The election has been postponed for a month by the Prime Minister, something National and New Zealand First probably are grateful for.
The election has been postponed for a month by the Prime Minister, something National and New Zealand First probably are grateful for.
COMMENT:
The election has been postponed for a month by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, something National and New Zealand First probably are grateful for, although both have a long way to go before either will see the Treasury benches again.
National has gone from gaffe to gaffe, first vainly lookingfor Māori on their front bench and settling for poor Paul Goldsmith who then quickly denied he was Māori, then another change of leadership, unfortunate that that was.
Then we had Gerry Brownlee airing conspiracy theories about the Government apparently knowing about Covid-19 in the community some time before telling the country.
He is of course buying into the angst and anger of those on the right who simply cannot and will not get their heads around the fact that this pandemic is treacherous and will, if allowed, kill thousands.
The right want the borders open, some completely, but most a lot more than they are. They want students and tourists back from countries who are fighting this pandemic and losing. They seem to be saying that it is all right to accept a death toll among our elderly and infirm as long as the economy continues unabated.
None of the right wing commentators I have read or listened to seem to have science backgrounds, let alone degrees or doctorates in medicine, virology or epidemiology. They all have an opinion, though, and have obviously conducted in-depth research on Google, Facebook and Wikipedia, coming to the, in their minds, sound conclusion that Covid-19 is, if not quite harmless, something we should just learn to live with. Explain that to the children of elderly parents.
Gerry Brownlee aired conspiracy theories about the Government apparently knowing about Covid-19 in the community some time before telling the country.
These commentators and their right-wing coterie are seeing their world of "trickle-down", each man for himself, dog-eat-dog neo-liberal politics disappear in New Zealand in favour of trying to preserve the life and health of all of us.
Yes we will be in debt, but going from a debt level of 19 per cent of GDP to the high 40s is sustainable in a wealthy country such as ours. We have been there before and survived.
Ardern's Government has, overall, been a shambles of course. She has two minor parties from opposite ends of the political spectrum to try to manage.
There are standouts; both Tracey Martin and James Shaw are clearly in the wrong party. They would be more at home in Labour. Both seem to be competent in their ministerial roles although Oranga Tamariki has been a challenge for Martin - not of her making, though.
Jacinda Ardern has been tested by three big events in her time as PM: the Christchurch mosque shootings, Whakaari-White Island and Covid-19.
Ardern has also been tested by the three big events of her time as PM: the Christchurch mosque shootings, Whakaari-White Island and now the biggest of all disasters we have faced in 100 years apart from war, Covid-19.
This election is the "Covid Election" despite what National and their commentators say. They deny it so often you know it must be true. The Government that takes the Treasury benches after the election will be the Government the people trust the most to get them through the next few years of worry while we await a decent vaccine.
We have a resurgence of Covid at the time of writing this and we will likely have more. More than 40,000 people have entered New Zealand via quarantine and isolation facilities since March. They have all entered safely except perhaps for one person who, somehow, managed to pass the virus to another in our community.
Not a bad result when one looks at how other so-called developed nations are coping. Some simply seem to have given up, willing to wear the huge death toll as long as the country's economy continues, making the top 1 per cent richer while the peasants suffer.
We all knew this pandemic would be back, only the most naïve thought otherwise. It is how we deal with it that matters. Ardern has been a great leader in terms of communication and kindness, but she now has to step up and clean out the dead wood on her front benches, taking the load off her few competent ministers before they crumble. She must have some talent sitting around on the back-benches surely.
She also needs to make some policies get results; none seem to have so far. Homelessness is still rising, unemployment was going up even before Covid-19, housing is just a joke and she needs rid of New Zealand First if she really wants to be transformational. New Zealand First is a handbrake on this country going forward in the 21st century.
Covid-19 has sadly shown our health system as inadequate also.
Listen to the qualified scientists, not Tory commentators.
