Post by Hallabalu on Oct 17, 2020 20:45:26 GMT 12
Who is Jacinda Ardern?
Born Jacinda Kate Laurell Ardern on the 26th of July 1980 in Hamilton, she was raised in Morrinsville and Murupara where she enrolled in a State School.
In 2001 Jacinda graduated from the University of Waikato and started her career as a researcher for Phil Goff and Helen Clark, Jacinda became a Member of Parliament in the 2008 general election after the Labour Party lost the General Election to the National Party. She was later elected to represent the Mount Albert electorate in a by-election she won in February 2017.
On the 7th of March 2017 following the resignation of Annette King, Jacinda Ardern filled the vacated spot of Deputy Leader of the Labour Party. Around 5 months after this appointment, Labours then-leader Andrew Little decided to resign after poor polls of his leadership, and Jacinda stepped up as Labour Leader unopposed.
At the conclusion of the 2017 General Election, Jacinda Ardern became the youngest head of Government at age 37 and is the 40th Prime Minister “PM” of New Zealand who leads a coalition government comprised of the Labour Party, NZ First, and the Green Party. In March 2019, she introduced strict gun laws after the Mosque shooting in Christchurch, then led the team of 5 million through the Covid19 pandemic that still rocks the world today.
She is now on the 2020 campaign trail for a second term leading the NZ Labour Party. Jacinda Ardern is a “Socialist Democrat” and a “Progressive” who has set her focus on the housing crisis, child poverty, and social inequality in New Zealand.
As this is election night in New Zealand, it appears Jacinda and the Labour Party have won the General Election with an overwhelming majority win in a Mixed Member Proportionate (MMP) Parliament.
Congratulations Jacinda Ardern and the Labour Party.
Jacinda Ardern is under scrutiny from other political parties, and business round table advocates who say her reaction to lock down the country and the border highlighted a fatalistic view that has impacted the growth, employment, and well-being of New Zealand.
At this time, only those who are deemed as “essential skilled workers” can enter the country. They all think it’s time to get on with life as usual, but when you look at how bad it still is in the world with Covid as a backdrop, I don’t see any reason to open our borders just yet. With 40 new members of Parliament to welcome, so so new we don't know their names yet, but in time will be well known.
Jacinda asked us to work together, as a team of five million, to fight this virus, to stay where we are, to keep contact to an absolute minimum while the virus raged on. We did what she asked of us, put our trust in her decisions, locking the country down early.
We know we cannot live in a bubble forever, but hopefully, we have the chance to have our say in a public referendum when it comes time to fully open our country and our people to the world once again.
This is my list of questions
1 - How do we safely open our borders to an environment saturated by Covid19?
2 - How do we welcome the International Community without prejudice?
3 - How do we identify and implement measures to combat issues arising from an open-door policy?
1a How about this suggestion; The creation of a Viral database registry system allowing international travelers access if they comply with our terms of entry rules and regulations.
1b Are on a direct flight to New Zealand or a connecting flight from approved Countries to approved Countries then direct flight to New Zealand.
1c Have some type of Medical Certification Document stamped, and dated within three days prior to the international departure date, with the doctor's contact details, clinic and/or hospital workplace clearly identified, declaring the person/s (family travel) is free of Covid19.
1d Then a normal test of the subject can be performed at International Airports throughout the Country. This information could be shared with other Governmental agencies or Countries if required.
2a If all the above precautions have a negative result, then we can welcome those who comply with the restrictions without prejudice.
This last question is a tough one to answer, so I will attempt to answer thus.
3a Our field health officials must respond with urgency should we suffer another outbreak of Covid19 with quarantine and lock-down of the affected area, identify a local or international person or persons involved, confirmation of infection, contact tracing, and testing.
It will be difficult to locate all affected persons who have come into contact with the initial person or persons of interest but they must be identified, tracked, tested, and put into quarantine as early as possible whereby limiting the effects of the virus on the rest of the population. If the outbreak is contained, the area affected is in quarantine and lock-down, then it is reasonable to assume there is no need to close the border again.
My Reflections
I am of the opinion that this is an undertaking of severe risk which could impact our population of just over five million people, an action I am not willing to endorse as yet however, I am reserving the right to keep an open mind.
I know my answer for question 3 is a cop-out but I get frustrated when I ask questions and no one answers, no matter what questions I ask. Would be nice to get an opinion or two. I have often wondered if this virus is a western world type virus as we never hear about places like the middle east dying in thousands daily, something to ponder, I guess.
We are resigned to the fact that there is no cure, no relief for the millions of people who have lost loved ones, thousands more will die daily. Even if a cure becomes available, the country that develops a vaccine would use it on their own people first, then, depending on supply and availability, would introduce the vaccine in a trickle-down effect to other countries. This could take years to become available to every country of the world, so there will be a lot of dying, a lot of mourning until the availability of the vaccine becomes widespread.
I am still hopeful as is the rest of New Zealand, a cure will be found somewhere in the world. For now, we live and die in a world that has killed many millions of people everywhere. I suspect many countries are resigned to the fact that this is what we have become, this is now our normality, this is life as we now know it.
