Waatea News Column: Kindness towards South Auckland whanau more important than ever

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People are angry.

They have a right to feel that anger.

The mistakes and breaches of self-isolation in South Auckland played out in real-time in front of the entire nation is humiliation beyond comprehension against a rising tsunami of righteous anger empowered by genuine self-sacrifice.

We are all hurting from another Lockdown and hearing how the foolishness of one has damaged all the rest of us is as disappointing as it is infuriating but before we cast unkind words and before we allow those frustrations, hurts and fears to landslide into something ugly, let’s remind ourselves kindness isn’t easy, and it is in these exact moments that we must strive to be kind.

There have been issues regarding the Auckland DHB Community outreach.

The Measles epidemic proved that!

The lack of young people directed communication in one of the youngest electorates in the country alongside a lack of information in different languages alongside a DHB who wasn’t door-knocking have all served South Auckland, a part of the city with the highest proportion of front line staff living in it, very, very. very poorly.

That’s not to excuse the behaviour of the young person who has put us all at risk, but I would remind everyone that young people think they are bulletproof and that a hateful pile on calling for vengeance will ensure the next person who makes a mistake doesn’t tell the truth when telling the truth is the most important thing in a pandemic.

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A public flogging will only scare others into silence if they make the same mistakes and that fear could cost us.

So kindness not only helps ease the anger, but it makes us stronger the next time there is a breach, because whether we like it or not, there are going to be these risks until the country is vaccinated, and even then that doesn’t include mutation variants or acknowledge that it will have to be an annual vaccine.

This is the new normal, and it will be with us until we hit 75% herd immunity.

Kindness will sustain us through that far better than bitter fury.

First published on Waatea News.

36 COMMENTS

  1. Long range weather forecast for New Zealand for March 3:

    Large Blame Storm centred on South Auckland, is expected to continue for the rest of the week, possibly spreading to other low decile centres.

    • 🙂 Metservice further explained: “The Blame Storm is being fed by hot air behind a number of Media fronts crossing the country. These were expected to pass in the near future as a new Clickbait weatherbomb was predicted to descend in line with forecast overarching profit trends and Financial Climate drivers.”

  2. Anyone who thinks we are going back to a pre-Covid ‘normal’ when vaccines become readily available is seriously uninformed/misinformed/deluded. We have entered the time of collapse, during which all the phony economic and cultural narratives that have been foisted on us over preceding decades fall apart.

    During this time of collapse, it would be nice to think that people are going to be kind to one another.

    However, the neoliberal system has taught people to be selfish and unkind, and it’s going to take a lot to rectify the massive damage done by neoliberalism. Indeed, some of the damage done by neoliberalism is so great -especially the environmental damage, health damage and mental damage- it can never be repaired.

    ‘Interesting’ times, as all the official narratives fall apart and institutions attempt to hold back the tide, promising to do ‘whatever it takes’ to prop up dysfunction in the face of reality.

    ‘Yesterday the RBA left its interest rate settings unchanged but it did extend its bond-buying commitments by another UA$100 bln and said it is prepared to do more “if necessary”. It is trying to keep its three year Government bond yield at a target rate even in the face of the international reflation trade. It might need an even larger commitment and is pledging “whatever it takes”.’

    https://www.interest.co.nz/news/109316/wmp-jumps-21-leading-dairy-prices-higher-us-retail-sales-slip-nyc-pmi-sinks-rba-declares

    And presumably, we will be paying a lot more for dairy products (or stop eating them) as the worldwide food crisis worsens.

    ‘Dairy prices have leapt in the overnight auction by a spectacular +15%, the biggest jump in 6½ years to their highest level in 7 years. The sharp shift higher was led by a spectacular rise for WMP which was up +21%, and butter which was up +13.7%. Other products only had modest lifts in comparison. This auction was an unusually long one, taking 2:53 hh:mm to complete and although a regular number of bidders competed (180), only 86 won any product (the fewest in eight years). That is an unusually large set of bidders who left with no product at this auction.’

    Since we live in a take-from-the poor-and-give-to-the-rich system, I think we are going to need more than just kindness. I think we are going to have to subsidise food, or issue food stamps.

    We can be sure the government WILL NOT promote Permaculture or Powerdown.

    • Agree with you afewknowthetruth the rich and foreign corporates are taking from the poor but also taking our strategic resources like water, land etc these are being bleed from us and having a negative impact on our environments and the decent standard of living we all want in our country.
      As for the Covid communications issue people need to listen and if they are not sure then they need to question or get help as help is there it just requires a person to pick up the phone.

  3. I totally agree; the best we can do is to understand how this has occured and learn from it.

  4. You’re right of course Martyn. No use beating the kid black and blue for one trespass, even though we are all paying the price. Let’s all learn from this and move on. More challenges to come.

  5. No, the PM threw them under a bus….they hit back and said they did not receive all the communications the PM/Bloomfield said they had received.
    Lets see the proof of the communications to I and L and if none exist, or at least vague and nothing specific, then a big public apology is due.
    I surmise if this is the case, the apology, PM will not be fronting that presser…chippy and Bloomfield i would guess.

  6. It can become very tedious, being kind all the time when some people are so stupid and don’t use their common sense you can still be kind but be bloody annoyed as many NZers are.

  7. Open up the borders to Ozzy. I need out. NZ is just for the rich. Jacinda Antoinette has ruined this once fair country.

    • That thing had the option of giving the rich an extra $200k or bump up the benefit $50. She chose to give the rich an extra $200k. A labour leader did that? The rich already have security, happiness, wealth. The poor have nothing and absolutely no security yet that thing thought it was better to make the rich richer. I am done with this so called Labour Party.

    • If you have a NZ passport you can leave for Australia already.

      Depending on which state you are heading to, whether you have been in Auckland in the last 14 days, and whether you are arriving from Auckland, you may even be exempt from having to quarantine on arrival. Safe travels.

  8. Ozzy is worse than us sending back made in NZ crims but designed and plied their trade in Aus. Aussie is not a fair country either.

  9. Not much kindness down here in the far south, with all sorts of activities/functions/events squashed, and where we see South Auckland as a far distant blot on the landscape. Couldn’t they have ring-fenced Sth Auck with a level 3 or 4, and left the rest of us open and free?

    • that idea sounds familiar, let me try and recall…ah yes…Warsaw Ghetto, Bosnia, Soweto, Gaza…try again heartlanders before people start thinking y’all wear white hoods or something down there

    • Sorry did you miss the memo that they now have things called planes that leave Auckland and arrive in the South Island within a couple of hours . You are not that far away.

      • Yes I know (and speaking myself as a former Auckland resident). It’s the impression of people down here I was trying to convey.

  10. Follow the money

    Is public health being sacrificed for the economy?

    What is the real reason that the people at the centre of the latest community outbreak have been held up for public ridicule?

    Are individuals being made responsible for a retreat from collective action?

    The accepted incubation period for covid-19 is 14 days.
    The government imposed a lockdown and then lifted it after an inadequate 3 days and then piloried a family who didn’t ‘self-isolate’ for the rest of the incubation period.

    People were expected to self isolate for 11 days but not 14?

    After embarking on a lockdown it is clear that the government quickly abandonded that strategy for one of asking people to ‘self-isolate’.

    Why the change in strategy?

    Was the government pressured and lobbied by the business community to abandon the lockdown for the good of the economy?

    Prime Minister and school Principal clash over new strategy.

    Jacinda Ardern and Papatoetoe High School principal Vaughan Couillault have ‘frank and open’ talk about blaming families with Covid

    “The people who have potentially not followed that advice and guidance are suffering, are hurting, and I don’t know any New Zealander that wants to deliberately hurt another one even more.”
    Papatoetoe High School principal Vaughan Couillault

    “rule-breakers” faced “the full judgment of the entire nation”
    Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern

    https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/covid-19-coronavirus-jacinda-ardern-and-papatoetoe-high-school-principal-vaughan-couillault-have-frank-and-open-talk-about-blaming-families-with-covid/TUKJOI7MP7OD2ABCGVPFP3S5ME/

  11. You totally should go for it Gremlin. Remember you can get income insurance and use yr savings for the stand down period if you need it (regarding no benefits for kiwis in oz)

  12. Follow the money

    Is public health being sacrificed for the economy?

    What is the real reason that the people at the centre of the latest community outbreak have been held up for public ridicule?

    Are individuals being made responsible for a retreat from collective action?

    The accepted incubation period for covid-19 is 14 days.
    The government imposed a lockdown and then lifted it after an inadequate 3 days and then piloried a family who didn’t ‘self-isolate’ for the rest of the incubation period.

    People were expected to self isolate for 11 days but not 14?

    After embarking on a lockdown it is clear that the government quickly abandonded that strategy for one of asking people to ‘self-isolate’.

    Why the change in strategy?

    Was the government pressured and lobbied by the business community to abandon the lockdown for the good of the economy?

    Prime Minister and school Principal clash over new strategy.

    Jacinda Ardern and Papatoetoe High School principal Vaughan Couillault have ‘frank and open’ talk about blaming families with Covid

    “The people who have potentially not followed that advice and guidance are suffering, are hurting, and I don’t know any New Zealander that wants to deliberately hurt another one even more.”
    Papatoetoe High School principal Vaughan Couillault

    “rule-breakers” faced “the full judgment of the entire nation”
    Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern

    https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/covid-19-coronavirus-jacinda-ardern-and-papatoetoe-high-school-principal-vaughan-couillault-have-frank-and-open-talk-about-blaming-families-with-covid/TUKJOI7MP7OD2ABCGVPFP3S5ME/

  13. Team of 5 million vs. the team of 500

    Pseudononymous Author, ADVANTAGE, writing at The Standard tells us the motives of the team of 500

    “The entire statement they have put out seeks not to show any initiative, but simply to plead on behalf of their investments.
    These then are not the commercial representatives of our much-vaunted Team of Five Million. It was the Team of 500 people Who Own 60% Of Our Wealth speaking…..”
    ADVANTAGE

    https://thestandard.org.nz/senior-business-leaders-call-out-to-government-again/

    In this struggle between private wealth and public health, who will win, the team of 500 or the team of 5 million?

    The real test for the government will be tomorrow Friday.

    If the latest outbreak is still not contained, will the government lift the lockdown as these ‘Titans of Business’ want?

    Or will the governmet put public health first?

  14. Tomorrow will be the test;
    If the outbreak is still not contained, will the government surrender to the power of big money and sacrifice public health on the alter of private wealth?

    While vilifying individuals for government lack of resolve to stand up to big business?

    “…These industries have successfully stalled public health policies for far too long in this country because they have deep pockets, powerful lobbying influence over government and very few scruples. I hope that uncovering these connections between big money, underhand PR and defamatory blogs is a wake-up call and we can begin to see better public health policies from Government.”
    Professor Swinburn

    https://www.healthcoalition.org.nz/dirty-pr-exposed-in-whale-oil-defamation-trial/

  15. An Auckland coversation
    Hardware store owner: If you were feeling sick would you stay at home?
    Builder 1: yep
    HSO: what about you?
    Builder 2: yeah sure
    HSO: Not if your in South Auckland, you’d go for a wander!

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