This photo from a week ago shows Australian Minister Peter Dutton in Washington DC with Internal Affairs Minister Tracey Martin. As Dutton has been confirmed as carrying the Coronavirus, this has huge implications.

Obviously everyone will be hoping Martin has not been infected, but as she has been in close contact with someone infected, presumably she will be tested immediately.

UPDATE:

I’ve blogged in the past on how much money I have saved as a member of Cherrytree as you can buy almost anything through them for well below normal retail prices.

One issue for some people has been the relatively large membership fee as people have been uncertain if they’ll shop enough to cover the fee.

Well Cherrytree now has a new membership model where you can join for free. There are now three types of membership:

• Silver: Free to join. Up to 25% off RRP. And you can earn points towards gold membership with your purchases.
• Gold: $1,250 1st year fee and then $250 annual renewal fee. Points earned from silver purchases reduce the membership fee. Up to 60% off RRP as prices are only 4% to 11% over wholesale.
• Platinum: Up to 65% off RRP as prices are only 2% over wholesale. Gold members who refer three other people as gold members in a year gain platinum status

So the silver status is ideal for those not sure how much they’ll spend. You don’t get as large a discount, but you have nothing to lose as no up front fee. And the more you spend, the cheaper gold membership becomes.

Gold membership works well with families likely to have some bigger ticket items, so having a baby, home renovating etc.

Also worth noting Cherrytree membership gets you a discount with trade partners such as PlaceMakers, Resene Paints, Beaurepaires and access to all Gilmours Wholesale Food & Beverage North Island branches.

Cherrytree has over 550,000 products from 2,400 brands. You can order everything online or if in Wellington pop into their showroom.

I’m a very frequent and happy customer. I’m not getting paid for this. I just think it is a great business, and have saved masses of money through them.

Any queries you can e-mail the owner Simon, or call them on 0800 Cherrytree.

A must read article by (Lord) Matt Ripley. He states:

In Aesop’s fable about the boy who cried “Wolf!”, the point of the tale is that eventually there was a wolf, but the boy was not believed because he had given too many false alarms. In my view, the Covid-19 coronavirus is indeed a wolf, or at least has the potential to be one. 

What is significant over Lord Ripley declaring this is a real global threat is he has spent his career debunking alarmist claims over global threats. For 40 years he has been saying this is alarmist scaremongering. So for him to now be the one saying, this is a big big issue, well ….

I am known as an obsessive and serial debunker of false alarms. I have been at it for almost 40 years ever since I realised as a science journalist in the 1980s that acid rain was being wildly overblown as a threat to forests (I was right). This scepticism has served me well. I did not believe that mad cow disease would kill hundreds of thousands of people, as some “experts” were claiming in the mid 1990s. In the end just 177 died. Likewise, I refused to panic over bird flu, swine flu, SARS or ebola.

I set out to debunk exaggerated claims about the population explosion, peak oil and peak gas, nuclear winter, the ozone hole, pesticides, species extinction rates, genetically modified crops, sperm counts, ocean acidification and the millennium bug. In every case this made me unpopular and unfashionable, but close to the truth. I said climate change would happen more slowly and with less impact on storms, floods, droughts, sea ice and sea level than even some experts were claiming in the 1990s, let alone the extreme environmentalists, and it has.

So why does he think this is different?

So why don’t I think this hobgoblin is imaginary? First, because lethal plagues have a long track record. From the plague of Justinian to the Black Death to the Spanish flu of 1918 to the HIV epidemic, new diseases have proved they can burn through the human population with frightening efficiency. It’s true we have got better at eradicating infectious diseases through vaccinations, pills and public health, but most viruses are still very hard to cure and some are very easy to catch.

The second reason is that new diseases are often more dangerous than existing ones and this one has jumped from bats, possibly via pangolins. In the past respiratory viruses have generally proved to be low in virulence once they become highly contagious: hence the large number of rhinovirus, adenovirus and coronavirus strains that we call collectively, “the common cold”. Even flu has been relatively less lethal since the special wartime conditions of 1918. But when they first infect our species, viruses can encounter a vulnerable immune system and run riot.

The third reason for alarm in this case is the speed with which Covid-19 has crossed regional and international boundaries. It does seem to have acquired an unusual skill at getting passed on from one person to another, usually not making them so sick that they stay away from meeting other people, which is what prevents ebola causing pandemics, but yet being capable of killing about 1% of people it infects. This is the frightening combination of traits that we have feared might one day arise.

He makes a final point:

Last week Greta Thunberg was still telling the European Parliament that climate change is the greatest threat humanity faces. This week Extinction Rebellion’s upper-class twits were baring their breasts on Waterloo bridge in protest at the billions of people who they wrongly think may die from global warming in the next decade. These people are demonstrating their insensitivity. They are spooked by a spaniel when there’s a wolf on the loose.

So let’s focus on the wolf.

NewstalkZB reports:

A commuter train between Hamilton and South Auckland will finally roll out on August 3, six weeks after initially intended because of the ramifications of coronavirus. …

The train trip would take a commuter travelling into Auckland central business district 2 hours and 20 minutes

So someone doing a daily commute to Auckland would spend 25 hours a week on the train! You would be leaving at 6 am and getting home after 8 pm.

The cost of a one-way smartcard fare from Hamilton to Papakura will be $12.20, with a trip from Hamilton into Auckland CBD costing a total of $18.50 if using an AT HOP card on AT Metro services.

And it would cost you $185 a week.

So the Government has spent $90 million on the basis it believes 300 Hamiltonians will spend $185 a week to commute for 25 hours a week.

There have been some media stories of late about the push by Martin Matthews against his forced resignation as Auditor-General due to the fraud committed by one of his direct reports when he was CE of the Ministry of Transport.

I was unhappy at the time of the resignation that the Wevers report to the Officers of Parliament Committee was not published. It was I guess part of the deal around the resignation.

But as Matthews is trying to relitigate what happened, the report is now in the public domain. It is well worth the read, and leaves me in no doubt that Matthews could not continue as Auditor-General (I have always said he would be fine for other CE roles).

Here’s some extracts:

• Matthews appointed Harrison to a direct report without advertising the role externally, as required by law
• Matthews appointed Harrison for the role despite her not having a degree, and this being listed as essential
• There was no internal audit function at MoT
• On nine occasions staff alerted Matthews of Harrison not following the rules around contracts and payments
• Two senior managers told Matthews the Victorian Police had told them Harrison was a “person of interest” to them. He just accepted her story about it.
• She told the Ministry she didn’t want her photo on the MoT website or any external documents, and this didn’t make Matthew suspicious

Once he was tipped off she had a fraud conviction:

• Took eight days to freeze her ability to approve payments
• Took 10 days to tell his Deputy CE
• Took 17 days to tell the Minister
• Took 17 days to call in the SFO

There’s also lots of detail about lack of basic controls such as Harrison allowed to both initiate and approve payments.

The best line though comes from the response by Sir Maarten to the lawyers for Matthews:

The Acting Chief Legal Adviser told me that she passed a copy of the Victorian Police enquiry over Joanne Harrison as a “person of interest” to Mr Matthews. He says he does not recall seeing the email. Even so, for Mr Matthews to convey a query of this nature to the person in question, and then take her word in response over the matter, without further checking, is a lapse of judgement. I found I was asking myself – “how many “persons of interest” inquiries does a Chief Executive normally receive from a foreign Police authority over direct report managers?” Very few I would suggest, if any at all. If a serious inquiry like this had come into another agency, my expectation is that it would have been referred immediately to the internal auditor. As we know, the Ministry of Transport did not have a such a role established.

This is a killer line. The rarity of being informed one of your direct reports is wanted by the Police is so extraordinary that of course you would initially launch an inquiry, not just ask the manager for an explanation.

I really don’t think Mr Matthews is helping himself by relitigating this issue.

Also very damning is the detailed timeline in Appendix B. It shows staff were in fact pretty diligent at quickly identifying her lack of compliance and time and time again they went to Matthews, and he did nothing substantive.

Stuff reports:

Homeowners could be required to hand their houses over to be redeveloped under a new bill working its way through Parliament.

The Urban Development Bill gives Kāinga Ora Homes and Communities new development and land acquisition powers.

Kāinga Ora Homes and Communities is a crown entity that combines Housing New Zealand, its development subsidiary HLC and the KiwiBuild unit. …

Bill McKay, a senior lecturer in architecture and planning at the University of Auckland, said the bill would give urban development authorities the same powers to seize property as the New Zealand Transport Authority (NZTA) already had.

“If NZTA decides it wants to build a motorway it can just acquire land… there might be negotiations around money but they’re going to get the land.”

The power for the state to take your house away from you is a massive one. I accept there is a need for such powers for things such as motorways as a motorway has to be able to connect up. You can’t really have a route with a house in the middle of it.

But housing developments are different. Giving the state the power to force you to sell your house simply because they want to build a different type of house there is a huge expansion of that power.

We are very fortunate that to date very few people in NZ appear to have been infected by Coronavirus. This is probably largely due to the fact we are an island with no land borders, and even better a very remote island and one with a relatively small population.

But with WHO having declared that Coronavirus is a global pandemic, it would be naively optimistic to think we will be immune from further transmissions. Great if we are, but let’s not assume that. And of course even if we personally have few cases, the virus will still have a huge economic impact.

So what would I do if I was around the Cabinet table. Here’s my list:

1. Close the border with Italy now. None of this self-quarantine crap. The virus is spreading there at the rate of 25% increase a day.
2. Set an objective measure for closing borders (ie no inwards travel allowed from people who have been there) such as any country that has had over 5,000 infections (so for now China, Iran, Italy and South Korea)
3. Encourage major event organisers to postpone their events
4. Set up drive through testing centres asap. We must protect our hospital staff and medical centres staff.
5. We know from overseas experience ICU beds run out very quickly if there is widespread cases. Work on a plan to set up temporary “hospitals” in major cities just for coronavirus cases. These may be in halls etc.
6. Do an urgent RFP for face masks for local manufacturers so we can produce our own
7. Do a universal support package for businesses. Normally I support a targeted approach but as so many sectors may be affected and flow onto other sectors, I think for once a universal approach is warranted. Wage subsidies as National did in Chch earthquake should be a large part of that.
8. Pass a law mandating that any employees who need sick leave due to Coronavirus fears will have that sick leave paid by the Government (not the employer), and it will not be limited to five days, and will not be part of their entitlement with their employer.
9. Delay the increase in the minimum wage until the economy has a quarter’s GDP growth which is positive (ie NZ out of recession)
10. Instruct IRD to suspend all interest and penalties for late payments for employers who have otherwise paid on time for the last year.
11. Do a tax cut just for the 20/21 financial year with the bottom tax rate dropping from 10.5% to 5%. Cost is a one off $2 billion and gives pretty much every person an extra $750. Also will flow on to benefit rates.
12. Provide a line of credit to key institutions such as universities, airlines

I think we need a stronger response than wash your hand and please self quarantine.

UPDATE: I wrote this post earlier today before the US announced it was closing the border with Europe and before the Australian Government announced a policy response of $750 assistance per family.

Stuff reported:

The governor of the Reserve Bank upbraided the head of one of New Zealand’s largest think tanks last year in a clash that included claims by the governor of “ongoing character assassination” and a refused apology.

Governor Adrian Orr berated New Zealand Initiative chairman Roger Partridge by email for grievances including “stating I have a gambling problem,” and for “mocking [the Reserve Bank’s] use of a Māori mythology”.

In a meeting of happenstance in the Koru Lounge at Wellington Airport and again at Auckland Airport following a flight, Orr also volubly complained to NZ Initiative executive director Oliver Hartwich.

Hartwich described Orr as “agitated and clearly unhappy. He made his position very clear, he was deeply unhappy with any criticism he perceived he got from us [the NZ Initiative].”

This is not an isolated incident it seems.

Orr’s exchange with Partridge fits a broader pattern of hectoring his critics last year. Reacting to a May blog post by academic and bank capital expert Martien Lubberink, Orr penned a critical letter and then threatened to share it with Lubberink’s colleagues.

He also took to task journalist Jenny Ruth at a press conference over a news story he didn’t agree with.

Sources, who asked not to be named, described heated phone calls with Orr, some at odd hours, and a pattern of publicly belittling and berating those who disagreed with him at conferences and on the sidelines of industry events.

Orr’s behaviour, they said, coloured the submission process and chilled rather than facilitated participation by industry.

This behaviour would be alarming by any public servant, but especially by the Reserve Bank Governor.

The Reserve Bank Governor is without doubt the most powerful unelected public official in New Zealand. He is not just CEO of the Reserve Bank but he effectively determines the official cash rates and hence interest rates, which can have a massive impact on every household and business in NZ. His decisions on banking regulations also has massive impact, exponentially more than any other public servant.

My rule of thumb is the more powerful the position you hold, the more thick skinned you need to be about criticism.

Orr seems to think the criticism of him is so unprecedented that he has to respond aggressively to critics. Well I think he needs to study history. When Don Brash was Reserve Bank Governor, he also attracted huge amounts of criticism, some of it quite personal. Did he shout and threaten his critics? No. In fact what he did was tour up and down New Zealand speaking to scores of meetings to try and persuade and engage. He got a lot of abuse in those meetings but he was always unfailingly polite.

Here’s an article from 2002 about Brash, including a comment from Orr:

As he steps down there is widespread praise from money markets for being a pioneer in the battle against inflation.

“Because of that he’s been a very controversial figure and perceived internationally as the type of ‘Winston Churchill’ of inflation fighting,” jokes Adrian Orr, WestpacTrust chief economist.

But Brash has his critics, like the Employers and Manufacturer’s Association’s Alasdair Thompson who say the Reserve Bank kept interest rates too high.

“We think that it has restricted economic growth to some extent throughout that period, but he’s been hugely successful in bringing inflation under control,” Thompson says.

But Brash has never courted popularity.

“A popular central bank governor is almost certainly a bad one,” he once said.

Despite his apparent independence, left-wing politicians disliked the former Reserve Bank Governor’s anti-inflation tactics, sentiment voiced by Jim Anderton at the time of the 1999 election campaign.

“The person who really cares about his job is Don Brash and he’ll be the only one who’s got one left in New Zealand; everyone else would have left,” Anderson said.

So my advice to Governor Orr for the next time he feels someone has unfairly criticised him is to take a deep breath and ask “What would Don Brash do”.

Stuff reports:

The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has opened formal investigations into Christchurch and Auckland mayors Lianne Dalziel and Phil Goff over their election expenses. …

Earlier on Wednesday Goff, who like Dalziel is a former Labour Cabinet minister, said he had “nothing to hide” and was not worried about the police referral.

“We’ve kept, to the best of our knowledge, within all of the rules,” Goff said. “The SFO haven’t contacted me – I’ve got no idea what it’s about.”

I find it difficult to believe he has no idea at all what it is about.

When John Banks was investigated for his local body donations, I recall many on the left demanding he resign (as an MP) even prior to any finding of guilt. So are they also demanding Goff and Dalziel resign or stand down?

The Herald reports:

National has joined the increasing chorus of voices urging the Government to defer the planned minimum wage increase in light of the economic uncertainty created by coronavirus.

He has called the current situation an “economic crisis” and even said that New Zealand was on the doorstep of a recession.

“Businesses are facing substantial cost increases when the minimum wage goes up on April 1,” party leader Simon Bridges said this morning.

He wants the Government to defer the increase by at least six months.

Deferring the increase should be a no brainer. Many businesses are having their income plummet. They are running out of money and they are having to decide how many staff to let go.

So it’s a terrible time to have the Government increase the cost of staffing.

Also the minimum wage is already basically the highest in the developed world relative to the average wage. In 2018 the ratio of minimum to mean wages was:

1. NZ 52%
2. France 50%
3. Slovenia 48%
4. Australia 47%
5. Canada 45%
6. Israel 45%
7. UK 45%
8. Luxembourg 44%
9. Poland 32%
10. Romania 43%

So we already have the most generous (and expensive) minimum wage in the developed world and the Government is going to increase it even more just as businesses are planning to start laying staff off.

Madness.

The results from the six states that just voted in the Democratic primary mean it is all over for Bernie. Take a look at his vote share in 2020 vs 2016:

• Idaho 42% vs 78%
• Michigan 37% vs 50%
• Mississippi 15% vs 17%
• Missouri 35% vs 49%
• North Dakota 49% vs 64%
• Washington 33% vs 73%

He won or effectively tied five of those states against Clinton in 2016 and in 2020 he will win one, maybe two of those states. And of course he lost against Clinton also.

Basically it is all over. I doubt he will win any more states after this.

The Herald reports:

Provincial Growth Fund staff spent an average of $8900 each on travel, food and accommodation in one year, new figures show.

The National Party wants Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones to explain why the fund’s 116 staff needed to spend that much money.

Figures supplied to National by the minister’s office show officials from the Provincial Development Unit, which oversees the fund, spent $1.03m on travel, accommodation, meals, and incidentals in the 2018/19 financial year.

An average $9,000 per staff member on travel expenses is massive, especially considering some staff won’t do any travel at all.

Once again so easy to spend money when it isn’t your own.

Stuff reports:

Justice Minister Andrew Little will not try to re-introduce “safe zones” into his abortion legalisation bill after a procedural snafu saw them removed on Tuesday night.

The proposed safe zones would set up a regime where protest and harassment of those seeking abortions could be barred within 150 metres of clinics. …

On a late night sitting on Tuesday night those against the safe zones actually lost their first attempt to remove them, when an amendment deleting the definition of safe zones lost 59 votes to 56.

But a second attempt by ACT leader David Seymour was more successful essentially by accident, when an amendment removing essential functions of the safe areas was passed by a simple voice vote. This means MPs simply yelled out their preference, and because nobody called for votes to be actually counted the amendment was passed based on whose voices sounded louder.

So Parliament basically accidentally deleted safe zones from the bill.

While it was an accident, I think it is the right outcome.

I think people who protest outside abortion clinics are terrible people. If you don’t like the law on abortion, then go protest outside Parliament, or an MP’s office. But leave alone the poor women who are exercising their legal rights under the law to have an abortion.

But having said that, just because I think protests outside abortion clinics are terrible, that doesn’t mean the law should ban them. I think many things are terrible.

People have a right to protest in public spaces, so long as they don’t block people going about their legal business. A law that bans protests in certain areas a a bad one and sets a bad precedent.

Existing law is more than adequate to deal with activity that goes beyond protest and becomes disruption.

So I think the outcome was the right one, despite the messy process.

The ODT reports:

The Government is investigating whether it should give the Minister of Energy power to “reallocate electricity or gas in situations of acute electricity or gas shortage.”

The move has alarmed the Petroleum Exploration and Production Association of New Zealand, which suggests it would be ironic if the Government’s 2018 ban on offshore oil and gas exploration were to cause ministers then to intervene and claim there had been “market failure” because of a shortage of natural gas supplies.

The proposal is buried deep in a paper taken to the Cabinet by the current energy minister, Megan Woods, on December 11 last year and released proactively late last week. It covers a wide range of recommended actions aimed at alleviating energy poverty and keeping an eye on how the fast-changing electricity market develops.

The one-line reference suggests ministerial intervention could be developed aa “low-impact option” in the event of “market failure”.

“A possible option is the provision of emergency powers to reallocate electricity or gas in situations of acute electricity or gas shortage.”

It’s beyond ironic. The Government bans offshore gas exploration and then says oh it is worried we may have gas shortages, so we need more powers in case of shortages.

Dumb meet dumber.

Radio NZ report:

Five years after the charity Quit Group ceased to function, it continues to pay board members tens of thousands of dollar a year from funds that were not invested in smokefree services.

Yep this so called charity is paying board members generous fees, despite the charity having ceased to function. And all with money sources from taxpayers.

One of the board members is Chris Cunningham, who recently left his role as chair of the Hepatitis Foundation, after RNZ revealed late last year that he had spent $128,000 on overseas travel on top of lavish dinners at expensive Auckland restaurants.

Seems not unfair to call him a professional trougher. He is also a professor at Massey University.

A trust under the same name was set up to hold more than $3 million of reserves, including more than $400,000 of surplus taxpayer funds it received from the Ministry of Health, which were never spent on smokefree initiatives.

Through an official information response to the Taxpayers’ Union, the Ministry of Health revealed it was aware of the reserves built up by the trust but chose not to recoup them.

So they built up $3,000,000 in reserves from taxpayer money that was meant to be used for smokefree initiatives.

While no staff work for the trust it continues to gain investment income and has paid out $702,296 since 2016.

That includes paying itself $72,000 per year – or $18,000 per board member – travel expenses, legal fees and IT costs and maintenance.

$18,000 a year each to govern an organisation with no staff and no activity. Sweet.

In its OIA response, the ministry said it has a work programme ready on reducing smoking among Māori and would be in discussion with the trust about how best to use the surplus funds.

It would not be referring the group to Charities Services – the regulator – because the ministry was in discussion with the charity.

Taxpayers’ Union campaign manager Louis Houlbrooke said “this beggars belief”.

“The ministry has already let this group off the hook for four years.

“It’s an insult to the ailing New Zealanders who desperately need anti-smoking support and other core health services,” he said.

The Charities Commission should definitely be investigating.

Sam Sachdeva at Newsroom writes:

If you tuned in to the Prime Minister’s latest post-Cabinet press conference in the hopes of being reassured about the Government’s coronavirus response, you may have been left with mixed emotions.

On the one hand, Jacinda Ardern’s announcement of greater quarantine powers, to cover not just people but ships and planes, fits with what has largely been regarded as a sound public health approach within New Zealand to the potential pandemic.

But on the less tangible yet also important issue of the financial fallout, there were nearly as many questions as answers.

Speaking alongside Ardern, Finance Minister Grant Robertson announced a “business continuity package” to support the economy, including a targeted wage subsidy scheme along with training and redeployment options.

But there was little detail on offer. “Policy options” around tax and household support were still being sketched out by officials, Robertson said, while the scale and scope of the package was also a work in progress.

Basically they didn’t announce a package of measures. They announced there would be a package, but not what it would be.

Businesses which are having their income plummet by the day need more than good intentions. They need details so they can make decisions about whether they can stay afloat and how many staff they can retain.

But it was a surprise not to have greater specificity about what would be done, given the impact of coronavirus is well and truly being felt already among a number of New Zealand businesses.

The decision to take a targeted approach to support for employers and employees also raises some obvious questions.

How will the Government ensure it captures all the industries and businesses being affected by the outbreak, and would it be easier (if more expensive) to develop some universal stimulus initiatives?

The problem with restricting it to certain industries is what happens in one industry affects another.

Radio NZ reports:

The founder of pressure group 5G-Free Nelson Joe Rifici said the technology enabled massive data communication via a system that posed “significant risk to public health”.

He acknowledged efforts by the council to “execute the basic steps of its job” by staging a public meeting. He said it was a matter of “critical urgency” that 5G roll-out was halted.

Rifici said it was a priority, even above the current raft of global emergencies.

A Nelson doctor said non industry-funded research was needed before the community should accept 5G technology was safe.

Mapua-based GP Caroline Wheeler told the meeting more science was emerging over the side-effects of 5G on humans and animals, and more needed to be done to prove it was safe or not.

“It’s a no-brainer to say, ‘let’s push pause’, and let’s use the precautionary principle here in Nelson to say that we as a city will not roll out 5G until, or unless non industry-funded research is done to prove whether 5G is safe or not.

“Industry has somehow managed to bypass this essential process of having to prove whether 5G is safe or not, before rolling it out on the whole planet.”

It’s depressing that the normal nutters even include a couple of GPs.

The nutters have been railing against cellphone towers, 3G, 4G and 5G for decades.

The claim there is no non industry funded research is false. There has been truckloads and the science has been reviewed by the International Commission for Non-Ionising Radiation Protection.

The luddites who cite (wrongly) the precautionary principle would have us all in horse and buggys as there’s no way cars should have been allowed to be rolled out until there was research they’re safe.

A good source of info is from the PM’s Chief Science Advisor.

Health clinician Clive James, who also spoke at today’s meeting, said pulsed energy, or “electro smog” of the sort created by smart technology was linked to stress and anxiety in increasing numbers of young people.

Electro smog. You can’t make this stuff up.

The Herald reports:

Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield says it’s “disappointing” that a laboratory workers’ union is using the coronavirus outbreak as leverage in planned strike action.

But a senior Apex spokesman denies his union is using the outbreak as leverage and the timing was “just a coincidence”.

Coincidence sure. If it was a coincidence they’d delay it.

Apex, which represents DHB Medical Laboratory Workers and NZ Blood Service employees across New Zealand, announced plans to strike this Friday.

The industrial action is in support of achieving a fair offer to settle their multi-employer collective agreement (MECA).

Apex released a statement at 1pm this afternoon – the same time as Bloomfield’s daily Covid-19 updates.

Senior Apex spokesman David Munro said the industrial action was on top of ongoing partial strikes, which will be running until May.

They really are scum, aren’t they.

Stuff reports:

New Zealand cannot save the kiwi, kererū and thousands of other endangered species without gene editing, say experts.

And attempting to do so without the technology is likely to cost the country “a significant proportion of our national budget”.

New Zealand’s biodiversity crisis has been addressed by a new national Predator Free 2050 plan. 

But a number of academics and researchers claim it wrongly rejects the “most promising” new technology in pest management – gene editing.

If the Government was serious, then of course it would include gene editing as a tool.

In the past we have had a system of graduated suspensions – one week, then two weeks, then four weeks, then two months etc. That is from the days when comments appeared automatically.

Now that most comments have to be approved by a moderator before they appear, we can have a more flexible system of suspensions, as the bad comments generally are not getting through.

Basically the length of a suspension will depend on how bad the offending comment or comments were. The worse they are, the longer the suspension. Also if you are a repeat offender, that will probably mean a longer suspension, but not automatically double the length of your last one.

Individual moderators will have the power to impose a suspension of between one and four weeks.

If a moderator thinks a suspension of more than four weeks is justified, then it will be referred to me for a decision.

There won’t be any central list of strikes as they are no longer automatically cascading.

If someone is constantly getting suspended, they may be banned permanently.

Also remember if you wish to avoid a delay in having your comments appear you can apply for auto approve status. This generally requires you to post under your real name or have a link in your profile to your real identity.

You can lose auto-approve status if you constantly breach the moderation policy.

Oliver Hartwich writes:

When the euro crisis struck in the wake of the Global Financial Crisis, Italy was one of the hardest hit countries in Europe. Indeed, it never properly recovered from that crisis. Per capita (and in constant prices), GDP is still lower than it was in 2011. Industrial output collapsed at that time and never returned to its previous levels.

On top of the problems in Italy’s real economy, there has long been a banking crisis. It is a banking crisis that has been simmering under the surface, mainly because the European Central Bank kept it there. …

The Italian government certainly benefited from the implicit ECB support. It is one of the most indebted governments in the world. Thanks to the ECB’s help, 10-year government bonds currently trade around 1 percent and thus much lower than a decade ago when they peaked at more than 7 percent. Even so, Italy’s debt-to-GDP ratio kept going up and has hovered around 135 percent since 2015. …

Despite Italy’s many, many problems, the country could always rely on its inherent appeal. There is only one David – and he stands in the Galleria dell’Accademia in Florence. There is only one Venice in the world. There is no equivalent of Rome anywhere else.

No wonder that tourism had become one of Italy’s most important industries. It was practically the only industry still growing and accounted for about one seventh of Italian GDP. Just for comparison, agriculture accounts for not even half that in New Zealand.

Tourism collapses; Italy’s public finances collapse; its debt ratio jumps; the zombie firms fall over along with the banks to whom they owe money.

To say it clearly, Italy is too big to fail – in ordinary times. But it is definitely too big to be bailed out – in extraordinary times.

If Italy fails – and there is a temptation to write ‘When’ instead of ‘If’ – it will be a catastrophe not just for Italy. It will be the end of the Euro as Europe’s currency. It will be the return of the euro crisis on steroids.

I have been covering the euro crisis for a decade now for various publications. But I have never seen a situation as dramatic as Italy’s today. The only reason why you may not have read about the new coronavirus-induced Italian euro crisis just yet is that there are so many other coronavirus-induced crises around.

This will be morbidly fascinating to watch. Italy is in the G7. If Italy is pushed out of the Euro, that will be massive.