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The times are changing , the pressure is growing , the Nat's have a winner . While surfing the channels yesterday I  came across Todd Muller speaking in parliament , he was BRILLIANT .

A great attack on the col , one that will have them worried , the fight is on , no longer is comrade cindy in the box seat . Anyone wanting to see this speech it's on facebook , keep in mind this guy is still learning and is probably at 80% of his best , look out when he is in top gear leading up to the election . Make no mistake the Nat's are in with a huge show of winning the election , before covid the polls put them in front , those days are quickly returning .

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1 hour ago, shodsie said:

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/300037879/coronavirus-homeless-man-walked-into-500night-auckland-isolation-hotel

sort of sums up the labour government doesn't???

good on him hope he had a ball 

No doubt he had a ball mingling with the potentially infected and I suspect he will  still be laughing , SOME WHERE OUT THERE  . .

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The Empress Is Fast Losing Her Clothes

By JC

Jacinda is angry. Jacinda is frustrated. Or to put it more accurately but crudely, Jacinda is pissed off. Over the last few days, Jacinda has more than enough reasons to put on show her real persona, her left wing angry side. When the chips are down the left always find that attack is the best form of defence. That is their modus operandi.

So what has gone wrong for our Queen of global politics? Quite a lot it seems, both domestically and internationally. The reason is that the borders are leaking people like a sieve. The problem is that this has lead to more cases of COVID-19. Who is to blame? Not Jacinda because she warned us there would be more cases. So why her anger? Well, it appears that the implementation of border checks is as woeful now as it has been from the start.

 

Locking us all down was the easy bit. Jacinda is well versed in the art of control. The equally important bit, implementing the proper checks at the proper places, was beyond her and her band of incompetent travellers who make up what we know to be the Government. This moribund lot are an insult to the institution. Right from the start, the whole operation of containing COVID-19 has been a shambles. Muslim fancy dress, mountain bike riding, beach walks and moving house were the priorities.

Luke-Satirical-quiz-David-Clark-Health-m The BFD. Photoshopped image credit Luke

We were given to believe that, due solely to she who must be obeyed, we were leading the world in the recovery. Her fawning idiots in the media were frothing at the mouth, such was the extent of their salivating on her and Ashley’s every prognostication. Well, now their bubble has well and truly burst. They are now paying the price for their daily B grade Hollywood performances. While they were performing it is quickly becoming apparent that no one else was.

Cindy-and-team-NZ-The_BFD-Luke-Jacinda-t The BFD. Jacinda and Team NZ. Photoshopped image credit Luke

Jacinda has now embarrassed herself to the point where she has had to call in the military, something that should have happened at the outset. It is now very apparent that when it comes to a crisis this Government is totally out of its depth. Todd Muller’s speech on this point is well worth a listen. This Government itself is in crisis and I suppose it’s too much to expect one crisis to sort out another.

On Wednesday the National Party showed that they know more about what’s going on than the Government does, and Jacinda’s left-wing luvvies in the media are turning on her.

Screen-Shot-2020-06-18-at-5.18.55-PM.png telegraph.co.uk

The UK media, including those normally besotted with her, such as the Guardian and the BBC, have finally decided she may not be the greatest thing since sliced bread after all. Politics is not about being the star controller in a crisis, it’s about knowing what to do to effectively and how to successfully handle it.

On that point among others, I fear the Empress is fast losing her clothes. For her, and indeed the country as a whole, the result will be anything but a pretty sight.

jacinda-naked-emperor.jpg?resize=1068%2C

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Transcript:

Mike Hosking Grills Ashley Bloomfield Over MOH Failures

Mike:

So it turns out Michael Woodhouse had it right, the women whose trip to Wellington has seen the government’s entire quarantine strategy fall to pieces in front of our eyes did stop, and they did meet people, and on the back of those revelations the flood is now on that those in quarantine not tested, not isolated, let out with no testing at all. Director General of Health Ashley Bloomfield is back with us. Good morning.

 

Ashley:

Good morning Mike.

Mike:

Have you quit yet?

Ashley:

No, I haven’t quit, aah I just want to say aah I don’t…I’m not planning to quit. I’ve aah worked very hard at the Ministry, as people know, over the last few months to keep New Zealanders safe. I’m proud of what New Zealanders have achieved, we’ve had high expectations of ourselves umm to… to achieve what we have and you know, it’s clear umm with the slip up at the Auckland quarantine that we didn’t meet those expectations.

I am sorry about that. That was said yesterday. I’ve owned that, I’ve umm taken responsibility and in particular I’ve taken responsibility for making sure it’s safe, so we’re focused on that.  

Mike:

Why does no one in this government ever get held to account for anything?

Ashley:

Well I’m not part of the government but I’m certainly putting my hand up aah as being responsible for making sure the system works. There was clearly a… a gap in the implementation of the testing in Auckland aah… I wasn’t aware of that. As soon as I became aware, we’ve made sure no one leaves aah… managed isolation or quarantine for any reason unless they’ve had a test and as soon as I found out about that I made sure that was the rule and that’s been applied.

Mike:

Why weren’t you making sure it was the rule from day one? It’s so simple. It’s so simple.

Ashley:

Yes… well… aah… we… we had processes in place. The… remembering we moved to alert level one very quickly, clearly there was a gap in the implementation and, as I say, made… made sure that that gap is now closed and it’s really clear what….

Mike:

You make it sound like it’s some sort of military operation. No one leaves the building unless they test negative. Beginning, middle and end.

Ashley:

Aah… well… I’m not a military person but aah… that’s what we… we’re doing now and umm… that’s aah the expectation that’s been really clear. So, I can provide that assurance and I’m also… (indistinct) go back and review and look and…

Mike:

Well what… but actually, it’s too late.

Ashley:

…and see what happened in this case.

Mike:

Well what happened? They didn’t get tested. We all know what happened.

Ashley:

They didn’t get tested before they left and what we are focused on now is making sure (a) everyone does get tested and (b) if there was any risk that the two women may have presented, that that is being managed and we are very focused on that.

Mike:

Just quickly on the women themselves, did they lie to you, or did you not ask enough questions?

Ashley:

Look, they didn’t lie. It’s very common in these situations, remembering they had just lost a parent, they were um… distraught, they were on their way down to Wellington aah and that’s why our a… a… to be with the remaining parent, that is why our public health do do follow up interviews. It’s not uncommon for them to elicit other information.

Mike:

So, you’re telling me a person who’s got one job during the day to go from point A to point B, when you say did you meet anybody along the way, given that’s all they did that day, they can’t remember whether they met anybody that day? And you trust them to say… that that was the truth as opposed to a lie?

Ashley:

Well, look the… the information was elicited at a subsequent interview. It was while they were trying to get out of Auckland, they got lost – went the wrong way and went North instead of South. They asked for assistance from their friends. There was a very short interaction to make sure they got pointed in the right direction.

And actually, the public health unit found this out on Tuesday night, didn’t tell us until yesterday afternoon after I enquired, and the reason is, they did not think that the interaction was material.

Mike:

What!

Ashley:

I said anything is material and let’s act decisively.

Mike:

Are they thick? Is that the problem, are you dealing with thick people? They didn’t let you know; they didn’t think it was important. I mean, what… what sort of brain power is going into that?

Ashley:

Because they were judging that on… based on… these are very experienced people… based on the nature of the interaction that it did not present any risk. I said “belt and braces” we will put these people in self-isolation and they had already been tested, we are expecting the test results today as well.

Mike:

On June 9 you said that people would be tested for Covid on their third and twelfth day in isolation whether they were symptomatic or not, that’s not happening. Not only isn’t that happening, it’s voluntary.

Ashley:

It is happening now. And I’ve made it clear there was some question about whether they could be compelled to, under the existing order, while I’ve made it really clear that I will not deem anyone as low risk before they leave unless they have returned a negative test.

Mike:

So, it becomes mandatory now?

Ashley:

Absolutely. It has ever since, as I said Tuesday when I found out about this and gave that instruction out to all managed isolation facilities.

Mike:

What about all the endless stories we are hearing in the last 24 hours at the Grand Mercure and other hotels where people are having parties, candles are getting blown out, groups are getting mixed, no one’s getting tested, everyone’s leaving with no testing?

Ashley:

Well, as I say, since Tuesday everyone is tested before they go, the operation of the umm of the hotels is aah… is aah is done by aah Commodore Digby as was announced yesterday… Commodore Digby as announced by the prime minister and Mike Bush and I know their team.  They are looking into any… any complaints or any issues that arise and look, I’ve also heard reports of very strict umm aah enforcement of the… of the mixing in… no mixing and mingling, so any reports like that we will absolutely follow up.  I will hand those over to Mike Bush to make…

Mike:

Given the stories we’ve heard of the birthday parties and the candles being blown out without people getting tested and people leaving, do you have any idea of how many people have been in quarantine, and have left with no tests?

Ashley:

(Sucks in breath) Aah what we are doing of course in the case of aah umm the two women here, which are the first two positive cases we’ve had for some time – remember we’ve had over 19,000…

Mike:

Ashley… Ashley you only have positive cases if you test. How many people have left hotels, do you know, with no test?

Ashley:

I don’t know. But I can find…

Mike:

You don’t know!

Ashley:

We re implementing a… a… as I said, everybody aah in the hotel does not leave aah for any reason…

Mike:

As of now, that’s as of now? Up until yesterday’s calamity, how many people left hotels without being tested?

Ashley:

Look Mike, it’s not a calamity. There just (indistinct)

Mike:

Oh, come on!

Ashley:

(Indistinct)

Mike:

Come on! Can you tell me how many people left hotels with no test?

Ashley:

Everybody completes their 14 days isolation, that is the mainstay of protecting our border…

Mike:

And do they get tested?

Ashley:

From the 9th of June we have… have been adding in testing at day three and day twelve as a “belt and braces…”

Mike:

No, you haven’t!

Ashley:

(Indistinct)

Mike:

No, you haven’t – you’ve said you have…

Ashley:

Let me finish Mike. Right at the start, as I said, the implementation of that there was some gaps. I’ve said I… I will make sure that the system is in place that that doesn’t… that no one does leave and if they have been tested…

Mike:

But it hasn’t been in place, that’s the point. So, the question is simple: how many people have left the hotel without being tested?

Ashley:

I do not know that number but…

Mike:

How on earth can you not know that number?

Ashley:

That was the second of aah… since two days ago unless they’ve been tested, Mike. And that’s what I’m taking responsibility for.

Mike:

So, there’s potentially, what – half a dozen, a dozen, 20, 30, 50, 100 or we literally don’t know?

Ashley:

Let me go back. We have had managed isolation in place for several months with people going in and… and… aah and undertaking 14 days of that isolation without any testing. We added the testing in once we moved to alert level one, we moved rapidly, that didn’t get implemented as well as it could have…

Mike:

Ashley you didn’t… you didn’t implement the testing because we got numerous stories of people not being tested.

Ashley:

Look, aah Mike, just to reiterate, it is now being fully implemented and I’m providing that assurance and my team and I are very focused on making sure that happens.

Mike:

Let me come to the Auditor-General, why was PPE… basically, you lied to the country. You said there was plenty of PPE and you were on a war footing and there was no problem getting it and there was no problem with distribution – the Auditor-General says that’s not true.

Ashley:

I don’t think that’s quite what he does say Mike, what he says was that…

Mike:

Can I quote you then? You had no idea how much personal protective equipment you had, how much was needed, what was expired, how it should be distributed. His words, not mine.

Ashley:

So, our PPE was held in both national stock and out in DHBs. As soon as aah… Covid-19 came along we started to look at exactly what we did have and made sure that we had enough PPE for the whole health system. We did not run out of PPE – let me be clear – we had good supplies of PPE, we had enough onshore and we got more in, secondly, what he does say in the report is when it became apparent that the distributed way of getting this out to people was not working the Ministry gripped it up and has sorted it out nationally.  And I’m proud of what we did there. We actually sorted this out and we now have a national distribution system (indistinct)…

Mike:

No national stocktake since 2016? Is that true?

Ashley:

That hadn’t been… that’s right, that hadn’t happened…

Mike:

No central (indistinct) at all?

Ashley:

This is a devolved health system, as soon as we realised there was an issue umm aah you know we… this is one of the things we worked very hard on, was getting that centralised and making sure that we could distribute it effectively from the centre. And we did not run out, and we’ve got very good stocks and supply.

Mike:

And given all that we’ve just heard you still don’t feel you should quit?

Ashley:

Oh, look Mike, just to reiterate, you know this has been a global pandemic, it continues, we’ve been deeply committed to keeping New Zealanders safe. I’m proud of what we’ve achieved now and that commitment remains stronger than ever and we’re doubling down our efforts to keep New Zealand safe.

Mike:

All right, appreciate your time, Ashley Bloomfield.

image-1.png?w=696&ssl=1 The BFD

 

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Yeah right from the start Mike Hosking has not been happy with the Ashley Bloomfield approach to dealing with the Cornavirus.

"Australia are doing it better", "Why are we still in Lockdown?" "Why haven't we moved to Level One yet?"..........and on and on he's droned.

When the opportunity came for Mike to cut down a tall poppy, he didn't miss. And New Zealand cheered, cause we love cutting down those tall poppy's.

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48 minutes ago, Uriah Heap said:

Yeah right from the start Mike Hosking has not been happy with the Ashley Bloomfield approach to dealing with the Cornavirus.

"Australia are doing it better", "Why are we still in Lockdown?" "Why haven't we moved to Level One yet?"..........and on and on he's droned.

When the opportunity came for Mike to cut down a tall poppy, he didn't miss. And New Zealand cheered, cause we love cutting down those tall poppy's.

The blame for the two women slip up lies fairly and squarely with National opposition party. If an MP is going to bat for any cause then they should make certain everything has been done to the letter. The MP Chris someone failed miserably and I hate to think what would have happened if National had been in government.

I suggest National stop interfering with the protocols and trying to set Labour up. As the NZ Herald quite rightly pointed out this was an own goal for National.

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1 hour ago, slam dunk said:

The blame for the two women slip up lies fairly and squarely with National opposition party. If an MP is going to bat for any cause then they should make certain everything has been done to the letter. The MP Chris someone failed miserably and I hate to think what would have happened if National had been in government.

I suggest National stop interfering with the protocols and trying to set Labour up. As the NZ Herald quite rightly pointed out this was an own goal for National.

Sorry slammer but you will have to do better than that , all Bishop did was what any MP would do for his constituates  . We were ALL lead to believe the quarantine was working , how was Bishop or anyone supposed to know it was a complete stuff up  and of course you do remember the petition National organized that was signed by 40.000 demanding all entrants coming into NZ be  quarantined . As you can see the only reason we have the quarantine requirements is because of National and the 40000 who demanded it . Chris Bishop was entitled to believe it was working , WE WERE ALL CONNED . 

WED, APR 8  

A National-led petition demanding mandatory quarantine for everyone entering New Zealand’s borders has gained over 40,000 signatures in 24 hours. 

The petition is calling on the Government to require everyone arriving into New Zealand - symptomatic of coronavirus or not - to undergo at least 14 days of mandatory quarantine. 

Dr Ashley Bloomfield yesterday said stronger border measures were under “very active consideration”. Note the date 8 april .

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The Embarrassing Incompetent Personages of COVID-19

By JC

Note:  Taxcinda has gone "mia"

Now that the unraveling of the shambles that was the handling of COVID-19 is becoming apparent, there is also becoming apparent a number of personages who have suffered embarrassment as a result of the fallout.

There is no better place to start than at the top with the Prime Minister. First, her obsession with being able to help to spread the virus at the anniversary of the Christchurch massacre with her hugging routine prevented her from going hard and early. This hard and early nonsense is a lie that the Government has no qualms about repeating ad nauseam. When she finally had to give up on her Muslim masquerade and close the borders it was too late. 

 
Screen-Shot-2020-06-06-at-1.51.49-PM-1.p

The BFD. Pshaw! Social distancing is for other people.

You could argue it didn’t matter because those still allowed to enter the country were pretty much able to just wander in with a friendly greeting of don’t forget to self isolate and here’s a leaflet. Something to read on the way home or while travelling to your accommodation. Effectively an open border. No proper scrutiny, no proper testing, no means of checking on self-isolation. Meanwhile, those of us lucky enough to have a house to live in were barely allowed to open our front door.

Meanwhile, at 1pm each day Jacinda and Ashley appeared to present what was the equivalent of the daily episode of the soap opera Days of our Lives. Stop the presses! Right here is the problem with this Prime Minister. All she is interested in is being adored, not just here but globally. Her priority is self promotion on the global stage. Jacinda doesn’t have to worry about knowing the nuts and bolts of anything because her communication studies have taught her how to talk a lot on a subject while either saying nothing or espousing misinformation.

The next personage to embarrass himself was the Minister of Health Dr David Clark who doesn’t appear to do anything by halves. He obviously wasn’t content with breaking the rules set by his Department just once because he had two or three goes at it. As Minister of Health, he became the invisible man and somewhat redeemed himself by giving an exemplary example of self-isolation.

Another personage who has embarrassed himself was a doctor of a different sort, the Prime Minister’s babe magnet, Dr Ashley Bloomfield. Here is a man who was totally fixated on his daily television date with Jacinda while his health department was going to hell in a handcart. There were numerous problems with the handling of COVID-19 plus the availability of the yearly flu vaccine but, like Jacinda, he bluffed his way through. Even now he doesn’t have a handle on quarantine numbers and who has or hasn’t been tested. By the way, also like Jacinda, he broke his own rules on social distancing. This couple has a degree of commonality.

WVQ4ZA4SOJDJNL3QZRNHYWWTM4.jpg?w=696&ssl The BFD. Hypocrite of the day. Director General of Health Ashley Bloomfield stands close to restaurant staff breaching social distancing rules imposed by his ministry. A similar photo situation at a restaurant earnt National MP Matt King a police reprimand.

The other personage to offer up embarrassment was the media. The journalists that attended the daily pressers, which eventually morphed into an electioneering platform for the Labour Party, were an embarrassment themselves. They deserve to have a place in the Guinness Book of Records for asking the most number of inane questions in the allotted time. So keen were they to prostrate themselves at the feet of their two heroes they became dribbling sycophants to the point of self-inflicted humiliation. If they had done what is supposed to be their job, research and investigate, we would all have been better informed much earlier.

Cindy-and-team-NZ-The_BFD-Luke-Jacinda-t The BFD. Jacinda and her adoring flock of Journalists. Photoshopped image credit Luke

What we can take from this is an incompetent Prime Minister leading (?) an incompetent Government with a totally incompetent Minister of Health and an incompetent Director-General of Health backed by a compliant incompetent media.

I suggest September is the time to terminate this reign of incompetence and save the country further embarrassment.

 

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5 hours ago, Uriah Heap said:

Yeah right from the start Mike Hosking has not been happy with the Ashley Bloomfield approach to dealing with the Cornavirus.

"Australia are doing it better", "Why are we still in Lockdown?" "Why haven't we moved to Level One yet?"..........and on and on he's droned.

When the opportunity came for Mike to cut down a tall poppy, he didn't miss. And New Zealand cheered, cause we love cutting down those tall poppy's.

Not very tall I would have thought Uriah......unless you count the sycophantic media view.....🙄

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For Your Info ....

COVID ANGER IN PERSPECTIVE ... by Krok N Kivell
New Zealanders have a reason to be very angry right now. Not just because of apparent breaches of Covid19 isolation policy, but by being kicked in the guts by zealous media and politicians.

Sensationalist media headlines abound yesterday in the wake of our latest Covid cases as they raced to get advertising clicks. News bulletins filled with sky falling opinions and laser guided targeting at government for failing the nation; and calls for heads to roll.

Failing the nation? Whoa, Back the truck up mate. This was the same government and ministry that has courageously fought off Covid and been the envy of the world in its actions. The only failure here was by individuals that enabled these people to breach what are very clear isolation policies; and the travellers themselves for knowingly breaching them. Crying to media after the event does not excuse one's actions in participating in the wrongs - but somehow media have a long list of them at their disposal.

So public safety is the paramount concern here right? However media have not once questioned the integrity of Michael Woodhouse. He was the person who as an MP charged with serving the interests of constituents and ultimate safety and security of the nation, that demonstrated his complete lack of humanity to not report apparent Covid breaches directly to the Ministry of Health or other appropriate authorities; but rather [he and his National Party colleagues] decided that information was better served as political ammunition hours later in parliament whilst potential Covid transmission went unchecked in our communities and lives were put at risk.

Leadership. Whilst Jacinda, rightfully angry showed swift and appropriate actions yet again, we can not say the same for Todd Muller. By virtue of his silence, his true insincere character was too portrayed by not directing Woodhouse to act properly. However all media can publish is Mullers call for the Kings [Ashley Bloomfeild] head.

Hypocrisy. How many times has the government been pressured to loosen rules around funerals and to be more compassionate. Loud screams to open our borders, and lower pandemic response levels. Screams that still echoed just yesterday to immediately allow 10,000 foreign students into NZ - most coming from China which has closed its own schools in the wake of new Covid outbreaks. Where are the media on calls for resignations over these now demonstrably Ill-conceived chest pumping ideologies? Muller, Bennett, Collins, Bridges, Seymour, Hoskings......the list goes on.

Team 5 million have been betrayed by a selfish few. But if we are going to back the truck up, let's put it all into perspective.
- Over 100,000 Covid cases are reported globally each day, NZ had 2
- Government never said we would never have any more. In fact they said we ALL needed to remain vigilant and our borders were our biggest risk.
- These were not systemic failures, but failures of human behaviour.
- Our tracing system is being implemented as intended.
- These were asymptomatic cases. How many do we actually already have attending our overflowing bars and sports stadiums?
- Government reasonings for being vigilant and tough have been validated.
- We now know who we can trust, and who we can not, and
- We are wiser for the experience.
New Zealand; chin up, stand united and stand proud, We are doing this, and doing it well even if we have to read international media to see it.

Don't let a minority destroy our sacrifices, efforts, dreams and families. We are better than that.
Krok

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19 minutes ago, Gruff said:

Adern quote

 
She also had concerns about turning a hotel into a Covid Petri dish, which had happened on cruise ships around the world.

What utter crap , nothing to do with cruse ships and if it was going to be a petri dish it's better that petri dish be in a locked up hotel than some where on the streets . These people were supposed to be isolated and tested twice before release , there was no isolation or testing on the ships .

Just another example of the incompetence  and misguided thinking of comrade cindy and this lot . , f they are useless , never ever have we had such a poor government and for good measure , comrade cindys pet project , child poverty , hows that going ? Oh yes that's right , child poverty has doubled under her watch , PRIOR to covid , FACT .

 

i

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40 minutes ago, jack said:

For Your Info ....

COVID ANGER IN PERSPECTIVE ... by Krok N Kivell
New Zealanders have a reason to be very angry right now. Not just because of apparent breaches of Covid19 isolation policy, but by being kicked in the guts by zealous media and politicians.

Sensationalist media headlines abound yesterday in the wake of our latest Covid cases as they raced to get advertising clicks. News bulletins filled with sky falling opinions and laser guided targeting at government for failing the nation; and calls for heads to roll.

Failing the nation? Whoa, Back the truck up mate. This was the same government and ministry that has courageously fought off Covid and been the envy of the world in its actions. The only failure here was by individuals that enabled these people to breach what are very clear isolation policies; and the travellers themselves for knowingly breaching them. Crying to media after the event does not excuse one's actions in participating in the wrongs - but somehow media have a long list of them at their disposal.

So public safety is the paramount concern here right? However media have not once questioned the integrity of Michael Woodhouse. He was the person who as an MP charged with serving the interests of constituents and ultimate safety and security of the nation, that demonstrated his complete lack of humanity to not report apparent Covid breaches directly to the Ministry of Health or other appropriate authorities; but rather [he and his National Party colleagues] decided that information was better served as political ammunition hours later in parliament whilst potential Covid transmission went unchecked in our communities and lives were put at risk.

Leadership. Whilst Jacinda, rightfully angry showed swift and appropriate actions yet again, we can not say the same for Todd Muller. By virtue of his silence, his true insincere character was too portrayed by not directing Woodhouse to act properly. However all media can publish is Mullers call for the Kings [Ashley Bloomfeild] head.

Hypocrisy. How many times has the government been pressured to loosen rules around funerals and to be more compassionate. Loud screams to open our borders, and lower pandemic response levels. Screams that still echoed just yesterday to immediately allow 10,000 foreign students into NZ - most coming from China which has closed its own schools in the wake of new Covid outbreaks. Where are the media on calls for resignations over these now demonstrably Ill-conceived chest pumping ideologies? Muller, Bennett, Collins, Bridges, Seymour, Hoskings......the list goes on.

Team 5 million have been betrayed by a selfish few. But if we are going to back the truck up, let's put it all into perspective.

- Government never said we would never have any more. In fact they said we ALL needed to remain vigilant and our borders were our biggest risk.
- These were not systemic failures, but failures of human behaviour.
- Our tracing system is being implemented as intended.
- These were asymptomatic cases. How many do we actually already have attending our overflowing bars and sports stadiums?
- Government reasonings for being vigilant and tough have been validated.
- We now know who we can trust, and who we can not, and
- We are wiser for the experience.
New Zealand; chin up, stand united and stand proud, We are doing this, and doing it well even if we have to read international media to see it.

Don't let a minority destroy our sacrifices, efforts, dreams and families. We are better than that.
Krok

 "These were asymptomatic cases".  RUBBISH  , one had symptoms .  , NZ had 2 , RUBBISH  we don't know , the testing regime wasn't working , just ask David Clark .

"Don't let a minority destroy our sacrifices, efforts, dreams and families,"  MINORITY , make no mistake it's not the minority that's pissed off , it's the majority by far and comrade cindy knows it .

 Todd Mullar is breathing down her neck and she worried ,.

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1 hour ago, tripple alliance said:

 "These were asymptomatic cases".  RUBBISH  , one had symptoms .  , NZ had 2 , RUBBISH  we don't know , the testing regime wasn't working , just ask David Clark .

"Don't let a minority destroy our sacrifices, efforts, dreams and families,"  MINORITY , make no mistake it's not the minority that's pissed off , it's the majority by far and comrade cindy knows it .

 Todd Mullar is breathing down her neck and she worried ,.

🤣🤣🤣😂😂😂

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Ardern Has Run Out of Options

The PM Distances Herself from Covid-19 Protocol Fiasco

By Suze

If you’re going to make a mistake, make it a good one!” Ardern’s government didn’t make just one big mistake managing COVID-19, they made several.

Despite her oft-repeated claim of going hard and going early, Ardern went too hard and not early enough ensuring long term economic effects of lockdown that could easily have been avoided. Even the hard and early lie pales into insignificance this week with the arrival of new COVID cases. All avoidable of course, and not the fault of the “team of five million” who did their bit. It was Ardern’s team who dragged us backwards.

 
Boondecker-The-BFD-blameless_1a.jpg?resi The BFD. Photoshopped image credit Boondecker

Ardern disavowed responsibility for departures from quarantine protocols that she promised: testing on days three and twelve and strict isolation. Instead, the un-tested “Thelma and Louise” were given leave to drive to Wellington taking COVID with them.

The Director-General of Health, Ashley Bloomfield, fronted up alone with the bad news and apologised.  Ardern did not.

“Of course, I feel huge remorse that this has happened, but I am making sure that we are fixing the system.

“If I had any personal responsibility for what happened here of course I’d take that, but my job is to lead, I wear that, and I keep going,” Ms Ardern said.”

On the subject of leadership, Ardern is selective. When other world leaders chimed in unison that it was wrong to change history by removing statues that remind us of uglier times, Ardern sidestepped the issue saying that the decision should be made by local authorities.

Luke-The_BFD-COVID-OLYMPICS.jpg?resize=6 The BFD. Photoshopped image credit Luke

When Ardern was “crushing” COVID, she fronted daily. When her team failed and blame was in the air she was distant – a fair-weather leader. Ten days prior she had basked in the international praise that drew her coy response giving credit to the “team of five million.”

Congratulations to New Zealand, which, as of June 8, 2020, has effectively eliminated the threat of Covid-19 on its soil due to a series of strict lockdowns, strong government leadership and the ability of its residents to band together and follow the rules. As they say in this part of the world, good on ya!”

10 days after floating from the rafters, Bloomfield lands with a thud and fronts up to deliver the bad news and a personal apology for the MOH’s neglect of COVID protocols. Mike Hosking calls it a calamity and overseas media agrees. A newspaper reported:

“Now media from across the globe have taken a keen interest in how the Ministry of Health is “bungling” its handling of Kiwis returning from overseas and heading into quarantine.

The Telegraph called the incident and introduction of the military a “fiasco” while Bloomberg called it a “quarantine bungle“.”

Ardern was forced to come up with a plan. She announced the appointment of the assistant chief of the Defence Force, Air Commodore Darryn (Digby) Webb, to oversee all quarantine and managed isolation facilities. Stuff reported that “Ardern tasked Webb with a ‘start-to-finish audit’ of the existing systems and written protocols at the border.”

The problem with that announcement is that Webb has actually been doing that job for the last four weeks.

Her last-ditch attempt to promote the appearance of being in control of COVID raises the question: if Webb is the saviour of quarantine and isolation facilities, surely the first thing he did when appointed was to carry out a comprehensive audit and assessment?  And if he did that, why were the promised two tests in 14 days not carried out and why were people in isolation mingling unrestricted?

Ardern has run out of options. Who is she going to call now? Surely it is time for her to bail, or will she do a Bridges and hang on until someone pushes her out?

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4 hours ago, rdytdy said:

Ardern has run out of options. Who is she going to call now? Surely it is time for her to bail, or will she do a Bridges and hang on until someone pushes her out

... Certainly NOT Todd Muller!!

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We Cannot Go Back Into Lockdown

There Is Only One Course Available to Us: Herd Immunity.

By Christie

 

o what happens now? Now that we know that a birthday party was held in a quarantine hotel, and the birthday child blew out the candles and pieces of cake were handed out to all party attendees? Now that we know a wedding was held in a quarantine hotel: not of quarantined persons, but of members of the public who presumably did not realise that it was a quarantine hotel? Now that our own Thelma and Louise have taken a road trip from Auckland to Wellington, getting lost and calling in friends to help them, giving them kisses and cuddles even though one of them had COVID symptoms, taking no toilet stops, food stops or fuel stops for 650 kilometres (if you seriously believe that, as Ashley Bloomfield says he does); now that we know, in spite of what we have been told, that people in quarantine have not been tested as required, and that people on Day 2 of quarantine have been mingling with people who are on Day 13… now that we know that people in the Auckland facilities have been bundled onto planes to take them to Christchurch because facilities in Auckland are becoming too crowded?

Our “Team of 5 Million” did all the work. Yes, we did. We were told to stay home, and we did. We were told not to go to work and we complied. We have lost jobs, incomes, businesses and loved ones, but we were told that it was all for the right reasons. We didn’t attend funerals, births, family events, dinners with friends, we didn’t hold the hands of dying relatives. We did what we were told, believing it was all for the greater good… even if that greater good was hard to understand on a personal level sometimes.

 

And then, when we had done it… when we had beaten the virus… all we had to do was rely on the government to play their part in stopping the virus from re-emerging in the country. The only way to do that was to control the borders, and to apply the rules to keep us all safe. It was a straightforward matter once the virus had been eliminated once and hopefully for all. A few spreadsheets here and there and the virus would have been controlled.

But we have all been saying for more than the last 2 years that this government is completely incompetent. They couldn’t build houses. They couldn’t reduce poverty. They couldn’t improve mental health. They promised all these things, but fell woefully short. Why on earth did we seriously think they could control the borders?

They didn’t.

One of the advantages we had before going into lockdown was that New Zealand was not in its winter flu season. Well, as the second wave starts to break, as it is about to do, we are now in the depths of winter; a winter that has already shown savage cold temperatures in some areas and generally foul weather in others.

Did no one in the Ministry of Health, or any other government department for that matter, think about that? That a second spike, if it happened, would be particularly harsh because we are now in our flu season? That we would be more vulnerable, if a second spike happened?

No. It seems that they didn’t. Not for one second.

When you have given up everything, thinking that the government has your back, and it turns out they they do not, and actually they never did, what happens then?

What happens now?

We cannot go back into lockdown. The economy is already tanking, and the effects are only just being felt. Things are going to get much worse in the economy. If we went back to lockdown, those businesses that have struggled during the last one but have survived will be gone. No business, no matter what Deborah Russell says, can survive two bouts of sustained periods without income.

The only good thing to come out of all this is that people are very angry with the government. Even Labour supporters that I talk to are furious. One I spoke to said that Jacinda must step down. Another said that we need an actual health minister, not a cardboard cut-out. Just about all of them are saying that, after all the efforts and sacrifices made, this government has demonstrated its incompetence one time too many. They had one job… and they couldn’t do it. Instead, Ashley Bloomfield is thrown to the wolves, and Jacinda has gone into hiding, as she always does when the going gets tough. Neve’s birthday is coming up, which will give her an opportunity to divert the attention of the public, but I’m not sure it will work this time. People want answers, and a two-year-old’s birthday party will not cut it.

Now for the really sad part. Simon Bridges was right. He was trying to tell the country that the government was failing to do its job, but nobody wanted to listen. He was described as ‘tone-deaf’, ‘playing politics’ or using the pandemic to score points. I feel sorrier for Simon Bridges now than at any other time, because he was successfully holding the government to account, which means he was doing his job and he was pilloried for it. It just shows the damage that a vacuous airhead and a sycophantic media can do. Simon Bridges was rolled by someone who doesn’t have the spine to do anything like the job that Bridges was doing. The whole thing makes me sick.

What now? Where do we go from here?

There is only one course available to us. We will have to go for herd immunity. That is what most of the rest of the world is either doing now or will end up doing eventually. As there is no vaccine on the horizon, and there won’t be for some time. We can’t just keep locking ourselves up, hoping for the best. We tried that. It didn’t work.

So now that we are facing the reality that herd immunity is our only option, as the government is incapable of keeping us safe, you might well ask – what was it all for? Why did we make huge sacrifices for the greater good? Why did we all self-isolate to keep ourselves and others safe? Why did we bother?

The losses and sacrifices made have been huge, and it was all for nothing. Those who bowed at the feet of Jacinda, and refused to face the reality that she is nothing but a lightweight running a team of incompetents, have blood on their hands. If we had closed the borders earlier and imposed proper border and quarantine controls, we would never have needed to go to Level 4. But it is too late now. We have burned through $20 billion for nothing, and no one is any safer than they were before.

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Ardern’s Clueless Conflagration

By JC

 

Here is the definition of the role of a Prime Minister. The Prime Minister determines the general direction of Government’s activities and ensures coordinated and purposeful work of the Cabinet of Ministers. The last half is worth repeating: ENSURES COORDINATED AND PURPOSEFUL WORK OF THE CABINET OF MINISTERS.

If the COVID debacle has proved one thing it’s that we have a fake Prime Minister. Fake in the sense that she is incapable of doing her job. I’m prepared to cut her some slack because she’s in a coalition and those parties’ views have to be taken into account on every issue. She is, however, the leader of the major party. One can happily cut Ardern some slack knowing full well if she were leading a one-party government she would be no better.

 
Jacinda-Ardern-hope-Aroha-poster.jpg?res The BFD

Adoration and adulation are what drives this Prime Minister. The desire to give love and be loved. To give kindness and encourage kindness, even on the country’s motorways. That’s all that counts, all that matters. Never mind the responsibilities of running a country. Leave that to others, which might work if the others were up to it. Unfortunately, the others are no more equipped to steer the ship than she is.

cartoon-The_BFD-SonovaMIn-stormy-sea.jpg The BFD. Cartoon credit SonovaMin.

This is one sorry apology for a government. There is not one Labour Minister who has proven he or she is up to the task. I could be kind and say David Parker has come close. The rest resembles a shambolic group of airheads. The worst of them are cringingly embarrassing. Davis, Twyford, Jackson, Mahuta, Salesa, Clark, Sepuloni, the list goes on.

These incompetents are in dire need of leadership but it’s just not forthcoming. There is no leadership, which is compounding the problem. Last week’s Covid debacles proved beyond all doubt the appalling situation we are in. The Prime Minister, who has spent the last few months inflicting herself upon us daily, has suddenly become the invisible woman. Nowhere to be seen. When leadership is desperately needed it’s absent. The pathetic excuse for her no show is she’s overexposed herself.

So thank you very much Prime Minister. While we were locked down at your behest it appears all you could achieve was overexposure. We know that to be true due to the events that unfolded last week. Heads should roll. The Minister of Health and the Director-General for starters. I’m unsure what you can do about yourself as self-inflicted wounds, such as resigning, are the actions of one who realises she has let her “team of five million” well and truly down.

Having created a conflagration it appears rather than resign, you have decided to retreat. There is a word for that.

 

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