Articles in ‘Opinion’

One could say that the events in the Ukraine and the reaction of Russia has removed the topic of Covid-19 from the front page or, in some instances, perhaps from page three as well. As with any matter of significance, the issue is considerably more complicated than a case of freedom and the big bad Ruskies. By way of comparison the situation is not altogether unlike that of China (the PRC) and Tibet and Taiwan. Hong Kong doesn’t feature because…

Small businesses have really done it tough over the last 18 months, with numerous lockdowns and long periods of being unable to operate. When all the outgoings have been paid, only then can the business owner take what’s left for themselves. · We are a nation of small businesses. They can be found in every sector of commerce and in every industry. They are often referred to as the ‘engine room’ of the economy, providing jobs for thousands of…

Over the last year or so, I’ve read a lot of books (or more accurately, listened to a lot of books on Audible) on the US political situation – some by partisan authors like Adam Schiff, the Democratic congressman who chairs the House Intelligence Committee and who led those who argued for the impeachment of Donald Trump over his attempt to blackmail Ukraine into helping him win the 2020 election; some by authors who might be expected to support…

Today Jacinda Ardern had her booster shot and warned us all to do the same. If I was charitable I might say that she must be unaware of figures from overseas including Denmark, the UK, Israel, and USA which call the effectiveness of the booster into question. Even the CEO of Pfizer admitted to the media this week that his shot was all but ineffective. More than this, is she also unaware that boosters carry a greatly elevated risk of adverse…

The REINZ House Price Index fell 1% in December breaking a record 20 consecutive months of house price gains. The REINZ House Price Index fell 1% in December breaking a record 20 consecutive months of house price gains. Annual house price growth reached 23.3% at the end of 2021 from a recent record high of just over 30% in August. House price growth is forecast to fall fast in 2022. Sales too dropped in December; no doubt hit by rapidly…

D-Day for vaccinating 5-11 year olds is upon us. If as a parent (or a politician) you do a google search “Is Covid vaccination of 5-11 year olds safe?” you turn up a host of articles not only assuring you that it is safe and effective, but also urging you that it is necessary. First among these are the official NZ government information web pages. If you have doubts and persist by broadening your search criteria, the same kind of reassuring…

Today I reviewed my 2021 diary and correspondence and had an aha moment. Up until September most of my exchanges and the press articles I read involved discussion and interpretation of the relative merits of published scientific papers. After that the official dialogue reported in the media subtly changed and started to assert that ‘science’ was on the side of vaccination without actually citing research papers—the merit of vaccination had…

There are lots of ways of measuring how New Zealand is doing, and none of them is perfect. We stack up very well on measures like life expectancy, unemployment, infant mortality, and car ownership. Not so well on the quality of our education system – an area where we have been going backwards in recent years, at least in comparison to other developed countries and many of the East Asian countries. · And we stack up particularly poorly in…

Yesterday morning I woke up to some unwelcome news. My best friend from university days has passed away. He was an active fit man looking forward to enjoying retirement. Early on he had a mild stroke, his heart became inflamed and the valves were damaged, unfortunately his immune system was too depleted to respond to treatment. His story is familiar in these Covid times and shared by millions, yet nevertheless a deeply personal tragedy for his…

The Port Waikato electorate spans the alert level boundary between Auckland and Waikato. This has been the battleground of the lockdown and as the elected MP I have seen at first-hand the incredible stress and anxiety the changing alert levels have placed on people. · Since the country was plunged into Alert Level 4 on 18 August, MPs across Auckland and the Waikato, and their staff in their electorate offices, have helped hundreds of people a…