Alwyn Poole
I once heard a New Zealand politician (Graeme Lee – father of current MP Denise) explain that government in a free democracy and economy had two key responsibilities
1) To defend the nation from external threats.
2) To take care of the needy – the poor, the elderly, the infirm (physically and mentally) – who are disproportionately affected by market failures.
With regards to number one, there is a strange logic to what has taken place with Covid-19. If we looked at this (what was an “external threat”) through another lens.
- If we knew that people were flying to New Zealand carrying guns (or even encouraged them to fly to New Zealand as our Foreign Minister did).
- If we knew that those individuals had intent and people were sick and dying overseas because of their ‘network’.
- If we could not detect who had the guns as they came into our country.
Would we not have kept all travellers out (quarantine for a virus) until we knew they had no guns and were good people? No one would have been allowed to enter our country until we knew they were not a threat.
New Zealand was perhaps the best-placed country in the world to do that effectively.
Making a different choice has meant that we now have one death, 514 cases and 9 people in hospital (as at 1pm on 29/3/20). Who knows where those statistics will end up? Not only that – instead of having our international economic links in lock-down (and gradually being re-established) – we have the vast majority of our domestic economic activities in lock-down also and the impact will be huge and long-lasting.
I have an eighty-year-old mother in law. Today the Prime Minister was reported as saying:
“more people would get sick – older New Zealanders are ‘by far’ at the most risk.
“Today’s death is a reminder of the fight we have on our hands.”
I have a son who is a firefighter – overseas they are the people being required to collect the dead. I have a daughter and a wife and a grandchild on the way that I would like to meet and see grow up. I work within three schools that are shut down with scared children and many families that are poor and locked up in very inadequate housing. We have 75 staff who need not have been put at any risk at all.
Heather du Plessis-Allan was right today to say all arrivals should be quarantined. We know of a returning family just three days ago who almost literally waltzed in.
What am I missing? If this is the very big threat that the Prime Minister and health authorities now tell us it is – who will take responsibility for letting the bio-guns in and creating it?
I would not be a politician if they trebled the pay, and I have never aspired to be one. But if you have aspired to lead you must be accountable for what you do.
Do I support the current efforts and our put-upon police, health and other essential services? Of course. But we should never have got here! We also have a right and, in fact, a duty to expect our media, politicians and citizens to deeply examine every step our government takes.
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