Comparing Bridges commute to Clark’s breaching of quarantine are two separate issues and other than the physical transportation of two men, have nothing actually in common.
Clark is the Minister of Health breaching his own rules.
Bridges, as the only counter weight of political accountability in a Police State, is doing his job.
It is up to Simon Bridges to ascertain how he does that job and if commuting that distance is what is required, then so be it!
Look – few of us LIKE Simon Bridges, I strongly doubt Simon Bridges likes Simon Bridges at times, but as the only check and balance to a Police State Government right now (legitimately because of the pandemic) – HE and HE alone decides how best to pursue that job. If commuting 500kms is the way he decides to do that, folks, there’s your decision. His role is important enough for him to have that prerogative, even in lockdown.
David Clark on the other hand was breaching his own rules. His job was to comply & be seen to comply.
I get we want to be tribal on the Left, especially after one of our own has screwed up so badly, but come on, these are 2 very different things.
We have bigger fish to fry folks.
Hmmm…. Bridges has previously matey’d-up to one Duterte, who’s response to the Lockdown in his country is “Shoot them dead” (“them” being anyone breaking lockdown). Duterte repeated that and there is no reason to doubt that he means it, given his past history for dealing with anyone labelled by anyone else as a ‘drug user’. Similar policy.
AO/ NZ has a police state now? Wait until mr bridges finishes his daily campaigning and steps into power. Then you’ll get the police state that he relishes and dreams of. (He’s already planning the big increase of prisons – privatised for profit.)
Welcome to your future, folks.
A rare show of non-partisanship Martyn.
As I say about Trump and Bridges among others, these people screw things up enough on their own without making shit up.
Adern should have sacked Clark for this – all the way to the back benches.
Jenny Salesa is an extremely able Minister. As Associate Minister of Health she should step up now to be the Minister with Peeni Henare continuing his role as Associate Minister of Health for Maori. David Clark was not much chop before his breach of rules. I agree with Jays, he needs the chop now.
Our MPs are wank. I can’t believe Clark is still a minister. Meka Whaitiri gets fired and she didn’t even do anything wrong. This bullshit is really starting to rub.
Well done Martyn for this piece . I was so annoyed at how Bridges was treated by the newscaster trying to run the two stories of Clark and Bridges as one of the same.
‘one of our own’ really!
Don’t be ridiculous how is this idiot on the left at all……………..
If anyone doubts the right wing bias of Media Works then just watch Tobah and her story on this fiasco.
Bridges was let off of course because no one is allowed to criticise or reprimand members of the National party.
The two stories of Clark and Bridges were moulded together for presentation with Clark being dismembered and Bridges being smacked on the hand for being a naughty boy.
Not excusing Clark’s stupidity here but Bridges wants too lead the country.
No wonder politicians are held in such contempt.
DAVID CLARK LETS OFF A BIT OF STEAM ON A BIKE. IN THE PYTHONESQUE REALM OF BIBLICAL PARODY,NO HE’S NOT THE MESSIAH HE’S JUST A REALLY NAUGHTY BOY ! JESUS .
Certainly a storm in a teacup when we should be focusing on bigger issues like putting returning Kiwis in formal quarantine so they can’t cruise around spreading the virus like the 240,000 tourists we let in to “self isolate ” .
Im going to break ranks here . Yes David Clark took his van to the forest 2 kms away from his home which correctly was non essential travel and a clear breach of the level 4 lockdown protocols . ok.
If he had ridden his bike from home and back he would have been
1. Staying local
2. engaging in solitary exercise
3. maintained appropriate distancing and
4 . Staying within his experience and skill level so as not to put rescue services at risk .( He was on the learners loop track not doing 40 ft jumps.)
In which case he would have complied with Level 4 protocols .Yawn .
So I think its a bit of a beat up . Howls of outrage but there’s more….
It seems surfers and mountain bikers are the work of the anarchist devil / public enemy no 1 and usually judged so by people and organisations which have fundamentally no understanding of the sports concerned and have applied some form of self gratifying cultural hierarchy to what constitutes correct exercise a lock down.
It is important that people don’t overextend themselves to make sure search and rescue aren’t called out to rescue them . Agreed.
But this is a lock down not house arrest .
It is also important to note that if you walk/surf/bike/skateboard in your own suburb in a solitary fashion and maintain correct distancing you are not spreading the virus while you are out maintaining your bubble ,your fitness and mental health.
Relative to many other countries around the world our team is doing well . David Clark is a central part of a world class team who may save many lives , including yours .
If I get through this alive Im more than happy to chip in to buy him a new mountain bike .
Yes, hes had a good kick up the arse , so maybe we should move on and let him get on with the main event.
Given I have gone against the grain on this one ,I was about to employ a self crucifixion to appease public rage but unfortunately both Mitre 10 and Crosses R Us are closed until end of lockdown. Bugga , guess I will just have to wait till the end of lockdown .
Kind regards ” Locked-up-Lemm”.
Bridges is pushing his luck and, as the chair of the Epidemic committee whatever, who has been brought in to make our response more bipartisan, he should know better as well. You cannot tell me that he does not have the technology to conduct his meetings via Skype, Zoom etc. He will most certainly have that from his home in Tauranga. That’s just BS.
Soiman did not need to pedal his Noddy car to Wellington to do his job. He did not need to hold a press conference when he arrived. He would be as useless as tits on a bull in stopping a police state, which we do not have, by the way. A police state would be his desired outcome. He would have had unnecessary contact with others when he filled his car tank, and certainly at his press conference.
David Clark broke the rules by going for a walk on the beach, while remaining in his bubble. He endangered exactly nobody. His bike ride arguably did not even break the rules. Yet our media, including this blog, are attacking David Clark while giving Soiman a free ride. Jacinda should have told the journalists that she’d answered the questions about him after the first one, and told them all to get fucked. But she’s too nice.
Correct on every count. Add in that Bridges needs to be extremely careful in labeling Labour ministers as ” not up to it”. Firstly because Clark was going for a walk, was not “working”. And secondly we now how useless many of his own ministers were during 9 years in Government. Brownlee for the EQC and the airport debacle just to name one!
A pity that things happened on the wrong day.
It should have been April 1st. Ardern and Clark should have teed things up with no word said publicly before then about the situation.
On the haranguing questions starting about doing something about Clark, Ardern should have gone out the back and dragged him in by the ear. On the stage she should have drawn a sword and plunged it, ostensibly, into him. The bags of undershirt blood could have squirted all over the place. In seconds a couple of minions could have appeared, chucked him on a stretcher and carted him out.
Ardern could have said, “Happy? Got what you want?” And stormed off.
Out the back she and David Clark could have had a laugh.
You reckon the thousands watching live on TV who want strong leadership would have cheered and prepared to vote for her in September? The media consistently baying for blood would have been appeased and happy that their life’s mission at last was being accomplished?
You’re 100% correct Martyn – it’s a classic example of false equivalence and the old political trick of “Never mind that, look over here!” to distract people.
But there is another aspect to this. How exactly did Clark and Bridges break isolation? Both took part in low risk activities on their own, with zero risk of virus transfer.
I know they ‘broke the rules’, but doesn’t that just tell us that some aspects of the rules are stupid?
A couple of days ago my friend went out to check the mooring on his boat and this entailed a couple of hundred metres of rowing in his tender. He had a life jacket on and was in the Waitemata. On his way back, up roared the Auckland police boat shouting at him to go back to shore, and he duly told them to bugger off.
Whilst some think it’s admirable that Jacinda wants to care for us all, others like me aren’t flowing with the hormones of a nursing mother and can see that some of the isolation rules need amending so we can live more normal lives.
Why can’t I do some kayaking? I’ve been doing it for 20 years here and never needed rescuing. There is essentially no risk just as long as I stick to basic training trips.
Why can’t an experienced swimmer swim at the beach? There is a bunch of tough old pensioner ladies at Narrow Neck who don wet suits and swim along the buoy line ever morning. It’s what is keeping them active and living a full life. It’s nonsense to say they’re putting themselves at risk.
Ditto surfing, stand-up boarding, fishing, tramping and cycling; just as long people aren’t novices, pushing the boundaries or at the limits of their own personal abilities.
Clark should have been hanged drawn and quartered for his reckless offenses. Good job!
Oh wait – what did he do? He went for a bike ride. Oh no! he also took his kids to a quiet beach?
Yeah, well that’s gotta be a hanging offense.
By the way do we have to refer to idiotic men as “dicks It seems a bit misandrous to me. If we referred to idiotic women using the same genitally referenced vernacular, we’d be lambasted for misogyny. Jacinda’s gender neutral use of the word ‘idiot’ is sufficient.
Comments are closed.