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December 10, 2021 8:00am by Kokila Patel

General Debate 10 December 2021

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General Debate

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Warren

Nurses Union : Gov’t claim health system coping inaccurate.
More lies from a Government and their Prime Minister about those that care for what their job entails and how they do it.
Nurses and DBH’s around Auckland are concerned Wellington officials assurances of a robust Health System is far from reality than what they face on the front each day on the frontline.
They also warn continued staff shortages
could put patients at risk NZ Nurse’s Organization Sarah Barker told breakfast the Government had been telling the public the health system was coping and that it could handle a surge if it come.
Barker said those comments “really annoyed” members of the nurses union.
https://www.1news.co.nz/2021/12/08/nurses-union-govts-claim-health-system-coping-inaccurate/
Andrew Little the Health Minister says work is underway to address staffing shortages, just like the ICU beds and the two years Labour and their Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has had to address that problem, that still exists today.
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December 10, 2021 8:00am
- CJames
  
  How many nurses and medical staff we laid off because they weren’t jabbed? This was despite them being essential workers before there was a vaccine. Truth telling and consistency aren’t hallmarks of this government.
  
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  December 10, 2021 8:47am
  - Salacious Crumb
    
    I heard this morning that Waikato Hospital is down 50 theatre staff as of next week – these being nurses and anesthetic technicians. A result of vaccine mandates, work/pay conditions plus the foreign trained nurses leaving for Australia due to their family’s being welcomed under Australia’s visa rules for healthcare workers. The situation is far worse in the Auckland DHB’s. The end result will be cancellation of services. This shit show government has created this.
    
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    December 10, 2021 10:34am
    - Ruawai
      
      My father in law has now been in hospital 3 weeks (1 week in New Plymouth and 2 weeks in Waikato Hospital) waiting for a triple heart bypass. He gets told his operation will be today then it gets cancelled, reason given because of covid in ICU beds. I think Jacinda Ardern and Andrew Little might be getting their facts wrong, ie lying!!
      
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      December 10, 2021 12:02pm
      - bronny1
        
        AND its just come out that officials did not recommend widespread use for Vax Passes, only for large events – so another place they have lied.
        
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        December 10, 2021 12:55pm
      - CJames
        
        Ruawai,
        I would doubt that is the true reason as there don’t seem to be any Covid ICU patients in Waikato.
        
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        December 10, 2021 2:37pm
    - Man Among the Ruins
      
      The system needs to collapse somewhat in order for more people to wake up to reality. The precarious state of the country is just an abstraction, until one is personally affected by it.
      
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      December 10, 2021 12:04pm
      - Russ the Muss
        
        Probably on the one day in my life I need life saving surgery…. No Thanks. A decent heath minister that sorts this shitshow out seems preferable to me.
        
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        December 10, 2021 1:32pm
      - Man Among the Ruins
        
        Your comment goes to my point: it’s all OK until it affects you. It’s not that I want the system to collapse, or that I think it is preferable that it collapses. Rather, the country has become so bad, due to failed ideology and poorly management by successive governments over the last 20 or 30 years that it inevitably will collapse, and only then will sufficient numbers wake up to the need for a root and branch overhaul. The same institutions persist, but they have become hollowed-out shells, with little underlying substance, politically and socially. If it’s only affecting “someone else, over there,” then there is no incentive to change. Only when it become personal to enough people, will change be demanded and enacted.
        
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        December 10, 2021 4:37pm
  - Maggy Wassilieff
    
    We were told 2 weeks ago that over 1300 Health Workers were stood down from DHBs…
    that included 463 nurses.
    
    Waikato DHB lost quite a few senior staff:
    Waikato DHB had the highest number of staff stood down across the 20 DHBs, with 154 as of Wednesday morning. Of these, 65 were nurses, 10 were midwives and nine were senior or registered medical officers.
    
    https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/coronavirus/300456924/covid19-1300-unvaccinated-health-workers-stood-down-from-dhbs
    
    But don’t worry… Andrew Little will recruit more folks (from somewhere… once the MIQ gets sorted)
    https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/456018/vaccine-mandate-incredible-pressure-on-remaining-hospital-staff
    
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    December 10, 2021 2:05pm
    - CJames
      
      On the radio this morning – I think even Nat Rad – there was a nurse complaining she couldn’t get into MIQ as she didn’t have a job offer and she couldn’t get a job offer because she couldn’t get into MIQ. Catch 22 was a documentary
      
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      December 10, 2021 2:40pm
    - Jim
      
      It’s not just the simple numbers, it’s both the clinical and NZ cultural experience loss that will be very hard to replace.
      Why ever these brilliant professionals couldn’t be retained via regular testing regime is beyond all common sense. The mandates especially with firefighters (after all you wouldn’t want an unvaccinated firefighter saving your children from a burning house now would you?) only reinforce the (so called) conspiracy that it’s not about health.
      
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      December 11, 2021 5:56am
- alloytoo
  
  But they haven’t been working on the problem for two years, they only decided it was politically expedient when they saw the last poll numbers.
  
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  December 10, 2021 9:00am
- Nigel Kearney
  
  A union will always say there are not enough union members.
  
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  December 10, 2021 9:02am
  - CJames
    
    I don’t think one can be cynical on this issue though your generalisation can be correct. You only have to talk to someone in a hospital or medical facility to know a lot of things are shut down or partially closed up because there aren’t enough staff.
    
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    December 10, 2021 9:06am
    - Nigel Kearney
      
      I completely agree. The failure to improve ICU capacity is shocking even compared to all the other failures. I just don’t see the point in quoting the union as evidence of anything except the union wanting more members and power.
      
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      December 10, 2021 9:47am
      - Man Among the Ruins
        
        Failing to improve ICU capacity during a purported “global pandemic” is yet another tangible sign that they are taking the piss, further undermining the narrative, knowing full well that ICU capacity will not be stretched.
        
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        December 10, 2021 12:06pm
      - CJames
        
        Nigel
        Be aware DHBs would have a rule like most large companies that individual can’t speak on company issues, particularly on things that are wrong. Justification for disciplinary proceedings. Ruth Brown nurse can’t say things are bad, but Ruth Brown official of the Nurses Union can say it.
        
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        December 10, 2021 4:39pm
  - thirteenstars
    
    Exactly. Nurses, teachers, the most hardcore supporters of big spending and unions have always complained about their lot despite the high pay and cosy working conditions.
    
    It’s because they appear to be criticising the government that they’ll get some sympathy here but have no doubt, they’ll all be out to vote for Labour next election.
    
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    December 10, 2021 9:38am
    - washo
      
      Not all of them.
      
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      December 10, 2021 11:57am
  - fisho
    
    In this case I’d tend to believe them NK. Although I do appreciate that, as a union, they’re well and truly tarred by the “little boy who cried wolf” brush.
    
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    December 10, 2021 10:54am
- plc
  
  But these people overwhelmingly* voted for this government in 2020.
  
  *Based on workplace and political preference demographics
  
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  December 10, 2021 11:55am
CJames

Reading one of the Guido articles, I notice our Prime Minister has now become an international byword for a decisionmaker driven by non-fact based irrational alarmism. When discussing the fact that there have been no Omicron deaths yet Britiain is being hit with lockdowns because of it, they write:
“ Meanwhile the UK government is preparing to hit the UK economy with a stay-at-home order, based on no hospitalisation or death data suggesting it’s necessary. Has the government secretly hired Jacinda as an adviser recently?”
Ouch! Will this clipping make the 9th floor? The next step down is becoming a joke name. The Karen of world leaders. What are the odds this article doesn’t get mentioned on her CV?
https://order-order.com/2021/12/09/new-eu-and-us-medicine-chiefs-say-omicron-is-mild/
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December 10, 2021 8:00am
- 70andstilllearning
  
  The 9th floor PR team are bound to pick it up but will strongly “advise/recommend?” local MSM not to pick it up!
  
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  December 10, 2021 8:08am
  - James Stephenson
    
    The UK legacy media are well-practiced at not picking stuff up from Guido. On the left they’re obviously ideological opponents and on the right they’re scared of losing readership.
    
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    December 10, 2021 8:15am
- Maggie Pie
  
  Alec Baldwin has killed more people than the Omicron variant.
  
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  December 10, 2021 8:08am
  - rouppe
    
    In west Auckland you’re more likely to catch a stray bullet than COVID…
    
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    December 10, 2021 11:51am
    - GJM
      
      non, you have it wrong. The bullets in the Wild West carry covid, so you die of covid as it is so dangerous, it infects and kills you before the bullet can do its work. It is very tricky
      
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      December 10, 2021 2:17pm
  - krazykiwi
    
    Brilliant!
    
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    December 10, 2021 11:52am
- Scott
  
  “I notice our Prime Minister has now become an international byword for a decisionmaker driven by non-fact based irrational alarmism.”
  
  Quite right CJames. Fortunately there is a new person in town who I think is gonna provide a very effective opposition.
  This speech by Christopher Luxon is well worth a view. He talks about aspiration, he talks about delivery and education. He contrasts them with the government that is all about centralisation and control. The “we know best” mentality.
  Some good humour in there as well. He picks out the tired labour ministers by name. National is back and sound to me like a government in waiting.
  
  https://fb.watch/9O0Jg6Artb/
  
  I also just heard him speak on the radio. He was able to conversed with the radio hosts in a friendly manner and get his points across well.
  
  It may possibly be that the centre-right is making a comeback!
  
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  December 10, 2021 8:29am
  - CJames
    
    Will it be the centre-right making a comeback or just people will realise they are being bribed with their own money? Minus the cut for all those special interest groups.
    
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    December 10, 2021 8:49am
  - Chuck Bird
    
    I will be going to hear him in person by the Mega Cow at Mornsville at 1 pm today.
    
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    December 10, 2021 9:38am
    - calendar girl
      
      Chuck, can we look forward to reading your views / impressions later in the day?
      
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      December 10, 2021 11:03am
    - John Pakes
      
      Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
      Good heavens, what courage Christopher displays.
      PR strolls along the Viaduct Basin amongst the rich and famous, and now a talk with groundswell supporters in the middle of moo cow country!
      Why not a crack at say Petone, or South Auckland or the far north for a real test.
      
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      December 10, 2021 11:47am
      - Ruawai
        
        Would like to see Jacinda try and walk among the people at the viaduct, Morrinsville, Petone or South Auckland currently without getting heckled!!
        
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        December 10, 2021 12:05pm
      - Homas
        
        Or perhaps he could bravely shut down proceedings due to a little bit of heckling, maybe try a valiant Friday arvo document dump, or even one of those gallant general no-shows when things start to get just a teensy bit difficult.
        
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        December 10, 2021 12:31pm
      - JimBobJoe
        
        Petone???? That bastion, alongside its near neighbour of Alicetown, of upwardly mobile middle classism? Ya havin’a laugh!!!
        
        The old Petone is almost gone Johnboy…. a little bit at the top of Jackson and between Jackson and Waione…. but its no longer a middle class burb it was through to the late 80’s….
        
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        December 10, 2021 12:50pm
      - Ehlana
        
        You do know he is not the Prime Minister right?
        He’s a new politician in his first week in a very big job.
        
        How do you feel about the “courage” displayed by much longer term MP and current PM Jacinda Ardern in subjecting the people of Auckland to one of the harshest lockdowns in the world, but never managing to get up here to meet with them?
        
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        December 10, 2021 1:21pm
      - Nickc2
        
        Are you on the top floor or in the basement of Frazer House John?
        
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        December 10, 2021 1:36pm
      - Captain Mainwaring
        
        “Why not a crack at say Petone”
        
        What crap you talk John Pakes. When was the last time you were in Petone? I live here and Luxon has many more admirers here than Wonder Woman will ever have.
        
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        December 10, 2021 1:51pm
- Matt Long
  
  Note the English response includes dropping the waiting time for booster shots to 3 months, presumably as Pfizer has said a 3rd shot provides immunity against omicron.
  I wonder how many shots to provide immunity against omega in 2030?
  
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  December 10, 2021 8:55am
  - CJames
    
    Omega will be here before Easter as the naming becomes more desperate to keep the fear alive.
    
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    December 10, 2021 9:03am
- Lucia Maria
  
  Jacinda Arden was invoked in at least one of GB News’ items yesterday. The two commentators were discussing Boris Johnson’s recent statements where he seemed to be channeling Jacinda Ardern speak.
  
  “It would be the worst of both worlds … to have a PM that looks like Boris Johnson and speaks like Jacinda Ardern”
  
  There was a further comment regarding the type of protection that Jacinda gives, where she takes away all your liberties.
  
  https://twitter.com/LuciaMariaNZ/status/1468870295314255875
  
  Considering that the UK is now enacting Plan B to the intense annoyance of the population, I can see that they will be looking over at us, seeing our restrictions over summer and using that as ammunition to fight harder against what is happening.
  
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  December 10, 2021 10:31am
- KevO'Brien
  
  Is he getting paid for international consultancy too?
  
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  December 10, 2021 11:41am
CJames

Facebook has testified in a court document that “factchecking” is not actually based on checking facts but are just opinion assertations.
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2021/12/09/bombshell-in-court-filing-facebook-admits-fact-checks-are-nothing-more-than-opinion/
So it confirms what cynics have always thought. Be interesting to see whether fact-checking labels continue, or will it need a reset.
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December 10, 2021 8:01am
- Warren
  
  Why do you think our Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern uses Facebook to address her loyal supporters, they don’t call her out on the lies she spews daily.
  
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  December 10, 2021 8:05am
  - Steve Otto(North Shore)
    
    Her waffle should be notified as ‘missing context’ and flagged
    
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    December 10, 2021 9:09am
  - bartybart
    
    i just can’t get the horsey look, so close to the camera
    
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    December 10, 2021 9:40am
  - pdm
    
    When someone tries to call her out they `get the chop’.
    
    Ask someone called Amanda – she will confirm.
    
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    December 10, 2021 9:51am
  - Ruawai
    
    Not sure what Jacinda means when she says she is “checking in with everyone” on facebook. Does it make her loyal followers feel like she is personally checking they are ok?
    
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    December 10, 2021 12:08pm
    - Steve Otto(North Shore)
      
      Team of 4999999, I unsubscribed
      
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      December 10, 2021 2:13pm
- Raphael
  
  There is a post by a well known Christian leader (Nicky Gumbel, who developed the Alpha Course). This post consists of a single quote, without attribution.
  It has been labelled as being “False Information” by the Facebook factcheckers because the phrase is often incorrectly attributed to CS Lewis, but is actually from Rick Warren (who was quoting Lewis in the sentence before, hence the confusion).
  Why did this ever need a big FALSE INFORMATION overlay?
  
  https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=459219775564068&set=pb.100044281486767.-2207520000..&type=3
  
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  December 10, 2021 8:10am
  - Ehlana
    
    That is what you get when you let an algorithm do your thinking. The offending item offers a definition of humility without any attribution at all.
    The computer has recognised the definition and apparently knows it is often incorrectly attributed to CS Lewis (which hasn’t happened here), so marks it as “False Information”, creating an impression of dishonesty which is the most false part of the whole thing.
    
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    December 10, 2021 10:09am
- Rich Prick
  
  Fact checking = will this spook soft lefties.
  
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  December 10, 2021 8:43am
Benedict Yu

I was reflecting on the Waitangi Tribunal Claim regarding Maori vaccination.

Some interesting data.

https://www.health.govt.nz/our-work/diseases-and-conditions/covid-19-novel-coronavirus/covid-19-data-and-statistics/covid-19-vaccine-data

Two things.

Daily rates of first vaccinations are now down to about 3,000 per day from about 5,000 a week ago. So first vaccinations are slowing to a trickle.

More interesting is the gap betwen the numbers of people who have had a first and second vaccine. Some people get the first dose but don’t go back for the second. For European ethnicity the gap is 4 percentage points. That will shrink over the next two weeks as late comers get the second shot. So maybe 1 person in 50 will get the first shot but decide against the second.

For Maori it is a different picture. The gap betwen those who have had the first shot and the second shot is 12 percentage points. It has come down slowly from 14 percentage points six weeks ago. But it looks like it might get stuck at 10 percentage points.

In other words, 1 in 50 people of European ethnicity don’t go back for the second shot. For Maori it might be 1 in 10 people.

This is relevant to the Waitangi Tribunal claim. These people had access to the vaccine. They may have been persuaded to get the first shot through free food and gift vouchers but can’t be bothered to return for the second shot. They can’t argue that the health system is racist. They got the first shot. And the second shot is there waiting for them.
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December 10, 2021 8:01am
- Nickc2
  
  What’s going to happen when they’re required to front up for Boosters? More food, more perks, more money? My bet’s on more money.
  
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  December 10, 2021 8:21am
  - KevO'Brien
    
    If they are going to pay Maori for jabs what about Pakeha?
    
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    December 10, 2021 11:43am
    - Ruawai
      
      Don’t be racist Kev.
      
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      December 10, 2021 12:10pm
    - Nickc2
      
      Perhaps we need a Non-Maori Tribunal?
      
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      December 10, 2021 12:34pm
- pdm
  
  Poor old Saint Ashley must be running out of buses to throw Jacinda, Chippy and Robbo under.
  
  He has had a big week sticking it up the Government.
  
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  December 10, 2021 8:22am
  - Biscuit
    
    pdm, Saint Ashley is slowly, very slowly, coming to the realisation that as the Director General of Health his responsibility is to the New Zealand public and not just to whichever Government happens to occupy power at any given time.
    
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    December 10, 2021 9:40am
    - KevO'Brien
      
      That is the expected position of every govt Dept Head. They will respect and help their Minister and endeavour to keep them out of trouble but can’t promise it.
      
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      December 10, 2021 11:47am
    - NeverMindTheBollocks
      
      Would be nice
      
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      December 10, 2021 7:04pm
- Unity
  
  What on earth does the Waitangi Tribunal have to do with Covid vaxxes? I’m sick and tired of every negative mention of things Maori. They all have some colonist in them so perhaps they should elevate that side!!?? And no, I’m not being racist – I just firmly believe we are all people and we should stop distinguishing people based on their ethnicity. Personal responsibility should come into it and it’s obvious there are too many with Maori ethnicity who don’t have any feeling of personal responsibility and that’s our fault because we have treated them as ‘special needs’ people for far too long. We should butt out so they can take some responsibility for themselves.
  
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  December 10, 2021 8:36am
  - mikenmildagain
    
    we should stop distinguishing people based on their ethnicity
    
    vs
    
    too many with Maori ethnicity who don’t have any feeling of personal responsibility
    
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    December 10, 2021 9:18am
    - Cassandra
      
      The two positions are not incompatible. Your point is?
      
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      December 10, 2021 10:48am
      - RightNow
        
        I think milky makes a valid point and that is it’s not just in the Maori population that too many lack personal responsibility.
        The corollary is that we should butt out of all their lives and let them all bear responsibility for their own lives.
        
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        December 10, 2021 1:12pm
    - Ehlana
      
      Distinguishing people based on their (Maori) ethnicity leads to too many with Maori ethnicity who don’t have any feeling of personal responsibility. Which is why we should stop doing it.
      
      It’s not difficult to understand mikenmildagain.
      
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      December 10, 2021 1:24pm
  - Ruawai
    
    This hearing is going to uncover the truth that Maori have to take personal responsibility as throwing money at them hasn’t worked to get the vax rate up.
    
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    December 10, 2021 12:11pm
- alloytoo
  
  Why can’t we make a counterclaim against the Iwi’s where this primarily occurs?
  
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  December 10, 2021 9:06am
  - KevO'Brien
    
    We could sue to get our money back.
    
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    December 10, 2021 11:48am
Souvlaki

Call me cynical…all that Aysha Verral’s anouncement yesterday about smoking means in real terms ,is that tobacco cultivation will shift from Marlborough to Northland & the Urerewas…..
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December 10, 2021 8:04am
- Raphael
  
  Not to mention the same people are happy with vaping and smoking dope.
  
  People will find something to smoke even though they know it’s bad for them and illegal.
  
  (I’ve never smoked, and don’t like smoking or vaping)
  
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  December 10, 2021 8:13am
  - Taieri
    
    In the meantime…hospital queues continue to grow, “elective” surgeries are ever more delayed and shortages of medical personnel keep increasing. Changing all that seems to be beyond the capability of the current crop of troughers.
    
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    December 10, 2021 8:29am
- NeverMindTheBollocks
  
  On the upside, Labour can claim credit for ending robberies & assaults in dairies. Because there won’t be any dairies.
  
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  December 10, 2021 8:15am
- G152
  
  So if you want to smoke its grow your own.
  And if whacky baccy is as easy to grow go for it
  
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  December 10, 2021 8:20am
- pdm
  
  Souv – I thought most of the tobacco growing in the country was in the Motueka area. Sure seemed a fair number of acres of it there when we drove from Hope to Mot in early May this year.
  
  Do not recall seeing any in Marlborough – all vineyards.
  
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  December 10, 2021 8:25am
  - gravedodger
    
    Not much baccy there any more pdm mostly Hops and Apples now.
    Surprise surprise some Rona about as well, lots of alternative lifers up there
    
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    December 10, 2021 12:34pm
- cmm
  
  It’s just feel-good bullshit. Look how much they care.
  
  They know it won’t work. Well if they don’t then they’re dumber that a sack of rocks.
  
  Ban, ban, ban – that’s all they know how to do.
  
  Cutting retailers from 8000 to 500? Did they count the hundreds of duty-free sellers that operate in pub parking lots?
  
  “The Government will also set up a Māori advisory taskforce, chaired by Dame Tariana Turia, to focus on achieving better outcomes for Māori and to hold the Ministry of Health, the Government and the tobacco control sector to account over the plan. ”
  Excuse me, but isn’t Maori smoking because Maori want to smoke. How is holding the government responsible going to help with agency?
  
  It doesn’t look like Ayesha Verrall is setting a good health example. It looks like she has chunked up considerably in the last year.
  
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  December 10, 2021 8:34am
  - Bigted
    
    “Excuse me, but isn’t Maori smoking because Maori want to smoke.”
    
    Apparently not. I remember years ago as a teen in Rotorua, one of the locals was trying to sue the Govt for $160 million over Maori smoking – apparently Maori had to take it up as they felt inferior to Europeans when they saw them smoking. Colonisation strikes again.
    
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    December 10, 2021 8:47am
    - Stellaboxer
      
      Do they drink smoke P and knock their families around due to the same feelings of inferiority I wonder.
      
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      December 10, 2021 11:11am
  - All_on_Red
    
    ‘Maori advisory taskforce’ aka more jobs for mates whose support is now bought and paid for.
    Great…
    
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    December 10, 2021 8:47am
  - Swifty
    
    “ “The Government will also set up a Māori advisory taskforce, chaired by Dame Tariana Turia, to focus on achieving better outcomes for Māori and to hold the Ministry of Health, the Government and the tobacco control sector to account over the plan.”
    
    Good god. Our government admits it is inadequate in holding itself and it’s Ministries to account in delivering on Labour Party policies.
    
    And, of course, this allows even more taxpayer money to be funneled to interests Labour wishes to keep on side.
    
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    December 10, 2021 8:51am
    - KevO'Brien
      
      Dame Tariana has been sidelined for a while. Is Mahuta smiling on other tribal leaders so as to get their favour for Waikato’s for NZ?
      
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      December 10, 2021 11:52am
- amospicton
  
  The government wants to ban tobacco and legalise marijuana. The same sort of logic they’ve applied to covid!
  
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  December 10, 2021 8:38am
- kevn
  
  @Souvlaki…. They/labour/greens have a great follow-up plan though.. to make cannabis legal.
  Yep, that adds up.
  
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  December 10, 2021 8:39am
- Nickc2
  
  Complete with Road Blocks to protect the crops.
  
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  December 10, 2021 8:40am
- KevO'Brien
  
  Exactly.
  NZ is now one of the world’s fools:
  https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10291649/Radical-new-laws-stop-young-people-buying-cigarettes-New-Zealand-goes-smoke-free.html
  
  Vaping is to be exempt despite the fact the tobacco industry has determined to make it their next line of nicotine supply. Do we need a more rigorous watch for coke use to protect out upper class citizens?
  
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  December 10, 2021 8:53am
  - Albert_Ross
    
    the tobacco industry has determined to make it their next line of nicotine supply
    
    Source please?
    
    3 16
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    December 10, 2021 9:08am
    - All_on_Red
      
      Sigh
      Can’t you type ‘Are tobacco companies diversifying into vaping product’ on Google and have a look for yourself?
      
      11 3
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      December 10, 2021 10:55am
    - KevO'Brien
      
      I understand they have been behind the supply of vaping products for some years.
      
      4 1
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      December 10, 2021 11:54am
- alloytoo
  
  This sets an extraordinary precedent, this means that through an act
  of Parliament they are going to seek to inhibit the rights of children on the basis of their age beyond the age of majority,
  
  I care not a jot that this is about tobacco, or about a potential health good. If this can be done with tobacco it can be done with other rights and I shudder at what this government could come up with.
  
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  December 10, 2021 9:08am
  - Ehlana
    
    I’d just like to know how on earth this will be policed.
    It’s pretty easy at present – under 14 = under 18 so no ciggies anyway.
    
    But what happens when today’s 13 year-olds are 23 – how is the shop owner to tell them from the 24 year old ahead of them who is allowed to buy smokes?
    
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    December 10, 2021 10:12am
    - Cinematic
      
      It’s such a nutty idea they could package it and pop it in the snacks aisle at the local supermarket.
      
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      December 10, 2021 10:27am
    - KevO'Brien
      
      Beautiful–perfect use for micro chips for shopping. Prototyping is underway and fits well with WEF plans for transhumans and AI.
      Ask Ardern she is constant contact with them.
      
      9 1
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      December 10, 2021 11:57am
    - JimBobJoe
      
      Do you think the Vaccine passport will go away? It will morph into a ubiquitous identity card you have to card always, on to the little chip under the skin and so forth.
      
      Now is the time to push back hard before the state overwhelms all opposition.
      
      And isn’t it fun how this government has favour big business over the pandemic – destroy the independent owner/operator in favour of large easy to manipulate and control corporate entities?
      
      Next phase go after tradies once the small shop owner is wiped out.
      
      Its all looking very, very dystopian right now – especially as National is just the holding operation before Labour/Greens return after 6 to 9 years to drag everything further and further to a State centre nightmare…
      
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      December 10, 2021 12:56pm
    - Ed Snack
      
      Now you see where the Vaccine passport is headed. It will become your personal ID that must be produced on demand. Just a few short years ago, that would be considered crazy conspiracy theorising, now it is out there in plain sight.
      
      In the same time frame, your personal “social credit” score will be recorded, and it will be used to decide if you are entitled to travel locally or internationally, and if you are entitled to certain medical procedures. How to get a high score ? Vote the right way and don’t show dissent, and having the right colour of skin will be critical as well.
      
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      December 10, 2021 3:11pm
    - NeverMindTheBollocks
      
      Won’t be Jacinda’s problem
      
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      December 10, 2021 8:10pm
    - ClanMcleod
      
      Don’t worry, it’ll all be done through your digital social credit score, the same one that has your vax and multiple booster records among other data on it. They’ll know all about you.
      
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      December 10, 2021 10:02pm
  - Taieri
    
    If this can be done with tobacco it can be done with other rights
    ————–
    
    And it will be. Our “rights” depend on the whims of our elected “representatives”. And, sometimes, unelected as well…
    
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    December 10, 2021 10:21am
    - Stellaboxer
      
      its the logical result of social medicine. It gives the government a stake in your health because they have to fund the health system with a limited tax take. Cue endless interference in your life by people only concerned with your wellbeing. Or endless interference in your life to keep you out of the health system. It’s similar to the Covid response where we give up our freedom to protect a health system that is actually supposed to protect us.
      
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      December 10, 2021 11:20am
    - KevO'Brien
      
      Our rights are our rights and ours alone. Politicians who do not respect must cease office immediately or be removed with prejudice.
      
      8 1
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      December 10, 2021 12:00pm
    - ClanMcleod
      
      It’s what covid is prepping you for. This is not about health.
      
      2 0
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      December 10, 2021 10:03pm
- Southtop2
  
  Almost Souvlaki – Motueka was the centre of NZs Tobacco industry and until recently there were some still growing.
  Hmmm more prohibition – Mongrel Mob numbers in Motueka will likely grow.
  
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  December 10, 2021 10:38am
Captain Mainwaring

One of the most boring TV commercials is the current Novus one where they promise to plant trees if they fix your windscreen. I can’t imagine why they dumped the long running, humorous classic ‘show us your crack’ one.
Oh wait …………………….
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December 10, 2021 8:05am
- Maggie Pie
  
  That first ad for Novus was pure creative genius 😀
  My partner still often sings it.
  
  38 3
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  December 10, 2021 8:12am
  - Benedict Yu
    
    Does he get a response from you? 🙂
    
    36 1
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    December 10, 2021 8:15am
    - John Pakes
      
      Well done Benedict!!
      
      1 2
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      December 10, 2021 12:00pm
  - sooty
    
    So do small children!
    
    7 4
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    December 10, 2021 8:16am
  - Paulus Gnome
    
    I suspect he may not be referring to your windscreen . . .
    
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    December 10, 2021 9:27am
  - Maggie's partner
    
    I live in hope, my sweet
    
    9 3
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    December 10, 2021 10:02am
- Benedict Yu
  
  Poor strategy.
  
  People say they care about climate change but they don’t act on it.
  
  You know you can tick that box when you book your Air New Zealand flight to pay a few dollars to offset your emissions? 1.5 percent of passengers tick the box.
  
  If people cared about climate change they would ditch Ford Rangers. But they are the most popular vehicle.
  
  Look at Christchurch. There is quite a bit of cycling compared to Wellington but it is car centric. The buses are mostly empty. They must cost a fortune. Stand on Moorhouse Avenue at 5.00 pm and watch the giant SUVs go past in their thousands.
  
  Emissions will fall. But it will be technology and markets that do the trick. Not because politicians wail about a climate emergency.
  
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  December 10, 2021 8:14am
  - Raphael
    
    15 years or so ago, I worked for a very South African forestry company.
    They did a deal with Volvo where buyers of a new Volvo would have their “carbon offset” sorted by Sappi planting a tree…..Sappi who was always going to plant that tree….. yeah.
    
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    December 10, 2021 8:16am
  - Unity
    
    The trouble with saying you care about climate change is that it can mean two things. Firstly the climate has always changed and always will and has nothing to do with man. But I suspect that people lump pollution (including plastic bags in rivers and polluted waterways, farting cows) in with the changing climate. These don’t change the climate.
    
    However we should clean up our act and stop polluting the atmosphere, waterways etc regardless of the climate. And we should always be prepared for severe freak weather events, king tides etc. However, I’ve lived near the ocean all of my long life and the sea hasn’t risen one iota.
    
    So when they talk about climate change, pollution is a separate issue. We need to be prepared for the first and clean up the second, but the climate will keep on changing regardless of what we do.
    
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    December 10, 2021 8:44am
  - alloytoo
    
    If there was any seriousness about this we would be investing globally in Nuclear generation.
    
    Anything else is virtual signaling.
    
    21 2
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    December 10, 2021 9:11am
  - cmm
    
    Kids are raised from kindy on a diet of being kind, saving the environment etc. They say it because that is what is expected of them – not because it comes from any thought or a well considered position.
    
    Thus we get what we get – people talk the talk, but don’t walk the walk.
    
    In the NIMBY way, they’re happy to say they want outcomes, so long as someone else carries the costs.
    
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    December 10, 2021 9:36am
  - miltonF
    
    All you have to do is look at the average green voter’s attitude to Elon Musk.
    
    One person alone has done more for the environment than millions of “environmental” folk, green politicians, etc…..and they hate him for it.
    
    Why? Because he is a capitalist. He did so willingly. People bought his products willingly and he is now the richest person on the planet. All mutually beneficial.
    
    It is completely opposite to the typical greenie attitude that believes we must punish/control people to save the environment AKA environmental Marxism.
    
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    December 10, 2021 3:48pm
- 70andstilllearning
  
  Umm – talking TV about commercials, commented to SWMBO the about the the relevancy of the one using the ” Born Free ” lyrics. I think the item just before the ad break was something about road checkpoints…….
  
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  December 10, 2021 8:16am
- RiP NZ
  
  Captain –
  Doesnt top the (IMHO) the worst ad in recent memory, that horrific Westpac one with the wanna be where the wild things are creature.
  Love to know the invoiced amount for the ‘creative’ and be a fly on the wall in the work up meetings, not to mention the Westpac execs who signed it off.
  
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  December 10, 2021 8:23am
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  Fun police canned it
  
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  December 10, 2021 8:30am
  - Captain Mainwaring
    
    I’m sure they did but it took them a long time to get around to it.
    
    9 1
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    December 10, 2021 8:59am
    - Steve Otto(North Shore)
      
      What do you expect with woke Coster running the circus
      
      10 4
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      December 10, 2021 9:14am
- Biscuit
  
  Captain, I am shocked…
  
  You
  W A T C H
  TV
  Commercials
  ?
  
  And you always seemed so SANE…
  
  Here the instant it becomes apparent that an ad break is imminent one or both of us grabs the remotes and calls up the Menu for what else is on on the 85872452527345723 channels we subscribe to.
  
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  December 10, 2021 10:13am
artemisia

So a doctor is under police investigation for giving covid letters amid a rush to condemn before the investigation concludes. Turns out there are other medical professionals out there doing the same.

I am Spartacus?
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December 10, 2021 8:09am
- I remember when
  
  Paddy Gower’s investigation showing 6-8 people all qualifying at once.
  Perhaps he should get an informant who can count to ten.
  And, he has heard of several other groups involved with the same doctor.
  Then the assumption that an inferred large number of cases might (might!!!) exist.
  
  Obviously not an item big on mathematical concepts.
  Several (at least two), heard of (not confirmed) and a large number (well possibly as many as twenty four before we rushed this half-baked exposure to air.)
  
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  December 10, 2021 9:32am
- Salacious Crumb
  
  A medical specialist I am acquainted with told me that 100% of his patients exemption submissions have been rejected. These are patients with very genuine immunological issues where the vaccine is likely to cause harm. One is likely to die soon whereby a vaccine stirring up her immune system will only accelerate this. He said that copies to him of 6 letters from the Director General to his patients (including the one described) advising them they were not being given an exemption after “careful consideration” were received within a 60 second time span. Very “considered” I’m sure…
  
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  December 10, 2021 10:46am
  - artemisia
    
    Assuming there is an appeal / review process, then that request should be made. At the same time, suggest (multiple) OIA requests for the approval (and review) process and for the specific reasons for decline in those cases. Especially when apparently declined by auto reply.
    
    Not sure if doctors can ask for personal info for their patients, but the folk themselves certainly can.
    
    Also suggest request the rules around delaying taking medical action while a decision is under appeal. That includes doctors under investigation after their exemption request was denied.
    
    Easy and cheap to challenge government decisions, with recourse to the Ombudsman. The OIA is very powerful where requests are covered by the Act. Show us the money!
    
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    December 10, 2021 12:32pm
- Inandout
  
  art, you may note the Gower chap was creaming himself over ‘catching one for Jacinda’.
  
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  December 10, 2021 11:21am
- mawm
  
  Artemesia – you might be interested in -“NZ Doctors Speaking Out with Science”
  https://nzdsos.com
  
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  December 10, 2021 11:48am
  - artemisia
    
    See my above note about OIA requests.
    
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    December 10, 2021 12:33pm
- Matt Long
  
  A hidden camera/microphone “sting” by our bave heroes from Newshub, proud to be the Government’s little snitches.
  
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  December 10, 2021 11:53am
Tomtoddy

It was predictable. The whole “stopping Aucklanders” thing is getting out of hand. It is going to end in more than tears. Someone is going to get hurt. It is heading for disaster.

There is no medical/health rationale. No commonsense involved. Just a few arrogant misguided Maori who found they have a government stupid and juvenile enough to back them. Expect more trouble.
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December 10, 2021 8:12am
- Raphael
  
  but it’s fun to say “the Orcs are coming, light the watch fires.”
  
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  December 10, 2021 8:14am
  - emmess
    
    Ugghhhh Non-Covidflesh
    
    9 0
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    December 10, 2021 8:20am
- Suze Wainwright
  
  Seems to have become a platform for some virtue signaling, middle class, pakeha journos to inform their readers that they have cancelled their vacations away this summer to keep their Maori mates safe after pleas from the local iwi…
  
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  December 10, 2021 10:34am
Fletch

Un-freaking-believable. The Sunday programme are doing a segment asking why people are so angry in NZ. John Campbell fronts, asking “why? why? WHY?”

https://fb.watch/9O3RYF62FS/

Are they in the media really this clueless? They can’t be this dumb, surely? WTF is wrong with them?

People are losing their jobs; their careers; their livelihoods. All because they will not submit to a medical procedure which is being shown every day to be more and more unsafe and ineffective. We have a border in our country that people cannot cross if they have not been vaxxed. We have businesses that we cannot enter unless we show documentation to prove it. The next thing is they want our kids to have it. People are being discriminated against. They have lost their human rights.

And the media have to ask why? It is insulting to even ask this question. They really have lost the plot.
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December 10, 2021 8:16am
- 70andstilllearning
  
  IMHO I’ve never really considered Campbell as the type of guy that ever had a plot to lose
  
  53 4
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  December 10, 2021 9:00am
  - Bridgenag
    
    A moron
    
    10 1
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    December 10, 2021 1:54pm
- I remember when
  
  “Have they lost the plot.”
  Or, are they part of the plot?
  The cemetery of news.
  
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  December 10, 2021 9:20am
- Prince
  
  I can tell you now the answer will be that people are getting too much ‘misinformation’, and the Govt is doing a wonderful job addressing all our problems.
  We just need to follow our leaders more.
  John Campbell will be on full emote.
  
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  December 10, 2021 10:09am
Southern Raider

Looking forward to the international tourists arriving again and being provided with the Iwi run travel app which will tell them in real time where and when they are allowed in different parts of our country, obviously with the ability for their accomodation to be cancelled at the last moment based on the whim of 1 of the 10,000 disparate Iwi, Hapu and other collections who claim they speak for Maori and have been given Government condoned control of the country.
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December 10, 2021 8:19am
Homas

In Stuff today, moaning catheter bag Rosemary McLeod asks what Luxon is going to do about the plight of the homeless.

Homeless people? After four years of Kindness? Surely not?
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December 10, 2021 8:25am
- artemisia
  
  Mr Luxon (and Ms McLeod) could refer that question on to the Housing Minister who seems to have caused the problem so for sure has a robust plan to solve it.
  
  Social housing waiting list:
  
  September 2017 – 5,844
  October 2021 – 24,910
  
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  December 10, 2021 9:08am
- cmm
  
  The comparison of Luxon to a homeless person is supposed to remind us that Cindy is much more like “us” and thus understands us better.
  
  My “us” is intelligent people. Cindy is far too stupid to have anything in common with intelligent people.
  
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  December 10, 2021 9:40am
  - oldfella
    
    cmm: to be fair, Cindy does empathise with the homeless in the way she dresses.
    
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    December 10, 2021 10:12am
- Taieri
  
  Rosemary McLeod asks what Luxon is going to do about the plight of the homeless
  —————–
  
  Who is this Luxon character? Is he a minister charged with responsibilities for housing? Or a minister in charge of planning? Or perhaps a keeper of the country’s purse? No, he is none of the above…
  
  There is, on the other hand, a dedicated Minister of Housing, Hon Dr Megan Woods. She is very ably assisted by 3 Associate Ministers, Hon Poto Williams, Hon Peeni Henare and Hon Marama Davidson. The Hon Marama Davidson in particular, over the past five years has dedicated her efforts on understanding the housing crisis around the whole country, and is deeply committed to helping those with the greatest need get into secure housing. As Associate Minister for Housing with responsibility for addressing homelessness, Marama will bring her expertise and commitment to create real change for our communities.
  How do I know all this? It says so on her web page. Anyone can check:
  https://www.greens.org.nz/marama_davidson
  
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  December 10, 2021 10:35am
  - KevO'Brien
    
    Any green is useless unless served up as part of a dinner.
    
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    December 10, 2021 12:06pm
mikenmildagain

Happy Human Rights Day!
3 24
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December 10, 2021 8:26am
- oc35
  
  Not appropriate to celebrate in NZ
  
  37 4
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  December 10, 2021 9:24am
- cmm
  
  Happy look in the mirror day!
  
  5 3
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  December 10, 2021 9:41am
- krazykiwi
  
  Our human rights have been strip mined. Nothing to celebrate.
  
  14 3
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  December 10, 2021 11:59am
- KevO'Brien
  
  Who has those?
  
  5 1
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  December 10, 2021 12:06pm
  - ClanMcleod
    
    Compared to NZ, North Korea, Venezuela and the CCP.
    
    4 1
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    December 10, 2021 12:13pm
cas

If it’s true that the case in Opotiki tested positive in northland and then went home to Opotiki to isolate, is it fair to say that while Hone doesn’t want people going in to Northland to potentially bring it in, he is happy for people in Northland to export it to other areas of the country?
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December 10, 2021 8:27am
- Paulus Gnome
  
  Hone = racist twat
  
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  December 10, 2021 9:32am
- Ehlana
  
  If the case in Opotiki tested positive in Northland then Covid is already in Northland – so what exactly will the “border” patrols keep out?
  I mean, besides economically necessary tourists?
  
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  December 10, 2021 2:57pm
RockyJ

Jacinda Ardern should really be renamed Janus Ardern. Her two facedness grows larger by the day.
Here she is at another virtual world leaders conference, the Summit for Democracy, where she is boasting of her government’s track record in ensuring New Zealand is one of the world’s most democratic nations. She even boasts about our financial contribution to the International Fund of Public Interest Media.
There is no limit to her hypocrisy.
As we know, even now her government is actively working to undermine democracy at local government level, has enabled race based territorial road controls and has a long term plan to overthrow one person one vote at national level by 2040.
Is she schizophrenic?
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2021/12/jacinda-ardern-tells-world-leaders-our-model-of-democracy-is-being-challenged-across-globe.html
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December 10, 2021 8:27am
- Yabster
  
  she is one deluded witch,,,,
  
  32 1
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  December 10, 2021 8:55am
  - mandk
    
    Her behavior would be more excusable if she were deluded.
    
    She’s not. She’s a lying, hypocritical autocratic.
    
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    December 10, 2021 9:17am
    - mawm
      
      None of you understand the leftist mind. It’s not about what they do but how well they craft a story of what they are supposedly doing or promise to do. It’s a mental illness. Really, it is. A Pew study shows that the further left one is the higher the chance of mental illness – 56.3% of white leftist women.
      https://bigleaguepolitics.com/march-study-points-to-pervasive-mental-illness-among-white-american-liberals/
      
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      December 10, 2021 12:24pm
      - Bridgenag
        
        Yes… went to Italian lessons once upon a time. The stupid woman spent the whole time telling us what she was going to teach us….Had the paperwork for an inspector I guess
        
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        December 10, 2021 3:21pm
  - Paulus Gnome
    
    You misspelled witch . . .
    
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    December 10, 2021 9:33am
- KevO'Brien
  
  And more from our nations bogeywoman:
  https://www.zerohedge.com/political/new-zealand-prime-minister-admits-theres-not-going-be-end-point-vaccination-program
  
  Now she is being mocked internationally, not just in parliament.
  
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  December 10, 2021 8:59am
- Swifty
  
  A diversion.
  
  Ignore it.
  
  We must remain focussed on the damage she and her gang are doing here in NZ.
  
  Like turning us into an ethnostate, without her having a single clue as to how it will all end up. We are just Guinea pigs in their great experiment to see how much of the supposed utopia they dreamed of as kids they can get in before being chucked out.
  
  We are just pawns and an ATM for their socialist wet dreams.
  
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  December 10, 2021 9:03am
- alloytoo
  
  Her government seeking to create different tiers of citizenship with their new smoking laws.
  
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  December 10, 2021 9:14am
- slightlyrighty
  
  Anyone who thinks that this government is Democratic, Open and accountable is dreaming.
  
  For evidence, one only needs to look at Hansard.
  
  Take q12 yesterday for example.
  
  Question No. 12—Prime Minister
  12. MARK CAMERON (ACT) to the Prime Minister: Does she stand by her statement that “This government will foster a more open and democratic society. It will strengthen transparency around official information”; if so, is she confident that the Government has fulfilled this commitment in relation to releasing information about Groundswell NZ?
  
  Hon GRANT ROBERTSON (Deputy Prime Minister) on behalf of the Prime Minister: Yes, and yes.
  
  Mark Cameron: Does she believe her decision not to release her media briefing notes on the Groundswell protest, under the Official Information Act, complies with her commitment to “strengthen transparency around official information”, and, if so, why?
  
  Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: Yes.
  
  Mark Cameron: Does she believe it is in the public interest to not release media briefing notes for the Groundswell protest, which have occurred across New Zealand, and, if not, what does this say about the Government’s attitude towards openness?
  
  Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: Yes.
  
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  December 10, 2021 9:23am
  - Tony Stuart
    
    The problem here SR is Parliament’s rules. If an MP asks a supplementary question with two legs, the Minister answering only has to answer one of them.
    
    However I saw the exchange, and Robertson was at his smarmy, patronising worst. I’m looking forward to him being regularly questioned by Simon Bridges in the New Year, when economic conditions are almost certain to worsen.
    
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    December 10, 2021 9:38am
    - Hard Cheese
      
      He’ll just trot out his standard “compared to Swaziland, Uzbekistan and Moldova, we’re doing very well” line. Although even those comparisons will probably be debatable by next year. He might have to get out the atlas and find a few new tinpot regimes.
      
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      December 10, 2021 11:34am
      - mawm
        
        Swaziland is no longer. It is now called Eswatini.
        
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        December 10, 2021 12:31pm
    - KevO'Brien
      
      Simon will resume Prosecutor role. He’s had years of experience so Pooh Bah is about to meet the Lord High Executioner.
      (The Duck will be in flying all around the House in damage control mode and may become a casualty too.)
      
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      December 10, 2021 12:13pm
    - mawm
      
      Tony – those were poorly framed questions if Robertson could get away with those answers.
      
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      December 10, 2021 12:33pm
  - Bobba Fret
    
    So the smarmy git just answers “Yes” with a smug look on his face as if if to say, we can do whatever the hell we like and you can do nothing about it.
    Didn’t answer why and of course the lame duck does not make him answer.
    This to me is why question time is a waste of time.
    
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    December 10, 2021 10:20am
    - Inandout
      
      BF, I liked when old Winnie used PP to ‘expose’ people.
      
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      December 10, 2021 11:28am
  - Hard Cheese
    
    Robertson is a disgrace. New Zealanders should expect transparency and openness in their Government – his Government promised it to voters and instead he treats it all as a big game and a joke. It’s more or less his attitude to everything I’ve seen from him in Parliament – you’d be hard pressed to find a more loathsome politician.
    
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    December 10, 2021 11:43am
    - bronny1
      
      um, the PM is at least equally loathesome.
      
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      December 10, 2021 1:08pm
- ClanMcleod
  
  She is possibly the most dangerous politician I have come across in almost 50 years of being interested in the political process. Completely deluded, narcissistic and clueless. Lacks empathy and intelligence in equal measures. Has an overinflated ego and sense of self importance.
  She is a horror show.
  
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  December 10, 2021 12:19pm
  - Man Among the Ruins
    
    Incompetence and arrogance are a dangerous combination.
    
    9 2
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    December 10, 2021 12:22pm
  - mawm
    
    I think psychopath is the word you are looking for.
    
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    December 10, 2021 12:34pm
  - RockyJ
    
    She is the embodiment of the progressive left. They despise the people they claim to represent. They hate their opponents, especially anyone who is productive. They lie naturally because achieving their end is all that counts. My antennae were activated way back when Ardern announced that hers was going to be a “government of transformation”
    
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    December 10, 2021 12:42pm
Maggie Pie

TRENDING

Here’s something we weren’t aware of.
And neither was Jacinda it would seem. Although she does now.

According to a report provided by AfgFC……
‘A New Zealand citizen, Qahar Balkhi and his relatives, are involved in terrorist activities in Afghanistan and in the financing of Taliban Terrorists’

Question: Should their citizenship be taken away?

https://twitter.com/AfgFactChecks/status/1468568741944434689
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December 10, 2021 8:29am
- Nickc2
  
  MORE HUGS REQUIRED! The last ones have worn off.
  
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  December 10, 2021 8:34am
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  Nothing will happen as long as they promise to vote Labour.
  Face it, Jaspinda is getting more desperate every day, you can see it in her face.
  
  41 4
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  December 10, 2021 8:35am
  - Nickc2
    
    She’s completely lost the plot, if she ever had it.
    
    22 2
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    December 10, 2021 9:18am
- mikenmildagain
  
  ‘sources in New Zealand told me’
  
  3 28
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  December 10, 2021 8:42am
SmokerGuy

Ardern going on about democracy being at risk while her government rams extremely important legislation through parliament under urgency with no scrutiny. Not to mention how they are the opposite of ‘transparent’ on so many things. Absolute hypocrisy!!
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December 10, 2021 8:30am
- KevO'Brien
  
  Absolute hypocrisy!!
  Liars.
  
  15 1
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  December 10, 2021 12:15pm
- Man Among the Ruins
  
  Empty talk about maintaining and strengthening democracy usually increases in proportion to efforts to undermine and weaken it.
  
  9 1
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  December 10, 2021 12:25pm
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  That is the social democratic method she uses.
  Do as I say, not as I do
  
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  December 10, 2021 2:15pm
Taieri

Should their citizenship be taken away?
——————

Why? “They are us”, are they not?
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December 10, 2021 8:33am
amospicton

Is it April Fool’s Day? Headline on Newshub: “Ardern tells world leaders democracy being challenged across the globe”.
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December 10, 2021 8:43am
I remember when

Jacinda Facebook: “One of the things I have picked up is this idea that we could mandate children being vaccinated, absolutely not. We have not had vaccine mandates for children. It is just not something we do.”

Maybe not but, if covid is still a problem at the start of the first term next year, who doesn’t think it is going to be an issue with schools.
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December 10, 2021 8:46am
- Man Among the Ruins
  
  She also maintained that adults would not be subject to a mandate and sanctions for non-compliance. Anyone who still believes a single word coming out of Ardern’s mouth is a very slow learner indeed.
  
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  December 10, 2021 12:26pm
Maggy Wassilieff

Some folks get very exercised when the propaganda actions and vaccine mandates and lockdowns ordered by this Government are likened to the actions of the Third Reich….

But This Governments’s propaganda shill – RNZ Morning Report- is quite OK to declare ACT’s policy on limiting payouts to Beneficiaries if they have more babies as being Eugenics.

https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2021/12/act-party-s-boycott-of-rnz-s-morning-report-caused-by-host-comparing-one-of-its-policies-to-eugenics.html
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December 10, 2021 8:51am
- mikenmildagain
  
  From the article:
  
  While Seymour was happy for his party to ditch Morning Report, he decried Jacinda Ardern’s decision to do much the same thing earlier this year, when she pulled out of her weekly slot on Newstalk ZB’s Mike Hosking Breakfast show.
  
  Shock horror, politicians get upset with radio shows that won’t defer to them.
  
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  December 10, 2021 9:26am
  - alloytoo
    
    I don’t recall Hosking comparing the government’s policy to Eugenics.
    
    I believe the PM found the questions about the economy, crown accounts, GDP and coherent policy too hard.
    
    Subtle difference.
    
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    December 10, 2021 9:50am
    - Inandout
      
      alloy, you can bet your bestie’s coffee card that Tova will have Jacinda as a fixed guest on her morning show. Now Mike is gone until late January so Tova will have a chance to get in first. What is that saying about when the leader is out of the country things happen?
      
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      December 10, 2021 11:45am
      - alloytoo
        
        That’s a great outcome nobody listening to nothing being said.
        
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        December 10, 2021 2:25pm
  - Bobba Fret
    
    Even a question such as the current inflation rate is too hard for Jacinda. Apparently it’s only 2% which is great news.
    
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    December 10, 2021 10:24am
  - bronny1
    
    big difference between the Govt ditching a show and a small opposition. The former needs to be held to account because they can actually do things. The latter, well who cares, they have no power.
    
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    December 10, 2021 1:12pm
- KevO'Brien
  
  The Act policy of denying beneficiaries a living amount if they have children is inhumane. It has previously been soundly rejected.
  I have had 4 children while being state supported. A strange physical neuro condition got me over 40 years ago and I have remained intermittently productive.
  
  Children supported will be an asset to the world. One is 41, now raising a clutch of 4 brilliant ones of her own with very able husband. (They’re in the UK.) Another is 19, training to be an opera singer. Two others are at high school and showing their promise too. I’m a young 82.
  
  We have a modest life. I still do client accounting and make a line of herbal preparations which may be going international. My present wife assists for free as an Anglican priest active in community support and is indirectly repaying some of what the govt gives us.
  
  As a former top level Public Servant I believe NZ’s social welfare system is reasonable. It’s not overly generous but protective. We all contribute when we work. The insurance industry is always seeking to pull it down but they cannot replace it except with a much less efficient and more costly system.
  
  Now that people are so mobile it is necessary that taxes provide the base of obligations for aged and family care. I have been tax systems specialist and believe NZ has an excellent model by world standards.
  What we do need is an excellent govt to manage. Money does not come out of thin air–production is the heart of wealth creation.
  
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  December 10, 2021 9:33am
  - Inandout
    
    KO, I suspect you are somewhat in the minority where your kids have turned out well but you once were on welfare. Many at the bottom produce kids, but not necessarily for the love of them, rather as a means of getting drip fed by the taxpayer. Then there is the inevitable scream, ‘what about the children’?
    
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    December 10, 2021 11:51am
    - KevO'Brien
      
      I believe most parents do they best they can within their natural limits. Humans don’t do cloning so the outcomes are variable.
      
      It’s not possible to improve much more without creating situations where the state effectively takes over the parenting job. That leads to the abusive state child care, much worse than almost any parent. Even those parents we may think are the worst are on balance better than any state care.
      
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      December 10, 2021 4:16pm
Maggie Pie

And something else that’s been bothering me….
Are ‘NewsHub’ racist?

I watched the vid last night of the ‘sting’ Paddy set up on the Canterbury doctor.
When he sent in their ‘highly experienced journalist’ dressed as a construction worker, and equipped with a hidden camera….did he really need to put on a ‘Maori’ accent?

Compare for yourself… both at the 2:20 mark and again at 3:50 when he discusses the outcome with Paddy.

https://youtu.be/_ZvrMBeJZXE

Maybe I’m just being far to sensitive??
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December 10, 2021 8:52am
- MCōs
  
  I noticed no discernible change.
  Gower always talks like that.
  
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  December 10, 2021 9:03am
  - Paulus Gnome
    
    I wait with great excitement for when Mike posts ‘Happy talk like a twat day’, distinct from talk like a pirate day ?
    
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    December 10, 2021 9:43am
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  This reeks of Govt interference using Gower to push the narrative.
  The exemptions may be illegal but the setup was low life underhand action.
  Why not inform the Police? Or does that not make News?
  
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  December 10, 2021 9:20am
  - Fletch
    
    Just following Jacinda’s advice to narc on those you suspect of not toeing the line. And the propagandistic media are all into it. An organ of the govt now.
    
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    December 10, 2021 9:56am
    - Steve Otto(North Shore)
      
      Like flies on shit
      
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      December 10, 2021 10:53am
- Niloc
  
  What’s good for the goose is good for the gander: someone should do a “sting” on Paddy.
  
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  December 10, 2021 10:04am
  - plc
    
    I thought Lauren Southern did…..
    
    I bet Gower is still smarting
    
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    December 10, 2021 12:21pm
- Inandout
  
  Maggie, Pads has probably been watching old videos of the oral chameleon Jim Bolger. You don’t like this accent……well I’ll try another one.
  
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  December 10, 2021 11:59am
- Rusty
  
  Gowers antics reminds me of that gutter tv series “Target” that was made by TV3.
  It was more about voyeurism than consumers rights.
  
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  December 10, 2021 2:50pm
I remember when

Hospitality are finding the cancellation of bookings, because of unvaccinated members in groups, is a problem.
Often late cancellations.
Never mind, there’s another Christmas next year.
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December 10, 2021 8:54am
- Ehlana
  
  And by next year, all those pesky independent enterprises will be gone, so they’ll be no Christmas booking issues…
  
  You will be able to queue for your state-sponsored carbon-neutral vegan friendly turkey or lamb substitute from 15 July. Entry on production of your Kapa Aotearoa card with a picture of the Dear Leader on the face and a microchip containing your kapa status. The lowest status is “Team”, reserved for those who insist on speaking completely in English.
  
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  December 10, 2021 10:57am
Steve Otto(North Shore)

AGW definition.
1) Money.
2) Power.
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December 10, 2021 8:55am
Tony Stuart

So the Three Waters legislation isn’t going to see the light of day until 2022, despite Nanaia Mahuta’s intention to have it introduced before the House rises for the year next week:

The Government has delayed the next stage of its controversial Three Waters reforms until next year.

Local Government Minister Nanaia Mahuta wants to amalgamate the water services of 67 councils into four regional water entitles – the proposal is controversial because it is compulsory, effectively forcing those councils to part with their water pipes and reservoirs.

When Mahuta announced the plan in October, the legislation creating the new entities was set to be introduced to Parliament by the end of the year, but the Government was forced to concede on Thursday it would be delayed.

In her October announcement, Mahuta created a working group which would advise on one of the most controversial aspects of the policy: the question of how the four water entities’ governance would work.

At the time, she told the Herald that the findings of the group would be put into a supplementary order paper (SOP) to amend the bill at a later stage, before it passed.

The Government had since changed its mind and would wait until the working group had finished its work to introduce the bill.

It comes as the Government faces a crisis of confidence in the local government sector, following its decision to confiscate billions of dollars of water assets from ratepayers – many councils had hoped the scheme would be voluntary, as originally advertised.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/controversial-three-waters-reforms-delayed-until-next-year/BME5RUNDIH4NANKB2G3K2OX52Q/

Should we believe the “official” explanation; that the Government needed more time? Or is there something more at play?

Could it be that falling poll numbers are getting Labour’s backbench MP’s nervous, and that they’ve taken advantage of Nanaia Mahuta’s absence overseasn and more recently in MIQ to convey their nervousness to the PM’s office. Could it also be that the PM, poll-driven as she is, has taken those concerns seriously, especially with the change in National leadership? She will, of course, be aware that Christopher Luxon was leading National’s opposition to Three Waters until his elevation to the leadership.

Labour was hoping to sneak quietly into Christmas, with Three Waters off the agenda. Unfortunately for them Chris Bishop asked a question in the House yesterday as to whether the Bill would be introduced next week, and Leader of the House Chris Hipkins had to concede that it would not.

Interesting times await us; watch this space!
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December 10, 2021 9:03am
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  Looks like Luxon is going to be a problem for Jaspinda and Mahuta.
  Oma rapeti …….
  
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  December 10, 2021 9:23am
  - Tony Stuart
    
    Yes, it does. Oh dear; how sad; never mind 😀
    
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    December 10, 2021 9:34am
  - ClanMcleod
    
    Jaspinda might respond like the UK Health Secretary after the video of his staff discussing their “party”. Oma rapeti indeed!
    
    https://dailysceptic.org/2021/12/08/secret-santa-gate-health-secretary-cancels-all-media-interview-as-the-prime-minister-faces-police-probe-over-downing-street-party/
    
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    December 10, 2021 12:34pm
    - Steve Otto(North Shore)
      
      She did that up North the other week
      
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      December 10, 2021 2:17pm
- KevO'Brien
  
  Indeed. The eyes of the world are now on NZ too.
  
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  December 10, 2021 9:38am
- Biscuit
  
  Best bit of news I’ve heard out of a Labour mouth this year, Tony!
  And even better is knowing that Jacinda’s panicky deferment of the issue (boy, the left are good at deferments, eh?) won’t much help her, given that those in the provinces who are driving her polling numbers downwards won’t be much inclined to trust her words.
  Just imagine being one of those utterly-nondescript provincial Labour MPs who got into Parliament at the last election.
  Sir Alex Fergusson’s famous ‘It’s squeaky bum time!’ quote springs to mind…
  
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  December 10, 2021 9:55am
- jon
  
  Doubt, because of the adverse result the overdue Talbot/Mills ex UMR poll wont be leaked this month!
  
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  December 10, 2021 11:38am
- Suze Wainwright
  
  I wonder if more comms staff will be taken on over the summer vacation to re-word the original 3-waters documentation & advertising to try and make it more palatable for the new year…?
  
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  December 10, 2021 12:35pm
  - Nickc2
    
    I believe some legalities got in the way. Thieving a Council’s Assets (paid for by Ratepayers since forever) is not an easy thing to do, even for this bunch of thieving bastards.
    
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    December 10, 2021 1:09pm
- fredonas
  
  From the Taxpayers’ Union email newsletter: “This is a major setback for Mahuta. She had wanted to ram the Three Waters Bill through the select committee process while Kiwis are distracted over summer.
  We understand from sources in Wellington the delay is due to one thing: there is a standoff between Labour’s Māori caucus (who want co-governed water) and the provincial Labour MPs and Cabinet Ministers who are feeling the heat. That means our campaign is working.”
  Great work by all who protested and oppose this appalling bureaucratic overreach and blatant power grab by a special interest group within our government. Hopefully in time a saner approach will be adopted, perhaps involving the regional councils (arguably it’s what they’re there for) instead of an additional layer of costly and inefficient bureaucracy.
  
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  December 10, 2021 12:52pm
- bronny1
  
  apparently the Maori caucus is gung ho for it but the labour rural MPs and cabinet min’s are getting a roasting so getting nervous. I wonder which group makes up which part of the Labour list?
  
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  December 10, 2021 1:15pm
- DeepBlue
  
  On RNZ Damien O’connor supportive of the initial work by farmers on their emissions proposal… yesterday Shaw was disappointed.
  
  Could it be that a rural rift is opening up in the huge Labour caucus? MPs have seen how successful the Maori caucus has been at getting JAs attention, now they want some of the cream too.
  
  Does anyone know the size of the Provincial Labour caucus compared with the Maori caucus?
  
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  December 10, 2021 1:21pm
I remember when

A sign (or signs) of the time.
Palmerston North bar gets held up at gun point.
Item on Page 3, one of those little ones on the side of the page.
Business in the Plaza, the local retail hub, held up by armed (heard it was a knife) offender.
Item included in an article about increased vandalism.
Not even mentioned in the article headline.
Only a year or two ago it would have been front page news.
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December 10, 2021 9:04am
- mawm
  
  I’d be interested to know if the complied with producing their Covid Pass first.
  
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  December 10, 2021 12:43pm
Yvette

Police Commissioner Andrew Coster has repeatedly told MPs the checkpoints operating across the country are legal because police are present and operating them.
However Police Association president suggests that under COVID-19 Public Health Response (Vaccinations) Order 2021 that any road block other than on the Auckland boundary is illegal.

How is it possible that such mental / cognitive dissonance exists between these too?
The Northland roadblocks are either legal, or not.
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December 10, 2021 9:08am
- KevO'Brien
  
  That needs closely looking at. Such a difference of opinion may point to careless law drafting or deliberate obfuscation which I have actually seen.
  
  NZ no longer has an Attorney General of quality. Law has been reduced to Ardern’s say so– If we let it.
  
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  December 10, 2021 9:44am
- Lummox
  
  I live in Northland. For 4 months I have not been allowed to travel through Auckland to get to other parts of the country. Even though they were at the same Government defined level.
  
  Now, with the likelihood of roadblocks at various places in Northland, I will not even be allowed to travel within this region. There is no legislation that says you must have a vaccination certificate to travel around Northland. But it looks like the vigilantes are going to stop me doing so.
  
  I detest this Government.
  
  29 1
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  December 10, 2021 11:20am
  - KevO'Brien
    
    Go to the internal borders and demand to pass.
    If citizens don’t call out officialdom’s over reach it can’t be stopped.
    Knowledge and action.
    
    12 2
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    December 10, 2021 12:23pm
  - Steve Otto(North Shore)
    
    Identify as Moari – no problem bro
    
    7 1
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    December 10, 2021 2:20pm
Maggie Pie

TWITTER NOW….

Looks like ‘mayoral hopeful’ Craig Lord has allowed himself to be sucked in 😀

https://twitter.com/CraigLord2022/status/1468711621006557187

You’d never get Leo falling for sh*t like that. LOL!!
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December 10, 2021 9:10am
thirteenstars

Spiked on Britain and Boris Johnson:

By any reasonable assessment, the Covid emergency is over in this country. Over 95 per cent of people in England have Covid antibodies. Among those most vulnerable to Covid the rate is even higher. As Johnson was solemnly intoning yesterday about the new threat posed by the Omicron variant, medics in South Africa (where it was first detected) were saying yet again that this more transmissible variant was producing only mild cases. The World Health Organisation hasn’t attributed a single death to Omicron so far. But social life has been upended once again anyway, to ward off the potential threat posed by a new variant of a virus the vast majority of our citizens have some protection against.

https://www.spiked-online.com/2021/12/09/boris-johnson-is-a-menace-to-liberty/
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December 10, 2021 9:29am
- I remember when
  
  Is Omicron goingto be a bigger problem if it doesn’t become widespread.
  Will it be possible to negate the possible end of the covid-19 pandemic, by effective lockdown of the population, preventing omicron from spreading.
  
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  December 10, 2021 11:39am
  - bronny1
    
    Jabcinda will certainly try to make that the case. Luckily they can’t execute anything successfully. Except a little dance.
    
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    December 10, 2021 1:17pm
waikatosinger

Why are we trying so hard to keep the Omicron variant out of the country when it has zero fatalities, is about as harmful as the common cold, and confers natural immunity against more serious variants.

The Omicron variant isn’t a problem, it is the solution. It is the way to achieve natural herd immunity and end the epidemic.
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December 10, 2021 9:30am
- Yvette
  
  waikatosinger – let omicron in
  
  Especially perhaps if it confirmed that it ousts delta so “harmless” omicron dominates.
  The question is “Is that true, and is omicron in fact more harmful to children?”
  
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  December 10, 2021 10:35am
- cmm
  
  “Why are we trying so hard to keep the Omicron variant out of the country”
  
  Because Omicron is the start of the end. What are all those power-hungry clipboard-wavers going to do for their power rush in a post CV19 era?
  
  While most of us are probably looking forward to a post-CV19 world, there are many that are upset that they will be losing their raison d’être.
  
  You might have already noticed the “planning for the next one” club who are trying to keep the trough full.
  
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  December 10, 2021 10:54am
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  Can’t stop using the fear porn for control. What is after Omicron?
  
  8 2
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  December 10, 2021 2:21pm
All_on_Red

So the big Christmas Tree outside Fox News in NY got set on fire by a nutter.
This caused much merriment among the left with ‘comedian’ and leftist Stephen Colbert tweeting;
“Flaming Christmas tree just got its own Show on Fox”.
Naturally he got some cutting responses but I reckon the winner was Greg Gutfield from Fox who replied;
“and its already beating you in the Ratings’.
https://twitchy.com/sarahd-313035/2021/12/09/writers-on-strike-stephen-colberts-joke-about-fox-news-christmas-tree-arson-should-be-considered-a-crime-against-comedy/
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December 10, 2021 9:35am
Maggie Pie

Anyone else missing the luxury QUILTON 3ply?
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December 10, 2021 9:50am
- Biscuit
  
  :: Laughs maniacally and hides his 23978457793492 rolls from sore-arsed Auckland types::
  
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  December 10, 2021 9:58am
- Tony Stuart
  
  Heck yes. Our stash at home is nearly exhausted, and I’m not looking forward to abrasive alternatives. Loo paper is the one thing we won’t compromise on quality!
  
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  December 10, 2021 10:14am
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  Yep
  
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  December 10, 2021 12:17pm
Observer of Life

I posted this yesterday in GD. Thought it might be worth posting again. I think it might be a good idea to revoke your personal details connected to your vehicle number plate with these “road blocks” we are going to see from now on (and I envisage this going on longer than this pandemic).
Go to the NZTA website and revoke access to your personal details via your vehicle number plate(s). It means once you pass through those roadblocks this summer and receive your Iwi “legal to travel sticker” others won’t be able to go online and look up your number plate to find out your address to swing by for a “personal viewing”.
https://transact.nzta.govt.nz/transactions/PersonalInfoAccess/entry
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December 10, 2021 10:08am
- Over Taxed Worker
  
  Even pre-iwi this is a good idea – last thing you need is a road rage nutcase or creepy stalker knowing where you live.
  
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  December 10, 2021 10:38am
  - Observer of Life
    
    OTW: Agree. Just thought some people may not know about its existence.
    
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    December 10, 2021 12:40pm
  - Steve Otto(North Shore)
    
    Well, above my front door inside there is a curtain rai with no curtain. 900mm long, 20mm solid stainless steel. It is there for a reason
    
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    December 10, 2021 2:25pm
    - Steve Otto(North Shore)
      
      rail* ffs
      
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      December 10, 2021 2:50pm
- curry4me
  
  Observer of Life: Yes, thanks for the link. I’ll put it on my FB page as a PSA.
  
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  December 10, 2021 10:54am
- Bridgenag
  
  Done. Thank you for that. Easy to do.
  
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  December 10, 2021 2:11pm
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  This came up last year I think. I have done it for my vehicles, 2 boats and a caravan
  
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  December 10, 2021 2:31pm
- miltonF
  
  Thanks for the link.
  
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  December 10, 2021 6:01pm
CAKE FACE1

I was watching the show about 600 pound people trying to lose weight. It is quite inspiring.

I suppose that the point is, to get to 600 pounds in the first place, they had to have enablers. Usually, the successful ones need to eliminate the enablers from their lives.

I was thinking about all of this with regards to Rona. Covid is basically a nasty flu that we have spent the best part past two years hiding under our beds from, under diktat from Cindy. Actually, there weren’t many diktats – the masses supported the absurd restrictions, for a number of reasons.

When I muse about the reasons for the success of the propaganda, you could say that the lack of an opposition. Actually, the situation was worse than having a “lack” of an opposition.

The opposition have consistently been enablers. The opposition has collaborated in this farce. It needs to stop.

We’ve wasted $150 billion, achieving nothing.

The restrictions need to be dumped now. Mr Luxon needs to draw a line under National Party Vichy style collaboration.

The internal and external borders should open forthwith, and stay open.
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December 10, 2021 10:11am
TheNecroposter

Meanwhile in the Soviet Union of New Zealand…
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December 10, 2021 10:16am
Rusty

Not making judgements here but how about these thoughts?

* The Govts position is that the vaccine prevents human life ending through covid and death. Freedom of choice on this matter is not an option.

* The Govts position on abortion is that its a freedom of choice option for a mother to prevent new human life coming into this world.

* The Govts position on Tobacco smoking is that its a bad freedom of choice option because it leads to bad health and death and it must be banned.

* The Govts position on Cannabis smoking is that its a freedom of choice option even though it also leads to bad health and death but it should not be banned.
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December 10, 2021 10:24am
- Ehlana
  
  Were you expecting consistency Rusty?
  
  All these are political choices. People support compulsory vaccination of others because they believe that other people who choose not to get vaccinated may cause them to get ill.
  
  They support abortion at the same time because a mothers choice to end her baby’s life does not affect them personally.
  
  Tobacco smoking was once widely accepted by our (white male dominated) society. It is therefore a colonial evil to be fought.
  
  The same white male dominated society did not approve of cannabis smoking. It is therefore an act of defiance of the establishment to be celebrated.
  
  It all comes down to self-interest and political correctness. (And may make more sense after a drink or two…).
  
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  December 10, 2021 11:49am
curry4me

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXcLGaepz_w

Will Johnson Resign: The No 10 Christmas Party Scandal Explained – TLDR News.

Last year Downing Street held a Christmas Party while telling the rest of the country to lock down and not see their families at Christmas. I don’t think I need to explain why this is shocking, but the way the scandal has been handled has been so poor that many (even within his own party) are calling for Johnson’s head. [10:38]
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December 10, 2021 10:26am
curry4me

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Et0XnwYfBxg

CNN Has Minor Problems.

CNN is imploding, and it’s happening right before our very eyes! In this video, we’re going to look at the chaos that’s engulfed CNN since the firing of Chris Cuomo, we’re going to see how that chaos promises to take down a number of other major so-called news personalities as well and stick with me to the very end of this video when I’ll reveal how the rating freefall for CNN suggests that the network’s days are indeed numbered. [9:58. Their new owner will need to make some real changes.]
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December 10, 2021 10:26am
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  Well Nick Sandmann and Kyle Rittenhouse might buy CNN
  
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  December 10, 2021 2:29pm
  - curry4me
    
    Steve Otto(North Shore) President Trump might buy a controlling share so he can add it to his new media outfit. Wouldn’t that be the ultimate irony?
    
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    December 10, 2021 3:14pm
- Rusty
  
  CNN don’t need Chris Cuomo any more just like they don’t need Don Lemon either who is also under investigation for tipping off a friend over a police probe– I think is the story.
  
  These people were only useful for getting rid of Donald Trump last year and now Biden is in power their gutter journalism isn’t needed.
  
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  December 10, 2021 2:35pm
kevn

@Observer… Good call.
While you are clearly on holiday, your home address is most likely unattended.
Police occupied with road block sh*t and all those other c19 distractions.
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December 10, 2021 10:31am
Maggie Pie

You have to wonder sometimes where this government gets it’s facts and figures from.
We were watching the news last night and as my partner commented ….we don’t have one Maori friend who smokes.
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December 10, 2021 10:52am
Tony Stuart

Eli Epiha, the murderer of Constable Matthew Hunt gets life imprisonment with a minimum non-parole period of 27 years. That’s one of the longest sentences ever handed down by a New Zealand court, and is thoroughly deserved.
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December 10, 2021 10:58am
- Maggie Pie
  
  Was also in my partner’s ‘Top 20’ list from last week.
  
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  December 10, 2021 11:06am
- Jack5
  
  The free advertisement you don’t want …
  
  Epiha is standing in the dock with Vodafone emblazoned on the front of his Warrior T-shirt. That’s in a photograph in the Stuff report, or still was early this afternoon.
  
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  December 10, 2021 1:31pm
lifesgood

Someone wrote on here about the Comancheros gang buying a luxury house in St Heliers for $7M recently. He also mentioned the absolute nuisance they made of themselves riding up and down the waterfront on motorbikes last weekend. That is correct I witnessed it and it was just terrible. Of course plod did nothing. As regards the house the question needs to be asked – How did a bunch of crooks kicked out of OZ and unemployed pay $7m for a house? I thought there were bodies that investigated this sort of thing, checked out proceeds of crime etc and then confiscated the goods, property purchased. What are they doing, if anything?
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December 10, 2021 11:03am
- oldfella
  
  lifegood, the cops are a bit stretched at the moment getting ready to enforce those iwi checkpoints up north.
  
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  December 10, 2021 12:05pm
- Prince
  
  Are you sure they weren’t patrolling the area as part of their duties as unofficial cops ?
  
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  December 10, 2021 12:19pm
Reid

NAVARRO: On November 7th, war officially broke out between the Kushner-led Trump campaign and a team led by Trump’s lawyer, Rudy Giuliani. Kushner & his lawyers complained about Giuliani’s grandstanding.

Aware of the war between Giuliani & Kushner, Trump called Bossie and told him to take charge and fix it. Bossie suddenly got COVID and was sidelined…so did Lewandowski.

Insiders started pushing Trump to give up and focus on 2024. Trump resisted – and four days later Bannon told me Trump called for a major shakeup. He pushed Kushner’s team out of control and put Rudy in charge. Jason Miller would report to Rudy.

Yet, Kushner, Stepien & Clark continued to sabotage Rudy at every turn. They promised to have thousands of lawyers ready to roll in every state…and nothing happened.

Trump & Parscale were warned in 2019 that Democrats would steal the election. Asked why Trump didn’t stop the election from being stolen, Mark Meadows said: “It just didn’t happen.”

That tells me that Trump wanted it to happen…TO EXPOSE the fraud and fix it.

SOURCE: IN TRUMP TIME

https://www.amazon.com/Trump-Time-Journal-Americas-Plague/dp/1737478501/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=in+trump+time&qid=1639087386&sr=8-1
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December 10, 2021 11:03am
Reid

GE, 3M, and Verizon have stopped forcing vaccinations…

And, oh yeah, HCA, the largest hospital chain in America. So that’s over a half-million employees set free right there

https://alexberenson.substack.com/p/ge-3m-and-verizon-have-also-stopped/comments

Meanwhile, in our beautiful country…
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December 10, 2021 11:09am
mandk

I see the judge of the man who killed an unarmed police officer has decided not to give the killer a whole of life sentence because “it would be manifestly unjust”.

Like killing the police officer was not manifestly unjust?
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December 10, 2021 11:14am
- Tony Stuart
  
  LWOP has only ever been used once, and would never have been an option for this scumbag. Bear in mind that it will be 27 years before he can even apply for parole, and few lifers get parole on first application. In reality, he’s almost certainly got more than 30 years to ponder things.
  
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  December 10, 2021 11:25am
  - surfing
    
    I’m for harsher sentences for the most despicably evil crimes.
    
    Maybe even the death penalty where evidence is indisputable (ie,stronger than ‘beyond reasonable doubt’).
    
    Except, circumstantial evidence based convictions would be insufficient for the death penalty (eg, Scott Watson / Mark Lundy / the original David Bain conviction). Who knows, cops can plant evidence even if it is most unlikely.
    
    Cases like Antonie Dixon, Clayton Weatherston, where evidence was exceptionally strong, beyond circumstantial, and now this cop killer. These cases would qualify for capital punishment in my world.
    
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    December 10, 2021 2:00pm
- lcmortensen
  
  Since 3S doesn’t apply in this case (and even if it did, it doesn’t apply since 3S is now a lame duck), it’s up to the Crown to argue that LWOP should be imposed. Given the only person to get LWOP killed 50 more people and attempted to kill 39 more people than this guy, the Crown argument was weak.
  
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  December 10, 2021 11:34am
- MCōs
  
  The most severe penalty available in NZ is life without parole.
  If this person had been sentenced thus there’s nothing harsher for someone who kills two police or executes five .
  While I’m in no way minimizing the depravity of this guy’s crime, it could have been fare worse.
  
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  December 10, 2021 1:09pm
surfing

Another ‘poor maori’ story in the media.

“Maori face higher weekly MSD debt repayments than non-maori. ”

Maori get lent more money than non-maori so it follows that they have to repay more. Should they pay less because their skin has seen more sun?

The article could be re-worded… “Maori more likely to qualify for cheap MSD money”

https://www.msn.com/en-nz/news/national/m%c4%81ori-beneficiaries-facing-higher-weekly-debt-repayments-to-msd/ar-AARF2Fx?li=BBqdg4K
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December 10, 2021 11:36am
- KevO'Brien
  
  Racist political nonsense. People pay back more to WINZ because they borrow more. Beneficiaries are fortunate they have that backstop if an emergency arises. It is a very useful part of the system. Payments are not made lightly but there is provision specially for immediate health needs.
  
  Sometimes an adjustment to a benefit is made and a debt arises. That will be repayable on an agreed affordable plan. WINZ as I see it works probably as well as can be expected. My wife and I assist others from time to time in dealing with WINZ.
  Not everyone is the best domestic manager and surviving from payday to payday is the norm. A car break down could be serious.
  
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  December 10, 2021 12:45pm
  - Bridgenag
    
    We had a cleaner who in spite of owning her own property and having a couple of days at the supermarket packing, also had cash cleaning jobs. Sold expensive dogs and cattle as well……so she went off for advice from some character who told her to double the cash offerings…. advice for beneficiaries….. we said we didn’t think we would be on her new journey…….
    
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    December 10, 2021 2:18pm
bythesea

Latest “Please Explain” political cartoon (Oz)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uu97-GODc7A

what would happen if politicians couldn’t lie!!

oh my – if only for the jacindatron….
even if just one day
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December 10, 2021 11:45am
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  I refude that
  
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  December 10, 2021 2:35pm
Maggie Pie

TRENDING

The TWITTERATI can be sooo incredibly mean sometimes 😀

https://twitter.com/JaneMorganNZ1/status/1469018693917048833
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December 10, 2021 12:10pm
Ehlana

And in other news dumped Friday, via Newshub:
“In a briefing paper dated September 17 to Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins, officials provided three options for the domestic use of vaccine certificates. … Officials recommended option B – only applying vaccination passes to high-risk large events and venues, not bars, restaurants and cafes. … “Experience overseas demonstrates the risk of loss of social license if a CVC is applied too broadly, in a way that is seen as interfering too much in day-to-day affairs. It also has the potential to deny access to everyday services to people who are legally exercising their right to not be vaccinated. For this reason officials propose that any mandatory requirements are narrow in scope.””
That’s right. Just like they ignored advice the Auckland border could come down a week or two ago, they also ignored advice that vaccine passes be limited in application to maintain social license, avoid increased mistrust in the health system and be consistent with actual health needs.

Full story here: https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2021/12/government-went-against-advice-to-limit-covid-19-vaccine-passes-to-high-risk-events-or-risk-social-cohesion.html

This is not a cautious approach; it is a restrictive approach which puts one metric “no-one dying of Covid” over all other considerations of the health and well-being of the community or the rule of law in a free society.

And this woman was preaching about democracy yesterday!
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December 10, 2021 12:10pm
- Man Among the Ruins
  
  Oh, we always follow the scientific advise. Always. Unless, of course, it conflicts with our predetermined intentions, in which case, we ignore this advice.
  
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  December 10, 2021 12:43pm
- KevO'Brien
  
  I’m surprised that the South Island didn’t go to green with the new system. We have actually had our freedom reduced with it.
  For months we have had Sunday worship available until recently and we could go freely around the community and no one got that wild virus. Did we need further smothering? What about our concerns and possible mental health? These matters have disturbed the children and their education.
  Respecting the foundational human rights is the only way to go.
  
  I can live with self enforced unvaccinated status. I have still not seen any coherent unchallenged reasons to justify my informed consent. I have sufficient nuisance from a regular flu jab not to venture into Cinder’s world. I am happy in my world with a loving God whose Son’s entry into the world we will be celebrating shortly. Ardern cannot spoil that.
  
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  December 10, 2021 1:07pm
  - Steve Otto(North Shore)
    
    None of NZ will go green with these control freak socialists
    
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    December 10, 2021 2:38pm
    - KevO'Brien
      
      I will work to upturn that.
      
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      December 10, 2021 4:20pm
- RF
  
  Sorry. Boss Hogg fingers. Did not mean to report….
  
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  December 10, 2021 1:10pm
surfing

The government definition (Sport nz) of a gym is…..

“Means an indoor exercise facility for which access is limited to members.”

So, an exercise facility that does not operate on a membership basis (ie, casual access) is actually not a gym.

It is a really important distinction for clubs who operate on a membership only basis. It means exercise clubs cannot open, but, gyms who offer casual access can.
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December 10, 2021 12:22pm
LB

I often hear the statement(including on this blog) regarding gangs that they leave you alone if you have nothing to do with them, I suppose we would call such individuals gang(community group) apologists…

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/127243264/terrified-motorist-commandeered-by-mongrel-mob-to-tow-brokendown-car

https://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/news/crime/otorohanga-homicide-road-rage-was-cause-of-waikato-axe-attack-say-police/
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December 10, 2021 12:50pm
- Bridgenag
  
  Had a Sydney wine bar a hundred years ago and some bruiser tattooed gang members turned up to check us out. Solved very quickly. Partner said to them….. ” I have to go upstairs to do some things …would you mind keeping an eye on the place for me? ” Came one other time and were treated nicely and we never saw them again. Brave quick thinking partner. Believe they shot up another establishment down the road.
  
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  December 10, 2021 2:45pm
- Fuzzysnuggleduck
  
  Yep, and heard in a meeting around owner-operators in a utility company I work for, in AK, being stood over by Mongrel Mob on the roadside work locations – not on a private premises – and being made to hand over smokes and phones. And it happening more than once, that they are looking for these technicians (mainly immigrants).
  Scum, and our government and police leadership unwilling to do anything.
  
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  December 10, 2021 3:54pm
Raphael

Jussie Smollett found guilty on 5 of 6 counts for the staging “white supremacist” attack he paid two Nigerian brothers to fake the whole thing with him.
(remember this is the chap who claimed two white MAGA hat wearing thugs attacked him, threw bleach on him and placed a noose around his neck, while he was out at 2am in a polar vortex getting subway)

These are federal charges. He’s looking at real jail time.
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December 10, 2021 1:05pm
- Nickc2
  
  How many streets will be raized as a result of this court’s finding? No doubt Hollywood has signed up for Movie rights before he goes to the slammer.
  
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  December 10, 2021 1:13pm
  - Maggie Pie
    
    I remember when Trumpy called it… “FAKE NOOSE”
    
    😀
    
    11 2
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    December 10, 2021 2:56pm
    - Steve Otto(North Shore)
      
      That was Bubba Wallace, NASCAR driver. Lemon – CNN was the first reporter I think.
      
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      December 10, 2021 3:13pm
      - Steve Otto(North Shore)
        
        Same applies anyway
        
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        December 10, 2021 3:14pm
      - Raphael
        
        Lemon, who used his inside info at CNN to let Smollett know that the cops weren’t buying his story.
        
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        December 10, 2021 4:58pm
  - Ed Snack
    
    The bad news is that Chicago streets will be awash with violence, with shootings and general mayhem tonight. The good news is that it will be indistinguishable from every other night in Chicago’s streets…
    
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    December 10, 2021 4:03pm
  - Raphael
    
    BLM inc did release a statement of support before sentencing saying they believe that Smollett was the victim of a hate crime because cops lie, and they must be lying about this now.
    
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    December 10, 2021 4:58pm
- surfing
  
  People who make false allegations cast a shade of doubt on those with valid grievances.
  
  So, good!
  
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  December 10, 2021 1:46pm
- Ed Snack
  
  Not often that I agree with the rev Al Sharpton, but back when it happened, he tweeted this:
  
  “The reported hate attack on my friend and brother, actor Jussie Smollett is despicable and outrageous. The guilty must face the maximum.”
  
  So the instigator of the “hate attack” has been charged and found guilty. Let’s see if the perpetrator gets “the maximum” as The Reverent demanded.
  
  Though it does seem to be more likely that he will get the wet bus ticket penalty.
  
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  December 10, 2021 3:29pm
- UrbanNeocolonialist
  
  Be very interesting to see just how much time he does get – will demonstrate to some degree the level of politicization of the Federal courts.
  
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  December 10, 2021 3:36pm
- cmm
  
  No, no, no… he never said they are white. He said they are pale.
  
  https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/34fa572/2147483647/strip/true/crop/5876×3917+0+0/resize/840×560!/format/webp/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F3c%2F11%2F3badc04d09bcab21b96165343467%2Fcb26f94d6b144748879eb6b0962ecb55
  
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  December 10, 2021 3:38pm
- Inandout
  
  Rap, and BLM support Smollett, you know this disgraceful outfit that our cricketers kneel for.
  
  ‘The Black Lives Matter defense of Jussie Smollett is a good encapsulation of why parents are so upset about critical-race theory and BLM ideology creeping into our schools.
  
  You would think that Smollett faking a hate crime against himself for publicity would be an embarrassment, a farce that undermines the real victims of racism.
  
  You’d be wrong. In a statement released Wednesday night, Dr. Melina Abdullah, director of BLM Grassroots and co-founder of BLM Los Angeles, called Smollett’s trial a “white supremacist charade” that is “forcing” Smollett to face “judges and juries operating in a system that is designed to oppress us, while continuing to face a corrupt and violent police department, which has proven time and again to have no respect for our lives.”
  
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  December 10, 2021 3:42pm
Sparrow

The government proposal about stopping children from smoking has nothing to do with smoking. Call me a cynic but its simply another diversion tactic. When governments popularity is falling they come up with these feel good ideas also brought out recently the change of law to allow a person to change their gender on their birth certificate. Nothing wrong with this or the smoking proposal. However NZ has far more important issues poverty housing inequality etc etc where things are not happening. Polls falling throw in good feel diversion, the media love it. Get on TV saving children helping the LGBT community. Great photo opportunities homeless motels full of homeless . Whats that!!! That’s why spin doctors is the fastest growing industry worldwide. Nothing really changes just comes in different forms
.
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December 10, 2021 1:15pm
Russ the Muss

I saw verrall talking specifically about Maori and NZ European smoking numbers ysterday. WTF does the rest of the world who live here think about this strange obsession with o called European NZers whoever they are? Is someone who is of Russian descent a Euro NZ person? WhaT about mixed race such as English and Indian decent? What are the classified as???? And never any mention of the biggest groups,Asians. Who are these previleged European New Zealanders that she speaks off….
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December 10, 2021 1:40pm
- mawm
  
  Who remembers the kerfuffle over Phillip Morris producing Maori Cigarettes brand?
  https://lovelycigarettes.com/disgust-over-maori-brand-cigarettes-health-news/
  
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  December 10, 2021 3:22pm
Maggie Pie

Can’t believe a scruffy-looking long haired Simon Bridges will be starring in the Xmas series of ‘The Great Kiwi Bakeoff’
Has he not learned anything about making a fool of himself in public?
Next thing, Tova will be waving around blurry images, purportedly of Simon, with his pants down sitting on a photocopier.

SHEESH!
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December 10, 2021 1:51pm
David Garrett

A half decent sentence for the cop killer…

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/127219114/at-least-27-years-in-jail-for-eli-epiha-who-murdered-constable-matthew-hunt

But the judge found Epiha’s conduct “supported” a whole life sentence, i.e. LWOP, but then once again decided it was “manifestly unjust” to impose it. LWOP ought to be mandatory, or at least the presumptive sentence for killing a cop.
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December 10, 2021 2:19pm
- quarterpack
  
  I would be very interested in finding out exactly how Epiha came in to possession of the semi automatic he used in the killing. Personally I would like to see all privately owned semi autos sent to the smelter as can be seen here, they enable the most idiotic to become deadly.
  
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  December 10, 2021 3:39pm
Bridgenag

The Blokes at bowls want to know why……….if we are double jabbed why would we worry about anyone? Aren’t we now invincible?
11 2
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December 10, 2021 2:22pm
Steve Otto(North Shore)

This shit is just not going to stop until we have a change in Govt.
https://thepoliticalinsider.com/pfizer-ceo-says-people-will-need-fourth-covid-vaccine-shot/?
16 3
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December 10, 2021 2:57pm
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  Oh lookie, one downticker who wants 3 monthly boosters for life
  
  16 4
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  December 10, 2021 3:17pm
  - mawm
    
    Maybe one realist who knows that National are going to continue with it?
    
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    December 10, 2021 3:24pm
- Ed Snack
  
  Pfizer CEO doesn’t mean that actually, what he really means is that people will need periodic boosters forever, and he will be happiest when the period is as short as possible.
  
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  December 10, 2021 3:31pm
Maggy Wassilieff

Come and holiday on the East Coasts, folks.

A stern response from the court was necessary to restore public confidence that the rule of law governed Gisborne and the East Coast, not Jury and his “minions”, the judge said.

https://www.gisborneherald.co.nz/local-news/20211210/arrogant-and-entitled/
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December 10, 2021 2:58pm
- cmm
  
  Bloody shocking! I hope you’re safe from this lot.
  
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  December 10, 2021 3:13pm
- graham
  
  But I see that this thug Jury carved his victim a taonga, which was “ready in a small gift box tied with a red ribbon to give to him if the Crown deemed it fit.”
  
  FFS. Did they check to see if it still had the price tag on the bottom?
  
  Still, glad to see that at least some judges aren’t fooled by these thugs turning up and claiming how sorry they are … no really your Honour, I am. And the wording in the story gives the impression the reporter wasn’t fooled either:
  
  Though struggling to accept Jury could be genuinely sincere, the judge gave him a one-month discount for his show of remorse.
  
  “Show of remorse”. About sums it up.
  
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  December 10, 2021 3:20pm
- David Garrett
  
  Maggy: You realise that under the benign and kind Sentencing Act, he will only spend ONE year in jail don’t you? (The Sentencing Act automatically cuts every sentence of two years or less in half)
  
  If the judge really wanted to send a message he would have given him at least five years, which effectively means 2.5 years inside, three at most.
  
  The maximum sentence for kidnapping is 14 years…so this POS has literally been sent to the pokey for 1/14th of the maximum. Fucking outrageous.
  
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  December 10, 2021 3:22pm
  - Maggy Wassilieff
    
    All I know David is that it would be racist if I was to describe these men who blocked the road as thugs.
    
    ACT leader David Seymour said he believed “people who blocked roads and threatened to disrupt other people’s freedoms” were “thugs”.
    
    Māori Crown Relations Minister Kelvin Davis said the backlash amounted to racism.
    
    https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/coronavirus/300475326/covid19-trainee-police-to-staff-northland-checkpoints-no-powers-of-arrest
    
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    December 10, 2021 3:35pm
    - Maggie Pie
      
      What’s happened to Tame Iti these days?
      We really loved it when he had an art gallery here in Auckland.
      Met him once. Thorough gentleman and a real hard case.
      My partner actually bought a piece from his…. ‘Trespassers Will Be Eaten’ series.
      Has it displayed on our bedroom wall.
      
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      December 10, 2021 3:52pm
      - David Garrett
        
        Iti, the former “ambassador” for the Tuhoe, will have his nose in the trough somewhere.
        
        11 1
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        December 10, 2021 4:02pm
      - Maggy Wassilieff
        
        Last time I saw Tame Iti he was over at the beautiful headquarters of Tūhoe at Tāneatua, but that was a couple of years ago…
        He seems to fallen out with Tamati Kruger, in recent days.
        https://theglobalherald.com/news/tame-iti-among-those-calling-for-resignation-of-tuhoe-chairman-tamati-kruger/
        
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        December 10, 2021 4:44pm
      - Steve Otto(North Shore)
        
        At a show at Greenlane there was a display of jade. Iti was there, degrading jade other than pounamu.
        ‘This jade, he comes from British Columbia” he said.
        Short arse loudmouth and illiterate.
        How did he pay for that shotgun he shot the flag with? He never worked
        
        9 1
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        December 10, 2021 5:12pm
    - Ehlana
      
      So now we know where the Police are coming from.
      Where are the people of this “Tai Tokerau Border Patrol” drawn from? How are they available to spend the whole summer interfering with New Zealanders travelling around their own country?
      
      10 1
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      December 10, 2021 4:14pm
      - Benedict Yu
        
        They are available because most of them will be unemployed.
        
        7 1
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        December 10, 2021 5:20pm
- Prince
  
  Good luck to the poor motorist. I hope the vehicle is sold/scrapped quickly before the mob trace it and carry out their own form of justice..
  The entitlement of these gangs, sprouting from Ardern and her Maori caucus funding them and legalising their roadblocks, is leading us to a Pacific shithole worse than Papua NG.
  
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  December 10, 2021 4:44pm
Steve Otto(North Shore)

https://babylonbee.com/news/to-save-time-ghislaine-maxwell-just-lists-the-hollywood-celebs-and-politicians-who-didnt-visit-epstein-island
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December 10, 2021 3:01pm
Steve Otto(North Shore)

https://babylonbee.com/news/biden-warns-russia-that-if-they-invade-ukraine-america-will-evacuate-haphazardly-and-leave-86-billion-of-weapons-behind
8 3
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December 10, 2021 3:02pm
Steve Otto(North Shore)

https://babylonbee.com/news/trump-announces-he-is-gay-so-he-cannot-be-fired-from-the-presidency
7 3
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December 10, 2021 3:05pm
- KevO'Brien
  
  June 15th, 2020 – BabylonBee.com ??
  
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  December 10, 2021 4:30pm
  - Steve Otto(North Shore)
    
    Old. Does it matter?
    Let’s go back to jokes before Jaspinda was invented …….
    
    6 2
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    December 10, 2021 5:05pm
Steve Otto(North Shore)

The only thing that this Govt has been consistent at is wtf
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December 10, 2021 3:44pm
Inandout

The basic Civic hatch last year was around $33k, now I can have one for $47k. WTF, I will keep my older Civic which runs like a dream.
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December 10, 2021 4:00pm
Reid

Just watching Tucker Carlson’s show tonight who on the last item alerts us to a story from Saudi Arabia where apparently they have beauty contests for camels and some camels have just been disqualified from a contest for getting botox.

I thought it was important to know and wonder if our Australian cousins do that with their camels or perhaps might start doing it if they hear about this through the outback grapevine.

I mean what else are you gonna do on a lonely night with just you and your camel in the middle of some desert.
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December 10, 2021 4:46pm
surfing

To fly to the US you need a covid test result within 24 hours.
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/travelers/testing-international-air-travelers.html

But NZ covid test stations will only guarantee a test result within 72 hours.
https://www.labtests.co.nz/for-referrers/covid-19-pre-departure-testing/

This has scuppered the plans of some US citizens I know.
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December 10, 2021 5:16pm
- info@cruzpro.com
  
  You can pay about $300 and get a Covid19 test result in about 6 hours.
  
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  December 11, 2021 8:10am
Reid

Sundance issues a warning on the health of the US economy. Since I exited KB in 2014 I’ve spent all my time looking at US politics and Sundance is one of the most astute analysts, IMO, out there, on both politics and the economy. She was one of Andrew Breitbart’s acolytes just as Steve Bannon also was back in the day.

Since I’ve been back on KB I have noticed some people on here think her site is full of it. That’s fine, their opinion. But having watched her analyses and predictions pan out year after year in the US, I think it would pay anyone interested in US politics, which is the bellwether for the future of Western civilisation these days, to at least understand her analyses, even if you don’t end up agreeing with her.

https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2021/12/09/foreboding-u-s-productivity-declined-5-2-percent-in-third-quarter-largest-quarterly-drop-in-51-years/#more-221948
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December 10, 2021 5:17pm
Maggie Pie

Just heard slain cop Matthew Hunt’s mum Diane speaking with HDPA.

Saying she had a Petition going before a ‘Select-Committee-of-Parliament’ next year, calling for anyone who murders a Police Officer …to get mandatory LWP.

We wish her all the best with that. Better hope Kelvinator, Angry, and Cuddles aren’t sitting at the top table.
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December 10, 2021 5:21pm
- curry4me
  
  Maggie Pie: I’d sign that in a heartbeat, and put it on my FB page.
  
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  December 10, 2021 7:29pm
Benedict Yu

I just heard Jacinda on the radio (Barry Soper interview) saying “not all cars” travelling to Northland would be stopped. There would only be spot checks. Some guy from the Police said this morning all cars would be stopped and checked.

She is at it again – just making stuff up. 🙁
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December 10, 2021 5:23pm
- Inandout
  
  BY, just enough time to put the happy sticker on your windscreen.
  
  ‘Definition of spot-check
  transitive verb
  : to sample or investigate quickly or at random’
  
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  December 10, 2021 5:39pm
greybeard

https://www.stuff.co.nz/opinion/94869389/sharon-murdoch-cartoons
I have commented many times here about the contents of Murdoch’s “cartoons”: she has always presented herself as anti-National, pro-Labour, pro-socialism.
But now I think that this woman has a serious problem and her family and friends should talk to her and sort the thing out.
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December 10, 2021 5:41pm
- Prince
  
  No problem with her cartoons. The problem is with Stuff owners who shun diversity, and think that only employing cartoonists like Murdoch, and offending 50% of their readership, is good business management.
  
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  December 10, 2021 5:55pm
- graham
  
  I rather think that if a poll was taken, a lot more people would be on David Seymour’s side than on hers.
  
  “Just saying … “
  
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  December 10, 2021 6:05pm
- mandk
  
  Murdoch’s cartoon today borders on the libelous.
  
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  December 10, 2021 6:13pm
Its only I

Doesn’t the PM the Honorable(?) Jacinda Kate Laurells Ardern look totally knackered and rattled these days and from the date 30 November 2021 something seems to be causing significant ageing.

Soon to be rattled and rolled I hope.

CML seems to have unsettled the kingdom.

I wonder if the PM will visit Northland this summer… how would this offer play out today?

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/101194676/waitangi-locals-invite-the-pm-to-bury-her-placenta-at-nations-birthplace
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December 10, 2021 6:21pm
Fletch

Auckland lawyer Liz Lambert tells host Grant Edwards that employers should ignore the mandates for employees to be vaxxed and just open up. Worksafe have no power to enforce any of it and looks like they could be sued in a class action suit. Clause 9 (in whatever govt edict enforces all this) says that employers can hold onto staff if the staff are important, and no one in Govt need to written to about it. An “order” has the status of a regulation and in no way trumps contract and employment law.

Just go and open up.

Listen from about 9 mins onwards.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/64QOKUCOnBCp63Nofh9NIc
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December 10, 2021 6:55pm
Maggie Pie

And good to see the statement from NZ Police Minister Poto Williams today, putting her full support behind the sentence handed down to Constable Matthew Hunt’s killer.

Oh wait….
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December 10, 2021 7:32pm

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