Hm, I must be the only person struggling to comprehend New Zealand’s continued battle with COVID-19.

Coronavirus had a novelty factor, COVID-19 was cool because it was an acronym with numbers, the Delta variant was out to kill so was less likable, and now Omicron is clearly the dissipation stage of viral evolution – far more cases but with far less severity per case.

Despite this, Government scaremongering continues unabated.

In New Zealand, we were implored to ‘get vaccinated’ because once we ‘reached 90%’ life could return to normal; as a nation we reached 90% but, not unexpectedly, we experienced little improvement in quality of life.

Omicron appeared, the ‘highly transmissible’ variant (also far less deadly than Delta but media were discouraged from saying anything that could reduce people’s fear of COVID so ‘highly transmissible’ was it) although, funnily enough, despite numerous ‘potential spreaders’ – irresponsible British DJs, belated test positives coming out of MIQ etc – in Christchurch over past weeks Omicron could just not manage to latch on so, you may have noticed, on account of its inability to spread, media had to stop referring to it as ‘the highly transmissible variant’ because that was becoming comical, until recently when it finally did take around New Zealand, and now ‘highly transmissible’ is back.

Wonderful; I just don’t think anyone cares anymore.

June 2020, when I did my stint in (Government funded) quarantine, it was 14 days of relative isolation; more recently, quarantine was reduced to 10 days, even to 7 but, because so many people have been belatedly testing positive for Omicron, it is again being stretched out to 14 days.

Such a gut-wrenching waste of time, such a gargantuan waste of resources, such a gigantic waste of Government funds; such a further wasting of New Zealand’s economy, at a time where the value of our dollar has dropped to its lowest point in years.

Must come as a crippling blow, Jacinda, to find that most of the rest of the world is doing better than us.

Here is the reality; while New Zealand is doing all it can to avoid a virus which epidemiologists recently conceded ‘will now be impossible to avoid’, the rest of the world already has Omicron.

For most, this recent strain of the virus will, at worst, lay up a patient in bed for a week; that is one week you might be out of action – by New Zealand’s MIQ plan, you will be out of action for two weeks, then you still won’t have had Omicron which will potentially lay you up for another week.

This debacle is why our economy is currently suffering, and why it is set to suffer a whole lot more when Omicron does take hold and finds a country of sheltered government minions who, although highly vaccinated and fresh from two-week stints in isolation, in fact have yet to be touched by the Omicron virus, thus are ripe for a further week of bedrest.

Seriously, regarding Government scaremongering, the state of New Zealand’s economy is what everybody should be fearing, not this highly transmissible but decidedly watered-down version of COVID-19.

Does this country even have a finance minister anymore?

 

 

Article by Tim Walker

Edited by Witter Down

Photography by O Mi Crumb

New Zealand’s resident anti-EV motorists seem to share a similar mentality to our group of anti-vax malcontents.

Unlikely they are the same group but, bunch of erroneously informed, rumour perpetuating, Facebook gleaning, baselessly negative, painfully ignorant, illogical complainants they are.

Admittedly, there are people in New Zealand who are unwilling to undergo COVID vaccination for legitimate reasons and, make no mistake, there is nothing wrong with that choice, it’s the COVID-19 conspiracy theorists, that minority of the anti-vax population who believe that COVID is a hoax and/or the Government just wants to control them (yet still they voted Labour), who give the term ‘anti-vaxer’ a bad name.

For the record, there is nothing in a Facebook ‘Newsfeed’ that is obligated to represent even an iota of truthfulness; this is where conspiracies begin, any person can post any item about any thing – edited photo, doctored video, misrepresented writing – then pass it off as fact (Facebook’s Newsfeed is the home of ‘fake news’ and it is dangerous, and yes, I am aware of the irony).

Regarding New Zealand’s anti-EV group, just the other day I was hit with the terribly hackneyed, “Oh, they’re just too bloody expensive…”

This was only days after hearing, “Yeah, but what happens when the batteries need replacing – aren’t they expensive?”

Did we all hear about New Zealand’s top-selling vehicle in 2021 – yeah, what about number two in that list?

Hmm, expensive, right.

Expensive is going out and spending $50 grand on a bloody Ford Ranger, like so many Kiwis seem to have done this past year; the others, yeah, they went with a classic, Toyota Hilux, but at a similar price.

Here is a fun fact: over 80% of these 4WD vehicles were purchased by city folk who will likely never take their off–road vehicles off a sealed surface.

Still, apparently an EV is too expensive, even though the upfront cost is potentially half that of your big 4WD vehicle, just without the street-cred you believe your Ranger Wildtrak or Raptor will afford you, all pimped out with your chrome bull-bars, roll-cage among other accessories, maybe even lowered a little bit on massive feet still running the factory mud-grips for optimum inner-city noise so you can really turn heads when you cruise past farm factory or building supply outlets just dreaming about how one day you might have the opportunity to take off that tonneau cover, stop being a blow-hard and actually use your ute for its intended purpose.

A city-dweller who argues that ‘EVs are too expensive’ then purchases a Ranger or Hilux, will spend around $50,000 initially, along with a fuel bill of at least $100 per week, or over $5000 a year.

At that, they could have bought two EVs, then costing around $20 a week, or $1000 a year, in maintenance.

Rather than spending $50,000 on a vehicle that is going to have an increasing fuel-cost of over $5000 per year, they could have saved themselves $25,000 initially, then been recuperating the remainder of the cost at around $4000 per year.

Most EV batteries will last at least 15 years before they require attention; buy a five-year-old EV for $25,000 and recuperate that cost in around six years, then in maybe another six years, with $25,000 now in your pocket (seriously, if you are not spending all that money on fuel, you will be flooded with expendable cash), take one year’s fuel cost from your bloody Ford Ranger and yeah, maybe recondition some batteries to last you another 15 years – along with further fuel savings of around $60,000 (seriously, that’s how it works, there is that much money to be made in not buying fuel).

So, who has so much money they can afford to be so precious about their image when they drive?

Chinese manufacturer LDV does an EV commercial van for $50 grand – Ranger, anyone? – and with savings as just mentioned; plumbers, carpenters, plasters, anyone, how can one be so senseless as to want to keep driving their internal combustion vehicles?

Fuel prices are ever-increasing while future Government taxes will additionally target drivers of off-road vehicles; currently there is zero road tax on EVs and comparatively, electricity is cheap.

In the 21^st century, buying an EV makes sense; pull your heads in and stop taking your news updates from Facebook.

 

 

Article by Tim Walker

Edited by E V Sense

Photography by F B Bollocks