Stuff reports:

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has decided to suspend Parliament sitting for a week as the Delta outbreak continues to infect more people. …

“At level 4, the last thing you want is 120 people converging from all parts of New Zealand into Wellington,” he said.

That’s a nonsense argument. It is trivial to get agreement to have only a small number of MPs attend, say 20 – 30, just for question time.

She said ministers would still appear before televised select committees and she had instructed Labour members on those committees to allow the Opposition to have the bulk of the questions.

She did not answer when asked if she would make herself available to appear before a select committee.

Of course not.

No other western Parliament I know of is being suspended. Australia’s House and Senate are still meeting. The House of Commons and Lords are meeting. The US House and Senate are meeting. And in Canada they are actually having an election campaign. Yet in NZ the Prime Minister has decided that the House must be suspended.

And to put this into further context, here are the number of new cases for each country in the last day:

• UK 31,914
• US 7,909
• Canada 915
• Australia 892
• New Zealand 38

Yet it is New Zealand Prime Minister who has declared the health risk is too great to allow MPs to meet to hold question time!

The Guardian reports:

Tony Blair has warned that the return of the Taliban will see “every jihadist group round the world cheering”, as he said that there was now a moral obligation for Western troops to stay until all those eligible are evacuated from Afghanistan.

I agree, and we should immediately announce we will take 1,000 refugees from Afghanistan on top of our normal quota.

In a lengthy essay published on his website last night, the former prime minister who ordered British troops to join the US-led invasion said that the hasty withdrawal had been a “tragic, dangerous, unnecessary” decision that undermined the West’s aims. He accused US President Biden of being motivated by “an imbecilic political slogan about ending ‘the forever wars’, as if our engagement in 2021 was remotely comparable to our commitment 20 or even 10 years ago”.

Imbecilic is a bit undiplomatic!

I heard on a US podcast that no US serviceperson had died in Afghanistan in the last 15 months and this is correct. Over 20 years there have been 2,500 killed but in recent years there was a form of stability that had seen few US casualties. The data since 2015 is:

• 2015: 10
• 2016: 9
• 2017: 11
• 2018: 13
• 2019: 17
• 2020: 4
• 2021: 0

Even those wounded has only totalled three since February 2021.

Biden’s overall approval rating has fallen to under 50% for the first time and that specifically with reference to Afghanistan only 31% approve of his handling.

The Miami Herald reports:

Dissenting on social media is now a crime in communist Cuba after the government on Tuesday published sweeping legislation labeling those who criticize the government as cyberterrorists.

Now that’s a hate speech law. If you hate the regime, you go to jail.

Those who use social media to oppose the government or “subvert the constitutional order” risk being treated as “cyberterrorists,” according to the new Ministry of Communications’ Resolution 105. Calls to “alter public order” and “promoting social indiscipline” are considered attempts at social subversion with a “very high” level of danger.

Sharing content “that violates the constitutional, social and economic precepts of the State” or “incites mobilizations or other acts that alter public order” is considered a “highly dangerous” incident, as is spreading false news, offensive content, or content that damages the country’s reputation.

Being opposed to prison time for subverting the constitutional order or social and economic precepts of the state is like being opposed to prison time for saying offensive things that the Government deems hateful

Andrea Vance writes:

While New Zealand was free of community transmission, the Government took a leisurely approach to vaccination.

It was slow to order the vaccine, with the first shipment arriving in mid-February. At that point, Britain had given 15 million people their first jab.

Only one vaccine – Pfizer – is approved for use. Two are provisionally approved – the single dose Janssen jab, of which we have no supplies, and AstraZeneca, which experts don’t expect will be used anytime soon here.

As a consequence, the majority of us are unprotected. Worse than that, the roll-out had to be temporarily paused because of poor planning.

Australia’s programme is on a painfully slow par. And yet, even as Prime Minister Scott Morrison was apologising for the delays, NZ ministers were congratulating themselves for meeting their own arbitrary deadlines.

And we are yet to order any booster shots.

Last week Ashley Bloomfield said there was now a well-developed ICU network across the country.

And yet specialists have warned that emergency departments were at capacity, even before the outbreak.

Sure enough, just a few days into this outbreak many parts of the health system were under significant strain. As of Friday, an Auckland ED was closed, testing centres were struggling to cope with demand, swabs running low and PPE supplies again in question.

Did we increase ICU capacity over the last 18 months? Did we stockpile enough PPE gear? Did we stockpile enough swabs for testing? Answer to all is no.

Self-collecting saliva testing is still not available to the public, despite being widely used overseas and much more convenient. It was only introduced as an option for border workers last month.

It has been used sucessfully overseas for over a year.

These are failings that were foreseeable and are unforgivable. We are yet to learn how the variant penetrated New Zealand’s defences, but the most obvious pathway is a border incursion.

So for now, we will do out bit. Stay home, mask up, relinquish our freedoms and hope the consequences of a lockdown are not too severe.

The responsibility to stop the spread is once again on us – because the Government failed to play its part.

The Government deserves good marks for its lockdowns, but poor marks for most other areas.

Newshub reports:

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield have hinted that Auckland’s COVID-19 lockdown could last until the end of the month. 

I’ll be amazed if Auckland’s lockdown doesn’t stay in place for at least two weeks.

What is harder to judge is the rest of the country. Even if Level 4 is lifted next week, it may only move to Level 3, which is still a lockdown.

The big gap is between Level 2 and Level 3. Level 1 and Level 2 are both relatively free and Level 3 and Level 4 are both heavily restrictive.

It is possible nowhere in NZ will get back to Level 2 or 1 until September.

Let’s just hope the number of cases peaks soon.

Stuff reports:

The head of Oranga Tamariki and two senior judges intervened in a part-heard Family Court hearing into the future care of a five-year-old girl in Hawke’s Bay, earning a sharp rebuke from the presiding judge, who said their actions were inappropriate and any communication would be “a breach of judicial independence”.

Sir Wira Gardiner, who was the acting chief executive of Oranga Tamariki at the time, communicated with the Chief District Court Judge Heemi Taumaunu and the Principal Family Court Judge Jackie Moran, who serve as the Heads of Bench, to relay his concerns about the behaviour of Judge Peter Callinicos.

Judge Callinicos was hearing a case in the Family Court in Napier involving Oranga Tamariki staff who wanted to remove a young Māori girl from the Pākehā couple who had cared for her for the past three years, over concerns that they could not meet her cultural needs.

Sir Wira appeared to have been concerned about the way the judge questioned social workers during the first part of the hearing, held in March. He claimed that Judge Callinicos had “bullied” Oranga Tamariki staff giving evidence at the hearing, according to documents obtained by Stuff.

It is hard to understate how serious this is.

A court case was underway to the detriment of a government agency,. The acting head of the agency contacted the Chief DIstrict Court Judge to complain about the Judge, while the case was still underway.

Firstly it was quite wrong for the Acting CE of Oranga Tamariki to approach the Chief District Court Judge.

But that pales in comparison to the actions pf the Chief District Court Judge who actually tried to intervene in the case. That is behaviour unacceptable from the most junior judge, let alone the Chief District Court Judge.

The full nature and extent of the discussions is unknown. They involved meetings between the Heads of Bench and Oranga Tamariki in late April and early May, as well as a phone call and letters.

The Heads of Bench did not tell Judge Callinicos of the communications until later, according to court minutes.

When they contacted Judge Callinicos to convey the concerns, he reminded them that it was inappropriate for them to approach a presiding judge to discuss any aspect of a part-heard case. They should refrain from doing so as it was a breach of appropriate judicial independence and judicial conduct, he said.

This is incredible. The only response from the Chief District Court Judge should have been to tell OT that their approach was inappropriate any issues around the Judge’s handling of a current case should be raised in open court by lawyers, or later by way of appeal

But instead the CDCJ met with OT on multiple occasions, and tried to pressure the Judge to go easier on the OT staff.

Judge Callinicos, thankfully, did the right thing and resisted the pressure, and basically told off the CDCJ for breaching judicial independence.

The fact that the CDCJ could not work out for himself that his actions amounted to judicial misconduct must call into question whether he can continue is his role.

Either the Attorney-General should refer this issue to the Judicial Conduct Commissioner, or the Commissioner should launch an investigation on his own initiative.

Stuff reports:

There is a brewing standoff over whether Parliament should come back next week under level 4, with Judith Collins saying if Breakfast TV could be filmed she couldn’t see why Parliament shouldn’t sit.

Collins said she was fine with the House being suspended for a week but didn’t see why it should stay out of action throughout level 4.

“It’s quite alright for Parliament not to sit next week, but Parliament should sit the week after. We are a democracy,” Collins said.

Of course Parliament should sit. It can be done with reduced numbers and hours, but it it vital the Government remains accountable to Parliament.

He said a decision would not be made on the House until after Cabinet met on Monday.

It’s understood the Prime Minister will then use her powers under Standing Order 55 to suspend Parliament for that week, if advised to do so by Health Director General Dr Ashley Bloomfield.

It is totally inappropriate to use the DG of Health for cover, for what is a political decision.

“Other countries in the Western World have been able to operate Parliament during pandemics.”

“Why do we have Breakfast TV? Why do we have The Project on but we can’t have Parliament on in level 4? It’s hard for me to accept that Breakfast TV and The Project are more important to the democracy of New Zealand than a Parliament.”

Exactly.

Michael Morrah reports:

Newshub can reveal more than 3000 hospital workers in Auckland – the epicentre of the Delta outbreak – still haven’t had a single vaccine jab.

It comes as a nurse with COVID-19 was infectious for four days while at work at Auckland City Hospital, and staff were exposed to an infected patient at North Shore Hospital.

Hospital staff are part of vaccination group 2. They are deemed high-risk and have been able to get a vaccine since March.

There should have been a simple policy in place from earlier this year – all DHB staff must be vaccinated due to the nature of their jobs.

The Herald reports:

Immigration Minister Kris Faafoi held a virtual meeting with counterparts from other Five Eyes countries on Wednesday, where the plight of Afghan refugees was discussed.

After the meeting, the UK announced it will take 20,000 refugees in recognition of the “debt of gratitude” the UK owes Afghanistan, said Prime Minister Boris Johnson. …

The UK is the second Five Eyes country to pledge to resettle more Afghan refugees. This week, Canada promised to settle more than 20,000 Afghans from groups it considers likely targets of the Taliban. …

Faafoi’s office said there haven’t been any discussions about a separate refugee system for Afghan nationals in conjunction with other partner countries beyond the United Nations refugee programme. New Zealand had no plans to change its current intake.

This is appalling inaction. There are hundreds of thousands of Afghans who are fleeing the Taliban. Already there are stories of executions and torture.

In 2015 the Key Government announced it would take in 600 Syrian refugees (above the normal quota) in response to the humanitarian disaster in Syria. In 2000 the Shipley Government took in 400 refugees from Kosovo above quota.

This is not, or should not, be about politics. It should be about doing the right thing.

Sir Michael Cullen has died of cancer, aged 76. It was well known he had terminal cancer.

Dr Cullen, as he was most well known as, was one of New Zealand’s most substantive politicians of the last 80 years. You didn’t have to agree with him, to appreciate his talent as both a parliamentarian and a Minister.

His two major legacies will be KiwiSaver which has over $62 billion in it and the Cullen Fund which has over $45 billion in it.

I recall working as an opposition staffer in the early 2000s and often Cullen would have half the staff in the leader’s office in fits of laughter as he skewered some poor National MP who was trying to take him on.

Cullen was no saint (but who is), but he was regarded as a very good Minister to work for. Many of his former staff speak highly of him.

My thoughts are with his family, friends and colleagues.

Vice reports:

Nathan J. Robinson, editor-in-chief of the socialist magazine Current Affairs, has fired most of its staff for trying to start a worker co-op, workers wrote in a letter posted on Twitter on Wednesday morning. 

“We, the former full and part-time staff, write to you with deep sadness and disappointment about the recent events that have occurred at Current Affairs,” a letter signed by five fired staffers said.

“On August 8th, editor-in-chief Nathan J. Robinson (author of Why You Should Be a Socialist) unilaterally fired most of the workforce to avoid an organizational restructuring that would limit his personal power. Yes, we were fired by the editor-in-chief of a socialist magazine for trying to start a worker co-op.”  

They should not be surprised. Off memory I can’t think of a single communist or socialist country that has free and independent trade unions. In almost every case they have puppet unions that actually represent the state, not workers.

So the editor-in-chief of the socialist magazine is merely following decades of tradition by crushing an independent union.

The Herald reports:

National is calling on the Government to order Pfizer booster shots as soon as possible, or else be left at the back of the global queue.

The call goes against advice from the World Health Organisation (WHO), which says evidence is not yet conclusive they will be needed, and wealthy countries buying them up will “exacerbate inequities” preventing some countries even getting their first doses.

Party Covid-19 spokesman Chris Bishop told TVNZ’s Q+A it was important New Zealand did not get left behind with booster shots, as a potential back-up if needed, as it had with the current global rollout.

Australia had “ordered millions” of booster doses, and so too the European Union and United States, Bishop said.

Many OECD countries are going to start rolling out booster shots in September, and we’ve not even ordered any yet.

We absolutely should order boosters now, so we can start rolling them out later this year.

Stuff reports:

A Defence Force Hercules headed to Afghanistan to evacuate New Zealand citizens and Afghan allies will take three days to reach the Middle East, in a high risk but “manageable” mission.

An Air Force C130 Hercules departed Auckland at about 10.20am on Thursday, carrying some of the nearly 80 Defence Force staff who have been deployed on the mercy mission.

So it will get there nine days after it became apparent the Taliban were about to take over.

Newshub reports:

A pregnant Kiwi woman stuck in the United States fears she’ll have to pay $100,000 to give birth there, after continuously being denied an emergency spot in managed isolation and quarantine (MIQ). 

Bergen Graham is 26 weeks pregnant and stuck in America. There are complications, and she has three letters from doctors saying she needs to get back home. But her sixth application for an emergency spot in MIQ has just been declined. 

This is again crazy. We have 40% of rooms empty most days.

Stuff reports:

A Labour Party volunteer has breached the stay at home guidance to deliver party political leaflets in support of Police Minister Poto Williams.

The local volunteer broke the lockdown announced by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, who is the leader of the Labour Party, to drop off a stack of leaflets to a Parklands address in Christchurch East, Williams’ electorate, on Wednesday.

Michelle McKay,​ who lives at the address, said she heard a knock on the door just after 2.30pm. She said her daughter had agreed to drop the pamphlets off several months ago but had since moved out of home.

“We are relying on a team of five million, and you have this idiot doing this. I just don’t get it,” she said.

Beyond stupidity.

Stuff reports:

New Zealand is not anywhere near close to a vaccination rate that would allow for a response to Covid-19 community cases that doesn’t involve lockdowns, experts have said.

Here’s the latest data showing the share of population who has received at least one dose:

11 OECD countries have vaccinated at least 70% of the population. 29 have vaccinated at least 50%. We remain bottom at 30%.

Steerpike at The Spectator writes:

The fall of Afghanistan has provoked much comment and soul-searching on both sides of the Atlantic. Along with the usual talking heads and thumping op-eds, the Taliban’s imminent victory has prompted some truly awful takes from some of the less distinguished figures in public life. Below is Mr Steerpike’s guide to some of the most tone-deaf, stunningly crass and just plain sinister responses to the fall of Afghanistan.

The list includes the UK Stop the War Coalition who wants reparations paid to the Taliban, the British Foreign Secretary for staying on holiday, Nancy Pelosi for praising Biden for what happened. But NZ makes it also:

New Zealand’s Prime Minister has ‘implored’ Taliban leaders to uphold human rights, telling a press conference ‘What we want to see is women and girls being able to access work and education’ which she insightfully noted ‘are things that have traditionally not been available to them where there has been governance by Taliban.’ The Taliban’s response is as yet unknown.

Oh dear.