2020 10:37am
      - Classic Liberal
        
        Nobody talking about surgery and examinations postponed to free up the hospitals. How many deaths will that lead to?
        
        8 1
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        April 1, 2020 11:10am
  - sooty
    
    .
    
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    April 1, 2020 9:58am
  - Sir Cullen's Sidekick
    
    “Will Ardern make it the election?” – Not only she will make it to the election and she will win the next two terms easily as Sheeple believe she has single handedly saved NZ from Covid-19 pandemic. Watch for Labour to get majority on their own.
    
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    April 1, 2020 10:15am
- PhilBest
  
  The great historian Victor Davis Hanson says something a lot of people will find hard to stomach…
  
  “…since the outbreak of the virus, President Trump’s idiosyncratic sixth sense has come in handy…
  
  “…Trump’s prior initiatives eased the implementation of many of his most effective orders during this crisis. And his general suspicions about China and globalization, his distrust of bureaucratic regulations, his support for domestic production of key industries, his promotion of the interests of farmers and frackers, and his vehement opposition to increased gun control, all reflect a world view of national and self-independence, in which Americans can only count on themselves and their fellow citizens.
  
  Trump often loudly and crassly pushed these policies. He fought tooth and nail with his opponents. He replied with nuclear tonnage to preemptive media and political attacks on his person and family.
  
  All that also might suggest that presidents really should start being judged by their actions rather than the degree of mellifluousness of their words…”
  
  https://amgreatness.com/2020/03/29/viral-prerequisites-and-nationalist-lessons-in-time-of-plague/
  
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  April 1, 2020 8:44am
  - mikenmildagain
    
    Don’t make the mistake of thinking Hanson’s expertise on ancient Greece and Rome make him an expert on everything.
    See: comments on Siouxsie Wiles above.
    
    3 10
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    April 1, 2020 11:08am
    - Michael NZ
      
      MMM
      Good Point.
      If you were someone else I’d listen.
      
      goto
      
      Victor Davis Hansen Private Papers
      
      The man is a brain and thoughtful too.
      
      5 1
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      April 1, 2020 1:00pm
    - PhilBest
      
      Don’t make the mistake of thinking that a good logical thinker might not choose to specialize in something but nevertheless be good at summing up big pictures, period.
      
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      April 1, 2020 1:08pm
- Yvette
  
  Fucking slogans!
  “Let’s do this”, besides being used by a porn film company, never specified what we were doing.
  “They are us” will be revealed a lie when the Royal Commission reports back
  And “Go early, go hard” – an effort to cover over the fact we did neither, early or hard – so now we have to “Test, test, test”, because up until now we didn’t.
  
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  April 1, 2020 9:19am
  - JackRabbit
    
    Yep, the glib and uneducated always speak in slogans rather than specifics they are accountable for.
    
    Actually not just “Lets do this” could be porn film material.
    
    “Lets do this” – The throwing ‘caution to the wind’ response to being invited to a neighbourhood swingers party.
    
    “They are us” – Realising that many of the naked bodies writhing on the floor belong to neighbours you already know.
    
    “Go early, go hard” – Advice from someone who is an experienced swinger.
    
    “Test, test, test.” – The advice from the sex clinic you visit the next morning after you realise you had unprotected sex with several people you didn’t know.
    
    A specific, intelligent and accountable narrative should be expected from someone the country is paying $500,000 a year.
    
    Slogans are more suited to Toy Story characters, and those with infantile minds.
    
    “They are us” – Jacinda Ardern
    “So, who’s with me?” – Buzz Lightyear
    
    I rest my case.
    
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    April 1, 2020 11:25am
Maggy Wassilieff

Was Stuff aware that an important meeting took place yesterday chaired by Simon Bridges?

https://www.parliament.nz/en/get-involved/features/covid-19-what-is-the-epidemic-response-committee/

Why no information on their site?
Will they review today’s meeting on Economic Matters?
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April 1, 2020 8:12am
- Paulus Gnome
  
  Simon Bridges, the msm’s Voldemort
  
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  April 1, 2020 8:21am
- Simon
  
  Stuff non government ad revenue is collapsing. They will need a bail out before Christmas.
  
  No information because they toe the line.
  
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  April 1, 2020 8:27am
  - freethinker
    
    Now who could have predicted that? Perhaps stuff will predict last weeks lotto numbers.
    
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    April 1, 2020 8:57am
  - guardianista
    
    Yes, I’m a financial analyst benn following stuff and others for a while. Strangely they appeared to have kept profit constant in the last six month period (through their activity in the electricity/fibre sector? But I don’t believe it, disclosure is poor and ad revenue still stalling) but generally I have said they have two years or one recession left in them. This recession will do it. The herald company is stronger because of its radio assets and should last longer and eventually buy the stuff assets for $1 if allowed. The interesting one is the odt. We don’t see the accounts but they have lost a lot less circulation that the rest because they have kept local and reasonably centrist. Could become the South Island paper.
    
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    April 1, 2020 12:40pm
- dave_c_
  
  Yes, the will review, and delete (censor) anything that points to a change from the curernt directives, before publishing
  
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  April 1, 2020 8:33am
- freethinker
  
  Maggie-did you know CRAP is an anagram of stuff? Sarc
  
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  April 1, 2020 8:55am
  - Maggy Wassilieff
    
    I thought it was a synonym of Stuff.
    
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    April 1, 2020 9:55am
- bruceavon
  
  They streamed the whole thing on the front page of Stuff. I watched it all. Excellent. Better than the ancient theatre of parliament. Maybe they should replace it with this permanently? Collegiate. People actually answering questions. David Clark was pretty good I thought. I learnt more about things from this than all the press conferences with the journalists asking questions. Well run by Bridges. Woodhouse and Seymour excellent. They asked the right questions. What is happening to people coming over the border? Why don’t they go into quarantine? When we can’t go to the butchers. Also why do we not run more tests? Great job from National. Made them look like a government. It is a shame that no one probably watched it. I am no fan of Bridges but this made him look like a Prime Minister.
  
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  April 1, 2020 9:14am
  - DeepBlue
    
    I watched most of it. There was a dramatic moment when questioning revealed the difference between Bloomfield and Clark over testing. The former saying the testing stations could override a GPs referral if all 3 criteria not met, the latter saying GP referral should mean testing.
    
    Then blow me down, the link failed transmission for 5 seconds and we never got to see what happened.
    
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    April 1, 2020 9:31am
    - JackRabbit
      
      “…the link failed transmission for 5 seconds and we never got to see what happened…”
      
      That’s why all media transmissions have a delay buffer of a few seconds so that things they don’t want aired can be cut out before they get transmitted.
      
      Are you saying the timing of the failed link was co-incidental?
      
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      April 1, 2020 11:35am
- Prince
  
  The did carry a live stream, about 4.5K viewers when I looked.
  I would recommend taking a look assuming they repeat today. I found it very informative, and unusual in that some questions were asked that had the officials squirming.
  
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  April 1, 2020 9:19am
- Unity
  
  Their silence is deafening!! If only we could do something about their very obvious bias. They should at least try to be neutral and give both sides especially at this terrible time.
  
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  April 1, 2020 9:19am
- tf78
  
  I think it was Stuff that streamed it live Maggie – I watched it somewhere.
  
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  April 1, 2020 10:07am
Maggie Pie

ORIGINAL SIN.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EUWXtRPWkAEm38n?format=jpg&name=900×900
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April 1, 2020 8:13am
- Blackface Twin Reverb
  
  Approved. 🙂
  
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  April 1, 2020 9:27am
Andrei

Very interesting dataset available from the British Government

It records the death certificates issued in England and Wales on a weekly basis but also includes the average number certificates issued for the previous five years for the equivalent week

Here is a link to that dataset which is current to the 20th March 2020. The updated release will be on the 7th of April
https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/datasets/weeklyprovisionalfiguresondeathsregisteredinenglandandwales

And what it is showing is that up to the 20th of March the number of deaths being recorded in England and Wales each week is pretty much business as usual

Sorry it is hard to read can’t tabulate in blog comment forms easily but the upper fihure is this years registered deaths for that week and the loower the registered deaths in the equivalent week averaged over the last 5 years

3-Jan-20 10-Jan-20 17-Jan-20

12,254 14,058 12,990
12,175 13,822 13,216

24-Jan-20 31-Jan-20 7-Feb-20

11,856 11,612 10,986
12,760 12,206 11,925

14-Feb-20 21-Feb-20 28-Feb-20

10,944 10,841 10,816
11,627 11,548 11,183

6-Mar-20 13-Mar-20 20-Mar-20

10,895 11,019 10,645
11,498 11,205 10,573

But you can download the data and see for yourself and draw your own conclusions

Note this is not the UK but England and Wales, so data from Scotland and NI are not included
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April 1, 2020 8:13am
- PhilBest
  
  From “The Spectator” newsletter:
  
  In spite of Covid-19, UK records fewer deaths overall
  
  “Today the ONS released figures on all recorded deaths with Covid-19 present (the data hitherto has been for hospitals). Up to 20 March, Covid-19 was a cause or contributory factor in the deaths of 210 people in England and Wales; the previous figure for that period had been 170. The new figures come with a health warning: the ONS says its data includes people ‘not tested for Covid-19’. In other words, some of them are suspected as having died of the virus, but without being tested for it.
  
  Perspective is vital. There were 138,913 deaths registered in England and Wales from 1 January to 20 March, with Covid-19 recorded as being present in 210. And overall, 4,900 fewer people died than normally die in this timeframe. Looking at deaths with ‘influenza and pneumonia’ mentioned as a cause, there were 1,841 deaths in week 12 – compared with an average of 2,120 in the previous five years. In other words, in spite of Covid-19, there were fewer deaths from respiratory disease in the week ending 20 March than in an average year.
  
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  April 1, 2020 8:32am
  - alex Masterley
    
    Phil, you say, correctly that perspective is vital. The problem I, you, we have is we just dont get that from our media.
    
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    April 1, 2020 9:56am
    - PhilBest
      
      Not yet. They did turn on the Y2K bug hysteria eventually….
      
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      April 1, 2020 1:09pm
- Evadne
  
  The case fatality rates for covid are near identical to the standard mortality rates across all ages and populations.
  
  Whatever your age, your chances of dying from covid (if you have it) are the same as your chances of dying from something else this year.
  
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  April 1, 2020 8:34am
  - PhilBest
    
    Another b—-y good point!
    
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    April 1, 2020 9:36am
- JackRabbit
  
  Thanks for that link. Downloaded and graphed. So 2020 figures are slightly under the average of previous years, and both 2019 and 2020 figures down on 2018, with 2020 deaths at 90% of 2018!
  
  Not surprising since all Corona virus figures are a subset of the total annual flu figures. In actual fact, according to those figures, deaths in 2020 due to the Corona virus are at 75% of all Flu deaths in 2018. The flu deaths for 2020 are conspicuous in their absence. It would appear that they have simply been relabelled as Corona virus deaths. This is confirmed by lowered total deaths in this period, not more, as it should be if the Corona virus deaths were additional to the deaths caused by the annual flu.
  
  The media Corona virus ‘hockey stick’ graphs that are pumped through the media, are not representative of the infection rate, but of the testing rate for those that have symptoms. It does not take into account those that have mild or no symptoms.
  
  Only extensive testing of a significant portion of the population would reveal the truth. Germany has the lowest fatality rate at 0.9% which is 9 times higher than the annual flu, because they have started country wide testing. However only 1000 in every million (0.1%) have been tested to date, in addition to those with confirmed symptoms, which skews the figures, so too early to tell the actual infection percentage. Expect the 0.9% figure to drop substantially as time goes on.
  
  If you took one of the other flu variants, and gave it the same bad science graphs and media treatment you would get similar results and same pandemic of fear. These graphs might have sway in present day with those that do not understand statistics, but you can rest assured that if this had been a thesis back in the 70’s or 80’s it would be a complete fail.
  
  Through my sources, I am now hearing of severe bouts of the flu both here and in the US, dating back to last year, and that had the corona virus symptoms. Because Corona virus was not in the media, no-one thought to get tested, and endured it like any other flu. And in any case there were no Corona virus tests available.
  
  It is beginning to look awfully like Corona virus has been here for some time, and one of the many variants of Corona virus that we see each year.
  
  That is not to say we shouldn’t be careful about contact with others and not spreading germs. But that has always been good advice ever since the first Corona virus appeared back in 1969, and advice that was accentuated in the wake of Aids and other similar viruses.
  
  Does it justify total worldwide lock-down given that death rates are within expected annual figures. I’ll leave each person to ponder on that.
  
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  April 1, 2020 9:26am
- cmm
  
  It is hard to know for sure, but the speculations is:
  1) Covid deaths are mainly substituting for pneumonia/flu deaths so they are not causing extra deaths.
  2) All the precautions for Covid (hand washing, distancing etc) don’t just protect you from Covid, they also protect you from flu etc.
  
  Therefore the total number of deaths have gone down, not up.
  
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  April 1, 2020 9:29am
  - JackRabbit
    
    The UK stats are more than speculation, they are objective stats. I would posit that the subjective hockey stick curves are the real speculation. That along with whoever is loaning money to all governments around the world.
    
    Follow the money.
    Who pays the piper?
    Who gains out of this?
    
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    April 1, 2020 11:42am
    - cmm
      
      I agree, the stats are not speculation, but the causes for what is being observed are.
      
      The crap we’ve been fed about deaths: 80,000, then tens of thousands, then 14,000 are complete speculation with a bit of an activism nudging the numbers in the right direction.
      
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      April 1, 2020 11:59am
JibberJabber

Akshually, April Fools day has been officially cancelled cos` Jacindas` joke Govt are afraid of the competition.
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April 1, 2020 8:15am
- MrTips
  
  Some might say they don’t need one day…….
  
  when they are fools all year.
  
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  April 1, 2020 8:48am
- G152
  
  I have but one uptick to give
  
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  April 1, 2020 9:40am
- Michael NZ
  
  April 1st – Jacinda’s day
  
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  April 1, 2020 1:05pm
peterwn

See:
https://forms.justice.govt.nz/search/Documents/pdf/jdo/3b/alfresco/service/api/node/content/workspace/SpacesStore/0b960d1c-7840-4b42-9e3d-216735b4c1fb/0b960d1c-7840-4b42-9e3d-216735b4c1fb.pdf

Each household and business in Dunedin and Centeal Otago (Roxburgh to Queenstown/Wanaka) has been fined FIFTY DOLLARS by the High Court at the behest of the Commerce Commission because of IMO bad governance of the electricity undertakings in these areas by the councillors of the Dunedin City Council and the company boards accountable to the Council particularly its main holding company. Moreover the cost of the major catch-up work required to bring the two electricity networks up to an appropriate and safe standard is falling on these households and businesses.

I question whether such a fine is appropriate and whether there is any better way of ‘enforcement’. The Commerce Commission could for example be allowed to appoint a Commissioner to take control of any network operator who is not performing appropriately.

I also question whether in the current circumstances the Government should even be extracting the fine and perhaps should instruct the Commission to back off. Alternatively the $5M in question should be recycled back into Central Otago (but not Dunedin since its councillors were ultimately responsible for the problem in the first case).
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April 1, 2020 8:16am
- Rich Prick
  
  Given companies can’t just magic money out of thin air, the Commerce Commission has just lumped consumers with a $5m cost. Bravo.
  
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  April 1, 2020 8:51am
- KevO'Brien
  
  The whole shebang shows a horrifying degree of state control with the Court’s apparent support.
  
  Wasn’t the problem one of weather and storm damage?
  
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  April 1, 2020 10:40am
  - peterwn
    
    No. Read the judgment and Aurora’s Asset Management Plan. There has been chronic underspending on maintenance particularly asset renewals and more particularly poles. For example poles needing reasonably urgent replacement were ‘red tagged’ but the ‘whistle blower’ said there were heaps of ‘red tagged’ poles that had not been replaced in a reasonable time. Also vegetation control has been lacking. If these things are not attended to, then the overhead network is significantly more vulnerable to storm damage.
    The Commerce Commission has been nagging them over the last few years to get their act together (eg bring in consultants and do other things) but to little avail, hence the Commission finally spat the dummy.
    As I indicated before it seems to be very much a ‘governance’ issue in that the stakeholders wanted the golden eggs but were not prepared to feed and look after the goose properly.
    While there might be a possible case for the Dunedin City Council to own the network asset within the city, there was no justification for it to purchase the Central Otago network which is not even contiguous (OtagoNet owns the network between these two networks and indeed OtagoNet covers some Dunedin City areas eg Middlemach I think). Perhaps a more appropriate penalty would have been to order Dunedin City Council to sell the Central Otago asset to someone who can look after it properly.
    
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    April 1, 2020 12:29pm
    - Michael NZ
      
      err…. Peterwyn.
      
      Maybe the Commerce Commission could come to Wellington, I suspect we also have a under managed infrastructure problem.
      
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      April 1, 2020 1:07pm
    - KevO'Brien
      
      Thanks, I did read the judgement but it was not clear about the substance of the issues.
      
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      April 1, 2020 2:56pm
      - peterwn
        
        Need to read Aurora’s latest asset management plan – they hired a new CEO (with clean hands) to clean up the mess and he does not pull any punches.
        
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        April 1, 2020 7:28pm
Maggy Wassilieff

There’s good coverage of Jacinda Ardern’s inability to respond accurately to questions about why NZ was not doing enough Covid-19 testing here:

https://yournz.org/2020/04/01/why-were-we-slow-to-increase-covid-19-testing/
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April 1, 2020 8:16am
- sooty
  
  C
  
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  April 1, 2020 8:19am
- cmm
  
  But she said she really really hopes and wants there to be more…
  
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  April 1, 2020 9:30am
- Brian McDonald
  
  I don’t have any difficulty understanding this:
  
  The Prime Minister is urging clinicians to conduct more testing for the coronavirus COVID-19 insisting New Zealand has the capacity to do 1500 tests per day.
  “Our capacity is significant. We’re ramping up the ability to have up to 1500 tests per day,” Jacinda Ardern said on Tuesday. “That test number you’ve been seeing per day happening in the community is growing day on day.”
  
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  April 1, 2020 9:50am
  - cmm
    
    Perhaps you will understand better if someone explains that 1500 a day is close to nothing.
    
    That would take over 8 years to test everyone in NZ ONCE. Yes eight years, once!
    
    Now consider that a single test is not enough, and people like health workers probably need frequent testing and you soon see that the test regime is nowhere near adequate for population testing.
    
    Aspirations and really, really hoping does not actually move the needle.
    
    19 2
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    April 1, 2020 10:16am
    - Brian McDonald
      
      Maybe you can explain if we only had enough for 1500 tests a day what the alternative was?
      
      1 9
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      April 1, 2020 11:01am
      - peterwn
        
        Air NZ has heaps of unused capacity which could have been used to bring in extra testing equipment.
        
        6 0
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        April 1, 2020 12:31pm
      - Brian McDonald
        
        If it was available.
        
        2 3
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        April 1, 2020 12:49pm
Poppa

Good morning all

Still alive & surprisingly still married. Sun looks to be shining

I will be very interested in the stats today. The last 2 days have seen a downward trend

I wonder if there is any other news that our so called media could report on?
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April 1, 2020 8:16am
- DeepBlue
  
  The Herald starting to talk about laying of staff.
  
  No travel, no community, no sport, no art, no traffic, no accidents, no parties, no new TV… What would they report?
  
  And no advertising.
  
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  April 1, 2020 9:34am
  - cmm
    
    Maybe more Hilary “I’m the news” Barry puff pieces.
    
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    April 1, 2020 10:18am
    - hullkiwi
      
      I’m waiting for sincere Hilary and earnest John Campbell to be made the official information decemenators for NZ on the official Covid-19 broadcast station.
      
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      April 1, 2020 11:54am
  - projectman
    
    As with Stuff, just more clickbait and interviewing their typewriters,
    
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    April 1, 2020 11:57am
  - curry4me
    
    DeepBlue: Maybe they could enrol in a coding course in time for the second semester?
    
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    April 1, 2020 4:01pm
- peterwn
  
  They can always report on Simon’s Committee hearings. They do not need to leave their couches since it is televised on Parliament TV. Also any Parliament Press Gallery journo who wants to sit in would no doubt be warmly welcomed by at least the National members of the Committee and David Seymour. Perhaps journos have been warned off.
  
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  April 1, 2020 12:35pm
MrTips

Interesting developments in last few days.

Convalescent plasma from COVID19 survivors might present as an excellent therapy to pull back even seriously ill patients.

Infection fatality rate/ratio from COVID reliably estimated to be 0.66% , which is still about 7x higher than the flu. Age dependent result with 0.32% case death rate in folk <60 yrs old which was similar in China and 37 other countries studied. The data in this analysis matches very well with Michael Baker, Nick Wilson and Tony Blakeley’s work.
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April 1, 2020 8:22am
- PhilBest
  
  How can we know what is the infection / fatality ratio when we don’t have “asymptomatic infections” or “recovered cases of untested infections” data?
  
  https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2020/03/coronavirus_stats.html/comment-page-1#comment-2668972
  
  https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2020/03/coronavirus_stats.html/comment-page-1#comment-2668984
  
  Current estimates about the Covid-19 fatality rate may be too high by orders of magnitude.
  
  By Eran Bendavid and Jay Bhattacharya. Dr. Bendavid and Dr. Bhattacharya are professors of medicine at Stanford.
  
  “…First, the test used to identify cases doesn’t catch people who were infected and recovered. Second, testing rates were woefully low for a long time and typically reserved for the severely ill. Together, these facts imply that the confirmed cases are likely orders of magnitude less than the true number of infections. Epidemiological modelers haven’t adequately adapted their estimates to account for these factors…
  
  “…the real fatality rate could in fact be closer to 0.06%…”
  
  Zero point zero six percent. So, lower than the flu, not 7X higher…
  
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  April 1, 2020 9:43am
  - KevO'Brien
    
    A look at the curve problem:
    https://wattsupwiththat.com/2020/03/31/futile-fussings/
    
    3 2
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    April 1, 2020 10:42am
    - PhilBest
      
      Complex but right! That’s a mathematical modeller’s way of discussing what are the RIGHT INPUTS, that alarmist modellers who lack logic skills, have missed! Thanks for that!
      
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      April 1, 2020 1:24pm
Happychappy

Government had $1.4 billion surplus prior to COVID-19 Pandemic.
The Government books showed a $ 1.4 billion dollar surplus with debt just below the forecast, before the economic impact of COVID-19 hit the country forcing billions to be spent on the Pandemic. Debt was sitting $600 million below forecasts at 19.2 per cent of GDP.
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/government-had-1-4-billion-surplus-prior-covid-19-pandemic
How can Grant Robertson and the Coalition blatantly lie about this when they have borrowed over $ 7 billion for State Housing and Roading Projects that are hidden away from the public’s eye.
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April 1, 2020 8:24am
- Tricati
  
  They know no one in the MSM is going to challenge them on the figures as there is not the intellect to work out what to ask. This coupled with the mountain of cock-ups daily, I suspect anyone with any degree of intellect, just doesn’t know where to start.
  
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  April 1, 2020 9:13am
- Ruahine
  
  Lying is what they are good at. Even this House Arrest situation is basically built on a falsehood that ‘thousands will die’
  
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  April 1, 2020 9:21am
  - Classic Liberal
    
    Tens of thousands we were told. This whole lockdown was based on the much-touted figure of 80,ooo deaths, now shown to be far higher than what could really be expected.
    
    And far, far higher than ‘Covid’ deaths when deducting deaths of people who unfortunately would die from or with flu this season anyway.
    
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    April 1, 2020 11:38am
- brett68
  
  Ever wondered why Simon Bridges doesn’t point this out?
  
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  April 1, 2020 9:23am
  - Tall Man
    
    Woo hoo, a chance to have a dig at Simon Bridges, the next Prime Minister of New Zealand, elected … not selected.
    
    Do yourself a favour and keep current with National and Simon Bridges by looking at and reading the National Party website. Subscribe and Simon will send you email updates about what he and the party are doing and will do when elected.
    
    … [Deleted – Mod.]
    
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    April 1, 2020 10:22am
- JackRabbit
  
  Its called cooking the books.
  
  9 1
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  April 1, 2020 9:33am
  - Paulus
    
    Also called Creative Accounting – something Robertson would know about.
    
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    April 1, 2020 1:50pm
- Wayne Mapp
  
  He hasn’t lied.
  The govt accounts, since the Fiscal Responsibility Act, make a distinction between capital and income expenditure. Borrowing for capital expenditure is not considered to be a revenue expenditure. However, the interest will be.
  That is why you haven’t heard National complain about it. They know how govt accounts work.
  Fundamentally it is the same principle as a household. The capital sum borrowed to buy a house is not considered to be part of the annual expenditure of the household. The interest is the annual expenditure.
  
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  April 1, 2020 10:11am
  - david
    
    But Wayne, surely you will concede that debt is debt regardless of how the money is spent. Borrowing for buying a house and borrowing to buy Lotto tickets is still borrowing.
    So you must look at borrowing and spending with quite different lenses and not conflate the two.
    All borrowing attracts ongoing costs which are treated as revenue costs ( interest = tax deductible in the case of a business)
    
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    April 1, 2020 1:34pm
- KevO'Brien
  
  Our dollar rate will challenge them in due course as will prices–yo cant spend forever out of thin air.
  MMT has been tried in the past, its referred to as Weimar.
  
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  April 1, 2020 10:45am
Paulus

Why does Ardern appear to believe in her and her secret cohorts currently electioneering that the economy was well munted before the Virus, and we will give her a second chance to continue the failure of her and Peters’ Government ?
36 1
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April 1, 2020 8:34am
- DeepBlue
  
  Peters who? Where is he?
  
  14 1
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  April 1, 2020 9:36am
  - Tall Man
    
    Trying to hide the “winebox” the SFO is looking for …..
    
    11 2
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    April 1, 2020 10:18am
    - sooty
      
      .
      
      1 1
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      April 1, 2020 12:08pm
  - PhilBest
    
    Elderly heavy smokers like Winnie would be well advised to be deep in hiding at the current time.
    
    4 2
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    April 1, 2020 1:25pm
- Raphael
  
  Because a lot of people will vote for her because of feelz, and because she did a live stream in her PJs.
  
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  April 1, 2020 9:46am
Hollyfield

Feeling rather cross this morning.
I had a bubble of 2 in my household, following the rules around distance from other people. Yesterday my daughter was called into work, which expanded my bubble to around 150. The job is at a 5 star hotel delivering room service to people in quarantine, including those who have just arrived in NZ, and in recent weeks has included people who have tested positive and have been in isolation in their hotel room. Yesterday a woman who lives in the same city as this hotel checked into the hotel for a birthday treat for her 12 year old daughter. The hotel told her over the phone she couldn’t come, they told her in person when she turned up, but she demanded to check in because she had already paid.
1. a 12 year old does not need a stay in a luxury hotel as a birthday present
2. she could have cancelled at no cost at any time since last Monday when the lockdown was announced
3. where’s her kiwi ingenuity in coming up with another plan to give her daughter a fabulous and memorable birthday
4. lots of people have had to cancel events – weddings, birthdays etc
5. it’s actions like this that will result in the lockdown being extended past 4 weeks
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April 1, 2020 8:35am
- freethinker
  
  The lockdown will extend hence wage subsidies for 12 weeks.
  
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  April 1, 2020 9:14am
  - PhilBest
    
    I’m a firm believer that if everyone got a grasp of the dodgy statistical methods that have overblown the threat, and how unnecessary and “a cure worse than the problem” a total lockdown is, people-power could force an early end to the lockdown rather than an extension of it.
    
    The elderly and vulnerable should self-isolate.
    
    Everyone should practice good hygeine.
    
    Wellington CBD and Auckland CBD should be shut down for however long is necessary. Public transport use rationed.
    
    Everyone else and the entire “rest of the economy” should be back at work, going wherever they need to and doing whatever they need to.
    
    Keep doing what should have been done with international arrivals and immigration as the FIRST policy. For as long as necessary.
    
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    April 1, 2020 9:53am
    - KevO'Brien
      
      What are they going to do during the flue season next year–close down to January?
      
      8 2
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      April 1, 2020 10:47am
      - mikenmildagain
        
        Is the flue season when chimney sweepers are busiest?
        
        5 7
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        April 1, 2020 11:13am
      - Tall Man
        
        I suggested sweeping to avoid the “sooty Santa”….
        
        Well, that’s when the fight started 😉
        
        3 1
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        April 1, 2020 5:19pm
    - andydownhere
      
      Has anyone else thought about this?
      Adern says when the number of positive cases turns downward consistently,( graph line heading downwards) we can end the lockdown.
      But now she says Test test test. So more tests will probably return more positives, even if a much lower percentage of those tested.
      Shouldnt the graph be based on percentage of positives to number of people tested.
      A scientist on BBC last night said everyone will eventually have traces of the virus and the test is very sensitive so more and more people will turn up with it.
      And then more and more lockdown, same police state and George Orwell you have forseen the future
      
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      April 1, 2020 10:24pm
    - Papalazarou
      
      .
      
      0 0
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      April 2, 2020 5:42pm
    - Papalazarou
      
      I don’t understand why the Auckland and Wellington CBDs need to continue being shutdown in your scenario??
      
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      April 2, 2020 5:44pm
- Tall Man
  
  “Special person”?
  
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  April 1, 2020 10:17am
- tf78
  
  The most memorable birthday for a 12 year old would be to do nothing at all!
  
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  April 1, 2020 10:30am
Simon

So NZ has this health expert Bloomfield fronting every day.

Where is the economics expert?

So its important to have a health expert front but Labour will manage the economics themselves.

Bloomfield expert for health. Phil Twyford expert for economics.
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April 1, 2020 8:39am
- Tony Stuart
  
  The Epidemic Response Committee being chaired by Simon Bridges will hear evidence today from Grant Robertson and Phil Twyford. I am sure they will get a rigorous grilling, and they won’t be able to rely on Trevor Mallard to protect them.
  
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  April 1, 2020 9:09am
  - Tricati
    
    I suspect after Robbo gets a kicking today we will have numerous media reports of Bridges ‘politicizing’ the crisis and not acting in NZ best interest. Old union tactic of playing the man not ball.
    
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    April 1, 2020 9:15am
    - peterwn
      
      Simon will be well aware of this probability and will take care that Labour’s chances of politicising this will be kept to a minimum.
      
      6 1
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      April 1, 2020 12:40pm
  - GazzaW
    
    Given that there is a large proportion of the population captive in their homes it’s highly likely that the televised Committee meetings will become a not to be missed blood sport. Isn’t refreshing not to have the odious Mallard skewing the contest? I’m guessing that Robbo will be riding shotgun for Twyford this morning.
    
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    April 1, 2020 9:41am
  - Tall Man
    
    But they still won’t answer honestly and the media will ignore any negative detail that impacts ardern, the face that saved 80,000 lives …..
    
    5 3
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    April 1, 2020 10:15am
    - david
      
      Nash leaked the standard talking points to Hosking this morning.
      “After we have saved thousands of lives we will …..”
      “There is definitely a Plan but I can’t tell you what it is”
      “I am working incredibly hard writing a massive report”
      “We are investigating World Best Practice …..” in recovering from economic meltdown on a scale never before experienced ? Only China has ‘restarted’ their economy so what does that tell you.
      “There are a bunch of public officials with exciting and innovative ideas on how to manage the recovery after lockdown” Be really careful what you wish for … you might just get it.
      Given the above :
      “There is most definitely a plan that we are working to “
      
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      April 1, 2020 12:04pm
  - Captain Mainwaring
    
    Will the media be there, and if so will they report it accurately?
    
    3 1
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    April 1, 2020 10:40am
    - sooty
      
      [Since you have been banned for your comment here yesterday and continue to post today, your ban is now extended to the end of the Covid-19 lockdown. Mods.]
      
      1 2
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      April 1, 2020 12:10pm
- KevO'Brien
  
  They have that international rockstar economist AOC for guidance.
  
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  April 1, 2020 10:48am
Aunty

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hc8gYoXkLZ4
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April 1, 2020 8:42am
Padraig Payne

Why is the Police Commissioner effectively condoning Maori blocking roads? It sets a terrible precedent.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/wellington/120709069/visitors-go-home-locals-build-cordon-to-keep-outsiders-away-during-lockdown
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April 1, 2020 8:51am
- Odakyu-sen
  
  First you set up borders.
  Then you have your nation!
  
  13 1
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  April 1, 2020 9:45am
- PhilBest
  
  Would he have condoned Kiwis extralegally obstructing international arrivals and putting them on the next plane back out again? What’s the difference?
  
  4 3
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  April 1, 2020 9:54am
- sooty
  
  T
  
  11 1
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  April 1, 2020 10:12am
  - Michael NZ
    
    He’s a Christian.
    
    2 2
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    April 1, 2020 1:13pm
    - PhilBest
      
      Hmmmm…… an Elliot Ikilei kind of Christian or a Reverend Margaret Mayman kind of “Christian”?
      
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      April 1, 2020 1:27pm
- tf78
  
  I might try cordoning off our road and see how we go.
  
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  April 1, 2020 10:31am
hookerphil

How can they blatantly lie about this ? Easy – it’s what they do best.
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April 1, 2020 8:51am
MrTips

Dear diary
Day 7:
A week is long time in politics. Its #$%!@#@ 10x longer in public health by the look of it.
MrsTips does not agree that social distancing and the 2m rule specifically applies to mowing lawns and taking out the trash. Unfortunately, neither social distancing nor the 2m rule work for “the look”.
With all the efforts to understand the spread of COVID19, I undertook my own attempt at modelling. Unfortunately, the police did not agree that drinking beer in underpants on the front lawn was a valid way to go about this.
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April 1, 2020 8:56am
- Tall Man
  
  Your wife must be a saint … much like mine 🙂
  
  9 2
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  April 1, 2020 9:39am
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  Your need to subject your modelling to wider peer review.
  
  9 0
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  April 1, 2020 10:39am
  - Ed Snack
    
    And if he drinks too much beer, he might become a very liberal peer !
    
    7 0
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    April 1, 2020 10:46am
    - Tall Man
      
      You need another “e” … You know where” ⛄
      
      3 1
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      April 1, 2020 1:23pm
  - mikenmildagain
    
    Not something I’d want to peer at.
    
    4 4
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    April 1, 2020 11:18am
secondcumming

Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
After 9 years under John Key’s leadership, we found the country infected with the virus of ever increasing Chinese ownership.

We now wind up exposed and unable to look after ourselves as the coronavirus shows.
The last thing New Zealand needs is to have his protege as Prime Minister 😎
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April 1, 2020 9:01am
- Tall Man
  
  [Deleted – ott. Mod.]
  
  2 4
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  April 1, 2020 9:38am
  - Tall Man
    
    [You may consider “vindictive old drunk”and intellectually challenged ” are not abusive, but I have disagreed.
    
    Mods. have discussed banning you for your persistent abuse of other commenters and sooking when called up on it. This is a WARNING to stop both these practices. Abuse of other posters is against DPF’s commenting rules, so write that email to him you promised if you object.
    
    CHECK – your move. Mod @ 11:34]
    
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    April 1, 2020 11:03am
    - Brian McDonald
      
      Sooking?
      O dear, I thought it was compulsory for some posters.
      
      4 2
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      April 1, 2020 12:54pm
      - Tall Man
        
        Yeah I thought it was soaking which I have a crack at a couple of nights a week but I was wrong ?
        
        5 2
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        April 1, 2020 1:12pm
    - Tall Man
      
      [You’ve been given a warning – post following the rules and there will be no problems. Read the warning again to be sure if necessary. This is not your blog to run a popularity contest, so no. Mod]
      
      2 3
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      April 1, 2020 1:08pm
      - Tall Man
        
        Sorry, I may have called SC intellectually challenged as well.
        
        Hard to remember when it’s been “moderated” ?
        
        4 3
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        April 1, 2020 1:18pm
      - Tall Man
        
        You said ” check – your move “. That was my move. I justified my comments and was prepared to take it on the chin if others felt I had overstepped.
        
        In no way did I see it as a popularity contest.
        
        I see the blog as “our” blog under David’s rules, not your blog.
        
        To be honest, I really did not see my comments as abusive. I’d really like to know SC’s reaction to being called intellectually challenged although I’m not sure if I directed it at him or ardern. I don’t even think I have to explain who I called a vindictive………. ?
        
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        April 1, 2020 1:46pm
- KevO'Brien
  
  Self deception is the cruellest sort as it denies the opportunity to continue. To blame this on the previous Government is pitiful. That does mean you are truly lost without vision and hope. You are are too blind to see the present lack of ability in those who claim to member of HM Executive Council.
  There is a remedy.
  
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  April 1, 2020 10:56am
  - secondcumming
    
    Simon is quite capable of speaking for himself 😎
    
    https://twitter.com/simonjbridges/status/1169903122031865856
    
    1 7
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    April 1, 2020 11:15am
    - Tall Man
      
      As is ardern.
      
      https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=g9rsxFaq6Ig&feature=youtu.be
      
      3 2
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      April 1, 2020 1:16pm
      - KevO'Brien
        
        She needs a teleprompter if not talking to kindy kids.
        
        6 2
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        April 1, 2020 2:59pm
- Sacha
  
  @ secondcumming – I suggest that we would just be commenting on the end-of-summer colds sweeping the country if the dread word “Chinese” hadn’t been mentioned. People who stayed at home would be suspected of taking sickies, but would be back at work next week.
  Last year we were de-platforming apparently politically incorrect speakers. We were due for another media rave about something – we got it, and now look at where we are!
  
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  April 1, 2020 11:38am
Tony Stuart

National has been consistently a step ahead of the Government with regard to its calls for stronger measures against COVID-19.

On 17 March Simon Bridges called for New Zealand to “test, test, test”. On the same day, the Government released the first tranche of its stimulus package. Bridges called out Robertson on several measures, and was widely criticised for politicising the COVID-19 issue. His criticisms however have seen the Government pour billions more into what was an initially underwhelming response.

on 19 March, Bridges put out a presser. In part, it read thus:

Leader of the Opposition Simon Bridges has commended the Government for introducing a ban on indoor events of more than 100 people but says the Government needs to go further and close our borders to non-New Zealand citizens and permanent residents.

“The number of Covid-19 cases are increasing rapidly. We’ve seen enough internationally and in New Zealand to know that this is the right move,” Mr Bridges says.

“All 28 diagnosed cases in New Zealand have come from people travelling from overseas.

“I also continue to call for more urgency around testing. As the World Health Organisation said we need to ‘test, test, test.’ New Zealanders need an assurance that we have enough testing kits and capability at our pathology labs to support this.

https://www.national.org.nz/government_should_close_the_border

The Government did finally close the border, several days later. And yesterday, the testing criteria were widened, two weeks after the WHO called for countries to “test, test, test”, a call echoed by Bridges.

The COVID-19 select committee yesterday heard evidence from Otago University Professor and epidemiologist Sir David Skegg. Lo and behold, the wider testing crieria were announced several hours later, despite attempts by the Government’s go-to epidemiologist, Dr Wiles, to ridicule Sir David’s credentials.

Today, the select committee will focus on financial issues, and will hear evidence from Grant Robertson and Phil Twyford. Bridges received a good deal of credit for the way he chaired proceedings yesterday, and it will be interesting to see how today’s session goes.
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April 1, 2020 9:06am
- Poppa
  
  I know it is 1 April, but Twyford reporting on financial matters?? You have got to be joking
  
  34 1
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  April 1, 2020 9:13am
  - Tony Stuart
    
    I gather Twyford’s brief is infrastructure projects, to kickstart the economy when the lockdown ends. On the basis of Kiwibuild and Auckland Light Rail, one would have to question the wisdom of Twyford being allowed anywhere near vital projects!
    
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    April 1, 2020 9:19am
    - Aunty
      
      The best interests of New Zealand are served at this time by Twyford being sent out the back to do the dishes.
      
      14 1
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      April 1, 2020 9:45am
    - James Stephenson
      
      So if one wasn’t scared before, one certainly should be on hearing that.
      
      12 1
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      April 1, 2020 9:49am
    - tf78
      
      Why would the taxpayer, ratepayer, government consider doing such wasteful projects at this time. It’s just spending more precious money. Let local businesses get up and running with government receiving a trickle of taxes to start with, which will increase fairly rapidly. Then after the coffers have a little money gathered again start rolling out the necessary infrastructure projects. Once again bad timing and wasteful spending for the nice to have.
      
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      April 1, 2020 10:37am
    - KevO'Brien
      
      Is Twford reporting on house builds or aspiration from his envelope collection?
      
      7 1
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      April 1, 2020 10:58am
    - lastmanstanding
      
      I understand the Ministry of Works is to be reinstated with Twitford as the Minister.
      
      In a media statement the Minister said he was confident there would be no unemployment as the Ministry of Works was well placed to provide employment to all.
      
      6 1
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      April 1, 2020 1:49pm
      - KevO'Brien
        
        How many houses did Tywford achieve that have not had to be purchased by the State?
        
        Minister? Twyford?
        Hasn’t NZ previously had a MOW which has been completely dispersed for many years?
        
        5 1
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        April 1, 2020 3:04pm
- dave_c_
  
  Me-thinks this committee will soon be abandoned. The ‘correct answers/observations’ are not being delivered from it.
  
  19 1
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  April 1, 2020 9:14am
- Evadne
  
  Siouxsie Wiles is not an epidemiologist. She’s a microbiologist.
  
  14 1
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  April 1, 2020 9:15am
  - KevO'Brien
    
    Isn’t a microbiologist just an epidemiologist with a small mind?
    
    10 2
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    April 1, 2020 10:59am
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  despite attempts by the Government’s go-to epidemiologist, Dr Wiles, to ridicule Sir David’s credentials..
  
  Let’s be damn clear
  
  Assoc Prof Siouxie Wiles is not an epidemiologist.
  
  She does not research and publish in the field of the spread of infectious disease through populations.
  
  Unlike Sir David Skeggs and Prof Michael Baker, she lacks medical qualifications.
  
  Although she is a highly qualified Laboratory scientist, she is out of her field and level of expertise when discussing how an epidemic or a pandemic should be handled in NZ.
  
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  April 1, 2020 9:28am
  - Tall Man
    
    But …. she has pink hair and a “cool” name …… more than enough quals for the numpties.
    
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    April 1, 2020 9:37am
    - kowtow
      
      And the Media Pardy.
      
      14 1
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      April 1, 2020 10:53am
    - Jack5
      
      A cool name?
      
      Why do the more woken of the Woke purloin American Indian culture while they also sneer at sports teams using Indian symbols?
      
      The white Pocahontas Presidential candidate in America claimed she was Indian, and here we have an NZ resident white Englishwoman, with hair colour that would have got her scalped on the frontier, using the name of the Sioux alliance.
      
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      April 1, 2020 11:28am
  - UrbanNeocolonialist
    
    And she has opined with a lot plainly wrong dumb/stuff over last month or two backing the govt’s lack of action at every turn. Why does she still get air-time? Is it because her politics and positions always align with the govt/media?
    
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    April 1, 2020 9:43am
  - Gravelroad
    
    So also a member of the Labour Party then and another celebrity mate of the PM?
    
    10 1
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    April 1, 2020 9:57am
  - alex Masterley
    
    I have met Dr wiles, and heard her speak on her areas of expertise – microbiology. She is very good at that.
    On the other stuff she should stick to her knitting.
    
    24 1
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    April 1, 2020 10:00am
    - Wayne Mapp
      
      She has become the goto person for TV. She is good at that with the whole eccentric scientist thing and a bubbly personality. But she is not in the same scientific league as Sir David Skegg.
      
      She reminds me of Nigel Latta, who was the goto person for TV on all things scientific a few years ago. On many things it was obvious he didn’t actually know.
      
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      April 1, 2020 10:18am
      - Brian McDonald
        
        I agree about Latta, but Dr. Wiles’s basic tips didn’t go amiss and of course, like anyone else she was entitled to her opinion, bubbly or not.
        
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        April 1, 2020 10:49am
      - kowtow
        
        Not so much Latta , as the American TV fiction boffin in so many of those CSI /crime shows .
        
        I’m left wondering who copies who .
        
        Life imitating art as it were , and how clever is someone who slavishly apes what they see on the box .And yes to a greater or lesser degree we’re all dedicated followers of fashion……tp prove we’re not “square”
        
        hat tip The Kinks
        
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        April 1, 2020 10:58am
    - Tony Stuart
      
      Dead right. She’s not a Doctor in social policy, so she should leave ideas like a Universal Basic Income to the experts.
      
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      April 1, 2020 10:36am
      - tf78
        
        You mean like Gareth Morgan.
        
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        April 1, 2020 10:39am
  - Aunty
    
    That’s not entirely fair, Maggy. Siouxie is an expert in her field of microbiology which does cover viruses, and she knows a lot about infectious diseases. She also lectures at the Medical School in Auckland where she works and the main area of her research interest is disease-causing bacteria, antibiotics, and antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
    
    While it is true that she is not an epidemiologist – I don’t think she has ever claimed to be one and neither are doctors for that matter either – that’s just more the dumb lazy media making shit up – as a microbiologist scientist she does have a lot of informed things to say on the biology of this virus.
    
    A medical doctor quite frankly, doesn’t really have a lot to say about that, unless they are a specialist virologist. A medical doctor’s job is to deal with the clinical manifestations of what this virus does when it starts making people sick, not on the virus itself. When they want that information it’s the Suzies of this world and other scientists that they turn to for advice.
    
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    April 1, 2020 10:00am
  - KevO'Brien
    
    Is she a petri dish bug counter?
    
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    April 1, 2020 11:01am
  - JibberJabber
    
    Siouxies` specialist subject is Creutzfeldt Jakob by the looks of it.
    
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    April 1, 2020 12:33pm
- Brian McDonald
  
  I’ll play that game, Tony. Where is your proof that the test kits were available, and if so to what number – and that the extra use of them may not have dangerously depleted stock on hand if not used prudently?
  I think your politicking now, but if you’re not you’ll be able to answer the above – just as Simon will be able to.
  
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  April 1, 2020 10:15am
  - tf78
    
    There’s a meme going around. Conversation:
    One guy says: We have 28 cases of Corona virus.
    
    So how many have you tested?
    
    Answer : 28
    
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    April 1, 2020 10:43am
- Morphyoss
  
  Saying “test, test, test” only on the 17th March isnt going to build the labs, hire the staff required to increase testing capacity.
  
  Press releases do not create these things, they take time. No matter who the government of the day is, capacity limitations take time to work through and if National were in power they would be following the same advice from the same experts and civil servants on what plan of action to take.
  
  NZ per head of population is doing ok for testing, of course it could be better and it looks like it is improving quite quickly. It could also be much worse.
  
  However i guess the point of this is its easy to say things, but to actually make them happen is another thing. The opposition do have the luxury of hindsight and not actually having to do anything.
  
  Im sure if labour were in opposition, they would be picking the exact same holes too, which sadly is the nature of our politics.
  
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  April 1, 2020 10:29am
Simon

Not sure if this will get through moderation but in every crash there are always big company failures.

Picks for business failure:

Air NZ – just gone
Fletcher building – badly run
Auckland International airport – too much debt no revenue

Not sure about a few other companies – depends on level of debt.

Auckland City Council is heading for Administration unless the government starts printing a lot of cash.
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April 1, 2020 9:14am
- Tall Man
  
  Simon it’s not the loss of a few biggies that is the problem, although it is a problem, but it’s the loss of many small businesses that is the real risk and that is a given not a maybe.
  
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  April 1, 2020 9:34am
  - kowtow
    
    It was the same in the GFC . The illuminati have a list of “too big to fail” . If you can’t get on that list , you’re f#cked.
    
    BTW , we never really recovered from 2008 , it was said at the time the real solutions were kicked down the road and here we are now in an even bigger crisis, already rock bottom interest rates with hardly room to move and even more QE , on top of already massive QE , massive debt levels across the west both public and private ……..
    
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    April 1, 2020 11:03am
- artemisia
  
  Fletchers should be OK as they can scale up quickly for infrastructure projects. Their biggest problem likely to be workers heading to Australia for their bigger and more lucrative infrastructure projects.
  
  Including their mining projects, outputs are going to be in demand. Unlike New Zealand where our government wants to keep huge and valuable resources in the ground.
  
  Wellington Airport might be reasonably Ok as major owner Infratil is also going to be well positioned for infrastructure projects (it’s what they do) and should be able to do some repurposing pro tem.
  
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  April 1, 2020 10:46am
- KevO'Brien
  
  Air NZ cannot be let go as it is the NZ national flag carrier and without that we cannot have reciprocal landing rights some other international air travel arrangements. Govts have to have a stake in their flag carrier.
  
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  April 1, 2020 11:04am
MT_Tinman

This gentleman is talking of the UK but his message is important to New Zealand if we want a return to the way we want to live and prosper.
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April 1, 2020 9:15am
lastmanstanding

I fear Pravda TV and Pravda Radio will emerge even stronger from the current situation. The COL will pump in whatever it takes to ensure this.

Whilst the private MSM are mostly lefties with the exception of Hosking and before him Leighton Smith they are lone voices against a torrent of Leftie propaganda.

The Media is NZ is almost a conservative free zone following the “March through the Institutions” over the past four decades.

Those conservatives who value freedom over State command and control must be ever vigilant in these times.
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April 1, 2020 9:17am
- kowtow
  
  Peter Williams on magic talk is very good.
  
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  April 1, 2020 11:04am
Loddenthinks

At times I wish this platform would allow images to be posted, because there’s something very fishy about the way the COVID-19 cases are being illustrated.

Every time on TV, or in the MSM, we’re shown an alarming-looking graph showing the total number of cases over time. Time is compressed into weeks rather than days, even though in the early weeks there were no, or very few cases, but it really helps to show the hockey-stick effect when they came in thick and fast.

The graphs show an exponential growth in a relatively short space of time, and it looks like the numbers are heading for the stratosphere.

But if you take exactly the same data and present it as a bar graph, with each column representing the number of confirmed and probable cases each day, you get an entirely different picture. The reality is that for the last 6 days, the number of new confirmed and probable cases has DECLINED.

The curve is in fact being flattened, and if you go to https://thespinoff.co.nz/science/31-03-2020/coronavirus-charts-and-graphics/
you can see examples of both charts. The Spinoff needs to be updated, it only goes up to 29 March so a couple of days’ data yet to be mapped, but we already know the last two days have had fewer new cases reported. Nobody seems to have commented on this.

When you factor in that the borders have now been closed (well. they’re still pretty porous in some cases, but most arrivals from dangerous areas have been stopped) almost long enough for infected travellers to have been identified, and those who came into contact with them isolated, it’s unlikely we’ll see more large clusters emerge, so I expect this daily numbers to drop further.

But that doesn’t suit the narrative of stay home and shut up, does it?
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April 1, 2020 9:18am
- Poppa
  
  Great comment.
  
  I may an outlier here but I believe if we had closed the border properly when we should have this whole thing would have been solved without the economic carnage.
  
  Maybe have over 70’s stay home as well as sensible distancing
  
  Sweden are doing this & they will be much better off for doing so
  
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  April 1, 2020 9:29am
  - Sacha
    
    @ Poppa – And the herd immunity would be spreading among the young who are blatantly ignoring the rules.
    Like the young parents in the ’70s who had chicken-pox parties for their kids.
    Us oldies would be staying at home with the Panadol –
    
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    April 1, 2020 11:48am
  - Morphyoss
    
    Does anyone know if the arrivals with Covid-19 are mostly returning kiwis or are they visitors?
    
    If they’re mostly kiwis, then closing the border earlier probably wouldn’t have prevented much, if anything it could have brought those people back home earlier when the country was less prepared to receive them.
    
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    April 1, 2020 1:14pm
    - bruceavon
      
      It’s been only returning kiwis for ages.
      
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      April 1, 2020 1:44pm
- JackRabbit
  
  Those graphs would earn you a failed degree with all D’s. The graphs are of those tested positive who already had symptoms. As testing ramped up, so did the graphs.
  
  You could do the same with specific testing households for white tail spiders, and as you test you graph. Which would tell the public that NZ is being overrun by whitetail spiders and people are about to die in their homes.
  
  10 people die every week in NZ directly from the flu. If they started testing and graphing the flu, you would also get a hockey stick curve.
  
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  April 1, 2020 9:44am
- UrbanNeocolonialist
  
  It looks hopeful. But runs counter to experience of other countries where new cases rise for 2 weeks after shutdown. We peaked in just a few days. Likely it is because there was nearly no testing outside of narrowly defined contact criteria focused on overseas travel. If your policies prevent testing for potential community transmission you don’t find it. We will likely know either way in another few days.
  
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  April 1, 2020 10:10am
- tf78
  
  You will never know if you don’t do the tests. No tests no cases simple as that, it might look like a decline but I find it very hard to believe that we are declining – just not logical.
  
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  April 1, 2020 10:47am
- KevO'Brien
  
  The border tests can only alert us that some arrivals are infected. They tell us nothing about what already exists in our population. They give no information either about potential spread. (The maths don’t allow it.) That can only be gotten by repeated test sampling, like in voting, after time has elapsed. New arrivals are not random NZ population samples.
  
  The presentation has been the cumulative number of cases presented for testing. These being taken mostly from new arrivals the graph must be scary.
  
  The graph has no relevance and is possibly fraudulent as a representation of the NZ wide population frequency distribution of the incidence of COVID-19 infection in the age segments.
  
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  April 1, 2020 11:21am
Maggie Pie

My partner reckons Nanogirl is really hot.
Siouxsie…..meh, not so much.
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April 1, 2020 9:23am
- Tony Stuart
  
  When Siouxsie was on telly the other night, I noticed she was overdue for dyeing of her pink hair. There was a clear line of regrowth!
  
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  April 1, 2020 9:28am
  - cmm
    
    I thought the regrowth was the fashionable bit…
    
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    April 1, 2020 9:34am
  - tf78
    
    No hairdressers allowed to open – ScoMo was right again.
    
    8 2
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    April 1, 2020 10:48am
- MrTips
  
  Your partner needs to get to Specsavers.
  Nanogirl is even worse than Wiles.
  
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  April 1, 2020 10:24am
  - Tony Stuart
    
    Different strokes for different folks…
    
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    April 1, 2020 1:39pm
- kowtow
  
  Great Sean Connery 007 quote:
  
  …..blond or brunette …..
  
  Tiffany :And which do you prefer?
  
  Bond: Oh, providing the collars and cuffs match…
  
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  April 1, 2020 11:13am
- Fletch
  
  Yup, Nanogirl is quite nice. I think I saw her wearing a ring in one photo tho ?
  
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  April 1, 2020 11:17am
cmm

PriNZess said they have more ventilators on order.

Genuine questions:
1) Does anyone know how many were ordered?
2) Does anyone know when they will get here?

Given the global competition, I won’t believe they are going to be available until they are actually on NZ soil.
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April 1, 2020 9:37am
- G152
  
  Who (apart from the Chinese ) currently has the factory resources to make these ventilators while making them for their own people ????
  
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  April 1, 2020 9:50am
  - cmm
    
    We probably only need 500 to 1000 more.
    
    We could make them ourselves and at least on small industry group that I am part of is looking at this in Chch.
    
    These will be “Plan B” “good enough” devices for this pandemic only. They won’t be fancy.
    
    If there really are enough commercial units going to arrive in the next few days then we will probably not bother, but while there are just vague aspirations etc, we charge ahead.
    
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    April 1, 2020 10:54am
    - KevO'Brien
      
      These being medical appliances they will have to have the certifications required under the Medicines Act. There is an appointed regime for that only navigable by Big Pharma.
      
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      April 1, 2020 11:27am
      - Jack5
        
        We also have Fisher and Paykel Healthcare, with annual sales of $1 billion, a manufacturer and exporter of medical ventilation equipment.
        
        Since 2001 F&P Healthcare has spent $750 million on R&D.
        
        They ought to be involved in any NZ manufacturing initiative.
        
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        April 1, 2020 11:35am
      - cmm
        
        I am fully aware that there is paperwork and bureaucracy to overcome.
        
        We are not in the age of perfection. We are in the age of good enough.
        
        I think that under emergency conditions they might decide to waive some certification so long as the devices can be shown to do the job adequately.
        
        Which would you rather have:
        1) A ventilator that will most likely work and be 90% as good as a real one and give you a 90% chance of surviving.
        2) Nothing and a 0% chance of surviving..
        
        Tough choice.
        
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        April 1, 2020 11:36am
- stewmar
  
  PriNZess said they have more ventilators on order.
  
  Genuine questions:
  1) Does anyone know how many were ordered?
  2) Does anyone know when they will get here?
  
  PriNZess won’t know
  
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  April 1, 2020 9:56am
- cmm
  
  Those were genuine questions.
  
  Anyone know where I might get them answered. I figure that Healthline won’t help and PriNZess will confuse “really, really, wanting to get more” with actually having some in hand.
  
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  April 1, 2020 10:09am
- Brian McDonald
  
  The number of ventilators in public hospitals was released by Bloomfield yesterday, 533 from memory. 100 plus in private hospitals and some available from the military but yet to be tested for suitability. Don’t recall if there was a figure on the number ordered.
  
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  April 1, 2020 10:53am
  - cmm
    
    Yes, I am aware we have 500-600 or so. Some of those can be rejigged to ventilate between 2 and 4 patients, but perhaps not all will be able to do that.
    
    I did not see a number on order or an ETA. That is what I am trying to find out.
    
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    April 1, 2020 10:57am
    - KevO'Brien
      
      Any modification to such equipment would likely require re-certification under the Medicines Act.
      
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      April 1, 2020 11:29am
      - cmm
        
        During state of emergencies or whatever, these things can be expedited.
        
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        April 1, 2020 11:37am
      - Brian McDonald
        
        Ford in America has agreed to start mass-producing ventilators but no doubt America itself will be the first priority.
        
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        April 1, 2020 11:44am
      - cmm
        
        Yup, Dyson in UK: vaccum cleaners and fans to making ventilators in 2 weeks. 10,000 ordered by UK govt.
        
        A ventilator is a pretty simple device. Even modern hospital beds are more complex.
        
        For us to make 1000 is fully achievable.
        
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        April 1, 2020 11:52am
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  This RNZ item says 200 have been procured
  https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/413111/covid-19-nz-sources-more-ventilators-amid-rampant-global-demand
  
  No information as to whether they are here or still coming.
  
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  April 1, 2020 11:28am
  - cmm
    
    Thanks Maggy
    
    Did they think 200 were enough?
    
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    April 1, 2020 11:38am
    - UrbanNeocolonialist
      
      New York, with nearly 1% of population infected has about 1 ventilator per 1000 people, and is planning to increase greatly. We have about 1/10th that many.
      
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      April 1, 2020 2:21pm
Maggy Wassilieff

It is our Health workers who are going to be on the receiving end of infection statistics.

https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/coronavirus/humble-ny-doctor-who-led-miracle-surgery-on-conjoined-twins-dies-of-covid-19-complications/2351569/

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/30/nyregion/ny-coronavirus-doctors-sick.html
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April 1, 2020 9:41am
cmm

I can genuinely understand why the younger people have Corona parties. It makes perfect sense.

The government numbers suggest that most people will get infected and the impact on young people is low so why not just get infected now?

There are so many advantages:
1) If you get sick during the lockdown then so what? You’re wasting time anyway. You’ll be healthy again by the time the lockdown end and won’t lose time by getting sick after the lock down.
2) Lots of hospital resources available now if you need them. That might be more of a problem later.
3) It is cool to be able to say “I survived Covid” on your social media before everyone else. In a few weeks that could be boring.
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April 1, 2020 9:44am
- Blackface Twin Reverb
  
  Well, Chickenpox parties used to be a thing…
  
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  April 1, 2020 9:55am
  - cmm
    
    Quite. For most young people this Covid thing is only a bit worse than chickenpox.
    
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    April 1, 2020 10:58am
- Tall Man
  
  Personally I’d prefer a Stella party or maybe a Becks party.
  
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  April 1, 2020 10:59am
- lifesgood
  
  Can you get it more than once, though, and is it like flu in that it mutates and changes so you can get the mutation? Lots of questions to be answered.
  
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  April 1, 2020 11:27am
  - cmm
    
    Well if it mutates is it really Covid19 any more?
    
    But surely that is kinda irrelevant. If it mutates then the old one is still around. That means uninfected people are now open to two infections, not one.
    
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    April 1, 2020 11:54am
  - Sacha
    
    No-one knows if it mutates yet. We’ll know next year.
    If you have had it mildly, you will have developed antibodies to this particular version -and be contributing to Kiwi herd immunity.
    
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    April 1, 2020 11:56am
Tasman Terror

Although none of us wanted the virus, out of adversity comes opportunity: Isn’t it wonderful not to have the daily and nightly tirades from climate change activists? Can I humbly submit a definition for climate change activist? : An individual who promotes use of public transport but when asked can’t say where the local bus stop is.
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April 1, 2020 9:48am
KevO'Brien

An international report (NZ sourced):
https://www.rt.com/op-ed/484609-new-zealand-coronavirus-police-state/
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April 1, 2020 10:14am
- cha
  
  [Deleted – no need for the personal abuse. Mod]
  
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  April 1, 2020 10:28am
- rightoverlabour
  
  Yup…. Compare Germany 1933 to New Zealand March 2020… Some disturbing parallels.
  
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  April 1, 2020 12:02pm
cmm

Our cops could learn a thing or two from the South Africans on how to tackle lockdown breakers

https://youtu.be/UX_Z_yMm-SU?t=51
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April 1, 2020 10:33am
- rightoverlabour
  
  Don’t give them any ideas… But I am grateful I am living in New Zealand right now!!
  
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  April 1, 2020 11:59am
lastmanstanding

As someone else has posted it will be karma if Lab/Greens are re-elected. They will fail to repair the economy and drag it even lower into the mire. After another 3 years they will be tossed out for at least a decade whilst the Nats rebuild and restore.
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April 1, 2020 10:45am
- tf78
  
  Too hefty a price to pay – get rid of the rot now before it sets in. Three more years of this inept government it a far too big a burden to endure for a sustainable future.
  
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  April 1, 2020 11:06am
oldfella

I rate this as vile and unacceptable – the crime and the punishment. How can anyone do only 18 months in prison for such an horrific crime?
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/119927335/former-board-chairman-released-after-being-jailed-for-livestreaming-child-sex-abuse
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April 1, 2020 10:49am
- oldfella
  
  How can anyone downtick this? Maybe a commenter with similar interests? Sheesh!
  
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  April 1, 2020 11:28am
  - sooty
    
    .
    
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    April 1, 2020 12:24pm
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  And the chap was a JP.
  
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  April 1, 2020 1:36pm
  - MCos
    
    ‘ The multi-millionaire former chairman of an Auckland community board’
    and he got off lightly
    
    Well fancy that
    
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    April 1, 2020 3:58pm
rightoverlabour

This virus has no age limit 13 old dead in the UK. As for Italy slowing down, not yet by the looks of things with 830 new deaths over night. I know comparable stats between countries are iffy but I still think the lock down is necessary. The over reaction by the police is not warranted, nor was the closing of a whole bunch of shops etc when a more intelligent system could have been worked out.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/03/trumps-flags-tougher-coronavirus-curbs-live-updates-200330231121941.html

And I am sick of reading about what a wonderful job Jacinda is doing. Thank goodness Simon Bridges is chairing the Committee.
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April 1, 2020 10:51am
- cmm
  
  RoL: There are no age limits, but when you zoom out and take in the big picture this is still an old people’s disease just as pneumonia/flu is.
  
  The family reported no underlying medical issues, but the post mortem might show otherwise.
  
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  April 1, 2020 11:43am
  - rightoverlabour
    
    Generally speaking, I agree. However I still think it’s too early and we don’t actually have enough reliable, comparable data, and we still don’t know enough about the virus. I’d rather be cautious, than have a “Damn the torpedoes” approach. All my medical mates and family in Australia, South Africa and Italy have urged caution.
    
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    April 1, 2020 11:56am
  - Sacha
    
    @cmm – The patient was known to the local hospital. I have heard that there was a chronic lung condition – so even someone who was susceptible to the odd bronchitis would be at risk, and anyone who had lung conditions, or unstable heart failure would be in trouble almost certainly would require hospitalisation if infected.
    
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    April 1, 2020 12:05pm
  - MCos
    
    It’s not an ’old people’s disease’ at all. In fact in NZ it is more prevalent among young people. Around half those infected are younger than forty and a lot more younger than fifty.
    People older than seventy are more likely to be knocked around. And where do they pick up the infection, do you think?
    Who is actually spreading the virus?
    Chances are it’s the people who think it’s not them that’s going to be hit for six.
    
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    April 1, 2020 3:54pm
- krazykiwi
  
  Based on my research (stats from 8 days ago extrapolated forward) have been zero deaths in Italy for healthy under-40s. 99.2% of deaths have occurred in patients with one or more of these pathologies: high blood pressure, diabetes or heart disease.
  
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  April 1, 2020 4:51pm
Swifty

More lies and misinformation from Labour MPs:

https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/120705709/goverment-slammed-for-rising-minimum-wage

“However, Invercargill’s Labour List MP Liz Craig says much of the minimum wage increases are likely to be spent locally which will provide a boost to the Southland economy.”

A minimum wage increase does not boost spending – it merely moves money from one spender (an employer) to another spender (a wage earner) – with net spending unchanged.

Liz Craig – as an MP in the Labour Party (and previously a child poverty researcher) is it absolutely your prerogative to set economic policies but you must not lie to NZers of the purported benefits of such policies.

If the NZ Labout Party really wanted to do something positive for NZers they should bring in a law making it a jailable offence for NZ MPs to tell lies.
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April 1, 2020 10:52am
- barnacle bill
  
  Please also make that retrospective to the previous Government.
  
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  April 1, 2020 11:17am
- RW Capitalist
  
  it merely moves money from one spender (an employer) to another spender (a wage earner)
  Very true but look at where they spend as well
  Employee……on consumption a good example, if that employee buys an extra packet of biscuits, most of that money leaves the district (of Southland) in transport and to the factory in Auckland.
  
  Employers…spend their money on expansion of the business…largely employing more employees and expanding the capital retained in the district.
  
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  April 1, 2020 12:19pm
oldfella

The sickness of snitching. Another great article from the UK ‘Spiked’ site.
https://www.spiked-online.com/2020/03/30/the-sickness-of-snitching/
Spiked is also a great place for stories about freedom of speech, gender absurdities, and climate change hysteria – what’s not to like?
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April 1, 2020 10:58am
Prince

At this morning’s select committee, why does Kieran McAnulty (apparently a PM) keep twirling his pen around in the air. It seems to be the only input he has.
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April 1, 2020 10:59am
Maggie Pie

I heard on the ZB news “that a man had been arrested for spitting on Police Officers” 🙁
From experience, I’ve found this is never a very ‘Pakeha thing’ to do.
Just saying.
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April 1, 2020 11:01am
- Brian McDonald
  
  Canadians will not necessarily maintain constant eye contact, but it is considered a sign of dishonesty or insecurity if a person refuses to or is reluctant to make eye contact.
  Also scorned are some personal habits associated with other cultures such as clearing one’s throat aggressively, not wearing deodorant, burping in public, slurping, chewing with one’s mouth open or spitting.
  A number of Irish mates I’ve had often expressed whether they would or wouldn’t spit on the …..
  
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  April 1, 2020 11:18am
- RW Capitalist
  
  Spitting has always been considered assault.
  
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  April 1, 2020 12:20pm
Brian McDonald

Because Tony hasn’t answered yet.

Can someone show me the number of test kits available a month ago, compared to now?
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April 1, 2020 11:10am
- Happychappy
  
  30,000 in the country and 90,000 on order .
  https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12318319
  That the closest estimate from the Health Minister.
  
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  April 1, 2020 12:46pm
  - Brian McDonald
    
    Thanks very much.
    
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    April 1, 2020 1:00pm
  - cmm
    
    Any indication of the ETA on the “on order” units?
    
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    April 1, 2020 1:33pm
BeaB

What exactly are our exhausted, overworked, stretched, street hospital staff doing? They have emptied wards and cancelled non-urgent surgery.
So far we have 14 in hospital with Coronavirus.
I hope they are all training and preparing for the onslaught.
If there is one.
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April 1, 2020 11:22am
- BeaB
  
  That was meant to be ‘stressed’ not street.
  
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  April 1, 2020 12:02pm
- MCos
  
  Article from a few days ago you must have missed.
  
  ‘Dr Craig Carr, the New Zealand chair of the Australian and New Zealand Intensive Care Society, told the Herald hospitals were similarly racing to triple the number of staff trained to use ICU equipment like ventilators.’
  https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12319640
  
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  April 1, 2020 3:28pm
- Evadne
  
  I’ve heard that it’s so quiet some managers are encouraging staff to take annual leave. Other health employers are cutting staff hours/contracts.
  
  Even the Herald has noticed: the other day they reported on the GP practices that are in danger of going bust because there aren’t enough patients going through their doors.
  
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  April 1, 2020 5:36pm
Fletch

I see that some (eg, the media) are still critical of the words Trump used early on in which he seemingly doesn’t take the virus seriously enough. Well, Trump can only go on the the information he has from the experts. And one of the acknowledged experts is Dr Anthony Fauci. Even the media acknowledge his expertise. He is always giving press conferences, up there with Trump.

Well, in an interview on the 26th January, Fauci told the interviewer John Catsimatidis that America had nothing to worry about –

“It’s a very, very low risk to the United States,” Fauci said during an interview with radio show host John Catsimatidis.

“But it’s something that we as public health officials need to take very seriously… It isn’t something the American public needs to worry about or be frightened about. Because we have ways of preparing and screening of people coming in [from China]. And we have ways of responding – like we did with this one case in Seattle, Washington, who had traveled to China and brought back the infection.”

Fauci also said in the interview that the virus didn’t spread very easily or quickly.

https://thehill.com/homenews/sunday-talk-shows/479939-government-health-agency-official-corona-virus-isnt-something-the

You can hear the actual interview here (just over 8 minutes)

https://soundcloud.com/john-catsimatidis/dr-anthony-fauci-1-26-20

So, yeh. As I was saying. Trump can only go on the information he has at the time. If he wasn’t taking it seriously enough then it was because the experts were not either.
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April 1, 2020 11:24am
- mikenmildagain
  
  Did Dr Fauci tell Trump to say he could have the country opened up again by Easter?
  
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  April 1, 2020 12:55pm
skyblue

Has the lockdown been extended by a week already, hence 29 April, 5 weeks?
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April 1, 2020 11:25am
- kowtow
  
  I think the legal position is the level 4 emergency thingy is declared on a week to week basis , we’ve just doen week one , so gubmint have declared a new week which we are now in . It;s not an extension of the 4 weeks as such’
  
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  April 1, 2020 12:06pm
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  No the lockdown period has not yet changed.
  
  The state of National Emergency has been extended out for another week.
  
  They are 2 different things… explained here by the Director of Civil Defence & Emergency Management.
  (from 19:15min – Embedded video clip)
  https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/413135/covid-19-numbers-expected-to-rise-as-new-case-definition-issued
  
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  April 1, 2020 1:49pm
- Monique Watson
  
  We’re shelter in place until May 3rd.
  
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  April 1, 2020 1:52pm
bruceavon

Well I can’t believe it. Listening to the special committee to National MP’s arguing with the Labour finance minister to increase the amount paid in the wage subsidy scheme to workers. Interesting times. next they will demand a Universal Benefit.
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April 1, 2020 11:26am
- Tall Man
  
  Not even connected.
  
  Consider an employer with employees he respects and wants to retain but their average income is $70,000. Let’s say 10 employees. $14,000 wage bill per week, subsidy of $5860. Who funds the almost $40k shortfall for the month?
  
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  April 1, 2020 1:35pm
  - Brian McDonald
    
    It’s the reality now. On the other side of it, there are no jobs for your workers elsewhere right now. We all need to adjust.
    
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    April 1, 2020 1:47pm
    - Tall Man
      
      I know but that’s hard.
      
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      April 1, 2020 1:52pm
  - bruceavon
    
    Yes. I do understand. And I am kind of joking. It just seemed very strange to me having National argue for a bigger government payout on something with Grant Roberson. I agree with them. it will affect many people I know if they don’t. I think UBI will be inevitable too if we go on longer than 6 weeks. The big problem then is it will never go away.
    
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    April 1, 2020 2:05pm
    - Tall Man
      
      Until Simon Bridges leads the next government and New Zealand onto a smarter path.
      
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      April 1, 2020 3:21pm
kowtow

Interesting how the Media Pardy make such a big deal of “fact checking” every Trump utterance .

It would be great to see such transparency with the covid death rates ie died with or from .

Meanwhile in the info wars sphere I came across this from the Chinese Foreign minister s reuters ‘interview.

“When the H1N1 flu started in the United States in 2009, the virus also caused serious damage, affecting 214 countries and regions in the world. The US also needs to look back and learn from the experiences and lessons. All in all, public health is a common subject for the entire world. We need to work together to combine our strengths.”

That outbreak started in Mexico.

Where’s the Media Pardy on this and where are the hard questions on the wild life food trade , which is ongoing ?
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April 1, 2020 11:49am
Fletch

A buddy of mine down in Christchurch went for a wander near the river yesterday and he said there were lots of people there. Not sure how many people are taking this seriously.
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April 1, 2020 11:52am
- curry4me
  
  Fletch: It’s being taken seriously in Cashmere. Waves, smiles, and crossing the road to maintain social distance.
  
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  April 1, 2020 4:28pm
Fletch

According to a new study, the virus does spread through the air, and lingers even after patients have gone.

The killer coronavirus can spread through the air and remain contagious for hours, another study has suggested.

US scientists found high levels of the bug lurking in the air in rooms long after patients had left.

What’s more is that traces of the coronavirus were also discovered in hospital corridors outside patients’ rooms, where staff had been coming in and out.

The University of Nebraska researchers behind the study say the finding highlights the importance of protective clothing for healthcare workers.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8171521/Coronavirus-does-spread-air-lingers-rooms-long-patients-left-study.html
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April 1, 2020 12:03pm
- MrTips
  
  Fletch: that study said virus particles can cling to surfaces after aerosol ejection. Nothing new there. Further, detection of viral particles does not mean active virus either.
  
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  April 1, 2020 12:35pm
RW Capitalist

I wish to thank Chris Bishop for his help.
I finally got an answer to the question I sent MBIE regarding whether my business is an essential service.
Content of the EMail I received:
Kia ora John,
Thanks for your email.
Based on the information provided, your business appears to be essential.

You may continue to operate, as long as it is done in a way that limits the transmission of COVID-19 by taking the following measures:

· minimise, or eliminate if possible, physical interactions amongst staff and with and between customers,
· ensure appropriate health, hygiene and safety measures are in place, and
· restrict activity to only what is essential during the Alert 4 period.
These practices may include:
· working from home as far as possible,
· limiting, or eliminating if possible, physical interaction between staff, e.g. through physical distancing, split shifts, staggered meal breaks and flexible working arrangements,
· limiting, or eliminating if possible, physical interaction with and between customers, e.g. through online or phone orders, contactless delivery or managed entry (while also avoiding crowding outside), and physical distancing both inside and outside the premises,
· hygiene basics of handwashing and sanitisers,
· frequent cleaning of premises, especially counters and EFTPOS terminals, and other high-touch surfaces, and
· using protective equipment for staff as appropriate.
Please continue to check the COVID-19 website for updates at https://covid19.govt.nz.
Kia kaha.

Sofia Etchegoin
Investment Coordinator
Essential Services Covid-19 Response Team– https://covid19.govt.nz
15 Stout Street, Wellington 6140 | New Zealand

I know it was Chris who got this done because:
1. I EMailed him and asked for help.
2. The above EMail was Cced to him.
My Email to Chris Bishop was sent at 5.01pm yesterday and by 8.30pm I had my answer.
My original question was sent 12.44pm on the 26/3/20.
Again thank you Chris.
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April 1, 2020 12:11pm
- Swifty
  
  Excellent.
  
  Good news RWC.
  
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  April 1, 2020 3:35pm
  - RW Capitalist
    
    Already booked some appointments.
    
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    April 1, 2020 4:54pm
Fletch

In a tweet, Jacinda says the country has 18 million masks in reserve and that 80,000 are being made every day.

This is a factory in Whanganui churning out face masks to help keep our essential service workers safe. They can produce at least 80,000 masks a day (including those our frontline health workers need) and with new machinery due in coming weeks and months they will be able to double production. Add to that the 18million masks we already have in our national reserves and we’re well stocked. The Ministry of Health is working to get those distributed as we speak (more than 600,000 went out to DHBs yesterday). In the meantime, enjoy watching them roll off the line right here in NZ.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B-OUc3lAgC7/
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April 1, 2020 12:20pm
- RW Capitalist
  
  Is that the only machine working?
  1 per second
  it will be working 24/7 to get close to 80000 per day
  machines like this, need adjustment to keep them operating accurately.
  machines like this, need routine maintenance to keep them breaking down.
  So 80000 per day, every day, from this machine is just not credible.
  Personally, watching this video.
  This machine (line) would need to be stopped for 1/2- 1 hr per day to check all adjustments to keep it going.
  perhaps 2-3hr min per week (at 24/7 operation) in routine maintenance to prevent breakdown.
  So maybe10hr per week, non operational.
  So 158 operation hrs per week not 168.
  So average of 75 250 per day at best, operating 24/7
  
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  April 1, 2020 12:45pm
Zed

Even RT (RT for crying out loud!) is calling NZ a police state:

https://www.rt.com/op-ed/484609-new-zealand-coronavirus-police-state/
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April 1, 2020 12:41pm
kowtow

Oh dear .

“‘This is not the big one’: Virologist says prepare for worse”

https://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/not-big-one-virologist-says-prepare-worse
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April 1, 2020 12:45pm
- Brian McDonald
  
  He’s positive about NZ if you read it. I believe he was on TV on Sunday night. This has been his baby for a long time and see in the article he zoomed in on ‘wet markets.’ That’s something for all trading partners to unite on.
  
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  April 1, 2020 1:44pm
cmm

“Stuart-Black said the police focus remained on maintaining public order, and officers were speaking to people and groups who were obstructing roads to ensure people don’t enter their area.”

So it sounds like Hone’s Angels still get help running their roadblocks but everyone else is getting a talking to.
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April 1, 2020 1:26pm
Tall Man

Now, before I get the flick, has anyone got a really tasty non sourdough wholemeal or similar non bread maker bread recipe that doesn’t need a ton of nuts or seeds.

A link would be awesome thanks.
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April 1, 2020 1:28pm
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  I make a basic bread every couple of days…
  
  1. Activate 1 tspn of yeast powder in a half cup of luke-warm water to which a quarter tspn of sugar has been added. (If yeast is alive… you should get frothing within 5-15 minutes)
  
  2. Place 3-4 cups of plain white flour into a bowl
  
  3. Add 1 teaspoon of salt to the flour
  
  4. Add yeast mix to flour and just enough extra water (should be around another half-1 cup) to form a stiff dough.
  
  5. Work the dough with your hands until it can form a complete ball or log or brickshape. (knead the dough)
  (I do this on a lightly floured pastry block)
  
  6. If baking in a loaf tin, grease( I use plenty of oil) the tin thoroughly.. place bread dough into bottom third of the tin.
  
  7. Cover the loaf tin with a damp teatowel and place in a warm location.
  
  8. When bread dough has risen to top of loaf tin place the bread into an oven at 180deg C.
  
  Bake for 30-50 minutes.
  
  I’m lazy, so..
  I don’t spend more than a few minutes kneading the dough (our flour doesn’t need it)
  I don’t do a double rising..
  I don’t preheat the oven
  
  I’ve sometimes forgotten the bread is baking…and even after 1 hour baking, it’s perfectly acceptable (bit crusty)
  
  You can vary the quantity of white flour:wholemeal flour… half:half or 3c wholemeal: 1c white flour.
  But pure wholemeal is sometimes slow to rise.
  
  Don’t forget to add the salt.
  
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  April 1, 2020 2:10pm
  - Steve Otto(North Shore)
    
    Knead the dough. Wonder if sweet cheeks reads this blog? There is his solution
    
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    April 1, 2020 3:02pm
    - sooty
      
      Thanks Maggy!
      
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      April 1, 2020 3:10pm
  - Stu2
    
    Haven’t seen yeast for sale for weeks
    
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    April 1, 2020 3:09pm
    - alex Masterley
      
      Last week when I was in the supermarket, I saw some yeast and bought it. Haven’t got to the bread making stage just yet but if we do it’s there.
      
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      April 1, 2020 3:39pm
      - Tall Man
        
        This looks easy ish.
        
        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m08i8oXpFB0&app=desktop
        
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        April 1, 2020 3:52pm
    - Tall Man
      
      Same here. Had an unopened jar here that expired 2013 (back of the pantry with a house move thrown in) which I tried with pizza dough and it was alive but probably about as active as ardern’s mind so grabbed a bit from the neighbour (thrown over the fence while I held back the live wire) for the recipe below.
      
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      April 1, 2020 3:51pm
    - rangitoto
      
      You can use wild yeast. It takes a while to build up a useful quantity though. Search the interwebs for instructions.
      
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      April 1, 2020 4:10pm
      - Tall Man
        
        Sourdough?
        
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        April 1, 2020 8:41pm
  - Tall Man
    
    Awesome, much appreciated Maggy.
    
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    April 1, 2020 3:23pm
    - Tall Man
      
      Trying this one at the moment.
      
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m08i8oXpFB0&app=desktop
      
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      April 1, 2020 3:48pm
      - Maggy Wassilieff
        
        Four 45-min resting periods!!
        You gotta be joking.
        
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        April 1, 2020 10:22pm
- kowtow
  
  Irish soda bread .
  
  Talking of baking anyone else found a shortage of surebake or active yeasts and total absence of high grade flour ?
  
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  April 1, 2020 4:08pm
  - krazykiwi
    
    Yes!
    
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    April 1, 2020 4:35pm
Monique Watson

The Government is still NOT testing at the border! You can’t trace if you don’t test.
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April 1, 2020 1:49pm
Fletch

With so much news being a bummer, John Krasinski (The Office, Jack Ryan, A Quiet Place) has put together a low tech YouTube channel featuring only good news.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5pgG1M_h_U
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April 1, 2020 1:51pm
kowtow

Anyone else noticed how much more dog shit’s being left on city footpaths ?

Here’s one for you pet owners , don’t get too touchy feely with Tabs…..

‘For the first time, a pet cat has tested positive for Covid-19. It belongs to a confirmed coronavirus patient.

It’s the third animal to be infected in Hong Kong, following two earlier cases in which two dogs tested weak positive or positive during repeated tests for the virus.’

https://news.rthk.hk/rthk/en/component/k2/1518084-20200331.htm
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April 1, 2020 2:05pm
- sooty
  
  S
  
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  April 1, 2020 3:09pm
- GoVege
  
  How do you get your cat to observe lockdown?
  My kitty went missing for a week a year or so ago.
  When I went searching for him, I was amazed at how far afield he had been spotted!
  
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  April 1, 2020 8:38pm
Cobolt24

Government could end up part-owning dozens or even hundreds of big businesses| Stuff
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/120726482/government-could-end-up-partowning-dozens-or-even-hundreds-of-big-businesses
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April 1, 2020 3:02pm
- krazykiwi
  
  What a scary thought. No government, particularly this one, should own businesses.
  
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  April 1, 2020 4:35pm
curry4me

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfK7NE6CN-M
Modi calls for a post globalist world order. Many of the globalist ideas have become casualties of the CCP virus. Open borders heve quickly closed. Nationalism, and populism are roaring back into fashion.
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April 1, 2020 3:28pm
Stu2

After the presentation of results today from the US Coronavirus model I tried to track the model documents down, but they do not appear to have been released

I was curious what assumptions have been made on transmission and mortality rates, and how it deals with people without health insurance
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April 1, 2020 3:29pm
- Stu2
  
  I’ve found the University of Washington site https://covid19.healthdata.org/projections
  
  Dr Chris Murray has been involved in the model the White House is using
  
  I haven’t found what the Washington model is using for mortality or transmission, but what it does is interesting – for either the entire USA or individual states it works out when the case peak is, and works out whether hospital beds, ICU beds and ventilators are sufficient
  
  I saw him interviewed – the USA version assumes all states issue stay at home orders within a week, but who knows what Florida or Texas will do.
  
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  April 1, 2020 4:39pm
Nickc2

OOps, wrong brand of Communism. How could they get that wrong? True colours shown?
https://www.michaelsmithnews.com/2020/04/wharfies-refuse-to-unload-medical-supplies-from-china.html
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April 1, 2020 3:30pm
Swifty

Anyone knowledgeable on Solid Energy’s charcoal products?

I’ve been buying the stuff for decades for the bbq.

Over the years I’ve found clearly treated timber, as evidenced by still faintly legible treatment stencil markings, very regular shapes reminiscent of timber products not natural woods and today, lo and behold, a great 3-inch woodscrew all black and carbonised!

Are Solid Energy making this stuff here, or bringing it in? Either way, I thought it a big no-no to cook off treated timber.

Heating yes, cooking – hell no.
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April 1, 2020 3:32pm
- Ed Snack
  
  Swifty, using H1 treated (Boric) should be no issue as the treatment should disappear in the charcoaling process. But H3 and above (Copper/Chrome/Arsenic) should never be used as the heavy metals can accumulate. They don’t leach except in very low amounts under normal use, but when burnt the volatiles are driven off and the metallic elements remain.
  
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  April 1, 2020 3:55pm
  - Swifty
    
    Thanks Ed.
    
    Should I trust their charcoal from now on do you reckon?
    
    I feed my kids from it.
    
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    April 1, 2020 4:56pm
- rightoverlabour
  
  Only buy charcoal from Africa. Most of the charcoal is denser and is natural hardwood. No chance of contaminants, and it lasts longer. Many supermarkets stock it.
  
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  April 1, 2020 6:18pm
  - kowtow
    
    Crikey , how sustainable is that ?
    
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    April 1, 2020 6:49pm
  - Rich Prick
    
    Greta will be shaking with impotent rage, turning blue and at risk of expiring early. Carry on.
    
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    April 1, 2020 10:13pm
Ed Snack

Interesting difference of opinion – I see that NYC medical staff are saying that transmission is “mostly from asymptomatic carriers” yet as recently as early march WHO was saying that the Chinese experience was that as little as 1% of the transmission was from such people.

Wonder if this is resolved as it does make a big difference to policy settings.
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April 1, 2020 3:58pm
oldfella

This is like bullies asking those they bullied not to punch back now the tables have turned. Tough.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/120726352/coronavirus-farmers-venting-online-asked-to-dialdown-the-hate
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April 1, 2020 4:19pm
- Nickc2
  
  Go farmers! Hang these bastards out to dry for the contemptuous ideological fools they are. Start with the Harem of Green MPs. You will know them, they are the ones that want to take your farms under a nationalisation regime and turn them into legalised drug growing plantations.
  
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  April 1, 2020 4:52pm
- Surely Knott
  
  Just read the article. The comments from the farmer didn’t seem vitriolic in the least. They were fair points respectfully expressed. Yes he pointed out that Shane Jones had called them rednecks, and that the government had supported tourism, and pastoral land being used for tree planting and now farmers were once again left carrying the load. Why shouldn’t a farmer or anyone else be allowed to put forward their point of view or criticise the government? I’ve seen the posts on facebook too – if you haven’t been through a massacre a pandemic etc don’t criticise Jacinda. What?! Jacinda is the prime minister. We are allowed to have opinions on the policy and the performance of our government including hers.
  
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  April 1, 2020 5:34pm
  - hilaryt
    
    Quite. The govt is there at our grace & favour…not the reverse. Has she asked for forgiveness or thanked the populace for our forebearance at a tough time?
    
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    April 1, 2020 5:47pm
  - Rich Prick
    
    Farmers should tell Shane “we’ve downed tools, how do you feel about that you fat blowhard? Spiders and flies can be nutritious.”
    
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    April 1, 2020 10:11pm
- Prince
  
  This Government is not mature enough to accept criticism without hitting back in some way.
  Organisations like Ag Proud are scared shitless they may miss out on briefings and conferences if they speak out.
  Imagine if the last National-led Govt refused to deal with Salvation Army, Womens’ Refuge etc because they voiced their opinion loudly.
  It’s called democracy, but we are losing it quickly.
  
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  April 1, 2020 8:29pm
Kabull

Sorry if this has already been posted, but its a must-watch. ‘One Day More’ from Les Miserables adapted to the current pandemic.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdcS0Nbo7Ng
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April 1, 2020 4:38pm
RW Capitalist

Stupid things, I am still seeing.
Reports, supposedly with camera men in tow, standing on a beach (alone) with Queenstown in the background, telling stories of covid 19.
How is the location relevant or essential?
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April 1, 2020 4:59pm
Padraig Payne

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/coronavirus/120746934/coronavirus-dr-lance-osullivan-says-lockdown-in-kaitaia-a-joke

Sorry you are allowed to go to the dairy “to buy a pie and an ice cream”. FFS
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April 1, 2020 6:09pm
- Tall Man
  
  “Former New Zealander of the year, he’s still a New Zealander of the year, just a specific year.
  
  What a smug arsed answer from ardern.
  
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  April 1, 2020 9:44pm
- Rich Prick
  
  I bet the brothels are still open though, we all know who runs them in Northland.
  
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  April 1, 2020 10:07pm
- andydownhere
  
  Dr Lance Know All
  
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  April 1, 2020 10:11pm
Rich Prick

Effectively immediately I have blocked SH1 and SH2 into Wellington. End of, no question. You will be intimidated by my thugs should you try. Please don’t be tempted to run my thugs over, they’re Police endorsed. How else do we get the P into the region?

Oh, wait, I’m not brown enough to get away with that.
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April 1, 2020 10:00pm
- Rich Prick
  
  Conversely, I was thinking of doing a run to Martinborough to pick up some beautiful wines for the cellar that you just can’t get in the supermarkets. I guess I’ll end up in a Police cell. I’m just not brown enough.
  
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  April 1, 2020 10:18pm

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