Corona Virus

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Originally Posted by DiscoMick

That's a good idea.
There has been some talk over here of the trans-Tasman bubble including the Pacific Islands.
There has also been talk of making it easier for PIs to come here for work. I know some people from Tonga, Samoa and Fiji who work here and raise money to improve schools and other community facilities in their home countries. It's good.
Really, it would be great if we opened up the whole region to travel, work and investment. It would make us all stronger.
If we're serious about countering Chinese influence in the region then it is the only way to go.
However, it would require a major change in thinking from conservative right-wing people, including some politicians, who may be too small-minded to outgrow their obsessive fears.

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Well said.

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Originally Posted by Saitch

First to Cape York by Austin 7 – Next Horizon

What a thread hijack!

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https://youtu.be/IR9SpsAXSJE

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Originally Posted by DiscoMick

That's a good idea.
There has been some talk over here of the trans-Tasman bubble including the Pacific Islands.
There has also been talk of making it easier for PIs to come here for work. I know some people from Tonga, Samoa and Fiji who work here and raise money to improve schools and other community facilities in their home countries. It's good.
Really, it would be great if we opened up the whole region to travel, work and investment. It would make us all stronger.
If we're serious about countering Chinese influence in the region then it is the only way to go.
However, it would require a major change in thinking from conservative right-wing people, including some politicians, who may be too small-minded to outgrow their obsessive fears.

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PNG , Fiji , the French territories of French Polynesia and New Caledonia and the smaller P.I. nations have a combined population of 11.5 million, a population size that presents a potential problem probably too big for Australia and New Zealand's combined capacity to deal with in a way that would allow us to treat the entire Pacific Islands forum membership as an extension of the Trans-Tasman bubble. We'll need a separate partnership with PNG, Fiji & the two French territories.

Tuvalu, Nauru and Palau have a total population of about 1.6 million. Their remoteness and scattered population makes suppression and management of COVID-19 feasible in ways not possible in other parts of the world. From 'The Strategist'

Australia, New Zealand and the broader Pacific family can be a model for the international community in re-establishing people-to-people connections in the post-pandemic world.

Australia and New Zealand should plan to expand the trans-Tasman bubble to the Pacific islands | The Strategist

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Originally Posted by Arapiles

Did you notice the photo of the rally in BRISBANE?

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Yes, we have them up here, mainly from the Gold Coast. It's an East coast thing. Closing our border probably stopped those down south coming North. You have to wonder who is coordinating these protests, and what their agenda is .

We went into town today as eldest daughter felt the need to stimulate the economy to the tune of $1200 by buying a new Iphone. It was an interesting experience at the Apple store who were applying the Apple worldwide coronavirus protocol. This involved queueing up outside the store, being issued with a face mask and having your temperature taken before being assessed if you would be allowed in the shop to peruse or purchase goods.
We were told to come back in an hour and a half for our appointment and duly disposed of our masks in the bin and went and changed her sim over to another provider and had some lunch.
We then did the mask and temperature thing again and were directed to another queue whilst we waited for a driod to serve us and bring the phone and charge us for it. I suspect that their system was a bit broken as they had the biggest bloke in the store fending off the customers that arrived while we were in the queue and telling them that they had to come back tomorrow or buy their device on line as there were no more appointments today (at about 14:00).
We witnessed a couple of very irate customers who wanted to buy items and had made the trip after being told that the store was open being turned away and felt pretty sorry for the bloke doing the screening.
It did occur to me that in California the process that they had put in place would probably be interpreted as Apple leading by example and providing a safe environment for their customers. In Canberra the whole process was largely treated with derision and while people tolerated the measures they certainly were not happy campers. Sometimes identical policies do not apply very well across continents. (although I did note that the store was not being looted)

Regards,
Tote

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Originally Posted by bob10

Yes, we have them up here, mainly from the Gold Coast. It's an East coast thing. Closing our border probably stopped those down south coming North. You have to wonder who is coordinating these protests, and what their agenda is .

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People have the means to research conspiracy theories via the internet, modern medicine has reduced fatalities from once common diseases so they do not see the reality of death very commonly and people have so little to do that is meaningful in their lives so they latch onto stuff like the danger of vaccinations in order to have meaning in their life.

In days gone by people had a much closer relationship with the realities of life, sheep, cattle and chooks were killed and eaten, people died at a younger age and life was lived more. Today it is quite possible to never experience any of these things and lead a sanitised existence where any threat to normality is seen as a life changing event. Hence the anti vaxxer movement railing against an abstract concept of harm being done and a desire to continue to live in a perfect world surrounded by cotton wool.

Regards,
Tote

I think keeping Americans out would have saved us a lot of cases or every one who visited in 14 day hotels a lot earlier.

Gob smacked to see a case of covid19 confirmed in the US at party from last weekend below for a Memorial day party[bigwhistle] Suspect a week or two for the results to show up. Any one want to have a guess? I think the German PM choice of not going to America was a smart one[biggrin] Mind you I did see a pic of a local hill called 1000 steps here with a decidedly confused crew trying to get or keep fit very close together. [bigwhistle]

https://static01.nyt.com/images/2020...superJumbo.jpg

This gives hope.

New coronavirus losing potency, top Italian doctor says - Reuters

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Originally Posted by rick130

This gives hope.

New coronavirus losing potency, top Italian doctor says - Reuters

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Doctors should lose their licenses when spewing crap like that with no scientific basis.

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Originally Posted by NavyDiver

https://static01.nyt.com/images/2020...superJumbo.jpg

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Risk of covid aside. Goodness knows what makes standing in waist-deep water while drinking liquor in urine-inducing quantities appeals to some is beyond me! Shudder to think of the water quality there. Kind of reminds me of penned animals forced to stand in effluent-soaked mud.