Stuff reports:

Air New Zealand is accused of “rushing” to make up to 1460 cabin crew employees redundant, following news earlier this week of 387 pilot redundancies. …

The head of aviation at union E tū, Savage, said Air NZ was speeding into the redundancy process.

“The company’s plan to lay off thousands of people while the country is still in lockdown is the wrong move. It’s too rushed and it doesn’t need to be.

“That is not what fair consultation looks like and is very disappointing to see a once proud company get it so wrong. They risk destroying the very organisation they are trying to save,” he said.

“The wage subsidy, Air New Zealand’s cash reserves, and the government loan means we have the time to properly work through a process and look to the future.

Saying the layoffs are too rushed is farcical.

Let me make this simple.

There are no flights. There will be very few flights for years to come.

The decision to lay staff off has been well signalled, and if anything is overdue. It is impossible for Air NZ to survive without the redundancies. In fact it may not survive, even with them. I suspect they will have to make further cuts before long.

They have lost 90% of their revenue. To only be reducing staff numbers by 20% is in fact heroic.

It is tragic for the many great staff who are losing their jobs, but there is no point in pretending that this could be avoided by talking about it for a few more days or weeks.

NBC reported:

Sen. Bernie Sanders ended his presidential campaign, he announced Wednesday, leaving former Vice President Joe Biden as the apparent Democratic presidential nominee.

“I have concluded that this battle for the Democratic nomination will not be successful, and so today I am announcing the suspension of my campaign,” Sanders told supporters in a livestream, saying he wished he could provide supporters with “better news” but “I think you know the truth.”

“We are now some 300 delegates behind Vice President Biden and the path to victory is virtually impossible,” he said. Sanders, I-Vt., called Biden “a very decent man who I will work with to move our progressive ideas forward.”

This is no surprise, but it does mean that Biden can now start campaigning as the de facto nominee. Barring deaths, either Biden or Trump will be President next year.

The winner will be the oldest person ever elected President. Reagan was 73 years and 349 days at the start of his 2nd term.

If Trump wins he’ll be 74 years and 220 days on 20 January 2021.

If Biden wins he’ll be 78 years and 61 days on 20 January 2021.

Stuff reports the initial Green Party List is:

1. Marama Davidson
2. James Shaw
3. Jan Logie
4. Eugenie Sage
5. Teanau Tuiono
6. Julie Anne Genter
7. Chloe Swarbrick
8. Golriz Ghahraman
9. Elizabeth Kerekere
10. Ricardo Menéndez March

Tuiono was No 16 last election. He hasn’t been placed above three female MPs because they think he should be. He is there because he has a penis, and they don’t. Yes their rules require men to be equally represented in the top ranks of the list.

If the Greens get 5% the top six get in.

If they get 6% Chloe gets back.

If they get 7% Golriz is back also.

Jesus was crucified 1,990 years ago on the 7th of April 30 AD. His crucifixion is regarded as a historical fact. Early references include:

• A letter written around 73 AD referring to the execution of the wise King of the Jews
• Josephus in the work Antiquities of the Jews in 93AD
• Tactitus in the work Annals in 116 AD

Regardless of whether or not you believe anything else about Jesus, it is unarguable that his crucifixion changed the world.

Stuff reports:

Kiwis will know two days before the end of the four-week lockdown period whether or not the lockdown will be extended, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has announced. …

She said Cabinet would make and publicise a decision about whether or not the lockdown would be extended on 20 April, two days before the forecast end date.

“It is my intention that on the 20th of April, two days before the lockdown is due to finish, Cabinet will make a decision on our next steps. That’s because we need to use the most up to date data that we have to make that decision.”

“That means, if we are ready to move to Alert Level 3 business we will have two days to implement arrangements.”

I think this shows the lack of understanding of business.

Many businesses will need more than 48 hours notice to properly re-open. There are shifts and rosters to be organised, materials and supplies to be ordered etc etc.

The Cabinet should meet twice next Week. On Tuesday they should sign off on what Level 3 will mean in detail. What it means for businesses, schools etc. And then no later than Friday they should make the decision on if we go to Level 3 the following Wednesday.

The more notice you can give, the quicker the economy can start to recover.

The Herald reports:

Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters has spoken of the “huge tensions” between looking after the health of New Zealanders but also saving the country’s economy – and he wants to come out of the level 4 lockdown as quickly as possible.

“We are hearing the calls [about the economy] and the calls are massive all around the country in every respect. In terms of the economic analysis, we have a lot of work going on as to what this all means,” Peters told Mike Hosking on Newstalk ZB today.

“The number one priority is to get us out of this level 4 to some level far more manageable, sustainable and durable while we rebuild the economy.

“Health is an imperative but it cannot be at all costs. If it’s at all costs, we can’t afford to pay for it. We’ll be broke. We have to be rational, sane and keep our feet on the ground and keep a commonsense approach.

“There are huge tensions but enabling the economy to pay for the health delivery that is going to be critical here and in the months ahead is also very important.”

What Peters is saying is in stark contrast to Ardern who is saying there is no trade off.

Newstalk ZB reports:

After an uphill battle, Dunedin’s Baldwin St has reclaimed its world record.

Yes, those out for their government-mandated daily walk can add the world’s steepest street to their route.

Guinness World Records has reversed its controversial decision to strip Baldwin St of its claim to fame, admitting its measuring method had been wrong.

The street was dethroned by Ffordd Pen Llech in Harlech, Wales, last July.

The backtrack was thanks to months of hard work by Dunedin surveyor Toby Stoff, who argued that because the record-setting bid was measured on the inside verge of a curve, it greatly exaggerated Ffordd Pen Llech’s steepness and disadvantaged Baldwin St, which is straight.

Stoff campaigned hard for his appeal, even travelling to Wales to measure the opposition himself.

This week Guinness said after checking it out, and getting expert opinions, Stoff was right.

In an email to Stoff, Guinness also said it would use the right methodology for all future record bids.

”Guinness World Records takes appeals of this nature very seriously and we have thoroughly investigated the claim,” it wrote.

“Following a review of your survey report, as well as consulting with industry specialists, we have concluded that for the ‘steepest street’ record title the best practice for gradient is to take the measurement from the centreline of the street.

“As a result we will be reinstating Baldwin Street as the Guinness World Records title holder with a value of 34.8 per cent.”

This is excellent news to cheer the nation up. We have beaten those Welsh bastards with their fake claim!

Toby Stoff should be made a member of the Order of New Zealand for this achievement. He is surely one of our 20 greatest living New Zealanders.

Michael Morrah at Newshub writes:

The Health Ministry must be more transparent with the information it’s giving to the public. 

I agree. We still have no data available on how many tests submitted by GPs get rejected and not tested at labs, as just one example.

There also appears to be a massive disconnect with what the public is being told, and what is actually happening on the ground. 

The call for our country’s most vulnerable to get flu jabs is a good example. 

On March 18, the Health Minister announced a major flu vaccination campaign to ensure hospital beds are available for a possible influx of COVID-19 patients.

The Ministry said it had vast stocks of the vaccine – 1.8 million doses to be exact. They would be available to those 65 and over immediately. 

Over the coming days, it became apparent that this campaign simply wasn’t working. Why? Because GP clinics did not have enough of the vaccines, and their access to the vaccine had been restricted to just 60 doses per order.  

So they all ran out within a day or two.

The same goes for swabs. Despite constant assurances that we have thousands, I am speaking to doctors on a daily basis who say they’re struggling to get enough (5 at a time), or have been told by labs their practice cannot get any as there is not enough. 

Dr Bloomfiled stated on Tuesday we had 50,000 nasal swabs in the country. That’s great, but they are not getting to those who need them. Why not? 

How can you expect our frontline health heroes to do their jobs effectively if they don’t have the swabs or PPE to do it. And if we do have tens of thousands of nasal swabs, why am I reading two emails from two different Auckland health groups, who represent hundreds of doctors, which tell their members that they need to move to using throat swabs because of supply issues with the nasal variety. 

I’ve had a lot of frontline health professionals contact me also and almost without fail their stories are all about shortages – flu vaccines, PPE gear and swabs etc.

I think Prime Minister Jacinda Adern has done a solid job of steadying the ship through these uncharted times. But we need transparent, timely information. Not PR spin. This is important not only for journalists, but for all New Zealanders. 

Pretending there are no problems makes it harder to fix them.

Newshub reports:

The economic impact of COVID-19 is starting to rear its head with about one-third of New Zealand businesses saying they don’t expect to survive the crisis, according to a new survey by the Auckland Business Chamber. 

This can’t be allowed to happen. The major focus going forward must be on reducing costs for businesses so they can survive.

Bomber Bradbury writes:

Comparing Bridges commute to Clark’s breaching of quarantine are two seperate issues and other than the physical transportation of two men, have nothing actually in common.

Clark is the Minister of Health breaching his own rules.

Bridges, as the only counter weight of political accountability in a Police State, is doing his job.

It is up to Simon Bridges to ascertain how he does that job and if commuting that distance is what is required, then so be it!

I get we want to be tribal on the Left, especially after one of our own has screwed up so badly, but come on, these are 2 very different things.

Bomber is spot on here. Those making a fuss really are pathetic demanding the Leader of the Opposition should try and do his job from his home.

Do they think the PM should also be at home, running the country from her Mt Albert bungalow?

If this was the United States, would they be demanding that Nancy Pelosi be banned from the Capitol, and she must be confined to San Francisco.

Those making a fuss are just trying to distract from the blunders David Clark has made.

Spending of taxpayer money has gone through the roof as the Government helps businesses through the COVID-19 crisis. How concerned should New Zealanders be? And how does our response compare to other countries? Louis interviews local Economist Joe Ascroft and Daniel Bunn of the Tax Foundation (based in Washington DC) – who is leading their project Tracking Economic Relief Plans Around the World during the Coronavirus Outbreak.

You can subscribe to Taxpayer Talk via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts and all good podcast apps.

Stuff reports:

Wellington property owners are facing a 4.8 per cent rates hike as the city council looks to offset lost revenue caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

The council is proposing the increase as a compromise between a previously-mooted 9.2 per cent increase and a total rates freeze for the 2020-21 financial year.

Not much of a compromise. A 5% rates increase would be indefensible even when the economy is booming. Doing so in the middle of a recession is economic sabotage. You do not increase taxes during a recession.

A third option of freezing rates entirely was also seen as unachievable, with an additional $16m required from borrowing or budget savings, as well as a drop in service levels.

Debt-funding the additional $16m was not deemed financially prudent, and would pass a significant burden onto future ratepayers, the paper said.

When the Council is spending $100,000 a week on trucking wastewater, further savings seem very possible.

And even if one does have to increase borrowing and hence the burden on future ratepayers, it is worth noting future ratepayers won’t be in the middle of a recession where household and business incomes are plummeting.

Has any other Government in the world, or in New Zealand past ever increased the minimum wage cost for businesses at the same time as having closed down all non-essential businesses making it impossible for them to earn revenue?

I mean just think about that. Imposing a wage cost increase on businesses at the same time as you’ve closed down their ability to earn money.

I can’t think or believe this would have ever happened before.

Joseph Judd writes:

On my flight back from Auckland to China two weeks ago, the family sitting next to my wife and I were all wearing hazmat suits, goggles, masks and gloves.  

We both wore masks too. In fact, everyone including flight attendants on our China Eastern flight wore masks. When we arrived in Shanghai, all the airport staff were in full protective gear.

By contrast, as we walked through Auckland airport none of the customs or security staff wore masks or any other protective gear. Nor were any of the staff on our domestic flight to Auckland.

The widespread use and availability of face masks in China, Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan is only one of the many intensive measures used by these governments in their successful battles against COVID-19, but it has been a critical one, and one that people and leaders in the West seem to overlook or misunderstand.

So why not use them here?

The Ministry of Health website says: “For most people in the community, face masks are not recommended. For people with symptoms of an acute respiratory infection, the World Health Organization recommends that there may be benefit in wearing a face mask.”

This is the basic advice of the WHO and the CDC in the US, which has the highest number of COVID-19 cases globally. The CDC is now saying it’s reviewing its advice on masks, and the Ministry of Health said it’s “keeping a close watch” on that.

But experts and commentators in the US are raising the alarm that advice from the WHO and CDC on masks has been well off the mark.

There are in fact dozens of studies that show masks are very effective in reducing transmission of viruses like COVID-19, along with other measures like social distancing and handwashing.

Face masks were the most consistently effective intervention for reducing the contraction and spread of SARS, according to research in a Cochrane Review. One study following community transmission of SARS in Beijing found that wearing a mask in public was associated with a 70% reduction in the risk of catching the virus. This is why the governments of Hong Kong, Singapore, Korea, Taiwan and China –– who learned from SARS –– made widespread face mask use a central part of their strategies.

A few of Europe’s leaders are catching on. In the Czech Republic, citizens have mobilised in a national effort to make home-made masks following government orders to make face-wear mandatory in public. The Czech Republic and Slovakia are the only two countries in Europe to make mask-wearing mandatory, while Austria and Germany appear to be moving in the same direction. As of Wednesday, the Czech Republic had recorded thirteen COVID deaths, much lower than neighboring Germany and many of its other European counterparts, while Slovakia remained at zero deaths.

The truth is, many governments in the West, along with the WHO, have been hesitant to recommend masks because of concerns of a shortage, public hoarding and healthcare workers missing out. These concerns are valid: healthcare and other frontline workers should absolutely be the top priority for all PPE, including masks, and especially N95 masks.

But the blanket message to the public that “You don’t need them” is misleading and wrongly suggests there’s no urgency in making masks widely available as this crisis unfolds.

A study by Cambridge University showed that even simple homemade masks can be effective. There are many articles that explain how to make them, and lots of information about how to put them on safely.

We pride ourselves on being a nimble, forward-thinking country. Let’s live up to that by urgently catching up with the curve on masks, insisting on their use and making them universally available.

Even when the lockdown ends, we will still have pockets of covid-19 and face masks may help minimise further spreading.

News.com.au reports:

Cardinal George Pell has released been from prison after the High Court ordered his child sexual abuse convictions to be quashed “and judgments of acquittal be entered in their place”.

The most senior Catholic in the world to be convicted of child sexual abuse this morning learnt his final appeal bid to the High Court had been a success, releasing a statement saying he felt as though the “serious injustice” he suffered while maintaining his innocence had been “remedied”.

The full bench of seven judges were unanimous in their decision, finding that the jury, acting rationally on the whole of the evidence, ought to have entertained a reasonable doubt as to Pell’s guilt.

The fact the decision was unanimous is telling. This doesn’t mean the complainants were lying, it means there was reasonable doubt, and the criminal justice system operates on reasonable doubt. The court has concluded that a rational jury should have found reasonable doubt.

The court notes:

The Court held that, on the assumption that the jury had assessed the complainant’s evidence as thoroughly credible and reliable, the evidence of the opportunity witnesses nonetheless required the jury, acting rationally, to have entertained a reasonable doubt as to the applicant’s guilt in relation to the offences involved in both alleged incidents.

So basically the testimony of the witnesses raised reasonable doubt.

It is also telling that they did not order a retrial.

With most businesses unable to operate, in today’s Taxpayer Talk we discuss the threshold of what can be open and what can’t with National’s Economic Development Spokesman, Todd McClay.

You can subscribe to Taxpayer Talk via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts and all good podcast apps.

Metalform announced:

We wanted to do our bit to help fight COVID-19 and get our little country back on track.   We want to help protect the frontline nurses, doctors, supermarket staff, pharmacy staff, food producers etc….  because these brave guys are keeping the country running.

We have pulled together a 100% Kiwi company supply chain and together we are manufacturing large volumes of  low cost face shield PPE for our front line workers in the fight against Covid-19.

I noticed a news-clip the other day about plane loads of PPE coming in from overseas, where there are many manufacturers in NZ that can produce the same items which would keep hundreds or thousands of kiwis in jobs.

We have tooled up and producing between 35,000 and 50,000 face shields per week in rural New Zealand (small town called Dannevirke in the centre of the universe) which will save many kiwi’s jobs in the supply chain if we get noticed by the MOH and government.

Our staff of nearly 100, are all behind this 100% which means we can save jobs and provide our front line workers with the PPE they need and deserve immediately!

Check out www.metalform.co.nz/face-shields/ to show what NZ companies can do to support the common goal!

Good to see NZ companies responding to the pandemic this way.

Nick Smith facebooked:

Today blowing whistle on Govt rushing law change to give prisoners vote while country in lockdown.

I do not like being critical at a time when we need national unity to fight Covid-19 but this is wrong.

The Electoral ( Sentenced Prisoners) Amendment Bill got its first reading on 18th March and Justice Select Committee process of six months reduced by Govt to less than three months.

Justice Minister Little last week insisted bill be progressed during lockdown and refused to support any extension. He has told committee that officials would not be able to provide normal quality of departmental report nor fully respond to committee questions, but still wants it done fast.

Justice Committee Chair, Labour MP, Meka Whaitiri, has used powers to set closure date for submissions and advised committee she intends hearing submissions by video conference week of 13 April while nation still in lockdown and MPs confined to their homes. Committee is 4Lab/4Nat. She has overridden our objections at 3 video conf of Chair and Deputy(me).

How is this rushed law making while nation is in lockdown and Parliament adjourned, consistent with PMs assurance that only urgent matters would be progressed ?

How is it consistent for Justice Select Committee to be continuing such work when all courts are suspended except for most urgent of cases ?

Why is Justice Select Committee looking to defer other two bills on sexual voilence and protection of emergency responders, but rush prisoner voting ? Labour is saying ensuring fairer trials for rape victims and protecting emergency workers is not a priority but prisoners voting is !

If prisoner voting was such an urgent issue, why did govt not include it in its three other electoral amendment bills passed this term of parliament ?

When the rights of 4 million plus law abiding NZers are being curtailed by being confined to home, thousands of businesses banned from trading and community papers prohibited from publishing, why is the most important human rights issue prisoners’ voting rights rather than getting covid-19 under control so we can wind back lockdown ?

How can NZers and interested organisations who object to this law change (84% opposed it in Newshub poll last August) express this in lockdown when they can’t meet and when protests are a prohibited activity ?

Why, when in an unprecedented crisis in which MPs are buried in serious constituency issues like:
-ensuring people get Covid-19 tests when needed, -getting workers access to PPE,
-finding specialist food for children,
-getting shopping of essentials for seniors,
-sorting out what are essential businesses,
-getting access to public funding for families and businesses to survive,
should we be focused on prisoners voting rights ?
(I have never been as busy in 30 years of working as a constituency MP)

Labour is putting their narrow political interests of trying to get a few thousand more votes at next election ahead of the right priorities for NZ at this time. It follows a unfortunate pattern of partisan electoral law changes and rushed changes. Electoral Bills passed this term include giving party leaders power to dismiss MPs, shifting power to write ref qs at elections from parl to cab and 24 hr rushed foreign donations change that was full of holes.

I do not support this bill that gives vote to prisoners sentenced to less than 3 years – others would still not be allowed to vote. You have to do something pretty bad in NZ to be sent to prison. It is one of liberties you lose when you break society’s agreed rules. Prisoners do not vote in similar democracies like UK & Australia. In many US states you lose right to vote if sent to prison for ever, which I disagree with. Nats position is when you have done time, your rights should be fully restored. But issue here is rushing law through under emergency.

The law in NZ has for most of our history not allowed prisoners to vote but has toed and froed over last few decades. Law has switched around most recently in 2010 from a members bill by Paul Quinn. This bill went through full process of six months select committee and no urgency/extended hours. Imagine the uproar if Nats had rushed law to remove prisoners voting, let alone doing so during a national emergency and lockdown.

My bigger worry is that if this is how Govt is going to play this relatively minor electoral issue in these extraordinary circumstances, how can we have confidence they will be fair over really big issues over timing, campaigning, public gatherings and free press of Election scheduled for Sept 17.

Minister Little needs to reconsider rush.

They are desperate to push it through before the public notice.

The Guardian reports:

Since Sunday evening, the prime minister has been under the care of doctors at St Thomas’ Hospital, in London, after being admitted with persistent symptoms of coronavirus.

Over the course of this afternoon, the condition of the prime minister has worsened and, on the advice of his medical team, he has been moved to the intensive care unit at the hospital.

The PM has asked Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, who is the first secretary of state, to deputise for him where necessary.

The PM is receiving excellent care, and thanks all NHS staff for their hard work and dedication.

Obviously hoping Boris makes a full recovery, but it is not a trivial thing to be moved to intensive care.

This highlights one of the peculiarities of British politics. There generally is no Deputy Prime Minister and the Conservatives generally do not have a Deputy Leader.

The first Deputy PM was Clement Attlee in WWII. There was no Deputy PM from 1955 to 1962 and 1963 to 1989. The last Deputy PM was Nick Clegg from 2010 to 2015.

In the absence of a Deputy PM, the de facto No 2 is the First Secretary of State and if that office is vacant then the Chancellor of the Exchequer. The last few holders have been:

• Peter Mandelson (2009 – 2010)
• William Hague (2010 – 2015)
• George Osborne (2015 – 2016)
• Damian Green (2017)
• Dominic Rabb (2019 – 2020)

So Rabb would act as PM while Johnson is unable. If Johnson died he would be a caretaker PM until the Conservatives appoint a new leader.

Stuff reports:

Health Minister David Clark has narrowly avoided being sacked after taking a 20km trip to a beach, amid the coronavirus lockdown. 

Clark, in a statement issued early on Tuesday morning, said he had informed the prime minister of his breach of the lockdown and offered his resignation. 

He said on the first weekend of the lockdown he travelled about 20km from his home to Doctor’s Point Beach for a walk with his family.

What would it take for Clark to lose his job? Does he have to start coughing on people in supermarkets or stand in the Octagon offering free hugs?

It is obvious that he doesn’t have the judgment to remain Minister of Health, or in fact a Minister. You could argue about whether his mountain biking trip was a breach of the rules but there is no doubt a 20 km drive to the beach is.

Instead, he would be stripped of his associate finance minister portfolio and be demoted to the bottom of the Government’s Cabinet rankings. 

So he remains in Cabinet, on the same pay as Minister of Health. His only punishment is the number in front of his name is changed. The wettest of wet bus tickets.

And for the terminally stupid out there, what Clark did is not the same as Bridges driving to Wellington for work. It is inane to suggest the Leader of the Opposition should be running the Opposition from his home via Zoom. Does anyone think the PM should be running the Government from her house in Mt Albert?

The only check on the Government’s vast powers at the moment is the committee chaired by the Leader of the Opposition. His job is not just chairing the public meetings but preparing for it – deciding the agenda, who to invite to appear, preparing questions. This involves meeting with key staff (within your bubble) etc, just as the PM does also.

Plus his wider role as Opposition Leader to hold the Government to account. To suggest the Opposition Leader should not be where the press gallery are, is saying the Opposition should effectively be inaccessible to the media.

Anyway back to Clark, if by his own words he has been an idiot, why would we want an idiot as Minister of Health during a global pandemic?