ICYMI: Visa extension

Over 200k migrant workers to stay longer; One-year stand-down delayed til Jan 2022; Scathing Roche/Simpson report released with $3b fix-it plan; UK locked down & shut off as virulent strain runs wild

ICYMI: I’ll do these on occasion through the summer break as a journal of record for when I start again properly on January 26. It will help jog my memory on what happened when I wasn’t fully in the news flow. Yes, I have a short attention span…

TLDR: Immigration Minister Kris Faafoi announced last night the extension of expiring work visas by a further six months and postponed the one-year stand-down period for temporary workers for two years to January 2022. The move extends the work rights of over 200,000 temporary workers.

Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins released a scathing independent report on Friday into the Ministry of Health’s response on contact tracing and testing three months after a draft was sent to him. He announced $2.86b of new funding from the $14.1b Covid-19 response fund set up in Budget 2020 to improve the system.

Fish and Game CEO Martin Taylor resigned on Friday with immediate effect. He was three years into a five year contract. Stuff’s Charlie Mitchell reported he had tried to audit and professionalise the organisation’s regional operations, but was opposed by some who had wanted to work more closely with Federated Farmers. Taylor was the head of research and policy in Labour’s Parliamentary office under then-Opposition leader Andrew Little. Before that, Taylor was the CEO of the Aged Care Asssociation.

The President and Secretary of the NZ First Party resigned and former MP Darroch Ball said he would run the party until its AGM next year.

Overseas over the weekend, PM Boris Johnson reversed his plans for a brief Christmas relaxation of England’s lockdown after the Government warned a new more infectious strain of Covid-19 was “out of control.” European countries banned flights from Britain overnight to try to contain the new strain.

US President Donald Trump was reported by the New York Times’ Maggie Haberman to have asked White House officials in a meeting if he could declare martial law before the inauguration of Joe Biden. The officials opposed the idea and Trump has denied saying it. Various MAGA groups are calling for the military to stage a coup.

Victoria closed its border with New South Wales overnight after parts of Northern Sydney were put into lockdown to control a community outbreak of Covid-19.

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In our political economy since Friday morning

Charlie Mitchell @comingupcharlie

There’s been a lot of internal disruption at Fish & Game, a statutory body and powerful environmental lobby. I understand the chief executive resigned due to what he saw as a concerted effort to undermine him

stuff.co.nzFish & Game boss resigns suddenly amid internal tensionThe head of an influential environmental advocacy group has resigned suddenly after a year of dysfunction at the group.

Simon Evans @SimonMEvans

Shares in infant formula group A2 Milk tumble 23 per cent. They say it's nothing to do with the China trade war, but because of the vanishing daigou traders who no longer ship goods to sell on e-commerce sites.

afr.comA2 Milk slashes guidance on slower sales recoveryThe company slashed its guidance for the second time in three months, with a recovery in the daigou channel slower than expected in Australia.

In the global political economy since Friday

AFP News Agency @AFP

#UPDATE European countries banned flights from the UK on Sunday and the WHO called for stronger containment measures as the British government warned that a potent new strain of the virus was "out of control"

u.afp.comCountries ban UK flights as Britain says new virus strain ‘out of control’European countries banned flights from the UK on Sunday and the WHO called for stronger containment measures as the British government warned that a potent new strain of the virus was “out of control”.

BNO Newsroom @BNODesk

Growing number of countries banning travel from the UK due to coronavirus mutation: - UK flights banned in Austria, the Netherlands, Italy, and Kuwait - Belgium closing border to all travelers from the UK for at least 24 hours while deciding what to do

Eric Lipton @EricLiptonNYT

STILL GOING: Earlier this week on TV, Mr. Flynn pushed for Mr. Trump to impose martial law and deploy the military to “rerun” the election. At one point in the meeting on Friday with the president, Mr. Trump asked about that idea. @maggieNYT @KannoYoungs

nytimes.comTrump Weighed Naming Election Conspiracy Theorist as Special CounselIn a meeting at the White House on Friday, President Trump weighed appointing Sidney Powell, who promoted conspiracy theories about rigged voting machines, to investigate voter fraud.

Sky News Australia @SkyNewsAust

Parts of China are reportedly experiencing worsening electricity shortages as the communist country refuses to accept Australian coal which remains in dozens of ships being kept waiting off China's ports.

skynews.com.auParts of China reportedly experiencing worsening electricity shortages amid coal ban | Sky News AustraliaParts of China are reportedly experiencing worsening electricity shortages as the communist country refuses to accept Australian coal which remains in dozens of ships being kept waiting off China’s ports. The Australian is reporting millions of people across large cities in the country are having …

Signs o’ the times news

Checkpoint @CheckpointRNZ

"I was in Whakatāne, I was on the emergency housing waitlist and getting hell from WINZ all the time about how much it was costing."

rnz.co.nzCaravan Christmas for many as housing crisis continues<p>As many Kiwi households prepare to head off for camping holidays over the coming weeks, others are already parked up in campervans across the country. That’s because they live there year round - unable to afford the skyrocketing rents, let alone house prices. Some of those families have complex h…

Susan Strongman @SusanStrongman

The boss of the Ports of Auckland, where 2 workers have died since 2018, says reporting of safety issues has been low because Māori and Pacific workers do not raise risks 🙃 rnz.co.nz/national/progr…

rnz.co.nzPorts of Auckland boss blames all delays on Covid-19<p>The chief executive of the underperforming Ports of Auckland is insisting the delays to offloading freight and problems with its new automation system are the fault of Covid-19.</p> <p>Importers are frustrated at the backlog of stock still at sea or stuck on the wharf as some shop shelves remain…

Eric Lipton @EricLiptonNYT

POLITICO: Emails show unvarnished truth. The massive scale of the outbreak in U.S. was intentional, at least according to one top Trump appointee advising HHS ‘We want them infected’: Trump appointee demanded ‘herd immunity’ strategy, emails reveal

politi.co‘We want them infected’: Trump appointee demanded ‘herd immunity’ strategy, emails revealThen-HHS science adviser Paul Alexander called for millions of Americans to be infected as means of fighting Covid-19.

Notable scoops

Kristin Hall @kristinhallNZ

Layna Lazar says her experience at Weta Workshop was "life-ruining". An independent review into her sexual harassment allegations found her claims were "unsubstantiated", but one group says that doesn't mean the harassment didn't happen. My story here:

tvnz.co.nzWoman whose sexual harassment complaint sparked Weta Workshop review says it’s not overAn independent review into Layna Lazar’s allegations could substantiated her claims.

Threads worth unravelling

Andrew Dean @andrewhdean

As much of the UK goes back into yet another severe lockdown and cancels Christmas, I'd like to remind you of the many Serious Business groups that said that New Zealand must 'let the virus in' for the sake of the ~economy~

Benedict Evans @benedictevans

All social apps grow until you need a newsfeed All newsfeeds grow until you need an algorithmic feed All algorithmic feeds grow until you get fed up of not seeing stuff/seeing the wrong stuff & leave for new apps with less overload All those new apps grow until...

Longer reads and listens worth your time

Dr Alexandra Phelan @alexandraphelan

It's taken me a couple of days to get to it. If it has you too, I highly recommend settling in to read (or listen to) this wonderful long form piece from @edyong209. And with the final paragraph of this piece: so much of this is about Good Governance.

theatlantic.comHow Science Beat the VirusAnd what it lost in the process

Coming up…

Stuff.co.nz Business @NZStuffBusiness

Day of reckoning for Meridian on Tuesday as Electricity Authority readies ruling

dlvr.itDay of reckoning for Meridian on Tuesday as Electricity Authority readies rulingANALYSIS: What you need to know, as regulator readies final ruling on market manipulation complaint.

Ngā mihi

Bernard

PS: Thanks to Miranda from Rakiura for today’s pic.

PPS Some fun things

Calgie @christiancalgie

Why does Matt Hancock sit down like Woody in Toy Story when a human enters the room