Politics Central

Ryman Healthcare is shutting the doors of its retirement villages to the public -- in a bid to guard its residents against Covid-19.
From 5pm today, people can't visit care centre or serviced apartment residents.
Only family of those in palliative care or end-of-life care will be able to visit.
NZ Retirement Villages manager Troy Churton told The Weekend Collective other villages should take note.
"All the larger operators are fairly much singing from the same sheet, with very similar sorts of protocols now being effective. It's not just a Ryman thing, it's a very fairly impressive and coordinated industry approach."
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Tasman District is joining several other local councils in shutting down its public libraries in the face of Covid-19.
Mayor Tim King says the closure of the Richmond, Motueka and Takaka libraries will help minimise the risk of inadvertent spread of the virus.
He's also postponed all non-essential Council meetings and will make a decision on recreation centres and pools in the coming days.
They join Hamilton City Council, which has closed all city Libraries, Waterworld, the Aquatic Centre, Hamilton Zoo, Waikato Museum and the i-SITE until further notice.
Gore District Council has also closed its public facilities including libraries and the Multisport Complex.
The cities are joined by Auckland, Wellington, Porirua, Hutt, Christchurch, Dunedin, and Invercargill district and city councils.
Auckland Mayor Phil Goff says the decision is necessary to protect the health and well being of people in the community.
He joined The Weekend Collective to discuss how councils can help battle the outbreak.
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Developing countries need our help in the fight against Covid-19.
Former Prime Minister Helen Clark told The Weekend Collective they're more than likely under-estimating the effect in those countries.
Clark says just last month she spoke to World Health Organisation Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom.
"He has an appeal out to be getting support into those poorest countries, because they need testing equipment, they need quarantine places, they need protective gear for people, and they don't have the cash for that."
She says this week, G20 leaders will meet at a 'virtual summit' -- where they'll be urged to coordinate their response and action.
"And also to support these poor countries with enough testing equipment and protective gear. Countries need help now."

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The government expects the economy to take a significant hit from tough new border rules, and a relief package is expected this week.
The travel industry is reeling from the new travel restrictions, announced Sunday that mean from midnight tonight all incoming travellers, including New Zealand citizens, will have to self-isolate for two weeks, except for those coming from the Pacific Islands.
All cruise ships have been told to stay away until the end of June.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says the economic stimulus package she will unveil on Tuesday, to try to mitigate the blow, will be the most significant measure she will announce as prime minister.
The package is designed to help businesses and staff affected by tough new rules to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
"I need to make sure that we are actually targeting those businesses that need help the most, and that it's sufficient to keep people in work."
Ardern said we won't be able to stop the spread of Covid-19, but hopes that the tougher measures will help slow it.
Finance Minister Grant Robertson told RNZ's Sunday Morning the government is expecting a serious blow to the economy from the effects of the virus and the travel ban, particularly to the tourism industry.
But the situation could be much worse off in the long-run, if the government didn't act now.
"This is going to have a very serious impact - you cannot have a situation like this without having an impact. But the virus unchecked will have not only a devastating health impact but an even more long-lasting and deep economic impact, and the hit would be far, far bigger," he says.
"We already know that the tourism industry was suffering, people simply weren't travelling from the rest of the world."
Cabinet will meet on Monday to finalise details for the relief package.
"If you just take the tourism sector it's worth 5 or 6 percent of New Zealand's GDP, it employs tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of people if you look at industries that are supported by tourism, so this will be a hit," Robertson says.
"We want to work with those businesses on what we can do to support them to get through this, and obviously New Zealanders will be here and will be in a position to be able to support them.
"But many have been looking at reducing the hours of their staff."
The government will have discussions with Air New Zealand today about how it will be affected by the tough new border rules.
Robertson says Air New Zealand will have to make big operational changes.
"I absolutely recognise a significant period of uncertainty for the 13,000 or so people who work for Air New Zealand, but we are in discussions hour by hour, about how we can support them.
"We want our airline to be able to keep going. There won't as much requirement for international flights, but there are other things that we want to achieve, such as making sure that goods keep moving backwards and forwards."
He said the timing is at the end of the cruise ship season, which peaks through January and February.
But the group representing cruise ships says the ban on passenger ships is draconian, and goes too far.
The Cruise Association's Chief Executive, Kevin O'Sullivan, said the industry is in a state of shock.
"I can understand why the prime minister and government are deciding to take these steps, but they certainly are much harsher than anywhere else in the world.
"And they seem to have the most serious implications for us in the cruise industry."
He said the ban will likely affect more than 140 visits to our harbours by cruise ships on 45 voyages.
- RNZ

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Spain locked down its 46 million citizens and France ordered the closing of just about everything the rest of the world loves about it — the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, the cafes and restaurants — as governments took increasingly desperate measures to put more space between people and contain the coronavirus.
More borders snapped shut around the globe on Saturday and Sunday: President Donald Trump announced that the U.S., which days ago barred travellers from most of Europe, will extend the ban to Britain and Ireland. In the Philippines, thousands of police and soldiers started sealing the densely populated capital from most domestic travellers in one of Southeast Asia's most drastic containment moves.
Meanwhile, China, where the virus first appeared late last year, continued to relax its drastic restrictions, illustrating the way the centre of gravity in the crisis has shifted westward toward Europe. The virus has infected more than 150,000 people worldwide and killed over 5,600.
In a nationally televised address Saturday, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro  Sánchez detailed the battery of exceptional measures put in place as part of a two-week state of emergency to fight the sharp rise in infections.
Later Saturday, Spain's government said Sánchez's wife has tested positive for coronavirus. Begoña Gómez and the prime minister are in good health, the government said.
Two ministers of Sánchez's Cabinet, the minister of equality and the minister of regional affairs, had already tested positive earlier this week. The others member of the Cabinet have tested negative.
In a lockdown similar to the one already imposed in Italy, people will be allowed to leave their homes only to buy food and medicine, commute to work, go to hospitals and banks, or take trips related to the care of the young and the elderly. All schools and universities were closed, along with restaurants, bars, hotels and other non-essential retail businesses.
"From now we enter into a new phase," Sánchez said after a Cabinet meeting that lasted over seven hours. "We won't hesitate in doing what we must to beat the virus. We are putting health first."
Spanish authorities said the number of infections climbed past 5,700, half of them in the capital, Madrid. That represents a national increase of over 1,500 in 24 hours. The country had 136 deaths, up from 120. Spain has the fifth-highest number of cases, behind China, Italy, Iran and South Korea.
For most people, the coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia. The vast majority of people recover in a matter of weeks.
Despite please for calm from authorities, shoppers packed supermarkets in Spain in the morning. But overall, the normally bustling streets of the country's two biggest cities were noticeably quieter as the message sank in that social distancing is the only way to stop the pandemic.
"We had to close and remain shut for 15 days," restaurant owner Rachel Paparardo said in Barcelona, which was already under regional restrictions. "But this is nothing. It is just so more people don't get infected and we can recover from this."
Some flights bound for Spain turned around as word spread of the lockdown.
In the Philippines, new restrictions for metropolitan Manila — home to more than 12 million people — that went into effect Sunday mean the suspension of domestic travel by land, air and sea to and from the capital region.
Large gatherings like concerts, movies and cockfighting are prohibited and most government work in executive department offices will be suspended in the metropolis for a month. School closures at all levels were extended and curfew was in the works.
"If you'll go to work, go. If you need to go out for medical treatment, go. If you'll buy food, go, but other than...

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Elizabeth Warren spoke for millions of women on Thursday when asked what role gender played in her presidential campaign.
"You know, that is the trap question for women," she replied, speaking to cameras outside her home in Cambridge, Massachusetts, as she bowed out of the race. "If you say, 'Yeah -- there was sexism in this race,' everyone says, 'Whiner.' And if you say, 'No, there was no sexism,' about a bazillion women think, 'What planet do you live on?'"
It was a succinct analysis of this unsettled moment for women in America. And it came on a day when many female voters felt a profound sense of sadness, in part because it will be another four years before a woman has a shot at the White House.
The reality sinking in Thursday was that -- after a record number of women declared their candidacies -- the Democratic Party's standard bearer will now be one of two white men in their 70s. The eventual Democratic nominee will take on Donald Trump, a President with a history of crude banter and demeaning statements about women who has been accused of a range of criminal sexual behavior, including multiple assaults, and rape. He has denied all of them.
The irony of that outcome of male dominance in 2020 carried a sharp sting in this dawning age of female empowerment -- when the #MeToo Movement has reshaped office politics and put Harvey Weinstein behind bars; when women voters sent record-breaking numbers of female lawmakers to Congress, leading to Democrats taking back the House; when House Speaker Nancy Pelosi can embody girl power by towering over a table of White House suits pointing an accusatory finger at the President.
California Sen. Kamala Harris clearly felt it, telling reporters on Capitol Hill that this election cycle has "presented very legitimate questions about the challenges of women running for president of the United States."
"Look at what's happened -- there are no women currently in this race," the one-time 2020 contender said, omitting Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii, who is still running, but has barely registered in the polls and almost certainly won't win the nomination. "We can have a longer discussion about it, but the reality is that there's still a lot of work to be done to make it very clear that women are exceptionally qualified and capable of being the commander-in-chief of the United States of America."
The fresh debate over the role sexism played in Warren's exit raged on social media, just as it did when Harris left the race in December, when New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand got out last summer and when Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar departed on Monday.
"This is so heartbreaking, and it feels so damn personal," writer Jill Filipovic, the author of "The H-Spot: The Feminist Pursuit of Happiness" said on Twitter. "How many times, in how many contexts, have we seen a smart, competent, dynamic woman who is so head & shoulders above everyone else in the room get ignored or pushed out? How many times have we wondered - was I that woman?"
On the trail, Warren cut a particularly steely and unflappable profile as she sought to inspire legions of little girls and young women to seek the highest office in the land.
The Massachusetts senator changed the trajectory of the race with her fierce and unsparing evisceration of former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg on the debate stage, flattening his candidacy and paving the way for Joe Biden's resurgence. Her embrace of facts, organization and plans -- at once feminine and groundbreaking -- catapulted her to the top of the polls in the summer and early fall of 2019.
And the early hallmark of her presidential campaign was her insistence on dropping to one knee each time she met a little girl to make a pact.
"I'm running for president because that's what girls do," she would say before making a "pinky promise" with her young follower to remember.
But beneath that veneer of optimism about what the next...

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The division between Labour and its coalition partner New Zealand First grew last week - with the Prime Minister saying if voters don't like what Shane Jones has said about Indian students they can show their displeasure at the ballot box.
Jones told The Nation last weekend: "I think the number of students that have come from India have ruined many of those [educational] institutions."
It lead to Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern delivered her strongest rebuke to Jones yet, suggesting that if he was a Labour MP, he would face demotion for his comments.
She also urged voters to condemn Jones' comments – which have been labelled "racist" and "irresponsible" by the Race Relations Commissioner Meng Foon – and to "act on their values when it comes to election time".
"We are in an election year and that has, I think, driven electioneering out of some of the different parties that are in Parliament – that includes parties in the Government," she told the Indian Weekender.
However, she has not stood him down as a Minister.
Political commentator Matthew Hooton joined The Weekend Collective to discuss the fallout and why Ardern has the power - and should use it - against Shane Jones. 
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Former Labour MP and Auckland mayoralty hopeful John Tamihere has confirmed he will stand for the Māori Party at this year’s election.
Following a tilt at the Auckland mayoralty Tamihere said the last thing he wanted to do was re-enter national politics.
However he says he was approached by people asking him to represent them.
Tamihere says his policies will unashamedly promote Māori matters, and he is aware that people will throw in his face that he was once a Labour MP.
Māori Party co-founder Dame Tariana Turia told The Weekend Collective that Tamihere has the experience and knowledge that would make him a strong MP. 
She agreed with Tamihere's accusation that Labour's Māori MPs have been missing in action, as there are a number of issues that aren't being addressed.
"I could almost go through all the state agencies where there are significant issues taking place right now, and it's almost as if someone else is calling the shots, and those Māori MPs are definitely not speaking up."
She does not believe that Tamihere's right-wing stance during the Auckland mayoralty will have much of an impact on any future coalition agreements, as they do not view it as a right or left issue. 
"It doesn't matter who the Government is, the fact of the matter is that none of them have the Maori knowledge to do the right thing for our people at the right time, and our job is to sit alongside of whoever the Government is. 
"It didn't matter if they were right or left or whatever, our job was to do the very best for our people."
She says that she hopes that Māori people have "woken up" over Labour's broken promises.

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Joe Biden scored a thundering victory in South Carolina's Democratic primary on Saturday, riding a wave of African American support and ending progressive rival Bernie Sanders' winning streak.
Biden's win came at a do-or-die moment in his 2020 bid as the moderate Democrat bounced back from underwhelming performances in Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada. The race now pivots immediately to a new phase when 14 "Super Tuesday" states take the campaign nationwide early next week.
"We are very much alive," Biden declared at an exuberant post-election rally. "For all of you who have been knocked down, counted out, left behind -- this is your campaign."
Sanders claimed second place, though his loss gave a momentary respite to anxious establishment Democrats who feared that the self-described democratic socialist would finish February with four consecutive top finishes.
Billionaire activist Tom Steyer took third place, his best showing of the campaign, but he formally suspended his campaign. He spent more $24 million on television advertising in South Carolina -- more than all of his rivals combined -- but never found a clear lane in the crowded contest.
Seven candidates remain in the Democrats' quest to find the strongest possible nominee to take on President Donald Trump in November.
Biden's allies almost immediately cast the South Carolina victory as proof that he should stand as the clear alternative to Sanders.
The South Carolina primary was the first major test of the candidates' appeal among black voters. And while it gave the 77-year-old Biden a win when he most needed it, he must still prove that he has the financial and organizational resources to dramatically expand his campaign in the next 72 hours. He will also be under pressure to rely on his decades-long relationships with party leaders to create a new sense of inevitability around his candidacy.
The Associated Press declared Biden the winner just after the polls closed in South Carolina. The AP based the call on data from AP VoteCast, a survey of the electorate conducted for the AP by NORC at the University of Chicago. The survey showed a convincing win for Biden.
Even before news of Biden's win was declared, Mike Bloomberg announced his own plan to deliver a three-minute prime-time address Sunday night on two television networks. He didn't say how much he paid for the air time, which is unprecedented in recent decades.
Bloomberg's campaign privately acknowledged that Biden was likely to get a bump in momentum out of his South Carolina win, but they still believe Bloomberg can win in a handful of states that vote on Super Tuesday, including Arkansas, Alabama, Oklahoma, Virginia and North Carolina.
And Sanders was already peeking ahead to Super Tuesday as well, betting he can amass an insurmountable delegate lead at that point. After two consecutive victories and a tie for the lead in Iowa, the 78-year-old Vermont senator's confidence is surging.
Sanders congratulated Biden on his first win and said it was nothing for his own supporters to worry about.
"Tonight, we did not win in South Carolina. That will not be the only defeat. A lot of states in this country. Nobody wins them all," he told a cheering crowd in Virginia, one of 14 states to vote next week. "Now we enter Super Tuesday."
Moments after Biden's victory was confirmed, former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe formally endorsed the former vice president and encouraged the Democratic Party's moderate wing to unite behind him. On CNN, he called on several candidates to get out of the race — "not after Tuesday, but tomorrow."
Biden needs help.
Compared to his rivals, he's barely running any television advertising in Super Tuesday states. And both Sanders and Bloomberg have many more staff and volunteers.
With few other options, Biden's team hopes to lean on his growing team of high-profile endorsers, including McAuliffe, to tap their...

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Health officials have contacted 18 passengers seated on a flight near the first person in New Zealand to be diagnosed with coronavirus.
The one person in New Zealand to be diagnosed with coronavirus, who returned on a flight last Wednesday, remains in Auckland City Hospital.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said today that the patient was in a stable condition and improving. The patient's family members were in self-isolation and were showing no signs of infection.
Health officials were still searching for other passengers on the patient's flight and would go doorknocking if required to contact them.
Ardern said the Government was holding off on imposing wider restrictions on travellers arriving in New Zealand as the coronavirus outbreak spreads overseas.
The Government was receiving advice from health officials as to whether there needed to be further border restrictions.
So far, the only restrictions are in place on travellers from China and Iran.
If someone arrived in New Zealand displaying possible coronavirus symptoms, Ardern said they would "of course" be tested.
But she said the Government won't be just testing anyone "just because they have asked".
People would first need to display symptoms of the virus, such as a high temperature.
Ardern repeated her assurance to the public that there was no need to swamp supermarkets, after reports of mass purchases of items including hand sanitisers, water and toilet paper.
"There is no need to stockpile," she told media at Auckland Airport.
Ardern stressed that said New Zealand has an "incredibly robust" pandemic plan.
"We already had a plan in place… to deal with any further outbreak."
Officials have been planning for a pandemic – that plan is "already in place".
Ardern said its response to date has been "textbook".
Meanwhile major supermarkets are working hard to restock sold-out and high-demand items in the way of apparent panic buying after New Zealand's first case of coronavirus was confirmed.
The Ministry of Health confirmed on Friday that a person in their 60s who flew in from Iran on Wednesday is in Auckland City Hospital with coronavirus after being taken there by family.
They are in an isolation ward and public health officials are tracing other people they have been close to, including passengers on the flight.
The patient is said to be "stable and continuing to improve".

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