Mike Hosking exposed the parody being played out by the Prime Minister of New Zealand when he clashed with Dr Bloomfield over target zero. (1)
As the celebrated medical mouth piece prevaricated, obfuscated and spluttered his way through the tsunami of relentless demands for a straight answer, Hosking finally nailed him with:
“And in not tolerating the virus, you need to get rid of the virus and to get rid of the virus you need some zeros. You haven’t got zeros, you’re not going to get zeros. Elimination doesn’t work.”
Labour picked up a lifebuoy Denmark threw New Zealand’s way, saving Jacinda’s mob from having their lack of covid management plan completely expose, when the Danes supplied 500,000 doses of Pfizer. (2)
The missing covid management plan, is also available from Denmark where their Prime Minister has announced that they are learning to co-exist with Covid.
Other European countries are moving along the same road and is America is easing its coronavirus travel restrictions, re-opening to passengers from the UK, EU and other nations. From November, foreign travellers will be allowed to fly into the US if they are fully vaccinated, and undergo testing and contact tracing. (3)
Back here, it is my assessment that Dr Bloomfield is being used as the stooge to allow Labour to change their language over the next few weeks (as we have seen to have been their strategy in the past) and redefine “elimination” as meaning what the government wants it to mean – depending on the political polls rather than medical reality.
Level 4 under covid-19 was to prevent hospitals being overloaded. That never happened and in spite of many health workers NOT vaccinating.
Delta was sold as the killer of all killers- yet one dead since its arrival, does tend to expose that line as more political posturing performances before a disappointingly gullible mass, but which may well shrink as clarions like Hosking champion the causes of economic reality and mental madness.
Oh! And, bring back Sean Plunket.
Ross Meurant, graduate in politics both at university and as a Member of Parliament; formerly police inspector in charge of Auckland spies; currently Honorary Consul for an African state’ Trustee and CEO of Russian owned commercial assets in New Zealand and has international business interests.
- https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/covid-19-delta-outbreak-ashley-bloomfield-mike-hosking-clash-on-his-relationship-with-government/3OEQE5C773QAW7KYYGI26UFMZI/
- https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/coronavirus/126357276/covid19-500000-pfizer-vaccine-doses-to-come-from-denmark
- https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-58628491
Ask Hosking about John Tamahere. Ask Hosking about his statement about only idiots crash cars. Hosking cost his company thousands because of his hell bent beliefs. This was the best strategy to go with. It gave us time to vaccinate. Our hospitals have been run down whilst National increased our population by over a million in less than 10 years, meaning a struggling health infrastructure and under staffing.
Our hospitals struggle to cope with a surge in influenza in a bad year, how on earth would they have coped with a ravaging virus?
Given there has only been one Felta death I suggest to you the strategy has very much worked.
Hosking is just a stooge for the neoliberal, the rightwing and most certainly will never admit success by this government.
Sorry The Kraut, Delta not Felta.
Hi Bert, it was in fact the Clark Labour government that really stoked the immigration numbers by signing a Free Trade agreement with China in 2008 and setting up the ASEAN agreement which was signed in 2009.
It’s true our population did increase by roughly 1/2 a million between 2013 and now however a sizeable chunk of that growth was driven by Kiwis returning home as the economy was growing very well in contrast to many other parts of the world at the time.
As for investment into health – how much of that $50 billion our children are going to be paying off has been spent on improving the health system? How many additional ICU beads are there? How many more mental health facilities do we have?
That’s right – sweet F all. That’s all down to Labour
Answering your own question, is not a sign of intelligence.
Here is a partial answer to your question…
“The HIU was established in 2019 to lead health investment by planning, prioritising and monitoring infrastructure projects, and standardising the way projects are designed and delivered.
This includes asset management and analysis, forecasting demand for health services and infrastructure, monitoring projects run by DHBs, and long-term investment strategy and planning.
New Zealand’s health property portfolio is valued at $24 billion. Around $4.2 billion has been invested in health infrastructure since 2018.
The HIU supports DHBs in more than 100 capital projects currently under way.
Christchurch, Dunedin hospital redevelopment, West Coast Hospital build and a new build of the HRBC mental facility in Hamilton.
Money well spent and I’m sure our children will benefit greatly and is all down to Labour Yeti.
Bert That health authority was a slap in the face to the CDHB which is the only Patient and workforced focus DHB in the country.
The MOH and Labour do not want a workforced patient focused healthcare system that is not controlled by the tightfisted money focused bureaucracy.
By doing what little did he has made the Bureaucrats very happy I Have No confidence whatsoever in the new health authority.
Nor from what I have heard from others do 1,000s of others who have been contacting the Greens Health spokesperson from the email response I got.
You only have to follow Ian Powell’s posts to see the Path of destruction laid on the CDHB .
The CDHB hospital was a earthquake rebuild done by National.
The New Building which has yet to start to replace the riverside building of 5 floors will have 3 floors lying empty for lack of money to outfit them so dont give credit to labour for the chch hospital rebuild .
Also Littles bullshit screw you response re Pharmac’s Budget campaigners says Labour don’t give a shit.
C’mon Bertie – National ain’t been in power for a while. The 9 years of neglect doesn’t work if you have sat on your collective fist for 5.5 years.
Come down from planet Key Fwankie where there are no cleaners and thank your lucky stars for the vast funding in health under Labour, as much as your stomach can’t take it.
National allowed how many Indians to come here through the back door namely education and training courses literally promising them the right to become NZ citizens. National had three terms a free rein to make a huge positive difference to our country. Instead all their policies did was increase the economic divide by creating more inequalities and putting Maori and PI back at the back of the que in almost all facet of life. By allowing mass immigration you provide a bigger pool of cheap labour therefore interfering with the labour market and negatively effecting Maori and PI who would make up the bulk of the workforce with more younger aged people. Money and resources should have been heavily invested in these groups but instead others were brought in also impacting on our housing market and infrastructure. We are now playing catch up. Also I would like to see the evidence showing how many kiwis did actually return home during Nationals tenure as I believe the number are exaggerated. And why would many kiwis return home to low wages when there prospects were better overseas at that time. NZers gave John and his National party their vote but when they started to see homelessness, run down hospitals, state housing knocked down and replaced with 800k homes, many realized the brighter future was not all it was cut out to be.
Pssst Covid is pa, don’t tell Fwankie it was Nationals fault.
Ditto to that, Bert. As usual the Hoskings of this world choose to waste our time and energy by engaging in semantics. It does not matter so much what you call the strategy as it does to implement a good strategy. I also don’t buy the line that we should be doing what these other countries are doing. Just look at their casualties.
Stop talking crap Ross in order to live with it we need a majority of our population to be better vaccinated.
We know who will die and we know what will happen to our hospitals and who will suffer the most from a collapsed Public health system. Our government has made some mistakes can you name me one government that hasn’t. We should have got more vaccines in sooner, we should have not underestimated Delta and we should have listened to the Maori and PI health experts advice. These experts told our government the best way to get PI and Maori vaccinated and when to get them vaccinated but this did not happen. Instead we carried on with a one size fits all and now we have more vaccine hesitancy with social media rubbish info running rife. Now we have to move on and work together not try and get brownie points to make our government look bad all the time as what does all this muck actually achieve, bloody nothing.
Hi covid is pa
I did not say, don’t vax nor did Hosking. And I am double vaxed.
What Hosking was saying and what I say is: Evidence from countries way ahead of us – and I refer to Europe and USA – have accepted; The virus cannot be eliminated.
Therefore, to have a goal to eliminate the virus, is an impossible goal.
If NZ tries to achieve an impossible goal, our economy collapses and our mental state too.
its a matter of finding a balance.
This cameo the main stream media run – “science experts” – pontificating about destruction of mankind if we don’t do the impossible and eliminate it?
Of course, these are bureaucrats, paid substantial salaries on a fortnightly basis – irrespective of how they perform.
Those salaries are paid by you and me and others who work and pay taxes.
What Hosking is say and and me too: We need to find a balance which enables the
shop owner to survive for he/she must produce product or goods at a cost which is competitive on the market where the profit is made to reinvest and expand the business and employ more people who will pay also tax to fund the salaries of the science experts grabbing their moments of glory insisting that NZ must achieve the impossible.
Fabulous Ross you are absolutely correct.
Ashley Bloomfield being played like a fiddle by Jacinda Ardern and her spin doctors.
The levels are in no doubt being used for political purposes not public health and that is not kind.
Idiot.
So Hosking nailed him with a statement not a question? Hosking had an agenda.When Hosking does ask a question it’s loaded.
The sadest part is Hosking also has a daily broadcasting platform that people listen too and believe. The type that will hang on every word, the type to deliberately break the rules because they believe what Hosking says must be true. Perhaps when Hosking stated John Tamihere’s Maori Trust was misappropriating funds and was taken to court by Tamihere over said allegation, intelligent people would see past the right wing stooge that is Hosking., but no, Hosking political posturing knows no bounds. Thankfully with the flick of the switch he can be shut down.
I never listen to Hosking but I will from now on he certainly put poor old Bloomfield the Labour Government fall guy on the spot.
I feel sorry for Bloomfield being used by Jacinda Ardern and her public relations team its not kind.
Moron.
I don’t see the Danish offer of enough vaccine doses for 5% of the population as a game changer.
Ross is no doubt pissed off he can’t take any tax payer subsidised flights.
An expert and experienced health authority has my vote against a smug know-all whose only skill is in misrepresenting facts and spewing out his own opinion.
I would err on the side of Bloomfield’s explanations rather than the Nqatz’ advisers Meurant, Hosking, Soper, Duplessis, etc. Are they the ones advising the Natz on the Swedish, Taiwan, Australian, Singaporean and Danish Covid solutions from youtube, facebook. I note the right wing never talk about the death rates and infections raging in these and other countries. Its obvious Ross and the other right wingers dont listen to the science and professional comments that Ashley shares every day.
Despite the Delta out-break, Aotearoa is still the safest and most free country in the world. Thank you Jacinda and the Labour party.
Fabulous to see people doing so well with no tertiary education.
Just shows how hard work and dedication pays off.
Hosking certainly didn’t have the benefit of a wealthy background but rather did it himself.
That’s to be commended even if one doesn’t share his political views.
Many successful Labour Prime Ministers of NZ had no formal education.
To infer Hosking can’t ask Ashley Bloomfield questions is to me silly.
He attends a press conference almost daily and is asked questions by journalists who have no medical qualifications.
NZ doesn’t need aggressive negative viewpoints on our Covid19 treatments. Keeping the government on track is more important than whether Hosking gets all his questions/statements answered. The virus is as slippery as Hosking – look at how long he has been infecting the populace!
So very true Greywarbler, he infects those who cannot think for themselves.
Hosking I read is the most popular radio programme in NZ?
Someone is listening to him?
Good one John
They are the angry old men who used to listen to Plunket, Garner, Williams and Banks.
Good one Nikorima.
Nice one Nikorima.
Yes many are angry white men and many actually don’t know what they are talking about as they have their facts muddled, some are actually not very well educated. And some are just feeding into the rubbish and divisive shit some of our radio presenters like Peter Williams, Mike Hoskings and others are encouraging.
So for those that struggle to comprehend the difference between a question and a statement this an example…
“And in not tolerating the virus, you need to get rid of the virus and to get rid of the virus you need some zeros. You haven’t got zeros, you’re not going to get zeros. Elimination doesn’t work.”
When did Hosking become a health expert, probably when he learnt to drive…?
https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/tv-radio/102974035/mike-hosking-crashes-140k-alfa-romeo-days-after-saying-crashes-are-idiotrelated
Thanks Ross I’m just trying to find balance
We do not ”co-exist” with smallpox, diptheria, polio, scarlet fever, whooping cough, bubonic plague, malaria or cholera. They were eliminated.
All these infectious diseases were at one time found in cities such as London, Paris, Rome, Moscow and Auckland.
Why do we have to ”co-exist” with Covid 19? Why is it considered impossible to eliminate it when 19th and 20th century administrations could eliminate epidemics with fewer technical and scientific aids than today?
And for Christ’s sake do not tell me that people developed ‘herd immunity’ to lethal diseases like diptheria and cholera.
Nice to have balance with intellect stevie.
Malaria is not eliminated
In 2019, there were an estimated 229 million cases of malaria worldwide.
The estimated number of malaria deaths stood at 409 000 in 2019.
Nor is cholera
It has been demonstrated here several times , that we can eliminate this virus. But it does require the co-operation of everyone.
When broadcasters with the profile of Hosking and commentators with the readership of Meurant openly ridicule the effort , some people are going to feel that this legitimises their flouting of the protocols that have to be followed, that have been followed adequately in all the past examples that Hosking quotes. That is what will cause the eradication to fail. It can work and it has worked but it needs everyone to want it to work.
D J S
Here’s a tip, it’s looking likely that we will not go back to level 4 again in this pandemic. So get vaccinated (or not if you don’t mine getting really sick & having at least 3 weeks off work, with the possibility of hospitalisation & death), get those people you care about vaccinated, get used to wearing masks & the various lower level controls. The new normal will be different from what you have experienced so far. Buckle up.
Exactly Richard. If the unvaccinated get really sick, stay home, it’s no worse than the flu and as Hosking and his pro right wing university doctor discussed” why are we catastrophising covid deaths when we don’t do so for all other deaths”. Our health system can then support those that choose vaccination over severe illness or death.
Nice to have some common sense Richard Slade.
Ashley Bloomfield admits he’s lost sleep over the Auckland alert-level decision and says the country might not return to zero Covid cases – but he says that won’t necessarily stop a return to level 1.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/covid-19-delta-outbreak-aucklanders-celebrate-level-3-freedoms-but-some-say-its-a-gamble/IV6R6KQIANBS27XJH2JPNQPMUM/
I rest my case AND thank you John for support
“Level 4 under covid-19 was to prevent hospitals being overloaded. That never happened and in spite of many health workers NOT vaccinating.”
The level of the article’s general coherency is well reflected in the two sentences above.
The commitment to a strategy of elimination, or zero tolerance for Covid cases in the community, has also faced increased scrutiny.
The Government has said it remains the goal, although director general of health Dr Ashley Bloomfield said the country wouldn’t necessarily need zero cases to get to level 1.
Herald today
I REST MY CASE
Vaccination is the answer, tried, tested and proven.
agree Bet
But it wont produce zero
Maybe not but with the USA hitting a soul crushing 1900 deaths a day, the elimination strategy was seen as the best strategy in NZ. I truly wonder what Hosking was trying to achieve, that that Government strategy was wrong and if so did he want failure? And along with failure comes many deaths. Is he truly that narcissistic just for the right to be in power? I’ve listened to his show long enough to know it’s simply a political broadcasting platform from one side of the political sphere.
It wont produce zero because there can still be some transmission by the vaccinated. Which means lockdown measures are needed until longer lasting and wider spectrum corona virus vaccines are developed. For most kiwis its no problem not to be going overeseas for a couple of years.
The questions you could update us on is why politically did we not use the sputnik vaccine, equally effective as pfizer at half the cost? Denmark has helped us out but was/is there a ready supply available from Russia?
The lockdowns will be eased to allow the spread of the virus. The lockdowns have served their purpose of convincing as many people as will be convinced to get the jab. Now the virus can be let loose gradually to frighten those that were avoiding taking the jab on the basis that they didn’t need it because NZ was keeping it out. That excuse has to be removed now and quickly before everybody learns that the vaccine doesn’t work.
It is the vaccine that matters not the virus. I’m buggered if I know why, but the extraordinary censorship, removal of safe remedies that have been proven in other countries , the alteration of the way of recording deaths, the lies and half truths from governments all over the Western world all about a virus that is no worse than the flu’ much less dangerous than the flu for everyone in good health below the age of 70. It doesn’t add up. There has to be some other explanation.
D J S
Ross. The US, UK the entire EU and now Australia have turned into Zombie Nations. Why? Because they all make the ‘false’ claim that they’re cured from covid which is bs.
Capitalism has unhitched from Democracy = Zombie Nations in upheaval. This is what is happening. NZ needs to batten down the hatches until this storm passes…it may take a while. Keyword; ‘Adapt’ or die.
Difficult to understand wording like balance with intellect when the statement as pointed out by Basil was incorrect.
Intellect is to reason objectively which is beyond most people.
There will always be a group that have difficult understanding wording, it’s because they lack intellect. Normally their sentences start with “Difficult to understand”
Intellect is especially needed with regard to abstract matters. For example…”Hosking I read is the most popular radio programme in NZ?”
An intellect would know Hosking is not a radio programme he is a host of a radio programme.
Gosh what a dreadful display of mangled grammar no understanding of the language.
Intellect used in the wrong tense yet again.
Perhaps intellectual.
But if English is not your first language then you are excused.
Hosking hosts a radio programme that bears his name.
Again completely wrong but as Greenbus succinctly put it, “Idiot” and “Moron”
Good heavens how silly is that.
Anyway let’s move on.
It’s not silly if it’s true, but yes let’s move on.
Ok agree
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