The cost of lifting Covid restrictions? We will find out if Hipkins is wrong about infected people doing the right thing…
Three government initiatives have been announced on the Beehive website over the past 24 hours, but not one mentions the costs – or potential costs – to taxpayers.
The first announcement was that the government is removing the remaining COVID-19 public health requirements, effective from 12:01am today.
This is a palpable pitch for electoral support, as noted by ACT leader David Seymour:
“Exactly two months before Election Day, the Prime Minister has decided New Zealanders can leave the giant creche for adults where his Government had been treating us all like children.”
Seymour approves the decision. His criticism is that the requirements should have been lifted long ago.
The No Right Turn blog recognises the politicking too, but its reaction is much more condemnatory:
20 people died last week of covid. So, two months out from the election, Labour has announced the end of all covid restrctions. We can all get plague and brain-damage now, as a little treat.
While covid numbers are currently low, this doesn’t mean we are safe, or that we can end our response. A requirement that people stay home when infected is a basic precaution which keeps everyone safe.
Hipkins says that we shouldn’t need a legal requirement to do that, and that its part of being a good human. As one journalist noted, so’s not driving when drunk, but we have laws against that.
A government requirement protects us all from infected people.
The cost of lifting the ban – if No Right Turn has judged the likely outcome correctly – will show up when we are infected by Covid sufferers who come out of isolation prematurely, under pressure from their employers or because they can’t be bothered thinking of the wellbeing of others.
An announcement from the Minister of Climate Change unabashedly amounts to a request for money.
James Shaw is asking for Parliament’s Environment Committee to inquire into “community-led retreat and adaptation funding”.
This requires some explanation:
“Community-led retreat is a carefully planned process, that can mean anything from relocating homes, to cultural sites, to playgrounds, out of harm’s way, before a severe event, like a flood, happens,” he said.
“I have asked the Environment Committee to hold an inquiry so we can hear a broad a range of views on how to develop an enduring system.
“An inquiry would explore how community-led retreat, including communities choosing to relocate away from areas of high risk, could become part of our adaptation system, and how the costs could be met.”
Shaw has asked the committee to open its inquiry before the election to allow everyone to have a say on the way forward, but the process would conclude in the next Parliamentary term.
In anticipation of an inquiry, the Ministry for the Environment has published a supporting ‘Community-led retreat and adaptation funding – issues and options’ paper. It lays out the challenges in the current system and presents options for the future, exploring who could make adaptation decisions, how they could decide, how the community could be involved, and how the costs could be shared.
Later today, the Ministry will publish a technical report by an Expert Working Group chaired by Sir Terence Arnold KC and including experts in Te Ao Māori.
Further information, including how to submit, will be made available on the Parliament website in due course.
The third of the latest announcements is aimed at winning support from young people.
Minister for Youth Willow-Jean Prime says the voices and leadership of young New Zealanders are key drivers behind a refreshed Youth Plan ‘Voice, Leadership, Action’ released today.
“Young New Zealanders have consistently told government they want their voices heard in decisions which impact them and their futures,” Willow-Jean Prime said.
“I’m proud the refreshed Youth Plan answers that wero, and demonstrates this Government’s ongoing commitment to all young people.
The refreshed Youth Plan aims to amplify the youth voice in government policy and decision-making and ensure processes are in place for young people to have meaningful input.
It will also increase opportunities for young people to lead their own lives and have their identities seen, valued and respected.
But listening to youth is one thing. Paying heed is another.
Point of Order draws attention to an article on Homepaddock headed…
“Exactly two months before Election Day, the Prime Minister has decided New Zealanders can leave the giant creche for adults where his Government had been treating us all like children.”
Seymour approves the decision. His criticism is that the requirements should have been lifted long ago.
The No Right Turn blog recognises the politicking too, but its reaction is much more condemnatory:
20 people died last week of covid. So, two months out from the election, Labour has announced the end of all covid restrctions. We can all get plague and brain-damage now, as a little treat.
While covid numbers are currently low, this doesn’t mean we are safe, or that we can end our response. A requirement that people stay home when infected is a basic precaution which keeps everyone safe.
Hipkins says that we shouldn’t need a legal requirement to do that, and that its part of being a good human. As one journalist noted, so’s not driving when drunk, but we have laws against that.
A government requirement protects us all from infected people.
The cost of lifting the ban – if No Right Turn has judged the likely outcome correctly – will show up when we are infected by Covid sufferers who come out of isolation prematurely, under pressure from their employers or because they can’t be bothered thinking of the wellbeing of others.
An announcement from the Minister of Climate Change unabashedly amounts to a request for money.
James Shaw is asking for Parliament’s Environment Committee to inquire into “community-led retreat and adaptation funding”.
This requires some explanation:
“Community-led retreat is a carefully planned process, that can mean anything from relocating homes, to cultural sites, to playgrounds, out of harm’s way, before a severe event, like a flood, happens,” he said.
“I have asked the Environment Committee to hold an inquiry so we can hear a broad a range of views on how to develop an enduring system.
“An inquiry would explore how community-led retreat, including communities choosing to relocate away from areas of high risk, could become part of our adaptation system, and how the costs could be met.”
Shaw has asked the committee to open its inquiry before the election to allow everyone to have a say on the way forward, but the process would conclude in the next Parliamentary term.
In anticipation of an inquiry, the Ministry for the Environment has published a supporting ‘Community-led retreat and adaptation funding – issues and options’ paper. It lays out the challenges in the current system and presents options for the future, exploring who could make adaptation decisions, how they could decide, how the community could be involved, and how the costs could be shared.
Later today, the Ministry will publish a technical report by an Expert Working Group chaired by Sir Terence Arnold KC and including experts in Te Ao Māori.
Further information, including how to submit, will be made available on the Parliament website in due course.
The third of the latest announcements is aimed at winning support from young people.
Minister for Youth Willow-Jean Prime says the voices and leadership of young New Zealanders are key drivers behind a refreshed Youth Plan ‘Voice, Leadership, Action’ released today.
“Young New Zealanders have consistently told government they want their voices heard in decisions which impact them and their futures,” Willow-Jean Prime said.
“I’m proud the refreshed Youth Plan answers that wero, and demonstrates this Government’s ongoing commitment to all young people.
The refreshed Youth Plan aims to amplify the youth voice in government policy and decision-making and ensure processes are in place for young people to have meaningful input.
It will also increase opportunities for young people to lead their own lives and have their identities seen, valued and respected.
But listening to youth is one thing. Paying heed is another.
Point of Order draws attention to an article on Homepaddock headed…
Labour reinforces disdain for local bodies
Ele Ludemann writes:
Labour showed its disdain for local bodies with the way it treated them with its Three Waters policy.
It’s going to do it again with electoral law:
. . . There is likely to be further transport decisions this week, and the bill to lower the voting age to 16 in local body elections is expected to be introduced.
The Post understands the proposal is anticipated to go through its first reading and be sent to the select committee stage before the election.
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins announced in March the Government would introduce a bill to lower the voting age at local elections, only needing the support of half the House, rather than a proposal to lower the age of eligible voters in general elections, which needs 75% support. . .
Fair to say, this may well attest to the government being willing to listen to young people – it’s older citizens whose opinions are ignored.
The Homepaddock post wraps up:
There are far more pressing matters than the voting age on which the government should be concentrating and this Bill looks suspiciously like another distraction from the mess the mess it is presiding over.
It has the majority to pass the first stage before the election but there is hope in recent polls that there will be a National-led government after the election and the Bill will go no further.
For more information on the Youth Plan: Voice, Leadership, Action, visit the Ministry of Youth Development – Te Manatū Whakahiato Taiohi website at:
https://www.myd.govt.nz/young-people/youth-plan/youth-plan.html
The refreshed Plan consists of three inter-linked documents:
Youth Plan Strategic Framework sets out the purpose and long-term strategic aims of the plan.
Youth Plan Rolling Suite of Actions outlines specific actions government, organisations, and communities will take to support the aims of and outcomes of the plan.
Youth Plan Measurement Framework assesses the Youth Plan’s impact and support the development of new actions.
The latest ministerial announcements – at time of publication – are to be found on the government’s official website here.
Latest from the Beehive
15 AUGUST 2023
Climate Change Minister James Shaw has asked Parliament’s Environment Committee to conduct an inquiry into community-led retreat and adaptation funding.
14 AUGUST 2023
The Government is removing the remaining COVID-19 public health requirements, effective from 12:01am tomorrow, Minister of Health Dr Ayesha Verrall announced today.
The voices and leadership of young New Zealanders are key drivers behind a refreshed Youth Plan ‘Voice, Leadership, Action’ released today by Minister for Youth Willow-Jean Prime.
Point of Order is a blog focused on politics and the economy run by veteran newspaper reporters Bob Edlin and Ian Templeton
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