Andrew Dickens Afternoons

Here we are on Day 1 of the July School holidays and, of course, the weather is atrocious in many places and will be all week.  As if we haven’t already been through enough in 2020.
But with holiday towns feeling the love from domestic tourism there is a feeling, which may be temporary that a new normal, related to the old normal, has returned.
If we’re employed, we’re employed.  The vast majority of us are still working. We congregate in stadiums to watch world-class sport.  We eat and drink together in crowded venues. We’re almost like we used to be, although I wonder if there is some underlying Post Traumatic Stress Disorders waiting to erupt.
In our measured calm approach to the global pandemic, kindness was a key motivating concept. But how close are some of us to resorting to the rule of the jungle.
I read Greg Bruce’s article in the Herald this weekend about the appalling social media abuse directed at Dr Siouxsie Wiles over the course of the lockdown.
Dr Wiles along with others like Michael Baker and Shaun Hendy were used by the Government and the Media to help explain the scientific thinking behind our national response.
But the response to Siouxsie Wiles comments was often extreme.
This so-called scientist, many called her.  An intellectual lemming, a nitwit.  People were claiming she had no credibility.  That she was a fake science lady.
Of course she nothing of the sort.  She is a microbiologist and infectious diseases expert.  He university education makes her better qualified on a disease like Covid 19 than any of your common or garden epidemiologists or someone like Shaun Hendy, who is, in fact, a physicist. But Hendy who was saying exactly the same thing received no abuse whatsoever.
Siouxsie Wiles was awarded the Prime Ministers Science Media Communication Prize in 2013 by John Key, she was a nominee for KiwiBank New Zealander of the Year and last year she was appointed a Member for the New Zealand Order of Merit for her services to microbiology and science.
But the abuse of her intellectual credibility pales into insignificance of her personally.  As she says herself, she’s middle-aged, she’s fat and she has long bright pink hair. Cue the nastiest cruellest comments through every platform that I’m not going to repeat because I’d have to wash my mouth out with bleach to get rid of the filth.
All because she dared to be a woman with an opinion, a woman with a bright and bold personality but without having the image of ideal femininity, like Michelle Dickenson.
It revealed a deep vein of sexism that I was revolted by and I can’t understand who thinks this way. When I was younger I might have shrugged it off as the burblings of the conservative oldies who can’t handle an educated woman with dyed hair.
But the 60 and 70-year-olds that are our new oldies are not old at all and grew up through the 70s and 80s.  Siouxsie shouldn’t shock a soul.
It’s very similar as to when Taika Waititi said that New Zealand has much racism, it’s fair to say that the treatment of Siouxsie Wiles through the pandemic shows that a large number of New Zealanders are sexist as, bro, and more than proud to flaunt their ignorance and prejudices.

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Arthur Conan Doyle's estate is suing Netflix, among others, over its upcoming film "Enola Holmes" -- arguing that the show's depiction of Sherlock Holmes as kind, caring and respectful of women is a violation of the author's copyright.
The film, based on a series of novels by Nancy Springer and set for release on Netflix in September, follows the legendary detective's younger sister, a character created by Springer.
But the late author's estate has objected to the way Holmes is portrayed in the series, arguing that the sleuth was only ever kind and emotional in books that are still under the author's copyright. In earlier works, now in the public domain, his aloofness and lack of empathy are crucial aspects of his character and must be respected in any adaptation, the estate claims.
Many later Sherlock Holmes titles are still protected under US copyright protection law.
The estate has filed a case against Netflix, the US-based producers, Springer, her publisher Penguin Random House, and others in the US District Court for the District of New Mexico, just three months before the movie -- starring Henry Cavill as Sherlock and Millie Bobby Brown as the title character, Enola -- is set to premiere on the video platform.
"While Sherlock Holmes is famous for his great powers of observation and logic, he is almost as famous for being aloof and unemotional," the filing argues, citing an extract from a Conan Doyle story in which his long-time friend and assistant Dr. John Watson describes Holmes as being "as deficient in human sympathy as he was pre-eminent in intelligence."
"(T)o Holmes, Watson was utilitarian -- to be employed when useful, then set aside," the filing goes on. "Holmes did not treat Watson with warmth."
While most of Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories are available in the public domain and can therefore be adapted by anyone, a series of later stories -- written after World War I, which had a profound impact on the author -- are still under copyright.
The estate, which has gone after other alleged infringements over the years, argues that it was only in those later, copyrighted stories that the detective softened up -- and that by using those gentler character traits, the "Enola Holmes" books and film are therefore infringing copyright.
CNN has contacted Netflix, Springer and Penguin Random House, the books' publisher, for comment.
"Holmes needed to be human," the filing says, after describing the impact of the war on Conan Doyle. "He became capable of friendship. He could express emotion. He began to respect women."
"[T]he Springer novels make extensive infringing use of Conan Doyle's transformation of Holmes from cold and critical to warm, respectful, and kind in his relationships," the estate claims.
"Springer places Enola Holmes at the center of the novels and has (Sherlock) Holmes initially treat her coolly, then change to respond to her with warmth and kindness," it adds.
It cites a passage from Springer's 2008 book "The Case of the Bizarre Bouquets," in which Holmes worries about Watson after he goes missing. "Nowhere in the public domain stories does Holmes express such emotion," the filing argues.
The filing claims neither Springer nor her publisher nor the producers of the Netflix adaptation requested permission to use Conan Doyle's copyrighted stories.
Conan Doyle died in 1930 after publishing dozens of stories about his legendary detective. Since his death, "Sherlock Holmes" has formed the basis of numerous films and TV series, including the popular BBC version, "Sherlock," which starred Benedict Cumberbatch in the title role.
In its promotional material in April, Netflix said the new film "tells the story of Sherlock and Mycroft Holmes' rebellious teen sister Enola, a gifted super-sleuth in her own right who often outsmarts her brilliant siblings."
It added that the film "puts a dynamic new female twist on the...

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Is anyone really surprised that Paula Bennett has zipped it sweetie and ridden into the sunset?
After all, the horse she tied her cart to is languishing at the bottom of the party list.  The tone of the party she helped create has changed. Muller is a moderate centrist conservative who probably hates her leopard-skin coats. 
The National Party is no longer an easy fit for an animal like Paula. It’s only humane to let her go free to roam her savannahs looking for fresh meat. 
But it leaves the National Party weakened.  She was the campaign manager and the campaign has only days to go.  And I worry that National is losing too many of what I call the velociraptors.  The heavy hitters who like the thrill of competition in politics and do not just want a job as an administrator of this country.
It’s the Amy, Nikki, Todd and Paul show now and frankly, that’s pretty bland. 
Meanwhile, over the weekend I saw an opinion piece from Gordon Campbell, the left-leaning former Listener writer.
He was questioning why the media was so critical of the border botch ups over the past week. He accused us of following National Party attack lines.  He then went on to say how bad National would have been at managing the pandemic.  He believes National would have gone late and gone soft and that we’d be suffering similar numbers as Melbourne right now.
I feel the need to answer.
Unfortunately, Gordon, the media has to report on what’s actually happening and not on what might have happened under another fictional government.  There’s been far too many “what ifs” in this debate. You can imagine that National would have been terrible as much as you like but it’s still imaginary.
The media reported what happened and it wasn’t good. People did wriggle through the net.  Particularly the 55 given compassionate exemptions but not a test.
With the report into the weaknesses of our border system released over the weekend, we saw more headlines talking of strain and breaking points.
I read the report and I could see the problems. But I also read the report and marvelled at how much had been done so quickly.
20,000 people housed. 6500 beds found. A staff of 600 including 238 defence workers assembled, trained and deployed.  The logistics of beds and PPE and tests and food and transport and isolation.  It is a massive exercise and for the vast majority of cases we have succeeded.
Media always concentrate on the failures to help fix them.  They make better headlines.
So today I thought I’d concentrate on the positives.  All our Covid cases are being found in the managed isolation units showing that they work. There is no community transmission yet and every day is a blessing.  We have the most open domestic economy in the world. We have stadiums full of crowds and bars full of people.
We have been great. But not perfect.

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Pacific nations have largely avoided the worst health effects of COVID-19, but its economic impact has been devastating. With the tourism tap turned off, unemployment has soared while GDP has plummeted.
In recent weeks, Fiji Airways laid off 775 employees and souvenir business Jack’s of Fiji laid off 500. In Vanuatu 70% of tourism workers have lost their jobs. Cook Islands is estimated to have experienced a 60% drop in GDP in the past three months.
In response, many are calling for the Pacific to be included in the proposed trans-Tasman travel corridor. Such calls have come from tourism operators, politicians and at least one health expert.
Quarantine concerns aside, there is economic logic to this. Australians and New Zealanders make up more than 50% of travellers to the region. Some countries are massively dependent: two-thirds of visitors to Fiji and three-quarters of visitors to Cook Islands are Aussies and Kiwis.
Cook Islands has budgeted NZ$140 million for economic recovery, but this will increase the tiny nation’s debt. Prime Minister Henry Puna has argued for a limited tourism bubble as soon as New Zealand relaxes its COVID-19 restrictions to alert level 1. Cook Islands News editor Jonathan Milne estimates 75-80% of the population is “desperate to get the tourists back”.
A Pacific bubble would undoubtedly help economic recovery. But this merely highlights how vulnerable these island economies have become. Tourism accounts for between 10% and 70% of GDP and up to one in four jobs across the South Pacific.
The pressure to reopen borders is understandable. But we argue that a tourism bubble cannot be looked at in isolation. It should be part of a broader strategy to diversify economies and enhance linkages (e.g. between agriculture and tourism, to put more local food on restaurant menus), especially in those countries that are most perilously dependent on tourism.
Over-dependence on tourism is a trap
Pacific nations such as Vanuatu and Fiji have recovered quickly from past crises such as the GFC, cyclones and coups because of the continuity of tourism. COVID-19 has turned that upside down.
People are coping in the short term by reviving subsistence farming, fishing and bartering for goods and services. Many are still suffering, however, due to limited state welfare systems.
In Fiji’s case, the government has taken the drastic step of allowing laid-off or temporarily unemployed workers to withdraw from their superannuation savings in the National Provident Fund. Retirement funds have also been used to lend FJ$53.6 million to the struggling national carrier, Fiji Airways.
Fiji has taken on more debt to cope. Its debt-to-GDP ratio, which ideally should sit below 40% for developing economies, has risen from 48.9% before the pandemic to 60.9%. It’s likely to increase further.
High debt, lack of economic diversity and dependence on tourism put the Fijian economy in a very vulnerable position. Recovery will take a long time, probably requiring assistance from the country’s main trading partners. In the meantime, Fiji is pinning hopes on joining a New Zealand-Australia travel bubble.
Out of crisis comes opportunity
Supporting Pacific states to recover is an opportunity for New Zealand and Australia to put their respective Pacific Reset and Step-Up policies into practice. If building more reciprocal, equitable relationships with Pacific states is the goal, now is the time to ensure economic recovery also strengthens their socio-economic, environmental and political infrastructures.
Economic well-being within the Pacific region is already closely linked to New Zealand and Australia through seasonal workers in horticulture and viticulture, remittance payments, trade and travel. But for many years there has been a major trade imbalance in favour of New Zealand and Australia. Shifting that balance beyond the recovery phase will involve facilitating...

Pacific nations have largely avoided the worst health effects of COVID-19, but its economic impact has been devastating. With the tourism tap turned off, unemployment has soared while GDP has plummeted.
In recent weeks, Fiji Airways laid off 775 employees and souvenir business Jack’s of Fiji laid off 500. In Vanuatu 70% of tourism workers have lost their jobs. Cook Islands is estimated to have experienced a 60% drop in GDP in the past three months.
In response, many are calling for the Pacific to be included in the proposed trans-Tasman travel corridor. Such calls have come from tourism operators, politicians and at least one health expert.
Quarantine concerns aside, there is economic logic to this. Australians and New Zealanders make up more than 50% of travellers to the region. Some countries are massively dependent: two-thirds of visitors to Fiji and three-quarters of visitors to Cook Islands are Aussies and Kiwis.
Cook Islands has budgeted NZ$140 million for economic recovery, but this will increase the tiny nation’s debt. Prime Minister Henry Puna has argued for a limited tourism bubble as soon as New Zealand relaxes its COVID-19 restrictions to alert level 1. Cook Islands News editor Jonathan Milne estimates 75-80% of the population is “desperate to get the tourists back”.
A Pacific bubble would undoubtedly help economic recovery. But this merely highlights how vulnerable these island economies have become. Tourism accounts for between 10% and 70% of GDP and up to one in four jobs across the South Pacific.
The pressure to reopen borders is understandable. But we argue that a tourism bubble cannot be looked at in isolation. It should be part of a broader strategy to diversify economies and enhance linkages (e.g. between agriculture and tourism, to put more local food on restaurant menus), especially in those countries that are most perilously dependent on tourism.
Over-dependence on tourism is a trap
Pacific nations such as Vanuatu and Fiji have recovered quickly from past crises such as the GFC, cyclones and coups because of the continuity of tourism. COVID-19 has turned that upside down.
People are coping in the short term by reviving subsistence farming, fishing and bartering for goods and services. Many are still suffering, however, due to limited state welfare systems.
In Fiji’s case, the government has taken the drastic step of allowing laid-off or temporarily unemployed workers to withdraw from their superannuation savings in the National Provident Fund. Retirement funds have also been used to lend FJ$53.6 million to the struggling national carrier, Fiji Airways.
Fiji has taken on more debt to cope. Its debt-to-GDP ratio, which ideally should sit below 40% for developing economies, has risen from 48.9% before the pandemic to 60.9%. It’s likely to increase further.
High debt, lack of economic diversity and dependence on tourism put the Fijian economy in a very vulnerable position. Recovery will take a long time, probably requiring assistance from the country’s main trading partners. In the meantime, Fiji is pinning hopes on joining a New Zealand-Australia travel bubble.
Out of crisis comes opportunity
Supporting Pacific states to recover is an opportunity for New Zealand and Australia to put their respective Pacific Reset and Step-Up policies into practice. If building more reciprocal, equitable relationships with Pacific states is the goal, now is the time to ensure economic recovery also strengthens their socio-economic, environmental and political infrastructures.
Economic well-being within the Pacific region is already closely linked to New Zealand and Australia through seasonal workers in horticulture and viticulture, remittance payments, trade and travel. But for many years there has been a major trade imbalance in favour of New Zealand and Australia. Shifting that balance beyond the recovery phase will involve facilitating...

So if we don’t go to Level 1 at 3 this afternoon, there will be a riot.
There are some who are good little scouts who believe in the crushing the virus like a sledgehammer crushes a butterfly, but I think there is a sizable majority who are feeling the pain and need the country to go back to work.
And if the government has been listening that’s what they’ll say. 
There is no need for a transition period.  We all get Level 1. Business as normal. But no tourists, no student and no overseas trips. Wash your hands. We already know and we’re ready.
All we need to hear is “It’s 3pm, go back to work and let’s fix up this mess.” And then we have to start talking about recovering rather than just surviving.
The interesting thing about National’s policy announcements over the past fortnight is that they were ahead of the curve. They are recovery policies, not survival policies.
The GST holiday on capital expenditure for instance.  One business said to me on air that would not help for a while because they are not looking to buy more kit anytime soon. In fact, they’re more likely to be selling it as the demand has dropped. But when we turn to corner and start growing then that will be welcome. And by growth, that means growth that exceeds the capacity we had before Covid raised it’s ugly head.
The wage incentive of $10,000 for new jobs is also a good recovery policy, but again it would have little impact until firms are growing. At the moment they’re shedding workers not hiring new ones so until a corner is turned that money would stay in the government’s pocket.
There’s little wonder that these policies are being put forward by National because the soonest they could come into play is if National gets the treasury benches back.  They can’t realistically be in place until the end of the year, which doesn’t really help through this winter of economic carnage.
But they’re on the right track and they are aspirational.
Yet, in this time of survival, we need to be careful with where the money gets pumped into. The announcement today by the Warehouse that six stores will close resulting in the loss of 1080 jobs including 130 jobs from their head office
In their statement the company said that shopping habits are changing and the impacts of Covid-19 have accelerated the process of putting planned changes into action.
In other words we have been paying wage subsidies to maintain jobs that were already on the chopping block before the world had even heard of Covid. That's more than a little cheeky from The Warehouse, to be fair.
 

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At the end of yesterday’s programme I asked the question , “What are you looking forward to doing most under Level 2”
Of course many said “get a haircut”.  It’s sort of the standard answer the same way getting KFC and Maccas was the instant response when we went from 4 to 3. It’s not my go to.  I’m quite enjoying my fuzziness particularly the longest beard I’ve ever grown.
Other’s talked about sharing a bottle of Pinot Noir with their Dad, who they hadn’t seen since before lockdown.  One wanted to cross Cook Strait.  For no particular reason other than to enjoy a journey they took for granted before lockdown and Covid.
One of my favourite responses was the fella who simply said, “see my chiropractor”. I can relate.  3 years ago I stuffed my neck up skiing and I need it crunched back in place and a good session of acupuncture of the seized up muscles.  I’d quite like to look right without wincing.
There must be many people tolerating a low level hum of pain who can’t wait for a massage or a manipulation. 
I saw no protocols for masseurs yesterday and it will be an occupation that will have to think carefully on how to “play it safe” but I’m sure they’ll find a way.  I presume they’ve been thinking about how they can do their craft in the new normal for weeks now and they’ll be ready.  I hope they kept their fingers and thumbs in good shape.
When I got home I found my son and Helen in conversation about returning to Wellington so he can edit his film on India which has been sitting in the can for a couple of months now.  He was on the web looking to book a flight next week as they’re listed at $129, which seems a very reasonable price considering the situation.
So of course I had to say hold your horses young fella. We’re still at Level 3 and we will be at least until Thursday because the PM has said there will be a 48 hour transition.  Add all that to Ashley Bloomfield’s evidence to the Pandemic Response Committee where he said he’d prefer a 3 week Level 3 then we can safely say that not a lot will change in real terms next week.
The poor little poppet looked crushed.
And this is a thing.  Yesterday’s rule announcement was greeted by tourism people literally jumping for joy.  The expectation is now huge. Add to that the Prime Minister’s warning that some sectors are going to require very complex changes to ensure public health safety therefore we may see some sectors come back later than others then you have a recipe for huge disappointment on Monday.
And for a government that has seen it’s approval fraying this week as horror stories emerged of families being divided in sickness and death, large scale disappointment is not going to be a good thing politically.
I know they had to tell us the rules before the change, but you wonder whether it might have been prudent to have told us 2 weeks ago rather than inflaming passions so close to the D day that Monday has become.
Not for the first time this country and this government has found itself between a rock and a hard place and it feels like it’s all of our own making.

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As many of you will know I moved to a new house and new suburb just a couple of weeks before lockdown.
We sold our house last year and over summer we found a 3 bedroom apartment so this was the big downsize.  Of course, it didn’t work because all the kids promptly moved home for lockdown so it’s a snug downsized family home.
So over the past few weeks, I have revealed that I now live in the Auckland suburb of Devonport.  For those who don’t know the city, Devonport a small suburb at the south end of the North Shores.  There’s one road in and out called Lake Road.
It’s a pretty beachside suburb with five beaches within one kilometre.  It’s got the navy base which is always full of action.  It’s got two volcanic mountains which my dog loves walking up. 
It’s a lovely place to be locked down in. 
But it’s also fair to say everybody is a bit dismissive of Devonport because it’s just a little too pretty and twee and shall we say bourgeois.  It’s also very white with nearly 93% of the population of European descent, which is the highest figure in the nation.
Now I didn’t move there to be bourgeois and beachy in a white enclave. I moved there because I never want to be stuck in traffic in Auckland getting to work. Which meant finding a place to live on an efficient public transport route.
Devonport has a ferry.  In 11 minutes you’re in Auckland’s CBD. So it’s like an inner-city apartment which magically is not in the city.
But at the moment the ferries run very rarely and mostly completely empty.  I’m not using them because the motorways are empty and the drive to work is a breeze.
But come Level 2 and 1 as we return to a new normal and the roads jam up again the question arises on how I’m going to feel safe.
Professor Michael Baker, the University of Otago epidemiologist says "mass masking" should be part of New Zealand's fight against Covid-19 as the country moves to alert level 2 making social distancing more difficult.
Particularly is you’re in crowds such as on public transport, or in CBDs, or malls, or bars when they open. He reckons you could use homemade fabric masks.
New Zealand could look to Asian countries, including Taiwan, which had used masks as part of successful efforts to contain the virus.
Currently, Dr Bloomfield says in higher-risk environments, such as public transport, people may wish to wear a mask, but they will not be compelled to.
I’m not a fan of masks particularly when you see people wearing them all day and in safe environments.  You wonder about the efficacy of that.  I do believe it’s good to stop people spreading droplets and bugs, but if you’re sick how about just not going out at all.
But if next week I’m back on the ferry my question will be should I wear one just in case.  If not for me but to make my fellow passengers feel safe.
And of course, for all those people thinking of using masks when they go to cafes, I ask this: have you considered how on earth you’re going to drink or eat anything with a mask on?  
There was a notable story this week about a woman who had cut a hole in her mask to fit a straw. I wish I was joking.

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It was fascinating to hear Winston Peters in conversation with Mike Hosking today.
It’s been easy to forget with the extraordinary powers granted to Ashley Bloomfield, the Director of Civil Defence and the Police Commissioner to make decisions. Decisions which are then enacted by the Cabinet and sold to us by the Prime Minister and Finance Minister. That Winston is still Deputy PM, Foreign Minister and the leader of a party separate to Labour.
That gives him insight.  He’s got a dog in the fight, along with a different point of view.
While he’s made some headlines with the trans-Tasman bubble, this is obviously just an aspirational goal rather than a hook to hang your hat on.  As Mike pointed out this morning there’s no way that Scott Morrison is looking at flights between Queenstown and Sydney when Australians still can’t fly from Melbourne to Brisbane for a holiday in the sun.
You get the feeling that was always a diversion to keep us fantasising about the happier future to come.
Conversation then turned to debate about when we can reduce our alert level.  While Winston said that he would never break the confidentiality of cabinet debate, you were also left in no doubt that he is advocating for a reduction.  And that’s reassuring.  With Cabinet having all the power in rule setting right now, it is good to know that there is a plurality of voices around the table.
He also gave an indication that nothing will change until May 11th.  Which is exactly what Ardern said in parliament yesterday in response to Simon Bridges asking why she didn’t consider it every day.
Mike then asked why we shouldn’t reduce the limitations on business to be more like Australia.  To which Winston said that Australia is not as open as you might like to think, which Mike didn’t challenge.  Winston then said to come back in eight days and compare Australia and New Zealand then.  Which also gave me hope that things are changing next week for the better.
But it also made me wonder just how free Australia is right now. It’s a popular perception that they’ve been freer to trade than us. So I’ve been checking this morning.
The first thing to remember is that Australia is a Commonwealth. The federal government makes guidelines and restrictions, but how they’re applied varies between each state.
So the Northern Territory, Queensland and Western Australia are much freer than us but then again they have had much fewer cases and the presumption is because of their climate and low population density.
But the rest of the States are much like we are in Level 3 and have been for as long as we have been in lockdowns. New South Wales urged retail to stay open while simultaneously urging people to only leave the house for food and essential services. Sydneysiders may be buying cars but malls and the CBDs are just as empty as ours
Big Box retail is still marginally open is some states but they report that most business has moved online and people are wary of going out and trade is heavily down.
Today, the ABC has reported that 1 million Australians are out of work because of the virus. Analysing payroll data from the tax office, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) found the number of jobs slumped by 7.5 per cent between March 14 and April 18.
The data only measures those workers on the payroll of their employer, of which there are about 10 million in Australia. The presumption is that level of carnage will also be seen amongst the self employed and contractors.
The point is that Australia is not markedly better off economically than us because some States were more lenient. It’s also worth remembering that at the start of this pandemic, Australia had a debt level over 40% compared to us at 20. So we’re better placed to provide stimulus.
I heard a talkback caller the other day saying that the Covid debates have been full of comparisons between oranges and apples and I think that’s...

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Well, here we are in Week 7 of a nationwide lockdown to contain and eliminate the virus known as Covid 19.  A new or novel virus for which the world has no cure or vaccine. 
I think it’s fair to say that our patience for the lockdown has now broken. Our determination has wavered. Our resolve has weakened.
The moment we broke was yesterday when we learnt of the case of Oliver Christianson and his successful legal challenge against the Ministry of Health.
We all know the story.  His father dying from brain cancer, Oliver flew from the UK, a Covid hotspot, to spend as much time as he could with his Dad. He arrived and went into isolation as per our regulations but Dad started to fade away quicker than expected. So he applied to the Ministry of Health for an exemption so he could see his father and he was refused.
In the end, it was the ruling of a High Court judge, Justice Tracey Walker, that interceded last Friday. Oliver got to see his Dad for his last 36 hours.
One of the important things for me was Oliver’s good faith with our lockdown regulations.  He returned and was originally prepared to comply and waited eight days but then circumstances changed.
His Dad began to slip away.  He then looked for empathy and mercy and found none until he went to a judge. A judge who exercised common decency and common sense.
The Ministry had offered no exemptions in 100 per cent of the applications. 24 in total.  The problem being the Ministry wrote the ability to grant exemptions into its law and regulation. If their intention was to go hard and heartless then they should never have written the exemption clauses in the first place.
But the effect of the ruling has been to open the floodgates of emotion that many of us had been holding back. While everyone empathises with the Christiansen case there have been hundreds more that you will never hear of.
Like my mate whose Mum died a few weeks ago in lockdown. Due to the regulations, he waited for her death in the room next door separated by a few millimetres of jib and framing. Even though he had not been overseas, had no close contacts and was not unwell.  The three leading indicators. They couldn’t see each other as she took her last breath.  Other families were banned from being present. He never saw her body.
And with emotion comes anger.  And the anger is dissolving the voluntary compliance that the Ministry of Health has relied upon.  The halo of Saint Ashley Bloomfield has been tarnished and it’s starting to fall off.  He’s been accused of being complicit in politicking, even though he is the supposedly apolitical unelected professional in charge of health provision.
If Dr Bloomfield is capable of reading the mood of the country, he should know this. If he doesn’t then the empathetic Prime Minister should tell him.
It’s time to move on and he should not be disappointed.  Through human history, the concept of quarantine has been used successfully against pandemic after pandemic.  Quarantine comes from an Italian word Quaranta, which means 40. It refers to the 40 days that people were isolated for in the 1300s as we fought the Black Plague.
Yesterday was Day 40 of the Great New Zealand Covid Lockdown. You got us there, Ashley.  Now let us go.

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