NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
    • Cooking the Books
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / New Zealand

Claire Trevett: Government caught short in planning for Delta

NZ Herald
27 Dec, 2021 04:00 PM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern during a Covid-19 update at Parliament. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern during a Covid-19 update at Parliament. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Opinion

As we say goodbye to 2021 and welcome in 2022, it's a good time to catch up on the very best of the Herald columnists we enjoyed reading over the last 12 months. From politics to sport, from business to entertainment and lifestyle, these are the voices and views our audience loved the most. Today it's the top five from Claire Trevett.

Government caught short in planning for Delta lockdown - August 21

Throughout the year, the Prime Minister defended New Zealand not getting its vaccines earlier because we did not have Covid-19 and other countries needed them more.

The latter was accurate, but it was always going to be a problem when the first bit of that changed and we did have Covid-19.

Now we have it and, like New South Wales, we are a naked little baby in a blizzard.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Despite the warnings Delta was inevitable, how ready was the Government actually with its lockdown plan?

Read the full story here.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced the country would go back into a level 4 lockdown on August 17. Photo / Supplied
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced the country would go back into a level 4 lockdown on August 17. Photo / Supplied

Has Delta sped up the clock on Judith Collins' leadership? - September 4

Come the end of the lockdowns, Judith Collins may well find her MPs have devised an elimination strategy of their own: A strategy to eliminate her.

It is also now increasingly clear that when that time comes, the person who will execute it will be Simon Bridges.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The polls will be the trigger, but it is the lockdown and Collins' lack of political judgment that have seen her odds on surviving into the next year plummeting.

Prior to the lockdown, Collins might have had until next February to pull up the nose of her plane.

But MPs' eyebrows rose when she decided the middle of lockdown was a good time to do a reshuffle. Even in a crisis, National was still busy dealing with itself.

Bridges is the only viable option to replace Collins this term - but when?

Read the full story here.

National leader Judith Collins at Parliament. Photo / Mark Mitchell
National leader Judith Collins at Parliament. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Was anger to her Facebook post a crossroads moment for the PM? - July 24

Just before Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern headed off on her mid-year break earlier this year, she did a Facebook Live that will have set the hearts of the Opposition aflutter.

It was on the evening of the massive farmers' protests around the country.

Ardern did not front to those protests, nor did she speak to any media that day to give her reaction to them.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

After seeing the scale of those protests, Ardern clearly decided against ignoring them totally. So Ardern opted to respond with a live video on Facebook at 6.30pm that night, a Friday night.

Ardern's Facebook audience is her most adoring audience of all.

This post was the exception.

Read the full story here.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern during one of her Facebook lives. Photo / Supplied
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern during one of her Facebook lives. Photo / Supplied

PM, we don't expect perfection but drop the defensiveness - August 26

This time round, the lockdown doesn't only feel harder for all of us – it also clearly feels harder for Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.

The handling of the Delta outbreak has come in for a lot more scrutiny and criticism than in the past. Judging from the very extended set-piece speech Ardern delivered today, that is starting to take its toll.

The introductory speech beamed out live to the nation was not about what was happening with the current Delta outbreak, it was a political broadcast.

It was an attempt by Ardern to defend what the Government had done in the past and justify things it might not have done.

Her delivery showed a Prime Minister on the defensive.

Read the full story here.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern speaks to media about the Delta outbreak response. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern speaks to media about the Delta outbreak response. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Is Sir John Key's comments a bigger headache for Judith Collins or Jacinda Ardern? - September 27

Here's Johnny! The scene in The Shining in which Jack Nicholson's character pops his head through a hole in the door was once judged the scariest horror movie scene of all time.

It would be fair to say Sir John Key's leap into the debate about the Covid-19 plan is more of a horror story for National Party leader Judith Collins than for Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.

Key had more publicity in one day than Collins has managed since the outbreak began.

Key was motivated by more than genuine and growing concern about what was happening.

The other motivation was concern about the collapse of the party he once led.

Read the full story here.

Sir John Key called for more certainty around when the borders will reopen. Photo / Michael Craig
Sir John Key called for more certainty around when the borders will reopen. Photo / Michael Craig
Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

Latest from New Zealand

New ZealandUpdated

Council knew toddler pool 'likely infected' with crypto but waited to alert public

29 May 07:10 PM
New Zealand

'All sorts of destruction': Tornado strikes Hamilton, thunderstorms buffet upper north

29 May 07:07 PM
Herald NOW

Herald NOW: Fonterra CEO on the price of butter and a free trade deal with India

Gold demand soars amid global turmoil

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from New Zealand

Council knew toddler pool 'likely infected' with crypto but waited to alert public

Council knew toddler pool 'likely infected' with crypto but waited to alert public

29 May 07:10 PM

The council has defended its response, saying it didn't want to cause undue alarm.

'All sorts of destruction': Tornado strikes Hamilton, thunderstorms buffet upper north

'All sorts of destruction': Tornado strikes Hamilton, thunderstorms buffet upper north

29 May 07:07 PM
Herald NOW: Fonterra CEO on the price of butter and a free trade deal with India

Herald NOW: Fonterra CEO on the price of butter and a free trade deal with India

Herald NOW Weather Update: May 30 2025

Herald NOW Weather Update: May 30 2025

Explore the hidden gems of NSW
sponsored

Explore the hidden gems of NSW

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • What the Actual
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven CarGuide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP