Ardern brilliant to this point but many challenges ahead
IT seems that brilliant is the new normal for Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern for the time being.
It is unlikely to last. Just as the numbers of cases of Covid19 are anticipated to rise steeply. so too will challenges to the Government’s ability to respond.
Ardern has been brilliant at making and communicating momentous decisions that take us into the unknown.
The willingness of the country to accept the lockdown without a clear exit plan has been remarkable and due to her having built the case in clear stages.
But this has largely been the setup phase, getting systems in place. Ardern has had little to defend until now, besides the lockdown decision itself.
The most important system from here on is the one that quickly conveys practical problems on the ground to the people with power to fix it.
To that end, unions have been brilliant. Unions should be deemed to be an essential service in times like this.
Most union officials are working from home but they have direct connections to the frontline workers such as nurses, hospital cleaners, aged care workers, and home support services.
In recent days, they have done a service not just to their members but to the public in exposing supply problems, especially of personal protective equipment (PPE).
When PPE has been raised at press conferences, the issue has often been deflected to concentrate on masks, which are relatively plentiful in New Zealand, rather than gowns or ventilators.
Such is the shortage of gowns that I’m aware of some doctors having to reuse their paper gowns.
It is not in the DNA of officials to admit to problems. They have integrity and talent but as officials, their default position is discretion over disclosure. They would rather reveal the problem after they have solved it.
Yesterday was the exception. Such has been the concern about PPE that finally the numbers were revealed, not just for masks but gowns, gloves and eye protections for health workers.
To most viewers, the numbers will be meaningless. To the professionals, it was at least an indication of what rationing might have to occur if future supplies cannot be secured.
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The Ministry of Health’s Ashley Bloomfield surprisingly revealed that guidance was about to be issued to frontline workers on when they should and should not wear protective gear and that distribution of PPEs would be done at a national level.
As one of the journalists noted, one might have thought that had happened some time ago.
The appointment of Rob Fyfe to work with private business initiatives to address what could turn out to be shortages was inspired. It takes nothing away from the valiant work of the public sector.
But it is an acknowledgement that the private sector works in completely different ways.
At its best it is swift, efficient and focused.
Fyfe is that hybrid of executives who has worked closely with Government in the past as Air New Zealand CE and knows the private sector inside out.
Fyfe will decide which are the wellmeaning offers of help and which are the ones likely to get fast solutions to problems that as yet are not attracting blame.
As Ardern put it so well in her final speech in Parliament this week, the Government had no time to waste. It could not plan for every intricate detail before the lockdown because every hour waiting would have meant more people exposed to Covid19.
People have been tolerant and will undoubtedly continue to be unless the Government becomes unreasonable. Noone expected perfection in the level of planning.
By the same token, the Government has to tolerant of criticism.
Democracy has been severely limited, albeit with consent. Demonstrations, like all gatherings, are banned. Parliament has adjourned, nominally until April 28, but maybe for a lot longer.
Voices such as unions, the news media, and the Opposition are more important now than they have ever been before.
Some MPs complain that they should be deemed essential service but they are constitutionally too important for that.
They do however, like unions, have direct links to their communities and should be able to help resolve the myriad problems that arise in families and workplaces when one rule cannot fit every situation.
Parliament has virtually been replaced by a watchdog committee chaired by Opposition leader Simon Bridges, essentially with the power to compel attendance at it by top officials.
His own moving speech in this week in support of the Government’s lockdown showed he had learned from his absolute clanger the previous week in — that nobody has an appetite for politicking in this crisis.
His committee has a great chance to be constructive. If he is not there to help, he won’t be wanted.
It will be livestreamed on FaceBook and on the parliamentary website, assuming there is not an overload.
It is a great shame that it is not going to be televised on Parliament TV — which would be more accessible to the elderly audience who regularly watch Parliament.
But that is impossible under the stringent rules imposed on the parliamentary complex, including the Press Gallery, by Speaker Trevor Mallard. Parliamentary TV staff are not available.
He has imposed the same strict limits on people working in each press gallery office, no matter how small or big the office, no matter if it is big enough for expansive social distancing.
But Mallard has almost absolute power in Parliament just as the Government has absolute power at present. That obliges them to use their power reasonably. — The New Zealand Herald