Woodhouse lets the mask slip

The media this morning was full of hopeful stories about how the current lockdown may have been a "false alarm" and an over-reaction and how it would all be over soon (I bet those journalists and editors all feel pretty stupid now). But along the way, National's Michael Woodhouse let the mask slip:

National's Michael Woodhouse said on Tuesday the country was “running out of patience with alert level rises.”

“At some point a Government, probably this Government, will have to take the tough decision to say, ‘Covid is endemic on this planet, and we need to take different steps,’ but in the meantime, while we pursue an elimination strategy, the Government has got to get it right,” Woodhouse said.

"Endemic". "Tough decision". "Different steps". We all know what that means: let people die so rich people can make money! And this man used to be involved in hospital administration. I wonder if he applied the same attitude there?

Still, at least voters know now, so we can hold Woodhouse accountable at the ballot box for his murderous views.

Strapping the chicken for agriculture

When the government passed the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 - which notably excluded agriculture but included "worm farming" in its list of high-risk occupations - Workplace Relations Minister Michael Woodhouse told us that the exclusion wasn't deliberate, but based on an the risks.

He lied:

Dairy farming was initially rated as one of the highest-risk industries during health and safety reforms before the Labour Minister, Michael Woodhouse, intervened and changed the criteria, documents show.

[...]


In a more detailed list, based on ANZSIC Level 3 figures, "dairy cattle farming" was rated in the second-highest category, which meant workers were exposed to levels of risk "greater than twice the average and up to three times the average (for severe injury), or up to four times the average (for fatality)".

Two weeks later, Mr Woodhouse's private secretary sent an email to officials with new criteria for the "high-risk" category and a list of industries. It did not include dairy farming.

So, he deliberately rigged the risk levels to achieve the outcome he (and National's farmer-cronies) wanted. And then he told the public and Parliament that he hadn't. He's lied to us and he's lied to the House. And he should be sacked for it.