Category Archives: Jacinda Ardern

Politics

15 Jun, 2022 05:00 PM3 minutes to read

Gangs get together to put an end to drive-by shootings, ram raids see bollards in high demand and the Covid test requirement set to be scrapped in the latest New Zealand Herald headlines. Video / NZ Herald

As of next Tuesday, people travelling to New Zealand will no longer need a negative pre-departure test.

Covid-19 Response Minister Ayesha Verrall said the Government had "taken a careful and staged approach to reopening our borders to ensure we aren't overwhelmed with an influx of Covid-19 cases. Our strategy has worked and as a result it's safe to lift pre-departure test requirements much sooner than planned.

"I'm advised the challenges pre-departure tests pose to visitors are now no longer outweighed by the public health benefits," she said.

The current rule means people coming to New Zealand by air must get a negative PCR, RAT or Lamp test 24-48 hours before departing on the flight to New Zealand depending on the type of test.

Pre-departure testing is one of the last border restrictions still in place. It is not the last however: even when pre-departure testing is gone, non-citizens and non-residents will still require proof of vaccination to travel here.

New Zealand is one of a diminishing number of countries to have pre-departure tests and tourism operators had voiced concerns that testing was putting travellers off.

The Government is also concerned it will become more difficult to get pre-departure tests as more and more countries drop them as requirements for travel. The United States dropped its pre-departure testing requirement on Sunday.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern had said the tests would be gone by July 31 at the latest, but the Government's increased confidence in the Covid outlook has meant this date could be brought forward.

"While we are still working through this transition, it's fair to say we are confident that pre-departure testing will be removed by the time we come to the final phase of our reopening in July," Ardern said earlier this year.

The timing will also allow the border to be more fully open for the ski season and Australia's coming school holidays."

The final phase of border reopening will occur on 11.59pm on July 31, when all vaccinated travellers and students will be able to enter New Zealand, provided they have a visa.

People who arrive in New Zealand are also given a pack of RATS to do after arrival. About 90 per cent of people are completing these tests and 2-3 per cent are reporting a positive result.

The Government does not see this changing significantly after the requirements are dropped.

National has been calling for pre-departure testing to go. Earlier this week, the party's Covid-19 response spokesman Chris Bishop said the tests should be dropped.

"The world is moving on, but New Zealand insists that anyone coming here must present a negative test before getting on a plane," Bishop said.

"Pre-departure tests made sense when we were pursuing elimination. But they make zero sense when we already have thousands of cases a day at home," he said.

Covid cases continue to level off after a peak earlier in the year. Another peak is expected later in the year, but the Government does not expect this to be impacted by changes at the border.

Hospitalisations with Covid-19 are also levelling off. The seven-day average of people in hospital with or due to the virus was 362 yesterday, down from over 900 during the peak earlier this year.

The Government does not believe dropping pre-departure testing will lead to a surge of domestic infection.

View original post here:

Pre-departure tests into NZ gone on Monday - New Zealand Herald

Gangs get together to put an end to drive-by shootings, ram raids see bollards in high demand and the Covid test requirement set to be scrapped in the latest New Zealand Herald headlines. Video / NZ Herald

While Jacinda Ardern was in Australia discussing the controversial 501 deportation policy, Immigration New Zealand was serving deportation papers on a former inmate who left Samoa as a preschooler.

It's a contrast the man is calling deeply hypocritical, especially given how outspoken the Government has been of the 501 policy - going as far as labelling it "corrosive".

"I'd rather go back to jail than Samoa, I know what it's like, I know what's expected of me in there, I know how to behave and how to live," Mose Vaipapa told Open Justice.

"I'm not a saint. But I've paid for that."

On Friday last week Vaipapa was served with deportation papers to return to his home country; a place he hasn't lived since he was 4 years old, doesn't speak the language and has no family or other connections.

The now 29-year-old served 15 years in jail for two serious rapes he committed when he was 14 years old. At least one of his victims was a teenager, both females were unknown to him and the rapes happened on separate occasions.

While in prison he was involved in a riot that closed Hawke's Bay Prison's Youth Unit for more than 11 months, and seriously assaulted two guards, one of whom ended up in hospital.

Those offences added to his sentence which he served in full, without parole.

Despite those crimes Mike Sceats and the staff from the Porirua Community Law Centre are working to keep Vaipapa in the country. They have appealed to the Minister of Immigration on his behalf, claiming New Zealand has a responsibility to look after him.

"We institutionalised him. We made him. It seems wrong to now just foist him off onto Samoa," Sceats said.

Sceats said Vaipapa fell through the cracks at primary school because the teachers thought he was stupid.

By the time they figured out he had glue ear and could barely hear them, he'd missed so much school he never caught up.

After that he began getting into trouble and went through a number of boys' homes in Porirua between 2004 and 2009 before being sent to the now infamous Epuni Boys' Home in Lower Hutt.

There Vaipapa says was sexually assaulted at the age of 12.

"He's been labelled as stupid, dangerous and violent. He's been set up to fail all his life," Sceats said.

"My personal view is that technically he wasn't born here but he was made and broken here."

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has long been critical of the Australian 501 deportation policy where New Zealanders are deported from Australia and sent back home.

Any non-citizen who has been sentenced to more than a year in prison in Australia can be deported under the 501 policy, even if they've already served their time years earlier.

So far more than 2000 ex-Kiwis have been deported since the policy was introduced in 2014. The deportees are named after section 501 of the Australian Migration Act which allows their visas to be cancelled.

On Friday last week Ardern met with Australia's new leader Anthony Albaneseto push for changes to the law. Albanese said after the meeting that the 501 policy would stay, although he promised to "work through" implementation issues with New Zealand.

The Prime Minister's spokesman, Andrew Campbell, told Open Justice that the New Zealand Government has never opposed Australia's right to have a deportation policy.

"However there are significant differences between the breadth of Australia's deportation policy relating to 501s and New Zealand's," he said.

Senior lecturer in politics and international relations Dr Timothy Fadgen of Auckland University told Open Justice that to say New Zealand is engaging in a completely different practice is inaccurate.

"It's a difference without a distinction.

"New Zealand has a track record of a high number of deportees to the Pacific and beyond and this has been going on for many years, and it creates the same sorts of problems in those communities that the Australian policy is creating here."

Open Justice reported earlier this year that New Zealand sent 400 criminals back to Pacific nations between 2013-2018 - a move that a newly released report said was contributing to a growing crime and drug addiction in those countries.

At present Vaipapa is under strict supervision and electronically-monitored bail while he waits to see whether the Minister for Immigration accepts his plea to remain in New Zealand.

The minister has discretion over whether to intervene in immigration matters like this, however, in May Associate Minister of Immigration Phil Twyford declined the request.

Vaipapa came to New Zealand with his mother and siblings when he was 4, piggybacking on her passport.

He committed his first imprisonable offences while she was in the process of sorting out residency for her family and it was recommended that her son be removed from the application for the rest of the family to be successful.

When Open Justice met with Vaipapa at his address in Trentham this week he said he was extremely sorry for what he'd done.

"I don't remember one of them but when I was told what I'd done I just It's really messed up."

"I wish I could go back and punch myself, shake that young Mose and ask him what the hell he's doing?"

Vaipapa said years later while in prison he'd been denied leave to go to his stepfather's funeral, and then one of the prison guards called him a "porch monkey".

He beat the guard so badly he ended up in hospital.

"When I read the victim impact statement from his daughter It just grabbed me by the heart. There was no excuse for what I did."

Vaipapa said when he was first served the deportation notice in prison when he was 17, he didn't understand what it meant.

"I was still just a kid. The only thing that sunk in was that if I ever got parole then I'd be straight on a plane.

"I don't even remember being in Samoa. I thought I was a New Zealander for half my life."

Vaipapa said he wouldn't know what to do if he was deported as there was nothing for him in Samoa.

"It would be real hard for me. I don't speak Samoan. I don't know anyone. I don't even know where I'm gonna stay. All I know is New Zealand."

Read more from the original source:

'The same as how Australia treats the 501s': Samoan deportee calls Govt hypocritical - New Zealand Herald

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will host New Zealand's Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, for talks in Sydney today.

Ms Ardernis the first foreign leader to visit Australia since Mr Albanese won power last month.

New Zealand and Australia remain very close partners, with politicians on both sides of the ditch often calling each other "family".

However, while leaders from both countries find themselves straddling huge areasof common ground whenever they meet, there are still some real points of disagreement and tension in the relationship between Australia and New Zealand.

The two leaders are expected to discuss a host of issues. Many will be routine and uncontroversial.

For example, Mr Albanese and Ms Ardern will compare notes on how to manage global economic shocks from the war in Ukraine, as well as the looming threat of stagflation and the ripples of impactfrom the COVID-19 pandemic.

It is expected thatboth countries willdeclare their solidarity in the face of increasingly malign behaviour from authoritarian states, including Russia's invasion of Ukraine and North Korea's latest ballistic missile tests.

They'll find common ground on climate change too. While Ms Ardern struck up an effective working relationship with Scott Morrison, she'll likely have an easier ideological rapport with a fellow Labor prime minister.

Loading

The two PMs will also likely spend quite a bit of time discussing the intensifying geopolitical contest in the Pacific.

Like Australia, New Zealand was alarmed when China announced it had struck a security pact with Solomon Islands, with Ms Ardern labelling the agreement "gravely concerning".

Both Canberra and Wellington have watched uneasily as China tries to expand its commercial and security ties in the region, and were relieved to see Pacific Island countries politely stall Beijing's push for a sweeping new agreement covering infrastructure, trade, policing and cyber security.

And while the two countries already coordinate closely in the Pacific, it's likely they'll explore how they can harness their joint resources more effectively to try toshape its trajectory.

Successive New Zealand governments have complained bitterly about Australia's deportations policy, which has seen thousands of Kiwis with criminal records sent back across the ditch.

The policy isn't targeted specifically at New Zealand, but disproportionately affects New Zealanders because they have special rights to live and work in Australia.

New Zealand's government says many of those sent "back home" have actually spent most, or all, of their lives in Australia and have little connection to their notional homeland.

They also complain that many of those people sent back unmoored from their family go on to commit serious crimes and contribute to escalating gang violence.

A recent investigation by New Zealand media found that deportees had committed more than 8,000 offences since 2015.

After meeting MrMorrison in Auckland in 2019, MsArdern declared that the deportations policy was "corrosive" to the bilateral relationship.

The next year Ms Ardernwent even further during a press conference in Sydney, publicly telling Mr Morrison, "Do not deport your people and your problems".

It's not clear whether Mr Albanese is willing to take a different tack.

Labor has made it clear that it will notabandon the core policy of deporting criminals, but some government sources have hinted that it mightbe willing to exercise a little more discretion to ensure people with no connection to New Zealand are not dumped there.

Ms Ardern has made it clear that she would continue to press Australia on the subject, calling the deportations a "significant issue" for her country.

"Our concern has been that we have seen some of the really extreme examples those who have little or no connection to New Zealand, who have been deported to New Zealand," she said at a press conference this week.

"And then we see the consequences of that anti-social [behaviour] and that lack of connection back at home.

"We do want to see if we can make progress on some of those really difficult examples [that] New Zealand has come up against."

Ms Ardern told Channel Ninethis morning she was hopeful the new government would take a more flexible approach to her country's grievances.

She said she had been encouraged that the new Prime Minister had "acknowledged" the issue.

While China's presence in the Pacific will be a big point of discussion, both leaders may also discuss the delicate subject of their bilateral ties with Beijing.

While there has been talk of a reset between Australia and China afterthe federal election, MrAlbanese has responded coolly to the initial, rather lukewarm overtures from China's government.

His scepticism was likely hardened by the dangerous interception of a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) surveillance plane by a Chinese fighter jet over the South China Sea.

New Zealand's relationship with China is much-less fraught than Australia's. It has typically been more cautious in its language when it comes to Beijing, and there was a minor diplomatic kerfuffle last year when New Zealand's Trade Minister suggested Australia could mend ties with China by showing its government more "respect".

However, ties between Wellington and Beijing soured earlier this month after Ms Ardern visited Washington and issued a joint statement with the Biden Administration, warning thata Chinese base in the Pacific could disrupt the region's strategic balance.

China's Ambassador in Wellington responded by making a thinly veiled trade threat, saying that New Zealand's reputation in China as a "green, clean, open and friendly country" should not be "squandered".

If MrAlbanese offers any advice to MsArdern on how best to respond to this warning, it will be worded very carefully.

Australia, of course, has intimate knowledge of Chinese trade punishments, and a fairly strong track record when it comes to absorbing the economic pain which accompaniesthem.

Still, while New Zealand has much in common with Australia, this is one experience it would very much rather not share with its closest neighbour.

Posted9 Jun 20229 Jun 2022Thu 9 Jun 2022 at 7:10pm, updated9 Jun 20229 Jun 2022Thu 9 Jun 2022 at 10:38pm

Read more from the original source:

Anthony Albanese is hosting Jacinda Ardern in Sydney today. What will ...

On the agenda will be everything from the usual gripes around 501 deportations and Kiwis' rights in Australia, to China's growing presence in the Pacific, and climate change.

The issue of deporting people to New Zealand who have few ties here will likely be the most followed by Kiwis, particularly given the current spike in gang tensions.

"I am very clear with any Australian administration that this is a significant issue for New Zealand," Ardern said at her weekly post-Cabinet press conference on Monday.

"We accept that Australia has a deportation policy, because New Zealand has a deportation policy. Our concern has been, we have seen some of the really extreme examples, those who have little to no connection to New Zealand, who are being deported into New Zealand, and then we see the consequences of their anti-social behaviour and their lack of connection here at home."

Ardern repeatedly raised the Australia's 501 deportation policy with former Prime Minister Scott Morrison, even going as far as to call him out for deporting "your people and your problems" while standing just metres from him at a Sydney press conference.

Despite that, there was no progress. Newshub revealed earlier this year that so-called 501 deportees have been convicted of more than 8000 offences in New Zealand since 2015.

Section 501 of Australia's Migration Act has long been a significant point of contention between Canberra and Wellington. It allows Australia to send people back to their home country if they don't pass a character test - such as going to prison for more than 12 months - regardless of whether they still have links to that nation.

The Prime Minister may find more favour with Albanese than she did with Morrison, who was well-known for his hardline immigration stance.

The Guardian reported ahead of the Australian election that Labor could tweak the country's immigration rules so decisions around deportation better take into account the length of time someone has been in Australia.

Read the original post:

Jacinda Ardern meets Anthony Albanese: 501s, China in Pacific, climate ...

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese greets his New Zealand counterpart Jacinda Ardern ahead of a bilateral meeting in Sydney. Photo / Getty Images

Australia will continue with its controversial 501 deportation system, despite "forceful" feedback from Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told a joint news conference he had listened to Ardern - but the practice of deporting criminals to their birth country would continue.

"We'll be maintaining Section 501, but we've heard the very clear message from the Prime Minister, as we've heard before," the new Australian PM said.

Albanese said Ardern had argued forcefully for New Zealand's interests and raised concerns about the 501s.

He expressed some empathy for New Zealand's position, saying if he were in Ardern's position, he would make similar arguments.

The relevant law is Section 501 of Australia's Migration Act, which gives Australia's immigration minister some discretion to cancel visas.

Albanese struck an upbeat tone, suggesting his country was popular again in the international community after nine years of malaise under his Liberal Party predecessors.

"It's like Australia has gone out of the naughty corner."

He voiced enthusiasm for renewable energy targets and addressing the challenges of global warming.

Apart from deportations, a major issue in bilateral and regional relations has been surging Chinese influence in the Indo-Pacific.

Albanese was asked about China's presence in the Pacific, and how closely his views aligned with Ardern's.

"We're in lockstep on the Pacific," he responded.

Defending national sovereignty and supporting sustainable development were key priorities in Australia's Pacific outlook, Albanese said.

He said Pacific nations, with some justification, had felt Australia in recent years had not engaged with sufficient levels of respect.

And in a thinly-veiled repudiation of the relationship under previous Australian PM Scott Morrison, Ardern referred to her meeting with Albanese as a chance for a "reset".

On 501s, she said New Zealand obviously deported people too - but especially individuals who had been in the country only a short time.

"What we've simply asked is there's greater reciprocity."

The irritation with Section 501 related to the deportation to New Zealand of people who were effectively Australian, she said.

Ardern said Albanese's comments around the expulsions showed a significant shift in Australia's approach.

Ardern told reporters she was grateful for Albanese's hospitality.

"There are no two countries that I can think of that have a closer relationship than ours," she said.

Ardern this afternoon also mentioned the Christchurch Call, which encouraged social media companies to clamp down on violent extremist content.

Earlier today, Ardern discussed cost of living and inflation problems plaguing many nations.

Speaking on Australian TV, Ardern said multilateral efforts could help ease global supply chain problems.

The PM also urged Australians to cross the Tasman this ski season and encouraged skilled Aussies - such as those with construction or IT qualifications - to consider emigrating.

Albanese today described New Zealand and Australia's relationship as "family".

The new PM said he and Ardern were determined to take transtasman relations to a new level.

"What that means is new jobs, new growth, new opportunities to co-operate," he said.

Albanese said shared bilateral concerns included climate change and regional geopolitical competition.

"Our approach is based upon respect, transparency and engagement with Pacific institutions."

Before today's meeting, both sides alluded to possible changes to deportations.

Albanese described Ardern as a "very good friend" heading into the meeting and said they enjoyed a wonderful dinner last night.

"We are great friends and I want to build on that. It is probably more important than it has ever been," he said.

"Our people-to-people relations are so strong," the new PM added.

"And I'm sure we can work through those issues much more cooperatively and with win-win outcomes."

He said the Anzac nations would "work through" bilateral issues heading into a leadership dialogue next month where they would be discussed in more detail.

Read this article:

Jacinda Ardern fronts media with Australian PM Anthony Albanese after ...

NZ 'heartened' by Labor's climate stance

Jacinda Ardern is asked if she supports Labors commitment to deliver 43% emissions reductions by 2030. Should it be higher?

From our perspective, we have always been very careful of the fact that we have to make sure that we have our own house in order, so when it comes to the domestic policies of another nation as in regards to climate change, whilst that is a matter for them, of course, New Zealand is heartened and welcomes the position expressed by the new government here in Australia because it is good for our region and good for the world when we work collaboratively on this extraordinary challenge. The Pacific region has listed climate change as its No 1 threat.

Updated at 22.13EDT

Policy wont change without due process, Albanese says

The prime minister is asked to confirm that hes considering tweaking the ministerial direction to take into account the time a person has been in Australia. And can he rule out reintroducing the strengthening the character test legislation that the Morrison government tried to pass before the election?

I can do no such thing. Because what we wont do is deal with policy without going through proper processes. I intend to run an orderly government. And Ive made that point very clear.

Prime minister Ardern has put forward in a strong way, as she has before we have discussed these issues previously, when I had a different title. Prime minister Arderns concerns are very clear. Well work them through in an orderly way. Ive said that section 501 would be maintained. But if you look at the comments that I made as opposition leader, I stand by them that section 501 should be maintained but that there is also concerns have been raised that need to be taken into consideration, as friends.

We deal with each other in a mature way, which deals as well with common sense. And whats clear is that, if people look at some of the cases that have been held, its not surprising that the prime minister would make the strong representations that she had. Because I would be, if I was in the same position.

Updated at 23.02EDT

Jacinda Ardern says she has no doubt Australia and New Zealand will discuss the deportation of NZ citizens over criminal charges in the future, acknowledging it is a new government and they need time to work through the issues:

Weve really appreciated this opportunity, the chance to catch up ... Ive never seen a time where its more important to have friends than it is now.

Anthony Albanese says Ardern has been very forceful in her views and they will work through those issues with departments to implement the way section 501 has been dealt with:

We will work through some of those issues between now, and well have a ministerial meeting, a leaders meeting, coming next month. And well work through with our department, work through the implementation of the way that section 501 has been dealt with. But weve listened to the concerns and theres more work to do.

Updated at 22.10EDT

We are family, Ardern says

Jacinda Ardern is up, beginning her address in Mori. She thanks Anthony Albanese for his hospitality and congratulates him on his election success:

I want to, again, in this environment take the opportunity to congratulate you on your election success which, of course, was really only very recent, but much, of course, has happened even in that short intervening period. It is both humbling but also very fitting to be the first foreign head of government to be here in Australia meeting with you in your new role and I think it is indicative of the relationship that New Zealand and Australia share. There are no two countries that I can think of that have a closer relationship than ours and when I say that we are family, I mean it very sincerely.

Updated at 22.09EDT

Ambitious climate action

Anthony Albanese says Australia and New Zealand will submit an updated nationally determined contribution to the UN convention on climate change:

Australia and New Zealand are also very proud Pacific nations and we value the relations that we have with our Pacific partners very deeply. Our approach is based upon respect, transparency, and engagement with Pacific institutions and we will gather, of course, at the Pacific Island Forum in Fiji in July together.

Prime minister Ardern and I discussed climate change and the ambitious action that my government will take. We will submit, I can confirm today, that well submit an updated nationally determined contribution to the UN framework convention on climate change soon.

Updated at 22.07EDT

We agree on our worldview

Anthony Albanese says the pair agree on our worldview and are determined to take the NZ and Australian relationship to a new level of cooperation in mutual interests of both nations:

What that means is new jobs, new growth, new opportunities to cooperate both in terms of our economy and we had substantial discussions last night, but also this morning about that, but also in the way that we act on the international stage because essentially we agree on our worldview and we can take that position going forward.

Together we face global challenges of a changing climate, economic headwinds, a more insecure regional circumstance that we have to deal with, with strategic competition in the region. And were determined to work together on global security, but also on the economic security that people need and also recognising that the challenge of climate change is, of course, also a national security challenge as well as being a challenge for our actual environment, but also an opportunity for us to grow jobs, increase economic activity.

Updated at 22.06EDT

Anthony Albanese is up now. He says he is delighted to be fronting up with Jacinda Ardern and the pair were able to see the Vivid festival across Sydney Harbour while eating dinner together last night:

I cant think of anything better than the first foreign leader to welcome to Australias shores being our friend from New Zealand and my personal friend from New Zealand as well.

I thank the prime minister once again for calling me even before I had been declared on the Saturday night on the way to the Canterbury Park hotel.

It says something about the relationship, the fact that Jacinda could ring my mobile on the way to that event. It is, of course, a relationship between our two countries as family.

Updated at 22.05EDT

Engineering skills crisis due to visa processing delays

Australia is in the grip of a skills crisis, including in the engineering sector, where the job vacancy rate has increased 97% in 12 months. But one of the short-term fixes to the problem, skilled migration, is, well, not working.

The processing times for 476 visas designed for new graduates who want to live, work or study in Australia for up to 18 months has blown out from a few short months to a staggering 41 months since 2018.

That has trapped many engineering graduates out of the country, arguably at a time when they are needed most. Gurpreet Kaur, an engineer based in Indias Punjab state, told Guardian Australia shes been stuck waiting for almost four years:

I personally applied for this visa back in September 2018 and am still waiting for my visa grant. Despite meeting all the criteria, paying the application fee, medical assessment fees, there are still a lot of applicants like me from Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh and many more countries about 6,000 applicants are waiting for their grant. Waiting for three to four years, its a really frustrating situation, and I think its a moral duty of any government, because this is unfair to us. We have planned all our career plans, we are suffering, not only professionally but it is a mental depression also.

Indias high commissioner to Australia, Manpreet Vohra, has also described visa processing delays as a problem.

I believe its a problem, but only because of staff shortages and backlog built up because of the pandemic.

Prime minister Anthony Albanese described the visa backlog as extraordinary, saying it had also been raised during his trip to Indonesia this week:

This is an issue that, upon coming to government without going into other issues, we have found it isnt just in this area, we have a problem processing visas. There is just an extraordinary backlog.

Updated at 21.55EDT

Stephanie Tran

Darcy, take a bow

A day before the election, Guardian Australia invited readers to tell us who they thought would win asking you to forecast the final number of seats for both major parties, as well as select the winner in 10 marginal electorates.

We had 812 entries and no one managed to pick the exact result, although Darcy, a 24-year-old legal and compliance analyst from Melbourne came oh so close.

He was one of 77 readers to correctly pick Labors 77 seats (spooky!), and tipped the Coalition to win 59 seats. They won 58, which only four readers accurately forecast.

Reflecting on his success, Darcy said he would take it as a justification for my over-consumption of the news:

Living in a now-teal seat, I was reminded daily of the threat to the Coalition in the form of human billboards so maybe that crept into my thinking.

Despite his eerily accurate overall forecast, Darcy only managed to correctly pick five of the 10 electorates provided, proving how difficult an election it was to predict, with so many seats in play.

Only seven of the 812 readers managed to pick the winners of all 10 seats correctly.

Updated at 21.49EDT

ACT Health has released todays Covid update.

There have been 824 new cases detected and one death a woman in her 70s.

There are 83 people being treated in hospital with the virus, including one person in ICU.

Updated at 21.35EDT

Read more:

Live news updates: Jacinda Ardern says Anthony Albaneses election ...

The meeting at a mega-investors New York HQ was so secretive and sinister that the prime minister enthusiastically posted about it on social media.

The online misinformation machine is insatiable, feeding on grains of truth to make mountains of bullshit about, you know, the secretive deep state cabal that rules the world. Jacinda Ardern is a recurring character in this fabulist universe, often cropping up in the company of Emmanuel Macron and Justin Trudeau, all of whom are baselessly portrayed as puppets of octogenarian World Economic Forum founder Klaus Schwab and the new world order plot.

One such grain was found in Arderns recent American trip. Specifically, her participation in a meeting hosted at BlackRock. Suitably scratchy footage of Ardern leaving the massive, multinational manager of financial assets has flooded the usual social media channels in recent days, complete with horrified stage-whispers ranging from hyperbole to outright fabrications.

Ardern, pantomimed one of many articles on an American misinformation-strewn pseudo-news site, was shown to be a pawn doing the bidding of the New World Order. Someone just got busted coming out of BlackRock, posted another conspiracist Twitter account with Redpill in the username on Saturday. Was this the real reason she was in the US, and used the meeting with Biden as cover? The tweet was re-posted by more than 5,000 accounts, with the accompanying video as of yesterday viewed more than 570,000 times.

Among those who shared it was Steve Bannon, the former Trump adviser who received a pardonfrom the then president over charges including conspiracy to commit wire fraud. He declared that the most WOKE of any country head had gone to genuflect at BlackRock.

A similar clip was posted by Disclose.tv, the Germany-based disinformation firehose which, as reported by the local public broadcaster, began as a conspiracy forum for swapping UFO stories [but] has turned into a popular news aggregator dispensing conspiracy theories and anti-vaccine content. Its video has been viewed more than 860,000 times on Twitter and more than 200,000 on Telegram.

The nakedly QAnon conspiracy theorists got in on the act, too. New Zealands pro-tyranny PM Jacinda Ardern is filmed coming out of the globalist Death Star financial headquarters at BlackRock, gurgled one prominent QAnon account on Gab, the social network beloved by the far-right. Endless comment threads filled with the usual screeds of invective, dystopian fantasy, casual comparisons to Nazism and a big serving of misogyny. Naturally, New Zealands own disinformation groups eagerly shared it.

But just how insidious and secretive was Arderns BlackRock visit? So insidious and secretive that you can find evidence of it on, well, her own Facebook page on the day it happened.

Tagging along on the US visit was a trade delegation, with Ardern promising to provide face time for New Zealand business owners who might otherwise struggle to get an email opened. Of the BlackRock meeting widely trailed in the mainstream media Stuffs political editor wrote: The business delegation in attendance were clearly wowed by the access they managed to get by riding the PMs coat-tails but also took away a lot from it.

The videos, with their swirling online audience in the millions, have two principal origins. One is aNew Zealand based TikTok user, with 20,000 followers, who posted a shaky video of Ardern leaving BlackRock HQ, adding his own commentary: What is Jabcinda doing coming out of BlackRock? That is freaking scary. He went on to urge viewers to share this far and fricking wide. The other is a Sydney-based disinformation account on Twitter, with 3,500 followers a small number, but enough to attract the attention of more influential social media users worldwide able to share it far and fricking wide.

In both cases, the source material came from Newshub. In the TikTok example the images were made muddy by a phone camera recording the television, but in both cases the video was cropped to disguise the fact that it was taken from a very straightforward, unscandalous report for the 6pm news, and made to appear as though the footage was opportunistic, or a stakeout even, rather than Jacinda Ardern leaving a meeting as scheduled.

The conspiratorial froth around Arderns visit was especially attractive because it dovetailed with another disinformation theme that has proved popular recently: the falsehood that, in the words of one of the accounts cited above, BlackRock owns all the major pharmaceutical companies and weapons manufacturers as well as most of the mainstream media.

BlackRock does hold stakes in some of these companies, and as a colossal financial player it very much warrants great scrutiny and criticism for its decisions (including whether it has ballsed up its responsibilities to the environment). But the statement above, versions of which are debunked in Reuters fact-checks here and here, is total crap, swimming in a sewer of bullshit.

The Spinoffs political coverage is powered by the generous support of our members. If you value what we do and believe in the importance of independent and freely accessible journalism tautoko mai,donate today.

View original post here:

Conspiracy theorists are losing their shit over a clip of Jacinda ...

The Prime Minister of New Zealand, Jacinda Ardern, popped in for a visit with BlackRock, the globalist asset management firm that owns much of the business world. They have over $11 trillion in assets under management, making them more economically powerful than the vast majority of nations.

This report from New Zealand media comically positions Ardern as the one with power in the exchange. She is a pawn doing the bidding of the New World Order.

Some may believe this is no big deal, that a world leader making a stop at a globalist mega-corporation is just a day in the life. But Ardern, who is a graduate of Klaus Schwabs World Economic Forum indoctrination school, also known as Young Global Leaders Initiative, has been central to the New World Orders plans to bring western society to heel. Her draconian Covid policies were benchmarks for authoritarians who wanted to see just how much control a democracy could hold over the people.

Connecting with the puppet masters at BlackRock out in the open bodes ill for the world. After all, Ardern is a Neo-Marxist and the world isnt supposed to know theyre living in George Orwells Animal Farm where the revolutionaries are actually in bed with the capitalists. To come out in broad daylight for a closed-door meeting with the biggest financer of the globalist elites signals the current stance that they dont care what we think we know.

Support undeniable patriot Mike Lindell (and us!). Buy from MyPillow with promo code JDR at checkout or call 800-862-0382.

Things are moving very quickly and the vast majority of Americans are still asleep. The crap is going to hit the fan soon. It behooves as many of us as possible to be alert and prepared for whatever is to come.

Over the last several months, Ive lost count of how many times the powers-that-be have tried to shut us down. Theyve sent hackers at us, forcing us to take extreme measures on web security. They sent attorneys after us, but thankfully were not easily intimidated by baseless accusations or threats. Theyve even gone so far as to make physical threats. Those can actually be a bit worrisome but Remington has me covered.

For us to continue to deliver the truth that Americans need to read and hear, we ask you, our amazing audience, for financial assistance. We just launched a GiveSendGo page to help us pay the bills. Its brand new so dont be discouraged by the lack of donations there. Its a funny reality that the fewer the donations that have been made, the less likely people are willing to donate to it. One would think this is counterintuitive, but sometimes people are skeptical because they think that perhaps theres a reason others havent been donating. In our situation, were just getting started so please dont be shy if you have the means to help.

Thank you and God bless!

JD Rucker

Visit link:

Jacinda Ardern, PM of New Zealand and WEF Graduate, Just Visited the ...

Biography

New Zealand politician who has served as the 40th prime minister of New Zealand since 26 October 2017 and leader of the Labour Party since 1 August 2017. First elected to the House of Representatives as a list MP in 2008, she has been the member of Parliament (MP) for Mount Albert since 8 March 2017.

She is the daughter of a police officer father and a mother who ran a school canteen. Ideologically, Ardern describes herself as both a social democrat and a progressive. A supporter of the labour movement, she opposes tax cuts for high-income earners as supported by the National Party, and supports a welfare state that provides a safety net for "those unable to support themselves". On cultural issues, Ardern is a supporter of same-sex marriage, having voted in favour of the marriage equality bill in 2013, and supports the liberalisation of abortion laws.

After graduating from the University of Waikato in 2001, Ardern began her career working as a researcher in the office of Prime Minister Helen Clark. She later worked in the United Kingdom as a policy advisor to British Prime Minister Tony Blair, and, in 2008, she was elected President of the International Union of Socialist Youth. Ardern won elected office in 2008 as a list MP, a position she held for almost ten years until her election to the Mount Albert electorate in the 2017 by-election. Later that year, she was unanimously elected as Deputy Leader of the Labour Party following the resignation of Annette King.

Following a historic low for the party in polling, on 1 August 2017, Leader of the Labour Party Andrew Little resigned his position and was succeeded in his capacity by Ardern. Under her leadership, the Labour Party polled ahead of its traditional rival party, the National Party, for the first time in twelve years. In the general election which took place on 23 September 2017, the Labour Party won 46 seats, a net gain of 14, putting it behind Bill Englishs National Party, which won 56 seats. She is set to become the next Prime Minister of New Zealand, after Winston Peters announced he would enter a coalition government with Labour.

Ardern's partner is television presenter Clarke Gayford. On 3 May 2019, it was reported that Ardern was engaged to be married to Gayford. On 19 January 2018, Ardern announced that she was expecting her first child in June, making her New Zealand's first prime minister to be pregnant in office. Ardern was admitted to Auckland City Hospital on 21 June 2018, and gave birth to a girl at 4:45 pm (04:45 UTC) that day, becoming only the second elected head of government to give birth while in office (after Benazir Bhutto in 1990). On 24 June, Ardern revealed her daughter's given names as Neve Te Aroha. Neve is an anglicised form of the Irish name Niamh, meaning 'bright'; Aroha is Mori for 'love', and Te Aroha is a mountain in the Kaimai Range, near Ardern's home town of Morrinsville.

Link to Wikipedia biography

Sy Scholfield quotes her on Twitter: "In case you weren't already aware "hey, you're half way to 64!" is never the correct response to someone talking about their 32nd birthday" (posted 18 April 2012) [1], "Thanks everyone for the lovely birthday messages!" (posted 26 Jul 2012) [2], "I was born in Hamilton" [3].

NZ astrologer Graham Ibell rectified to 1:59 pm.

See the original post:

Jacinda Ardern, horoscope for birth date 26 July 1980, born in Hamilton ...

Prime Ministers Anthony Albaneseand Jacinda Ardernhave of their respective countries, and the "wholesome" photos are lighting up the internet.The New Zealand Labour leader is the first foreign leader to visit Australia since the change of government, with Ms Ardern touching down in Sydney on Thursday ahead of Friday's bilateral meetings. Before things got too serious, though, the leaders were snapped sharing a "warm" and friendly greeting.

One image has the pair watching the Sydney Harbour Bridge, lit up for the annual Vivid light show. Another captures them taking a selfie. Another has Mr Albanese posing with vinyl records featuring Kiwi bands, recently gifted to him by Ms Ardern.

"I've already scripted half the screenplay for this political rom-com in my head. Two people fall in love when attempting to find a rental in Sydney," the accompanying caption read.

Mr Albanese gifted albums of Australian rock bands Powderfinger, Spiderbait and Midnight Oil, while Ms Ardern handed over records from indie band The Clean, singer-songwriter Aldous Harding as well as a compilation album of unreleased tracks from 70s New Zealand punk bands. All the records were from New Zealand's iconic Flying Nun label.

On 23 May, Ms Ardern ruled out a musical collab between the Trans-Tasman leaders, telling reporters: "No, thats a firm no. I have not raised that question with the prime minister-elect but I think I can feel fairly confident in answering on both of our behalf."

In 2019, Ms Ardern blasted the Morrison government for Australia's policy of deporting New Zealanders convicted of a crime here and said it was "testing" the friendship between the nations.

Describing the issue as a "bugbear", she said she wants to see it resolved.

Original post:

'Rom-com': 'Wholesome' meeting of Anthony Albanese and Jacinda Ardern ...