Some random thoughts on the Vaxathon

Shit that was good. What a vibe eh? People were excited and engaged and we smashed the target. It felt like the whole country was swinging in behind it; there was a feeling of hope in the air. It was helped by the [relatively] low number of positive Covid cases that day. I had been spitballing with friends who terrible it would be if there was 120 cases announced at 1pm and how that might suck the fun out of it all.

Kudos to the people who pulled it together. I was cynical about it. But by the end of the day I was a huge cheerleader.

Except...

I noticed that very few, if any, opposition MPs were involved. And while you could say they haven't been terribly supportive of the Government's Covid response, they have been supportive of the vaccination effort. And I would have thought that something like the vaxathon should span the political divide.

I know that Seymour's office tried numerous times to get David involved. They were ignored until the night before the event when they were told they could pre-record something. 

Now David might not be speaking to many of the people we're still trying to reach with the vaccine thing, but the day should have been about bringing everyone together. 

Hipkins, Peeni Henare, the PM and Chlöe Swarbrick were on it. But no Nats, and no ACT. I was told Rawiri Waititi got on, so at least one party not involved in the Government was there.

Judith recorded a video from her apartment where she is self isolating. I commend her for the fact she has a National party banner in her apartment.

Anyway, that gripe aside, it was a massive effort and hopefully it has tapped into a community spirit that we can carry forward. 

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The Herald went out of its way to be a dick though eh? First off on the day of the Vaxathon it was running scare headlines ahead of the 1pm: Will we see the first day of triple digits?! That sort of thing. And then the day after ran a ridiculous story about the PM canceling the use of a venue for her upcoming wedding. It then emerged that Cameron Slater had been shopping the story around and had found a willing buyer in the Herald. Pretttttty shit that that guy is back.

But I think the most concerning thing the Herald has run from the past few days is a column by Bill Ralston. In a column headlined "It's time for the Government to get hard on vaccines" there are some wild lines:

For the financial and physical health of the country, the next step should be to apply an element of force.

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Can I also suggest it is time to lock up the epidemiologists, microbiologists and Covid modellers who continually sound like prophets of doom? It just creates a pointless climate of fear and depression that exacerbates the state of crisis.

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It is time for the Government to get tougher, and I genuinely have sympathy for Ardern in this situation, because acting tough is not in her nature. But, Prime Minister, it is time to be hard.

These are some wild calls for fascism in a column. They go further than even Matthew Hooton would. It's also concerning how New Zealand's opinion columnist scene is becoming dominated by households.

There's Mike and Kate Hosking, Barry Soper and Heather du Plessis-Allan, and now Bill Ralston and Janet Wilson (who has a fortnightly column on Stuff). That's six columnists from 3 house holds. All Pākehā and all from the upper-middle class slice of society.

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A final note on Simon Bridge's slow-motion coup. He's now doing interviews talking about himself as a "strange rooster", and embracing his happy clappy-ness. It's all painfully awkward as he drifts towards becoming leader again. A month ago I would have said he's a shoo in, but he's taking far too long and allowing others (CoughLuxonCough) to get more battled hardened and put their hand up.

It's time to shit or get off the pot Bridges, you're running it very close to National being relegated to third most popular party in Parliament, and that may be hard to come back from.