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‘VAX TO THE MAX’: Nanaia Mahuta’s message to readers – see page 3
Covid spreads south Leave our water alone… By Roy Pilott and Mary Anne Gill
The Government has responded to the spread For that reason, the News today presents a of Covid from Hamilton by announcing a Super column written by Hauraki-Waikato MP Nanaia Saturday of vaccinations on Saturday October 16 – Mahuta who implores whanau to get vaccinated. rather than new Lockdown levels. Also today, on Page 3, we look at an impediment Cambridge was on tenterhooks yesterday to getting vaccinated – scaremongering on social morning after it became evident that there had been media. a positive test in the area. Health Minister Chris Hipkins has encouraged It transpired it was in Karāpiro. Another case was the 80 per cent of eligible people who have received revealed in Kawhia by Ōtorohanga mayor Max one dose of the vaccine to encourage the other 20 Baxter. per cent to do so. Waipā District Council sources had earlier leaked A higher lockdown level would have been the news, sparking social media debate and queues another blow to Waipā businesses already at supermarkets. struggling to bring staff in from Hamilton. We made the decision to publish on our website Those difficulties prompted Chamber of and social media from 10.05am. Commerce chief executive Kelly Bouzaid to But the all-important timing issue was paramount suggest it would have been better had Cambridge for official purposes. been included in the lockdown on Sunday night. “The Ministry announces case numbers and She was taken literally and later told the News other details at the 1pm stand up and statement,” she had not meant it to sound quite that way – “in the News was told at 10am. context my point was around Delta transmission At 10.14am, a spokesperson for mayor Jim and where our vaccine levels currently sit”. Mylchreest - who had reportedly already updated “My phone is running red hot with employers councillors, retirement facilities and the Chamber struggling to operate with key staff locked down of Commerce - responded: "Sounds like the rumour and business owners unable to travel to work mill is at play" and that they had "no official and seeking clarification around travelling across notification from the DHB." borders,” she said. At the same time as the 1pm press conference was in play, the council released a statement saying “Waipā District Council was notified by Waikato District Health Board about the case” and a testing station was being set up in Kārapiro. This week Waipā was leading the Waikato in the rate of first jabs, at 82 per cent and was fractionally behind Hamilton for the second at a shade under 50 per cent. But Māori rates – despite lifting significantly following appeals in the Cambridge and Te Awamutu News last week were still lagging at 25.8 and Queues at Cambridge supermarket. 46.4 per cent.
Divided against reforms, from left councillors Grahame Webber, Liz Stolwyk, Roger Gordon, Elwyn Andree-Wiltens, Philip Coles and Mike Pettit. Photo: Mary Anne Gill
By Mary Anne Gill
Getting all six Cambridge-based Waipā District councillors together on the banks of the Waikato River early in the morning for a photograph is proof of just how against they are to the Three Waters Reform. Deputy mayor Liz Stolwyk summed it up when she said: “My job is to do the right thing by our ratepayers and Three Waters is not the right thing.” Stolwyk and fellow councillors, Mike Pettit, Philip Coles, Roger Gordon, Grahame Webber and Elwyn AndreeWiltens are all vehemently opposed to the reforms and are calling on Local Government minister Nanaia Mahuta to back down on her plans for water reform. Under Three Waters, all 67 local and
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regional councils’ drinking, waste and stormwater assets would be absorbed by four large regional entities. The government would pay for billions of dollars’ worth of muchneeded infrastructure and repairs. Waipā’s proposed funding allocation is approximately $21 million (with half of this to be a charge on the new water entity). “We know that 60 councils have serious concerns. Our collective voices have to count, it has to count,” said Stolwyk. The six councillors have called a public meeting – if Covid restrictions permit in Cambridge on October 18 at 7.30pm in Bridges Church, Duke Street. Their Te Awamutu colleagues held a public meeting on the same issue on Monday.