Catch-22 for unvaccinated Kiwi in Aus
...Plus a small (but important) Māori street name change.
This sign will eventually say Māori Hill. Hopefully. Photo: Hamish McNeilly.
When I make a typo I usually get a few helpful suggestions messaged to me (thanks mum!).
It seems you can write thousands of words during a single day, but misspelling one can just easily ruin it.
I still shudder when I think of an email I sent (to a very important person quite a few years ago) signed-off with ‘kind retards’.
But imagine if you see your language butchered on an official sign.
Kudos to the Dunedin City Council for amending some of its Māori road names.
The council’s road naming policy, which was adopted in 2016, allowed for the use of macrons in the spelling of new Māori road names.
Importantly, it also allowed for changes to existing signage where the use of macrons is of demonstrable importance to mana whenua, a council spokesman said.
There was a visible change not far from where I live. Maori Rd, is now Māori Rd.
Māori Rd’s new(ish) sign and clearly taken when the sun actually came out. Photo: Hamish McNeilly
That was an important arterial road carved between two hill suburbs, and effectively named after the prisoners who did the mahi. A small but important change.
To date about 50 road signs have included correct Māori spelling, including the use of macrons, where appropriate.
Separately, the council was also updating some location signage, using correct Māori spelling and macrons.
DCC Manahautū, general manager, Māori, partnerships and policy, Jeanette Wikaira, said ‘‘names help to tell stories about the history and heritage of Dunedin’’.
‘‘The use of accurate te reo Māori reflects the DCC’s obligations under the Treaty of Waitangi but also reflects the importance of ensuring mana whenua names, language and narratives remain embedded and celebrated in our city.”
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Dunedin has relatively few streets with Māori names, in fact whole suburbs have none at all.
But there are a few outliers among the city’s 2260 named roads, including Ravensbourne which has 17 Māori named streets.
Former Dunedin resident Wendy Herd wants to return home, particularly to spend time with her 101-year-old grandmother.
‘‘I would love to come back and see her.’’
The 40-year-old last returned to Dunedin three years ago, but accepts coming home now is unlikely.
That’s because the Melbourne-based Kiwi, who has lived across the ditch ‘on-and-off’ for 15 years, is not vaccinated. That position was likely to cost Herd, both financially and socially.
‘‘I don’t really want to have the vaccine at the moment . . . and I won’t be allowed back to New Zealand.’’
Her reasons for not taking the vaccines were partly driven by her mistrust of the medical profession following a serious accident in August 2011, and the resulting treatment.
Wendy Herd. Photo: Supplied
Herd received life-changing injuries after being hit by a car when exiting a Melbourne tram. She had to re-learn how to walk, but still felt the impact of those injuries.
Before the accident she was a head chef and enjoyed swimming and exercise, but all that had changed.
Fast-forward to 2022 and she was still feeling the impacts of those injuries and recently had turned to holistic healing.
Herd said she had not caught Covid, but knew many people who had, and felt ‘‘healthy enough to fight it’’.
Her stance had limited her potential exposure, as she had no vaccine pass.
In addition she had lost her job over that stance, and any temping work jobs were few and far between.
‘‘I need to find a way to survive.’’
She was likely to stay in Australia until a court case into her accident had been resolved, but conceded ‘‘I have no support here’’.
But that may also be the case in New Zealand, with Herd’s anti-vaccination status meaning she was effectively stuck in a catch-22 situation.
Her New Zealand-based family wanted her to be protected, by getting the vaccine, but Herd put those concerns down to the media ‘‘fear mongering’’.
She also noted the Victorian government’s “over-the-top handling” of the health crisis, which included lockdowns, curfews, arrests and fine.
Herd had been contacting New Zealand authorities to see if she could return, and was happy to self-isolate, but was struggling to source the correct information.
‘‘You get a bit disheartened.’’
A lot of her New Zealand friends during her time in Australia had since returned home - ‘‘I’m the only dummy who is still here’’.
In late December the government announced changes to the border to minimise the risk of Omicron, including the reopening of the border delayed until February 2022.
Official advice included that New Zealand citizens did not need to be vaccinated before travelling to New Zealand.
Two kids (not mine, I think) watch a plane arrive at Dunedin Airport. Photo: Hamish McNeilly
But that was complicated by the airlines, which included Air New Zealand announcing it required customers travelling anywhere on its international network to be fully vaccinated, once the border is reopened.
Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said prior to the borders reopening in November last year, that travellers would be required to declare their vaccination status when registering with the MIQ allocation system, as well as presenting proof of vaccination or a relevant exemption to their airline and to Customs officers once they land.
Those who failed to present proof of vaccination may be subject to an infringement notice, but that requirement did not apply to New Zealand citizens, children under the age of 17, and those who are unable to be vaccinated for medical reasons.
Other airlines, including Qantas, had also mandated Covid-19 vaccinations for passengers flying internationally.
FYI I had my booster shot last week. Recommended A+.
Here is a booster of the animal story kind, after an interesting rescue unfolded in Lawrence, about 90kms west of Dunedin, on Wednesday morning.
It involved a large horse which had been stuck up to its neck for hours in a muddy bog.
‘‘It was pretty well stuck in there,’’ Lawrence chief fire officer, Jude Patterson, told me down the line.
‘‘It was really thick mud, we couldn’t get in there otherwise we wouldn’t have got out as well.’’
The rescue operation was complicated due to the bog being near a main highway, and so the volunteer firefighters also assisted in slowing traffic in order not to startle the horse.
A file photo of a firefighter tenderly touching a road cone. Photo: Stuff
A tractor was enlisted while strops were put in around the horse’s front and back end.
‘‘We couldn’t lift it, but we could drag it to a harder bit of the bog where we got it to its feet with the tractor’s help’’
The horse, which was used as a carthorse, was released back to its pleased owners.
I love a happy ending.
I also love Tweet of the Week which goes to Regan, who was replying about the Dunedin Craft Beer Fest being cancelled.
And here is something to check out, it is a YouTube clip of a person who was cast in the Netflix movie The Royal Treatment. But before you watch the movie, please read the review from James Croot.
If you need something pleasant to clear your head, try this.
Enjoyed that. I grew up in Kamura Street in Andy Bay and so many of the neighbouring streets had Maori names. I would walk down Te Ra Terrace into Aotea Street then on into Arawa Street on my way to catch the bus to school. On the way home I would hop off the bus on Tahuna Road or occasionally walk the track up from Cavell Street to the top of Tainui Road. One of my best mates lived in Puketai Street.
Un-scientific claims like I am "Healthy enough to fight it" is reason alone to deny entry to NZ. Managing covid is difficult enough without these anti-vaxxers making it harder.