My favourite NZ Herald opinion piece writer, alongside the persistent pedal pusher Simon Wilson, is Audrey Young. When it comes to her beloved Labour Party, led by her beloved Jacinda Ardern, Audrey, nine times out of ten, manages to make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear. Such was the case last weekend when Audrey got very moist drooling over what small beer Jacinda had served up to Judith in terms of what there was to mount an attack on. I am unsure how closely Audrey has been following the Government’s handling of Covid but in terms of not being on top of the virus, the Opposition could probably dine out on a few large lagers. That’s if the cafes and restaurants happened to be open.
It’s very hard to look objectively wearing rose-tinted glasses. Audrey lauds Jacinda for the arrival of the vaccine. Hard and early no doubt Audrey. I wonder if Audrey’s worked out that the number of vaccines arrived will inoculate 0.06 per cent of the population. Talk about small beer! Never mind, we should all raise a glass to this fantastic milestone.
I understand it was thanks to Scott Morrison bringing forward the Australian order that enabled us to receive ours. What thanks did he get from Jacinda? A childish bollocking over a Kiwi-born terrorist he didn’t want. The reality is he got one over Jacinda by cancelling this terrorist’s Australian passport sometime ago. He went hard and early.
Audrey goes on to praise Grant for the fantastic job he’s doing on the economic front. There’s black clouds on the horizon Audrey and as far as I can see they’re coming without a silver lining. The current figures are largely due to the propping up of the economy through borrowing enabling handouts here there and everywhere. Unemployment fell to 4.9 per cent. That makes me go hmmm. Audrey concludes that all this is what you call a good start to the year and has left Collins with little to say but congratulations. Chris Bishop took the bait and stupidly did exactly that in the urgent Covid debate in Parliament. David Seymour, on the other hand, gave them a well-deserved bollocking as well as setting out the Act Party plan.
Back to the congratulations. For what exactly Audrey? Here are some examples of the Government’s woeful handling of the virus all since you wrote your piece –
- Five cases in the community
- Checkpoint location problems in the north
- Checkpoint location problems in the south
- No regular testing of LSG Sky Chefs staff
- Chris Hipkins said he was notified early on Saturday morning
- Jacinda Ardern said she was notified between 11 and midday on Sunday
- If Hipkins is correct why weren’t the Big Gay Out and America’s Cup cancelled?
- Checkpoints causing problems for tradies needing to cross borders
- No fast track for trucks at checkpoints.
- Some people contacting government departments for travel exemptions got no reply
I would like to know from Audrey which, if any, of these deserve congratulations? All they prove is that this would have been better handled, as David Seymour said, if the government had been the referee and not the main player. The so-called crisis should be run by an independent body.
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