What the hell is this?
Govt asleep at the baggage carousel as countless Kiwi travellers lose bags
OPINION: The Government appears asleep at the baggage carousel as a crisis has unfolded at Auckland Airport.
If anyone has an AirTag free, could you please attach it to someone in power who’s going to take public leadership on the issue? Because we need to find them. There is an urgent need for the airlines, Auckland Airport and Government departments to get a public boot up the backside for letting things get so bad.
Thousands of bags have been spotted languishing at the country’s biggest airport over the summer, with Christmas presents, birthday gifts, medication and clothes all unable to get to their owner.
So Brooke Sabin (son of former National Party Minister Mike Sabin) has crossed over from Political reporting to travel correspondent now has he?
Oh how the mighty have fallen.
The issues with the baggage are not Air NZs, they are off shore handling problems that are plaguing everyone who is flying.
Sure Air NZ is owned by us and is ultimately an essential infrastructure that the Government has an interest in, but to insinuate Jacinda has some role in the decision making of managers inside the company is so far from reality it’s not funny!
If there is anyone with an accountability issue here, wouldn’t it in fact be Chris Luxon who you know, ran the bloody Air NZ before becoming the member for Botany?
Likewise the allegations that the Egg shortage are Jacinda’s problem as well!
It was the National Party who righteously decided to ban caged eggs in 2012! It was a decision that had NOTHING to do with Labour, and yet the Political Right are attempting to pretend because the Left care about the welfare of animals, it’s our fault???
I would have LOVED it if Labour and the Greens had banned caged eggs, we didn’t, it was a policy National pushed through 11 years ago!
The problems impacting the NZ Egg production industry have nothing to do with Jacinda, but the Right are attempting to manipulate the post-Covid bitterness and naked misogyny against Jacinda into a never ending blame game!
I’m waiting for National to announce the cyclone is Jacinda’s fault!
What is most egregious about this Jacinda blame game is that National’s underfunding for decades created all these problems in the first place!
There are many legitimate reasons to be frustrated and bitter with Jacinda’s lack of Transformative Change when we had an unprecedented MMP majority, but this endless attempt to blame her for everything is hollow and malicious.
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But Martyn everything is Her fault. This is the media who are supposedly in the governments pocket! Give me a break.
Actually maybe the luggage issue is caused by Clarke importing tons of coke. Must be surely.
You are correct Martyn, it’s not Jacinda’s fault, it’s probably Putin’s fault.
That will be Robertson’s reply…..
Labour used to be the friend of the farmer. I can’t work out which group of voters would ever support such an extreme, Malthusian agricultural policy (even if it doesn’t involve eggs).
I’m really pissed off with Jacinda. The 7 lotto balls I require have not been drawn out, we need a new Prime Minister now!
Bert for a second there I thought your new years resolution was to follow the crowd and support National but I see you have joined those that just follow the money instead .
Coward Kraut, Dumb Bob and you Trevor are not exactly a “crowd”.
We are leaders not followers. If we were in Wellington we could all go across the road on Labours 2.5 million pedestrian crossing
Using Luxons black Mercedes Trev, good one! Definitely followers!
All NZ media is appalling when it comes to the centre-left. When the media fails to present the government’s point of view except in small edited sound bites, the criticism is always that the government is doing a terrible job explaining it…when, in reality, they are never given the opportunity … mainly if it is a Labour government. Act and National always seem to get enough time for their ongoing but often baseless attacks.
For a monthly challenge, I tried to look at a specific area in the Herald news-o-sphere, op-eds to see if and where bias might lie.
I tried to replicate in part some of their studies by reading every when possible (We missed receiving 1 paper during this period) op-ed page. I then recorded their bias on 2 op ed’s (in my case, the Whanganui Chronicle, which usually prints 2 op-ed pieces originally from the Herald, and one cartoon every day). When I could, I linked to the original Herald op-ed piece. I marked “N” for neutral, where there is no mention of an NZ political party or a party policy -such as many obviously neutral articles such as “Kids Need to learn to Swim” or even economic articles where the bias is unclear as John Gascoigne’s somewhat anti-immigrant “How New Zealand can gain rich-nation status” (a “soft right”?).
“L” left/liberal with an attack(s) on NZ opposition parties… or the promotion of a Labour government policy or left policies in general. R” means obviously right-wing/centre right in sentiment (on either social or economic policies), or contains sentences that simply attack the NZ government from a less liberal point of view.
I found an almost 2 to-one imbalance for a center right/right wing (14) to left (7) bias …with 4 Act Party (3 by Prebble alone in a one month period) op-ed pieces and a couple by national MP’s, while the Greens had one article. Labour had one (a fairly neutral piece on diversity, with no mention of policy) by the Minister for Diversity. Indeed there was one article by Rob Rattenbury on how great “we media people” are in being nonpartial!
Facts from my recent trip.
1). It took 20 minutes to get through Sydney airport; 2 hours at Auckland on the way back (as a citizen!).
2). Air “Aotearoa” was using 25yr old 320 Airbus; Qantas a brand new 330.
3). We…….still……..had…….free……fucking……..RAT……..fucking…….tests given out at the airport.
4). On the way out at 6pm the food shops inside customs actually ran out of food (including McDonalds). I shit you not. Even Nadi Airport doesn’t run out of food.
5). Most of Auckland Airport resembled a construction site (you had 2 fucking years to sort this out without customers you Muppets).
Look it might not be the PM’s fault but everyone is pissed and your country’s leader needs to take the brickbats with the bouquets. It is a team effort and clearly nobody within the government nor the various bureaucracies gives 2 fucks (as long as they are collecting their pay).
The “opening” of New Zimbabwe has been another lesson in incompetency and central government has to take a large portion of the blame given they (the ministers at least) should have been over the top of this. The hilarity of this will become clearer when the Chinese refugees start pouring back into the country to escape an even worse situation in the mother ship.
Until you go out of the country you have little idea how far back we have slipped from the rest of the Western World.
THIS IS ON ARDERN AND HER GOVERNMENT.
Now Frankus, was not one Mr Baldrick “Luxury” Luxon at Air New Zealand from 2011-2019 as Group General Manager and then CEO? And has he not worked at McDonalds, even in recent times? Never mind Jacinda, get on to Christopher to sort your woes.
Fact:
A friend of mine’s father flew in from Scotland in October flying with a European based airline.
His luggage was in transit for a further 4-5 weeks because somehow it went via South America when he went via Asia!
Furthermore another friend and her daughter flew to Mexico from Auckland just before Xmas through another non-NZ carrier.
Their baggage was lost on transferring to a connecting flight and are yet to receive it.
But thats Jacinda’s fault eh Frank?…coz everything is her fault.
The reality is Frank airports and airlines are commercial entities operating in a relatively free market system. They function best when they are making exorbitant profits.
The failure of this Government and those abroad is the lack of regulation over that free market to ensure its not just profit oriented but customer and service oriented.
However, if Jacinda and her government or any other for that matter tried that one on Luxons “National” carrier, Auckland Airport or any other sector dominated by dysfunctional corporates, people like you would be spurting your vile bile about Government interference.
Grow up mate, do us all a favour and keep your opinion to yourself…just for once. It got tedious years ago!
While it is obviously not practical to use Christchurch airport if you are traveling from Australia to Auckland you will find that none of the problems you experienced in Auckland exist in Christchurch. This should be enough evidence to show that the government is not directly responsible for Auckland airport problems.
This is the emotional tide turning Martyn. I warned it would happen.
Those elected on the basis on the emotion of adulation will be removed on the emotion of revulsion.
Unless they abandon ship like Key did.
The difference, Ardern has integrity. Can’t see her teaming up with a couple of strip club owners.
The tide may well be turning but not on emotion of adulation but enough crazies out there not doing there homework but listening to our right wing media.
Air Noo Zeelunn…lets see…put highly qualified airline runner Baldrick Luxon on the job surely? Yeah, Nah he’s a wanker of the first order that never enforced a social contract by maintaining provincial flights or reasonable charges.
Get Out Of Our Lives Jacinda–Small Government now! No Nanny State! Tax Cuts for rich bastards!
oh…and Jacinda…
FIND MY SUITCASE!
Air New Zealand should have been nationalized decades ago.
It was owned 100% by the government decades ago. It has been in and out of public ownership since then. No real difference in the service to the travellers. It is not the ownership that determines how good the airline is. It is the competition from other carriers and the depth of their capital base. The current government has certainly made Air NZ pay for the injection of capital caused by Covid at rates well above the market. Though maybe not so much now.
Every time we see an egg we’re reminded of Luxon.
That’s why the gummint has banned them.
But Luxon is free range already, Te Puke to Hawaii, he has been eating well.
I thought Mike Sabin enjoyed name suppression.
I blame the smart phone, with a world of entertainment in your pocket who can blame you taking a little peak at Harry’s latest blert. When it takes more than 3 hs to move a few hundred bags from a plane hold to a trailer then remove to a conveyer belt there’s something going on. Shit if we moved so slowly at haymaking we’d still be bringing in bales from 2000.
I reckon that if Key or Luxon did exactly what Jacinda and her government did when COVID started – lockdowns; subsidies; border restrictions etc, they would be hailed as heroes – as the saviours of lives and the economy; keeping inflation lower than the rest of the world; keeping unemployment down and helping those most in need.
I wouldn’t be surprised if those who despise Jacinda, simply because she is a woman, including the creepy troglodyte who once mocked her as having protruding teeth, will start blaming her for the virus itself.
Nailed it youngsuffrajet!
Andrew would be in full cry adulation if it had been National.
Eggs aint nuthin’ Martyn!
The next shortage is (drum roll) BEER
(Thanks to shutting down Marsden Point which used to generate food grade CO2)
Homebrew doesn’t need CO2
Let them drink wine!
I’m with you there!
I’m off down to Martinborough & Hawkes Bay in May for my annual pilgrimage to stock up.
Real men ride women and drink beer!
At least that’s what Max Key said!
NZ trivia, the hard issues are too much for NZ politicians, so they fail on what they should be doing (running the country) and instead throw out money to lobbyists –
Air NZ got that near billion dollar loan for Covid while sacking their staff,
probably the battery egg farmers got a big hand out too (or are about to).
Give to the rich and guilty while ignoring the big problems like climate change, lack of skills in NZ due to rampant fiddles and increasing corruption everywhere in government/council spending that give individuals and private practise millions for next to nothing while better candidates miss out, increasing poverty and inflation/interest rates while bringing in more low and no income families to ‘help the skills shortage’.
Someone on minimum wages of $43k are unlikely to have high levels of skill, then they go on into management in councils and government and private practise and are useless! Example a guy living in India who was in charge of DHB procurement and wanted to get back to NZ but didn’t have the criteria to get back during Covid. How is someone who has no qualifications, not a NZ citizen and working for peanuts and on holiday able to do their job correctly? No wonder the DHB’s are in crisis.
Oh another person working for DHB’s from overseas who spent more time overseas than in NZ while on the job at a salary of $560,000! https://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/news/crime/serious-fraud-office-looking-into-former-waikato-dhb-boss/ The Serious Fraud Office didn’t bother to prosecute.
Not looking likely our health and roads will improve or anything else with that type of recruitment!
I was with the DHB at the time when Nigel Murray was in.charge . Appointed by an.ex National Party MP in charge of the DHB against advice from Canadian sources.
Due diligence was not done but as you say given the National government in charge at the time did not invest in health and our roads and employed Murray through one of their own, it’s hardly surprising.
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