Health Minister David Clark demoted after driving 20km to beach, breaking lockdown rules...What do YOU say???
Health Minister David Clark has been demoted after driving his family 20km to a beach to go for a walk in the first weekend of the lockdown - a breach that the Prime Minister says he would normally be sacked for. "At a time when we are asking New Zealanders to make historic sacrifices I've let the team down. I've been an idiot," Clark said in a statement this morning. Jacinda Ardern said he would be demoted to the bottom of the Cabinet rankings and stripped of his Associate Finance portfolio. Clark, who offered his resignation, sounded forlorn as he started a round of media calls this morning, saying he felt "like a complete dick to be honest". And speaking to Newstalk ZB's Mike Hosking, Clark said he "wasn't thinking" when he drove to the beach with his family. His wife had asked him if it was within the rules, and he had decided to go because the family would still be within its household bubble. "I make no excuses for it, Mike. I got it wrong," Clark told Hosking. "I've made a fool of myself. I need to be really clear on that and apologise to New Zealanders." He said the Health Minister in the middle of a global pandemic was an incredibly important role, and he had a long way to go to rebuild the trust of New Zealanders. Clark has already come under fire for driving about 2km last week to go for a mountain bike ride.
Ardern said: "Under normal conditions I would sack the Minister of Health. What he did was wrong, and there are no excuses. "But right now, my priority is our collective fight against Covid-19. We cannot afford massive disruption in the health sector or to our response. For that reason, and that reason alone, Dr Clark will maintain his role." But Ardern said he would pay a price for breaking the rules. "While he maintains his Health portfolio, I am stripping him of his role as Associate Finance Minister and demoting him to the bottom of our Cabinet rankings.
"I expect better, and so does New Zealand."
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Even Australians get it - so why not Kiwis???
“Ten years ago, if a heatwave as intense as last week’s record-breaker had hit the east coast, Australia’s power supply may well have buckled. But this time, the system largely operated as we needed, despite some outages.
On Australia’s main grid last quarter, renewables and energy storage contributed more than 50% of supplied electricity for the first time, while wholesale power prices were more than 40% lower than a year earlier.
[…] shifting demand from gas and coal for power and petrol for cars is likely to deliver significantly lower energy bills for households.
Last quarter, wind generation was up almost 30%, grid solar 15% and grid-scale batteries almost tripled their output. Gas generation fell 27% to its lowest level for a quarter century, while coal fell 4.6% to its lowest quarterly level ever.
Gas has long been the most expensive way to produce power. Gas peaking plants tend to fire up only when supply struggles to meet demand and power prices soar. Less demand for gas has flowed through to lower wholesale prices.”
Full article: www.theguardian.com...
If even Australians see the benefit of solar - then why is NZ actively boycotting solar uptake? The increased line rental for electricity was done to make solar less competitive and prevent cost per kWh to rise even more than it did - and electricity costs are expected to rise even more. Especially as National favours gas - which is the most expensive form of generating electricity. Which in turn will accelerate Climate Change, as if New Zealand didn’t have enough problems with droughts, floods, slips, etc. already.
Poll: Should the government levy industries that contribute to financial hardship?
As reported in the Post, there’s a $30 million funding gap in financial mentoring. This has led to services closing and mentors stepping in unpaid just to keep helping people in need 🪙💰🪙
One proposed solution? Small levies on industries that profit from financial hardship — like banks, casinos, and similar companies.
So we want to hear what you think:
Should the government ask these industries to contribute?
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59.8% Yes, supporting people is important!
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25.8% No, individuals should take responsibility
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14.4% ... It is complicated
A Neighbourly Riddle! Don’t Overthink It… Or Do?😜
Do you think you know the answer? Simply 'Like' this post if you know the answer and the big reveal will be posted in the comments at 2pm on the day!
If you multiply this number by any other number, the answer will always be the same. What number is this?
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