Category: Politics
Fear of widespread infection in the community of a virulent disease is now sufficient to lock people up in their homes and suspend Parliament. Really! This not the first such plague to affect New Zealand and it will not be the last. Yet this is the first time our civil liberties and our democracy have been suspended in order to minimise its effect on public health.
With all of the indecision, contradictions, and failure to follow the lead of countries that have controlled the virus without destroying their economies, one can’t help but feel our leaders are making this crisis deeper than was necessary.
German immunologist and toxicologist Professor Stefan Hockertz says, “Covid-19 is no more dangerous than influenza, but is simply observed much more closely. More dangerous than the virus is the fear and panic created by the media and the ‘authoritarian reaction’ of many governments.”
Any restrictions anywhere in New Zealand on public movement under COVID-19 Level 4 national emergency criteria should apply equally everywhere and to everybody, regardless of race, and only be imposed and enforced by legitimate authorities of the state and not Maori amateurs.
Unless the Prime Minister knows something that we don’t, it certainly appears that enacting the Singapore model could have prevented the country from needing to be closed down.
In spite of public officials saying that face masks don’t help to protect people from the virus, they clearly do since that’s what medical staff use.
Investing is an act of optimism. The greater threat for our economy is the damage that has been done to business confidence. Pessimists don't invest.
The only effective way to reduce child poverty is to ensure parents are in work, not on welfare. Policies that make welfare attractive risk deepening the dependency trap.
What we have here is a slick manoeuvre by the current government to gain public approval for a community programme that will make them look good in election year...
The 2020 general election will be held on Saturday September 19th. It will give New Zealanders the opportunity to vote, not only for those we want to govern the country for the next three years, but also on whether we want cannabis and euthanasia to be legalised.
Loading ...
