Kate Hawkesby: I wanted to stick needles in my eyes during the 1pm presser

This time yesterday I was saying how hopefully this lockdown would be short and sharp. 
Oh how much can change in 24 hours, that now looks like a pipe dream. But I was trying to stay optimistic, take it one day at a time, have a good attitude about it. 
But then I saw the 1 o’clock update. Oh my gosh. It brought everything back didn’t it? 
I tried, I really did, but I wanted to stick needles in my eyes by about 4 minutes in. 
I’d forgotten how soul destroying it is to be spoken to like a 3-year-old. 
I also felt exasperated that the press gallery seem to have all had lobotomies and are unable to ask a single probing question. Not one.  
I understand this has come from the top down. The PM apparently has issued instructions on how these 1pm pressers are to go, they have to play by the rules, and the rules appear to include only getting your question answered if your question is an easy one.  
Like, 'remind us again Prime Minister of what people should be doing in their bubbles? Or, ‘could you tell the NZ public again Prime Minister what you’d like them to do?’  
I mean, come on. Are they handing out sleeping pills before these start? Who, apart from the Labour party, are these press conferences serving? 
I’m also slightly worried about the habitual patterns of people going back into the collective trance we went into last year.  
Where we consume the saturation coverage, turn our brains off and get into a zombie like state of just existing for 1pm updates, making shrine worthy memorabilia to Saint Ashley, and seeing the PM as some redeeming saviour. 
Let’s keep it real here. 
Our vaccine rollout, as has been pointed out by multiple international media yesterday, has been extremely poor, shockingly low, the lowest in the OECD. Add to that our porous border, and we are where we are - it was avoidable. 
Bear in mind, other countries are back out enjoying freedoms, all bar parts of Australia that is. 
And what we're seeing from our government is an instant return to the catchy mantras, the focus-grouped cliches, the ‘go hard go early’, ‘team of 5 million’, and ‘be kind’ regime. 
Teddy bears are back in windows for goodness' sake. And like exhausted zombies we revert to our daily ritual of watching case numbers, panic buying toilet paper, and baking banana bread. 
Look, I’m not suggesting we don’t follow the rules here, we absolutely must stay put, remain in our bubbles, follow the protocols, lockdown is our only choice here. But the level of this could've been avoided. 
So, I just hope we don't disengage our brains, don't abandon rationality, don't revert to fear ruling our lives. 
Because from what we now know, it looks like this lockdown may not be all that short and sharp.

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