Politics Central

A former Republican Party congressman says that he lost everything by turning against Donald Trump.
Joe Walsh served one term as a congressman for Illinois, and after leaving office began hosting a talk radio show.
He initially supported Trump, but during the former President's term he started to turn against him, even launching a short-lived run for the Republican presidency.
Speaking to The Weekend Collective, Walsh describes Trump as a "psychopath" and a "horrible, corrupt, criminal human being", but speaking out against him cost him dearly. 
"The Republican Party is a cult. All they care about is Donald Trump. If you are a Republican or a conservative in America and you publicly take on Trump, you are a dead man." 
He says that one of the first things that turned him against Trump was the President's interference in the investigation into Russian interference of the 2016 election - and his eventual public support of Russian President Putin over US intelligence sources was the final straw.
"That was the greatest act of disloyalty I've ever seen from an American president." 
Walsh says that Joe Biden has been refreshing, as he is getting on with doing his job and not putting himself out there. 
He says that Trump will likely win another Republican Party nomination, but is unlikely to win another Presidency as he is not popular outside of Republicans. 
LISTEN ABOVE

A former Republican Party congressman says that he lost everything by turning against Donald Trump.
Joe Walsh served one term as a congressman for Illinois, and after leaving office began hosting a talk radio show.
He initially supported Trump, but during the former President's term he started to turn against him, even launching a short-lived run for the Republican presidency.
Speaking to The Weekend Collective, Walsh describes Trump as a "psychopath" and a "horrible, corrupt, criminal human being", but speaking out against him cost him dearly. 
"The Republican Party is a cult. All they care about is Donald Trump. If you are a Republican or a conservative in America and you publicly take on Trump, you are a dead man." 
He says that one of the first things that turned him against Trump was the President's interference in the investigation into Russian interference of the 2016 election - and his eventual public support of Russian President Putin over US intelligence sources was the final straw.
"That was the greatest act of disloyalty I've ever seen from an American president." 
Walsh says that Joe Biden has been refreshing, as he is getting on with doing his job and not putting himself out there. 
He says that Trump will likely win another Republican Party nomination, but is unlikely to win another Presidency as he is not popular outside of Republicans. 
LISTEN ABOVE

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Labour Party supporters are upset by the Government's pay freeze for public sector workers. 
The Government revealed public sector workers earning more than $60,000 could only expect pay increases in "exceptional circumstances".
The move also means those on more than $100,000 won't get a cent more over the next three years.
The decision appeared to blindside many in the public sector.
Left-leaning political commentator Shane Te Pou told The Weekend Collective it was an "own goal" from the Government that hits all the wrong notes.
"On Friday afternoon, they announced a Fair Pay industrial relations policy. The fundamentals of that are good faith bargaining. 
"How can the Government as an employer say we're not going to bargain with you, but we want other employers to bargain in good faith."
He says it has upset a lot of people, especially unions. 
Te Pou says he is not sure how it will be dialled back, but predicts it will be based on the reaction. 
LISTEN ABOVE

Labour Party supporters are upset by the Government's pay freeze for public sector workers. 
The Government revealed public sector workers earning more than $60,000 could only expect pay increases in "exceptional circumstances".
The move also means those on more than $100,000 won't get a cent more over the next three years.
The decision appeared to blindside many in the public sector.
Left-leaning political commentator Shane Te Pou told The Weekend Collective it was an "own goal" from the Government that hits all the wrong notes.
"On Friday afternoon, they announced a Fair Pay industrial relations policy. The fundamentals of that are good faith bargaining. 
"How can the Government as an employer say we're not going to bargain with you, but we want other employers to bargain in good faith."
He says it has upset a lot of people, especially unions. 
Te Pou says he is not sure how it will be dialled back, but predicts it will be based on the reaction. 
LISTEN ABOVE

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A top epidemiologist says the Olympics should be postponed because of the pandemic and is calling for the New Zealand Government to take action.
About 450 New Zealanders will be heading to Tokyo for the Olympics, which is set to kick off on July 23.
Kiwi athletes have received priority vaccinations and support from the Government to make their travel as safe as possible, including MIQ spots on their return.
Otago University professor Michael Baker believes the issue with the Olympics isn't about the safety of New Zealand athletes, but about the message it sends to the rest of the world that are still being ravaged by Covid-19.
Baker points to the situation in India, which is experiencing hundreds of thousands of new cases per day, adding that having the Olympics this year is morally wrong.
"You basically have to look at how the pandemic's behaving globally. It's very unequal. It's intensifying in countries like India to a huge extent," Baker told NewstalkZB.
"The Olympics are all about celebrating this level playing field, global unity and overcoming Covid-19 – that's what was the statement made when the decision was made early this year to go ahead. So much global unity in overcoming Covid-19 are we seeing at the moment?
"It's not about the safety of New Zealand athletes. I think that's for sure with vaccinations and other precautions. It's what this says about low income countries around the globe. Is this fair and reasonable? Because for their athletes to be vaccinated and attend, they have to divert vaccine from the most vulnerable. And these are people who are dying every day. It is a matter of life or death for many countries in the world."
Yesterday Baker also said the Government and the New Zealand Olympics Committee need to take a stance on this year's Games.
"We should recognise what is at stake here and I would really like to see New Zealand government take a firm stance on this," he told Stuff. "The New Zealand Olympic Committee should be saying they are not going to have a bar of it. Someone needs to say the obvious – that it should not happen now."
Baker said the Olympics should be postponed, like it was last year.
"It's not about the safety of our athletes. It's about the Olympic spirit and what it's saying," Baker told The Weekend Collective.
"Is this going to be a fair and equitable event for all countries in the world and all athletes? And if not – it clearly isn't – we should postpone it for another year. It was postponed once already. Last year they said it couldn't be postponed and then they postponed it. I think it needs to be postponed now.
"And remember it's been postponed or cancelled three times historically and that was in 1916 in the first world war and then in the second world war in 1940 and 44 and that was because the world was at war. And in a sense, we are at war now against the pandemic.
"From what I read from accounts on some countries, even the athletes are concerned that they are being vaccinated ahead of vulnerable groups. We know there's huge global shortage of vaccine - there's not enough at the moment. So why divert vaccine in low income countries from people who desperately need it to vaccinate athletes so they can go and compete in an event, which is important but it is discretionary. We don't have to have the Olympics this year, we can postpone it next year."
The Covid-19 expert says the Games isn't even wanted by the majority of people in Japan.
"It's very different for New Zealand to host events because we don't need the massive investment of resources to make them safe. But it's completely different for a global event.
"You have the two things which are so difficult to manage: huge global travel to the Olympics and secondly mass gatherings. You can make those events relatively safe but it's a huge investment of resources that would be, I think, better used for protecting people around the...

A leading epidemiologist has said it is morally wrong for New Zealand to take part in the Olympics.
The 2020 Olympics - delayed by one year due to the Covid-19 - are due to take place in Tokyo in July.
Many countries are planning to take part and will prioritise vaccine access to their athletes, including New Zealand and Australia.
However, many countries are struggling with slow vaccine rollouts, with many countries in Africa lagging far behind the West.
Otago University epidemiologist Michael Baker told The Weekend Collective that countries like India are struggling with deadly second waves as well. 
"The Olympics are all about celebrating this level playing field, global unity, and overcoming Covid-19. So how much global unity and overcoming Covid-19 are we seeing at the moment?"
He says it is not about the safety of New Zealand athletes, but about what it means for low-income countries that are struggling to vaccinate the general public and combat the outbreak.
"It is a matter of life or death for many countries in the world." 
Baker believes that the event needs to be postponed once again to make it fairer. He says it has been cancelled three times before due to World War One and Two - and the world is at war now, just against Covid-19.
LISTEN ABOVE

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Her comments have been labelled desperate - but Judith Collins maintains we're going down a dangerous path on race relations.
The National leader is under fire for a speech at the party's Northern Convention, where she claimed Labour's trying to create a 'two system' New Zealand.
She also went on the attack over the freshly-announced Māori Health Authority.
Collins told the Weekend Collective the Government is going too far.
"This is a matter of principle, and the principle is that we get health out to the regions and the people who need it.
"We don't need to have an entire co-governance system."
Maori Crown Relations Minister Kelvin Davis says he's disappointed but not surprised - and it's a desperate speech from an increasingly desperate leader.
National Māori Authority Chair Matthew Tutaki says comparisons to segregation are completely inappropriate, and says Collins should change her tune on the issue.
"That is just absolutely evil, and she needs to come out and say that is not National Party policy."
He says the return of "dogwhistle politics" and the denigration of Māori are not going to win National votes. 
LISTEN ABOVE

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In hopes of taming a monstrous spike in COVID-19 infections, India opened vaccinations to all adults Saturday, launching a huge inoculation effort that was sure to tax the limits of the federal government, the country's vaccine factories and the patience of its 1.4 billion people.
The world's largest maker of vaccines was still short of critical supplies — the result of lagging manufacturing and raw material shortages that delayed the rollout in several states. And even in places where the shots were in stock, the country's wide economic disparities made access to the vaccine inconsistent.
The country's ambitious effort was also partly overshadowed Saturday by a fire  in a COVID-19 ward in western India that killed 18 patients, and the death of 12 COVID-19 patients at a hospital in New Delhi after the facility ran out of oxygen for 80 minutes.
Only a fraction of India's population will be able to afford the prices charged by private hospitals for the shot, experts said, meaning that states will be saddled with immunizing the 600 million Indian adults younger than 45, while the federal government gives shots to 300 million health care and front-line workers and people older than 45.
So far, government vaccines have been free, and private hospitals have been permitted to sell shots at a price capped at 250 rupees, or around $3. That practice will now change: Prices for state governments and private hospitals will be determined by vaccine companies. Some states might not be able to provide vaccines for free since they are paying twice as much as the federal government for the same shot, and prices at private hospitals could rise.
Since state governments and private players compete for shots in the same marketplace, and states pay less for the doses, vaccine makers can reap more profit by selling to the private sector, said Chandrakant Lahariya, a health policy expert. That cost can then be passed on to people receiving the shots, increasing inequity.
"There is no logic that two different governments should be paying two prices," he said.
Concerns that pricing issues could deepen inequities are only the most recent hitch in India's sluggish immunization efforts. Less than 2% of the population has been fully immunized against COVID-19 and around 10% has received a single dose. Immunization rates have also fallen. The average number of shots per day dipped from over 3.6 million in early April to less than 2.5 million right now.
In the worst-hit state of Maharashtra, the health minister promised free vaccines for those ages 18 to 44, but he also acknowledged that the shortage of doses meant immunization would not start as planned on Saturday. States say the paucity of shots is one reason why immunizations have declined.
In a positive development, the country on Saturday received its first batch of Sputnik V vaccines, which it is importing from Russia. Moscow has signed a deal with an Indian pharmaceutical company to distribute 125 million doses.
India thought the worst was over when cases ebbed in September. But mass gatherings such as political rallies and religious events were allowed to continue, and relaxed attitudes on the risks fueled a major humanitarian crisis, according to health experts. New variants of the coronavirus have partly led the surge.
The country's shortage of shots has global implications because, in addition to its own inoculation efforts, India has promised to ship vaccines abroad as part of a United Nations vaccine-sharing program that is dependent on its supply.
Indian vaccine makers produce an estimated 70 million doses each month of the two approved shots — the AstraZeneca vaccine made by the Serum Institute of India and another one made by Bharat Biotech.
The federal government is buying half of those vaccines to give to states. The remaining half can then be bought by states and private hospitals to be given to anyone over 18, but at...

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A former Minister says New Zealand's position in Five Eyes is not likely to be under threat. 
The Government has come under fire from Australian and UK commentators over our stance on China and our place in Five Eyes, after New Zealand declined to sign several statements criticising China.
However, Peter Dunne told The Weekend Collective that our position in the security alliance is unlikely to be under threat. 
He says that our geographic location makes us valuable to the Five Eyes, as we can pick up better signal traffic
"We're of more value to our partners than our partners are to us in this.
"When people start to say 'chuck New Zealand out', I just think that's a bit far-fetched because we contribute more than we get." 
LISTEN ABOVE

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

50,000 people packed into Auckland's Eden Park to see Six60 headline the first major concert at the venue.
The band's promoter Brent Eccles told The Weekend Collective acts like The Eagles or Billy Joel would be great there, but he wants to bring Six60 back.
"None of us realised until last night when the crowd was in there what a cauldron it is, and what an exciting live venue it is, it's just phenomenal."
Six60's show follows a successful bid from the Eden Park Trust Board to be able to host gigs at the venue.
Previously, a minority of residents had successfully opposed them.
But early this year the trust board finally won consent for up to six concerts in any 12-month period.
LISTEN ABOVE

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.