thedailyblog--2020-04-28--Life in Lock Down: Day 33 & 34

Life in Lock Down: Day 33 & 34

Five more cases , only one of which has been confirmed .
And another of our fellow New Zealanders has fallen to the virus , a woman in her nineties , a resident from St Margaret ’ s Rest Home in Auckland .
Today my partner and I have discussed merging our ‘ bubbles ’ .
It will have been over four weeks since we ’ ve seen each other , aside from ‘ Zoom ‘ video-calling .
The “ catch ” is that whilst her ‘ bubble ’ is only three people – mine is significantly larger .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ her .
On the ‘ positive side of the ledger ’ , the Hutt Valley and Wellington DHBs have not recorded any further C19 infections .
As at 9am this morning ; And going back to last Thursday , still no new cases ; At today ’ s press conference with PM Ardern and Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield , there was this “ golden moment ” at 33:54 ; The expression on Dr Bloomfield ’ s face : priceless .
It was the non-verbal version of , “ What the f**k @ @ @ @ @ @ @ questioned geared to create headlines , which in turn would generate ‘ clicks ’ .
( Plus it was just plain dumb . )
Dr Bloomfield would have none of it .
The man has not spent decades of his life in the medical profession to answer gormless questions about something an orange Village Idiot , sitting in the White House , said when his walnut-sized brain was coasting in ‘ neutral ’ .
It was up to the PM to bat the inane question aside , treating it with the contempt it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ day/night of living under Level 4 .
Tomorrow , the “ ropes ” will have been loosened somewhat to allow businesses to re-open , though in a limited way , practicing social-distancing .
Though from what little I ’ ve seen of “ social distancing ” within supermarkets and road gangs , I am not filled with optimism .
The first day of Level 3 – a step closer to some semblance of ‘ normality ’ .
( Though much of what we Humans call ‘ normal ’ has ravaged the planet ; @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with greenhouses gases ; turned out oceans into a vast garbage dump ; created mass-extinctions ; and ripped the guts out of our rain forests .
Yet , so many of us yearn to return to that ‘ normality ’ … Hitting the road , I pass the Park N Ride as I do each day .
The signs are good : only four cars present – one more than usual .
Perhaps my forebodings are baseless and people will respect the necessity to stay home ?
Fat chance .
These *are* humans @ @ @ @ @ @ @ leading to SH2 , the increase in traffic is obvious .
Last week there would have been three or four cars – it ’ s way more .
Then out onto SH2 .
I start recording the commercial vehicles with my voicecorder , and given up after five minutes .
Traffic is heavy , both commercial and non-commercial .
In fact , it ’ s fairly similar to any given day at around 11am before anyone ever heard of ‘ novel coronavirus ’ or ‘ covid19 ’ .
The Melling Interchange was as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that had anchored in the harbour , within view of the motorway , had gone .
It ’ s fourteen days quarantine must have included it ’ s ocean-going time spent on the high seas .
This raises questions how freighters will deal with quarantine protocols in future .
With air travel limited , will a fourteen day mandatory quarantine for sea-going freighters be uneconomic ?
It will certainly be a long time before anyone is bold enough to step foot on a cruise-liner again .
The owners of those floating hotels/petri dishes @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
After exiting the Terrace Tunnel and queuing with other traffic at the lights ; It was “ all on ” .
If the Prime Minister was watching out the windows of her Ninth Floor office , she must have had her head in her hands , shaking it in despair .
This wasn ’ t Level 3 , 2 , or 1 .
This was pre-Level Anything .
Whatever these New Zealanders had heard on the radio , TV , or internet was completely opposite to how I understand Level 3 to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the move again , like this one that pulled up in Hataitai ; Driving along the southern coast and Lyall Bay , it suddenly struck me that bicylists were again a vulnerable minority .
The dominance of the automobile had returned .
One plucky father had two children ( 5 ?
4 ? )
on their little bikes trailing behind him on Hamilton Road , with cars zipping past .
( I braked to a crawl , to slowly over-take , probably irritating drivers behind me .
F**k ’ em . )
In @ @ @ @ @ @ @ drivers reassert their dominance on the roads , bolstered by a tonne of metal , glass , rubber , and fabric , bicyclists will come to remember the brief month that their mode of transport ruled the Ways .
It may be a tale they pass on to their grandkids… At 1PM , we get the good news : only three new cases and – thankfully – no additional fatalities .
Well , that ’ s the positive side .
The downside ?
This ; Can you spot two-metre distancing outside the Burger @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I .
Just one asymptomatic carrier of covid19… that ’ s all it takes .
Just .
One .
Person .
This scene will be repeated around the country and become more common as people become more complacent .
My drive home tonight , at about 8pm was no different .
Traffic .
Lots of it .
In fact , it seemed as if there were more vehicles on the motorway than usual at that hour of the night .
And one more thing .
There was a “ new ” acrid smell @ @ @ @ @ @ @ burning fossil fuel had returned .
In time my nostrils would become accustomed to the odour again and not register to my senses .
But I will also have lost the smell I ’ d enjoyed only up until last night – clean air .
Meanwhile , the lack of new cases in Wellington and the Hutt Valley mercifully continues ; RNZ : One new confirmed case of Covid-19 today , but one further death RNZ : Covid-19 latest update – Three new cases in NZ , no further deaths Democracy Now : @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Morgue as Spain Exceeds China in Coronavirus Deaths The Independent : Is Sweden having second thoughts on lockdown ?
The Out And Abouter : Reached For Comment , Coronavirus Says It ’ s Also Very In Favour Of Reopening The Economy Immediately Will New Zealand Be Right ?
The Warehouse – where everyone gets a virus Life in Lock Down : Day 22 – Is that a light at the end of a four week long tunnel ?
!
Life in Lock Down : Day 27 – and it ’ s been a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Day 28 – An Open Letter to Prime Minister Ardern This blogpost will be re-published on “ Frankly Speaking “ .
Reader ’ s comments may be left here ( The Daily Blog ) or there ( Frankly Speaking ) .

.
.
April 27: Day 33 of living in lock-down…
Five more cases, only one of which has been confirmed. And another of our fellow New Zealanders has fallen to the virus, a woman in her nineties, a resident from St Margaret’s Rest Home in Auckland.
Today my partner and I have discussed merging our ‘bubbles’. It will have been over four weeks since we’ve seen each other, aside from ‘Zoom‘ video-calling.
The “catch” is that whilst her ‘bubble’ is only three people – mine is significantly larger. The risk from me is greater than from her.
On the ‘positive side of the ledger’, the Hutt Valley and Wellington DHBs have not recorded any further C19 infections. As at 9am this morning;
TDB Recommends NewzEngine.com
.
.
And going back to last Thursday, still no new cases;
.
.
At today’s press conference with PM Ardern and Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield, there was this “golden moment” at 33:54;
.
[alt.link]
.
The expression on Dr Bloomfield’s face: priceless. It was the non-verbal version of, “What the f**k?!”
It was obviously a questioned geared to create headlines, which in turn would generate ‘clicks’. (Plus it was just plain dumb.) Dr Bloomfield would have none of it. The man has not spent decades of his life in the medical profession to answer gormless questions about something an orange Village Idiot, sitting in the White House, said when his walnut-sized brain was coasting in ‘neutral’.
It was up to the PM to bat the inane question aside, treating it with the contempt it deserved.
Tonight will be the last day/night of living under Level 4. Tomorrow, the “ropes” will have been loosened somewhat to allow businesses to re-open, though in a limited way, practicing social-distancing.
Though from what little I’ve seen of “social distancing” within supermarkets and road gangs, I am not filled with optimism.
.
Current covid19 cases: 1,469
Cases in ICU: 1
Number of deaths: 19
.
April 28: Day 1 of Level 3…
The first day of Level 3 – a step closer to some semblance of ‘normality’. (Though much of what we Humans call ‘normal’ has ravaged the planet; consumed our resources; filled the atmosphere with greenhouses gases; turned out oceans into a vast garbage dump; created mass-extinctions; and ripped the guts out of our rain forests. Yet, so many of us yearn to return to that ‘normality’…
Hitting the road, I pass the Park N Ride as I do each day. The signs are good: only four cars present – one more than usual.
.
.
Perhaps my forebodings are baseless and people will respect the necessity to stay home?
Fat chance. These *are* humans, after all.
On the roads leading to SH2, the increase in traffic is obvious. Last week there would have been three or four cars – it’s way more.
Then out onto SH2. I start recording the commercial vehicles with my voicecorder, and given up after five minutes. Traffic is heavy, both commercial and non-commercial. In fact, it’s fairly similar to any given day at around 11am before anyone ever heard of ‘novel coronavirus’ or ‘covid19’. The Melling Interchange was as busy as ever;
.
.
The red ship that had anchored in the harbour, within view of the motorway, had gone. It’s fourteen days quarantine must have included it’s ocean-going time spent on the high seas.
This raises questions how freighters will deal with quarantine protocols in future. With air travel limited, will a fourteen day mandatory quarantine for sea-going freighters be uneconomic? It will certainly be a long time before anyone is bold enough to step foot on a cruise-liner again. The owners of those floating hotels/petri dishes couldn’t give those tickets away.
After exiting the Terrace Tunnel and queuing with other traffic at the lights;
.
.
It was “all on”. If the Prime Minister was watching out the windows of her Ninth Floor office, she must have had her head in her hands, shaking it in despair.
This wasn’t Level 3, 2, or 1. This was pre-Level Anything. Whatever these New Zealanders had heard on the radio, TV, or internet was completely opposite to how I understand Level 3 to operate.
Even the motorhomes were on the move again, like this one that pulled up in Hataitai;
.
.
Driving along the southern coast and Lyall Bay, it suddenly struck me that bicylists were again a vulnerable minority. The dominance of the automobile had returned.
One plucky father had two children (5? 4?) on their little bikes trailing behind him on Hamilton Road, with cars zipping past. (I braked to a crawl, to slowly over-take, probably irritating drivers behind me. F**k’em.)
In the days to come, as car drivers reassert their dominance on the roads, bolstered by a tonne of metal, glass, rubber, and fabric, bicyclists will come to remember the brief month that their mode of transport ruled the Ways. It may be a tale they pass on to their grandkids…
At 1PM, we get the good news: only three new cases and – thankfully – no additional fatalities. Well, that’s the positive side. The downside? This;
.
.
Can you spot two-metre distancing outside the Burger Fuel outlet? No, neither can I.
Just one asymptomatic carrier of covid19… that’s all it takes. Just. One. Person.
This scene will be repeated around the country and become more common as people become more complacent.
Cue sequel: The Virus Strikes Back.
My drive home tonight, at about 8pm was no different. Traffic. Lots of it. In fact, it seemed as if there were more vehicles on the motorway than usual at that hour of the night.
And one more thing.
The smell.
There was a “new” acrid smell in the air. The smell of burning fossil fuel had returned. In time my nostrils would become accustomed to the odour again and not register to my senses.
But I will also have lost the smell I’d enjoyed only up until last night – clean air.
Postscript
Meanwhile, the lack of new cases in Wellington and the Hutt Valley mercifully continues;
.
.
Current covid19 cases: 1,472
Cases in ICU: 1
Number of deaths: 19
.
.
.
.
References
Day 33
Ministry of Health: Covid-19 – current cases – 27 April 2020
Ministry of Health: Covid-19 – current cases – 23 April 2020 (via Wayback Machine)
Youtube: Ministry of Health update on Covid-19 – April 27
RNZ: One new confirmed case of Covid-19 today, but one further death
Day 34
Twitter: Richard Hills – Burger Fuel – covid19 – queue -28.4.20
Ministry of Health: Covid-19 – current cases – 28 April 2020
RNZ: Covid-19 latest update – Three new cases in NZ, no further deaths
Must Read
Democracy Now: Madrid’s Ice Rink Turned to Morgue as Spain Exceeds China in Coronavirus Deaths
The Independent: Is Sweden having second thoughts on lockdown?
The Out And Abouter: Reached For Comment, Coronavirus Says It’s Also Very In Favour Of Reopening The Economy Immediately
Elemental: Hold the Line
Other Blogs
Will New Zealand Be Right?
Resources
Johns Hopkins University: Coronavirus Resource Center
Ministry of Health: Covid-19 – current cases
Previous related blogposts
The Warehouse – where everyone gets a virus
Life in Lock Down: Day 1
Life in Lock Down: Day 2
Life in Lock Down: Day 3
Life in Lock Down: Day 4
Life in Lock Down: Day 5
Life in Lock Down: Day 6
Life in Lock Down: Day 7
Life in Lock Down: Day 7 (sanitised version)
Life in Lock Down: Day 8
Life in Lock Down: Day 8 (sanitised version)
Life in Lock Down: Day 9
Life in Lock Down: Day 10
Life in Lock Down: Day 11
Life in Lock Down: Day 12
Life in Lock Down: Day 13
Life in Lock Down: Day 14
Life in Lock Down: Day 15
Life in Lock Down: Day 16 – Bad Friday
Life in Lock Down: Day 17
Life in Lock Down: Day 18
Life in Lock Down: Day 19
Life in Lock Down: Day 20
Life in Lock Down: Day 21
Life in Lock Down: Day 22 – Is that a light at the end of a four week long tunnel?!
Life in Lock Down: Day 23
Life in Lock Down: Day 24 & 25
Life in Lock Down: Day 27 – and it’s been a shit day
Life in Lock Down: Day 28 – An Open Letter to Prime Minister Ardern
Life in Lock Down: Day 29 & 30
Life in Lock Down: Day 31 & 32
.
.
Acknowledgement: Rod Emmerson
.
This blogpost will be re-published on “Frankly Speaking“. Reader’s comments may be left here (The Daily Blog) or there (Frankly Speaking).
.
= fs =


thedailyblog--2020-04-29--Life in Lock Down: Day 2 of Level 3

Life in Lock Down: Day 2 of Level 3

It really was a good day today .
Two new cases ( ok , one confirmed , one probable ) and no – zero !
none !
– deaths !
!
The two cases is a fall from yesterday ’ s three , and the previous day ’ s five .
It ’ s like a tantalisingly slow count-down , but with each number dropping day by day .
If those clowns at fast-food takeaways ( and other workplaces , but we ’ ll get to that in a moment ) don ’ t spread the virus , it will @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the little bugger .
Interestingly , there are only three cars parked at the local Park ’ n ’ Ride carpark .
Unusual because the roads continue to be full of commercial and non-commercial traffic ; The commercial traffic is heavy .
Building sites are a hive of activity .
At one site , I counted three concrete mixer-trucks parked on the roadside .
It ’ s difficult to believe Treasury forecasts that GDP will contract with all the activity in evidence .
On the motorway I glance to my left ; a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rail line between Melling and Petone .
There are about a dozen men in their ubiquitous hi-viz orange gear .
None of them are even close to being two metres apart from each other .
It ’ s a bright , sunny autumn day .
There ’ s a noticeable chill as a weak sunshine tries vainly to warm the air .
This may be a saving grace for us all .
Oriental Bay ’ s two beaches are mostly deserted except for a few souls willing to endure the brisk temperatures to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at Oriental Bay Parade , another gang of workers – this time on road-works ; Not only were they not two metres apart , I ’ d doubt if there was even a metre between them .
So never mind groups of fast-foodies at burger joints getting close up together and potentially sharing their micro-organisms – what is it with males in physical occupations that closes down their minds to the concept of social distancing ?
Do they think they are immune to viruses , protected by their hi-viz orange gear ?
Oh @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Like green kryptonite to Superman , does covid19 shy away from the colour orange ?
No wonder Trump is still unaffected .
Further along Oriental Parade , as it approaches the bend where it becomes Evans Bay Parade , the ultimate sign in return to normality awaited : road works with lolly-pop signs and queues of traffic ; Five weeks of minimal-to-non-existent road works had come to an end .
Meanwhile , NZ First Leader , Winston Peters , had kicked off his party ’ s de facto election campaign by disclosing Ministry @ @ @ @ @ @ @ should ’ ve been closed to returning New Zealanders so as to prevent the incursion of covid19 .
But compare the headline on Collette Devlin ’ s article with the headline on the Stuff Politics directory-page ; The article ’ s headline refers to Health MINISTRY .
The politics directory-page ; Health MINISTER .
Big difference .
( Hat tip : @ nealejones ) Either that was a bit of sloppy work by a Stuff staffer ( try saying “ Stuff staffer ” quickly , repeatedly ! )
– or a bit of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ tonight , more traffic on the road .
Not as busy as last night.. though… road works were in more evidence on SH2 .
Only two days , and I ’ m already yearning for the Good Old Days of Level 4 lock-down .
Bloomberg : New Zealand Economy Gets Back to Work as Lockdown Is Eased Fairfax/Stuff : Coronavirus – Winston Peters says Health Ministry wanted to close borders to Kiwis RNZ : Two new cases of Covid-19 reported in New Zealand Democracy Now : Madrid ’ s Ice Rink Turned to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Deaths The Independent : Is Sweden having second thoughts on lockdown ?
The Out And Abouter : Reached For Comment , Coronavirus Says It ’ s Also Very In Favour Of Reopening The Economy Immediately Will New Zealand Be Right ?
The Warehouse – where everyone gets a virus Life in Lock Down : Day 22 – Is that a light at the end of a four week long tunnel ?
!
Life in Lock Down : Day 27 – and it ’ s been a shit day Life in Lock Down : @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Prime Minister Ardern This blogpost will be re-published on “ Frankly Speaking “ .
Reader ’ s comments may be left here ( The Daily Blog ) or there ( Frankly Speaking ) .

.
.
April 29: Day 2 of Level 3…
It really was a good day today. Two new cases (ok, one confirmed, one probable) and no – zero! none! – deaths!!
The two cases is a fall from yesterday’s three, and the previous day’s five. It’s like a tantalisingly slow count-down, but with each number dropping day by day.
If those clowns at fast-food takeaways (and other workplaces, but we’ll get to that in a moment) don’t spread the virus, it will be our good fortune to have beaten the little bugger.
Interestingly, there are only three cars parked at the local Park’n’Ride carpark. Unusual because the roads continue to be full of commercial and non-commercial traffic;
TDB Recommends NewzEngine.com
.
.
The commercial traffic is heavy. Building sites are a hive of activity. At one site, I counted three concrete mixer-trucks parked on the roadside. It’s difficult to believe Treasury forecasts that GDP will contract with all the activity in evidence.
On the motorway I glance to my left; a gang of workers are busy on the rail line between Melling and Petone. There are about a dozen men in their ubiquitous hi-viz orange gear. None of them are even close to being two metres apart from each other.
It’s a bright, sunny autumn day. There’s a noticeable chill as a weak sunshine tries vainly to warm the air. This may be a saving grace for us all.
Oriental Bay’s two beaches are mostly deserted except for a few souls willing to endure the brisk temperatures to sit on a luke-warm sand;
.
.
Also at Oriental Bay Parade, another gang of workers – this time on road-works;
.
.
Social distancing? Hah! Real Men don’t social distance!!
Not only were they not two metres apart, I’d doubt if there was even a metre between them.
So never mind groups of fast-foodies at burger joints getting close up together and potentially sharing their micro-organisms – what is it with males in physical occupations that closes down their minds to the concept of social distancing? Do they think they are immune to viruses, protected by their hi-viz orange gear?
Oh if only it were that simple. Like green kryptonite to Superman, does covid19 shy away from the colour orange? No wonder Trump is still unaffected.
Further along Oriental Parade, as it approaches the bend where it becomes Evans Bay Parade, the ultimate sign in return to normality awaited: road works with lolly-pop signs and queues of traffic;
.
.
Five weeks of minimal-to-non-existent road works had come to an end.
Meanwhile, NZ First Leader, Winston Peters, had kicked off his party’s de facto election campaign by disclosing Ministry of Health advice that Aotearoa New Zealand should’ve been closed to returning New Zealanders so as to prevent the incursion of covid19.
The headline;
.
.
But compare the headline on Collette Devlin’s article with the headline on the Stuff Politics directory-page;
.
.
The article’s headline refers to Health MINISTRY. The politics directory-page; Health MINISTER. Big difference. (Hat tip: @nealejones) Either that was a bit of sloppy work by a Stuff staffer (try saying “Stuff staffer” quickly, repeatedly!) – or a bit of juvenile mischief-making.
On the way home tonight, more traffic on the road. Not as busy as last night.. though… road works were in more evidence on SH2.
Only two days, and I’m already yearning for the Good Old Days of Level 4 lock-down.
.
Current covid19 cases: 1,474
Cases in ICU: nil
Number of deaths: 19
.
.
.
.
References
Bloomberg: New Zealand Economy Gets Back to Work as Lockdown Is Eased
Fairfax/Stuff: Coronavirus – Winston Peters says Health Ministry wanted to close borders to Kiwis
Fairfax/Stuff: Politics Page
RNZ: Two new cases of Covid-19 reported in New Zealand
Must Read
Democracy Now: Madrid’s Ice Rink Turned to Morgue as Spain Exceeds China in Coronavirus Deaths
The Independent: Is Sweden having second thoughts on lockdown?
The Out And Abouter: Reached For Comment, Coronavirus Says It’s Also Very In Favour Of Reopening The Economy Immediately
Elemental: Hold the Line
Other Blogs
Will New Zealand Be Right?
Resources
Johns Hopkins University: Coronavirus Resource Center
Ministry of Health: Covid-19 – current cases
Previous related blogposts
The Warehouse – where everyone gets a virus
Life in Lock Down: Day 1
Life in Lock Down: Day 2
Life in Lock Down: Day 3
Life in Lock Down: Day 4
Life in Lock Down: Day 5
Life in Lock Down: Day 6
Life in Lock Down: Day 7
Life in Lock Down: Day 7 (sanitised version)
Life in Lock Down: Day 8
Life in Lock Down: Day 8 (sanitised version)
Life in Lock Down: Day 9
Life in Lock Down: Day 10
Life in Lock Down: Day 11
Life in Lock Down: Day 12
Life in Lock Down: Day 13
Life in Lock Down: Day 14
Life in Lock Down: Day 15
Life in Lock Down: Day 16 – Bad Friday
Life in Lock Down: Day 17
Life in Lock Down: Day 18
Life in Lock Down: Day 19
Life in Lock Down: Day 20
Life in Lock Down: Day 21
Life in Lock Down: Day 22 – Is that a light at the end of a four week long tunnel?!
Life in Lock Down: Day 23
Life in Lock Down: Day 24 & 25
Life in Lock Down: Day 27 – and it’s been a shit day
Life in Lock Down: Day 28 – An Open Letter to Prime Minister Ardern
Life in Lock Down: Day 29 & 30
Life in Lock Down: Day 31 & 32
Life in Lock Down: Day 33 & 34
.
.
Acknowledgement: Rod Emmerson
.
This blogpost will be re-published on “Frankly Speaking“. Reader’s comments may be left here (The Daily Blog) or there (Frankly Speaking).
.
= fs =


thedailyblog--2020-04-30--The List Candidate: Winston Peters and the Looming Covid-19 Depression.

WHY IS IT , that of all the party leaders only Winston Peters fully understands the economic ramifications of the Covid-19 Pandemic ?
Perhaps it ’ s his age .
That might sound snarky , but it isn ’ t .
None of the other party leaders are old enough to possess a solid mental picture of what New Zealand was like before the Neoliberal Revolution of 1984-1993 .
Just do the maths .
Jacinda was born in 1980 – which makes her 4-years-old in 1984 .
Simon Bridges , born in 1976 , was 8 .
James Shaw and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , were 11 .
The Act leader , David Seymour , born in 1983 , was hardly out of nappies !
Now , consider Winston Peters .
He was born in 1945 , just as the Second World War was drawing to a close .
He grew to adulthood in the “ golden years ” of the post-war boom , nurtured by the political , economic and social infrastructure of Mickey Savage ’ s cradle-to-grave welfare state .
In 1984 , as Labour set about dismantling this crowning political achievement of the New @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The eldest of the other party leaders , Shaw and Davidson , will possess only the haziest memories of pre-Rogernomics New Zealand .
What I remember of New Zealand in 1967 , when I was 11-years-old , is made up mostly of family events , popular songs , movies and television programmes .
As far as political memories go , I struggle to recall any names beyond Keith Holyoake , Harold Wilson and President Johnson .
I had only the vaguest notion of what capitalism was , but I was pretty sure @ @ @ @ @ @ @ bad thing .
Now , it ’ s entirely possible that the Green Party co-leaders were much more politically aware than I was at the age of 11 , but it ’ s much more likely that they , like me , were far too busy being children .
Five years on , however , in 1972 , my political memories are much more vivid .
I shall certainly never forget that Saturday evening in November when for the first time in 12 years there was change of government .
There had been @ @ @ @ @ @ @ but I was no older in 1957 than David Seymour was in 1984 .
For me , “ Big Norm ” was a political phenomenon : a breaker of moulds ; a man who made it possible to believe in a better world ; my hero .
What would Shaw ’ s and Davidson ’ s memories of 1989 have been ?
Of a riven Labour Party tearing itself to pieces over “ Rogernomics ” ?
Of a National Party , circling like a flock of vultures over the bloody entrails of a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of a world they ’ d never really known being dismantled before their eyes ?
Of its replacement being full of sharp edges and dangerous spikes : a world that promised winners everything and losers nothing ?
Did they celebrate their sixteenth birthdays dreaming about building a better world , or wondering how to navigate their way through such a shitty one ?
A world where walls came down ; students were shot down ; heroes fell down ; and history itself was said to be winding down .
Winston Peters , meanwhile @ @ @ @ @ @ @ what his country looked like before Rogernomics and after “ Ruthanasia ” .
He and the National Party had been elected on a “ no ifs , no buts , no maybes ” promise to restore “ the decent society ” .
What was that ?
For Peters it was a society that allowed a dirt-poor cow-cockey ’ s son from Northland to become a pin-striped lawyer in a double-breasted suit .
It was a society that offered work to all who wanted it – and felt only disdain for those who didn @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that knew better than to leave the rich in charge of an economy .
A society smart enough to know that in such a small country only the state was big enough to guarantee both prosperity and fairness .
Most importantly , Peters had lived long enough to know that what New Zealanders had done once they could do again .
That economic change is the product not simply of improved technology but of political choice .
A whole generation before Columbus set foot on the islands of the Caribbean , the Chinese @ @ @ @ @ @ @ way to East Africa .
They had the technology to become the masters of the planet , but not the political will .
The great sailing junks ended up rotting at their moorings .
Voyages beyond the horizon were forbidden .
Europeans conquered the world .
Peters loves these historical counterfactuals .
He revels in knowing who Friedrich List ( 1789-1846 ) was and how his “ national system ” of economics transformed Germany into an industrial behemoth second only to the United States .
He would write articles lamenting the fact that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Korea were full of List ’ s economic nationalist ideas , most Kiwi students have never heard of him – let alone been taught about his kind of economics .
Certainly , it ’ s a pretty safe bet that Jacinda , Simon , James , Marama and David could not tell you very much at all about List and the state-led capitalism which he championed and which has , historically , always outperformed the laissez-faire variety so beloved of the English-speaking capitalist countries .
Not that their ignorance of economic nationalism worries @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the world that existed before the triumph of Neoliberalism , they find it difficult to imagine that countries and economies could possibly be run successfully according to principles not sanctioned by their Treasury advisors .
The other party leaders may snigger at Peters now , but when the unemployment rate is climbing steadily towards 15 percent , and a third of New Zealand ’ s small businesses have shut down , there will be much less to snigger at .
When Neoliberalism ’ s failure can no longer be hidden – even @ @ @ @ @ @ @ knowing nothing else – the man who has lived long enough to know that his alternative economic model works will be the man to know .
And , when all the votes have been counted , he will still be the man who decides which of all those young leaders , born in the 1970s and 80s , becomes New Zealand ’ s next prime minister .

WHY IS IT, that of all the party leaders only Winston Peters fully understands the economic ramifications of the Covid-19 Pandemic? Perhaps it’s his age. That might sound snarky, but it isn’t. None of the other party leaders are old enough to possess a solid mental picture of what New Zealand was like before the Neoliberal Revolution of 1984-1993.
Just do the maths. Jacinda was born in 1980 – which makes her 4-years-old in 1984. Simon Bridges, born in 1976, was 8. James Shaw and Marama Davidson, both born in 1973, were 11. The Act leader, David Seymour, born in 1983, was hardly out of nappies!
Now, consider Winston Peters. He was born in 1945, just as the Second World War was drawing to a close. He grew to adulthood in the “golden years” of the post-war boom, nurtured by the political, economic and social infrastructure of Mickey Savage’s cradle-to-grave welfare state. In 1984, as Labour set about dismantling this crowning political achievement of the New Zealand working-class, Peters was already 39-years-old.
The eldest of the other party leaders, Shaw and Davidson, will possess only the haziest memories of pre-Rogernomics New Zealand. What I remember of New Zealand in 1967, when I was 11-years-old, is made up mostly of family events, popular songs, movies and television programmes. As far as political memories go, I struggle to recall any names beyond Keith Holyoake, Harold Wilson and President Johnson. I had only the vaguest notion of what capitalism was, but I was pretty sure that “communism” was a very bad thing. Now, it’s entirely possible that the Green Party co-leaders were much more politically aware than I was at the age of 11, but it’s much more likely that they, like me, were far too busy being children.
Five years on, however, in 1972, my political memories are much more vivid. I shall certainly never forget that Saturday evening in November when for the first time in 12 years there was change of government. There had been a Labour government in my lifetime, but I was no older in 1957 than David Seymour was in 1984. For me, “Big Norm” was a political phenomenon: a breaker of moulds; a man who made it possible to believe in a better world; my hero.
What would Shaw’s and Davidson’s memories of 1989 have been? Of a riven Labour Party tearing itself to pieces over “Rogernomics”? Of a National Party, circling like a flock of vultures over the bloody entrails of a discredited government? Of the unsettling sense of a world they’d never really known being dismantled before their eyes? Of its replacement being full of sharp edges and dangerous spikes: a world that promised winners everything and losers nothing? Did they celebrate their sixteenth birthdays dreaming about building a better world, or wondering how to navigate their way through such a shitty one? A world where walls came down; students were shot down; heroes fell down; and history itself was said to be winding down.
Winston Peters, meanwhile, possessed a very clear picture of what his country looked like before Rogernomics and after “Ruthanasia”. He and the National Party had been elected on a “no ifs, no buts, no maybes” promise to restore “the decent society”. What was that? For Peters it was a society that allowed a dirt-poor cow-cockey’s son from Northland to become a pin-striped lawyer in a double-breasted suit. It was a society that offered work to all who wanted it – and felt only disdain for those who didn’t. It was a society that knew better than to leave the rich in charge of an economy. A society smart enough to know that in such a small country only the state was big enough to guarantee both prosperity and fairness.
Most importantly, Peters had lived long enough to know that what New Zealanders had done once they could do again. That economic change is the product not simply of improved technology but of political choice.
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A whole generation before Columbus set foot on the islands of the Caribbean, the Chinese were sailing 600-foot ocean-going junks all the way to East Africa. They had the technology to become the masters of the planet, but not the political will. The great sailing junks ended up rotting at their moorings. Voyages beyond the horizon were forbidden. Europeans conquered the world.
Peters loves these historical counterfactuals. He revels in knowing who Friedrich List (1789-1846) was and how his “national system” of economics transformed Germany into an industrial behemoth second only to the United States. He would write articles lamenting the fact that while the university book stores of South Korea were full of List’s economic nationalist ideas, most Kiwi students have never heard of him – let alone been taught about his kind of economics.
Friedrich List (1789-1846) Economic Nationalist.
Certainly, it’s a pretty safe bet that Jacinda, Simon, James, Marama and David could not tell you very much at all about List and the state-led capitalism which he championed and which has, historically, always outperformed the laissez-faire variety so beloved of the English-speaking capitalist countries. Not that their ignorance of economic nationalism worries them unduly. Having no clear memory of the world that existed before the triumph of Neoliberalism, they find it difficult to imagine that countries and economies could possibly be run successfully according to principles not sanctioned by their Treasury advisors.
The other party leaders may snigger at Peters now, but when the unemployment rate is climbing steadily towards 15 percent, and a third of New Zealand’s small businesses have shut down, there will be much less to snigger at. When Neoliberalism’s failure can no longer be hidden – even from those politicians who have grown up knowing nothing else – the man who has lived long enough to know that his alternative economic model works will be the man to know. And, when all the votes have been counted, he will still be the man who decides which of all those young leaders, born in the 1970s and 80s, becomes New Zealand’s next prime minister.


thedailyblog--2020-05-02--Glaringly obvious but ignored purpose of Israeli settlements

On 20 April , Netanyahu and his political rival , Benny Gantz , reached an agreement to annex parts of the West Bank , including illegal settlements , that paves the way for a unity government , following months of election stalemate in Israel .
On 22 April , the US Secretary of State , Mike Pompeo , declaring that the matter is not something for Washington to interfere with , commented further at a press conference : “ That ’ s an Israeli decision , but we ’ ll work closely with them to share our views of this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ideology ’ s influence on US foreign policy is absolute .
Since Israel ’ s creation in 1948 , Washington has provided the Zionist state with around US $ 142.3 billion in direct aid .
Right now , Israel is receiving US $ 3.8 billion per annum , not only guaranteed for ten years but alsosupplemented by tax concessions and other giveaways .
A large amount of this aid goes in support of Israel ‘ s illegalsettlements on Palestinianland .
No other country in the world has ever received anything like such beneficence @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Trump ’ s ‘ Peace to Prosperity ‘ proposal , announced earlier this year , grants Israel permission not just toannex its settlements in the West Bank but to grab the whole of the Jordan Valley as well .
Should that eventuate , the Zionist state would then completely encircle any so-called Palestinian ‘ state ‘ that might eventually be allowed by it.Outside of the US , support for the Zionist cause is more nuanced .
In a statement to the Security Council briefing on the Middle East Peace Process held on 23 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Britain would regard any unilateral moves towards annexation as “ contrary to international law.
” The UN Middle East Envoy , Nickolay Mladenov , also remindedthe UN Security Council that annexation would also “ constitute a serious violation of international law .
.
.
” The European Union and several European states , including Germany , France and the United Kingdom , reiterated their opposition to annexation .
Before the meeting at the United Nations Security Council , the EU ’ s foreign policy chief , Josep Borrell , wrote : “ The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the occupied West Bank.
” Yet while illegal settlements on stolen land remain unchallenged , these world powers speak only against their expansion .
What should be obvious What else did world leaders believe the ultimate purpose of Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian West Bank to be , other than annexation ?
The implacably ruthless territorial ambition of the Zionist enterprise has , throughout its history , been its essential identifier .
From the outset , the claim that Jews have a ‘ right ’ to Palestine lacked both credibility and justification @ @ @ @ @ @ @ century , the Zionist movement sought , and stillstrive , to reverse the reality of close on 2000 years of migration and religious evolution .
During the Crusades , for example , the Islamic and Christian religions were already , by far , the majority faiths inPalestine .
By the twentieth century , three years before the 1917 Balfour Declaration , Ottoman records showed a Palestinian population of 657,000 Muslims and 81,000 Christians , along with a Jewish minority of 59,000 thatrepresented less than 10 % of the population .
( McCarthy , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Population History and Statistics of the Late Ottoman Period and the Mandate .
New York : Columbia University Press , 1990 ) .
In 1922 , theBritish Mandate of Palestine carried out its first census in Palestine , which reported a total population of 757,182 .
Of the various religious groups in Palestine at that time , just over 12 % were Jewih .
Even after the Jewish immigration that followed the Balfour Declaration and later , the Nazi Holocaust , British Mandate statistics of 1947 recorded the total Jewish population as just @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the 16 sub-districts having a Jewish majority ( see Palestinian Jewish population , as of 1947 per district , prepared by the British Mandate to the United Nations ) .
Although , in public , Zionists hold the UN Partition Plan as a justification for what they have done in Palestine , they never actually saw it as anything other than a stepping-stone to their true objective .
The Zionists want the world to believe that it was Israel that was attacked following its May 1948 Declaration of Independence but the truth @ @ @ @ @ @ @ they were already on the attack and had driven 300,000 Palestinians into exile .
In the months before Israel was etablished , the Zionists had seized land beyond the proposed Jewish State .
In May 1948 , with extreme terrorism , Zionist forces had already seized areas beyond that afforded in the UN Partition Plan and today Israel even claims Jerusalem as its ‘ undivided capital ‘ .
The ugly reality is undeniable , the Zionist State of Israel was created , and continues to grow , at the expense of the indigenous @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for Palestinian human rights , Jewish Voice for Peace , has published a letter written by ( later to become Israel ’ s first Prime Minister ) David Ben-Gurion to his son .
Written on 5 October 1937 , it can be seen in full on the Jewish Voice for Peace website .
The missive , written in Hebrew , was translated into English by the Institute of Palestine Studies , Beirut .
Zionism ’ s cold self-obsession is clear in the advice Ben-Gurion gives his son : “ The only thing that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ we want and what is best for us , what will lead to the objective.
” That the ideology saw Partition of Palestine as nothing other than a stepping-stone to its true objective is borne out in the following extract : “ Of course the partition of the country gives me no pleasure .
But in this proposed partition we will get more than what we already have , though of course much less than we merit and desire.
” Because he and his fellow Zionists already regarded the land as ‘ our @ @ @ @ @ @ @ undeniably expressed further on : “ What we really want is not that the land remain whole and unified .
What we want is that the whole and unified land be Jewish.
” The Zionist strategy was , and remains , to gradually expand across Palestine , step by incremental step and he sets it out thus : “ My assumption ( which is why I am a fervent proponent of a state , even though it is now linked to partition ) is that a Jewish state on only part of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ beginning.
” Ben-Gurion repeatedly returns to the championing of this Zionist strategy : “ The establishment of a state , even if only on a portion of the land , is the maximal reinforcement of our strength at the present time and a powerful boost to our historical endeavours to liberate the entire country.
” Here , Zionism ’ s inherent racism leaps clearly into view when he describes the seizure of Palestine from its indigenous population as liberation !
Ben-Gurion anticipated his ideology ’ s merciless future employment of terrorism which would @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he called “ a superior army ” .
In turn , this army proved to be nothing more than a uniformed form of terrorism .
He expressed this as follows : “ We shall organise an advanced defence force — a superior army which I have no doubt will be one of the best armies in the world .
At that point I am confident that we would not fail in settling in the remaining parts of the country , through agreement and understanding with our Arab neighbours , or through some other @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” , here envisaged by Israel ’ s first Prime Minister , was to be achieved through racist violence : “ The greater the Jewish strength in the country , the more the Arabs will realise that it is neither beneficial nor possible for them to withstand us.
” European Zionism was born in a time of imperialism and assumed superiority of race .
The ideology absorbed this view of an imposed world order that is affirmed so clearly here by Ben-Gurion : “ Palestine is grossly under populated .
It contains vast @ @ @ @ @ @ @ nor are qualified ( because of their lack of need ) to exploit.
” The Israeli Occupation , the annexation Wall it has constructed along and within the West Bank , together with its land , sea and air blockades in the Gaza Strip , have placed severe limitations on the Palestinian economy .
The baffling web of checkpoints and sudden roadblocks restrict Palestinian movement with crippling effect on the economy .
Farmers find their land trapped behind the annexation Wall and must seek so-called ‘ visitor permits ’ which , predictably , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , a World Bank report on the Palestinian economy showed a quarter of the labour force unemployed and 24 % of the Palestinian population living below the poverty level .
Belligerent military Occupation has enabled Israel to swallow up and dominate the Palestinian economy to ensure that its own products havefree access to the Palestinian market , while denying most Palestinian goods access to the Israeli market .
By 1984 , Israeli products already made up 89.3 % of West Bank imports .
An article in the Los Angeles Times entitled World Bank @ @ @ @ @ @ @ described how , as far back as 2013 , more than half of West Bank land was largely off-limits to Palestinians .
So far this year , up to and including 27 April , there have been over 500 Israeli Gaza ceasefire violations , with almost 60 retaliatory Palestinian responses .
From 14-27 April inclusive , 49 Israeli Gaza ceasefire violations ( including four incursions ) failed to provoke any Palestinian response .
Over the same 14 days , Israeli Occupation settlers in the West Bank invaded four Palestinian olive groves and destroyed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ also assaulted and beat up several Palestinian pastoralists , attacked and hospitalised a Palestinian refugee and , after invading farmland , terrorised Palestinian farmers and forced them away from it .
The same thing also occurred elsewhere with directIsraeli Army complicity .
After an armed settler had terrorised Palestinian COVID-19 control staff , Israeli police closed a Palestinian Coronavirus testing clinic and Israeli forces assaulted Palestinian Covid-19 emergency workers .
Israeli soldiers also shot and wounded a 15-year-old boy , seized and terrorised two other children , stole a farmer ’ s tractor @ @ @ @ @ @ @ beat up and hospitalised a Palestinian villager and ordered the destruction of Palestinian farm buildings , as well as three wells used for irrigation .
Historic Palestine Solidarity Campaign victory in support of BDS The world is by no means helpless when it comes to challenging the complicity with Israel demonstrated by some Western Powers .
On 28 April , in the UK , the Palestine Solidarity Campaign ( PSC ) was delighted to announce a great victory in defence of the right of people in the UK to support Palestinian human rights @ @ @ @ @ @ @ its allies have been battling to delegitimise Palestinian rights activism and criminalise the Boycott Divestment and Sanctions ( BDS ) movement .
This significant legal victory over the Westminster government has been achieved with support , not only from the Quakers , Campaign Against Arms Trade and War on Want but also via small donations from thousands of individual supporters .
In short , The Supreme Court ruled that the UK Government ’ s current ban on ethical pensions divestment is unlawful .
Since 2017 , the PSC has been fighting to defeat @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from companies complicit in Israel ’ s oppression of the Palestinian people , and additionally from divesting from the UK defence industry ” .
Initially , it won in the High Court but then lost in the Court of Appeal and , refusing to give up , gained victory in the Supreme Court !
The Zionists will not easily give up trying to influence governments to get their way .
In October last year the Queen ’ s Speech outlined the Boris Johnson government ’ s intention to bring in further anti-BDS legislation @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rights for all Zionism could never have achieved its goal without the support of powerful allies , able to dictate global foreign policy .
The denial of the Palestinian right to self-determination following the Allied World War One victory has led to more than a century of mounting injustice and human misery .
The UN Partition Plan opened the door for Zionism but Palestinian rights were curtailed and have all but been dispensed with .
The conditions of life that Palestinians must endlessly endure have been brought about deliberately ; the inevitable price @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , racist ideology .
The splitting apart of Palestine has now rendered the deceptive two-state ‘ solution ’ clearly and indisputably impossible , unjust and inhumane .
There is a growing worldwide call for a single-state solution , with equal rights for all .
The history of indigenous Palestinians goes back long before the invention of Zionism and today , in Israel , there are human rights movements such as Zochrot that support the crucial right of Palestinian refugees to return from exile .
The movement joins with others who call for an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Justice for Palestinians in this context means justice for all , one that would enable the unfolding of a future of mutual respect between all who live in that land .
This vision of unity has led to the historic Palestine Solidarity Campaign High Court victory in Britain .
The case was based on reason , justice and respect for the whole of humanity .
It can be done – the miracle will happen !

On 20 April, Netanyahu and his political rival, Benny Gantz, reached an agreement to annex parts of the West Bank, including illegal settlements, that paves the way for a unity government, following months of election stalemate in Israel. On 22 April, the US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, declaring that the matter is not something for Washington to interfere with, commented further at a press conference: “That’s an Israeli decision, but we’ll work closely with them to share our views of this in a private setting.” The Zionist ideology’s influence on US foreign policy is absolute. Since Israel’s creation in 1948, Washington has provided the Zionist state with around US$142.3 billion in direct aid. Right now, Israel is receiving US$3.8 billion per annum, not only guaranteed for ten years but alsosupplemented by tax concessions and other giveaways. A large amount of this aid goes in support of Israel‘s illegalsettlements on Palestinianland. No other country in the world has ever received anything like such beneficence from the US taxpayer.
US President Trump’s ‘Peace to Prosperity‘ proposal, announced earlier this year, grants Israel permission not just toannex its settlements in the West Bank but to grab the whole of the Jordan Valley as well. Should that eventuate, the Zionist state would then completely encircle any so-called Palestinian ‘state‘ that might eventually be allowed by it.Outside of the US, support for the Zionist cause is more nuanced. In a statement to the Security Council briefing on the Middle East Peace Process held on 23 April, British Ambassador James Roscoe said Britain would regard any unilateral moves towards annexation as “contrary to international law.” The UN Middle East Envoy, Nickolay Mladenov, also remindedthe UN Security Council that annexation would also “constitute a serious violation of international law. . .” The European Union and several European states, including Germany, France and the United Kingdom, reiterated their opposition to annexation. Before the meeting at the United Nations Security Council, the EU’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, wrote: “The European Union does not recogniseIsraeli sovereignty over the occupied West Bank.” Yet while illegal settlements on stolen land remain unchallenged, these world powers speak only against their expansion.
What should be obvious
What else did world leaders believe the ultimate purpose of Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian West Bank to be, other than annexation? The implacably ruthless territorial ambition of the Zionist enterprise has, throughout its history, been its essential identifier. From the outset, the claim that Jews have a ‘right’ to Palestine lacked both credibility and justification. At the end of the nineteenth century, the Zionist movement sought, and stillstrives, to reverse the reality of close on 2000 years of migration and religious evolution.
During the Crusades, for example, the Islamic and Christian religions were already, by far, the majority faiths inPalestine. By the twentieth century, three years before the 1917 Balfour Declaration, Ottoman records showed a Palestinian population of 657,000 Muslims and 81,000 Christians, along with a Jewish minority of 59,000 thatrepresented less than 10% of the population. (McCarthy, J. The Population of Palestine: Population History and Statistics of the Late Ottoman Period and the Mandate. New York: Columbia University Press, 1990). In 1922, theBritish Mandate of Palestine carried out its first census in Palestine, which reported a total population of 757,182. Of the various religious groups in Palestine at that time, just over 12% were Jewish.
British Mandate and UN Partition Plan
Even after the Jewish immigration that followed the Balfour Declaration and later, the Nazi Holocaust, British Mandate statistics of 1947 recorded the total Jewish population as just under 33%, with only two of the 16 sub-districts having a Jewish majority (see Palestinian Jewish population, as of 1947 per district, prepared by the British Mandate to the United Nations). Although, in public, Zionists hold the UN Partition Plan as a justification for what they have done in Palestine, they never actually saw it as anything other than a stepping-stone to their true objective. The Zionists want the world to believe that it was Israel that was attacked following its May 1948 Declaration of Independence but the truth is, that in November 1947, they were already on the attack and had driven 300,000 Palestinians into exile. In the months before Israel was established, the Zionists had seized land beyond the proposed Jewish State. In May 1948, with extreme terrorism, Zionist forces had already seized areas beyond that afforded in the UN Partition Plan and today Israel even claims Jerusalem as its ‘undivided capital‘. The ugly reality is undeniable, the Zionist State of Israel was created, and continues to grow, at the expense of the indigenous population of Palestine.
The Zionist mind
The US-based campaign for Palestinian human rights, Jewish Voice for Peace, has published a letter written by (later to become Israel’s first Prime Minister) David Ben-Gurion to his son. Written on 5 October 1937, it can be seen in full on the Jewish Voice for Peace website. The missive, written in Hebrew, was translated into English by the Institute of Palestine Studies, Beirut. Zionism’s cold self-obsession is clear in the advice Ben-Gurion gives his son:
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“The only thing that should be taken into account is what we want and what is best for us, what will lead to the objective.”
That the ideology saw Partition of Palestine as nothing other than a stepping-stone to its true objective is borne out in the following extract:
“Of course the partition of the country gives me no pleasure. But in this proposed partition we will get more than what we already have, though of course much less than we merit and desire.”
Because he and his fellow Zionists already regarded the land as ‘our‘ country that desire is clearly and undeniably expressed further on:
“What we really want is not that the land remain whole and unified. What we want is that the whole and unified land be Jewish.”
The Zionist strategy was, and remains, to gradually expand across Palestine, step by incremental step and he sets it out thus:
“My assumption (which is why I am a fervent proponent of a state, even though it is now linked to partition) is that a Jewish state on only part of the land is not the end but the beginning.”
Ben-Gurion repeatedly returns to the championing of this Zionist strategy:
“The establishment of a state, even if only on a portion of the land, is the maximal reinforcement of our strength at the present time and a powerful boost to our historical endeavours to liberate the entire country.”
Here, Zionism’s inherent racism leaps clearly into view when he describes the seizure of Palestine from its indigenous population as liberation! Ben-Gurion anticipated his ideology’s merciless future employment of terrorism which would, eventually lay the foundation for what he called “a superior army”. In turn, this army proved to be nothing more than a uniformed form of terrorism. He expressed this as follows:
“We shall organise an advanced defence force — a superior army which I have no doubt will be one of the best armies in the world. At that point I am confident that we would not fail in settling in the remaining parts of the country, through agreement and understanding with our Arab neighbours, or through some other means.”
The “agreement and understanding”, here envisaged by Israel’s first Prime Minister, was to be achieved through racist violence:
“The greater the Jewish strength in the country, the more the Arabs will realise that it is neither beneficial nor possible for them to withstand us.”
European Zionism was born in a time of imperialism and assumed superiority of race. The ideology absorbed this view of an imposed world order that is affirmed so clearly here by Ben-Gurion:
“Palestine is grossly under populated. It contains vast colonisation potential which the Arabs neither need nor are qualified (because of their lack of need) to exploit.”
Military Occupation and population control
The Israeli Occupation, the annexation Wall it has constructed along and within the West Bank, together with its land, sea and air blockades in the Gaza Strip, have placed severe limitations on the Palestinian economy. The baffling web of checkpoints and sudden roadblocks restrict Palestinian movement with crippling effect on the economy. Farmers find their land trapped behind the annexation Wall and must seek so-called ‘visitor permits’ which, predictably, Israel regularly rejects.
On 16 April, a World Bank report on the Palestinian economy showed a quarter of the labour force unemployed and 24% of the Palestinian population living below the poverty level. Belligerent military Occupation has enabled Israel to swallow up and dominate the Palestinian economy to ensure that its own products havefree access to the Palestinian market, while denying most Palestinian goods access to the Israeli market. By 1984, Israeli products already made up 89.3% of West Bank imports. An article in the Los Angeles Times entitled World Bank: Israeli restrictions cost Palestinian economy billions described how, as far back as 2013, more than half of West Bank land was largely off-limits to Palestinians.
The never-ending daily toll
So far this year, up to and including 27 April, there have been over 500 Israeli Gaza ceasefire violations, with almost 60 retaliatory Palestinian responses. From 14-27 April inclusive, 49 Israeli Gaza ceasefire violations (including four incursions) failed to provoke any Palestinian response. Over the same 14 days, Israeli Occupation settlers in the West Bank invaded four Palestinian olive groves and destroyed at least 140 trees. Israeli settlers also assaulted and beat up several Palestinian pastoralists, attacked and hospitalised a Palestinian refugee and, after invading farmland,terrorised Palestinian farmers and forced them away from it. The same thing also occurred elsewhere with directIsraeli Army complicity.
After an armed settler had terrorised Palestinian COVID-19 control staff, Israeli police closed a Palestinian Coronavirus testing clinic and Israeli forces assaulted Palestinian Covid-19 emergency workers. Israeli soldiers also shot and wounded a 15-year-old boy, seized and terrorised two other children, stole a farmer’s tractor to stop him ploughing his land, beat up and hospitalised a Palestinian villager and ordered the destruction of Palestinian farm buildings, as well as three wells used for irrigation.
Historic Palestine Solidarity Campaign victory in support of BDS
The world is by no means helpless when it comes to challenging the complicity with Israel demonstrated by some Western Powers. On 28 April, in the UK, the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) was delighted to announce a great victory in defence of the right of people in the UK to support Palestinian human rights. For years, the Zionist regimeand its allies have been battling to delegitimise Palestinian rights activism and criminalise the Boycott Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. This significant legal victory over the Westminster government has been achieved with support, not only from the Quakers, Campaign Against Arms Trade and War on Want but also via small donations from thousands of individual supporters. In short, The Supreme Court ruled that the UK Government’s current ban on ethical pensions divestment is unlawful.
Since 2017, the PSC has been fighting to defeat “Local Government Pension Schemes from divesting from companies complicit in Israel’s oppression of the Palestinian people, and additionally from divesting from the UK defence industry”. Initially, it won in the High Court but then lost in the Court of Appeal and, refusing to give up, gained victory in the Supreme Court! The Zionists will not easily give up trying to influence governments to get their way. In October last year the Queen’s Speech outlined the Boris Johnson government’s intention to bring in further anti-BDS legislation.
A single contiguous state with equal rights for all
Zionism could never have achieved its goal without the support of powerful allies, able to dictate global foreign policy. The denial of the Palestinian right to self-determination following the Allied World War One victory has led to more than a century of mounting injustice and human misery. The UN Partition Plan opened the door for Zionism but Palestinian rights were curtailed and have all but been dispensed with. The conditions of life that Palestinians must endlessly endure have been brought about deliberately; the inevitable price of achieving the goals of an anachronistic, racist ideology. The splitting apart of Palestine has now rendered the deceptive two-state ‘solution’ clearly and indisputably impossible, unjust and inhumane.
There is a growing worldwide call for a single-state solution, with equal rights for all. The history of indigenous Palestinians goes back long before the invention of Zionism and today, in Israel, there are human rights movements such as Zochrot that support the crucial right of Palestinian refugees to return from exile. The movement joins with others who call for an end to Zionist contempt for Palestinians. Justice for Palestinians in this context means justice for all, one that would enable the unfolding of a future of mutual respect between all who live in that land.
This vision of unity has led to the historic Palestine Solidarity Campaign High Court victory in Britain. The case was based on reason, justice and respect for the whole of humanity. It can be done – the miracle will happen!


thedailyblog--2020-05-02--SPECIAL INVESTIGATION: Matthew Blomfield – The police want to take every dollar Ron Salter has ever

SPECIAL INVESTIGATION: Matthew Blomfield – The police want to take every dollar Ron Salter has ever made

A South Auckland businessman is under siege by police who are using laws designed to target gangs and drug dealers to come after his family business , his home , and even his children ’ s assets .
At a time when we ’ ve handed police extraordinary powers to deal with a health pandemic , Matt Blomfield argues that trust is being betrayed .
Over the last five years I have carved out a role for myself as a person you turn to when things go bad .
And when I say bad I have seen some pretty spectacular @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the business of fixing life ’ s little mistakes , you find that your work comes from all walks of life and try as I might I like to think I don ’ t discriminate when it comes to my clients .
During that time , I have worked for some amazing people and also some infamous individuals .
Often the balance between what is morally correct and my own personal view that everyone deserves help is something I struggle with .
When I discuss it with friends and family , I often @ @ @ @ @ @ @ representing a client .
Everyone has a right to justice and should have an opportunity to have their side of the story heard .
The slight difference is that I like to think that my role includes an added bonus in that I can attempt to get things back on track and show my clients that life is just that little bit simpler if you play by the rules and remove some of the complication that comes with pushing boundaries .
In saying that sometimes I have clients where a clear cut injustice @ @ @ @ @ @ @ moral ambiguity .
Where bad luck has combined with an extraordinary set of circumstances to result in an unjust outcome .
These are the ones I enjoy the most .
So with the blessing of my client I would like to ask you to listen to a story not about Covid-19 , but about an unfortunate sequence of events which has left my client fighting for their very survival .
In late 2015 I was introduced to Ron Salter who is the owner and founder of Salters Cartage , a South Auckland waste @ @ @ @ @ @ @ months earlier , on September 15 , 2015 , Jamey Lee Bowring , an employee of a contractor to Salters Cartage , called Raceworks , working at the Salters Cartage business , was killed after the 100,000-litre fuel tank he was welding exploded .
It was a tragedy , a young man losing his life at just 24 years old .
There were no winners in this story .
I recall thinking about Jamie ’ s mother and how she would have reacted when she got the news .
I have two daughters @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not sure if I could think of a worse situation than me outliving one of them .
Like all of the cases I work on , the first thing I try to do is understand the client .
What am I dealing with and what is really going on here ?
Ron Salter is by trade a truck driver , who over several decades built up a very successful business .
He is a hard man and initially that was all I saw .
It wasn ’ t until I had spent a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I actually found out who he is .
Ron is first and foremost a family man , and Salters Cartage is a family business .
The kind of business that is the backbone of New Zealand ’ s economy .
The more time I spent with the Salter family the more I came to understand that this was the quintessential Kiwi family running their own business and Ron was that hard arse dad who secretly was a big softy and loved his family unconditionally .
Just prior to lockdown I noticed a picture @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Facebook page .
He was in the swimming pool with his granddaughter .
His daughter commented : “ As a kid growing up I don ’ t remember my dad getting in the pool/water but little miss says “ pop pop come in water ” and he ’ s in ” .
That side of Ron is why , at the earliest opportunity , he said sorry for the accident and accepted he made a mistake .
This was something Ron insisted on .
Just over two years on from Jamie ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Ron was sentenced to four and a half months ’ home detention and he and his company were ordered to pay nearly $ 400,000 in fines and reparations , which they did .
The same day a story was published in the New Zealand Herald entitled “ Auckland business owner sentenced for fuel tank explosion which killed worker ” .
The story includes a video interview of Ron which captures the man I know and the hurt that he and his family went through .
That ’ s not to say what @ @ @ @ @ @ @ compete with losing a child .
Jamie ’ s mother Sarah Ferguson has said she does not accept Ron ’ s remorse and I don ’ t think I could if I was her .
My role with Salters Cartage finished up in early 2018 .
It was an interesting project , it touched on so many aspects of life , a mother losing a child , a business owner dealing with the guilt and responsibility for the part they played , the all-encompassing litigation process , something that I understand all too @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on individuals , and the support of wider friends and family unit that rallied around during this awful time .
There were no winners in this story , but it was finally over .
Justice was done .
Moving forward , I would check in with Ron and the family on occasion .
They had a job to get on with and didn ’ t need my help .
They were rebuilding their lives and getting their Salters Cartage family back on track .
I heard through a mutual acquaintance that Ron was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and I recall thinking that it was not surprising .
Ron had done it hard over the past few years .
Then in December last year I heard that the police had restrained all of Ron ’ s assets under the proceeds of crime legislation .
At the time I had limited knowledge of proceeds of crime laws and my immediate reaction was ‘ what have I missed ’ ?
My mind conjured up images of drug dealing and gangs .
It just made no sense .
After further clarification I realised that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ health and safety prosecution in which Ron and Salters Cartage had already pleaded guilty and been sentenced .
Having already secured a criminal conviction , the police had decided to take the extraordinary step of pursuing a business owner through the civil courts for the alleged “ proceeds ” of a health and safety offence .
I called Ron and he explained in a slightly panicked fashion , “ they are wanting to take my house , my daughter ’ s house , the bach , the business , everything ” .
His @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
I was lost for words .
It just didn ’ t make any sense to me .
I recall thinking about double jeopardy – the principle that a person should not be subject to two prosecutions or punishments for the same offence .
And then wondering whether a claim to forfeit assets constitutes a second punishment or a severely harsh punishment when viewed together with the original sentence .
It was a major , the Salter family stood to lose a lifetime of effort .
This was not just Ron ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ family business which includes the families of their 30 employees , who are essentially an extension of the family .
Police have sought restraints over more than $ 8 million of the Salters ’ personal assets as well as business assets over and above this .
An application to forfeit those same assets will inevitably follow .
To be clear , this legislation was brought in to go after drug dealers , gang members , money launderers and other sophisticated criminal enterprises that break the law for commercial gain .
It operates on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ‘ we think you ’ ve obtained this by nefarious means , prove us wrong ’ .
The reach of the legislation extends to anything that the police believe is “ tainted ” .
The example I use is if a drug dealer owns a house and pays for a new roof with drug money , the police can take the house .
The police can also take untainted assets to the value of the benefit they say you have received as a result of criminal activity .
It ’ s hard for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ gang member selling methamphetamine and Salters Cartage collecting and recycling waste oil .
As bizarre as it sounds , the police are saying the income that Salters Cartage received is like drug money .
If it is , so too is the income of the hundreds of businesses convicted of health and safety offences in New Zealand every year , let alone other regulatory offences .
What ’ s next – resource management breaches ?
In the five years to July 2014 , police restrained nearly half a billion dollars worth of cash @ @ @ @ @ @ @ motorcycles with gold-plate rims and every other trapping of a drug dealer ’ s lifestyle you can imagine .
Police estimated half of that came from methamphetamine .
The recovered money goes into a contestable fund that has provided millions to drug and alcohol rehabilitation services , mental health services and crime reduction initiatives .
Proper Robin Hood stuff .
However , in the Salters Cartage case the police are using the proceeds of crime legislation for the first time in the aftermath of a health and safety case .
In an exit @ @ @ @ @ @ @ weeks ago , the former commissioner of police Mike Bush summed up one of the key tenets of his six year tenure as follows : “ How we apply our discretion is critical to building trust and confidence.
” “ The one thing people look for is the consistent application .
And that ’ s what we ’ ve been driving hard.
” If that ’ s the case , why didn ’ t the police attempt to seize Watercare ’ s assets , after the 2011 explosion that killed one of its @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ?
Or Canadian Piping , the firm convicted of failing to protect employees in the same blast .
Should the directors of Watercare have feared that their family homes were at risk ?
There have been around 700 workplace deaths in New Zealand since 2011 , and more than two dozen firms have been prosecuted for breaching the health and safety legislation where death occurred .
Where is the consistent application of the law that Bush is so proud of ?
It is no secret that New Zealand ’ s small to medium @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Right now , as we emerge from Level 4 lockdown , they are at once under unprecedented strain while being needed more than ever to jumpstart our post-COVID 19 economy .
According to one Government estimate , they make up 97 per cent of all New Zealand businesses , employ more than 630,000 people or 29 per cent of all New Zealand workers .
It ’ s tough enough running your own business , as a business owner you take responsibility for the livelihoods of all of your staff , you take @ @ @ @ @ @ @ owning your business from loans to compliance to tax .
If it goes badly you can ’ t just walk away .
These business owners are brave and they should be respected , they should be looked after , and they should be supported .
Without them , the economic landscape in New Zealand would be very different .
We spend plenty of time making sure that employees are looked after and that they have the support of their employers .
And rightly so .
But less time is spent thinking about the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and risks that create employment .
I can imagine that many will say that with risk comes reward and I accept that but , in this case , we are talking about a family that could lose everything they have earned in the past 38 years .
There are many , many other businesses out there just like Salters Cartage .
This will have an effect on three generations of this family .
Putting aside the inevitable closure of Salters Cartage as we know it if the police are successful , we are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s daughter ’ s home , the family bach , the home in which Ron and Natalie planned to live out their retirement , and finally the livelihoods of all of the staff and their families .
So , most of my lockdown was spent trying to find a way through for the Salter family .
That now includes dealing with Covid-19 and the fact they have all but closed the doors over the lockdown .
They have lost hundreds of thousands of dollars but , unlike many other businesses , all @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The Salter family is doing it hard .
Ron and his family accepted responsibility for what happened ; Ron and Salters Cartage performed the sentence imposed .
In addition to funding this litigation , which will could take years to resolve , now they have the added complication of Covid-19 .
In my mind it ’ s just not fair .
I really wish the police would use their resources , budget and energy to take down gangs and drug dealers because isn ’ t that what the proceeds of crime legislation @ @ @ @ @ @ @ t rationalise in my mind why the police have put the Salters family , and family businesses just like theirs , at the top of their to-do list , while many who have clearly profited from crime flaunt their wealth on Instagram .
It just does not make sense !
Salters Cartage is truly a family owned and operated New Zealand business .
It is an example of what makes New Zealand great and what we need to focus on to get through this Covid-19 debacle .
I am confident that the police @ @ @ @ @ @ @ my hope is that the fight doesn ’ t destroy this amazing family and the New Zealand-owned family business that was almost 40 years in the making .
That ’ s not justice and not what New Zealand wants or deserves from the New Zealand police .
Matt Blomfield is a business consultant and the subject of Whale Oil , a book about standing up to bullies and his quest for justice .
It was nominated in the best general non-fiction category at the 2020 Ockham Awards .

A South Auckland businessman is under siege by police who are using laws designed to target gangs and drug dealers to come after his family business, his home, and even his children’s assets. At a time when we’ve handed police extraordinary powers to deal with a health pandemic, Matt Blomfield argues that trust is being betrayed.
Over the last five years I have carved out a role for myself as a person you turn to when things go bad. And when I say bad I have seen some pretty spectacular f*ck ups. When you are in the business of fixing life’s little mistakes, you find that your work comes from all walks of life and try as I might I like to think I don’t discriminate when it comes to my clients.
During that time, I have worked for some amazing people and also some infamous individuals. Often the balance between what is morally correct and my own personal view that everyone deserves help is something I struggle with.
When I discuss it with friends and family, I often reference the obligations that lawyers have when representing a client. Everyone has a right to justice and should have an opportunity to have their side of the story heard.
The slight difference is that I like to think that my role includes an added bonus in that I can attempt to get things back on track and show my clients that life is just that little bit simpler if you play by the rules and remove some of the complication that comes with pushing boundaries.
In saying that sometimes I have clients where a clear cut injustice has occurred, and there is zero moral ambiguity. Where bad luck has combined with an extraordinary set of circumstances to result in an unjust outcome. These are the ones I enjoy the most.
So with the blessing of my client I would like to ask you to listen to a story not about Covid-19, but about an unfortunate sequence of events which has left my client fighting for their very survival.
In late 2015 I was introduced to Ron Salter who is the owner and founder of Salters Cartage, a South Auckland waste collection and recycling company.
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A few months earlier, on September 15, 2015, Jamey Lee Bowring, an employee of a contractor to Salters Cartage, called Raceworks, working at the Salters Cartage business, was killed after the 100,000-litre fuel tank he was welding exploded.
It was a tragedy, a young man losing his life at just 24 years old. There were no winners in this story. I recall thinking about Jamie’s mother and how she would have reacted when she got the news. I have two daughters and in my mind I’m not sure if I could think of a worse situation than me outliving one of them.
Like all of the cases I work on, the first thing I try to do is understand the client. What am I dealing with and what is really going on here?
Ron Salter is by trade a truck driver, who over several decades built up a very successful business. He is a hard man and initially that was all I saw. It wasn’t until I had spent a couple of months working with Ron that I actually found out who he is.
Ron is first and foremost a family man, and Salters Cartage is a family business. The kind of business that is the backbone of New Zealand’s economy.
The more time I spent with the Salter family the more I came to understand that this was the quintessential Kiwi family running their own business and Ron was that hard arse dad who secretly was a big softy and loved his family unconditionally.
Just prior to lockdown I noticed a picture of Ron on his daughter’s Facebook page. He was in the swimming pool with his granddaughter. His daughter commented: “As a kid growing up I don’t remember my dad getting in the pool/water but little miss says “pop pop come in water” and he’s in”.
That side of Ron is why, at the earliest opportunity, he said sorry for the accident and accepted he made a mistake. This was something Ron insisted on.
Just over two years on from Jamie’s death, on November 23, 2017, Ron was sentenced to four and a half months’ home detention and he and his company were ordered to pay nearly $400,000 in fines and reparations, which they did.
The same day a story was published in the New Zealand Herald entitled “Auckland business owner sentenced for fuel tank explosion which killed worker”. The story includes a video interview of Ron which captures the man I know and the hurt that he and his family went through.
That’s not to say what happened to the Salter family could ever compete with losing a child. Jamie’s mother Sarah Ferguson has said she does not accept Ron’s remorse and I don’t think I could if I was her.
My role with Salters Cartage finished up in early 2018. It was an interesting project, it touched on so many aspects of life, a mother losing a child, a business owner dealing with the guilt and responsibility for the part they played, the all-encompassing litigation process, something that I understand all too well, the toll that can take on individuals, and the support of wider friends and family unit that rallied around during this awful time. There were no winners in this story, but it was finally over. Justice was done.
Moving forward, I would check in with Ron and the family on occasion. They had a job to get on with and didn’t need my help. They were rebuilding their lives and getting their Salters Cartage family back on track. I heard through a mutual acquaintance that Ron was looking at selling the business and retiring and I recall thinking that it was not surprising. Ron had done it hard over the past few years.
Then in December last year I heard that the police had restrained all of Ron’s assets under the proceeds of crime legislation.
At the time I had limited knowledge of proceeds of crime laws and my immediate reaction was ‘what have I missed’? My mind conjured up images of drug dealing and gangs. It just made no sense.
After further clarification I realised that it was in relation to the same health and safety prosecution in which Ron and Salters Cartage had already pleaded guilty and been sentenced. Having already secured a criminal conviction, the police had decided to take the extraordinary step of pursuing a business owner through the civil courts for the alleged “proceeds” of a health and safety offence.
I called Ron and he explained in a slightly panicked fashion, “they are wanting to take my house, my daughter’s house, the bach, the business, everything”. His life’s work and his legacy. I was lost for words. It just didn’t make any sense to me.
I recall thinking about double jeopardy – the principle that a person should not be subject to two prosecutions or punishments for the same offence. And then wondering whether a claim to forfeit assets constitutes a second punishment or a severely harsh punishment when viewed together with the original sentence.
It was a major, the Salter family stood to lose a lifetime of effort. This was not just Ron’s business, it’s the Salter family business which includes the families of their 30 employees, who are essentially an extension of the family.
Police have sought restraints over more than $8 million of the Salters’ personal assets as well as business assets over and above this. An application to forfeit those same assets will inevitably follow.
To be clear, this legislation was brought in to go after drug dealers, gang members, money launderers and other sophisticated criminal enterprises that break the law for commercial gain. It operates on a simple philosophy: the police say ‘we think you’ve obtained this by nefarious means, prove us wrong’.
The reach of the legislation extends to anything that the police believe is “tainted”. The example I use is if a drug dealer owns a house and pays for a new roof with drug money, the police can take the house. The police can also take untainted assets to the value of the benefit they say you have received as a result of criminal activity. It’s hard for me to draw a parallel between a gang member selling methamphetamine and Salters Cartage collecting and recycling waste oil. As bizarre as it sounds, the police are saying the income that Salters Cartage received is like drug money. If it is, so too is the income of the hundreds of businesses convicted of health and safety offences in New Zealand every year, let alone other regulatory offences. What’s next – resource management breaches?
In the five years to July 2014, police restrained nearly half a billion dollars worth of cash, property, cars, boats, motorcycles with gold-plate rims and every other trapping of a drug dealer’s lifestyle you can imagine. Police estimated half of that came from methamphetamine.
The recovered money goes into a contestable fund that has provided millions to drug and alcohol rehabilitation services, mental health services and crime reduction initiatives. Proper Robin Hood stuff.
However, in the Salters Cartage case the police are using the proceeds of crime legislation for the first time in the aftermath of a health and safety case.
In an exit interview with the Herald just a few weeks ago, the former commissioner of police Mike Bush summed up one of the key tenets of his six year tenure as follows: “How we apply our discretion is critical to building trust and confidence.”
“The one thing people look for is the consistent application. And that’s what we’ve been driving hard.”
If that’s the case, why didn’t the police attempt to seize Watercare’s assets, after the 2011 explosion that killed one of its workers and left another a double amputee? Or Canadian Piping, the firm convicted of failing to protect employees in the same blast. Should the directors of Watercare have feared that their family homes were at risk?
There have been around 700 workplace deaths in New Zealand since 2011, and more than two dozen firms have been prosecuted for breaching the health and safety legislation where death occurred.
Where is the consistent application of the law that Bush is so proud of?
It is no secret that New Zealand’s small to medium enterprises are the backbone of this country. Right now, as we emerge from Level 4 lockdown, they are at once under unprecedented strain while being needed more than ever to jumpstart our post-COVID 19 economy.
According to one Government estimate, they make up 97 per cent of all New Zealand businesses, employ more than 630,000 people or 29 per cent of all New Zealand workers.
It’s tough enough running your own business, as a business owner you take responsibility for the livelihoods of all of your staff, you take responsibility for the risks that come with owning your business from loans to compliance to tax.
If it goes badly you can’t just walk away. These business owners are brave and they should be respected, they should be looked after, and they should be supported. Without them, the economic landscape in New Zealand would be very different.
We spend plenty of time making sure that employees are looked after and that they have the support of their employers. And rightly so. But less time is spent thinking about the brave directors that take on the responsibilities and risks that create employment. I can imagine that many will say that with risk comes reward and I accept that but, in this case, we are talking about a family that could lose everything they have earned in the past 38 years. There are many, many other businesses out there just like Salters Cartage.
This will have an effect on three generations of this family. Putting aside the inevitable closure of Salters Cartage as we know it if the police are successful, we are talking about Ron and his wife Natalie’s daughter’s home, the family bach, the home in which Ron and Natalie planned to live out their retirement, and finally the livelihoods of all of the staff and their families.
So, most of my lockdown was spent trying to find a way through for the Salter family. That now includes dealing with Covid-19 and the fact they have all but closed the doors over the lockdown. They have lost hundreds of thousands of dollars but, unlike many other businesses, all of their staff still have their jobs.
The Salter family is doing it hard. Ron and his family accepted responsibility for what happened; Ron and Salters Cartage performed the sentence imposed. In addition to funding this litigation, which will could take years to resolve, now they have the added complication of Covid-19. In my mind it’s just not fair. I really wish the police would use their resources, budget and energy to take down gangs and drug dealers because isn’t that what the proceeds of crime legislation was intended for? I can’t rationalise in my mind why the police have put the Salters family, and family businesses just like theirs, at the top of their to-do list, while many who have clearly profited from crime flaunt their wealth on Instagram. It just does not make sense!
Salters Cartage is truly a family owned and operated New Zealand business. It is an example of what makes New Zealand great and what we need to focus on to get through this Covid-19 debacle. I am confident that the police will be unsuccessful in their case but my hope is that the fight doesn’t destroy this amazing family and the New Zealand-owned family business that was almost 40 years in the making. That’s not justice and not what New Zealand wants or deserves from the New Zealand police.
Matt Blomfield is a business consultant and the subject of Whale Oil, a book about standing up to bullies and his quest for justice. It was nominated in the best general non-fiction category at the 2020 Ockham Awards.