Dawn chorus: Australia closed 'indefinitely'

TLDR or TLDL: Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison was reported yesterday as saying Australia wanted to stay closed ‘indefinitely’ beyond its New Zealand bubble and pursue a New Zealand-style ‘elimination’ strategy. He walked that back later in a Facebook post to saying Australia was only pursuing a ‘suppression’ strategy and Australia had a ‘long way to go,’ but it’s clear he’s saying full vaccination won’t be enough to open up.

“All I know is once you let it back in … you cannot get it out. You’ve crossed that threshold. You move into another dimension.” Scott Morrison in The Daily Telegraph.

However, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said his Budget due out late on Tuesday night NZ Time was based on a forecast Australia would stay closed beyond New Zealand until 2022. It is clear now opening up beyond Australia won’t be easy or soon.

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Briefly elsewhere in our political economy

bernardchickeysubscribers @bernardchickey2

Very useful backgrounder on the Onslow idea from @PullarStrecker. I didn't realise we're burning 250,000 tonnes of coal a month... Strangely, few are talking about distributed solar generation. Addicted to the network.

stuff.co.nzPower woes: ‘We need a solution or we are going to wreck our economy’Hydrologist Earl Bardsley believes Lake Onslow may remain the only viable plan to cope with the threat of more ‘dry year’ power crises.

Sunday @SundayTVNZ

FULL STORY - Amber, Zak and Annabelle are schoolkids - & also young carers looking after whanau at home. But while these young carers look after others why aren’t we looking after them? tvnz.co.nz/shows/sunday/c…

1 NEWS @1NewsNZ

NZ should be ‘embarrassed’ about its global ranking on young carers, says world leading expert @SundayTVNZ tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-z…

Q+A @NZQandA

NZ should separate foreign affairs from trade when dealing with China, Asia analyst @rodneyatwigram tells #NZQandA #nzpol tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-z…

Q+A @NZQandA

Epidemiologist: NZ could see 'devastating' community outbreak if it allows repatriation flights from India #NZQandA #nzpol tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-z…

In the global political economy

The Wall Street Journal @WSJ

The surge of coronavirus infections in developing countries such as India amid a relative scarcity of vaccine supply means that the pandemic will keep spreading until mid-2022, according to the inventors of the BioNTech vaccine

on.wsj.comBioNTech Founders Expect Covid-19 Pandemic to Last Until Mid-2022Mixing and matching of different types of vaccines could be necessary to end pandemic, company’s chief medical officer says

Newsweek @Newsweek

Dogecoin tanks amid Elon Musk 'SNL' appearance, prompting wave of ridicule

newsweek.comDogecoin tanks amid Elon Musk ‘SNL’ appearance, prompting wave of ridiculeAt around 12:30 a.m. ET, amid Musk’s ‘SNL’ performance, the price of dogecoin fell to 0.5115—a 24 percent drop in value.

Sign o’ the times news

RNZ @radionz

A Lower Hutt company that makes prefab classrooms is in voluntary administration but the Education Ministry says it is working with it.

rnz.co.nzPrefab classroom builder AdBuild in voluntary administration but continues to tradeA Lower Hutt company that makes prefab classrooms is in voluntary administration but the Education Ministry says it is working with it.

Newstalk ZB @NewstalkZB

'Completely in the lurch': Developers on 700-home building project into receivership bit.ly/3vSHyNk

Notable other views

Chlöe Swarbrick @_chloeswarbrick

Affordable house prices are widely considered to be a ratio of three times the median annual wage. The last time homes were that affordable in Aotearoa was 2003. I was nine years old and Evanescence’s Bring Me To Life was top of the charts.

theguardian.comEveryone deserves a decent, secure life. It’s time New Zealand talked about rent controls | Chloe SwarbrickUnder the government’s current plans it will be half a century before house prices return to affordability

RNZ Te Ao Māori @RNZTeAoMaori

Power Play - The He Puapua report on how to better uphold indigenous rights was supposed to chart a new way forward but has become bogged down in the swamp of politics, Meriana Johnsen writes.

rnz.co.nzHe Puapua report bogged down in ‘swamp of politics’<i>Power Play </i>- The <i>He Puapua </i>report on how to better uphold indigenous rights was supposed to chart a new way forward but has become bogged down in the swamp of politics, <b>Meriana Johnsen</b> writes.

Justin Pemberton @justinsight

No Covid baby boom... instead U.S. birthrates fell to a record low in 2020. For many parenthood is unaffordable and the future too uncertain.

nytimes.comOpinion | Is Capitalism Killing Conservatism?The conservative responses to stagnation and decay are incoherent and insufficient. But do liberals have any?

Charts of the day

David Hood @Thoughtfulnz

Household creation vs. House creation

Dr Zoë Hyde @DrZoeHyde

New modelling showing that the minimum amount of virus typically needed to become infected is only 10 virus particles. This is an order of magnitude greater than SARS. Without masks and ventilation, physical distancing rapidly becomes inadequate indoors. pnas.org/content/118/17…

Some fun things

niffauw @RustigNiffauw

here’s a clip of elon musk explaining what doge coin is on SNL….he said it’s a hustle 😂

Susan Li @SusanLiTV

Yup that’s the #cybertruck at the #Tesla #meatpacking showroom I see #NYC $tsla

The sun rose at 7:17 am in Wellington this morning. It will rise at 7:18 am tomorrow morning.