The case for not ditching our vodka (as a gesture to admonish Putin) is that we might need it when Three Waters are flowing

 

Motivated by the Parliamentary consensus which resulted in the passage of historic sanctions legislation in response to Russia’s war on Ukraine, Point of Order has tipped out its Stolichnaya Vodka. 

Whether we should also burn the copy of The Brothers Karamazov that sits in the office book shelf is still under discussion at the PoO board table. 

Tipping out the vodka wasn’t an easy decision.  We risked doing something that would find favour with Nanaia Mahuta, whose smiles of approval we would prefer to avoid because the Three Waters programme she is dogmatically promoting is anathema to all members of the team. 

By our reckoning, the vodka is precious because it could well turn out to be cheaper than the water that flows through our taps after she has rammed her highly unpopular reforms into law.

Regardless of any price considerations (we further reasoned), we will need a stiff snifter or two for medicinal purposes to treat our depression after she has seriously watered down the country’s democratic arrangements with her co-governance plans. 

We were won over by the sentiments expressed in her press statement and by other MPs during the parliamentary debate on the new law.

Govt rushes freedom-crimping measures past close scrutiny – ministers then go spending big bucks to tackle Covid-19

Latest from the Beehive

Fresh from the legislative outrage of rushing the “traffic lights” bill through Parliament, the government poured $504.1 million earlier today into initiatives to help Kiwis deal with Covid-19 in its latest responses to the reality that Covid-19 is something we must learn to live with.

That was the sum when Point of Order first checked the Beehive website this morning.

By the time we were wrapping up this post an announcement from Associate Health Minister Ayesha Verrall had increased this by almost $1 billion on measures for testing, contact tracing and case investigation

Quicker testing will be among the consequences.

“Delta is here, so we are ensuring we have the tools in place to support the transition to the new framework, and to help minimise the spread of COVID-19,” Ayesha Verrall said.

Yep.  The government has waved the flag of surrender in its efforts to beat the virus and has changed the rules for trying to constrain its spread.

Most controversially,  this is being done by constraining Kiwis freedoms – if they have not been vaccinated – under legislation which has been passed in indecent haste. 

MIQueue – bringing Kiwis together

Scattered across time zones, united in desperation, Jacinda’s team of 25,000 hunched over PCs and phones on Tuesday to secure one of the coveted 3,700 rooms (more or less) for returning New Zealanders.  The two hours or so it took to work down the electronic queue were an opportunity to catch up on international coverage of the government’s acknowledgement that Covid elimination was not going to work. 

Mahuta spurns call from civic leaders to go with the flow – and go slow – with contentious Three Waters programme

A press statement we received from Nanaia Mahuta, speaking as Minister of Foreign Affairs, dealt with the findings of an independent review into New Zealand’s export controls system, which regulates the export of goods to foreign militaries, police forces or paramilitaries.

Produced by David Smol, a former Chief Executive of the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, the report calls for stiffer rules.

It found the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) has managed the export of these goods in line with legislative requirements, but the design and implementation of the system falls short of contemporary best practice in several respects.

The review is available on the MFAT website.

But statements from Mahuta of much greater concern to our wellbeing are not to be found on the Beehive website. Rather, they are to be found in Hansard’s record of proceedings during Question Time in Parliament yesterday.  

She expressed an autocratic determination to press on with the Three Waters reforms, regardless of the strength of public and local authority opposition.