NZ opening up - slooooooowly
 

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-02-...orld/100800682

seriously? October before non-visa holders can enter NZ. Makes McGowan look reckless

Not at all. She's set a date at least - McGowan won't even do that. Last I heard was when 80% of everyone over 12 has had their 138th booster shot, and even then he'll probably push it back further. I genuinely wonder if he'll even still be their State Daddy when the border's reopen...

McGowan is in big trouble. The tide has turned against him, his goose is well and truly cooked, basted in a petard all of his own making.
He need's to set a date and stick to it.

Meantime, a report in the Oz this morning detailing 4 out of 5 Covid positive people recently tested on the Gold Coast had no symptoms at all.
This is what we're hiding from. Amazing.

positive people recently tested on the Gold Coast had no symptoms at all. This is what we're hiding from. Amazing.

Reports from associates on site in Kiribati are that random testing there is showing the same - positive but asymptomatic.

Gne

Only thing we got to fear is fear itself .

Said by a smart person ?

Ardern looked like a scared possum at the announcement this morning.
Her reputation has taken a smashing in international media over the last 72 hours.
I'll be heading over the dutch in late March when they reduce the iso time to 7 days - but even that's unnecessary now.
And I'll sure as hell be voting blue at the next NZ election - Labour are utterly useless.

And you think that Nats/ACT are any better?

According to whom? The polls show the majority of West Australians agree with his decision; it's a vocal minority who are complaining. He certainly doesn't care a jot what people outside of WA think, and why should he?

Buzz, believe the polls if you want. I am on the ground, talking to many, many people.
The evidence is clear, and the drums are beating within the Labor party.
And whether or not he cares what folks think outside of WA is irrelevant.

He's wedged himself securely between his broken promise to re-open and his claim the health care system can cope.
A point deftly made by Scotty from marketing this morning.

He’s lost those who want the borders open, and he’ll lose those that want it kept shut, when he inevitably opens it. Political rookie. He will have very little support, and realistically, he’s got no choice.

sorry, this is supposed to be about the Kiwis

We already know that, but to answer your question, because, whether he likes it or not, WA is still part of the Federation. At least for now. As a former pusser, he should know that better than anyone. It ain't the Queensland Defence Force, or the Western Australian Defence Force is it? There's a nation and he's part of it, yet his inflammatory rhetoric is doing more harm than good to it.

Perhaps Scotty would have had the borders opened last year if he pulled everyone out of Fleet Base West & Pearce and redeployed them to the East coast...I'd imagine flogging off the land would've raised a few quid that could offset the budget deficit, even though he now appears to have changed his tune since he realised he needs those pesky WA votes to try to stay in power beyond May..

There are a variety of polls showing very different results. Just Google “WA border poll” and you will see. AMA poll of 1500 members had a slight majority for opening up. Pretty obvious there is growing concern over McGowans credibility. The media are finally putting a bit of pressure on him and his scare tactics. His misrepresentation of facts is becoming more obvious and under more scrutiny. The guy is a dullard, even admitting he had to get his teenage son to set up his Service WA app. Maybe he should get his son to run the health system.

Why would you do that when you can just read the West Australian!

At least the Nats have some people in the shadow Cabinet who actually have prior experience in running things.
The Labour cabinet are a freaking joke.
Robertson's the only one with an ounce of common sense.

I'm willing to bet the polls are a more representative cross-section of the community than your so-called "many, many people". Interestingly, you failed to mention that Morrison this morning claimed that McGowan did the right thing in delaying the state’s border reopening:
Scott Morrison’s huge call on West Australian border

Where's your evidence the drums are beating within the Labor party?

Since when do any of the state premiers act in the best interests of the Federation in preference to the perceived interests of their own state? Rightly or wrongly, none of them do. Ever.

The AMA WA is hardly a representative cross-section of the community. Nevertheless, opinions within the AMA WA were fairly evenly split. In response to the question "Do you think WA should have 'opened up' on 5 Feb", 50.5 per cent voted that WA should have opened up on 5 Feb, while 49.5 per cent voted against. Interestingly, another question in the same poll asked "Which option do you support in regard to WA opening up?". Some 51.2 per cent said that WA should set a target date in the near future, not coincident with the winter illness peak, while only 35.7 per cent said that WA should open on 5 Feb. A separate poll conducted by Painted Dog Research for The West Australian showed that 71 per cent of those polled in the community were in favour of McGowan's decision, with 29 per cent opposed.

McGowan is not the only official to have made similar comments about setting up the Service WA app. It has been widely criticised as too complicated, because for security purposes it relies on the user having a MyGovID account, something that has been problematic for a lot of people. I believe it was the Police Commissioner who first made the comment, when he said in jest that people should perhaps try asking a 16-year old to set it up, because they are generally more adept than most at using screen technology.

Good to see a NZ thread become an Australian extension of the ‘all borders to reopen’ thread.

Is that a surprise, given that you injected 'McGowan' into the first post of the thread?

as a comparison, not a subject header.

NZ could open fully, WA could open fully either way air travel demand is lower than ever. We have been sent of forced leave, multiple shifts canned as of now the airports in ML and SY are empty as.

sorry to hear that mate. By way of consolation we seem to be nearing the endgame, and McGowan and St Jacinda seem be the laggards.