General Debate 17 May 2019

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BrownSnake

Hey Sheep Lovers I hear the Stazi have been busy.
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May 17, 2019 8:04am
- Johnboy
  
  All us old sheep lovers don’t give a fuck about your ancient Stazi canards old chap! 🙂
  We only reply at all about now cause we have been out all day having fun while you sat on your 8:04 mate! 🙂
  
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  May 17, 2019 7:21pm
Paulus Gnome

I know that the blank space does not mean that ones comment will appear at the top of the page . . . . .
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May 17, 2019 8:05am
artemisia

Government policies to blame for rising rent

Not only government policies of course – add in insurance, rates and maintenance. But government policies for rentals are heading for a significant reset, with thousands of dollars to meet new Healthy Rental standards, and consultation on wide ranging increased rights for renters now closed.

Not to worry. The taxpayer is ready to foot the bill for state and social housing to the tune of $285 average per week rent subsidy – $18.6 million per week. Since the waiting list has pretty much doubled since September 2017 the numbers receiving taxpayer rent subsidy is only going to increase.

A lot. I expect we will see the waiting list continue to increase as landlords sell up and less-than-ideal tenants are nowhere near the top of landlord lists.

http://www.newshub.co.nz/home/money/2019/05/government-policies-to-blame-for-rising-rent-expert.html
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May 17, 2019 8:06am
- dave_c_
  
  Have no fear ! – You just wait until they start imposing ‘standards criteria’ on home owners, which must be met before selling your home !
  Probably not far behind the assault on landlords.
  
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  May 17, 2019 8:18am
- Scott
  
  artemisia – some useful comments about housing. Even here in Masterton many people at the lower end of the socio-economic scale cannot find rental accommodation. Working-class families cannot find affordable homes.
  
  Excessive government regulation is a problem in my opinion. It’s all very nice to say that landlords must provide fully insulated homes and such like. But all it does is drive some landlords out of the market and create a shortage of supply.
  
  Some of our folk can only afford very basic accommodation. That end of the market has now gone by government decree. That’s the trouble. These policies have unintended consequences which actually hurt the very people they are supposed to help.
  
  I would like to see less regulation in the housing sector. I would like to see more land freed up for housing development. And I would like to see developers encouraged to provide low-cost homes that people can actually afford.
  
  The government has been no help, certainly here in the Wairarapa, in housing the poor. Putting them up in a motel is not a solution.
  
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  May 17, 2019 8:29am
  - mark15
    
    Same here in Hawke’s Bay.
    Just hire out the motels.
    Problem-moved!!!
    
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    May 17, 2019 8:56am
    - RW Capitalist
      
      Weren’t they talking about, buying Motels to “solve” this problem, several months ago?
      Q: How will we accommodate the tourists?
      
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      May 17, 2019 9:57am
      - sooty
        
        Sleep in their cars!
        
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        May 17, 2019 12:45pm
      - Piniwi
        
        Already covered RWC as another $8 plus million thrown at freedom camping which the Minister has already made a bigger problem for so many regional districts. Funny seeing so many lame duck Ministers fronting the headlines while the PM is away saving the world. They even drew the Finance Minster out of the dark space he dwells in.
        They never seem to shake of their opposition thinking by continuing to make even bigger promises after being the chosen ones. Lol
        
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        May 17, 2019 2:15pm
    - Evadne
      
      Are the motels all fully insulated, with fixed heating (etc, etc)?
      
      I’m guessing not, going by many of the ones I’ve come across over the years.
      
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      May 17, 2019 10:18am
  - artemisia
    
    There is the Accommodation Supplement and it can be a decent top up to help pay private rents. The government may have to increase it. December 2018 it’s about $100 million a month paid out.
    
    For many years a landlord and property manager top of the South Island specialised in managing in less than perfect rentals for less than perfect tenants. With higher effort involved. Like those with poor history or on benefits or recently out of prison and so on. Cheap rents and could be moved up to better accommodation if they did the right thing.
    
    Gone.
    
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    May 17, 2019 9:10am
- cmm
  
  “Not only government policies of course – add in insurance, rates and maintenance”
  
  But insurance, rates and maintenance are also made more expensive by government policies.
  
  * rates: rates are charged by governments (local governments) and the central government policies are the cause of huge amounts of rate hikes, from the generation of supercities to extra health and safety overheads that drive up the cost of rates.
  
  * maintenance: ditto. Government policies drive up maintenance costs. A simple roof painting job now needs $10k of scaffolding. Heatpumps, etc etc.
  
  * insurance: insurance costs are inflated by the inflation in the property costs and such. As shown above all pushed up by government.
  
  But hugz!
  
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  May 17, 2019 8:30am
  - Paulus
    
    The biggest rise in insurance premiums is created by Government charges Fire Levies, EQC and GST and now the output from the Global Warmers which insurers have to recognise from their international wholesalers (Reinsurers) premiums.
    In addition the financial return from the holding of premiums and reserves is heavily impacted by low and getting lower interest rates governed by the Reserve banks OCR reduction and more to come.
    Insurers require a sound financial return to pay claims eventually.
    
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    May 17, 2019 11:27am
- peterwn
  
  And even more so in Wellington since rates will have to skyrocket to pay for grandiose public transport schemes for ‘other people’ to use. Rents will rise because of all this but tenants will keep blaming evil landlords and still keep voting Labour/ Green councillors and MP’s. I suspect the local pollies think many of those who directly feel rates increases (businesses and main household breadwinners) are in a minority so the political damage would be limited. Those who do not directly feel rates increases are residential tenants and wives and kids in owner occupier homes and many of them vote Labour/ Green so their votes are safe.
  
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  May 17, 2019 9:54am
- Evadne
  
  One quote in particular stands out in that article, which displays Adern’s complete lack of insight and understanding of economic realities.
  
  In regards the banning of letting fees, and the resulting increase of rent to compensate, Adern cluelessly states:
  
  “I would hope that we wouldn’t see that increase, given that it’s a service directly for the landlord.”
  
  The total lack of comprehension in that statement is mind-boggling. She’s saying (and presumably believes) that the costs associated with running a business are for the benefit of the business owner, and shouldn’t be passed down into the cost of the product.
  
  On that logic, transporting goods, stocking supermarket shelves, etc, are a service to supermarket owners, and shouldn’t inflate the cost of food.
  
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  May 17, 2019 10:11am
  - KevO'Brien
    
    One letting agent has a scheme where they contract with the property owner to take over sole rights to the property and they contract with tenants as having superior rights to a mere agent. Full fees for everything are payable by the tenants.
    
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    May 17, 2019 11:43am
Happychappy

Will this work for National or is it toying with disaster.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12231733
I like Alfred Ngaro but is it good political nous.
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May 17, 2019 8:09am
- oldgolfer
  
  Looks good on the face of it. Ngaro seems like a good man.
  
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  May 17, 2019 8:23am
  - Tony Stuart
    
    I know Alfred personally, and he is a thoroughly decent bloke. He’s a former tradie turned pastor, turned community worker turned MP.
    
    Here’s his maiden speech from 2011 – https://youtu.be/9AFTWbyn-8g
    
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    May 17, 2019 8:57am
    - MrsAnnie
      
      My first thought was disaster- but it could work. We know we have 4% conservatives out there, I suspect many more would vote that way if they knew their vote would count through an Epsom type deal.
      It may also soak up a lot of the NZ First Vote.
      
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      May 17, 2019 11:19am
    - Johnboy
      
      Jeeze KS! Your starting to sound like a chap that want’s to be regarded as a jolly good old chap! 🙂
      Perhaps since you’ve come out (so to speak) You should just become one of the good old boys and lose your religious hangup stuff? 🙂
      
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      May 17, 2019 7:26pm
- RW Capitalist
  
  Is it floating this to get a semi positive view of the word “National” out in the MSM.
  Now that the “Leadership challenge” bull shit has run it’s coarse, they are taking the lead in MSM. Moving the conversation away from Paris virtue signaling BS back to NZ and reality.
  Which Labour can’t live here, too many negative stories about them and performance.
  Once the MSM have taken the bait, they should move the conversation further back to the incompetence and dishonesty of this CoL.
  
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  May 17, 2019 8:28am
  - RW Capitalist
    
    ie
    as a rugby metaphor
    They throw the dummy pass, draw the opponent (MSM), created the hole for them to stream through the defense, now they just have to throw the real pass.
    Which is:
    The truth about
    Economic growth
    unemployment
    Hospital waiting lists/ times
    Housing
    Loss of rental properties
    reforestation.
    Phantom gropers at Labour functions
    etc etc
    
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    May 17, 2019 9:29am
- Scott
  
  Happy chappy – a very good question? I do think there is room in the market to cater for New Zealanders of a traditional mindset who believe in things like God and family and country. Who don’t want to see their country turned over every five minutes to appease the latest “oppressed minority”.
  
  In fact traditional Conservative values are making something of a comeback. Auckland Grammar School is hugely popular because it has a rich history of tradition and academic excellence. People flock to Anzac Day because it reminds us of something greater – those people who sacrificed themselves so that we can have the freedom we enjoy today.
  
  So I believe there is room for another centre-right party. A party that is about more than slightly lower marginal tax rates and a slightly slower pace of political correctness.
  
  We used to be a very safe country where even small children could roam the streets with freedom. Where crime was very low. Where people knew their neighbours and looked after each other. Where we had strong stable families they didn’t need constant government subsidy and intervention.
  
  We can be like that again. But we need to draw on the best of the past and look with confidence and hope for the future.
  
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  May 17, 2019 8:36am
  - Albert_Ross
    
    I have no doubt there are such people. But the question is, who are they voting for now? Or are they not voting at all? National’s cause won’t be helped by losing their own voters to another party.
    
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    May 17, 2019 9:18am
    - Paulus Gnome
      
      Party vote
      
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      May 17, 2019 11:00am
  - David Garrett
    
    Scott: All very noble sentiments, most of which I agree with…but a Christian party is not the way to go…the history of such parties in New Zealand is replete with failure – and much worse, the worst being the Reverend Graham Capill being jailed for sexual assault on a child…after preaching “family values”
    
    The other Christian Party leader, Graeme Lee was, like Mr Ngaro, a former Nat MP who broke away to form the Christian Democrats. They differed from Capill’s lot in that they were prepared to accept people who, while professing to belief in Christian principles, were not members of a church. Long story, they eventually merged with Peter Dunne’s outfit and thereby to oblivion.
    
    There is undoubtedly a place for a party further to the right of the Nats…but a Christian party is not the answer. We have been there and done that. Simply put, in our now largely secular society, there are not enough Christians who will vote entirely according to their religious beliefs….and frankly that’s probably a good thing.
    
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    May 17, 2019 10:05am
    - Scott
      
      David – you make some good points. Probably my insertion of the word “God” lead people to think I was advocating a Christian party which I’m not really. I do believe in the separation of church and state. We have church and we have state and they are not the same thing.
      
      What I would say is that in places like Hungary they are returning to what we might call traditional values and looking after their own people and opposing globalisation and mass immigration. I think there is a place for a party of traditional values which I don’t think has to be an overtly religious party.
      
      For example people of all stripes can agree on the need to have strong families, the need for strong marriages where children can be bought up in a safe and loving environment to become the good citizens of tomorrow. So again in Hungary because of a declining birth rate they are encouraging people to have more children. They have policies that favour people who have three or more children. They want Hungary for Hungarians and they want the future generation of Hungarians. Rather than the alternative of mass immigration from the Third World.
      
      People are looking for something deeper and greater than the leftist progressive ideas that are being forced down our throats at the moment. I do believe that there are traditional values we would do well to re-embrace. A party on the right could do that without being either overtly religious or on the other hand being completely hostile to the Christian church and our Christian values.
      
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      May 17, 2019 10:51am
  - MickMac
    
    why not a centre party instead of centre right or left.
    
    A bit of both, what makes sense.
    
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    May 17, 2019 10:06am
    - David George
      
      I don’t think National are a genuine right wing party, more centrist/social democrat.
      You need the left and the right and the people need the freedom to talk so that some sort of balance can be found; say between personal and collective responsibility. We’re not even having the discussion never mind any proper consideration (minus the derision) of genuine conservative values. The “feeling” of compassion is now the highest moral good; elevated above honesty. Good luck with that!
      
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      May 17, 2019 10:38am
  - stephieboy
    
    Scott,
    
    “So I believe there is room for another centre-right party.”
    
    You a centrist ??
    
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    May 17, 2019 10:16am
- Gravelroad
  
  So do we want a government which is constantly focussed on -and distracted by – religious beliefs of various sorts and trying to consider and appease all?
  Or do we want a government focussed on innovative, sensible, workable policies administered without too much interference in people’s lives?
  Citizens are entitled to their religious beliefs, if they have them, but government should be about big picture political leadership using taxpayer funding without fear or favour.
  
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  May 17, 2019 8:44am
  - artemisia
    
    First catch your hare.
    
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    May 17, 2019 9:12am
  - septic skeptic
    
    I agree Gravelroad. There is considerable risk that in a few years we will be back under another COL government bemoaning the fact that National were unable to reform anything meaningful due to being beholden to Christian, New Conservative or whatever the latest iteration of a special interest party got 5% or a seat.
    
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    May 17, 2019 9:32am
    - KevO'Brien
      
      The alternative atheistic communism or its handmaid socialism ala Cindy.
      
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      May 17, 2019 11:56am
    - Rachael Membery
      
      Well National have been happy to have the Pastor in their ranks, so they should be well aware of his views. They didn’t detract from his suitability as a candidate before.
      
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      May 17, 2019 5:32pm
- Chuck Bird
  
  I agree that Ngaro is a good man. However, Elliot Ikilei, Deputy Leader of the New Conservatives is planning on standing in Botany. If both of them stand it could split the vote. The NC is strongly opposed to National’s response to the government’s knee-jerk firearm legislation. It will be interesting to see Ngaro’s position on this issue. The NC will certainly be chasing votes from the firearm lobby. Ngaro should have had talks with the NC. I do not believe he has.
  
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  May 17, 2019 9:23am
- Alien
  
  i tend to think we could see a couple of religious parties next election this, destiny church
  
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  May 17, 2019 9:47am
  - David Garrett
    
    Alien: The Destiny Church has already had a go…another abject failure.
    
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    May 17, 2019 10:13am
    - Alien
      
      oh have they? shows how much i care about them, lol. I have just heard the head of their cult sounding like he was going to stand.
      
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      May 17, 2019 10:21am
- Hacked-Off
  
  Alfred Ngaro will only get maybe 1-2% of the European and Maori vote however, from my perspective a ‘Christian Values Party’ or whatever makes sense, if you think of it as the Pacifika wing of the National Party. This party will be different in make up and complexion to those that have gone before. The 2013 Census had the amount of Pacifika in NZ at 7.4% of the population. Possible extrapolation to 2018, based on growth rates between 2006 – 2013 and this could result in around 8.5% of the population. Take off the high under 18 demographic which Pacifika display and you could be looking at about 3.5-4% of the NZ voting public. Add in a safe seat for Alfred Ngaro and perhaps – if the majority of Pacifika vote, and vote CV, then 4-5 MPs depending on the 2020 maths.
  
  Given the theocratic nature of Pacifika society, where many Pacifika people look to their ministers for direction in their lives; and if Ngaro can align conservative social values to a good social programs then Pacifika will have a reason to get out and vote. They generally vote Labour on economic issues but after all we may ask what has Labour done for Pacifika peoples. Ngaro is a Pastor and a great speaker, and will have contacts throughout the Evangelistic, Protestant and Catholic communities within the Pacifika population. What better political advertising will there be if Sunday after Sunday from pulpits the local preacher will bang on about supporting this CV party. You just can’t buy that type of political advertising in NZ.
  
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  May 17, 2019 10:59am
- howitis
  
  Alfred Ngaro is a Christian Zionist with recent Jewish ancestry.
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Ngaro
  
  If you think the media had a go at Israel Folau over one Instagram post watch them go mental over this.
  As soon as he raises profile the media will pounce and denigrate.
  This is what Trump has prepared for with recent free speech changes i.e. allowing opinion and other viewpoints.
  NZ under Ardern has just gone in the other direction.
  
  Look at how media scum denigrate Gloriavale when Gloriavale is largely quiet.
  Watch them pounce over a Christian Zionist.
  Two hot buttons in one person.
  Ngaro will need to speak up to campaign.
  More than once.
  There will be Blood.
  
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  May 17, 2019 11:29am
  - KevO'Brien
    
    There is no suggestion anywhere that Alfred Ngaro has any Jewish ancestry.
    Political red herrings. The return of the Jews to Palestine is Biblical and the setting up the state in 1948 could well be the fulfillment of prophecy–time will tell.
    Ngaro is recognised highly among the Polynesian MP’s. His intellect shows in his theology degree.
    
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    May 17, 2019 12:05pm
    - howitis
      
      Well golly gosh!
      Alfred must be lying here when he talks to the camera about his Jewish Grandmother, Rita Goldstein.
      https://www.facebook.com/NeverAgainUK/videos/368852800583318/
      At 45sec mark minute mark.
      
      Terrible if he is pastor like your wife Kev but is a liar- as you suggest!
      You might want to contact him over this to ask if he is lair, or reflect that if one is openly supportive of Israel the MSM filth in NZ will attack you.
      
      Perhaps these are wrong as well.
      https://israelinstitute.nz/2018/05/hon-alfred-ngaro-celebrating-israel-at-70/
      
      “Ngaro reflected on his own connection with Israel through his Jewish grandmother.”
      
      Care to apologise like a good Christian, Mr O’Brien?
      
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      May 17, 2019 1:06pm
Don the Kiwi

It makes me puke the way the media – notably TV1 – are acclaiming Jacinda as a world leader who achieved the near impossible with social media platforms banning some live streaming.
Facebook and their ilk were doing it anyway.
The fawning female readers with eyes glistening with tears – /gag/
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May 17, 2019 8:10am
- oldgolfer
  
  Drives me nuts, too.
  The tech companies were always going to sign up to something – it would be PR madness not to express sympathy with the cause etc, but it seems the wording is so vague etc that, other than an aide-memoir to do better, is probably worthless.
  
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  May 17, 2019 8:21am
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  Seriously, do you think only females voted for Jacinda?
  
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  May 17, 2019 8:27am
  - cmm
    
    Nope, not “only”, but mostly.
    
    I’ll bet 50c and a servo pie that the vast majority of the Labour upswing when Jacinda was given the reigns came from female voters.
    
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    May 17, 2019 8:33am
    - Gravelroad
      
      Ms Ardern was in Parliament for a good few years before being elevated to Labour “leader” at the last election.
      Anybody recall what she did during those years?
      No.
      The rise to world prominence of Ms Ardern is almost exclusively down to her remarkable adoption by the media in all its forms (including celebrity endorsement, “influencers”, social media etc). This unquestioning “picking the winner” phenomenon turned the election.
      Yes, plenty of women worship at the feet of Jacinda having been now schooled through the Woman’s Weekly. What’s men’s excuse?
      
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      May 17, 2019 9:00am
      - septic skeptic
        
        I assume her Male supporters read the women’s weekly as well.
        
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        May 17, 2019 9:33am
    - David Garrett
      
      cmm: Given the REINS old boy…reigns are what Queens and Kings do…
      
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      May 17, 2019 10:14am
      - JB.49
        
        Queen Cindy? No, Fairy Princess, for sure.
        
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        May 17, 2019 11:31am
      - cmm
        
        DG: Thanks. I spotted that but editing is a bugger.
        
        Then I realised she was also given the reign too, so we could just leave it as a double entendre pun.
        
        And, if we ever meet, I’ll buy you a servo pie!
        
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        May 17, 2019 12:03pm
      - Rachael Membery
        
        Aspirational?
        
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        May 17, 2019 5:37pm
- RW Capitalist
  
  The glow is already fading.
  The world has already stopped talking about it.
  ONLY 17 minor and largely irrelevant countries, with leaders in trouble (politically) at home, signing it.
  The world is looking at Iran and the threats they have made against the USA and Allies in the region and the US response (a powerful carrier group).
  They are asking, is war coming?
  
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  May 17, 2019 8:33am
  - Paulus Gnome
    
    I understand that St Jucinda is going to stop off in Tehran for a ‘summit’ on her way back to the serfs to include concerned frowny face and hugz that will make that ‘not as orange as I thought’ guy take his carrier force and go home
    
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    May 17, 2019 9:12am
    - RW Capitalist
      
      and that chance is a very obese one, indeed.
      
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      May 17, 2019 9:33am
  - Paulus
    
    I am still wondering how such a written “agreement” of 17 will stop a single person committing such crime again.
    Who says to them that we have agreed not to show you doing it, so you cannot.
    
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    May 17, 2019 1:27pm
- Shaun the Sheep
  
  And I understand Macron organised the meeting and let JA come along to co-chair.
  Now somehow JA gets the credit for uniting the world in feelz.
  Awww, cute.
  
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  May 17, 2019 8:45am
  - JB.49
    
    Only because it suited Macron’s agenda!
    
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    May 17, 2019 11:34am
- KevO'Brien
  
  Scorn is being poured on Ardern and social media for trying to control how the world thinks:
  https://www.rt.com/op-ed/459523-christchurch-call-censorship-zuckerberg/
  
  The bigger the platform the higher the fall.
  
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  May 17, 2019 9:12am
- Alien
  
  i think she has done amazing, well done jacinda, shout it from the roof tops until the UN offer you a job, then leave.
  
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  May 17, 2019 9:49am
- The King
  
  The Jacinda Occupation Government (JOG) working as intended.
  
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  May 17, 2019 11:12am
Yvette

Is it too obvious – that no-one has commented on Ardern being on the ground for 12 hours in her China visit, but more like a whole week in Paris?

Est-ce juste “des raisins acides”, de ma part?
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May 17, 2019 8:15am
- cmm
  
  “des raisins acides”
  
  Naah, but we’ve got chicken salt.
  
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  May 17, 2019 8:34am
- RW Capitalist
  
  More tourist sites in Paris for her and her entourage to look at.
  
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  May 17, 2019 8:37am
- Maggie Pie
  
  Im sure the Paris trip wasn’t a complete waste of time. Whats the betting her Wedding Dress will be a spectacular Parisian number 🙂
  
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  May 17, 2019 8:41am
  - waikatogirl
    
    A dress her Labour voters can envy, or detest.
    
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    May 17, 2019 9:40am
    - cmm
      
      Pah!
      
      Let them eat cake and buy Warehouse clothing!
      
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      May 17, 2019 12:05pm
- Shaun the Sheep
  
  Yvette, how do you not understand that uniding the world in feelz is infinidely more impordand than some New Zilland’s trade with those people with chinky-sounding names?
  
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  May 17, 2019 9:56am
brett68

How many National MPs are Christians?
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May 17, 2019 8:17am
- RW Capitalist
  
  Who cares?
  
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  May 17, 2019 8:36am
  - brett68
    
    I do, religious beliefs have a massive impact on decision making and party direction.
    
    Muslims, Christians or any other religion it’s faith first, constituents a distant second.
    
    Not being a Christian, if the majority of National MPs are now bible thumpers, I think I’d struggle to vote National again.
    
    That would explain why they’re sticking with Bridges and the chance of a female leader is next to nil.
    
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    May 17, 2019 9:00am
    - RW Capitalist
      
      I have stated on here MANY times
      I am an atheist
      Our laws are based on the bible, a christian document, you would do well to read and attempt to emulate.
      I have read it, all be it some time ago.
      I have also read translations (in part) of the Koran.
      They are in places very similar.
      The difference
      Free will
      the bible emphasizes it as YOUR decisions
      The Koran places DEMANDS on behaviour and attitudes to non believers.
      I choose the bible as a reference
      I do NOT believe in God/ a God/ any God.
      This makes me an atheist, but:
      The teachings of those who do (the bible) have many things relevant to living a good life.
      
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      May 17, 2019 9:41am
      - Swifty
        
        ‘The teachings of those who do (the bible) have many things relevant to living a good life….’ – to be fair though, only if you ignore all the bad bits.
        
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        May 17, 2019 12:01pm
      - Piniwi
        
        Thanks RWC for getting to the core of the matter by highlighting the main distinction of guidance and directive. While the majority might see more dinner plates than collection plates they are still guided by the fundamentals of Christianity as well as deep traditions of their ancestors.
        The branding of any new party is critical to draw on the widest potential support of such a diverse group who clearly make their own choices tempered by those values and traditions. Remember a party vote has no electoral boundary by instead severe penalties for major recipients whose votes are devalued. Their success should not be hindered by attempting to target a minority regional group but a more broad based target of the majority under attack from ignorance and stupidity. A majority who really know “they are us” without some false claim or directive from a 37% minority leader.
        
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        May 17, 2019 3:16pm
    - Camryn Brown
      
      There are practicing Christians in National but there are also atheists. I’ve observed groups of 4-5 at a time discussing their views on things like end of life choice and they debate rationally and politely despite differing views and faith backgrounds. It’s not a religious party or a non-religious party but a mix of both… kinda like the country as a whole, really.
      
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      May 17, 2019 9:45am
    - john1234
      
      brett68 – would you prefer an MP who abides by the ethos of “do unto others as you would have others do unto you” or one who’s ethos is “redistribute your hard earned wealth to those who sit on their arses”?
      
      I’m not religious but know which I’d prefer.
      
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      May 17, 2019 9:46am
      - brett68
        
        I’d prefer an MP that looks at all issues objectively and can make decisions without their personal religious views interfering.
        
        Take for example euthanasia, religious MPS will vote against that no matter what their constituents want.
        
        That is not democracy.
        
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        May 17, 2019 10:21am
    - skyblue
      
      With Muslims it is Faith, followed by Faith followed by Faith……
      Christians are much more balanced.
      
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      May 17, 2019 9:51am
      - stephieboy
        
        “Christians are much more balanced”
        
        All Christians?
        
        https://fpif.org/ayatollah-trump-the-global-rise-of-the-christian-right/
        
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        May 17, 2019 10:18am
    - Happychappy
      
      Now I known why you had a beef against Bill English and posted your dislike for him on kiwiblog.
      
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      May 17, 2019 9:55am
    - David Garrett
      
      brett68: the history of Christian parties in New Zealand – see my comment above – would suggest that you are 100% wrong. If we ever got a Muzzie party – God forbid – things might be quite different.
      
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      May 17, 2019 10:16am
      - brett68
        
        If we ever got a Muzzie party
        Only a matter of time
        
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        May 17, 2019 10:34am
      - MCos
        
        If you’re referring to Muslim that’s a big ‘if’
        
        We did have an overtly Christian party awhile back. Shame about its leader.
        
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        May 17, 2019 10:56am
    - lilman
      
      Belonging to group shouldn’t be a scare factor in any voting decision, after all we know that NZF is full of arsholes and they get voted for.
      
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      May 17, 2019 11:15am
- Nukuleka
  
  I’m not sure just what your point is in asking such a question but I would expect that every National MP would subscribe to Judaeo Christian ethics and values even if they were not actually church attending Christians.
  
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  May 17, 2019 8:38am
  - RW Capitalist
    
    Considering, our laws are all based around that ethos.
    
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    May 17, 2019 9:06am
    - stephieboy
      
      “Considering, our laws are all based around that ethos.”
      
      And yours?
      
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      May 17, 2019 10:22am
- Rob2
  
  Too many IMHO.
  Mostly left footers which is a problem in itself. appeasers all.
  
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  May 17, 2019 9:08am
- Maggie Pie
  
  On May 12th GD – ‘brett68’ wrote :
  
  ‘This blog is pretty much pointless now …. but it’s Farrar’s blog he created it, if he wants to destroy it that’s his call’
  ‘
  In the circumstances, hardly a very ‘Christian’ comment to make i would have thought 🙁
  
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  May 17, 2019 9:14am
  - Tony Stuart
    
    If DPF’s blog is, as Brett puts it “pretty much pointless now”, you’d have to ask why he comments here so frequently.
    
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    May 17, 2019 1:08pm
    - Maggie Pie
      
      Your exactly right Tony. After making what i consider was a treacherous comment about our host, why would you bother coming back?
      And let me just say one more thing, that if i ever discovered who continually downticks my posts, i’ll make sure to go out of my way to piss them off because thats an adult thing to do.
      
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      May 17, 2019 2:20pm
- UrbanNeocolonialist
  
  Most MP’s will go to church in their electorate on occasion – it’s an easy method to gather votes. Even Helen Clark used to attend church.
  
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  May 17, 2019 9:42am
  - Captain Mainwaring
    
    Helen Clark would have attended a public beheading in the town square if she thought there were votes in it.
    
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    May 17, 2019 11:02am
    - RW Capitalist
      
      Helen Clark would have attended the opening of a ……………..DOOR.
      See the similarity with JA.
      
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      May 17, 2019 4:19pm
- Alien
  
  none, there is a Simon, a Paula, Judith, Todd, no Britney’s or Christian’s, a Maggie, and i think there is one called Who Was That as Trevor keeps calling on them.
  
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  May 17, 2019 9:51am
hullkiwi

Yesterday was a good day for sneaking out news that the woke community don’t care about the taxpayers.

In addition to Megan’s handouts in Christchurch, we get John Edward’s (the Privacy Commissioner) telling us MSD are breaching privacy of beneficiaries fraudulently claiming benefits.

He states he doesn’t agree with people taking what they are not entitled to from the system. However, he wants MSD to play by the rules which say they must ask the beneficiary whether they can gather evidence first.

As proof of them going over the top, he used the case of a beneficiary who denied what her living arrangements were only to be shown a photo she was sharing with associates.

So, let’s get this straight, he believes that someone MSD suspects is ripping off the system, is going to happily cough up a confession and MSD ask for it? What planet does he live on?
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May 17, 2019 8:19am
- Rich Prick
  
  Will he similarly hamstring Police investigations?
  
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  May 17, 2019 9:15am
- Sacha
  
  Did this come straight from the horse’s mouth – or was it ‘reported’?
  It would make the first an idiot, and the second a liar.
  
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  May 17, 2019 9:29am
- Camryn Brown
  
  He definitely appears to be the type to use the Privacy Commissioner role as a tool to advance a wider agenda.
  
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  May 17, 2019 9:48am
- Durden
  
  And John Edwards is a “lawyer” ?
  
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  May 17, 2019 11:48am
Happychappy

Isn’t it funny how Journalist want everyone else regulated but not MSM.
https://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/opinion/barry-soper-the-media-here-is-generally-self-regulatory/
Yet Tova and Paddy create hate with their views.
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May 17, 2019 8:28am
- stephieboy
  
  Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
  “Yet Tova and Paddy create hate with their views” ??
  
  In what ways exactly?
  
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  May 17, 2019 10:23am
Maggie Pie

Over Israel Folau yet?
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May 17, 2019 8:31am
- Sacha
  
  Yep.
  Oh and BTW – are you kin to Luke Pie-walker?
  Just asking.
  
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  May 17, 2019 9:31am
  - Maggie Pie
    
    Nope – but my partner did meet Simple Simon.
    
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    May 17, 2019 10:24am
    - sooty
      
      Fall off the wall, did he?
      
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      May 17, 2019 12:56pm
- Shaun the Sheep
  
  I’m certainly over the mis-handling of it.
  A player gets in a bar fight or thumps the missus and it’s all over the media for a a day or two.
  This has dragged on for weeks. Zzzzz
  
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  May 17, 2019 10:03am
Inandout

Theresa rejects Islamophobia being written into law, but will our princess?

https://www.buzzfeed.com/alexwickham/theresa-may-will-reject-calls-by-muslim-groups-to-define
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May 17, 2019 8:32am
- Komata
  
  Inandout@0832
  
  Not if she believes there are votes to be had by doing so; because of her CHCH performance, she’s already half-way there…
  
  (1810)
  
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  May 17, 2019 6:10pm
hullkiwi

Evidence that the woke and the left entitlement movement now believe they are in the driving seat and rest of must swallow it, came from Hamklton yesterday. The Mayor of Hamilton was presented with an environmental status report, which he refused to accept.

The reason for his non acceptance of the report was because of the language in the report. With references to colonoisation and impacts on the local Waikato population being the cause of environmental issues.

Then news last night that Nelson City Council has followed Christchurch City Council and approved a motion that we are now facing a “Climate Change Catastrphe” citing the recent severe weather events that the Nelson/West Coast has faced in the past 12 months.

Please, where do these stupid people come from?
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May 17, 2019 8:34am
- herb1
  
  not Christchurch City Council (yet) it was ECan.
  CCC environment policy is runny a failed candidate for the Environment Commissioners role , and seems to have taken it upon herself to I’m pose draconian rules , sans evidence, on the people of Christchurch
  
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  May 17, 2019 9:21am
  - hullkiwi
    
    herb, the scary thing is that although such motions are symbolic at this time, in the future they could be used as a vehicle for all sorts of draconian measures. All in the name of saving the planet from climate change.
    
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    May 17, 2019 10:53am
  - Jack5
    
    Ecan is a mess. The chairman is a Leftist-Green fanatic.
    
    We’re all to blame. We don’t take sufficient interest in local body elections, especially lesser ones such as environmental councils and hospital boards.
    
    Activists — from Greens to those seeking apartheid-style reserved seats on a race basis — have stepped in.
    
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    May 17, 2019 11:18am
Igotta Numbum

Twyford, Lester & Laidlaw talking about “Let’s Get Wellington Moving”

It’s the perfect storm of epic fail.
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May 17, 2019 8:37am
- Gravyman2
  
  Wellington does of course need to be moving. Into Cook Strait.
  
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  May 17, 2019 9:01am
  - CHFR1
    
    As a proud Wellingtonian based on our voting record I agree.
    
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    May 17, 2019 9:55am
- herb1
  
  Prunes for everyone then
  
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  May 17, 2019 9:22am
- Inandout
  
  It is the perfect laxative.
  
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  May 17, 2019 10:12am
- Tony Stuart
  
  That triumvirate is akin to having Chris Rattue, Mark Reason and Justin Marshall picking the All Blacks…
  
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  May 17, 2019 1:10pm
lastmanstanding

Its 2024.

The Queen died in 2022 at the ripe old age of 96.

The Labour/Green Government decided to dissolve the current Constitutional arrangements and replace the Monarchy with a Government appointed President who would serve for a term to be determined by the Government.

Former Prime Minister Helen Clark was appointed as the first President of the Democratic Republic of Aoteoroa.

Following the political opposition leading up to the General Election in 2020 the Labour/Greens parties who won the election by a narrow majority had declared a State of Emergency and in the interests of protection the citizens had enacted new laws that banned any speech in opposition to the Government. Such speech would be punished by a term of imprisonment of up to life without parole at the discretion of the Minister of Justice who now had the power of deciding all Court sentences.

A new Ministry of Thought and Speech had been introduced following the 2020 elections.

Complaints to this Ministry by Party Members of the Labour and Green Parties were given preference as to investigation and 95% of these complaints were upheld.

Complaints by members of other parties or the public were generally dismissed unless they involved a complaint against those opposing the ruling Parties.

Blogs such as Kiwiblog were subject to delayed moderation by the Ministry with the result that only a small number of posts appeared each day all in praise of the President or the Prime Minister re-elected in 2020 who had declared she will serve until she reached the age of 70 years.

The Leader of the Opposition was only allowed a 10 minute speaking slot in the Parliament once each week with his speech notes subject to vetting and alteration by the Ministry,

Former posters on Kiwiblog had been rounded up following the 2020 elections and many of them were now serving long prison sentences having been convicted of treason and declared enemies of the State.
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May 17, 2019 8:40am
- Odakyu-sen
  
  Saw this on a MAGA-like baseball cap the other day:
  
  “Make Orwell Fiction Again”
  
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  May 17, 2019 8:42am
- dave_c_
  
  Not long to wait Mr deplorable !
  
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  May 17, 2019 8:44am
- Captain Mainwaring
  
  Wow lastman, that’s a bit scary.
  Alfred Ngaro to the rescue then.
  
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  May 17, 2019 8:46am
- Inandout
  
  Well we all remember Helen’s failed Electoral Finance Act, which very nearly ensured a permanent Labour government. She is as cunning as.
  
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  May 17, 2019 10:20am
- stephieboy
  
  lastmanstanding, still immersed in a” Faraway Tree” fantasy world?
  
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  May 17, 2019 10:26am
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  Former posters on Kiwiblog had been rounded up following the 2020 elections and many of them were now serving long prison sentences having been convicted of treason and declared enemies of the State.
  
  Oh no..
  Prisons will be a thing of the past.. they are colonial forms of oppression.
  
  We will be housed on a quinoa collective farm in the Moawhanga valley, tending to the crop in between our prayer-study sessions and empathy courses.
  
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  May 17, 2019 10:49am
  - Jack5
    
    We are in Orwellian times … the big punishment is for words and publicity …
    
    Prisons are for people like this:
    
    – The 16-year-old boy who has been held without bail in Christchurch for distributing copies of the banned online video of the mosque massacres.
    
    – Philip John Arps, who also distributed copies of the video, with additions such as cross-hairs. Arps, known in Christchurch for his extreme views, has been remanded in custody with home detention ruled out when he appears for sentence on June 14.
    
    On the other hand, prisons apparently are not for people like this:
    
    – The Muslim youth caught planning a car and knife massacre of Christchurch citizens. He was sentenced to two years of monitored supervision, which included golf lessons. He planned to ram a car into a group of people and then stab them until the police killed him. He later told a psychologist that he “decided not to hurt anybody because he did not have the means to kill enough people”.
    
    – The hit-and-run driver who left to die a 30-year-old man walking his dogs across a Christchurch bridge at 2.30am (he was found lying with his dogs curled round him). The driver was sentenced to 170 hours of community work, disqualified from driving for a year, and ordered to pay $500 in emotional damages to the family (they passed it on to an organ donation charity).
    
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    May 17, 2019 11:56am
alloytoo

Those poor Aussies so few decent PM choices that they would prefer Jacinda.

Let’s encourage this it could be of benefit to both countries. FSM knows, we would do better without her.
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May 17, 2019 8:57am
Straight arrow

As I predicted, the Christchurch Call was basically the same as the EU’s Code of conduct on countering illegal hate speech online, just insert “terrorism” to “hate speech”. That code actually is fairly reasonable. The media (NZ) seems not to realise that the “major” breakthroughs are mainly restating the EU’s Code.

Three new initiatives.
One: redirecting users to counter-narratives “You were looking for (whatever)…this is what we think you really want”. Not a welcome development, as open to abuse. Example: search for Sri Lanka terrorism, be directed to anti-islamophobia material. If users cannot find what they are looking for in mainstream platforms, they may gravitate to extremist sites – unintended consequences.

Two: Putting in place emergency protocols for dealing with major terrorism events. After Christchurch some ISPs prevent access to some sites on their own volition. This policy would enable governments to issue emergency directives (e.g. blocking sites). In Sri Lanka, severe restrictions were put in place after the bombings there, and I see that a Catholic bishop in Sri Lanka made the comment that this made people feel unsettled as they lacked information. Who decides and on what grounds what an emergency is? NZ and/or overseas events? What material and / or sites could be restricted? On the flip side, it could be good that an ISP cannot restrict access without approval. Again, even if video or manifesto appeared on your screen, you were not forced to watch it.

Three: Government assistance to smaller online providers (technical and access to databases). To keep this post short, may post something later.
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May 17, 2019 9:07am
Rob2

The council elections are coming up.
In Tauranga we have been lorded over by about the most incompetent Mayor for a while. Haven’t had a descent Mayor for many years. not since the job was socialized by too much money and influence.
Tenby Powell has put his hand up for the job. Born and grew up here and has gone on to be very successful. Has supported small business for a long time.
If you live in Tauranga and are fed up with the gross mismanagement of our city by successive hopeless Mayors and CEO’s,(present one excluded), then go along and listen to him or follow Tenby on FB.
https://www.facebook.com/tenby.powell.
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May 17, 2019 9:10am
- MCos
  
  Everyone thinks their mayor is incompetent if social media is anything to go by.
  
  In my opinion voters only have themselves to blame. A city like Auckland is big, but few people seem to take an interest in who runs the place. Not so much the mayor, but the councilors.
  
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  May 17, 2019 11:09am
Happychappy

Everyone knows I am not a Winston Peter’s fan and have been rubbishing his forestry plan for a few days now.
https://i.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/112520475/farmer-uneasy-over-farm-to-forestry-conversion-plan
Is Winston’s plan now to farmers after they have said they won’t vote for him or his party to take them out of the market as some small farmers are selling out to forestry and overseas investor’s.
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May 17, 2019 9:23am
Maggie Pie

Besties

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D6nAbZ1W0AEhHtT?format=jpg&name=small
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May 17, 2019 9:26am
BrownSnake

Did they Cook the Captain?
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May 17, 2019 9:28am
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  Not all of him.
  He was disembowelled before being baked.
  
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  May 17, 2019 10:59am
  - Maggie Pie
    
    Poor man. What an offal way to go 🙁
    
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    May 17, 2019 11:21am
Wangas Feral

This latest Paris bullshit is nothing to do with combating extremism. It is to do with combating non left wing views. Which by their definition are extreme. They don’t give a rat’s arse about Islamic terrorism being on every social media platform every day of the year.
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May 17, 2019 9:31am
plc

When did “benefits” become “entitlements”?
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May 17, 2019 10:04am
- sam green
  
  Why don’t we just call them all “pensions”?
  
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  May 17, 2019 2:51pm
MickMac

so B/S then, what they should be doing anyway.
in other words a photo op for Jacinda
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May 17, 2019 10:12am
Fletch

Conservative site Red State tells it like it is re: the ‘Christchurch Call’ –

Trump Administration Refuses to Sign the Fascistic Christchurch Call and We Should Thank Them

When Asia Bibi was sentenced to death for blasphemy in Pakistan and when a few hundred “Easter worshipers” in Sri Lanka were killed, most of the West was pretty silent. There were no vigils and protests and irate editorials about hate. But, let a singular event take place in one of the many self-hating Western nations involving a favored minority, and, well, you have something entirely different.

This is the case in New Zealand in the aftermath of the March 15 shooting at a mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand, that killed 51 and wounded 49 “Friday worshipers.” The first step of the reaction was to disarm law abiding New Zealanders. And now that country’s Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, is trying to turn that strategy into a worldwide jihad against speech that has not been approved by right-thinking government appartchiks. The vehicle is the “Christchurch Call.”

[…]

This is one of those situations where the Trump administration has proven an adherence to constitutional protections and to individual freedom that no one would have anticipated in 2016.

There is no legal reason for this document as “incitement” and “conspiracy” are already crimes.

[…] More to the point, you don’t defeat bad or stupid ideology by banning it and giving it a cachet of being counter-cultural. You defeat it by forcing it into the open, by debate and by convincing people that the ideas are wrong. But no one in this group cares about what the Christchurch shooter posted on line. Their objective is to be able to refuse to debate issues they’d rather avoid…like the impact of unfettered immigration…by declaring the very question to be hate speech produced by some phobia recently discovered by a leftwing sociology professor.

The agenda here is clear. This declaration seeks to give governments interested in limiting political debate and large multinational corporations with no loyalty but their bottom line and rent-seeking the ability to control and to criminalize what you say if your words don’t fall within a narrowly circumscribed range of behavior. That’s it. It is social control pure and simple.

https://www.redstate.com/streiff/2019/05/16/trump-administration-refuses-sign-fascistic-christchurch-call-thank/
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May 17, 2019 10:16am
- Rich Prick
  
  Without the constraint of anything like the USA’s First Amendment, I think we can expect captain calls well beyond violent content. They won’t be able to stop themselves.
  
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  May 17, 2019 11:24am
David Garrett

I see some vermin have stolen brass memorial plaques of servicemen’s graves and tried to sell them for scrap. Sadly the offence is only theft, but in my view such people should receive the MAXIMUM penalty with no parole…and not be put in seg where they can be protected from crims who just might think such thefts are a step – or several steps – too far. Despicable scum, whoever did it.
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May 17, 2019 10:26am
- lofty
  
  The good news is the authorities have arrested a 41yo woman.
  
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  May 17, 2019 11:05am
- Jack5
  
  Presumably it’s the copper content the ratbags are after. The plaques’ likely material, bronze, is 80 per cent copper. World copper prices are rising again after falling last year.
  
  On the American Comex exchange today copper is at $US2.74 ($NZ4.19) a pound. It peaked at $US3.30 last year.
  
  This is still well below the boom 11 years ago, when it topped $US4.06. That spiked crime even in remote NZ, thieves stripping copper spouting from schools and ripping down phone lines.
  
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  May 17, 2019 11:08am
- Captain Mainwaring
  
  The offender has been caught.
  
  https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/112793458/woman-arrested-after-allegedly-stealing-49-war-veteran-plaques
  
  What a despicable human being. What scrap metal dealer would be low enough to fall for that one?
  
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  May 17, 2019 11:10am
  - David Garrett
    
    Mainwarning: Apparently the bitch or her accomplice ground off the names and details…but you’d think a scrap dealer would be suspicious of 30 brass plaques the same size and shape?…But then I think they caught her through a scrap dealer? I haven’t read your link yet.
    
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    May 17, 2019 11:30am
    - kevn
      
      @DG… I was at a scrapyard selling some old corrugated iron a while ago and watched a trailerload of aluminium tree pruning ladders (the special 3 legged type) get cut up for scrap as they were being unloaded. Sheepish seller.
      Clearly stolen because they were very saleable.
      
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      May 17, 2019 11:40am
  - David Garrett
    
    I was right…the arrest came after a tip off from a scrap dealer…a notoriously shady business…Well done that man…(almost certainly a man, who drew the line at desecrating war graves…and that’s what this “theft” actually is.)
    
    15 1
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    May 17, 2019 11:44am
  - Shaun the Sheep
    
    She should be named and shamed.
    
    11 1
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    May 17, 2019 11:51am
    - David Garrett
      
      Shaun: the penalty for theft of items valued at over $1000 is seven years in jail…but thanks to the Sentencing Act – which requires the minimum possible sentence to be imposed – and soft cock judges, what’s the bet she does no time at all?
      
      I’d have the bitch and her accomplice flogged if I was making the rules.
      
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      May 17, 2019 12:40pm
Jack5

China’s “nuclear option” against President Trump — dumping its big stock of US Government bonds — is discounted in the Telegraph today.

So it looks like a case of when you owe the bank ten thousand dollars, you’ve got a problem; when you owe the bank ten million, the bank’s got the problem.

Chinese nationalists have been calling on Beijing to “pull the plug” on China’s holding of $US1.2 trillion of US bonds.

Ambrose Evans-Pritchard writes behind the Telegraph paywall that if China runs down its $US3.1 trillion of foreign reserves, it drains liquidity and tightens internal monetary policy. The result would worsen its sharp economic slowdown. Growth in China’s retail sales is at its lowest since the SARS outbreak in 2003.

To the extent that the action lowered the value of the US dollar, a dumping of US bonds would do President Trump a favour. Both China and Japan, the second biggest foreign holder of US debt (it holds $US1.07 trillion) want the US dollar high to boost the value of their exports to America.

Chinese corporations have $US840 billion of onshore dollar debt, and probably another $US1 trillion in offshore dollar loans, Evans-Pritchard writes.

The Chinese Government has guaranteed redemptions in US currency for foreign investors using the Hong Kong – Shanghai ‘Connect’ pipeline and the China Interbank Bond Market.
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May 17, 2019 10:56am
- Ross12
  
  On the flip side to this Jack, the Chinese Government have sacked their Chief negotiator for these trade talks.
  
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  May 17, 2019 11:35am
  - Jack5
    
    A slightly different version of Evans-Pritchard’s China article, this time from the Sydney Morning Herald, and not paywalled.
    
    https://www.smh.com.au/business/markets/china-is-under-pressure-to-teach-trump-a-lesson-it-should-be-very-careful-20190517-p51oas.html
    
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    May 17, 2019 3:44pm
- Piniwi
  
  Also Jack5 lets not forget the expansive chequebook diplomacy China has been using to bolster so many weak economies around the Pacific and China seas as well as Africa.
  
  1 0
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  May 17, 2019 3:40pm
Maggy Wassilieff

Unplanned Forestry in NZ
surprise, surprise…
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/389401/fears-of-catastrophic-impact-of-prime-farmland-being-sold-for-forestry

What’s the bet that in 20-25 years all the forests being subsidised as Carbon sinks will be recalibrated/retro-fitted into production forests for $$$$$?
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May 17, 2019 11:08am
- Kabull
  
  I hope that in 20-30 years the world might have come to its senses and the carbon hysteria will have passed. We can then scrap the ETS and carbon taxes.
  
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  May 17, 2019 11:38am
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  More detail here.
  Good interview by Kathryn Ryan… she’s on top of this issue.
  https://www.rnz.co.nz/audio/player?audio_id=2018695488
  
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  May 17, 2019 11:49am
- Ross12
  
  Just like “feed-in” tariffs for solar panels in other countries , Maggy, this just the people of NZ (especially poorer people) subsidising the few who can buy land and plant the trees.
  I think what you are saying for 20-25 years in the future is right and by then there will be no penalty if they do not replant with new trees.
  
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  May 17, 2019 11:51am
- Happychappy
  
  But Peter’s doesn’t want Foreign investment in NZ and especially selling land so how come now its forestry and his pet project he has now changed his view. So now he is about fuck NZ Agriculture to satisfy his ego, Winston said logs was all about jobs in NZ sawmills and the cost of bring in timber from China that were buying our logs. Now it seems he changed his mind and millions of logs are on there way to China care of Winston Peter’s and Shane Jones.
  
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  May 17, 2019 7:03pm
Hugh Pavletich

AUSTRALIA CoreLogic weekly Australian house price update: Breaking bad – MacroBusiness
… behind paywall …

https://www.macrobusiness.com.au/2019/05/corelogic-weekly-australian-house-price-update-breaking-bad/

By Leith van Onselen In the week ended 16 May 2019, the CoreLogic 5-city daily dwelling price index, which covers the five major capital city markets, fell another 0.24%:

The quarterly decline is running at 2.08%, with Sydney, Melbourne and Perth still suffering heavy losses:

However, annual losses increased to 9.0%, again driven by Sydney, Melbourne and Perth:

… Pavletich post (in moderation) …

https://www.macrobusiness.com.au/2019/05/corelogic-weekly-australian-house-price-update-breaking-bad/#comment-3349212 … behind paywall …

It is still a very long journey to ‘affordable’ at 3.0 times annual household incomes …

2019 15th Annual Demographia International Housing Affordability Survey

http://www.demographia.com/dhi.pdf

Demographia International Housing Affordability Survey: All Editions

http://www.demographia.com/db-dhi-index.htm

Definition of an Affordable Housing Market … Performance Urban Planning
http://www.performanceurbanplanning.org/affordability.html

… noting that the average Median Multiples (refer All Editions – Demographia Surveys above) of the Irish metros went from 4.7 in 2oo7 to 2.8 some years laters, sending all its Banks to the wall … and requiring about $E70 billion from mainly German financial institutions to bail them out.

Currently the Aussie metros are about 5.6 Median Multiple overall, while the Kiwi ones are about 6.5.
3 11
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May 17, 2019 11:13am
- Hugh Pavletich
  
  … Check out China’s Median Multiples …
  
  China’s empty homes may prove a bigger threat than Donald Trump’s tariffs … Michael Janda … ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
  
  https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-05-14/china-vacant-property-empty-homes-donald-trump-tariffs/11082900
  
  Build it and they will come. That is the philosophy underpinning modern China’s urban fields of dreams. …
  
  In some senses they have, and do, come. But they are not residents or businesses in many of China’s gleaming new towers. They are investors — speculators betting that property values only go up as China’s population moves indefinitely in just one direction, from country to city. …
  
  … To give you a better sense of the scale of China’s overbuilding, assuming a reasonably generous average of 80sqm of floorspace per new dwelling, that is 80 million units that are currently sitting empty. … read more via hyperlink above …
  
  Chinese property is extremely unaffordable
  
  https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-05-14/chinese-property-is-extremely-unaffordable/11113024
  
  4 10
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  May 17, 2019 12:41pm
- Swifty
  
  Hugh Pathetic, you really are pathetic.
  
  7 5
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  May 17, 2019 12:43pm
  - Hugh Pavletich
    
    China’s slowing economy: the view from the Henan heartland | The Wider Image | Reuters
    
    https://widerimage.reuters.com/story/chinas-slowing-economy-the-view-from-the-henan-heartland
    .
    .
    Check out MacroBusiness Australia as well … http://www.MacroBusiness.com.au
    
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    May 17, 2019 1:33pm
secondcumming

Interesting to read that *one in four employees* in the State of Colorado, are now turning up to work stoned.
13 2
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May 17, 2019 11:13am
- alex Masterley
  
  I hope those one in four are having their contracts terminated.
  Employers here would be obliged to do that here simply because of OSH.
  
  2 0
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  May 17, 2019 1:19pm
The King

Some Aristotle food for thought…

“Another mark of a tyrant is that he likes foreigners better than citizens, and lives with them and invites them to his table; for the one are enemies, but the others enter into no rivalry with him.” – Aristotle, “Politics” Book V
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May 17, 2019 11:14am
brett68

https://www.magic.co.nz/home/news/2019/05/david-seymour-says–the-state-should-never-punish-someone-for-th.html

Where the hell is Bridges in all of this, why isn’t National backing Seymour?
12 6
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May 17, 2019 11:52am
- Maggie Pie
  
  Nothing happening over at ‘ysd’ today brett?
  No images posted there worth goggling?? LOL!!
  
  7 1
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  May 17, 2019 12:43pm
- BananaLlama
  
  Collins is also weak on free speech. Going to be nine long years if this is the best they can offer.
  
  3 0
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  May 17, 2019 2:03pm
- Alien
  
  bridges is hard at work doing what he always does, nothing. Seymour is more an opposition leader than bridges
  
  0 4
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  May 17, 2019 2:26pm
- Alien
  
  Judith Collins defends Golriz Ghahraman after being called ‘menace’ by David Seymour
  
  https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2019/05/judith-collins-defends-golriz-ghahraman-after-being-called-menace-by-david-seymour.html
  
  3 0
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  May 17, 2019 3:14pm
- Rob2
  
  Well his nemisis is on the job. Judith is berating Seymour and support Golly wog.
  
  Gone soft in the head has Judith and you guys want to make her the leader.
  Gees the Nats. never learn no should they be in Govt. as they are.
  
  Leaves us with few options.
  
  https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2019/05/judith-collins-defends-golriz-ghahraman-after-being-called-menace-by-david-seymour.html?fbclid=IwAR1VfH_S4x-yfKneUXLAESHjqY1lk-HAFSyAYbjdwDO73WYaAT3LGgKzqik
  
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  May 17, 2019 3:55pm
slightlyrighty

It’s so cold in Wellington today that I saw Grant Robertson with his hands in his own pockets….
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May 17, 2019 12:02pm
Ross12

Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party has crossed the 100,000 mark for registered members. Not bad for a party that is only 5-6 weeks old.
Compare to the Conservative Party which had 124,000 as of March 2018 –probably quite a bit lower now.
Shows how annoyed (to be polite) the British voters are.
15 0
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May 17, 2019 12:24pm
- MCos
  
  The Brexit Party has no members. It has ‘registered supporters’.
  There are rules around what constitutes a member, but a supporter????
  
  0 0
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  May 17, 2019 7:20pm
Maggie Pie

The Daily Mail UK are reporting, that Royal couple Harry & Meghan have decided to do away with having any staff to assist with new bub Archie, deciding instead to just have Megs mother, Doris Ragland, stay in the house to help them.

This is all sounding a bit fishier and fishier to me.
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May 17, 2019 12:36pm
- stephieboy
  
  Maggie Pie,
  
  “This is all sounding a bit fishier and fishier to me.”
  
  In what ways?
  
  0 1
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  May 17, 2019 1:02pm
- Alien
  
  translated, all our staff keep leaving because the wife is a nasty piece of work towards them and no one wants the job
  
  2 0
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  May 17, 2019 2:12pm
- sam green
  
  Why don’t we all just mind our own business?
  
  1 1
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  May 17, 2019 2:53pm
- KevO'Brien
  
  Young independent Royals. Harry, Duke of Sussex, is 6th in the succession so experimentation is unlikely to be consequential.
  
  1 0
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  May 17, 2019 4:40pm
Straight arrow

Watched TV1 noon news. The NZ person introducing the BBC report on the 2017 London Bridge attack, and the BBC reporter as well, talked about “the London Bridge attackers” or “attackers” even though it was classed as terrorist attack, by authorities. No mention of ideology at all. Victims were “random”. No names given of “attackers”.

This is the new “Christchurch Call” sanitized news.
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May 17, 2019 1:03pm
- The King
  
  Brenton Tarrants act isn’t even classed as a terrorist attack, yet they call him a terrorist all day. The complete opposite.
  
  0 0
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  May 17, 2019 9:06pm
  - Batman
    
    Just because he isn’t being charged under the terrorism act doesn’t make it not terrorism.
    
    It’s terrorism and is called as such.
    
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    May 18, 2019 12:31am
UrbanNeocolonialist

JAG labelling people “car fascists”
Hate preacher of the intolerant control-left, yearning to reestablish the gulags…
17 1
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May 17, 2019 1:03pm
- Alien
  
  i wonder if the christchurch call allows for a minister to abuse people online calling them fascists
  
  4 0
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  May 17, 2019 5:05pm
- The King
  
  Keep calling people fascists and eventually you might get fascists, then for no reason at all everybody voted for Hitler.
  
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  May 17, 2019 9:08pm
oob

David Seymour is getting pilloried for this Act party tweet:

https://twitter.com/actparty/status/1129125061061881857

The responses from the left are thoroughly unhinged and of course, the ghastly Golriz Gharaman played the race card: standard practice from the far-Left playbook when extremists are unable to defend their authoritarian ideas.

https://twitter.com/golrizghahraman/status/1129139110143115264
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May 17, 2019 1:06pm
Maggy Wassilieff

Rays at Bondi Beach yesterday.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BxgKY8_nTtr/
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May 17, 2019 1:10pm
Maggie Pie

Ever since my partner brought his rescue dog home, i seem to be spending about an hour a day polishing the grass 🙁

Just saying.
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May 17, 2019 1:12pm
Maggy Wassilieff

Last year, Napier and Hastings had the highest number of children taken into state care – a total 162 children.

Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Kahungunu chair Ngāhiwi Tomoana said the community is struggling with meth addiction, violence and gangs, and there is no simple fix.

Tell your Gangsters to get out of your whanau’ lives.

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/389423/whanau-violence-targeted-in-campaign-to-keep-maori-out-of-state-care
13 0
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May 17, 2019 1:31pm
- sam green
  
  Pretty much. Until iwi and hapū start calling out those scum, nothing will change. Get the meth out of disadvantaged communities. Get the addicts into rehab.
  
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  May 17, 2019 7:37pm
  - Jack5
    
    Sam, can you rehabilitate an addict who doesn’t want to be helped?
    
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    May 17, 2019 9:55pm
    - sam green
      
      Do you need help Jack5?
      
      1 0
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      May 18, 2019 10:52pm
Jack5

Is Judith Collins signalling the Greens would be a potential coalition partner is she were to lead National?

Collins seems to have favoured the Greens over ACT by slapping down David Seymour for labelling Golriz Ghahraman a “menace to freedom in this country”.

Could we vote for a National that would take the Greens as coalition partners?

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12232004
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May 17, 2019 4:29pm
- BananaLlama
  
  She has always been a corrupt authoritarian so it wouldn’t surprise me.
  
  5 4
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  May 17, 2019 5:51pm
- Alien
  
  not sure how anyone can take what judith said and come up with what you have.
  
  3 1
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  May 17, 2019 7:58pm
Maggy Wassilieff

P.C. schoolteachers gone nuts.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2019/05/child-sent-home-from-helensville-primary-school-for-not-wearing-enough-pink-on-anti-bullying-day.html

Is there no such thing as A Duty of Care anymore in schools?
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May 17, 2019 4:41pm
- Alien
  
  sounds like bullying of the student by the school
  
  10 0
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  May 17, 2019 5:01pm
- greybeard
  
  “Pink Shirt Day is a symbolic stand against bullying.”
  
  So what happens? The kid is bullied by the teachers.
  
  12 0
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  May 17, 2019 6:18pm
- Johnboy
  
  No!
  Fortunately my luvley little grandaughter is off to Chilton next year! 🙂 🙂
  
  6 0
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  May 17, 2019 7:30pm
  - waikatogirl
    
    That’s great JB.
    My old mum was head girl at Chilton way, way back.
    
    4 0
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    May 17, 2019 8:19pm
- stephieboy
  
  MW, the Principal is investigating might suggest an out of line staff memember or quite likely all made up!
  
  0 9
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  May 17, 2019 8:21pm
  - Maggy Wassilieff
    
    Claire Lealiifano says her son was sent home from Helensville Primary School after a teacher determined he wasn’t wearing enough pink and should instead be in school uniform.
    
    So you are suggesting in a public forum that this mother is telling porkies?
    
    Aren’t you the brave one hiding behind your alias?
    
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    May 17, 2019 8:35pm
- Straight arrow
  
  Should have said he was colour-fluid.
  
  7 0
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  May 17, 2019 8:40pm
Maggy Wassilieff

Even though I had little Girls, I cannot recall that my poppets ever had any pink clothing.
I have never worn anything pink… neither has hubby (as far as I am aware).

What were these mad teachers thinking?
8 0
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May 17, 2019 8:16pm
- Scooter
  
  Virtue signalling hypocrites
  
  1 0
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  May 18, 2019 12:08am
Alien

I believe ECAN’s plan to pass a motion of climate change emergency was simply smoke and mirrors to get most people ignoring the 10.5 percent rate increase. Maybe if their staff stopped driving around in flash new cars they wouldnt need a rates rise.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/timaru-herald/news/112795677/ecan-rates-rise–a-no-win-situation
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May 17, 2019 8:48pm
Alien

I think people will enjoy this 14 year old

https://www.bitchute.com/video/OdaUDeAGIck/
0 0
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May 17, 2019 9:34pm
- Alien
  
  Aww how nice, Jacinda got a mention
  
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  May 17, 2019 9:45pm

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