Ashley Bloomfield has (almost) left the building
The director general of health finishes on Friday. In one of his last acts, he ordered 14 councils to reintroduce fluoride to their water supplies
Mōrena and welcome to The Bulletin for Thursday, July 28, by Anna Rawhiti-Connell. Presented in partnership with Z Energy.
In today’s edition: long waits for heart patients; the rise of consultants working with government; possible contender for Green’s co-leader role; but first, Bloomfield signs off, strong evidence about outbreak origin emerging.
One last spin in the feature image spot for Ashley Bloomfield (Photos: Getty Images, additional design by Archi Banal)
Bloomfield wraps up final press conference with an “over and out”
Capping off a run of 307 Covid press conferences, outgoing director general of health, Ashley Bloomfield was clapped out of his last ever Covid update yesterday by Ministry of Health staff. Diana Sarfati will step in to fill the role temporarily until a permanent appointment is made. His final day is Friday but unless something terrible happens between now and then, that was his last appearance at what once generated enough momentum as appointment viewing to get its own IMDb page.
Bloomfield’s parting shot to councils
Those days feel like a very long time ago but it was only two years and exactly 6 months ago, on January 28, 2020, that Bloomfield was first mentioned in the Bulletin in relation to Covid. Then-editor Alex Braae apologised for doing another lead story “on the coronavirus” that day. Bloomfield’s parting gift was an order to 14 councils to fluoridate their water. Speaking to RNZ’s Morning Report this morning former South Taranaki district council mayor, Ross Dunlop said it vindicated the council’s decision to take anti-fluoride campaigners to the Supreme Court where it won a landmark case to add fluoride to the water supply in Patea and Waverley.
Worst case scenario unlikely to happen
As someone observed, at least Bloomfield got to deliver a semblance of good news today. A previously modelled “worst case scenario” of 20,000 Covid cases per day is unlikely to come to pass. Cases are trending downwards which is also being seen in wastewater results and test positivity rates in people being admitted to hospital in the week to July 24. “Pleasingly”, something of a Bloomfieldism, the case rate is declining among the over 65s, who have had the highest case rates in this outbreak.
Compelling evidence that Wuhan market was at centre of Covid outbreak
Two peer reviewed studies released on Tuesday provide strong evidence that the Huanan seafood and wildlife market in Wuhan, China was the epicentre of the outbreak. One of the studies shows that the earliest known cases were clustered around that market and the other uses genetic information to track the timing of the outbreak. It suggests that the virus was present in live mammals sold at the market and that two variants were introduced into humans in November or early December 2019. As an awfully circular reminder that we’re still very much in a pandemic, Chinese officials shut down some businesses and public transport, and told 1 million residents in Wuhan to stay in their homes yesterday after discovering four cases of Covid.
Together with New Zealand Trade and Enterprise, the fourth episode in The Spinoff’s podcast series Going Global, is out now. This week co-hosts Ethique’s Brianne West and Business is Boring’s Simon Pound talk to Alliv Samson, COO and co-founder of Kami, a digital education provider used by over 32 million people. Samson’s experience in computer science has helped shape Kami into one of the fastest growing EdTech companies, allowing teachers and students to view, edit and collaborate with digital documents.
Long wait for heart patients
As RNZ’s Rowan Quinn reports, acute health patients are facing long waits in hospitals for surgery. Hospitals have been delaying non-urgent surgery due to the pressure Covid and other winter illnesses have created in the health system. Cardiac Society chairperson and cardiologist Selwyn Wong said patients needing urgent procedures were now waiting much longer than normal. Part of the issue relates to a shortage of ICU beds, which are often needed by heart patients after surgery. A shortage of ward beds means surgical patients are staying longer in ICU and beds can’t be freed up for new patients.
“There are three branches of government: the legislature, the judiciary and MartinJenkins”
Stuff’s Dileepa Fonseka has a good column on the expanding use of consultants by the government and public sector. MartinJenkins is a consulting firm which, as they describe on their website, has its roots “in the shifting sands of state sector reform in the early 90’s”. Fonseka traces the origins of the consulting boom in government back to the capping of the number of “core” public servants by the Key government. While permanent staff equaled disclosable headcount, paying consultants or contractors just equaled spending. Between 2006 and 2018, wage and salary costs in the public sector rose 49%, while contractor spending rose 134%. Somewhat related, Newsroom’s Sam Sachdeva has a report on the hiring of staff for the government's income insurance scheme which has not yet been formally signed off by the government.
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Possible contender for Green Party leadership
Green MP Teanau Tuiono held a press conference yesterday to say he is still considering whether he will challenge James Shaw for the party's co-leadership. Good to give an update among all the speculation, I guess. As Stuff’s Thomas Manch and Laura Walters report, Tuiono said it was important, particularly to young members, that the Green Party had a strong and independent voice that was not tethered to the Labour Party. Tuiono said he would consult party members before deciding whether to formally run for the co-leadership.
Click and collect
TVNZ's Paul Yurisich has resigned after review into hiring of Kamahl Santamaria.
164,000 people need to provide their bank account details to the IRD to get the first cost of living payment.
More than a million people will be aged 65 by 2028 according to new Stats NZ data
Climate change commission wants the government to change the rules for the way emissions are priced.
Neighbours airs in Australia for the last time tonight. I have not watched the soap in approximately one million years but farewell to Ramsay St.
Got some feedback about The Bulletin, or anything in the news? Get in touch with me at thebulletin@thespinoff.co.nz
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Stillwater residents are dreading a new motorway project which will connect Whangaparāoa Peninsula to State Highway 1, saying it's going to ruin their peace and quiet. Chris Schulz pays the small settlement a visit. Toby Manhire reports from the mayoral candidates' debate at Auckland University, and can't resist an egg pun in the headline. Graeme Edgeler considers the loopholes exposed by last week's NZ First Foundation judgement. Alex Casey finds out where library books go to die.
And for everyone that emailed me a couple of weeks ago about why they think there’s a gap between caring about climate change and taking action, Ellen Rykers talks to professor Niki Harré about the psychology of taking climate action. Ellen writes our new environment newsletter, Future Proof, which I recommend for more honest but hopeful writing on this issue.
Flag bearers named for Commonwealth Games
Six-time medallist and squash champion, Joelle King and champion shot putter, Tom Walsh have been named as the flag bearers for the New Zealand Commonwealth Games team for the opening ceremony. Both are former Commonwealth Games medallists. It will be the first time a male and female athlete have jointly carried the flag at the games after a rule change. The opening ceremony airs in New Zealand from 6.45am tomorrow morning on Prime. Duran Duran will be the major musical attraction.
The lonely, backroom job of being the right-hand to the prime minister
The long read today is from North and South. Pete McKenzie profiles prime minister Jacinda Ardern’s chief of staff, Raj Nahna. McKenzie speaks to former Green Party chief of staff, now Wellington mayoral candidate, Tory Whanau who describes the job as “hugely lonely”, and former chief-of-staff for John Key, Wayne Eagleson, who said “This is a backroom job. Every time your name is in the paper, whether good, bad or indifferent, that’s a bad day.”
