Perspective with Ryan Bridge: What will Trump's border crackdown do to tourism?

Donald Trump has every right to crack down on the American border. There are problems there that we, down here in little old New Zealand, just don't understand.

Illegal migration sounds to us like a far away and non-threatening concept because, well, it is. Thank you, ocean.

Point of Order: Govt eases the way through Customs and to buying building materials.....

.....but illegal timber imports are barred

The Government has made a prohibition pronouncement under a headline that makes a dubious claim about the snuffing of illegality. The headline says Government shuts door on illegally harvested timber.

Good-oh. With the door shut, there can be no way of getting our hands on illegally harvested timber because there is no way of it getting into the country – right?

Kate Hawkesby: The Hermit Kingdom is over

 

Thoughts and prayers this morning to all the panickers who wanted the border shut forever and all the hermits who were loving Hermit Kingdom. It’s over. Thank goodness. 

Congrats to the Government for waking up to the fact that life actually does go on. That you can’t actually lock your citizens out forever, that you can’t keep Kiwis isolated from the rest of the world ad nauseum. 

There’ll be some displeasure from those with Stockholm Syndrome who bought so fiercely into the Government’s rhetoric and fear mongering, their wheels will be spinning now as they imagine the end of the world’s coming. And that’s the problem when you sign up for so much brainwashing over so much time, you lose the ability to think rationally, and to think for yourself. 

Heather du Plessis-Allan: Auckland border a shemozzle

 

This Auckland border thing has become a complete shemozzle for the Government, hasn’t it?  

In the space of around 21 hours, you’ve had Chris Hipkins reveal the Government is considering forcing Aucklanders to book a time slot to be able to cross the border, you’ve had Grant Robertson come out and shoot that idea down as not ‘very practical’ and then you’ve had Hipkins release a tidying up statement, promising Aucklanders they will be able to leave the city for Christmas. 

That shows how badly Aucklanders have reacted to this stupid idea - and with good reason.   

It would never work. 

NZCPR Weekly: Border Botch-Ups

Dear NZCPR Reader,   

This week, we raise concerns about Government incompetence at the border and the risk that this creates for all New Zealanders, our NZCPR Guest Commentator Barry Brill outlines the case against the Government over the legality of the Alert Level 4 lockdown, and our poll asks whether you consider the Government’s border control performance has let the country down.

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