There’s no time for post-Covid petty politics
As we move to Covid-19 alert level one we can be proud that our initial response to the global pandemic was, and remains, worldclass. That’s not our opinion but the opinion of most world leaders. Sadly in the process we lost 21 people and our economy has yet to feel the full force of the lockdown and having our borders closed for an indefinite period. That said we have become, with some justification, more than a little smug in our ability to deal with catastrophic events in a manner other nations seem unable to replicate.
Admittedly our relatively small population and geographic isolation played a big part in that success but most people, particularly those in central and local government put (most) of their philosophical and political differences aside while we fought to control and contain the deadly virus. It has not been easy for some, it has been tragic and devastating for others and we are not completely safe even yet.
It is a pointless simplicity in hindsight to claim we could have done better as we know could have but we can claim that about almost anything. Even Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa and Michael Angelo’s statue of David could be improved if there was someone brave enough or foolish enough to try.
For those who still claim we over reacted, or under reacted, and there are many of both, they only have to see what has happened to those nations that failed to act soon enough with across the board cooperation and a clear plan of action.
In the UK, Boris Johnson’s government has been severely criticised over the failure to prepare for and respond to coronavirus quickly enough. The most tragic result of that failure has been more than 16,000 coronavirus-related deaths in hospitals, and thousands more are believed to have died in care homes and elsewhere with a total approaching 40,000.
Even when Boris Johnson’s own absence from duty, due to coronavirus, caused him to miss several meetings of the government’s emergency committee there still did not seem to be the urgency and unity which guided the UK through the horror days of World War II.
The situation in USA is far worse with more than 100,000 dead and the crisis for them far from over.
How many of those lives could have been saved if there had not been weeks of dithering egotistical incompetence will never be known. To make matters worse for Americans their cities burn and there are armed soldiers in the streets trying to keep the lid on the boiling pot of racial disharmony brought about by the killing of yet another black man by police. In the meantime the virus continues to stalk the land almost unhindered. Some will be wondering if their president is through trying to make America great again.
At home, while the Government made tough decisions to save lives while keeping at least the foundations of our economy alive our district and regional councils took drastic measures to keep rate rises down to the bare minimum. Projects were side-lined, costs were cut and councillors up and down the country put their usual disagreements aside to help their ratepayers through one of the most difficult economic events since the Great Depression of the 1930s.
All except the Tauranga District Council which has chosen this time, when unity of purpose is more important than most other considerations, to engage in a petty squabble over who should be their deputy mayor.
When the steam and smoke from the tragic Whakaari eruption has hardly blown away, many of their local business operations are in jeopardy of failure and hundreds of their people face unemployment they forced their deputy mayor to resign. Mayor Tenby Powell labelled the councillors responsible as desperate to prevent progress. That is far too polite as it is much worse than that. This is a serious disservice to Tauranga ratepayers who have a right to expect a great deal better from their council, particularly when sound civic leadership will be so important in the weeks and months ahead.
They are about half-way through their term of office and they have had ample time to sort these trivial personality issues out long before now. The deputy mayor is no more than an assistant to the mayor who should step into the role of the mayor if he is not available. They only have one vote each at the council table and they need confidence in each other to work together, with the rest of the council, in the interests of their community.
The council has much more important things to do than indulge in petty, ego driven squabbles.
The train wreck of American politics is a direct result of such behaviour and we don’t need it here.