New Zealand’s COVID-19 free status was short-lived. The team of 5 million is being badly let down by government incompetence at the borders. While bureaucratic ineptitude is nothing new, given the personal sacrifices that everyone was required to make during the lockdown, the stakes are incredibly high.
When New Zealand moved to Alert Level 1 on June 9, we were told that our border was our main protection against COVID-19,and that anyone arriving from overseas was to undergo two-weeks of managed isolation with two tests – one at day three and the other day 12.
The public were understandably outraged following the disclosure on June 16 that two sisters from the UK, who were infected with COVID-19 had been allowed to leave managed isolation in Auckland on compassionate grounds without being tested, and travel around the country.
They borrowed a car and after apparently getting lost, met up with at least two friends for directions, cuddles and kisses, before setting off for Wellington. According to the Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield, they then travelled non-stop for 8 hours to their destination. He assured the country that they did not stop during the 643km trip for petrol, refreshments, or to use bathroom facilities.
Those who believe that scenario probably also believe in Santa Claus.
The revelations that the two women had tested positive for the virus, led the Government to suspend all compassionate exemptions at the border.
Tracy Watkins summed up public sentiment in her Sunday Star Times editorial when she said: “The damage done by the government’s border fiasco is almost incalculable. Perhaps the greatest harm is the loss of confidence in another lockdown being worth the terrible pain. If the Government tried to return the country to a level 4 lockdown tomorrow, there would probably be mass civil disobedience. That’s because the mishandling of New Zealand’s border measures has been a massive breach of trust…
“We embraced a stringent lockdown… we believed we had entered into a solemn contract with the Government. Their end of the deal was to use that gift of time wisely; the lockdown was their time to plan, to prepare – and to execute a world-class system that would make all the sacrifices worth something. World-class border measures, world-class detection and quarantine procedures, and world-class contact tracing systems. That was the contract.”
Once the Prime Minister realised the depth of public anger over the incident, instead of standing up and taking responsibility for her Government’s border botch-ups, she used Facebook to make excuses: “my expectations have not been met…”
When that didn’t work, she tried to pass the buck by blaming the media and opposition parties for pressuring the Government into allowing compassionate leave for people in isolation – as if they had caused the blunders!
When Ministry of Health officials were questioned about how many of the 55 people released early from isolation on compassionate grounds (like the British sisters) after the June 9 testing regime had been introduced but had not been tested, it took over a week for them to provide the answer.
It turned out that 51 out of the 55 had not been tested.
Of the four who had been tested, two were tested on the last day, which means they were released into the community without knowing whether or not they were negative.
The Ministry of Health had used the delay in providing the answer to try to rectify the situation: “Thirty-nine of the group of 55 have been tested and returned negative results. Eleven will not be tested because of health reasons or because they’re children. Three are awaiting test results and one person who has had a test has not returned contact… the person had been referred to enforcement services.”
Work is also underway to trace and test more than 300 people who came into contact with the infected sisters – including those in isolation in the Auckland hotel, and other passengers and crew on their flight from Brisbane. To date five people had not responded to health authorities.
Questions have also been asked about whether everyone leaving their 2-week isolation between June 9 when the testing regime was introduced, and Jun16 when the sisters’ case came to light, had actually been tested.
Astonishingly, it turns out the most had not been tested.
Of the 2,159 people released from isolation during that 7-day period, only 800 had been tested.
Again, the Ministry of Health has been scrambling to try to rectify the situation. Of the 1,359 people who had not been tested, health officials have advised that 384 have now been tested and found to be negative, 143 are still waiting for their results, 695 are still to be contacted, and 137 will not be tested for various reasons including refusing a test.
We have now learnt that once outside of managed isolation, people cannot be compelled to have a test unless there’s a good reason to think they might be COVID-infected.
We’ve also learnt of another bungle – the Government had failed to ensure that their new day 3 and day 12 testing regime, that they had introduced on June 9 with great fanfare, was mandatory. Until the error was corrected this Tuesday June 23 all isolation facility testing was voluntary!
The Government also announced this week that it is introducing regular testing for all workers who could come into contact with infected passengers, including air crew, quarantine and isolation centre staff, drivers, cleaners, immigration officials, customs, and biosecurity and security personnel. Why this had not occurred earlier is difficult to understand.
At the time of writing, New Zealand has 13 active COVID-19 cases at the border – eleven are in quarantine in Auckland and two are in Christchurch.
One of the latest cases originated at the Ibis Hotel in Rotorua, which has been used as an isolation facility since last weekend, when Auckland was said to have reached capacity. As a result 232 new arrivals were bussed to Rotorua from Auckland Airport.
The passengers were given no warning that they were going on a 4-hour road trip to Rotorua, instead of a 20-minute ride to Auckland city. Worse, they were all crammed onto crowded buses, alongside people from COVID-19 hotspots. There was no social distancing or masks, even though the guidelines for such long-distance transfers is reported to involve just 12 passengers on a bus wearing protective equipment.
With one of the bus passengers now testing positive for COVID-19, if others also test positive, what happened at the weekend should surely be regarded as a scandal – yet another example of gross incompetence at the border that could endanger lives.
Concerns have also emerged about the management of the isolation facilities. There are reports of children running riot in hallways, gatherings and parties taking place in rooms, youngsters absconding, and new arrivals mixing and mingling with those who are ready to leave isolation.
Concerns are also being raised by hundreds of permanent elderly residents living in hotels that are being considered for use as isolation facilities, who are desperately worried about the on-going risks of infection.
It isn’t just border botch-ups that have caused alarm either. Right from the beginning of the pandemic major concerns were raised about front-line workers not having access to adequate personal protective equipment. While such anxieties were routinely brushed aside by the Prime Minister and Director General of Health, it is now clear that a lack of safety equipment was responsible for many cases of infection, and in all likelihood, led to many of the deaths.
All of these recent events have reinforced the widely held view that while the Ardern Government is great at rhetoric, they are hopeless at delivery. It’s an accusation that has dogged them ever since they were elected.
KiwiBuild didn’t help. Under the stewardship of Minister Phil Twyford, Labour’s flagship policy to build 100,000 affordable homes over a ten-year period failed dismally with only 133 delivered in that first year.
The struggling Minister was finally removed from the portfolio by elevating him into the role of Economic Development Minister. Dr Megan Woods, the Cabinet Minister who cleaned up the mess Jacinda Ardern created when she closed down the oil and gas industry without notice, was anointed Housing Minister to restore public confidence. KiwiBuild was buried within the new Kainga Ora housing bureaucracy.
Obsessed with public perception, the Prime Minister stressed at the time that Megan Woods was not taking responsibility away from anyone: “It has become clear to me that the range of challenges in fixing the housing crisis are too great for one Minister. Therefore, I am putting in place a team of senior ministers to deliver the full breadth of our housing plan, from KiwiBuild right through to tackling homelessness.”
KiwiBuild is not the only failure for Phil Twyford. Under his stewardship, Auckland’s $6 billion light rail project, which he promised would be underway by the election, has been canned. Yet, despite his track record, the Labour Party has promoted him from number 5 on their list to number 4!
When it comes to tackling COVID-19, it’s clear that the Minister of Health David Clark has been unable to cope. Instead of admitting a lack of confidence in her recently demoted Minister, the PM has again brought in her fix-it Minister Megan Woods to take control, claiming her role was “new” and that she was “not taking the responsibility away from anyone”.
To further allay public concerns about incompetence at the border, the Prime Minister announced she was calling in the Army. What she failed to explain was that Air Commodore Digby Webb had already been called in to help – he was appointed in May to assist with border management, and the PM was simply extending his responsibilities.
There is no doubt that the tide of public sentiment is turning against the government, with lunchroom discussions now changing from admiration to ridicule as new blunders emerge.
With concerns about Government incompetence growing, it’s important to remember that questions have also been raised about whether the Alert Level 4 lockdown itself was legal. This matter is going to be considered by a full bench of the High Court next month.
This week’s NZCPR Guest Commentator, former National Minister Barry Brill, outlines the facts:
“On March 23 2020, the CEO of the Health Ministry, the Prime Minister and the Police Commissioner made a joint televised announcement that every New Zealand business and school was to close, no social mixing was to occur, and every individual was to stay at home. These decrees were to have the force of law for at least four weeks and the only exceptions were ‘essential services’ (undefined). They would be enforced by the Police and all citizens were to obey under pain of imprisonment.
“The Prime Minister described these measures as the toughest in the world and ‘the most significant restrictions on our people in modern history’. The word ‘modern’ ought to have been omitted as neither New Zealanders nor their British forebears have ever witnessed the use of such extensive coercive powers. Indeed, there seems to be no record of such a total demolition of citizen’s freedoms in any democracy anywhere at any previous time.”
Barry explains that the Lockdown was not enacted by Parliament, and while the Civil Emergency Management Act 2002 expressly required Parliament to meet within 7 days of a state of national emergency being declared, the Government used a technical argument to avoid that requirement.
A simple statute from the 1956 Health Act was then used to enforce the Lockdown: “Whether that modest provision was capable of authorizing ‘unbridled power’ some 60 years later is now the subject of an application for judicial review – Borrowdale v Bloomfield – which is expected to be heard before the Wellington High Court sometime next month.”
As Barry explains, if the Lockdown is found to be unlawful, the Government could face claims for damages.
Following the Government’s border control failures, COVID-panic has again set in around the country with queues of people lining up for testing. In spite of the borders being progressively opened for new arrivals and winter bringing an escalation of flu-like COVOID-type symptoms, many community testing stations around the country have been closed down. This is resulting in doctors’ practices in some areas being overwhelmed. Many are also running out of testing kits.
Is this yet another disaster in the making?
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THIS WEEK’S POLL ASKS:
*Do you feel the Government’s border control performance has let the country down?
*Poll comments are posted below.
*All NZCPR poll results can be seen in the Archive.
THIS WEEK’S POLL COMMENTS
| Without a doubt. Total incompetence. | Lee |
| Bungles in all directions for this government. It is totally inept; but the control of humanity is its aim, and it seems to be very good at that. Western society needs to be aware that the left wants to coert you. | Sandra |
| Absolutely. | norm |
| While it has indeed been marginal performance I don’t think it is fair to put all the blame on the Govt. Public acceptance of measures taken is important and we had little structure in place prior to recognition of the potential harm the virus could cause. This is not really a fair question. | Warren |
| What they said they were going to do they did not do Properly. They are like children playing with governing. | Eric |
| Absolutely have let us down. Everyone I spoke to about it was extremely angry at the Govt incompetence, with no-one accepting responsibility. | Shirley |
| My answer is yes and No. I am disappointed with the actions and views of a wide range of New Zealanders. The team of 5 Million responded to the call to arms against the Virus. But unfortunately a portion of thew team seemed to think they knew better than everyone else on that those rules did not apply to them. | Frank |
| No matter what Comrade Ardern does, the China virus will come here. I watch Fox News, the least bias TV news and they never talk about this so-called celebrity leader here but do talk about real world leaders like Trump,. Netanyahu, Johnson, Morrison,Merkel all the time. New Zealand has suffered a huge injustice by way of MMP delivering this vain, visionless Marxist, unelected, to power, all by one Maori. I am definitely NOT in her team of 5 million because she was never my prime minister. | Monica |
| A lack of common sense! | Abri |
| After all the effort the people of the country have gone to, we have been let down by incompetent politicians. | rod |
| Border control has been the governments weakness all along. | Roger |
| Opening up the boarder controls has been a disaster for Ardern’s government. Labour must now go as they cannot be trusted. | ROD |
| Another Government botch-up | June |
| without a doubt | David |
| in many instances | Barry |
| Yes they certainly have. So many people have made sacrifices based on the 1 pm brainwashing sessions we were subjected to every day. We were lied to about all of the issues relating to the handling of this pandemic. They have now been found out to be totally incompetent. They all ran for cover looking for a scapegoat and AB was it. The PM is an orator not a leader. Why is Clarke still in his job as health Minister? | Salve |
| Most definitely but in hindsight no real surprise given the lack of delivery in the period leading up to the lockdown. During lockdown it became evident there was no plan to wind down the alert levels, when people began to press about how this will work, they finally woke up and started to do something. Hopeless. | David |
| Absolutely. So far they have lied their way through this whole abortion but have not been able to get it right yet. We have a Jacasse for a Prime Minister – lots of noise but very little good action. | Garry |
| understaffed by competent persons who were no doubt handsomely paid for not doing enough | Douglas |
| Not enough testing of arrivals at the boarder . The left hand does not know what the right hand is doing !!!!!! Too many in the Labour Government not knowing what to do. This virus is too much for this Labour Government to control. | Ross |
| The idealistic agendas, lack of qualification, real political wisdom and experience , have been exposed YET AGAIN. | Maurice |
| Scandalous | Ken |
| Poor management of a logical solution | Glenn |
| Poorly organised. Not well organised . | Dene |
| Oh yes it shows what a shambles of a party they are. What a ball’s up and yet most people still think she is the greatest thing since sliced bread. Wake up New Zealand. | Fraser |
| Yes yes | Mike |
| Everybody is angry about it. We are going to need very strong border control for many , many years. It is an election issue now. | Bruce |
| 8 weeks of lock down, and may be having to do it all again. | Arthur |
| Ardern is an extreme Marxist Socialist. the total control of the population because of total lockdown, was like a dream come true for her. Nowhere in the world has Socialism worked for the population of any nation. Socialists are theorists & or academics,. Indoctrinated from childhood, with no gained knowledge of business or management. So why is anyone surprised by the failure of the incompetent bunch, that calls itself The Government of Aotearoa. { Not New Zealand anymore } Most depressing aspect is the not to be believed polls show 50per-cent support.. Why not to be believed? Answer; the government owns the media.. | A.G.R. |
| What’s next to cause us greig? | Ken |
| Obvious innit ?? | Michael |
| All talk and no “do”as usual. Incompetency at its best. I can’t believe so many people have failed to do, what should have been, a simple job. A little bit of common sense, mixed with a bit of logical thinking, would have solved the issue without all the grief. | Josephine |
| This Govt should be named the Jacindicator Adjourn Govt. Look at their record. Failure to deliver. Broken promises. Labour remind me of a self proclaimed Casinova who sits on the edge of the love bed and tells you over and over how good it’s going to be. Then when things are getting hot and eager, suddenly, ‘woops’, they can’t quite get it together and exit at the crucial moment with an unbelievable excuse. That is the modus operandi of this Labour Govt. Big on promises. Sorely lacking on delivery. Let’s hope we all remember their broken promises when they tell us what they intend to do this time round. | Robert |
| The govt’s border control performance is a total fiasco … no forward planning has been in place in spite of what the PM has been expostulating to NZers …. the PM needs to front up and take responsibility instead of hiding away and allowing others to take the fall. | Louanne |
| there was no need all to go this far. Jacinda panicked end we paid the price, In history it would be off with here head | John |
| Right at the beginning I had no confidence. Travelers were arriving at the airport and receiving a pamphlet of guidelines. Border closing? Bollocks! But nearly all of us were locked in our homes like prisoners.. “we’re all in this together” – double bollocks! | Eb |
| After all our hard work of lock down now the nzers, who live overseas want to come home because of our hard work. I hope they don’t get the dole plus being paid for isolation. As soon as things get better they will be off again!! | L |
| Definitely. Get tired of the excuses and blame. | Marilyn |
| They can pretend it is a “learning curve”. We can’t afford that. We need people in charge who have 20 – 20 foresight. | Mark |
| Absolutely shambolic. Can’t complain about the plan because there wasn’t one. | Christine |
| I can’t see what the problem is, Friday morning on TV, Willie Jackson assured every us all that everything was under control. Why would he lie? I do find his weekly bout of verbal diarrhoea makes me laugh, more than the rest of the muppets that make up the cabinet. | Geoff. |
| Yes the Govt have not performed, but that applies in all ways. I believe that it is time to put covid where it belongs. Not as dangerous as a bad case of the flu. Also, there are treatments for covid/flu that bring about rapid recovery. So it is the vulnerable who need protection. Treated correctly, even the vulnerable can be safe. We can’t stay isolated from the world for ever. | Neil |
| No, but it nearly did. | K |
| Absolutely definitely! | Joe |
| A display of gross incompetence by a troupe of bungling amateurs | Peter |
| Total incompetency. N.Z. has been severely let down | Diana |
| Add to that,. My concern after reading ‘As Barry explains, if the Lockdown is found to be unlawful, the Government could face claims for damages.’ who will pay? New Zealanders again, or the individuals who made the decision? We should ALL be VERY worried on numerous fronts. | jan |
| No surprise really. Just more of the same incompetence | Tom |
| Absolutely useless- it shows that none of them have had a real job between them. Couldn’t organise a booze up in brewery, or a shag in a brothel | Alan |
| Of course, he borders were closed two weeks too late, and no proper controls since….. | Bernard |
| Months of lockdown and severe restrictions for the entire country followed by freedom for those returning after the event. | Martin |
| Farcical in the extreme, What are they thinking. | Claire |
| The whole attempt to eliminate Covid by shutting the country down was ridiculous pipe dream because as has been proven it is impossible to halt the virus. All that has been achieved is that the economy has been destroyed, lives have been lost because of delayed operations and treatments, as well as suicides because of failed businesses. Where to from now, who knows as Ardern and her incompetent Government have no plan B since Plan A has failed. Hopefully in September the Student Politicians and their incompetent leader will be removed from office and they will be replaced with the Adults of the Center Right Parties to sort this mess out. At least then it would give us some hope for the future. | Allan |
| It is Worth Noting that the NZ Test for SARS (CoV)-2, the Covid 19 Virus is seriously flawed. Extra Research was undertaken because of the rubbery figures being driven by global politics on the Worldometer reveals both Testing Regimes are SUSPECT. The World Health Organisation does not recommend the use of Rapid Diagnostic Tests (RDT) based on Antigen Detection which is used extensively in New Zealand. The two main reasons are because of False-Positive results and the common Antigens that exist between the SARS (CoV)-2 Virus and other Flu or Cold Viruses. False-Positive occurs when a patient with no symptoms is tested as having Covid-19 or a patient may have a common Cold and be diagnosed as having Covid-19 due to Antigen confusion. The implications to political decision making are profound! Likewise, the Antibodies Blood Test has the same level of inaccuracy as identical Antibodies exist in other Flu Type Viruses. Take Influenza-A (Seasonal Flu) for example with one of its major Antibody responses being Antibody IgG. The Covid-19 virus, SARS (C0V)-2, has the same Antibody generated by the human body against this Virus. That of the Antibody IgG. When the seasonal Flu statistics are taken into consideration and the fact that Influenza-A can easily be diagnosable as the Corona-19 Virus, the impact on political decision making is also profound! These two testing regimes should be abandoned and the responsibility of personal health passed back to the individual; otherwise testing will become perpetual and continue the downward path of the economy to a depression. | Frederick |
| Jacinda Trump and her cronies have made a right royal mess of this | Bill |
| Not really. Humans make mistakes so how the leaders are responsible for little errors at a lower level will always happen. Lighten up ?? | David |
| All talk and no follow up. Ardern all talk ! Stupid child ! | John |
| We have all spent weeks in self isolation to reach a point when we had zero community based infections. Future infections could only be imported, making complete border control an imperative and and those who refused testing should have been returned to their boarding country directly. | tony |
| Another balls up ///// for goodness sake New Zealand get rid of this Government in September | John |
| The boarder control put in place has been a total disaster and yet the Prime Minister has blamed others and not taken any blame on herself and that just shows how gutless she is and not fit for office. | ken |
| Unless the country votes Ardern and her merry bunch out this September, expect more of the same. Get rid of MMP, and reduce the size of Govt.. Winston can never make up for what he has done to the country. | Sam |
| Jacinda was dishonest and wrong to lay blame on others | Shelley |
| Sadly it doesn’t surprise me – just another example of the ineptitude of this government. All talk and no action. | Jacqui |
| How could you not think that. We have been totally let down by this govt. incompetence. | Elaine |
| If this Government ran a funeral parlour, people would refuse to die | Pat |
| A lot of left wing nonsense, which is what happens when a lot of irresponsible people are put in charge | Don |
| The Govt behaved questionably from the outset. (1) Failure to control the border immediately put them at odds with what they told the public. (2) Minister David Clark’s infamous bike ride was a shock and signalled something different in the Govt attitude to what they were saying to the public. (2) Minister David Clarks infamous bike ride showed the Govts. true colours (3) Jacinda’s failure to sack him showed that she too, was not ‘practicing what she preached’. Rumours were circulating and when lock-down was relaxed we found that the Government and those who were appointed to manage the lock-down had failed to uphold their most important responsibility and undertaking. (4) Clark blamed the Director of Health who went along with the apparent betrayal but still remains in his position. Jacinda remains untouched. It was a complete betrayal considering what everyone else had endured The economy was ruined, with no advantage to us. . Jacinda follows an ideology which we would not want have a bar of. Too late!. We can’t repay the debt, with which some recipients have been’ bought’ . We are now in the hands of our creditors which seemed to be planned all along.The New world Order marches on.Most are still deceived as to Jacinda’s motives and will support her at next election. Is there a point in having one? Time will tell. | Harvey |
| This so called government is the most incompetent and stupid in living memory. Winston Peters needs to be held to account for the criminal damage he has precipitated. Ardern is also the most shallow air headed excuse for a PM. If it wasn’t for the medias outrageous bias in her favour she would have been made to take responsibility for the long term damage she has called to our small great nation. | Richard |
| Arden continues to sell her failure as success. When will the press wake up, and stop fawning over her. She is an amateur, definitely should not be PM – simply out of her depth. | Luke |
| WE were told that that the borders were secure and it has become a shambles and blatantly obvious that no checking was done .I am angry and what about returning student defaulters and the cost of quarantine. Where is the government action on these issues. | Barry |
| Silly question really, the whole country has been made aware of the numerous bungles at several levels of government. | Terry |
| Of course it has, evident to even the dumbest of people. But what did we expect ,just look at the performances of Ardern,Clark,Twyford,Lees-Galloway,Little etc Need I say more,A great Country being ruined by an unqualified,inept un-elected bunch of idiots and guess what.We have a huge number of so called Kiwis who support this mob.Just shows how many dopes in our midst. | Don |
| What can we expect from a bunch of glove puppets? No surprise there really. No matter what they touch turns to custard and worse we have to face a rat’s tail of negative consequences which sap the strength of our nation. One wonders if this is not part of a bigger plan to bring us to our knees and ultimately destroy us. One thing is for sure.: National as a viable opposition to all this can be discounted. They do not even deserve to carry the name ‘National ‘ anymore. How about the call themselves The International diversity party from now on. | Michael |
| Very much so. We, the “5 million” have been once again duped by this pathetic labour government led by ” motor mouth” Ardern. | Darryl |
| It is only a minor glitch and they are on to it. | John |
| The non-compliance with the requirement to have Parliament ratify the Chief MOH ‘s lockdown is grounds for termination. | Kevin |
| The official paradigm of Covid management is based on very dubious science, by intention. The correct nutritional approach has been spurned, by intention. | Robert |
| Totally incompetent from the start. | Grant |
| Too little too late, all the time claiming ‘went early went hard’. Then followed up by blundering incompetence that defies common sense | Robbie |
| A shambles that could so easily been avoided. How can testing be voluntary when full isolation was not | Bryan |
| I’ve had faith up till now with Jacinda but this is reckless. We shouldn’t have opened the border or else had strategic steps in place before we did so. Seems we didn’t | Kerin |
| not capable of carrying out anything | Dave |
| Very badly managed at the border | June |
| Sack David Clark | Nigel |
| This Government is incompetent and led by someone who is clueless except when it comes to using social media to peddle lies and half-truths. Fortunately for them the large percentage of the population are similarly clueless and wedded to social media. | Gary |
| Its like every thing that they have ATTEMPTED to do ; their lack of business / people intuition , shows up again and again , and costs us dearly .Their naivety ; and blundering…[ trying to learn about life and reality as they go ] has to be politically terminated !!! | Roy |
| Total incompetence and no accountability…muppets! | Carol |
| Totally incompetent and the inability to accept responsibility | Russ |
| We sacrificed a lot only to have the government ‘trust’ arrivals to self isolate. Even now they have not succeeded in managing the border. They are trying but their initial reaction was good but they didn’t finish. So moving forward for recovery……? I don’t think so. | Greg |
| Not only border but total isolation and management accompanied with lies and more lies from the worst government we have ever endured | John |
| We all assumed the job of isolating and testing was being done efficiently and effectively but it just made an ass out of u and me. | Vivienne |
| The outcome from the High Court lockdown legitimacy will be of great interest to the team of 5m. Bacardi needs to go – the action behind the rhetoric has been MIA and the buck seems to stop nowhere. | Stan |
| Cindy I am very disappointed and you need to do better | Robert |
| One talking head with the baaaaaas following | Prue |
| sack a few people: bring back consequences. starting with Rev Clark. | mike |
| Cindy Stardust is not the NZ Government ! She is only 1/3rd of it and she has treated NZ with disrespect by pushing her Socialistic tendencies onto us, forcing businesses to close. To turn around and let 5 million people down by sloppy inefficiencies at the border is an absolute kick in the teeth and makes a mockery of the amount of financial hurt sustained by many. By not taking ownership of the gross error committed by her Minister shows poor leadership and consideration to all NZ. | Robyn |
| This government is totally incompetent. Madam relies on her TV presence but she is not fooling everyone. The country is coming awake to her total incompetence. | Denis |
| All talk – no action | Anthony |
| We have sacrificed too much already and the is highly unlikely to go back into lockdown. We looked as though we had beaten the virus but now see we have been badly let down by our government | Anita |
| Could any Government or Party have done any better in the World Wide Pandemic that eventuated?. Look at some of the countries overseas and the terrible situations they are having to deal with? | Laurel |
| Yes! Send two men, one from government and one from the opposition to Taiwan to find out why they were so successful in getting it right from the start with so few deaths. | Don |
| Yes, but it’s no more than I expected from left wing politicians. Mandatory IQ tests should be compulsory for all politicians and university graduates wanting to join government bureaucracy’s. | Rex |
| I have no words to describe the incompetence shown. But whats really sad is I fear we have another three years of this but with the green party joining in. Then I doubt the National party will have the courage or the sense to fix things when they finally get their chance. | Paul |
| One can only say that it has been and continues to be totally shambolic. It is amazing that covid has not got out into the community. | Deborah |
| Scandalous and still no accountability | John |
| Feel very let down by the untruths we have been told about securing our borders and the testing of those who are returning to N.Z. | Sylvia |
| We also object to the taxpayer paying for the food, and 14 days accommodation, of those entering our country. Has Ardern got a magic money tree ??? for the 14days free food and accommodation for those entering our country. | Tom |
| It is unbelievable how incompetent the government and Ministry of health are | Roger |
| Typical socialist response, in that they want to control everything and everybody. | Tim |
| Most definitely. Incompetent. | Pam |
| It has as has its economic policy and processes. | Tom |
| Has this ragtag bunch of twits done anything right? It’s one stuff up after another. God save us if they get back in power. Have we ever had such a shallow PM. | Peter |
| Didn’t expect anything else from a government made up of academics, activists and whisky soaked septuagenarians | Kevin |
| Yet another example of the total incompetence of this coalition government. Marxinder is a disaster. Squealer the pig would have displayed more intelligence dealing with COVID-19. How she can ever face the public and claim competence in Government is laughable. | Chris |
| To put us through a (probably) illegal lock down which has since been shown up as unnecessary, amounts to treason. To then rub salt into the wound with the border botch-ups should have every New Zealander voting them out come September! But the latest poll results do not look good for our future prosperity. If they get back in again with the Greens , we are doomed. Very worrying times ahead. | Rex |
| Useless! | Murray |
| Totally. Never be able to trust them again. Incompetent rabble. | Graeme |
| A Government of unbelievable amateurs. It is doubtful, if between them all, they could mass sufficient intelligence to pass an entry examination to play school! | Graeme |
| Ardern hasn’t got a clue about anything apart from fish n chips wrapping and she is good on the communications, front person. For goodness sake NZers, wake up. She has single handledly destroyed the economy, thousands of jobs and made thousands more people into beneficiaries. How she intends to pay the all a benefit, who knows? NZ is broke! | Carolyn |
| Whilst the initial shutdown had the results we all wanted, the recent events offshore show how quickly the virus can spread so what has just happened with overseas arrivals is inexcusable after the sacrifices all New Zealand made. May people & businesses willingly complied with the level 4 requirement. The anger that will erupt if it has all been in vain and the potential deaths will mean Labors a goner | alan |
| NZ expects and deserves much better from the coalition. Thank God the election is coming up soon. | grahame |
| Infuriatingly so! | Gordon |
| Anyone can make a mistake but this was about highly paid people acting incompetently. I only partly exclude Dr Bloomfield but include all of the cabinet which lacked the courage or ability to question what was happening. | Graham |
| Laughable if it weren’t so serious. | Louise |
| Totally, but is it any surprise? | Graeme |
| They did well up to the time we were flooded out with overseas persons coming in where all should have been quarantined at the border and tested regularly. | Alan |
| Its that bad I cant find words to comment | David |
| Incompetence again. | Bev |
| Total mismanagement by not controlling who is coming into the country and then not policing the two weeks isolation of all people entering the country. | Chris |
| Whether the governments decision was legal or not to shut the country during level 4. I am sure many believed it the right thing to do. However, when the decision was made to isolate all inbound passengers and test them on days three and twelve the health department should have specific orders on carrying out isolation procedures. Whether this was done or carried is up for debate. Bringing in the military was the first sensible decision the government has made to date. I am sure procedures will adhered to and hi jinx in hotels will be stopped . | Dennis |
| They can’t organise anything except their pay ! | bill |
| ‘An orchestrated litany of lies’ is what springs to mind with the government’s excuses! | Sheila |
| Flights to NZ should be limited to NZ citizens returning and even their number should be regulated. | Chris |
| This govt is a hopeless lot of fools from the prime minister down. | maurice |
| Dismal incompetence | Alan |
| What a bunch of idiots running the country. | diana |
| The government’s actions throughout the Covid affair have been inept and illegal. They should be held to account for this and the huge financial losses they have incurred. | Rob |
| Why are people not tested and cleared before they get on the plane as one person can infect all the people on the plane not | Arthur |
| Impossible to understand how such an outrageous failure, was allowed to occur. It seems yet again, that this present Government’s prime concerns, relate to public image. | Alan |
| I must confess to a feeling of numbness, as I endeavour to grasp the full implication of what Muriel outlines in her latest posting. This follows hard on the heels of the iniquitous Arms Amendment Bill which would not look out of place in some fascist police state where ordinary law-abiding citizens are forced to pay the penalty for corruption and ineptitude. This next election is crucial. If we do not vote this collection of duck-shoving Globalist fruit loops out of office come September, I fear that NZ may never recover economically and more of our ancient freedoms will disappear, along with our gun rights. If we cannot control our borders effectively, we cannot control anything! | Scott |
| We have a government of political elites that are completely out of touch with the real world. Muddlers will always muddle and go from one poor decision to the next. There is little hope of exiting from this mess with these people in control. | Lee |
| They are totally inept. Their shut down was pre planned for them so they only had to implement it. Then they totally failed at the borders. I am disgusted. I have never disliked a previous Labour government but I dislike this one. The budget has totally gone out the window. | Tony |
| Both before the level 4 lock down and after, when we moved to level 1. | Warwick |
| Total incompetence demonstrated yet again. | Mark |
| It just seems to be getting worse each day, as a new problem arises. I thought that we were closing the borders. | John |
| Undeniably so. It is an example of total incompetence on behalf of this government. from the top down. The PM has shown empathy but like so many other undertakings this administration has espoused, delivered very little. An awful lot of talk but no delivery. It really sums up their record doesn’t it? | Chris |
| Will the mainstream media expose this complete and utter cock-up???? | Rod |
| It is a disgraceful fiasco of the greatest magnitude.. | Donald |
| The facts speak for themselves. Also once the dirt started flying, Jacinda did a disappearing act ! | richard |
| Undeniably so, it has been an example total incompetence. again from the top down. The PM has been great on empathy but that’s where it all stops which pretty much sums up this administration. Lots of talk, little if any delivery. | Chris |
| Yes. No-one seems to know what they are doing, and there is certainly no oversight or follow-up to make sure things happen properly. | Sheila |
| Absolutely! That was the MOST important part of the whole operation and should have got the major attention – but didn’t obviously. | Roger |
| the govt control on just about everything has let the country down badly, they are absolutely useless | Graeme |
| It was the best that they could do.A brittle coalition of inadequate abilities was always going to to end in tears | John |
| It’s been such a litany of errors it is almost conceivable that they have done this on purpose to keep everyone in fear leading up to the election. | Steve |
| total disgrace will end up costing the country a lot more as if we are not in a bad enough way now | Russell |
| What border control?.There has not been anything remotely sensible undertaken or implemented from the beginning of this govt and civil service train wreck of spectacular incompetence | Phil |
| What do you expect from a bunch of incompetents who have never quite put their university student days behind them? They have no idea of how to run things in the real world. | Frank |
| WHAT ELSE COULD WE EXPECT FROM SUCH AN INCOMPETENT LABOUR ADMINISTRATION THAT EMITS COMPLETE BS and poor rhetoric? | IAN |
| Most of us adhered to the Lockdown. Now we have to ask why? The Government felt they were above their own restrictions. Worst was David Clark. He should have been immediately dismissed. He has continued to show incompetence and arrogance. Now we see constant incompetence at the borders. Why was the nation ruined for such stupidity | Peter |
| From hero to zero in 1 week. How long is it till the election ? | Laurie |
| Useless, as always. | Frank |
| What border control? adhern and her bunch of idiots couldn’t even organise a piss up in a brewery and if they try another shut down even to level 2 people will ignore it due to the total fiasco that has happened, roll on September so we can get rid of her and just hope to hell the other mob aren’t as incompetent. | Richard |
| “bureaucratic ineptitude is nothing new”. This is so true. But the level of drongoism and slackness displayed by the lack of control at our borders is a new high. Yet many still want larger government and its bureaucracy running their lives. Consider the border control fiasco as an example of just who is wanted more of. And Dear Leader Ardern (pbuh) has absolved herself of any responsibility. Merely stated “I refute that” when problems of supply were pointed out. This is who is leading the [non] performance and letting the country down at massive cost | Peter |
| Total fiasco, they could not arrange a pissup in a brewery | Merv |
| Why is “compassionate exemption” even a thing? FFS what is wrong with these people? Can we for once use common sense instead of feelings and emotions? Why are the borders even open for tourism to countries that are still under lockdown themselves? | Pavel |
| After all the hardships that New Zealanders have endured by not being able to work and trade during the lock down, Small businesses, Companies, Etc. The Labour lead coalition Govt have failed their citizens by not properly controlling our borders which they have had plenty of time to get adequate systems in place. Disgusted and disillusioned by their miserable efforts . | Wayne |
| Absolutely! The question is, what will they do when more cases of Covid are reported around the country. As suggested, there will almost certainly be push back if another lockdown or even curtailment of some freedoms. This bunch of comrades has not been schooled very well in management. | Ray |
| No business experience, clearly shows up in their handling of the crisis and we are paying them large dollars for incompetence! Sack the lot! | Martin |
| As usual, incompetence. Three full years of it. And still the stupid public love her. | Rod |
| Slack as | Linda |
| Its been a botch up from the start the labour government are all inept where they get there advice from beggars belief Lets get rid of them asap | Peter |
| Without a doubt | David |
| Look at the big picture !!! | Mark |
| The management of border control has been totally inadequate and nothing short of a disgraceful embarrassment. They have sold the NZ public short and put the concerted effort of the 5 million at risk, not to mention the sacrifice made re job losses, business failures and health issues sacrificed during this process. | Catherine |
| What control?? | Ted |
| And even worse the PM trying to pass the buck | Kevin |
| Socialists | Greg |
| This border control situation is an absolute travesty for the people of NZ. It s obvious that someone in the government has made a major cock-up and must be taken to task. | Brian |
| Absolutely. This Government could not organize a booze-up in a brewery. | Tom |
| We did our bit but we’ve been fed LIES, LIES & MORE LIES. We have been let down. | SHERYL |
| Disappointingly amateurish. | Bryce |
| The Govt. has dropped the ball with completely inadequate planning for the number of returning Kiwis. | Terry |
| disgraceful | RICHard |
| hopeless mob. | william |
| We need to leave our history as it is! You can’t change the past, only learn from it!! | Peter |
| They couldn’t arrange a piss up in a brewery! | Norm |
| But was that Jacinda’s intention, or was it to test how far she could go with Control and Obey – and no doubt to her surprised delight, New Zealanders obeyed. | Olive |
| A failure for the people who gave up so much but not for government as they move army to the border and to enter your homes. Sounds more like CCP/ North Korea daily. | Baz |
| They a pack of idiots that couldn’t organise a party in a brewery | Tony |
| It’s very disappointing. Let’s see how take 2 goes. Only a few months ago a lot of people wanted the boarders to be freed up to save their business’s. Look at Australia now? There are plenty of arm chair experts out there. | Chris |
| Total Botch Up | Neil |
| not only that, but the whole deal is 1 big scam…..and a NWO flex to see how much we can take bending over… | wayne |
| YES YES YES the election type talking did not match the required action | norman |
| What can you say about such incompetence | Allan |
| Hopeless performance with many examples | Mike |
| Incompetent, fabricators, losers! | Will |
| Just another example of this governments incompetence. All talk and no results | Miles |
| Most definitely. Having a level 4 lockdown damaged the economy deeply yet the border was not shut properly to prevent further cases getting in. Heads should roll. | Graeme |
| But we should have expected this result from this incompetent government. Perhaps changing Hamiltons name and vandalising monuments and buying some land from Fletchers will solve everything!. | john |
| Incompetence | richard |
| Hopeless – Be gone! | Colin |
| Multiple failures to do the basic, common sense actions like mandatory testing. A national embarrassment. | Gordon |
| Definitely. | Clark |
| I may sound like a conspiracy theorist but I can’t help but wonder if she wanted the lockdown to fail!!!! A bit of YOU STILL NEED JACINDA!!!! | Andy |
| Incompetence from Miss Ardern down. | Ian |
| It continues their poor performance with everything they’ve tried to do. NZ is a worse place for having had Ardern and this coalition for 3 years. | Margaret |
| Most governments, especially this one, are extremely inefficient, period. The military is no less efficient. So why do people think they will improve the debacle? | Geoff |
| A weak cabinet, no good at executing but lots of hot air. | John |
| Steep price paid mostly by low income working Kiwis. Arden kicked us while we are down. Then walks away, smiling. | Kerry |
| Lets be honest these people have never done a serious or responsible job in their lives, they haven’t got a clue how things run outside their govt bubble, if they were employed in the REAL world they would have been given the sack a long time ago, I doubt if the PM would have even been employable, serving fish and chips, for a short period, isn’t a great training ground for running our biggest business, NZ , thanks a bunch winnie, may you go into retirement this time and the country will be well rid of you. | Merryl |
| Why did they cause all the pain of lockdown, to turn around and make an absolute sham at our borders. Feel sorry for all effected by loss of businesses and jobs etc. | Rosanne |
| It has been farcical, and has not only let down our present generation but our future generation as well. | Jan |
| Their incompetency has now put us at risk of another lock down. Only a fool would expect anyone, other than a rabid Labour Party hack, to believe anyone could drive from Auckland to Wellington without stopping for refreshment, fuel or toilet! | Bruce |
| Smug Jacinda’s logo should be “The buck never stops” | Graham |
| The govt should have made testing compulsory for all people coming from overseas from when the start when we were in Lockdown 4. There was no border patrol. | Frank |
| A complacent Labour Coalition Government putting all our lives at risk. Short sighted as usual. | David |
| feel the whole border control has been mis-managed. People entering quarantine should submit their passports which should be returned after 14 days and having undergone a test to make sure they are clear of virus | Erin |
| The govt should have made testing compulsory for everyone coming from overseas when we went into Lockdown 4. The border patrol or lack of has let the whole country down | Frank |
| All rhetoric but no delivery. Worse yet to come. | Lawrie |
| A clear indicator of this Labour Govt’s incompetence, inexperience, and subsequent damaging three years of lack of knowledge and ability. They would not even survive a 12 month period running a corner-Dairy. | MervB |
| Not sure this government has managed to delivery anything without completely cocking it up, great at promising things but zero capability to deliver ! | John |
| David Clarke should resign | roger |
| It is an extraordinarily complicated problem. I think they could have done much better though. There was always going to be leakage one way or another. How many unknown carriers are roaming NZ ? And how about our immune Citizens ? I believe the Government should be testings AT THE AIRPORT in a controlled Bio Lounge. There should be a process of Scan passport, and take sample. Wait for Result. Release to isolation on negative result. I believe that the testing should include testing for Antibody as well so we know which people have HAD the disease and are now immune. | tony |
| No Doubt about that !! A bunch of impractical Nincom poop bureaucrats. | Pierre |
| Poor and weak leadership from the very top by our fair weather Prime Minister. If she thinks the ‘buck’ shouldn’t stop with her Minister of Health then she, as PRIME Minster, must accept that it stops with her. We are talking about ministerial ‘responsibility’ (not “blame” per se) – that is how the ginormous ministerial salaries and allowances and baubles are justified – responsibility. | Francis |
| Pity the MPs in Govt didn’t do a course in “Project Management” if so they might have been able to develop a “Plan” and implement it. They are nothing more than a reactionary GOVT having no lateral thinking ability. | Peter |
| See also MP Chris Penk’s excellent Booklet ‘Flattening the Country – The real story behind Labour’s lock-down’ which complements the admirable Summary above | John |
| Sadly, human error has prevailed. Just when it is SOOOO important. Let us now wait and see IF anyone is held accountable. However, I doubt it. Brian W. | Brian |
| Numerous examples to prove this without a doubt | Sue |
| Early confidence in Govt action has been shaken by the failures in border control measures, and particularly by the lies perpetrated. This is likely to engender less cooperation if lockdown levels are restored. | Graham |
| To reluctantly use a ‘Jacinderism’ – absolutely. And when will Phil Goof remove the Auck. fuel tax now the rail plan has been booted into touch, and refund what has so far been collected? | Phil |
| The Labour government in its entirety has been proven to be grossly incompetent. Anybody with half a brain would have known that anyway, but this Covid 19 issue has really turned the spotlight on why they were not voted in in the first place, but put into Government by Winston Peters, simply because he wanted to prevent National from taking their rightful place as New Zealand’s Governing Party. Labour got 35% of the vote in 2017 and National got 45% of the vote and Winston Peters tipped the balance so that New Zealand was shafted and put into the stupid position of being Governed by incompetents. How utterly bizarre and what an indictment of the MMP system – democracy? Certainly not! | Dianna |
| That is an understatement, this government stinks, maybe that’s why none of these idiots are capable of even running a bath. | Athol |
| A complete mess run by incompetent people | Jan |
| Sadly a Socialist CONTROL fiasco, which did not and is not working, and will in no way benefit N.Z, | Dick |
| Seriously doubt that there was any actual planning involved in the leadup to the imposition of the border lockdown. Seems that, much like Topsy, it just happened with no oversight supervision. | Bob |
| Hopelessly inadequate from the beginning with something like 500 people a day being let through quite unbeknown to a hot us as it was kept ‘secret’. This is an unforgivable shambles as part of a totally inadequate regime. | Hylton |
| This government have promised the citizens of NZ a great deal since being elected but have not delivered on any. They must go. | Steve |
| 100% yes. A real kick in the guts for those that have lost their jobs or business’s. | Andrew |
| Another labour party cock up just like all the rest they have made, when will kiwis wake up vote he out on the 19 Sept | Eric |
| A scandal…lies , lies and more lies | Kit |
| We have been listening ever since COVID19 started that the second wave would be inevitable. Was this apparent “negligence” here to prove the point? It seems like governments have always been blamed for being incompetent and never for being intentional in their course of action. | Dave |
| What a shamble and the Minister won’t take responsibility. | Ray |
| Appalling incompetence! | Don |
| Totally inept minister and health officials yet again risky the country. | Mike |
| Totally incompetent and still the joker Clark keeps his job. At least Bloomfield maintains his dignity | Angela |
| The Govt had adequate time to prepare for the reopening of the borders and FAILED. Time for them to retire from governing. | Peter |
| It’s a complete disgrace!!! | Peter |
| Incompetent bunch of losers could not organise a piss up in a brewery | Tom |
| Sadly they could not organise a Booze up in a Brewery. A new election should be called to remove these incompetent politicians | Reg |
| They need to be accountable for their lack of action! | Lou |
| I have a major problem with people returning here that have dual citizenship with another country. They are not New Zealanders as far as I am concerned and should be refused re-entry or, as a minimum, they should pay any and all quarantining costs associated with their return. We are being duped by these people | Allan |
| The incompetence of these idiots is unbelievable. Clark at the head of the queue for axing. It is a complete farce | Pete |
| I cannot understand why Jacinda is so popular, oh wait the media love her. | Don |
| It’s a disgrace | Graeme |
| It is a debacle that will we hope change the government. Winston is the only problem if National have to rely on NZ First we are in the shit | Andrew |
| Yes,, without a doubt and we have all paid the price. No amount of prime ministerial spin will unravel this debacle. As Shane Jones said in a different context, what is needed is the cleansing power of a general election | Peter |
| I was under the impression there were strict border controls but turns put this was untrue. | Margaret |
| I just hope that the SHEEPLE will remember all of this come election time.The incompetent RED MARE & the rest of her comrades need to go. | Allen |
| The princess would make a great pre school teacher A leader of the country… she is NOT !!! | Murray |
| I have watched Governments since the 1960’s and I have not seen a governments that is as incompetent as this government. Unfortunately this government does have a good communicator in the PM and too many people only see that. | Martyyn |
| I thought only hard core communist countries had such powers!! | Jim |
| They’re doing a brilliant job! | Joanne |
| NO!!! the people who are supposed to follow the rules & have not are letting the country down | Mike |
| They have been pathetic. Usual story of over promising and under delivering. | Keith |
| I think she took Trumps stand that no testing you get a nil result she should be taken to account for her actions not blame someone else | Cherryl |
| Its a total debacle | Liz |
| Complete shambles. Why are the people still out in south and west Auckland testing the general population they need to be testing new arrivals. | Wendy |
| The wheels have fallen off | Graeme |
| What else did we expect from a bunch of academics? | chris |
| Perhaps we could erect a statue of Jacinda so that we can all pull it down. She has done more harm than the people represented by all the disputed statues. | Tim |
| Didn’t seem that hard to prevent this mess | Kevin |
| Absolutely. | Sheena |
| Sadly the trust many of us put in the Govt assurances that Border Controls, Isolation and Testing were being carried out efficiently has now been destroyed. | Pam |
| YES & it will continue to let NZealanders down. jacinda is good at smiling when things go right but NO WHERE to be found when they,rs not.Returning kiwi,s have paid NO CONTRIBUTION to NZ or PAID ANY TAX yet now things aren’t great for them they want to return & jacinda has made OUR TAX MONEY available to pay for them to stay in hotels most of us cant afford,eat & drink up large when food banks are in a crisis as NZealanders have lost their job & cant afford to buy much food.NOW jacind,as putting us all at risk due to her BLUNDERS & BORDER that,s SUPPOSED to be closed.There will be more BLUNDERS from jacinda to come so everyone go back to wearing a mask. | Cindy |
| Sad indictment to millionths of NZ’ers who trusted the Govt — Thy have been found wanting — BUT would a National run Govt done any better !!!! | John |
| Apparatchiks sans frontieres. | Brett |
| This government has been letting this country down for the past three years .How could anyone with half a brain allow people to go out of managed isolation and travel the country, without without test for a full health clearance! Then there was the case of two teenagers allowed out to attend a gang “Tangi” and then absconded.The list goes on … | Des |
| Yet another Ardern balls-up | Peter |
| Their incompetence has known no bounds throughout their whole term. They don’t seem to be able to organise anything. Let’s hope they are gone at the next election otherwise I really fear for our country. | Helen |
| A total disaster started when they strayed from the pandemic rules based on spurious modelling. | Terry |
| This government is full of hypocrisy. The can not be trusted to do anything they promise and have now put our economy at risk, ruining many businesses, without holding up their end of the agreement. I cant recall such incompetence. They have had too many passes now. Surely New Zealanders are seeing this. | Mike |
| yes in a big way when you close border it means no one in or out.the risk is being taken every day.what a crazy govt we have been lumbered with, the sooner they go the better off we will be, bring back fpp and vote national fast | James |
| Absolutely. It is nothing but a disaster and makes NZ look incompetent by our Australian neighbours. | Mary |
| But what else can you expect from a Labour Govt., supported by a List MP and his party | Philip |
| Yes, reinforced by hearing how ‘special persons’ are allowed into New Zealand through special dispensations – and wondering how many are ‘secretly’ flying in under special cover of darkness – and then flying out again if need be, after mission accomplished. Plus: Who is checking on ex-students, who fled NZ to avoid repaying their student loans, now returning to NZ, for what ever reason, and are now looking for work back home before applying for further welfare benefits? | Stuart |
| Incompetent amateurs. | Ronnie |
| We suffered the economic and mental damage by Jacinda’s droconian “Captain’s call” and she just fluffed. | Chris |
| The whole process of lockdown and all the associated restrictions have all been very badly handled. 20/20 hindsight is great but what should have happened is the total lockdown of the border until proper isolation and tracking procedures were in place AND NO LOCKDOWN OF THE ECONOMY. Our success to date in fighting this Chinese virus has been largely because of the moat we have surrounding our country and NOT THE GOVERNMENTS ACTIONS. Unfortunately the sheeple have yet to be convinced that Comrade Jacinda is so shallow and incompetent and that if we don’t change the Government in September we are in REAL DIRE STRAIGHTS | Robin |
| Completely!! | Sandra |
| Evidence shows that there is no “COVID-19”. The diagnostic methods governments are using produce FALSE positives according to official documents. A Whangarei MP confirmed via email that he was aware of the problems with the testing kits. Here is Dr Tim O’Shea explaining that the tests that are being used for “COVID-19” are not at all suitable and he is offering $5,000 to anyone who can prove that “COVID-19” exists. https://youtu.be/_-CLY-61QC4 | Clare |
| It is quite obvious that no detailed work has gone into planning border controls following the easing of lockdown. What passes for brains in our government have been engaged in working out the best way to ensure that the economy remains in their hands now that they have wrested control of industry and commerce from their rightful owners. To be generous, it may be that they believed lockdown was a good idea, but there remains the suspicion that the economic result of their policies would be to the continuing advantage of a socialist regime. | TOBY |
| Much trumpeted, especially by Jacinda Ardern, when in fact it has been a fiasco in many respects. The rest of the world was initially taken in by the hype, but now the truth is coming out | Graham |
| I think there is community transmission out there as a result and they’re not releasing this information. | Toni |
| There should have been proper border control from the very beginning on the pandemic and then we would not have needed to go into Level 4 lockdown. The current shamozzle is merely indicative of the Government’s inability to do anything properly. | Ronnie |
| A case of too little too late. | cyril |
| YES. The border issue should have been addressed 2 weeks earlier than it was and it goes without saying that the management of the border and all the issues that go with it has been at the very least unprofessional and continues to be lacking. I thought ex Police Commissioner Mike BUSH was heading this. He appears to be missing in action again in much the same manner as when he was the Police Commissioner. | Gary |
| What a joke. After all ordinary NZer’s have had to sacrifice. Far too many inconsistencies and and ineptitude. | Jenny |
| Hmm… do fish have water tight bottoms? There’s your answer. | Maddi |
| they have no control of the border its like sieve the amount of failure would astand most NZers | John |
| What Border Control. | Geoff |
| It appears to me to be deliberate. They are quite willing to make a few scapegoats so that they can re-introduce lockdown. All about controlling the “stock” (people) not about controlling the virus. | Bruce C |
| Abysmal performance from all concerned. | Murray |
| This border failure shows Jacinda Ardern and her government are so hopeless, they couldn’t run a booze-up in a brewery! | Brian |
| Through their incompetence the government has put the whole country at risk. | David |
| I feel so disappointed that after all the sacrifice we were forced to make, the government cannot even get something as simple as keeping people in isolation and testing them twice right. But their failure puts everyone at risk. | Evelyn |
| Labour cannot be trusted to manage anything important. Their three years in government has shown that. That’s why New Zealanders are at now risk – as the revelations over the last few weeks have shown. | Tom |
| Yes, Labour has let the country down – BADLY! | Keith |