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July 28, 2022 8:00am by Kokila Patel

General Debate 28 July 2022

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General Debate

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Yvette

TVNZ news boss scapegoat in Santamaria affair
Comment: TVNZ’s former head of news Paul Yurisich didn’t do reference checks on disgraced breakfast host Kamahl Santamaria, according to an independent inquiry commissioned by the state broadcaster. But Mark Jennings asks whether he has been unfairly scapegoated.

Paul Yurisich scapegoated?
Would it help clear one position while Willie Jackson combines TVNZ and RNZ?
Paul Yurisich replacement may indicate the answer …
When it is too late
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July 28, 2022 8:02am
- lastmanstanding
  
  The guy didnt follow the established hiring process. Instead he hired his mate overlooked any suitable internal candidate and thought he could get away with it. He would have know Santamaria’s “history” as they worked together for a long time. Mind you hes not the only one. I have seen plenty of this over 50 years in business. One of the worst was Paul Reynolds the Scotsman ex British Telecom appointed to our Telecom fired a the senior staff and imported his mates and yes men from BT. Stuffed Telecom and walked away with nearly $30M over 4 years.
  Memo to Boards of any organisation. Dont let the CEO employ mates. It all ends badly.
  
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  July 28, 2022 9:31am
  - rouppe
    
    I see that all over the show. Senior managers usually have a crew of mates that they get on with and who will support their decisions.
    
    Usually within a month of the senior manager moving to another organisation a bunch of hiring takes place, and that same crew is in the new place.
    
    Sometimes it works well, as change is effected quickly and with more punch since the wider crew are all singing from the same sheet.
    
    Other times it’s a catastrophe since the whole crew is a bubble that doesn’t listen to incumbents.
    
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    July 28, 2022 12:49pm
- Alan Wilkinson
  
  I can think of other reasons to sack him – for making TVNZ News unwatchable for anyone with a brain.
  
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  July 28, 2022 2:26pm
Warren

So the gutless unnamed Journalist or Journalists of the Wellington Dominion Newspaper want to use the overweight piece of crap and Deputy Leader of the Government’s Finance Minister Grant Robertsons Weasley words calling Chris Luxon “Captain Hindsight” for wanting a inquiry into the Reserve Banks Monetary Policy over 2020 to late 2021.
So what if National want to sheet home the blame for that to the Government, clearing the way for a National Party victory next year and what if attacking the problem Grant Robertson National are olliquely are attacking the Nations steward of monetary policy the public should know as it’s Taxpayers money , not a slush fund for the Finance Minister like he has used it.
https://i.stuff.co.nz/opinion/129398986/opinion-in-the-shadow-of-captain-hindsight
People have short memories especially when it comes to the Finance Minister and the Government they expect everyone to play by there rules except themselves, remember the slogans of nine years of Neglect and nine years of underfunding that the Government, Jacinda Ardern and there Finance Minister Grant Robertson have used since 2017, also remember the Finance Minister Grant Robertson blaming the National Party for the budget hack that turned out to be a own goal made by the Finance Minister and a Government official was not politicing with a few lies to seize a advantage, but no it’s OK for Labour to politicbut its nasty when National have a very good reason to hold the Government to account.
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July 28, 2022 8:02am
- Blog-aholic
  
  Hipkins was using the 9YoN yesterday when he defend that Mega Polytech cock up. You cannot make that shit up.
  
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  July 28, 2022 8:43am
  - pdm
    
    BA – what has Hipkins done in Eductaion in5 years that has turned out well?
    
    Nothing I can think of.
    
    Therefore 5 years of neglect under Labour in Education.
    
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    July 28, 2022 10:05am
    - Raphael
      
      hey now, CHippy managed to get regular school attendance down to just 46%.
      
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      July 28, 2022 12:07pm
  - Rodion Raskolnikov
    
    Can anyone tell me if National in 2022 has a version of “9 years of neglect”? Say what you want about Labour, but people still remember that slogan (fatuous as it is) 5 or 6 years after its use. By contrast, does anyone remember what National was saying even last week? It doesn’t matter that it was just empty rhetoric (empty rhetoric works), what matters is that in just one phrase consisting of only four words, they thereby had a kernel of an anti-Nat platform. National could learn a lot from Labour in terms of how they do politics (while getting as far away from the content as possible).
    
    Let me give them a hint: In 2017 Ardern claimed, extremely implausibly, that she had never lied, and National have 5 years of material with which to “udderly refude” that ridiculous claim. Use it to destroy her and Labour, rather than trying to play footsy and stay on side with the media.
    
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    July 28, 2022 1:01pm
    - NeverMindTheBollocks
      
      Six years of shit
      
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      July 28, 2022 7:53pm
- Thought Criminal
  
  Nine years of living within our means.
  
  Look what’s happened now that the socialists are in charge with their margin unlimited money machine.
  
  Hopefully this is the last time we make a socialist student politician the finance minister.
  
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  July 28, 2022 9:01am
  - Cam Pervan
    
    Hopefully the last time? First of all – hopefully we can vote this lot out!
    
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    July 28, 2022 9:50am
  - Nickc2
    
    I sincerely hope this’s the last time we have a Socialist Student anything.
    
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    July 28, 2022 10:07am
- G the giant from Dunedin
  
  You should have heard the vulgar minister of pies Woods yesterday, a speech of Luxon being in Hawaii, what a disgusting pathetic joke it was, she added nothing to the general debate, this will back fire I would think, the more they attack pathetic things like this, the more level headed voters will dig their heals in, Robertson was a whimp trying to say Luxon told NZers he was somewhere when he wasn’t, what utter bollocks, clearly it was recorded from the week before, I have seen several posts from other MPs that have been reposted, does that make them all lies then?
  
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  July 28, 2022 9:10am
  - Philview
    
    The ODT put out an editorial today on
    the growing gaffes of Chris Luxon. I have to wonder where NZ is heading when the media is so in the pocket of this Labour Government.
    
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    July 28, 2022 9:41am
    - Sir Cullen's Sidekick
      
      Add to this, the drunken gollum Paddy “I can’t remember where I was” Gower posted a twitter insulting Luxon. All this shows the bribe partners are all worried that Luxon will be next PM and their bribes will stop immediately.
      
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      July 28, 2022 11:53am
      - Rodion Raskolnikov
        
        If it were announced as policy that the PIJF was to be abrogated under National, then this immediately gives National a ready and plausible response to any criticism at all: “well, you would say that wouldn’t you Paddy/Jessica/Tova–I’m going to defund you.” Moreover, much of the public is probably unaware that the fund even exists, and therefore unaware of its implications, so making it an election issue may help to lift them from their stupor.
        
        I doubt this would be the case though, as it is far too Machiavellian for Luxon. He’ll probably continue to try to get on their good side while they shit on him from a great height for the next 15 months or so.
        
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        July 28, 2022 1:27pm
    - coge
      
      If only things were this simple. Luxon is now copping it from Labour, the mass media, and a considerable swathe of his own base. It’s becoming clearer by the day, he isn’t up to the job. And this trend appears locked in now.
      
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      July 28, 2022 12:10pm
      - G the giant from Dunedin
        
        He is copping what from the worst bunch in government in history?, its bullshit, Ardern has had posts reposted, her Wiatangi day saying today in this lovely place, even though we all know it was recorded the week earlier
        
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        July 28, 2022 8:37pm
    - G the giant from Dunedin
      
      Why are they gaffes? Every time the media say this it turns out yo be nothing, anyone finding some how he told lies about a recorded post somehow being lies is as vulgar as that bloated useless Robertson
      
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      July 28, 2022 12:26pm
  - Dougal10
    
    Didn’t cindy pre record her waitangi day speech well in advance.
    
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    July 28, 2022 10:15am
    - G the giant from Dunedin
      
      Yes, and said today we are here to go blah blah blah, totally recorded a week earlier, do what is the bloody difference
      
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      July 28, 2022 12:27pm
  - Paulus
    
    And Cindy was very quiet when she stayed on for a holiday in Fiji – who knew ?
    
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    July 28, 2022 10:35am
    - G the giant from Dunedin
      
      Yes, Luxon paid his fares, doesn’t Cindy use the airforce to travel? I note someone quizzing last week I wonder where the airforce plane was heading, this is utterly pathetic if that plane was flown twice for that nasty bitch
      
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      July 28, 2022 12:29pm
- mogg
  
  Robertson can’t even make up his own insults. Boris has been calling Kier Starmer ‘Captain Hindsight’ for the last couple of years. Robertson has copied it.
  
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  July 28, 2022 9:11am
  - G the giant from Dunedin
    
    In hindsight it’s that prick ineptness that’s at stake, sadly he thinks he is doing a marvellous job
    
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    July 28, 2022 12:30pm
  - Loddenthinks
    
    The Fat Controller hasn’t ever had an original thought in his life.
    
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    July 28, 2022 2:21pm
- nathie
  
  After reading it one can only conclude it was another smear rather than an editorial as captioned (if that was written by their Editor then they must be uninformed school kids – how standards have slipped, basically an Editorial Fail of “F”).
  
  Contrary to the Editors partisan and childish name-calling nonsense, National have been calling out the Reserve Bank for a long time and have been highlighting the RB’s absurd prioritisation of other things (courtesy of Robertson) other than inflation.
  
  If the “Editor” hadn’t been ignorant of such matters they would have written an editorial highlighting these aspects (as some of Stuff’s other journos to their credit have) and would have been lambasting Robertson, rather than Luxon.
  
  Take for instance this naive and BS sentence written by the “editor”:
  
  Central banks run monetary policy, governments run fiscal policy. And if the governor of the former has a problem with the latter, they usually say so.
  
  Where has this Fwit of an editor been all this time? Brown nosing Robbo for copy content? This is the issue – the govt has imposed unrealistic fiscal policy on the RB, distorting its ability to run tight fiscal policy. The second issue is, as National/ACT have been pointing out, RB Governor Orr has NOT been “saying so” to Robertson. Why? Well perhaps that’s the news story the so-called Editor should be investigating.
  
  But maybe this might help them – why? Because Labour are controlling/dictating/interfering (take your pick) the narrative, like they are in many other areas. Basically the public servants are cowered into toeing the Labour govt line.
  
  Are Stuff’s editors being cowered too (if so, then so much for being “independent”)? Or are they Robertson’s sycophants? Take your pick!
  
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  July 28, 2022 9:15am
  - Nickc2
    
    As they say in the classics: “he who pays the Piper calls the tune” eh?
    IMO, Robertson and Orr are fiscally illiterate!
    If I managed my business like they manage the Country, I’d be behind bars (no, not the drinking kind).
    
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    July 28, 2022 10:17am
  - Paulus
    
    Hasn’t Robertson and his entourage gone to the Games in Birmingham as he was on TV last night – “not from Birmingham” so pre record as they all do now to obfuscate (bullshit us).
    
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    July 28, 2022 10:37am
  - G the giant from Dunedin
    
    Not once have I heard my mates talk about these so called gaffes, but not are they angry at Cindy, snd they have started rubbishing every word Robertson spouts which they were not doing 6 months ago
    
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    July 28, 2022 12:31pm
- lastmanstanding
  
  Graeme Wheeler ex Governor of RB and Bryce Wilkinson have written an excellent paper pointing how our RB and other Central Banks stuffed up their response to CV19. They didnt follow Economic 101. They kept printing money when they should have stopped and let the economy catch up. Over 50 years ago in Economics1 101 I was taught the economy is like a super tanker. Turn the wheel and the ship starts to turn a couple of kms later. These bozos went crazy with the press. Not a case of hindsight a case of not knowing the basics.
  
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  July 28, 2022 9:35am
  - Master Mariner
    
    The real and non sensical issue in my mind is this,
    
    If Pandemic was so severe that people had to stay home, Then why the hell would you slash interest rates to “Stimulate” the economy?
    
    The idea was to keep everyone home and not out and about spending and “stimulating the economy”.
    
    We have been sucked in !
    
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    July 28, 2022 10:20am
    - hullkiwi
      
      MM, your question is on the money. Why do you need to give money to spend or cheap money to borrow and spend, if people are at locked up at home?
      
      Our problem, as with a number of other countries is that they:
      1. Chose to lock down and chock off economic activity in their respective countries;
      2. They had no plans for testarting their respective economies or understanding of what constraints their economies are now facing;
      3. Many of these govts have not stopped their spending and the consequences are now very obvious….
      
      The Ukraine war is a problem, but it is not the reason for the failure to appreciate Economics 101!
      
      An aside, when I read for my BCom at University of Auckland, stage 1 Macro Economics was 13.101.
      
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      July 28, 2022 11:47am
    - nathie
      
      @ Master Mariner
      
      Very good points and let’s not forget that PM Ardern and Labour MP’s encouraged people to go out and spend, spend, spend and travel, travel, travel after the lockdowns to stimulate the economy to make up for the lack of foreign tourists.
      
      In fact Labour spent millions of dollars on TV, radio, print and SM* advertisements encouraging all this!
      
      *(thanks say the overseas tech giants, for further enriching us)!
      
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      July 28, 2022 1:37pm
    - Loddenthinks
      
      If only there was some way of buying things located elsewhere if you can’t go out, some sort of interconnected online things, almost like a “web” if that’s the right word.
      
      Of course, even then, you’d need some means of transporting the purchased items from where they are located to your door – some kind of “carrier” service, or a “courier” if you will.
      
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      July 28, 2022 2:28pm
  - NeverMindTheBollocks
    
    I think they’re all Arts graduates. They didn’t even do ECON 101. Let alone pass it.
    
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    July 28, 2022 7:57pm
- crikey
  
  More hypocrisy from Lieutenant No Sight.
  
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  July 28, 2022 12:08pm
Tricati

Hipkins blames National for the current shambles and cost blow-out in the Poly Techs, while Robertson uses his 5 minutes in General Debate in parliament to have a supercilious crack at Luxon. Seems like the old saying of ‘if you don’t have a good answer to the problem, attack the man’.
All this against a backdrop of falling attendance at schools, government bribe for first year free not working, new polytech entity in a shambles with cost blowouts and CEO MIA, and the most damming reports being presented on the failures of the Reserve Bank, Orr’s performance and the government changes to the bank having negative consequences.
The fact that a number in the MSM are still pushing the Luxon holiday nonsense, and Clarie Trevett’s latest hit piece tilted – Cheap John Key Knock-off: Robertson Pillories Luxon, says it all really. The question that should be asked is ‘did Luxon’s holiday or government/Reserve Bank policies cause inflation’.
Its clear the message has gone out from the 9 Floor Head spin doctor to the media, take Luxon down, as the heat is getting too high in the kitchen and we need multiple distractions.
These types of orchestrated attacks are now getting both pathetic and nauseous, and do hope the likes of Luxon, Seymour and Nicola Willis have the fortitude and support to weather the storm – as its only going to get worse for them unfortunately.
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July 28, 2022 8:02am
- pdm
  
  Labour just running true to form and supported by the `bought and paid for’ media.
  
  Nasty is as nasty does.
  
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  July 28, 2022 8:37am
  - Gravelroad
    
    Newstalkzb host yesterday morning, Nick Mills, continued the beat-up by encouraging listeners to phone in to confirm that the “shine has gone off Luxon”.
    Well at least Luxon must have had a bit of shine in the first place then.
    Which is more than what Mr Mills has.
    Am getting a bit bored with his faux self deprecating, good kiwi bloke style.
    He also reckoned that the vast majority of journalists he knows are wonderful, talented, honourable, unbiased people, so there.
    
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    July 28, 2022 8:55am
    - Janabelle
      
      Switch to theplatform.kiwi – you won’t be disappointed, this morning had wonderful half hour interview with the great Neil Oliver of Coast and GB News
      
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      July 28, 2022 9:10am
      - alloytoo
        
        Ooh, must catch that on Youtube, Oliver is always good value.
        
        His Filmography is very interesting:
        
        https://thetvdb.com/people/7902360-neil-oliver
        
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        July 28, 2022 10:28am
    - Stellaboxer
      
      Gravel road I’m glad someone else finds the Nick Mills guy as irritating as I do. The simple solution is to stream the Auckland program that’s hosted by a less sanctimonious type. Bluetooth it to a wireless speaker from your phone and it’s just like being there.
      
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      July 28, 2022 9:24am
    - Ra Henare
      
      One could say Luxon had no shine to start off with (except from the chrome dome)
      
      Am still wondering why the Nats chose a leader with no political background, no ability to “”read the room””
      
      He is just another corporate suit with no charisma.
      
      Dont get me wrong, I am no Jacinda fan. But she did start out with charisma to woo the voters. Luxon scores zero in the charisma stakes and therefore is an easy target for lazy media types.
      
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      July 28, 2022 3:00pm
- Warren
  
  The media don’t want to the inquiry into the Government’s spending as they will
  be found out for the negligence of there reporting of dishonest practices that this Government and Finance Minister have installed.
  
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  July 28, 2022 9:12am
- mogg
  
  It’s desperation and deflection.
  
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  July 28, 2022 9:13am
  - H. Upmann
    
    = corruption.
    
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    July 28, 2022 10:06am
- G the giant from Dunedin
  
  The more pathetic the attack, the less the deserved attack will succeed
  
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  July 28, 2022 9:14am
- Nickc2
  
  Challenge the bastards in the house to repeat their slanderous allegations outside the house.
  I predict the MSM won’t report the exchange.
  
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  July 28, 2022 10:23am
artemisia

Yesterday I walked the length of my not very long street. Counted 8 discarded masks, and may well have missed some due to clogged up gutters. That’s about 1 for each 7 houses. If that’s typical for a residential area there are quarter of a mill old masks lying around on any day. Fewer in CBDs probably as those streets are swept regularly but not none. Residential streets not so much.

Where will those masks end up? And what will be the impact on drains and environment? Is there any money left of the covid billions? What are our mask ‘experts’ proposing? Surely disposal of masks was considered?

A disaster in the making. Maybe even a crisis.
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July 28, 2022 8:03am
- krazykiwi
  
  These bacteria and fungi laden cast-offs are a disaster. Note that as adults slowly revolt at their use, the fear-mongering mask tyrants are increasingly pushing their demands on to children. It is child abuse.
  
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  July 28, 2022 8:32am
  - ClanMcleod
    
    kk – if you haven’t come across it, this is an excellent open letter written to the NZ Principals Federation.
    
    “This communication prompts questions that straddle science, ethics and risk, all of which are rarely black and white. Rather they are complex, uncertain and ambiguous. Should children and young people who are more at risk of depression, anxiety and bacterial infection, than from hospitalisation and death from COVID-19, be forced to wear a mask daily? Should children and young people who have experienced COVID-19, who are otherwise healthy, be forced to wear a mask daily? Who in the Ministry of Education has sufficient authority and autonomy to ask such questions?”
    
    Worth reading in full.
    
    https://jrbruning.substack.com/p/open-letter-to-the-new-zealand-principals?utm_source=email
    
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    July 28, 2022 9:23am
- alloytoo
  
  Same place a wind turbine blades and EV batteries……
  
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  July 28, 2022 8:39am
- Bobba Fret
  
  Yes instead of plastic bags choking turtles, it will be discarded masks.
  
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  July 28, 2022 8:51am
  - Nickc2
    
    Excellent point!! Bring back Plastic Bags in Super Markets eh?
    
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    July 28, 2022 10:28am
- Master Mariner
  
  Yep, Bloody disgrace.
  Where are the Greenies when you need them ?
  Here’s NZ “recycled” waste from the various councils ending up.
  https://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/109100190/kiwis-recycling-is-piling-up-in-malaysia-and-being-burnt-in-secret-environmentalists-say
  Whats the point of “recycling” and why are not the councils held responsible?
  
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  July 28, 2022 9:01am
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  Masks will ultimately end up in the ocean. Catch a snapper, gut it, and what do you find?
  Want to eat it? Maybe not.
  
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  July 28, 2022 9:09am
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  They end up as marine pollution or landfill
  
  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7381927/
  
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  July 28, 2022 9:20am
- Harry Knuts
  
  how dirty and gross – they may as well be sanitary pads – same/same but different
  
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  July 28, 2022 11:55am
- NeverMindTheBollocks
  
  ‘Will no one think of the turtles?’
  
  Copyright – Greta T
  
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  July 28, 2022 7:59pm
The Other Enoch

I’d like to extend a heartfelt thanks to Riffer, John Pakes, and Brian McDonald for keeping us all within the KB community so entertained yesterday. It is nice to know that in these trying and desperate times there are still those amongst us who retain their sense of humour.

My only concern is that we didn’t seem to hear from Milky, or if we did then I missed it. You OK Milky?
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July 28, 2022 8:04am
- Maggie Pie
  
  Milkey DID make an appearance on yesterdays GD @ 4pm to stalk me.
  He seemed to suggest I was afraid of Asians and Monkeys.
  I do find him a bit odd TBH.
  
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  July 28, 2022 8:35am
  - Fuzzysnuggleduck
    
    Well, your story about taking your Chinese lawnmower-guy’s food wrappings out of the bin to sniff them, and pronouncing them ‘fishy’ is a bit odd also, to be fair.
    I tend to not go through other peoples garbage, nor my own, unless looking for a receipt or such.
    
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    July 28, 2022 8:50am
    - kowtow
      
      I tend not to take our Mags literally ( most of the time) Have a larf and enjoy the show.
      
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      July 28, 2022 10:12am
      - Fuzzysnuggleduck
        
        Yes, I know. I recognise parody, like a Dame Edna thing, so am not clutching my pearls over waaacism.
        Dumpster diving just didn’t fit with the real housewife of swankyville-archetype.
        
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        July 28, 2022 10:44am
  - cmm
    
    Having once been bitten by a monkey I can assure you that fear is warranted. Never been bitten by an Asian, so I can’t speak to that.
    
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    July 28, 2022 9:02am
    - Libertarians are right
      
      Not The Bee has a story at the moment on a town in Japan where monkeys are attacking the elderly and snatching babies. The threat is real people.
      
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      July 28, 2022 9:16am
    - iMP
      
      Most monkeys are Asian. So technically….
      
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      July 28, 2022 10:02am
      - cmm
        
        The one I was bitten by was a vervet. Very African.
        To rebalance the universe I took a 22 and went into the bush and shot one of his cousins.
        
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        July 28, 2022 10:28am
      - Maggy Wassilieff
        
        Goodness..
        
        Who knew that vervets had blue balls?
        https://www.flickr.com/photos/berniedup/6011903243
        
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        July 28, 2022 10:55am
      - Loddenthinks
        
        @Maggy: only the ones without a partner!
        
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        July 28, 2022 4:01pm
      - cmm
        
        Maggy, a teen Pom lass once asked me why the monkey had blue eye shadow on his “winky”. If we’d been a bit older I might have told her it probably rubbed off his girlfriend.
        
        The alpha lads need to strut their stuff, so nature provides a colourful codpiece.
        
        But I must say you really don’t need to look at the balls. The alpha boys are also substantially bigger and have bigger teeth. I have seen one tear up a bull terrier so badly it needed stitching.
        
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        July 28, 2022 4:27pm
    - Fuzzysnuggleduck
      
      While capuchins and some of the smaller ones are cute, the various macaques variaties I have seen in Asian countries are only cute when they still have a degree of fear of humans.
      When they start snatching things out of tourist hands, or baring teeth and crowding around as you have to pass them on trails, they are not so pleasant. Never had trouble with them myself; I dont put a smart phone in their face.
      Recall some obese examples outside McDonald’s at Kuantan, Malaysia, and they would snatch fries off diners tables – staff chase them off with brooms.
      Come to think of it, they were so fat from their shitty diet and “Gibsmedat” lifestyle’s-outcome, might have needed their own seperate health ministry.
      
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      July 28, 2022 10:49am
  - G the giant from Dunedin
    
    It’s the gays snd their affliction with monkeys we are scared of. Was he trying to suggest the gorilla pox was an Asian thing ?
    
    7 2
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    July 28, 2022 9:18am
  - ClanMcleod
    
    A “bit”? You’re in a very forgiving mood today!
    
    6 3
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    July 28, 2022 9:25am
  - Steve Otto(North Shore)
    
    Ross and Mike x 4 are just annoying little shits. Remember the kid that flicked balls of paper around the classroom when the teacher wasn’t watching?
    That is them.
    
    19 4
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    July 28, 2022 9:33am
    - Ross Campbell
      
      Your constant speculation about my identity is proof enough if anybody ever needed it about how easily hunches, urban myths and outright lies become staples and facts on this blog if you repeat them often enough.
      
      3 16
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      July 28, 2022 1:09pm
- G the giant from Dunedin
  
  The maid of milk was here, but he knew the hitjob on Luxon will deliver Labour further poll drops so he steered clear
  
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  July 28, 2022 9:16am
- artemisia
  
  It’s a good thing to support opposing viewpoints. Sure some posts are lacking in various ways, but that applies to all posts.
  
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  July 28, 2022 9:40am
- Nickc2
  
  It was payday at Frazer House yesterday I believe and bonuses were also paid out.
  
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  July 28, 2022 10:31am
  - david
    
    And today? Perhaps a new shipment of KY has arrived.
    
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    July 28, 2022 11:38am
    - Nickc2
      
      That’s a bit slippery David.
      
      3 1
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      July 28, 2022 12:50pm
    - Ross Campbell
      
      Well your telling the story “david” so if you have more details don’t be shy as I’m sure the folks on here will give you the benefit of the doubt.
      
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      July 28, 2022 1:13pm
NeverMindTheBollocks

James Lovelock RIP

Climate visionary or lunatic? Discuss

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/jul/27/james-lovelock-creator-of-gaia-hypothesis-dies-on-103rd-birthday
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July 28, 2022 8:11am
- krazykiwi
  
  At the pearly gates: “Let me get this right. You fabricated a fake god, and now you want in to meet the real God?”
  
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  July 28, 2022 8:34am
  - Charmaine Hawke
    
    KK to be fair he did say he got that one wrong toward the end of his life. James Delingpole has a really good interview with him where he backtracks on a lot of what he had previously said.
    
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    July 28, 2022 9:57am
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  Some climate change propaganda at the bottom. How did The Guardian know I was from NZ?
  
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  July 28, 2022 9:39am
  - H. Upmann
    
    Your computer IP address tells them where you are. Use a VPN Steve. Today I am in The Netherlands.
    
    14 4
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    July 28, 2022 10:12am
    - glowworm
      
      Yes. A VPN service is now absolutely essential if you live in NZ and use the internet.
      
      I’m a geek so I also have a small ad blocking computer (raspberry pi) setup to block ads over our home network. This combo lowers the brain washing ability of the tooth fairy’s Single Source of Truth, blocking most of it…
      
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      July 28, 2022 11:24am
    - Steve Otto(North Shore)
      
      Might ask Mike about how to set that up//
      
      10 3
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      July 28, 2022 11:28am
Tom Hunter

Not being a big supporter of Luxon I can only conclude that his “small target” strategy is working, combined with ever worsening news across almost every front the government is facing.

I conclude this simply because KB is suddenly being invaded by long-time Leftie trolls who’ve ignored the place for months or even years.
– riffer
– muttonheadbird

… here to backup mikenmild and the sad figure of John Pakes.

The internal polling must be looking bad. Wonder who of the old Standard crowd will turn up next?
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July 28, 2022 8:13am
- Swifty
  
  They’ll need to up their game – they were all firing blanks yesterday.
  
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  July 28, 2022 8:34am
- G the giant from Dunedin
  
  With maid of milk not stalking till those other mentioned lunatics disappeared, you would have to conclude they are all Milk maid with different clothes on
  
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  July 28, 2022 9:20am
  - RoboRob
    
    He definately has at least one other alias. You sometimes reply to MikeMild and then another user called Mike will reply. I think sometimes he forgets which he is logged in as.
    
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    July 28, 2022 1:48pm
- lastmanstanding
  
  I suspect the next round of Polls will have Labour with a 2 in front of it and Cindys numbers crashing as prefered PM.
  
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  July 28, 2022 9:40am
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  Mike was in the fixup shop for an idiot fluid topup, so riffer, Pakes, and muttonhead + brain filled in for him.
  
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  July 28, 2022 9:41am
- Muttonbird
  
  Nah, it’s because this Luxon gaff was spectacular in incompetence and lack of awareness in the cover/follow up. It deserved comment!
  
  At least he is consistent though, running down NZ, bagging Kiwi business, telling us how terrible we all are…
  
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  July 28, 2022 10:11am
  - Don Beckett
    
    Welcome back Muttonturd. 🙂
    
    15 1
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    July 28, 2022 12:02pm
  - G the giant from Dunedin
    
    The vulgarity suggests the media have seen an aria ding of Labour polling what utter organised left wing Marxist bullshit, it was a recorded vid of that he did last week, all these MPs put these posts up, most the time they are older, and often they re post them later meaning that’s a huge gaffe, Ardern recorded the Waitangi day rant the week before, and she said here today in this beautiful place, right there is the same so called gaffe
    
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    July 28, 2022 12:38pm
  - Tony Stuart
    
    What complete and utter bollocks. It’s a beat-up by the media, who knew that Luxon was out of the country last week.
    
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    July 28, 2022 12:49pm
    - G the giant from Dunedin
      
      Of course it is, yet Cindy used tax payer money for her holiday
      
      6 2
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      July 28, 2022 2:00pm
    - NeverMindTheBollocks
      
      Yep. His diary is available to the media.
      
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      July 28, 2022 8:04pm
- Loddenthinks
  
  Don’t forget Brown with a Grievance – always good for a larf.
  
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  July 28, 2022 4:03pm
Yabster

I see cuuning Mahuta has been up to her old tricks- has inserted legislation that all councils must review whether they should have Maori Wards every 6 years- previously they disn’t have to do that. There a story on it on newstalkzb (nowhere else in the MSM though)- and of course if a council says no do you think the “racist” calls will pipe up from the iwi elite and co? -so as most councils are spineless whats the easiest decision ….?
I suggest at your next local body election ask the candidate you are considering voting for their stance on racist Maori wards.
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July 28, 2022 8:14am
- Cassandra
  
  Mahuta Corporation hard at work, Yabster. She/they are like rust. Never miss a trick to screw koha out of the unwary.
  
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  July 28, 2022 8:31am
  - Tony Stuart
    
    Question to Mahuta this afternoon:
    
    SIMON WATTS to the Minister of Local Government: Does she agree with the Prime Minister’s statement that “it will not be the policy of any government I lead to embark on another substantial reform of local government or governance unless it is sought and unless there is broad consensus amongst local government about the need for and the direction of change”; if so, does she believe there is broad consensus among local government on her Three Waters reforms?
    
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    July 28, 2022 12:50pm
    - Don Beckett
      
      Wow Tony, that’s asking a bit much of the minister to comprehend – she’ll be lost after: “it will not be the policy of any government… ” (what’s that? what’s that? )
      
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      July 28, 2022 1:09pm
  - AC
    
    I wonder what the correlation is between the awarding of government contracts to Mahuta Corporation and the sales of range rovers in the Tron?
    
    9 2
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    July 28, 2022 12:59pm
    - david
      
      What? Do you mean to say that the tribe has cleaned the Ford dealer out of Rangers?
      
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      July 28, 2022 2:56pm
- O C Smith
  
  Also ask any candidates running on a Labour Ticket to state what Labour Party Policies they have signed up to support.
  
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  July 28, 2022 8:39am
- pdm
  
  Yabster – and 3Waters.
  
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  July 28, 2022 8:41am
- Blog-aholic
  
  Well Local Government NZ are all on board. Their newly minted inclusive campaign resource comes straight from MahutaCorp office.
  
  https://www.lgnz.co.nz/assets/PDFs/Inclusive-Campaigning-resource-LGNZ-X-HRC.pdf
  
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  July 28, 2022 8:47am
  - Steve Otto(North Shore)
    
    7 pages of propaganda that we paid for
    
    17 2
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    July 28, 2022 9:46am
  - RoboRob
    
    Seems like LGNZ is just an arm of the Labour party, just like most other unions. Certainly don’t seem to be even attempting to promote the councils interests. If I was a council I would be asking for my dues back.
    
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    July 28, 2022 1:53pm
  - I remember when
    
    Don’t you love those Labour Councils.
    
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    July 28, 2022 2:29pm
- G the giant from Dunedin
  
  Sadly they will all answer the same, too scared to say the wrong thing
  
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  July 28, 2022 9:21am
  - Nickc2
    
    As stated by Peter Garrett (of the musical group Midnight Oil and ex-Aust Labor MP): “you can tell em anything you like during an election campaign but you don’t have to do it once elected” (or similar words).
    
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    July 28, 2022 10:43am
    - G the giant from Dunedin
      
      I thought Garret was in the Greens
      
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      July 28, 2022 8:45pm
      - Nickc2
        
        Courtesy Wikipedia via Google.
        He served as President of the Australian Conservation Foundation for ten years before being elected for the Labor Party as the Member of the House of Representatives for the seat of Kingsford Smith in the 2004 election.
        
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        July 29, 2022 1:18am
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  It’s like a malignant cancer
  
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  July 28, 2022 9:44am
- artemisia
  
  Under a different government, that ‘review’ will be required to include a poll of ratepayers. Including whether existing Maori wards should be continued, with supporting information specifying what value has been added.
  
  Hopefully.
  
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  July 28, 2022 9:48am
- oldfella
  
  Tauranga City Council moves forward in key CBD co-ownership bid with Māori
  The Tauranga City Council met to decide on a potential partnership with Otamataha Trust, a trust that oversees property on behalf of Ngāti Tapu and Ngai Tamarāwaho. The deal could see the land between Wharf St, Willow St, Harington St and Durham St – known as Site A of the city’s civic precinct development Te Manawataki o Te Papa – transferred to a yet-to-be-established joint council-controlled organisation as part of a perpetual peppercorn lease.
  https://www.nzherald.co.nz/bay-of-plenty-times/news/tauranga-city-council-moves-forward-in-key-cbd-co-ownership-bid-with-maori/DXNHKOJMH3JVP43GXXJOY7X3ZU/
  It’s behind a paywall, but basically Mahuta’s handpicked Tauranga ‘commissars’ (inserted to rule us when Nanaia dumped our duly elect council without asking local voters what we thought about it), will now handover a huge chunk of prime CBD real estate to local iwi under a co-governance deal. I suspect local voters would chuck that out in a heartbeat, except we don’t get a vote at this year’s local body elections. Nanaia likes the commissars system so much she sees no no need to change it. Bastards!!
  
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  July 28, 2022 10:23am
  - Nickc2
    
    Rest assured, this will become normal practice if this bunch of crooks is re-elected.
    
    14 1
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    July 28, 2022 10:50am
  - david
    
    There are no Tauranga City Councillors so how can the Council meet?
    
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    July 28, 2022 3:06pm
  - Ra Henare
    
    As a Tauranga voter, (who cant vote due to Ms Mahuta)I suggest the co-governance thing is not a big deal(if you read the history).
    
    The big deal is the Dictators decisions about the commitment of mega millions for a new city Precinct (of which this piece of land will be part of).
    
    It will be the white elephant of all white elephants.
    
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    July 28, 2022 3:09pm
Simon

Here are the highlights from ACT’s Real Change Budget:

A simple two-rate tax system: 17.5 and 28 per cent
Less tax for every earner
Reduce wasteful spending by $6.8 billion in 2023

https://www.act.org.nz/budget2022

This is regime change NZ needs. To remove the Clown World axis of National / Labour / Gweens

National preserves Clown World while Labour expands it. Regime change is needed.
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July 28, 2022 8:14am
- Flossie
  
  If my pension was taxed at 17.5% I believe I would receive less than I currently do. I will stand corrected if anyone wants to contradict my maths – which I fully acknowledge is not my best subject.
  
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  July 28, 2022 9:19am
  - Don Beckett
    
    There should be a base income – say $15k p.a – that is untaxed. Its a bit crazy that pensioners, who receive their income from govt. taxes, should have to pay tax on it. They pay tax through GST, rates etc.
    
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    July 28, 2022 10:32am
    - Ra Henare
      
      Don, there is a cunning way for you not to pay tax on your super.
      
      Under Section 26 of The Super legislation. You can apply to bepaid for extended travel (in my case until a change of gummint).
      
      Then you are paid Gross Super with no tax deduction
      
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      July 28, 2022 3:12pm
- G the giant from Dunedin
  
  Bugger off with ya attacks on Nats, the vulgarity of an nasty Act voter has had its day, my friends that use to party vote ACT have had a guts full of the bullshit from act, tell me, who do you think ACT will work with yo get the other 40% they need to be a minor coalition partner FFS
  
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  July 28, 2022 9:23am
  - James Stephenson
    
    I believe you, thousands wouldn’t.
    
    Me and my mates that party vote ACT (none of us members) are rusted on supporters at least until such time as there’s a right-wing alternative to consider.
    
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    July 28, 2022 10:00am
    - G the giant from Dunedin
      
      I dont give a shit what you think, i have given my party vote to Act several times, some of my mates have, never suggested all my mates , i have a couple of mates that do, but they can not see the point if the Act party are smearing Nats, that vulgar little Seymour tried to put the Hawaii boot in his self, he tried to say he tells his MPs not to be something you are not, what the hell is he trying to suggest Luxon was trying to say FFS , it was a replayed vid of work he did the week before
      
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      July 28, 2022 8:49pm
  - Nickc2
    
    I’m hoping for a massive reset for National whereby they take a step to the right of their centrist position. With the country being so much in the shit financially, we can’t afford otherwise.
    
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    July 28, 2022 10:58am
    - Loddenthinks
      
      National traditionally campaigns on the right and governs on the left.
      
      2 0
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      July 28, 2022 4:05pm
    - G the giant from Dunedin
      
      They can not win an election from the right, all MMP elections have been won in the centre
      
      1 1
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      July 28, 2022 8:50pm
- ClanMcleod
  
  I’m warming to ACT. Now if he would just categorically ditch the pro vax and lockdown shit I would be fully on board.
  
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  July 28, 2022 9:28am
  - Steve Otto(North Shore)
    
    That is sort of where I am headed, but the vax shit needs to be dumped for good. We have been played.
    
    21 3
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    July 28, 2022 9:55am
    - Charmaine Hawke
      
      Have a look at Democracy NZ, Matt King speaks a lot of sense.
      
      16 2
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      July 28, 2022 9:59am
      - Don Beckett
        
        National need to do a deal with him.
        
        11 3
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        July 28, 2022 10:33am
      - Ross Campbell
        
        Nice one Don.
        Free advice on how to commit political suicide and make the opposition benches your permanent home.
        
        2 6
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        July 28, 2022 1:18pm
      - G the giant from Dunedin
        
        All King will do is take a couple of % from the right, well bloody done ushering Cindy back in, King has stated in the media he will not get 5%, if he does not win the Northland seat then your vote would be wasted
        
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        July 28, 2022 8:52pm
  - mawm
    
    Clan – and they need to come out and say that under no circumstances what so ever we will have a digital ID and digital currency. They must support their individual freedoms stance by condemning any suggestion of a social credit score as well.
    
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    July 28, 2022 12:39pm
    - RoboRob
      
      Assume you mean ‘Crypto currency’ rather then digital currency (which we already have).
      
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      July 28, 2022 2:52pm
      - mawm
        
        No – a cashless digital currency where they can have 100% control of your access/spending to your money. Whether it’s crypto or not doesn’t make a difference.
        
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        July 28, 2022 5:47pm
- Ian Boag
  
  Less tax for every earner. Reduce wasteful spending by $6.8 billion in 2023
  
  Total govt spend is a bit over $120bn. So that’s a 5% spending cut proposal – not all that radical on the face of things. Perhaps I am missing something.
  
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  July 28, 2022 12:53pm
  - RoboRob
    
    Not only ‘not radical’ but a bit of an under acheivement. It would be dead easy to shave $6.8b from the budget with no noticable difference to the general population. 3 waters plus the $1b consulatant fee would immediately acehieve 1/3 of that target.
    
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    July 28, 2022 2:55pm
  - NeverMindTheBollocks
    
    True, on the face of it. But, a decrease of that nature means by definition means there’s no increase.
    
    When was the last government to not increase spending?
    
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    July 28, 2022 8:20pm
Peter Lane

I don’t know why the Herald cartoonist doesn’t just put ‘Sponsored by the Aotearoa Labour Party’ at the bottom of his work.

Another disgraceful effort this morning.
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July 28, 2022 8:18am
- pdm
  
  PL – probably because Aotearoa is a mythical place and it would be too blatant and obvious to put New Zealand Labour Party – even if it is what they mean.
  
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  July 28, 2022 8:20am
  - G the giant from Dunedin
    
    Planet Labour is a magical shithole
    
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    July 28, 2022 9:24am
  - oldfella
    
    pdm, according to the WSJ, there’s a campaign afoot to rename our land. This is the headline…
    Welcome to Aotearoa? The Campaign to Decolonize New Zealand’s Name
    Parliamentary committee could recommend vote among lawmakers or referendum to adopt Māori name
    https://www.wsj.com/articles/welcome-to-aotearoa-the-campaign-to-decolonize-new-zealands-name-11658914200
    It’s behind a paywall, but I imagine most people overseas must think Cindy and co are nuts…
    BTW, it’s written by a local journo.
    Stephen Wright covers corporate, economic and general news for The Wall Street Journal in Wellington, New Zealand, and is also a publishing editor for Dow Jones Newswires. Previously, he was Southeast Asia reporter for The Associated Press, based in Jakarta, and AP’s Asia Business Editor in Bangkok. You can reach him at stephen.wright@wsj.com or on Twitter @SteveJourno.
    
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    July 28, 2022 11:42am
- Cassandra
  
  Disgraceful? Actually it’s what cartoonists do – Luxon laid himself open to criticism. “Aloha” will haunt him for ages. It was stupid politically to seem to be hiding his holiday. Releasing photos of him visiting Te Puke is on a par with Don Brash’s plank and just about as silly as Rodney Hide’s trip to London. Labour is flat out shooting itself in the foot and then Luxon gives them a target! Smarten up, team!
  
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  July 28, 2022 8:28am
  - Peter Lane
    
    It’s disgraceful because of his shocking bias.
    
    If Dear Leader did the same you wouldn’t hear a peep out of him.
    
    He’s also not funny. The pathetic personification of a Covid virus particle just does my head in.
    
    Total fuckwit.
    
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    December 28, 2021 1:12pm
  - Tony Stuart
    
    He didn’t hide his holiday though. Members of the Press Gallery knew he was out of the country for a few days. Obviously someone mentioned it to someone in Labour, because around the middle of last week “Where’s Luxon?” Posts started appearing on social media.
    
    This is a massive beat-up, designed to knock another point or two off Luxon’s personal rating in the next round of polls so that talk can start of a possible coup against him. And just wait until there’s another attack on him next weekend, when the National Party conference takes place.
    
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    July 28, 2022 9:47am
    - Cassandra
      
      He should have told the community, been upfront and his PR people should not have implied he was in Te Puke. Great to have a break but be open about it.
      
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      July 28, 2022 10:09am
      - Fuzzysnuggleduck
        
        Yep, blown out of proportion. But was clumsy social media work too.
        I don’t think for a second that he meant to deceive. It was just a bungle. Yet a bungle that they could have avoided if they kept the posts up to date a bit better.
        Also, kind of think it would be good if he dropped the overseas holidays until he is PM – support NZ, holiday here, and try not to look like a Rich Prick (no the KB one) to those with Tall Poppy syndrome, i.e. envious and sucess-loathing lefties.
        Have to play the cards with care.
        Perception is everything in politics, especially to the low-information average voter.
        
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        July 28, 2022 10:59am
      - James Stephenson
        
        his PR people should not have implied he was in Te Puke.
        
        FFS, who doesn’t start videos like that with a “Today, I’m in…” intro?
        
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        July 28, 2022 11:21am
      - Raphael
        
        He was in Te Puke when the video was filmed. There was nothing indicating that the video was filmed on the same day the media team released it. This is a load of excrement singling from the Labour sponsored media to try get the polls to favour our Glorious Leader
        
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        July 28, 2022 12:12pm
    - All_on_Red
      
      Heres a salutary tale of where the Media end up with their biased behaviour.
      https://legalinsurrection.com/2022/07/democrat-activists-of-media-shocked-that-republicans-no-longer-want-to-talk-to-them/
      
      ““It has come to my attention that some liberal media activists are mad because they aren’t allowed into #SunshineSummit this weekend,” DeSantis spokeswoman Christina Pushaw tweeted Friday. “My message to them is to try crying about it,” she continued, “Then go to kickboxing and have a margarita. And write the same hit piece you were gonna write anyway.”
      
      Write the same hit piece you were gonna write anyway.
      The majority of journalists are Labour/Green activists. I can understand Luxons small target strategy as Labour implode but eventually someone needs to start calling media out on their bias.
      
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      July 28, 2022 10:39am
    - H. Upmann
      
      Tony: no matter what the backstory may be, the whole thing was handled very badly by Luxon and National once the cat was out.
      Luxon surely knows he has fanatical opposition from Labour, but more importantly, from corrupt paid-off media. He needs to smarten up big time because right now he is just another Todd Muller.
      
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      July 28, 2022 11:14am
  - Steve Otto(North Shore)
    
    It was a planned hit job by shithead lefties
    
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    July 28, 2022 10:05am
    - Steve Otto(North Shore)
      
      Add: The idea is the media feed little bits to social media, nek minut they are all asking “Where is Luxon?”
      Media responds “Oh we know where he is, it is not Te puke, it is Hawaii!”
      Rabid lefties take the bait, hook, line, sinker, and most of the arm. The man just went on his yearly family holiday ffs.
      
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      July 28, 2022 10:11am
      - Muttonbird
        
        Problem for Luxon (and you) is he sounds so out of touch. How can you jet in from Hawaii and complain about how hard life is for Kiwis?
        
        He doesn’t show sincere empathy which is not unusual for CEOs, by definition it is not in their DNA. It’s a common theme with his gaffs, ‘NZ businesses are soft, Kiwis are closed and scared’. It shows he doesn’t have our back, he’s willing to throw us under the bus for political gain.
        
        It’s highlighted I think in the Vance book where it’s said he looks down on those around him and suffers from ‘this is easy’ disease.
        
        Honeymoon certainly coming to an end for Luxon as the NZ public find out what he is really like.
        
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        July 28, 2022 11:04am
      - Dave
        
        He doesn’t show sincere empathy…
        
        I would happily swap the several years of sincere empathy we’ve endured for some years of competence and good policy, to which the current government has repeatedly demonstrated an aversion.
        
        As for throwing us under the bus, what do you think co-governance and partnership is doing to most New Zealanders?
        
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        July 28, 2022 11:50am
      - Tony Stuart
        
        Muttonbird – you must have missed this story on Newsroon yesterday that says that large parts of Andrea Vance’s book are, shall we say, factually challenged:
        
        Journalist Andrea Vance’s book Blue Blood paints a colourful portrait of Judith Collins’ time as leader, but what happened behind National’s closed doors was very different, writes the former leader’s staffer Julie Johnston.
        
        Opinion: I was Judith Collins’ deputy chief of staff from 15 July 2020 until she lost the leadership in late November 2021.
        
        I have first-hand knowledge of many of the events described in Andrea Vance’s book, Blue Blood, the inside story of the National Party in Crisis, especially those that occurred during Judith Collins’ term as leader.
        
        In an interview about her book, Andrea Vance says she interviewed many former staff and she has made extensive use of anonymous quotes and opinions to tell her story.
        
        I believe there is much to challenge in Vance’s book. Below is my account of just a couple of the events she describes: the background to National’s problems with its fiscal plan during the 2020 election campaign and Nick Smith’s resignation.
        
        https://www.newsroom.co.nz/ex-collins-staffer-queries-vance-book-on-nats?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Twitter#Echobox=1658863760
        
        I’ve met Julie Johnston, and I have to say, I’d accept her word over that of Vance any day of the week.
        
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        July 28, 2022 12:57pm
      - Muttonbird
        
        Tony. By dismissing the Vance book National will be making the same mistake they did dismissing the Hager book.
        
        Neither book is comfortable reading for the Nats but they need to take it on board and become better people if they want to have a chance at government again.
        
        Hager laid it out for them on a plate and they doubled down even more viciously. Look where it got them.
        
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        July 28, 2022 8:50pm
  - kowtow
    
    ‘Actually it’s what cartoonists do’
    
    Every day ?
    
    It’d be nice if someone did a count up of how many hits there have been on the Opposition as opposed to on the govt .
    
    You know , the so called 4 th estate doing their job ,holding power to account .
    
    And yes while they do and should report these matters the real issue is the how and why .
    
    There was a definite campaign by the media Pardy to delegitimise Don Brash , esp after he proved so popualr after the Orewa speech . The Media clearly decided to get him .And it worked, Same with the Nat leadership issues over these years .
    
    Easy , lazy reporting . But it is also agenda driven.
    
    The Media is left , and they want a left regime .
    
    And if we want them to hold power to account where did the break in Mahuta Corp come from and why is it still so muted .
    
    Where’s the outrage at W jackson’s democracy comments .
    
    This country is being destroyed by this extremist regime and the response from the so called 4 th Estate is remarkably muted .
    
    They spend more time laughing at Trump , whinging about rugby coaches and promoting celebrity culcha than anything else .
    
    We are very badly served .
    
    “The letters to property owners reveal rules which have immediate effect on their land, regarding historic heritage, areas of significance to Maori, ecosystems and indigenous biodiversity, natural character and margins of water, activities on the surface of water and designations.”
    
    https://www.odt.co.nz/regions/west-coast/letters-come-surprise-landowners
    
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    July 28, 2022 10:26am
  - yobi
    
    Luxon should have had his holiday here in NZ supporting the tourism industry. If he’d been really smart, he would have gone skiing.
    While I don’t care where he goes on holiday, giving ammunition to that muppet Robertson is just dumb.
    
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    July 28, 2022 10:47am
    - Lance
      
      The scum that passes as MSM in NZ had a go at the Nats for WICKEDLY having a lavish meeting in Queenstown a while back.
      The MSM are little more than Robbo’s sock puppets.
      
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      July 28, 2022 11:10am
      - Tony Stuart
        
        I’m looking forward to the media climbing in to Grant Robertson when he heads to the UK next week to watch the Commonwealth Games. I’d bet dollars to goat shit that he turns left when he gets on the plane.
        
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        July 28, 2022 12:59pm
    - Nickc2
      
      Why would you want to holiday in NZ? The Motels are full of fuckwit no-hoper drug addicts and dealers and you can’t get Room Service or your room serviced in a Hotel because no one wants a job.
      
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      July 28, 2022 11:11am
- cmm
  
  Because it isn’t.
  The real sponsor is us taxpayers.
  
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  July 28, 2022 8:33am
  - Libertarians are right
    
    No the sponsor is Labour with money stolen from us.
    
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    July 28, 2022 9:22am
- oldfella
  
  Peter, is that the ‘Aotearoa’ Herald? They really should change their title as our old name, New Zealand, is so… colonial. //
  
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  July 28, 2022 10:27am
  - riffer
    
    If you want to go that far, you could possibly go with te kaikawe korero o Aotearoa 😉
    
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    July 28, 2022 11:44am
    - Don Beckett
      
      Yes, but only in the Maori or Te Reo version of the paper. This intermingling Te Reo with English is bastardising both languages. If they wish to publish in Maori, let them do both language printings as the do in Canada with English & French.
      
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      July 28, 2022 12:11pm
      - oldfella
        
        Don, you and others of a similar mind will just love this story in stuffed… Not!
        https://www.stuff.co.nz/pou-tiaki/300646282/whi-tapu-on-proposed-hau-golf-course-land-protected-by-consent-decision
        
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        July 28, 2022 12:43pm
Yvette

Almost a billion dollars a year – that’s how much the Government’s been spending each year on contractors and consultants since 2018, despite its own moves to reduce its consultancy cash splash.

National was counting, one stage, the number of committees and working groups Labour / NZF appointed to consider what should have been pre-announced Election policy – the Working Group on Tax, for example – and the count reached more than 120 entities, before the count normalised itself.

And now – “Almost a billion dollars a year”
Which indicates a Government that doesn’t know what it is doing – it may have an agenda :o) – but not developed policies.
Which also means a great many who voted for Labour but didn’t know what they were voting for – except for a young semi-attractive woman with a world reputation for having a baby daughter in office and saving her people each time there is a catastrophe –
but not counting her Government itself.
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July 28, 2022 8:20am
- Tony Stuart
  
  And that is despite having removed the cap on public service numbers to do more work in-house, and cut the spend on consultants! But all they’ve succeeded in doing is increasing the cost of both, exponentially.
  
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  July 28, 2022 8:23am
  - Benedict Yu
    
    Lifting the cap on staff numbers did not have the primary objective of doing more work ‘in house’ although that may have been a hope.
    
    The massive increase in public servant numbers is a result of a similiar increase in the role of government. Most people have no idea of the scale. I could give many examples. Let’s take one.
    
    https://environment.govt.nz/assets/publications/annual-report-2021.pdf
    
    In 2017 the Ministry for the Environment had a staff head count of about 270. At 30 June 2021 it was 648! It will probably be more than 800 at 30 June 2022 (report still to come).
    
    If you look at the big picture across the public sector you get this..
    
    “Over the last five years, the overall public sector workforce increased by 13.7% (with central government up 13.9% and local government up 12.4%). This compares with an 8.9% growth in the private sector over the same period.”
    
    https://www.publicservice.govt.nz/our-work/workforce-data/public-sector-composition/workforce-size/#:~:text=The%20public%20sector%20employed%20around,in%20local%20government%20(52%2C200).
    
    This is what the next government needs to address. It is fundamentally about the role and size of government.
    
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    July 28, 2022 9:33am
    - Tony Stuart
      
      It’s also proved in the past to be a convenient way of keeping unemployment artificially low.
      
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      July 28, 2022 9:48am
    - septic skeptic
      
      The types of jobs they have recruited is just as big an issue. Hundreds of extra staff but nobody has the ability to do a business case or cost/benefit analysis? FFS, what ARE these people qualified to do? Spin bullshit in Te Reo?
      
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      July 28, 2022 10:21am
      - Phronesis
        
        Well if you’re hiring to reduce the unemployment figure then there’s no point hiring people who are capable of getting a real job in the private sector.
        
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        July 28, 2022 10:59am
    - Nickc2
      
      The figures in each entity will worsen now that Mahuta Corp has been taken under the wing of the Minister for Local Govt and the Foreign Minister.
      
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      July 28, 2022 11:19am
    - Dave
      
      648/270 = 2.4: unarguable, objective, numerical proof that Labour cares about the environment 2.4 times as much as National.
      
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      July 28, 2022 12:55pm
  - Benedict Yu
    
    Addendum: Apart from the direct costs, another effect of this growth in the public sector will be staff shortages and wage pressures in the private sector. The public sector pays better.
    
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    July 28, 2022 9:36am
    - artemisia
      
      So if a new government quietly starts reducing public service numbers, the private sector will be happy as laid off staff will realise a job, any job, pays better than the dole. We can be sure that the Opposition parties have their not so little lists ….
      
      Natural attrition to start on day one. Those lists will suggest some ideas.
      
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      July 28, 2022 1:43pm
- Swifty
  
  The NZ Labour Party – saying one thing and doing the other since 1916.
  
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  July 28, 2022 8:37am
- lastmanstanding
  
  Those who have to spend on so called Consultants prove they are unfit for the job they are supposed to be doing.
  And to have someone else to blame when they ignore the so called Consultants advice and stuff up.
  
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  July 28, 2022 9:44am
- My
  
  Yep, it is a cunning move by the Labour govt. At one end they hoover up the beneficiaries and low pay workers, in the middle they get the working for families crowd, and at the top end they cash up the $2k a day consultants. Buy a vote.
  
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  July 28, 2022 10:45am
Cassandra

Going to Hawaii for a holiday is a great idea, although a closer island eg Fiji or the Cooks, probably a better one. Making it look like you were concealing it is plain dopey. I despair.
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July 28, 2022 8:21am
- Cinematic
  
  Oh for goodness sake. Luxon didn’t make it look like anything, the Labour Party and media made it so. Steady as she goes Luxon.
  
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  July 28, 2022 9:36am
- Tony Stuart
  
  It’s been a baptism of fire for Luxon’s recently hired chief press secretary, Hamish Rutherford, former Stuff journo. But I’m sure he’ll understand the tactics being used by the media.
  
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  July 28, 2022 9:56am
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  See my comments @ 10.05 and 10.11.
  It was planned before Luxon even left NZ.
  
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  July 28, 2022 10:22am
  - riffer
    
    Given that there was a lot of talk about where Luxon was (nobody seemed to know) it would be really nice if you could point to one piece of information that showed that he was actually overseas when he was.
    
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    July 28, 2022 11:48am
    - Steve Otto(North Shore)
      
      Is your Google machine broken, or you don’t know how to use it?
      Even The Strandard has a post saying where Luxon was! Or do The Strandard tell lies?
      
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      July 28, 2022 1:09pm
    - G the giant from Dunedin
      
      The media were told the week before when Luxon gives his diary you muppet
      
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      July 28, 2022 8:58pm
Frank the tank

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2022/07/27/42-policy-proposals-trump-outlined-at-america-first-summit-in-dc/

In a sea of WEF nut jobs trying to bankrupt the Western World I do miss the big fella.

Ignoring the man right leaning people can’t argue with the majority of these proposals.
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July 28, 2022 8:23am
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  He had America heading in the right direction 2016 to 2020. The left elite did not want this because Trump was going to nail them on corruption (Pelosi, Obama, both Bidens etc etc) They knew Trump meant business on draining the swamp, even though the swamp was much bigger than estimated. America was booming, people taxed less and many businesses and jobs created.
  2020 it all crashed around his ears.
  This is what the cheating Democrats were afraid of:
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S63MW41dP58
  
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  July 28, 2022 10:33am
  - Steve Otto(North Shore)
    
    https://rumble.com/v1dt3m9-just-two-years-ago…-trump-brutally-summarizes-bidens-failures.html?
    
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    July 28, 2022 1:10pm
Maggy Wassilieff

Melissa Lee investigates the streets of the Prime Minister’s electorate :

The Prime Minister cannot even bring law and order to her own electorate. She cannot even keep the streets of Mt Albert safe. Labour are not backing New Zealand’s ethnic communities, and they cannot even keep the shops in Sandringham, and the people, safe. It is time the Government actually does something—or do all ethnic communities just wait until National returns to Government? Because we can certainly do the action. This Government is all about pretty conversations, huis, and lip service. They are certainly not delivering for the ethnic community.

https://www.parliament.nz/en/pb/hansard-debates/rhr/combined/HansDeb_20220727_20220727_20/tab/video?page=6&mode=form
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July 28, 2022 8:27am
- alex Masterley
  
  The PM is so rarely in Mt Albert that I call her the MP for Thorndon.
  
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  July 28, 2022 8:31am
  - Alwynn
    
    She isn’t in Thorndon very much either. The only place you are likely to see her in New Zealand at an airport where she will be getting on a plane to get out of here.
    She wants to go somewhere where the people show her the adoration she believes she deserves.
    Finding a place anywhere near New Zealand is getting harder of course. The Australians are catching on that all is not well in the Ardern bunker.
    
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    July 28, 2022 9:40am
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  Melissa Lee is a very good attack dog. National need to let her loose!
  
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  July 28, 2022 10:43am
- Ian Boag
  
  Aw come on MW.
  
  Your posts usually make sense, but ….
  
  Perhaps you could name a few MPs who do specific stuff to keep the streets safe in their electorate. While you are at it, what it these people exactly do to meet the “safe streets in my electorate” target?
  
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  July 28, 2022 1:02pm
  - Maggy Wassilieff
    
    I might be willing to undertake this work for a substantial fee, but then again, I’ve ducks to feed and cobwebs to tend ….
    
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    July 28, 2022 1:22pm
    - Ian Boag
      
      Nice one 🙂
      
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      July 28, 2022 1:29pm
graham

Listening to the 5 am news on Newstalk ZB this morning (on-demand, I wasn’t awake at that time!) and heard an item about monkeypox. The newsreader stated that “So far, 98% of cases outside the countries in Africa … have been reported in men who have had sex with men.”

Good on them for finally having the cajones to state what we all know. But I wonder why the newsreader couldn’t just say that 98% of cases have been reported in gay men. Too “stigmatising”?
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July 28, 2022 8:34am
- Phronesis
  
  That term was adopted in medicine to account for the peculiar fact that they are quite different but overlapping groups. Some who identify as gay don’t do the deed and some who do, don’t identify as gay.
  
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  July 28, 2022 11:05am
- MCōs
  
  If everyone knows, how do they know if it hasn’t been regularly reported by the msm?
  
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  July 28, 2022 11:20am
  - graham
    
    Do you get all your news and information solely from the msm, MCōs?
    
    How … quaint.
    
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    July 28, 2022 12:45pm
Maggy Wassilieff

Could someone explain to me (in words that I might understand) how Grant Robertson managed to lose $8.46 Billion dollars?

https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA2207/S00185/robertson-loses-846-billion-no-regrets-for-epic-own-goal.htm
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July 28, 2022 8:38am
- pdm
  
  maggy – without even trying.
  
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  July 28, 2022 8:44am
- Inandout
  
  Maggie, which is why he will never be (or accept) the PM’s job while his arse points to the ground. He is a true academic, absolutely clueless when it comes to finance; never owned a business, wouldn’t have any bloody idea.
  
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  July 28, 2022 8:49am
- Yabster
  
  hes an incompetent idiot- as is his mate Orr- who would vote for these absolute fuckwits?- I am a chartered accountant and would do a better job than bozo the clown at running the countries finances- and there are many more in the country better qualified than me.
  
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  July 28, 2022 8:53am
  - Ian Boag
    
    I am a chartered accountant
    
    A necessary profession. Good at telling us what happened last year and organising tax stuff. Rear vision mirror stuff.
    
    Not specifically skilled about “how should I run the business profitably next year?” other than possibly costing out scenarios put up by the client.
    
    Muldoon was an accountant 🙂
    
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    July 28, 2022 1:08pm
    - Alan Wilkinson
      
      You?
      
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      July 28, 2022 2:30pm
    - All_on_Red
      
      You’re generalising Ian.
      I’ve known several Accountants who were very capable to give business advice.
      The point remains that Robertson is a clown and Orr is looking very much like an incompetent.
      
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      July 28, 2022 3:18pm
      - Ian Boag
        
        I have been in business for about 35 years. I have known and dealt with all several folk who gave me business advice. Not all of them were accountants. The accountants I dealt with were in general no better or worse than others.
        
        The accountants were of course the right people for tax advice. I have always run internal systems that keep me up to date with balance sheet and P/L on a monthly basis. Systems that were not set up by my accountant ….
        
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        December 28, 2021 4:40pm
- Master Mariner
  
  How this is not leading the news I do not know.
  
  Sheer incompetence knows no bounds. The great Tag team of Orr and Robertson.
  
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  July 28, 2022 9:10am
  - mawm
    
    Don’t ascribe to incompetence what is sheer malevolence. The Western liberal democracies have one after another gone down the same rabbit hole. Like with the Covid-19 response it is a deliberate destruction of our democracies so as to be able to “build back better”.
    
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    July 28, 2022 12:53pm
- Ehlana
  
  He does not understand how the economy works and he did not have the sense to ask someone who did understand to explain it to him.
  This is how he got to be a Labour minister.
  
  There’s a serious answer to your question, about the mechanics of this, but I’m not sure I understand it well enough myself to try and explain it. Perhaps someone else can.
  
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  July 28, 2022 9:16am
  - Master Mariner
    
    I do not fully understand it either, But in a nutshell it was a huge gamble with Interest rates were predicted to stay low and hence the loss.
    https://www.interest.co.nz/bonds/114944/rising-interest-rates-could-see-government-suffer-5-billion-loss-reserve-banks-qe
    
    5 Billion now 8 Billion , And probably still counting.
    
    This is why we need a Royal commission, However there is decades of pain coming.
    
    And as Kerry Packer once stated ” A Allan Bond only comes once in your life”.
    
    RBNZ is the “Allan Bond” , while the large banks are the “Kerry Packer”.
    
    What a fiasco.
    
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    July 28, 2022 9:38am
    - Matt Long
      
      Or as Toll Holdings said a Michael Cullen only comes along once in lifetime.
      
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      July 28, 2022 5:56pm
- JimBobJoe
  
  Its what happens when you buy long term bonds with coupon rates higher than prevailing interests rates for the same maturity dates and then mark them to market when interest rares escalated much much higher.
  
  Bonds with a 3.5% coupon rate for a maturity date of X sell at a premium per 100 dollars of face value if the current market rate has dropped to 2.5%..
  
  The bond is priced to give a yield of 2.5% so it costs $101 to buy..
  
  Interest rates rise again to 4% for that bonds maturity and the bond now sells at a discount to face value per $ 100 dollars to get the bond yield to the current market rate…. Say $99 to sell per $100 face value of the bond.
  
  The mark to market loss is the diff between the price you paid $101 and current price you can sell at $99.
  
  Indicative numbers only as i dont have my hp12c handy
  
  Bond trading is risky. Buying long dated bonds when prevailing yields are below the coupon on the bond. Is a tricky art and very tricky the long the bond has to maturity as you have real risk of capital loss if yields rise quickly after purchase
  
  You can hedge via futures and options but it appears the RBNZ went long long dated bonds to inject money into circulation but hasnt actively managed the exposure prudently..
  
  Make sense? Fundmentally they bought high and now have to either sell low to crystalise the loss OR provision the loss via Market to Market to their accounts.
  
  Doing MtM has lead to the RBNZ balance sheet getting screwed via the loss hence the capital injection by Robbo to keep the RBNZ technically solvent
  
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  July 28, 2022 9:25am
  - Maggy Wassilieff
    
    Txs….
    
    I think I get it.
    
    Clearly Robertson & Co are amateurs at this money game.
    
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    July 28, 2022 10:04am
    - JimBobJoe
      
      No worries Maggie. The key is the value of the bond per $100 and the relationship between the coupon (interest rate on the face value of the Bond) and prevailing interest rates for the same maturity date in the market on the day.
      
      As an aside when the NZ Government issues long term Government Bonds (5 year, 10 year, etc) they ask the Market (large Banks mostly though I think a number of other large institutions like major Super Funds and Insurance Companies are accredited) to make bids to buy the issue, via a competitive tender. Used to be paper bids deposited in a locked drop box at the RBNZ and needed to be in the box by set date and time, probably a secure electronic bidding system now.
      
      e.g.
      
      Govt offers 300 Million of 5 Year bonds with a 3.5% coupon. Prevailing interest rate for 5 years is 3.75
      
      Bids would show things like $99.75 per $100 of Bonds issue so the actual yield the buyer would get would be around the 3.75% mark (because $3.50 annual coupon on $99.75 discount face value of 2 $100 bond equals the market yield of 3.75% Indicative numbers I haven’t run the calculation)
      
      Again not precise just showing you that Bonds have a Face Value they are issued out, Coupon Rate that doesn’t change and then a Market Value based on the FV, Coupon, Term and current Interest rates for the term
      
      Its the difference between MV and FV where Bond traders make the big gains and losses.
      
      The RBNZ has taken an absolute bath is probably the big take away.
      
      BUT depending on the actual maturity date of the bonds held, when the RBNZ actually sell them on the secondary market and the yeilds prevailing at the time of sale will decide the actual gain or loss. RBNZ is booking a loss on current valuation to market but if interest rates move their way that paper loss can be offset or grow if rates move against them even more….
      
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      July 28, 2022 11:58am
      - NeverMindTheBollocks
        
        Hold to maturity?
        
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        July 28, 2022 8:43pm
      - JimBobJoe
        
        @NeverMind – holding to maturity is an option I suppose but they may want to just clear the decks and never talk about it any more…
        
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        July 28, 2022 8:54pm
  - Master Mariner
    
    Cheers JBJ. I’m “sort” of getting it too.
    
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    July 28, 2022 10:29am
  - mogg
    
    Yes , but I would bet my boots that we have a Finance Minister who has never owned Govt Stock, never mind bought or sold it. I have no financial qualification, but have owned Govt Stock in the past and soon got to understand the pros/cons as you have described so well above. Robertson is a chancer.
    
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    July 28, 2022 2:49pm
    - JimBobJoe
      
      Robertson is not qualified to hold the position as you say and his ideology means he ignores basics like Bond trading is a risky business if you are trading.
      
      If you buy to hold to redemption it is what it is and you get your money back via principal and interest payments as forecast at purchase. You just may wear an opportunity cost in missed interest if yeilds head high after you buy
      
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      July 28, 2022 8:56pm
- JackRabbit
  
  “Robertson essentially took a bet that he’d get the free money the Government wanted… Predictably, printing $54 billion helped set off the highest inflation in 32 years.”
  
  Printing money creates inflation. Any high school student of yesteryear who studied German history could tell you that.
  
  Fire Chief: “We helped avert the biggest fire in history, by pumping 54 billion litres of gasoline into the city streets. Sure, the entire city was burnt to the ground, but if we had not pumped all that gasoline into it, it could have been a lot worse.”
  
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  July 28, 2022 9:37am
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  I look forward to krazykiwi unpacking this. He is far better with numbers than I am.
  
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  July 28, 2022 10:49am
- Harry Knuts
  
  Finance and the Robertson family – not the best combination for great decision making.
  
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  July 28, 2022 12:00pm
Maggie Pie

Ma retweets….

“A face only a bus-driver could love”. LOL!!

https://twitter.com/1NewsNZ/status/1552189549421465601
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July 28, 2022 8:38am
- cmm
  
  These idiots need to grow up. The lot of them.
  
  Parliament costs us perhaps a few million dollars an hour to run – so maybe $10 an hour for every nett taxpayer in NZ. These pricks should be focusing on doing some work and providing value.
  
  These bastards should keep that in mind. Every sill joke. Every time they avoid a question is time they are not doing their job and are wasting around a thousand dollars a second.
  
  In no other workplace can you get away with all this nonsense “sledging” and interrupting and being clever avoiding questions etc. Nope, you must get on with your job and creating value for the people paying your wages.
  
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  July 28, 2022 8:51am
- I remember when
  
  Isn’t it great that theLabour Government is so completely on top of normal business that they can devote copious amounts of time, or at least the wages to provide the information, to producing details of events prior to 2017.
  Of how we laughed and laughed at the hilarious use of our money.
  
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  July 28, 2022 9:17am
- ClanMcleod
  
  Like a bulldog chewing a wasp.
  
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  July 28, 2022 9:33am
- nathie
  
  Robbo wastes more taxpayer money on producing props (was it outsourced to an agency perhaps, if so, how much did it cost).
  
  Meanwhile MSM editors and senior reporters cheer on his childish antics, rather than call them out (no wonder why the public lose faith in Parliament & the MSM).
  
  You can bet if National or ACT did the same, then Robbo and the MSM would be lambasting them for wasting money and denigrating Parliament.
  
  H, H, H, Hypocrites!
  
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  July 28, 2022 1:55pm
cmm

Two weeks or so ago there was a fuss about Cindy’s comment that nurses coming into NZ probably wouldn’t stay in nursing long anyway.

Well, based on my observations, she’s at least partially right.

I spent Monday having a quick ride through much of the Chch hospital, meeting and conversing with multiple staff: ED, ward, operating theatre,…

The ward I was on normally has very low turn over, but they have lost 50% of their nursing staff in the last year (and much more of their auxiliary staff: nurse aids etc). While they have hired replacements, this is a specialised ward so the stress on the remaining 50% is higher as they now have to mentor the new nurses as well as do all the extra duties previously performed by nurse aids (making beds etc).

As a result, many more staff are leaving. Some are going overseas but some are just leaving nursing. Some are considering factory jobs.

Yup, nurses with over 30 years experience considering going to a factory job. Let that sink in!

So Cindy is right. There’s a good chance they won’t stay in nursing (well not in NZ anyway).

There’s a serious crisis in the hospitals at all staff levels: from the orderlies through to the specialists.
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July 28, 2022 8:44am
- Flossie
  
  Serious question. Do hospitals still have actual “nurse aids” these days?
  
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  July 28, 2022 9:03am
  - Benedict Yu
    
    Yes they are called ‘health care assistants’.
    
    https://nz.indeed.com/Nursing-Assistant-jobs?vjk=d7225dede4a96f9e
    
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    July 28, 2022 9:40am
  - cmm
    
    Yes they do.
    
    They are a very important part of the staff (just like orderlies etc), but are not visible.
    
    Nurse aid numbers have been cut badly because they are not visible at the political level like nurses or doctors are.
    
    ie. You never hear soundbites about hiring orderlies or nurse aids – just doctors and nurses.
    
    This is false economy because:
    * Every task a nurse aid was doing now has to be done by a nurse. This is effectively cutting nurse numbers but still keeping the numbers up on the books.
    * The stress is pissing the nurses off and they are leaving.
    
    The same with orderlies. I was stuck for nearly 2 hours in recovery waiting for an orderly to wheel me up to the ward.
    
    The easiest way to address the nursing shortage is to add nurse aids and orderlies to take away a lot of the low-level tasks they do (bed making etc) and let them focus on the tasks where their professional skills are important. Nurse aids and orderlies are relatively easy/fast to train.
    
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    July 28, 2022 10:25am
- G the giant from Dunedin
  
  I think she was talking about aged care nurses in homes moving into other areas, fact is they could easily put on their visa a date until they can go into another position. The arrogance of the government is not so much with the job, but getting immediate immigrant status
  
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  July 28, 2022 9:28am
  - NeverMindTheBollocks
    
    Moral hazard – employers can take advantage of employees who can’t change jobs
    
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    July 28, 2022 8:49pm
- JackRabbit
  
  Well, based on my observations, she’s at least partially right.
  
  Agreed cmm.
  
  She is right for all the wrong reasons. It doesn’t matter how much you pay people, if they have to work in a broken system and get ignored or abused by management on a daily basis they don’t stay.
  
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  July 28, 2022 9:45am
  - Phronesis
    
    True enough, but the only way you can improve working conditions is to employ more staff, and the only way you can employ more staff is to pay them more. The nurse’s and Dr’s unions whinge a lot but the fact is they are complicit in maintaining the situation by negotiating and recommending pay increases that are below the rate of inflation. Unions in NZ are much more interested in keeping Labour in power than they are in the poor saps that are members.
    
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    July 28, 2022 11:19am
    - JackRabbit
      
      True enough, but the only way you can improve working conditions is to employ more staff…
      
      Phronesis
      
      That’s only part of the problem. It does not matter whether it is a hotel, a hospital, or NZ railways – if the man power is not used efficiently you will always be short staffed. While in hospital last year, I observed countless hours wasted because staff had to put management edicts before actually helping patients.
      
      An example – where is the efficiency in a nurse spending 2 hours traipsing all over the hospital during the weekend for urgent patient meds because the stock levels weren’t maintained and backup stock was in the internal pharmacy, which was closed and by policy no-one had a key to.
      
      A saw a raft of neglected maintenance issues that scheduled would take 30 minutes, but a break-fix several hours.
      
      …The nurse’s and Dr’s unions whinge a lot but the fact is they are complicit in maintaining the situation …
      
      Many Doctors who serve both public and private are on contract and not covered by unions. I hate unions, and saw them as money grubbing, but during my stay I saw what the nurses had to put up with. There appears they are doing to nurses what they are doing to farmers – trying to get rid of them.
      
      When they went on strike it was primarily working conditions and pay second – if you had to work in the equivalent of Fawlty Towers putting up with Manuel. Polly and Basil, you would want more money to stay too.
      
      And I have close contacts that have turned up to work on their only day off at double time, only to be told they were not getting paid as there was no money in the budget, but to go home was a “violation of their oath” – “you can’t ignore sick people”.
      
      The health system is being deliberately run into the ground.
      
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      July 28, 2022 3:13pm
- MCōs
  
  What factory jobs are they?
  
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  July 28, 2022 11:22am
Steve Otto(North Shore)

Trump has a sense of humour:
https://dailypatriotreport.com/trump-asks-lebron-james-to-join-his-team/
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July 28, 2022 8:52am
- Inandout
  
  SO, Hosking says Harris is aiming for Joe’s job and Trump won’t run again for President. Out of interest, is ZB still using CNN for news?
  
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  July 28, 2022 9:06am
  - Frank the tank
    
    Probably a scoop from Benedict Arnold
    
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    July 28, 2022 9:44am
  - Steve Otto(North Shore)
    
    Have no idea about news sources, I don’t listen or watch those. I watch people like Liz Wheeler and Dan Bongino. I get email links from American friends – some are Democrats LOL!
    
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    July 28, 2022 11:02am
    - RichardX
      
      Who needs sources that you can independently verify when believing without question whatever gets emailed to you is so much easier.
      
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      July 28, 2022 2:53pm
I remember when

Did European ‘climate change’ action falter because most took immediate action while Russia looked at the economics?
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July 28, 2022 8:55am
- ClanMcleod
  
  Yup, there’s a huge gulf between ideology and reality. It’s the difference we all face when there are things we’d like to have or do and what we can afford to have or do. Problem is that ideologues don’t inhabit the real world.
  
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  July 28, 2022 9:36am
I remember when

Looking at the “World Total Fertility Map by Country” and wondering…
Where will the refugees of the future most likely come from?
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July 28, 2022 8:57am
- Benedict Yu
  
  Africa.
  
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  July 28, 2022 9:41am
Maggy Wassilieff

Andrew Little sees nothing wrong with novice students working on Hospital wards and being paid with supermarket vouchers.

In fact he reminds us that student nurses used to be trained on wards.

that, once upon a time, all nurses, all people training to be nurses, before they got their registration, worked in hospitals and did extensive hours in hospital—that’s the way we trained nurses.

https://www.parliament.nz/en/pb/hansard-debates/rhr/combined/HansDeb_20220727_20220727_16/tab/video?page=8&mode=form

Might be time to scrap the middlemen then….and forgo the three years of bum-sitting in polytechs listening to PC, social-babble and get back to the practical manner of training on the job
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July 28, 2022 9:04am
- Spring Bank Westie
  
  And was the supermarket voucher declared as taxable income?
  
  Asking for Inland Revenue’s friend.
  
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  July 28, 2022 9:06am
  - G the giant from Dunedin
    
    Wait till the hand out for tax payer bun fight is taxed
    
    4 2
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    July 28, 2022 9:45am
- Inandout
  
  Hospital wards also had Matrons who ruled their domain with strict rules. All the cultural shit would not have got off the ground with Matrons. Yes student nurses did get training for nursing patients on the job, not in Treaty matters.
  
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  July 28, 2022 9:11am
  - fightingtemeraire
    
    Matrons ran hospitals with a rod of iron.
    
    Thou shall obey!!!!
    
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    July 28, 2022 1:15pm
- G the giant from Dunedin
  
  That was more bullshit from him, he is right, a nurse does their last year in the wards, but they do not get plunged into serious positions left to their own on night shift
  
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  July 28, 2022 9:29am
  - Maggy Wassilieff
    
    Exactly…
    
    as Dr Shane Reti stated yesterday:
    
    The New Zealand Nurses Organisation is reporting today that student nurses—some who are unlikely to have been on a hospital ward before—were paid with food vouchers. It has also reported that one of the students was hit. This is wrong on many levels. Firstly, the New Zealand Nurses Organisation reports their students receive inadequate orientation. The Minister’s suggestion that this is what enrolled nursing is like shows how out of touch he is. Enrolled nursing is vastly different to this. Second, is it now a Government policy that nurses will not be paid wages and salary but instead will be paid with food vouchers, and where does this cross the boundary of work for payment versus volunteering? Thirdly, it is reported that some of the work was watch duty. The question arises: were unqualified students on watch duty for people who might harm them or maybe might even harm themselves? Minister Little, this is what a health crisis looks like.
    
    https://www.parliament.nz/en/pb/hansard-debates/rhr/combined/HansDeb_20220727_20220727_20/tab/video?page=5
    
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    July 28, 2022 10:11am
    - Ehlana
      
      It would seem particularly stupid to be training people as nurses without them spending any time on a ward. Surely this is a job where it is important for would-be students to know whether that is an environment they want to work in before they waste 3 years studying for it?
      
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      July 28, 2022 11:43am
- mandk
  
  It’s difficult to see the benefits of having abandoned the apprenticeship model for nurse training.
  
  Trying to make every profession require graduate entry has been a ridiculous waste. It has just resulted in a bloated university sector.
  
  Having said that I don’t see why someone completing a 3 year RN training programme shouldn’t be able to do some add on study to become a BSc and progress to nurse practitioner.
  
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  July 28, 2022 9:33am
  - rockape
    
    Exactly. My Mrs was trained in hospital. She already had a degree, a Bosc in Biology. At the age of 45 she studied to get her masters and went on to be a Nurse Practicioner. Current salary $143000 a year with pedals on top.
    
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    July 28, 2022 9:51am
  - Ian Boag
    
    It’s difficult to see the benefits of having abandoned the apprenticeship model for nurse training.
    
    A lot of people put a lot of thought into it over time. It happened in other countries too. I lived in Ontario in the early 70’s when the same changes were happening as nurse training moved into the polytechs, I found it a bit confusing as my wife was a relatively young product of the NZ apprenticeship system. Her qualifications were not 100% accepted – she had to do a bit of study (part-time) and then she gor to be an RN. Until then she was “graduate nurse” who sis pretty similar work to RNs anyway.
    
    So if you find it “difficult to see” does that mean you have researched it at all?
    
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    July 28, 2022 1:27pm
- oldfella
  
  Maggy, how much of that 3 years is spent learning te reo, and how much spent on stuff that is actually useful?
  
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  July 28, 2022 10:36am
  - riffer
    
    15 out of 360 credits.
    
    So, 2 weeks, give or take.
    
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    July 28, 2022 11:54am
    - riffer
      
      Clarification. 2 weeks, per year. So a total of six weeks. In three years.
      
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      July 28, 2022 11:54am
  - riffer
    
    And I am being generous there. The credits are actually for:
    
    722.725 Hauora Māori (15 credits)
    You will explore the determinants of long-standing inequalities in health between Māori and non-Māori. You will identify strategies in everyday nursing practice to improve Māori health consumer experiences and Māori health outcomes.
    
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    July 28, 2022 11:55am
  - riffer
    
    So, there may not actually be any time spent learning te reo. But there is six weeks spent learning why, historically, Māori may not have fared so well in the health system, and learning what the current strategies are for providing more equitable outcomes are.
    
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    July 28, 2022 11:57am
    - Maggy Wassilieff
      
      The Uni of Auckland does not seem to insist on a Maori focus for its nursing students… perhaps because it is preparing its students for a multicultural world.
      
      https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/study/study-options/find-a-study-option/bachelor-of-nursing-bnurs.html
      
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      July 28, 2022 1:10pm
      - riffer
        
        No, it doesn’t does it? My bad, I had assumed that the curriculum was common across the country. Should have known – every bloody educational institution probably has it’s own particular variant of the curriculum. Cheers for that.
        
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        July 28, 2022 9:17pm
- kowtow
  
  She’s been subject to the kommissariat and must indulge in classic Marxist style self denunciation.
  
  “The social media post has been taken down, and the student is writing an apology, as well as a reflection for her own practice.”
  
  https://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/health/student-nurse-struck-patients-apologises-tiktok-video
  
  And here was me thinking the lefties love whistle blowers as an important part of keeping the system honest .
  
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  July 28, 2022 10:53am
  - riffer
    
    Mate, I am a leftie and I have a hard timing keeping up with what is going on.
    
    It’s almost like we are all a collection of individuals with losely similar political leanings or something, as opposed to an organised group taking orders.
    
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    July 28, 2022 9:18pm
- Tony Stuart
  
  I thought supermarkets were Labour’s mortal enemy…
  
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  July 28, 2022 10:55am
  - Ehlana
    
    I thought the union movement existed so that workers had to be paid real money, not supermarket vouchers.
    
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    July 28, 2022 11:43am
    - Tony Stuart
      
      It is, of course, different when the Left does it…
      
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      July 28, 2022 1:03pm
      - riffer
        
        What do you actually mean by that statement?
        
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        July 28, 2022 9:19pm
  - kowtow
    
    Funny innit .
    
    During her lockdown they were Heroes of the Great Proletarian Struggle Against Foreign Virus .
    
    Then the “emergency/ crisis” is over andf they’re back to being the Great Enemy of the Working Masses .
    
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    July 28, 2022 12:37pm
    - riffer
      
      Nah. You’re projecting.
      
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      July 28, 2022 9:20pm
Maggie Pie

“The discrimination against people with diverse genders, sexuality and sex characteristics can easily be traced back to colonisation”

– Elizabeth Kerekere. Green Co-Leader aspirant

(A bestie reckons, prior to that Maori didn’t discriminate….they just killed and ate them) 😀
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July 28, 2022 9:08am
- Blog-aholic
  
  I’d love to see her research?
  
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  July 28, 2022 9:12am
  - Maggy Wassilieff
    
    It’s in her PhD (Chapter 3)… and is based on her interpretation of maori myths and ancient sayings.
    
    Part of The Whānau: The Emergence of Takatāpui Identity – He Whāriki Takatāpui
    
    https://researcharchive.vuw.ac.nz/xmlui/handle/10063/6369
    
    Although she does write that there is not yet evidence that Maori had diverse gender identities in pre-colonial times (p. 82)
    
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    July 28, 2022 10:28am
- graham
  
  “The discrimination against people with diverse genders, sexuality and sex characteristics can easily be traced back to colonisation”
  
  – Elizabeth Kerekere. Green Co-Leader aspirant
  
  Really? Okay, if it can be “easily traced back” let’s hear Ms Kerekere’s reasoning. In detail.
  
  Because it seems that people such as Ms Kerekere are very quick to toss out a quick soundbite blaming “colonisation” for all their woes, but remarkably reluctant to expound their theories further and in detail, with sound reasoning and logic.
  
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  July 28, 2022 9:18am
- mandk
  
  Without colonisation Maori would have continued using folk medicines for everything because they had no real science.
  
  Their life expectancy would still be around 30.
  
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  July 28, 2022 9:20am
  - kowtow
    
    If I might be so bold .
    
    “Without British colonisation”.
    
    Had the descendants of those racially and culturally very diverse islands not come here then it wudda been most likely the Frogs whodda done the business here .
    
    I wonder how that wudda worked out ?
    
    N’est pa?
    
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    July 28, 2022 10:03am
    - Swifty
      
      When Maori of one tribe invaded the lands of another, slaughtered the men, enslaved the women and children and took possession of their lands and fisheries would that count as colonisation or would Kerekere call that something else?
      
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      July 28, 2022 10:47am
      - Bluegrass
        
        It would be called ‘culture’.
        
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        July 29, 2022 8:13pm
    - Maggy Wassilieff
      
      Mangling your French, n’est-ce pas?
      
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      July 28, 2022 11:13am
      - kowtow
        
        Oops.
        
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        July 28, 2022 11:18am
    - MCōs
      
      I would suggest whatever little medical knowledge the Poms brought with them was far outweighed by disease they brought that decimated Maori, and, as with Spanish flu, themselves.
      
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      July 28, 2022 6:27pm
  - Maggy Wassilieff
    
    Maori would have continued using folk medicines
    
    Medicines , and use of plants as medicines, seem to be a colonial import here in NZ.
    
    The use of medicines to treat sickness implies a knowledge or recognition of a disease-causing agent.
    
    Germ Theory wasn’t proved until the 1850s-1860s
    (Koch, Pasteur, Jenner etc).
    
    Most folks believed disease was associated with evil spirits.
    
    Early visitors to NZ reported that Maori treated sick, diseased folk by means of incantations, massages and cold water baths.
    
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    July 28, 2022 10:43am
    - Fuzzysnuggleduck
      
      Yes, take a look at Te Rangi Hiroa’s book ‘The Coming of the Maori’ (1949) and he is clear that Maori bush medicines were something that appeared after Pakeha arrived, as previous to that disease and illness was treated as a spiritual ailment. I just reread this book recently – including stories of Maori exchanges of children as food for conventional food during sieges: perhaps they should put this important early anthropological work on the shelves in Te Wananga?
      
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      July 28, 2022 11:19am
      - fightingtemeraire
        
        Sir Peter Buck and he was the Head at the Peabody Museum in Hawaii,
        
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        July 28, 2022 1:12pm
    - mandk
      
      Thanks Maggy, I never realised that.
      
      But kawakawa or karakia, Maori life expectancy would still have been around 30.
      
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      July 28, 2022 12:11pm
      - Maggy Wassilieff
        
        Use of native plants for medicinal purposes flourished when the first Europeans settled here.
        
        Most educated folks (Missionaries, nurses, Doctors) had a knowledge of plants and herbal uses …and quickly recognised similar plant families here in NZ and some set about making potions from them…
        
        Mother Aubert is the best known of our early herbalists….. (she had studied botany, pharmacy, medicine in France and was a trained nurse, before she arrived in NZ).
        
        https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/ESD18911231.2.3.4
        
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        July 28, 2022 1:46pm
- ClanMcleod
  
  “Easily” – then why hasn’t she presented the evidence if it is “easily” traced back? I’d love to read that.
  
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  July 28, 2022 9:42am
  - septic skeptic
    
    Easily. Just engage a consultant for a few million taxpayer bucks, and Bob’s your aunty!
    
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    July 28, 2022 10:32am
Than

Latest piece of idiocy from the naive feelgood brigade – an “Endgame Law” to eliminate tobacco use entirely.

Um, newsflash geniuses – have you not been paying attention to the massive increase in crimes such as ram-raids (which tabacco is a major target for) and smuggling in of foreign cigarettes. And that’s just with the current taxes/restrictions and restrictions on tobacco sales. This endgame bill is effectively a de facto ban in everything but name.

First and most significantly, it bans the sale of anything but Very Low Nicotine Content (VLNC) cigarettes. I’m fairly sure that addicts won’t even consider these cigarattes at all.

The second measure doesn’t really matter. It calls for a 90-95% reduction in the number of shops that can sell cigarettes. But given that nobody will want the non-cigarettes that will be available, what does that matter?

And the last major provision also doesn’t matter – making it illegal to sell tobacco to people born in 2009 or later. But given this bill is going to make most smokers turn to illegal sources anyway, legal age restrictions are going to mean diddly-squat.

This bill is effectively prohibition for cigarettes. By far the largest group of people who will benefit from it will be the gangs.
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July 28, 2022 9:09am
- Benedict Yu
  
  Totally agree. Before I stopped 20 years ago, I was highly addicted. I smoked high nicotine cigarettes. I recall trying to switch to low nicotine ones. The result was that I smoked vastly more cigarettes so I switched back.
  
  This boondoggle will have the same effect as prohibition of alcohol in 1920s USA. The gangsters win.
  
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  July 28, 2022 9:49am
  - kowtow
    
    And the Nats are on board .
    
    Hopeless.
    
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    July 28, 2022 10:37am
  - Fuzzysnuggleduck
    
    I also wonder how this will affect tourism.
    
    Smoking rates are still high in places such as China; will they be able to bring in a personal 1 month supply or such?
    Will rule us out as a destination for some.
    
    Besides, the tax take from tobacco is said to exceed the cost to society in terms of smoker’s health care; I think you simply educate on risks, and let people make their own decisions around health.
    My wife tells me my drinking gives me a 2% increased risk of dementia, and studies suggest I might live 3 years less. I DON”T CARE.
    I also eat bacon and sausages.
    If government is so concerned, would be better to have scales set up at super markets, and not allow fatties to buy sugary treats, if we are taking this logic to the extreme.
    
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    July 28, 2022 11:29am
    - Maggy Wassilieff
      
      My wife tells me my drinking gives me a 2% increased risk of dementia,
      
      So, a 98% chance that it doesn’t…
      
      They look good odds to me.
      
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      July 28, 2022 12:50pm
    - Benedict Yu
      
      My father in law is 85. He has cancer of the esophagus. He has always liked a drink. The doctor told him that this had probably caused the cancer. I thought it was out of order.
      
      Anyway the old guy replied “I would not have changed a thing.” 🙂
      
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      July 28, 2022 3:34pm
      - Fuzzysnuggleduck
        
        To paraphrase what Ricky Gervais said, around lifestyle changes might give him 10 more years.
        He said to the doctor, ‘I’ll take those extra years as a 20 to 30 year-old’.
        He made the point that the extra years are only at the shit end of the spectrum, when bones are brittle and the blowing the wind brings out bruises.
        
        And yes, that is a terrible thing for the doctor to say. When so much of disease can be genetic, and life is certainly not fair, it is pretty cold to tell a terminal person “this is your fault”: there is no way to state that as fact.
        Notwithstanding some cases being much clearer – kind of goes without saying if a smoker has lung cancer, or the morbidly obese is having feet cut off: but “Told you so” is kind of pointless, from the bedside.
        Totally expect my wife will do it though.
        Never miss a chance to score a point 😉
        
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        July 28, 2022 4:06pm
      - coge
        
        I have a friend, who was told she had terminal lung cancer a few years back. Thankfully she’s still with us, and still smokes. I said to her you’d better not smoke, or you might get lung cancer. And we both had a good laugh!
        
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        July 28, 2022 5:15pm
- JackRabbit
  
  This bill is effectively prohibition for cigarettes.
  
  Modern day Al Capone will be pleased.
  
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  July 28, 2022 9:51am
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  Kids will just steal them. Steal a car, ram a dairy, then when they run out just do it again.
  They just don’t give a shit.
  
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  July 28, 2022 11:14am
  - riffer
    
    Gonna be increasingly more difficult though if sales are restricted to fewer outlets. Especially if they make an effort to make theft less easy.
    
    But seriously, I don’t like the idea of prohibition either. I would prefer that they made it illegal to have nicotine in cigarettes. Then the only way to get a nicotine fix would be either in vapes or grow-your-own.
    
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    July 28, 2022 11:59am
    - Steve Otto(North Shore)
      
      Shit, I just upticked riffer. Better get a thermometer, must be sick.
      
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      July 28, 2022 1:24pm
      - riffer
        
        It was gonna happen eventually Steve. We are humans, over political animals, after all. We can’t disagree on everything.
        
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        July 28, 2022 9:23pm
    - Than
      
      But taking out the nicotine in cigarettes effectively *is* prohibition – that’s the active ingredient that smokers crave after all. Note how much more popular nicotine vapes (i.e just the nicotine, none of the other parts of the cigarette) are compared low-nicotine cigarettes. By analogy, do you think people in the 1920’s would have considered zero-alcohol beer, or brown, smokey-flavoured water to be a substitute for real alcoholic beverages?
      
      This bill comes close to doing exactly what you are suggesting. It doesn’t eliminate nicotine allowed in cigarettes entirely, but drastically reduces it. And the net effect is going to be pretty much exactly like prohibition.
      
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      July 28, 2022 5:46pm
      - Ian Boag
        
        Not quite. Imagine if gin,whisky or whatever contained carcinogenic nasties as well as alcohol. Would it be reasonable to ban or regulate them and point people at vodka (ethanol water) so that they can still get an ethanol hit without the nasties?
        
        That’s pretty much the smoking vs vaping argument. I guess you pays your money and takes your choice ….
        
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        December 28, 2021 7:08pm
Maggy Wassilieff

Our Prime Minister believes that the reason school attendance is so low in NZ is solely due to Covid…and she points to the 90% attendance in the first week of Term One as evidence that all is well on the attendance front.

Christopher Luxon: How can she say that this is COVID-driven when the data shows that only half of the increase in non-attendance between term 4 last year and term 1 is driven by sickness, and children isolating at home are marked as attending?

https://www.parliament.nz/en/pb/hansard-debates/rhr/combined/HansDeb_20220727_20220727_16

Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: I point, again, to the fact that if you look right at the beginning of term 1, we had up to 90 percent attendance. You can see the impact that isolation, illness, fear of COVID and the spread of COVID has had on decision making by families.

How out of touch with reality is the poor woman?
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July 28, 2022 9:12am
- I remember when
  
  “Fear of Covid.”
  Where on earth did that come from?
  It is hard to understand how a section of the population largely removed from any covid danger would experience fear.
  
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  July 28, 2022 9:22am
  - ClanMcleod
    
    I remember when – you’ll get a great explanation of why that is happening at this link. It gives a great insight into the abusive use of applied psychology on the population. UK based but exactly the same here.
    
    https://www.ukcolumn.org/article/we-are-all-pavlovs-dogs-now
    
    That’s why most people wear masks.
    
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    July 28, 2022 9:48am
  - Gravelroad
    
    I am far more in fear of this Labour Party government than I have ever been of Covid 19.
    
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    July 28, 2022 10:01am
  - Steve Otto(North Shore)
    
    ‘Fear of Covid’ came from Jaspinda, Blofeld, Baker, Hendy, Plank, Robertson, Hipkins, Verrall, and the rest of the no-hopers you may like to add.
    
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    July 28, 2022 1:27pm
- Libertarians are right
  
  “fear of COVID”
  Who’s fault is that? Anyone missing school because of fear of COVID is on this Government and their deliberate, power hungry fear mongering.
  
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  July 28, 2022 9:46am
- Harry Knuts
  
  it wasn’t COVID – it was govt enforced lockdowns and restrictions.
  
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  July 28, 2022 12:03pm
Maggie Pie

TRENDING

Just been watching FOX….the fed raised rates .75% and the Dow rallied.
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July 28, 2022 9:22am
- JimBobJoe
  
  Rally on inflation expectations … More certainty means more confidence even though interest costs are going up. Counter intuitive really but that will be the logic.
  
  Also as an investor it should mean better cost control at list companies and tighter ROI required for investing capital by list companies which is a long term positive for markets as well….
  
  Low interest eates can lead to bad capital allocation when view over 5 plus year time frames
  
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  July 28, 2022 9:33am
  - cmm
    
    Yup, the market had already factored in an expected rise so that was not really a change, but the uncertainty unsettles everyone.
    
    Certainty settles the horses.
    
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    July 28, 2022 10:04am
- Frank the tank
  
  Powell teased a 1% rise hence the rally.
  
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  July 28, 2022 9:45am
BeaB

The mask has slipped and instead of kindness we can see their true colours. Grant Robertson was that smart arse Billy Bunter at school that nobody liked. Now he’s not only arrogant and puffed up with his own self-importance, he’s nasty and not even original. He has to copy a Tory for his insults!
Labour are obviously rattled. Without Ardern, we get Robertson, Hipkins or Wood. That’s a gruesome trio. Trash fish or a sleek white shark? Luxon all the way.
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July 28, 2022 9:47am
- Tony Stuart
  
  I see Wood’s nickname in the Beehive is Napoleon; draw your own conclusions as to why…
  
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  July 28, 2022 10:52am
  - kowtow
    
    Is he short ?
    
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    July 28, 2022 11:14am
  - Steve Otto(North Shore)
    
    She is going to be the leader of the opposition late next year?
    
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    July 28, 2022 11:19am
    - H. Upmann
      
      Not that Timber, the short Unionist one.
      
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      July 28, 2022 11:35am
      - Steve Otto(North Shore)
        
        My mistake
        
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        July 28, 2022 1:31pm
  - Random Punter
    
    I thought his nickname was ‘Balsa’.
    
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    July 28, 2022 12:00pm
    - Matt Long
      
      River of filth Wood
      
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      July 28, 2022 7:13pm
nathie

Prime Minister Ardern regularly talks about how communities (and regions) were devastated by the 1980’s economic reforms.

But despite that sentiment, both Ardern and Robertson appear to be “oblivious” to the damages their current reforms are doing to communities in the regions – they are about to be “devastated” again (so much for Labour’s “kindness”).

Take for instance 3 Waters. Currently each council has their own workforce and local contracting services (contractors) on call, and they have institutional knowledge of for example the treatment plants and related infrastructure, and their placement (including making allowances for any local idiosyncrasies).

But because Labour is creating a national structure for 3 Waters (with 4 regional entities) it means it will be easier to deal with a national infrastructure/service provider meaning there will be less reliance on local contractors, that are on hand immediately, have that institutional knowledge, and are an integral part of local communities (think contributing to rates, schools via their kids and local businesses via their spending).

This will also occur with the following:

* The Health reforms and mergers (again centralisation and a fewer entities, rather than many DHB’s managed locally).

* The “Te Pūkenga” Polytechnic mergers and reforms (again centralisation and only one entity, rather than many locally managed polytechs with their own service contractors on call).

Who else have I missed? Regardless the Ardern/Robertson reforms will go down in history “negatively” like the Lange/Douglas reforms have when it comes to the regions. If anything Ardern/Robertson are ramping up centralisation to the main centres.

Perhaps it is time for Ardern/Robertson (and Mahuta etc) to do a Lange and pause for a cup of tea? Before their support comes crashing down? But of course they won’t so history will judge them “unkindly”!
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July 28, 2022 9:53am
I remember when

“Hospital hoping interest turns into staff contracts: Wairarapa Times-Age:
More than 50 medical workers from UK/Ireland have expressed interest in working in Wairarapa.
Wairarapa was one of six Central DHBs to remotely exhibit at four UK/Ireland job fairs, attempting to recruit medical staff.
As well as the job fairs, the DHB was involved in national recruitment campaigns, including workforce pipeline strategies and the critical nurse campaign.
The director of nursing was working with UCOL to restart the enrolled nurse training programme in Wairarapa.
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July 28, 2022 9:57am
I remember when

“Hastings Council to offload big housing project before a single home built: HB Today.
An award winning housing project to build 150 new homes in Flaxmere will be handed over and sold to developers before a single home is built.
End of 2022: House building commences – 45 homes.
Mid 2023: Behind Town Centre – 40 homes.
End 2023: Next to College Sports field – 60 homes

Council Kiwibuild?
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July 28, 2022 10:05am
Surely Knott

The Herald plumbs new depths.
Headline: “A Second racist attack in Auckland”
A car incident at school involved someone yelling racial slurs at an off duty police man.

But here’s where the article gets dodgy. ” while researchers say measuring racial attacks is notoriously, difficult, there was evidence that some minorities were being targeted for harrassment by disinformation groups.”

Really?!? What evidence? So far we have An anonymous white man at the pak n save that walked off and has never been found and a person yelling racial slurs in school the car park.

How does that link to “disinformation groups” ? Who are the “disinformation groups”? Where is the claimed evidence? Who are the researchers?

Then further on it said “Researchers said there was no clear evidence of a rise in racially motivated attacks in NZ, while also noting that it was difficult to collect data on such events.” (So no evidence that we are more racist!)

Dr Sanjana Hattotuwa, a Research Fellow at the Disinformation Project, said

“the removal of vaccine mandates in March meant some disinformation groups had changed their focus to other targets including LGBTQI and migrant communities. ”

Does he have any evidence of that? No. Does it relate to the story? No. Can the anonymous person yelling slurs in the carpark be linked to a disinformation group? No. Just a desperate attempt by the Herald to discredit people without basis who question the govt/herald narrative. There is not a single piece of evidence. Not a single thread. Nothing.

Who is the Disinformation Project who made these claims. They are not on the company, charity or societies register.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/second-racist-attack-in-auckland-off-duty-police-officer-abused-while-picking-up-kids-from-school/Z356AWISK6Z67CRWEZGHASGCN4/
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July 28, 2022 10:07am
- Surely Knott
  
  Looks like they have been told it’s disinformation week because Tova Obrien’s talk today was on disinformation and she is actually calling for a misinformation minister!!!! Orwellian.
  https://twitter.com/i/status/1552086941067161600
  
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  July 28, 2022 10:19am
  - herb1
    
    Calling for a misinformation Minister?
    Does she not realise Labour have a plethora of Misinformation Ministers already, from top to bottom , who are already spreading Misinformation so quickly.
    It’s really their only achievement beyond dividing g the country along racial lines
    
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    July 28, 2022 10:45am
- kowtow
  
  We lab rats are being prepped for so called hate speech laws.
  
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  July 28, 2022 10:36am
- Swifty
  
  What’s the bet that the alleged off duty cop abuser was Maori?
  
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  July 28, 2022 10:42am
  - Alan Wilkinson
    
    Nope, Indian according to the story.
    
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    July 28, 2022 11:15am
    - Libertarians are right
      
      The victim was Indian, Swifty was questioning the race of the abuser.
      
      Just like with the Chinese guy that got abused where they spent all their time pointing out some random white guy who looked at him funny rather than the actual abuser.
      
      In related news, it came out yesterday that there is a huge amount of pressure at the FBI to treat cases as domestic terrorism/hate crimes (of a white variety of course), massively increasing their white supremacy stats. Is the same thing happening here?
      
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      July 28, 2022 11:37am
    - Swifty
      
      The article says the off-duty cop was Indian, are you saying Alan that the alleged abuser was Indian also?
      
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      July 28, 2022 12:14pm
    - Fuzzysnuggleduck
      
      Nope – the police officer was Indian.
      Race of the offender is not stated this time.
      
      Hmmmm. An odd inconsistency with media reports.
      And the female got out and keyed his car: road rage, physically aggressive.
      Special people’s race only comes into the story when they are victims (real, or perceived).
      
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      July 28, 2022 12:31pm
    - Alan Wilkinson
      
      Sorry, misread that comment.
      
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      July 28, 2022 2:13pm
- ClanMcleod
  
  I saw that headline and closed the website instantly. The Whoreald is a dangerous joke. This is obviously part of control for another narrative. I’m guessing towards nudging support for “hate speech” laws or some other bullshit. I’m surprised they didn’t manage to put a covid and climate change narrative into the mix of the story. Save writing more articles if they keep the agenda all in one place.
  
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  July 28, 2022 10:49am
- oldfella
  
  Surely: the thing that struck me was: the guy being racially abused was a cop. Why didn’t he remind the alleged abuser of that and tell her if the abuse continued she’s be arrested? Instead he started crying.
  And the story says she later keyed his paintwork? Isn’t that a crime right there?
  Apparently the off-duty cop finally resorted to laying a complaint with the school. WTF?
  I’d afraid the thin blue line has turned into the woke blue line. Sad.
  
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  July 28, 2022 10:50am
- Suze Wainwright
  
  What I find more concerning is that recently a Maori gentleman with a full face moko was insulted by a gang of old white fellas at a swanky Auckland restaurant…
  
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  July 28, 2022 10:50am
  - Alan Wilkinson
    
    Yes, why wasn’t he wearing a mask that would have covered the tat?
    
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    July 28, 2022 11:16am
- graham
  
  The website for the Disinformation Project is here.
  
  https://thedisinfoproject.org/
  
  Apparently it is “a research project which has studied misinformation and disinformation in Aotearoa New Zealand since February 2020.” I have no idea where their funding comes from, but Kate Hannah, the Director, is a Principal Investigator with Te Punaha Matatini which is … something … at the University of Auckland. Alongside other “Principal Investigators” such as Shaun Hendy and Siouxsie Wiles.
  
  One does wonder if The Disinformation Project might just be a self-fulfilling entity? They can only remain relevant (and employed …) if there is disinformation; therefore they kind of have a vested information in finding disinformation; once they find disinformation they have proved the need for their existence.
  
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  July 28, 2022 11:06am
  - riffer
    
    https://www.tepunahamatatini.ac.nz/2020/10/15/te-punaha-matatini-secures-future-with-core-funding-to-2028/
    
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    July 28, 2022 12:05pm
    - graham
      
      Thanks riffer. However, that is about funding for Te Punaha Matatini; not the Disinformation Project. It’s not clear to me (and maybe only me) whether the Disinformation Project is affiliated with, and sponsored by, Te Punaha Matatini.
      
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      July 28, 2022 12:51pm
      - riffer
        
        Yes exactly graham. I guess you could determine the Disinformation Project is funded by Te Puna Matatini. My interpretation is that they are some kind of subsidiary organisation.
        
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        July 28, 2022 9:28pm
  - Maggy Wassilieff
    
    Led by an “expert” in the socio-babble of science historiography
    
    https://www.tepunahamatatini.ac.nz/kate-hannah/
    
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    July 28, 2022 12:39pm
    - riffer
      
      I am not so convinced that’s a bad thing. Her studies would tend to suggest to me that she’s well schooled on how and why people write about science the way they do. That would be hugely helpful in understanding and predicting motivations behind and repurcussions of abberant (and potentially dangerous) political thinking. You certainly wouldn’t want an old cop or a business manager running the organisation. Entirely wrong skills.
      
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      July 28, 2022 9:31pm
- Harry Knuts
  
  it’s a non-event. Click bait purely.
  
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  July 28, 2022 12:06pm
Master Mariner

As every one with an ounce of knowledge, What is the plans for EV battery recycling in NZ ?

Who is going to pay?

https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/Battery-Recycling-The-Next-Big-Challenge-For-The-EV-Boom.html

“According to the EPA, lithium-ion batteries are a severe fire hazard if not recycled properly. Prolonged exposure to metals like cobalt, on the other hand, can also cause harm to the human body over time.”

What is the plan?
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July 28, 2022 10:14am
- cmm
  
  This looks like the nuclear industry all over again.
  
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  July 28, 2022 10:42am
  - oldfella
    
    cmm: talking nuclear, I wonder what it would it take for this country to have another look at modern nuclear options now that the EU is considering them as a clean/green alternative to fossil fuels. And if the even the Canadians are onboard…
    Saskatchewan, Ontario to roll out mini-nuclear reactors
    The GEH zero-emission reactors – each with enough power to fuel more than 200,000 homes – could be deployed by 2030s
    https://www.westerninvestor.com/british-columbia/saskatchewan-ontario-to-roll-out-mini-nuclear-reactors-5568249
    
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    July 28, 2022 10:56am
- Phronesis
  
  Pyrolysis most likely. The final rerefining is unlikely to be done in NZ but it should get the constituents into a more safely and easily transportable state.
  
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  July 28, 2022 11:31am
- UrbanNeocolonialist
  
  Recycling will not be a problem, battery materials are valuable, EV batteries will likely be worth a few $1000 even when buggered.
  
  Battery fires will be a growing issue as numbers increase from their current ~1% of global car fleet, but likely will be technology improvement over next decade to diminish concerns (fire danger will be used as a means for patent owners of less dangerous chemistries to squeeze more dangerous chemistries out of the market via regulation)
  
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  July 28, 2022 11:48am
- Harry Knuts
  
  no one is the answer. EV Batteries – mostly lithium is probably worse for the environment longer term. Pity the greenies haven’t thought long and hard about the true start to finish lifecycle of EV batteries. NZ should be investing in a Hydrogen infrastructure more then EV. EV is a quick good feeling fix only. Not great long term. We will all be back to square one.
  
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  July 28, 2022 12:08pm
  - Steve Otto(North Shore)
    
    Greenies: EV = good, Nuclear = bad.
    They just don’t see the connection.
    
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    July 28, 2022 1:39pm
  - UrbanNeocolonialist
    
    Hydrogen is no good for cars. It’s too hard/bulky/dangerous to store. EV’s have already won that competition. Hydrogen is OK for ships, maybe OK for trucks, long term ideal for planes.
    
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    July 28, 2022 4:42pm
Maggie Pie

1ZB reporting that more than 1500 Auckland-Bus-Services have had to be cancelled every day this week due to Covid, staff shortages and overdue maintenance. LOL!!

On the upside… makes using all those ridiculous bus-lanes a breeze.
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July 28, 2022 10:15am
- Muttonbird
  
  Can’t get down the shops today, Maggie?
  
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  July 28, 2022 11:07am
  - alloytoo
    
    You didn’t pay attention, she said it cleared the path for the Jag.
    
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    July 28, 2022 11:58am
    - Steve Otto(North Shore)
      
      I thought she drove a Porch
      
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      July 28, 2022 1:41pm
- Harry Knuts
  
  Bus driver pay is rubbish also – this could be contributing to the lack of drivers. no one wants to be one!
  
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  July 28, 2022 12:09pm
- Harry Knuts
  
  Goff has just celebrated Auckland bus drivers getting an 8% pay increase – lucky bastards are now on $25.62 an hour.
  I think is our answer to the lack of bus services. It’s pretty much what a school age teenager would get working in a local pak-n-save or pub. Hardly an incentive.
  Wonder if Goff would be willing to work for $25 per hour driving a bus?
  
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  July 28, 2022 3:50pm
ClanMcleod

I might have posted this a couple of days ago, but from memory it was very late and probably missed by most. This is possibly the best summary of all aspects of the last insane 2 and a half years of the covid circus.

https://www.pandata.org/wp-content/uploads/PANDA_WHO_Review.pdf?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email

It’s substantial, takes some time to read through but extremely well put together and researched.

If the NZ government or their “experts” could have managed to present something as remotely intelligent and well researched with supporting evidence as this, I would be sitting here double jabbed, twice boosted and wearing 2 masks. Heck, I would probably even “social distance” and sanitise my hands everywhere I go!

Dreams are free, this bunch of fascist muppets have no ability to engage and debate, they can only do censorship and propaganda by bribing media and paying for wall to wall bullshit. The good news that with every passing day they are exposing themselves as the frauds they are.
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July 28, 2022 10:28am
Swifty

If you feel like a chuckle see here for an absolute personification of the ‘entitlement generation’:

https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2022/07/am-hosts-slam-renters-group-s-list-of-demands-including-drastic-rent-reductions-winter-eviction-ban.amp.html

Also, it serves as a classic example of something I see more and more of late – calls for action without seemingly any thought of consequences or ramifications even where they are perfectly foreseeable.

What does this person think are the likely reactions of landlords if these demands were enacted?

To flee the rental market in droves? Thereby dramatically lowering the numbers of rentals on offer and forcing up rental prices?

The only thing she could have said any sillier is if she had called for landlords to immerse themselves in Te Ao Maori, which seems to be the cure for all ills these days.
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July 28, 2022 10:40am
- Phronesis
  
  But people are dying don’t you know. It’s just an extension of the current covidiocy that anything goes if it’s to save a life. Despite the fact that the cure is a hundred times worse than the disease.
  
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  July 28, 2022 11:36am
- plc
  
  Here’s the full list of the group’s demands
  
  1. All rent prices are permanently lowered to 25 percent of the lowest benefit.
  2. Landlords must provide evidence they’re addressing repairs, including accessibility issues, within one week of being notified by tenants.
  3. Tenants in substandard housing must be appropriately relocated at the landlord’s expense during major repairs or renovations.
  4. Minimum tenancy length is five years. Tenants may exit at will.
  5. A permanent end to evictions during cold weather months (May to September), holiday periods, and emergencies such as natural disasters or pandemics.
  6. Abolish bond and all substitutes. Hand back all bonds from landlord to tenant regardless of contract. 7. Costs of repairing any damages will be covered by existing rent payments.
  8. Pets are allowed in all flats, including dogs.
  9. No entering the property uninvited AT ALL. Flat inspections are abolished.
  10. Landlords cannot ask prospective tenants for credit checks, employment history or any other references.
  11. Landlords must provide 365 days’ notice before selling or reoccupying the house.
  
  Wow….just Wow!
  
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  July 28, 2022 12:04pm
  - Swifty
    
    12. At the end of a five year lease term, landlords must sign over the title for their properties to their renters as penance for their oppressive conduct and as reparation for their capitalist privilege.
    
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    July 28, 2022 2:25pm
  - Swifty
    
    For your delectation – some excerpts from Tenant’s Action Wellington website:
    
    “Since colonisers invaded Aotearoa, they/we have been stealing or cheaply trading Māori whenua (land), building shoddy houses on it and pushing Māori off it. ”
    
    “As humans, we live in relationship to the land. However, worldviews like capitalism and colonialism believe that humans have a right to take land for themselves, and control and exploit it as they see fit. Being a homeowner means that society agrees that a piece of land and any buildings on it belong to you; in the 21st century, homeowners have usually either inherited their property or bought it off the previous homeowner. Being a landlord means owning a property and deciding that it’s morally fine to profit from controlling access to shelter that people need to live.”
    
    “Landlording isn’t the same as other businesses; the landlord doesn’t make land, and they rarely do upkeep on it themselves. The only real work a landlord does is to call the repairman, if that. So why are we paying these people such a huge chunk of our incomes every week? Are they actually doing anything to deserve it?”
    
    And, a real pearler, calling for the abolition of private rentals and moving to wholly state-provided model – lifted direct from their Facebook page:
    
    “Having nothing but state housing would be an improvement (though still not an end to the fight for renters against landlords–it would simply be easier for everyone to agitate against one landlord–and it doesn’t address how to return the land to mana whenua). However, interim steps need to be outlined to get us there, and to implement a societal understanding that landlording is not a legitimate occupation. Demanding universal state housing is also waiting once again for indirect government intervention, when renters need solutions now that many landlords could implement if they chose. Even if landlords can’t do all of these, they can easily do some (pets, not asking for references, abolishing flat inspections and bond, and giving 365 days notice before reoccupation are the easiest). It is probable that making private landlording untenable would be one of the more effective catalysts to force the state to provide more housing.”
    
    Out of the mouths of babes……
    
    https://tenantsaction.wordpress.com/2022/05/19/tenants-action-stand-up-for-renters/
    
    https://www.facebook.com/tenantsaction
    
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    July 28, 2022 3:32pm
    - Surely Knott
      
      And who is tenants action wellington. There’s Anne Campbell. But who else? How many do they represent? When is their next meeting? Who’s on the committee? Who wrote the demands. Looks like just one person to me. There’s no transparency.
      
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      July 28, 2022 4:47pm
      - Swifty
        
        All good questions.
        
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        July 28, 2022 7:02pm
    - Maggy Wassilieff
      
      So having land is wrong….
      
      capitalism and colonialism believe that humans have a right to take land for themselves, and control and exploit it as they see fit.
      
      but apparently only if you are a capitalist or colonist…
      
      for the land must be returned to the mana whenua
      return the land to mana whenua
      
      Perish the thought that an Iwi could be involved in renting out houses.
      
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      July 28, 2022 6:30pm
kowtow

Culture Wars on zoom.The Dunedin City Council.

This is fun as the nurse stands her ground and tells it like it is about cocks in frocks .

Note I believe Hawkins will make it to parliament as a Green MP .

https://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/dcc/feminist%E2%80%99s-comments-slammed
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July 28, 2022 10:56am
- mandk
  
  “Mr Hawkins said Ms Scott’s words were harmful to the LGBTQ+ community.”
  
  Well Mr Hawkins, your preferred solution is harmful to the 20 times larger non-LGBTQ+ community.
  
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  July 28, 2022 12:16pm
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  What a crock of timewasting shit that was. Not the nurse, but the others. Ratepayers pay them for that rabble
  
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  July 28, 2022 1:54pm
ClanMcleod

Another excellent blog post from Eugyppius that helps explain the mess we are in and how we got here.

An excerpt.

“A leitmotif of this plague chronicle is the profound decadence and dysfunction of modern academia. Following the Science would be inadvisable even if we had some semblance of science. Instead, alas, we have a massive, overbuilt, over-enrolled university apparatus that primarily caters to the careerist concerns of students, researchers and teachers. It is a factory, not of free inquiry, but of conformity. Participants in this charade pantomime disagreement and discovery, but almost nobody ever says anything new or interesting.”

I don’t think I’ve seen the current systemic failure summarised so well in one paragraph. Failure which has enabled the covid circus and is dismantling what was a reasonably good system and way of life.
Next questions are around how it happened. Planned or organic? I have my own suspicions, but certainly interesting times. Popcorn please!
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July 28, 2022 11:06am
- UrbanNeocolonialist
  
  The Trojan horse of HR that has bought the university disease of identity politics into the workplace.
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJz7aBFlygc
  
  HR mission creep of last 2 decades fomented by zealot humanities grads has added no value to our world, 50% increase in their workforce (when should have reduced with advances in IT systems). Govt legislation to defang and defenestrate them and the oppressive culture of fear (cancelling) they create in all larger organisations would be hugely beneficial to protecting free speech, re-establishing sane and tolerant adult employee-employer culture, and would boost overall productivity tremendously (particularly in currently wokeified civil service that needs a fundamental culture change on what is expected of them in the workplace).
  
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  July 28, 2022 11:41am
- Phronesis
  
  See Kuhn’s “The Structure of Scientific Revolutions” 1962 for a prescient analysis of why science was always going to end up as it has. Interestingly it is the public funding of science that has ultimately corrupted it to the extent that it is no longer possible for the necessary revolution to take place.
  
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  July 28, 2022 11:43am
Maggy Wassilieff

Yet another FAIL for Ardern and her Open, Transparent governance.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/128892383/delay-is-the-killer–why-our-oia-watchdog-isnt-working
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July 28, 2022 11:24am
- Harry Knuts
  
  delay is the killer?? i thought it was the standard reply they all give which was a NO or heavily redacted response to the info. which is against her most transparent govt ever election promise – oohhh another fail…
  
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  July 28, 2022 12:11pm
- graham
  
  Simon Bridges managed to get Jacinda Ardern to admit that they weren’t being “the most open, most transparent Government that New Zealand has ever had” way back in 2018 – less than a year after Labour was elected!
  
  https://www.1news.co.nz/2018/09/18/watch-jacinda-ardern-admits-government-not-most-open-most-transparent-after-questioning-by-simon-bridges-in-parliament/
  
  Labour love to holler “Nine long years …!” at any opportunity. Maybe National can come up with something around “Our most Open and Transparent Government EVER”. Lord knows there’s enough material to keep several billboard makers gainfully employed.
  
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  July 28, 2022 1:29pm
- Tony Stuart
  
  Indeed Maggy, and notably, the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet is the third most tardy of all departments in answering OIA’s.
  
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  July 28, 2022 1:42pm
a3kidlady

OMG!! For the third time in 5 years the government has increased the EQC cap for residential dwellings. This time from $150,000 to $300,000 and slightly offset with a reduction in the levy rate from 20 cents per $100 of sum insured to 16 cents.
I don’t understand what problem they are trying to solve here, and why is it more expensive than what I can buy Natural Disaster cover for from an insurer in every region throughout NZ expect Wellington!!
Good luck to everyone with this increase in their insurance bill when it comes due.
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July 28, 2022 11:36am
oldfella

Like him, or loath him – and plenty in both camps on KB – you have to admit the boy’s a scrapper.
BREAKING: Trump to Sue CNN, Other Media Outlets for Defamation
Former President Donald Trump has announced his intention to sue CNN and other media outlets that “defamed” him and “defrauded the public” regarding the 2020 election.
“I have notified CNN of my intent to file a lawsuit over their repeated defamatory statements against me,” Trump said in a statement received by PJ Media. “I will also be commencing actions against other media outlets who have defamed me and defrauded the public regarding the overwhelming evidence of fraud throughout the 2020 Election. I will never stop fighting for the truth and for the future of our Country!”
https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/matt-margolis/2022/07/27/breaking-trump-to-sue-cnn-other-media-outlets-for-defamation-n1616344
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July 28, 2022 12:00pm
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  Just wait until 2024 – the gloves will be off. He does everything fir America. If he had not run in 2016, he would have made a lot more money. Very clever in the building/real estate.
  2024 he will go for the jugular, as well as MAGA.
  
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  July 28, 2022 2:02pm
Nickc2

Believe it or not, this thing is but a heartbeat away from the keys to America’s Nuclear Arsenal.
Nea mind, she can recite her own personal pronouns just in case you don’t know them.
https://www.michaelsmithnews.com/2022/07/us-vice-president-kamala-harris-with-the-most-pressing-issues-of-our-time.html
Scary shit huh?
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July 28, 2022 12:30pm
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  “I am Kamala Harris, my pronouns are she and her, and I am a woman sitting at the table wearing a blue suit.”
  She forgot to mention that she is a fuckwit.
  
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  July 28, 2022 2:05pm
  - NeverMindTheBollocks
    
    At least she knows what a woman is
    
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    July 28, 2022 9:50pm
Hugh Jarse

Chris Luxon should be taking heart from the multiple attacks on him at the moment from the media and the infantile attack by Robertson yesterday. He is clearly getting under Labours skin and probably improving in their internal polling so they are pulling out all the stops to take him down. Perhaps the paid for media need to reflect on the fact that unlike their favourite and benevolent PM instead of running away from hard questions he just keeps fronting up and will be learning as he does. I think the more the media attack ramps up, the more fair minded people will get behind him.
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July 28, 2022 12:52pm
- Tony Stuart
  
  I believe the aim is to damage Luxon’s Preferred Prime Minister rating, so that Labour MP’s and hangers-on can then claim that Luxon is polling poorly and should be rolled.
  
  Make no mistake, Luxon is a massive threat to Labour’s chances of re-election, so they will do everything they can to dent his reputation. In the meantime, we’d all be better off if Robertson paid more attention to rampant inflation than Chris Luxon’s holiday!
  
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  July 28, 2022 1:46pm
  - nathie
    
    Good point, kind of like the Australian forest fires, instead of staying home to deal with escalating inflation, restoring business confidence and working to cut costs for suffering Kiwi’s, Grant Robertson would rather swan off to Birmingham for a few days to watch the Commonwealth Games.
    
    Who cares if he is sport minister, why can’t he watch them on TV like us plebs?
    
    Talk about Elitist! And all on the taxpayer dime too!
    
    And what about “saving the planet”, Robbo is contributing to Climate Change!
    
    Perhaps he timed his attack on Luxon badly because he now presents himself as a hypocrite!
    
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    July 28, 2022 2:07pm
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  He is not scared of a fight. I have said before, he is a great manager, but a leader not so much.
  Managing Labour is a piece of cake to him. Quick thinking and run rings around them.
  
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  July 28, 2022 2:08pm
Fuzzysnuggleduck

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/auckland-burglaries-store-owner-says-locals-who-fought-back-offenders-during-a-smash-and-grab-are-heroes/YLG7TBMAJLFEOIMM473KDG6XSM/

Maybe Chippie and the Police can endorse this?
{quote}: “I think you know I’ve got the right to protect my community, I think I should do that and I think that if people can get together and not put up with this sort of thing, we’re going to be a better society for it.”

Brilliant!
“…the man from the kebab shop happened to be cutting up carrots with quite a substantial machete-type knife – he rushed out and started attacking them or the car….Co-owner of Pro Consult Stuart Hobbs also ran down and picked up a sign to defend himself, he can be seen in the footage bailing the group up behind some stairs before following them to their car where he rammed them from the passenger side.”

In other news, the NZ police: https://www.nzherald.co.nz/kahu/south-auckland-police-to-weave-flax-bassinets-for-sudden-infant-death-initiative/NCRN2S3U4QIODIPLZFJX4MD6FU/
..”Hāpai Te Hauora, a public health and policy service, will host a wānanga wahakura (bassinet-weaving workshop) with the district’s police workforce….”
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July 28, 2022 12:59pm
- alex Masterley
  
  All I can say is well done those men. The group who tried to rob the store must have crapped themselves when they were taken on by the locals.
  
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  July 28, 2022 2:10pm
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  Good job done there. Stuart Hobbs had a fight or flight scenario. Don’t mess with old people, they have already been through a lot of shit.
  Have the Police arrested anyone?
  
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  July 28, 2022 2:18pm
  - Joely Doe
    
    More like:
    Don’t mess with old people,
    A life sentence doesn’t mean much to them!
    
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    July 28, 2022 4:56pm
Maggie Pie

In case you haven’t seen it….

Ma just sent me the link to that nasty little Fin Min’s childishly pathetic ‘attack-speech’ on Chris Luxon yesterday.
What an embarrassment to parliament and the country Robbo is 🙁

https://vimeo.com/733848716

(Had to larf…. Ma said “If this is what he’s like on the floor of the House, imagine him during orgasm”!! )
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July 28, 2022 1:01pm
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  Maybe one day he could help run the Country.
  Yep, run the Country into the ground with commie Jaspinda
  
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  July 28, 2022 1:18pm
- BeaB
  
  Yuk.
  
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  July 28, 2022 1:36pm
- nathie
  
  Oh I thought he was demonstrating to the world how to be Labour’s biggest A**hole – he definitely wins the prize!
  
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  July 28, 2022 2:14pm
- skyblue
  
  The thought of him creaming up one of Alf’s stools? No thanks.
  
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  July 28, 2022 2:25pm
- Harry Knuts
  
  every day passes and Robbo crowns himself as the bitchiest queen to grace the parliament corridors.
  
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  July 28, 2022 3:04pm
Bridgenag

Folks……………. I need help Are there any banks you can recommend that have grown ups to talk to like the old days……. Have been with Kiwi bank and even fended off people that said ” a socialist bank’ my response was that “how could a bank be political?” yes folks, it can and I guess it will be a gift to the 16% as well. Anyone please?…………….
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July 28, 2022 1:14pm
- Maggie Pie
  
  My partner recommends Westpac-Private-Bank-&-Wealth.
  They will appoint a ‘personal manager’ to look after your every need. If it’s urgent call them on 0800 400600 or you can email your details on the form provided.
  He’s had the same lady for the last 4 years and the service he gets from her is amazing. Although he still prefers to spread it around a bit though…you never want to be solely in their clutches in case things ever go tits.
  
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  July 28, 2022 2:16pm
  - Ross Campbell
    
    I suppose coffee and a biscuit is a big deal for some people.
    
    2 12
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    July 28, 2022 2:30pm
    - Maggie Pie
      
      You have milkey in your coffee Rosco?
      
      9 2
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      July 28, 2022 4:35pm
  - MCōs
    
    One of my sisters used to work for Westpac when it was called Bank of New New South Wales.
    Back in those days the banks could lend money to staff at discount rates, but not the females it seemed.
    When her & husband bought a house the bank refused her a mortgage at staff rates because of her gender.
    
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    July 28, 2022 5:06pm
    - Maggy Wassilieff
      
      I got married because hubby’s bank would not lend to couples living in sin… (and also because his father & step-ma told us not to marry).
      
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      July 28, 2022 5:15pm
- mogg
  
  Trading banks are in it for themselves, don’t trust them. They are the spider you are the fly.
  It’s a bit like asking a shop assistant, ‘does my bum look big in this’??
  
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  July 28, 2022 3:11pm
Alan Wilkinson

Stuff goes full woke on behalf of its own virtue signaling and the zero number of people who can read Maori but not English:

Police are investigating threats against at least 12 schools across New Zealand
Some schools went into lockdown with students under desks, others evacuated
Police do not believe there is any safety risk at this stage
Several schools have been the target of bomb threats in recent days

E whakatewhatewha ana ngā pirihimana i ngā kapatau ki ngā kura 12, i te mōkito, puta noa i Aotearoa
I whakaherea ētahi kura me ngā tauira ki raro i ngā tēpu, me ētahi anō ki waho
Kāore ngā pirihimana e whakpae nei he tūraru haumarutanga i tēnei wā tonu
Kua pāngia ētahi kura e ngā kapatau pahū nō ngā rangi tata nei
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July 28, 2022 2:21pm
- Jack5
  
  Alan, this is how Google translated your Maori paragraph into English:
  
  Police are investigating robberies at a total of 12 schools across New Zealand.
  
  Some schools and students were offered under the tables, and others outside.
  
  Police are not alleging a security threat at this time
  
  Some schools have been hit by explosives in recent days
  
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  July 28, 2022 2:54pm
- Yabster
  
  do yourself a favour and get your news from elsewhere- they won’t change- in fact it will get far worse- everytime you click on Stuff thats stats for them to show advertisisers-which they generate income from which means they survive…
  
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  July 28, 2022 3:13pm
- Captain Mainwaring
  
  I noticed this crap on a couple of news items yesterday. When is someone going to call a halt to it?
  
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  July 28, 2022 3:20pm
  - Maggy Wassilieff
    
    I can cope if the Te Reo (Maori) text is all in its entirety alongside, before or after the English.
    
    But this formatting of alternating English and Te Reo text used by Stuff today is a FUCKING disaster…..and completely ruins the important message that Dr Shane Reti is conveying.
    
    https://www.stuff.co.nz/pou-tiaki/300645493/national-calls-for-free-meningococcal-vaccines-following-northland-cases
    
    I defy anyone to read it through without pulling their hair out.
    
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    July 28, 2022 3:28pm
    - graham
      
      Coincidentally, I was thinking just a few days ago that it’s been a long time since I last checked out Stuff, and wondering if they’re still as awful as I thought.
      
      That one story, by itself, confirms that yes, they are. Because they have prioritised virtue-signalling over clear communication. A news website that, apparently, ranks “Writing articles that people can comprehend without difficulty” as low on their list of essential skills.
      
      Ah well. Maybe I’ll check Stuff again in another few months to see if they’ve improved, and decided to start writing articles that I can actually understand without having to go through mental gymnastics just to follow the flow.
      
      Somehow I doubt it.
      
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      July 28, 2022 5:25pm
  - Jack5
    
    In some ways, printing reports in dual languages is better than mashing Maori into English as a new creole, or pidgin language.
    
    Let NZ media Wokies go the full hog. They could easily and realtively cheaply run parallel web sites: one in English and one in Maori.
    
    That would surely please the Labour Government’s Ministry of Media Bribes.
    
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    July 28, 2022 3:29pm
    - Ehlana
      
      “They could easily and realtively cheaply run parallel web sites: one in English and one in Maori.”
      
      You mean, like the rest of the world does, in places where they’ve had more than one language for centuries now?
      
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      July 29, 2022 11:58am
  - Maggie Pie
    
    And what possible use is crap like this to our day-to-day lives anyway?
    In my entire life I have never met anyone who speaks Maori.
    
    Go figure.
    
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    July 28, 2022 3:56pm
    - Maggy Wassilieff
      
      In my entire life I have never met anyone who speaks Maori.
      
      and I s’pose all my entire life I have known folks who speak Maori…. and for a few years I worked closely with folks who provided the Te Reo text for Te Ara.
      
      But I’ve never met anyone who only understood and spoke Maori.
      
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      July 28, 2022 4:16pm
  - kowtow
    
    $tuffed will simply consign themselves to the bin with that crap .
    
    They’ll bleed readers (I do my best not to click at all) , then advertisers . And hopefully the new govt post Oct 2023 will cut the funding.
    
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    July 28, 2022 4:02pm
- JackRabbit
  
  Modern Maori is a made up language. The best way to check any language is to use Google translate.
  
  If it translates from English to that language and back to English and is identical or very similar, then that language and syntax is well structured, not just some random made up words.
  
  Translated from Maori to English.
  
  Police are investigating robberies at a total of 12 schools across New Zealand.
  Some schools and students were offered under the tables, and others outside.
  Police are not alleging a security threat at this time
  Some schools have been hit by explosives in recent days.
  
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  July 28, 2022 3:41pm
- MCōs
  
  There’s two issues here.
  Someone is ringing up schools up and down the country making bomb threats that are almost certainly fake, but you never know. What if one of them is real? The school principals can assume they are all hoaxes until one of them isn’t.
  The other issue, which seems to be far more important, is that part of the article is in Māori
  
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  July 28, 2022 4:52pm
Jack5

More Woke hype?

A finalist in the Maori Businesswomen Awards, Michele Wilson, says in the Herald of her menstruation underwear, “…we invented a pair of underwear that you can literally bleed into.”

“Woman menstruation underpants” were patented in the United States in 1988. “Thinx” brand period pants went on sale in America in 2012, and the UK firm in the following link to a 2015 article also claims to have invented such underwear:

https://www.marieclaire.co.uk/life/health-fitness/thix-invented-period-proof-underwear-and-the-results-are-pretty-amazing-74766
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July 28, 2022 2:49pm
Maggy Wassilieff

Oh dear, oh dear..

Was the Labour Party playing fast & loose with some
chaps who had no ideas that their names were involved in a donation deception?

David Zhang says he would rather burn money than donate it to the Labour Party.

“I do not like the Labour Party,” the Mt Wellington scaffolder told the High Court at Auckland when asked if he recalled getting a receipt from Labour’s then general secretary Andrew Kirton thanking him for the purchase of an $8000 painting and helping to change the government in 2017.

“I will not donate to the Labour Party. It’s just not possible,” he said in denying seeing Kirton’s message.

https://www.newsroom.co.nz/alleged-donor-id-rather-burn-money-than-donate-to-labour
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July 28, 2022 3:40pm
- Swifty
  
  It’s funny you know Maggy – in all my years giving time to local clubs and volunteer organisations, never once have I seen recent Chinese immigrants turn up and hand over tens of thousands of dollars to any one of them.
  
  But time after time after time I see recent Chinese arrivals handing huge sums to our political parties.
  
  I was going to ask why do we think that is?
  
  But of course we already know the answer. It’s a culturally acceptable means to buy influence, favour and to get ahead in life – favours and influence that you will not get by donating to the Blockhouse Bay Vegetable Homegrowers Group, the Mt Albert Daffodil Society or the Avondale Yarn Spinners Club.
  
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  July 28, 2022 4:14pm
  - Maggy Wassilieff
    
    It’s a culturally acceptable means to buy influence, favour and to get ahead in life
    
    Bit late in life now to discover where I went wrong.
    
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    July 28, 2022 4:29pm
- Maggie Pie
  
  That’s the problem of course.
  I recall reading a story in the ‘South China Morning Post’, where a restaurant in Shenzhen installed a Facial-Recognition-Camera in order to deter anyone doing a Dine & Dash.
  Within the first few days, they had a man on video who had done a runner, so they handed the evidence to the local police.
  By the end of the week, they had taken more 700 people into custody.
  
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  July 28, 2022 4:26pm
- cmm
  
  But, but, but…. it wasn’t a donation.
  It was an open market purchase of an asset at a fair price.
  Isn’t that the bullshit line they spin?
  
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  July 29, 2022 9:33am
greybeard

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/129405085/woman-caught-spiking-coworkers-water-with-hand-sanitiser

“The judge found McMullan guilty of spiking her water bottle with ethasan – an unusual charge called with intent to cause annoyance caused to be taken by the complainant a noxious substance.
The charge carried a maximum penalty of three years imprisonment.”

“He found McMullan guilty and sentenced her to four months’ community detention – an electronically monitored sentence – and to pay the victim $500 in emotional reparation.”

And there you have the main problem in NZ regarding crime: bloody judges who never give the maximum sentences, or indeed anything like an appropriate sentence, one which not only addresses the crime in question but which also serves as a warning to others.
.
I feel for the police: doing a great job but constantly being undercut by F**king useless judges.
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July 28, 2022 5:36pm
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  And the poor victim has suffered health problems for months.
  
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  July 28, 2022 5:41pm
- cmm
  
  If it caused ongoing health problems for the victim this is a serious matter.
  
  The only thing in the offender’s favour is that there was probably a lack of intent to do harm. If they intended to do harm, or were aware of the dangers, then this should be GBH.
  
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  July 29, 2022 9:39am
fernglas

https://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/climate-news/129396935/climate-crisis-of-insufficient-weight-to-stop-oil-and-gas-search–government
At a judicial review of the Government’s decision to issue exploration permits, Crown Counsel argued that “the Government considered climate change before granting permits to look for oil and gas, but thought it of “insufficient weight” to decline them,”
Wow. I bet that James Shaw and the Greens are up in arms about that statement. Or did I just hear a pin drop?
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July 28, 2022 5:42pm
Chris Nisbet

It’s almost as if they don’t believe the bullshit about climate change being an existential threat.
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July 28, 2022 6:23pm
greybeard

https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/300648838/tvnz-news-boss-a-scapegoat-in-santamaria-affair

Definition of “Scapegoat”: “a person who is blamed for the wrongdoings, mistakes, or faults of others, especially for reasons of expediency.”

But it is a FACT that Paul Yurisich was the person SOLELY responsible for the appointment of Kamahl Santamaria.

The term “scapegoat” is simply RUBBISH.
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July 28, 2022 6:49pm
Maggie Pie

Overheard my partner on the phone earlier telling someone, “It’s the first 6 inches that count”
When he came into the dining room, I asked him who he’d been talking to?
Reckoned it was one of his rugby mates that’s heading to South Africa with the All Blacks.

Hmmm….
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July 28, 2022 7:28pm
Maggy Wassilieff

Just in case this story disappears from Newshub’s website overnight

The Greens, National, ACT, and an ex-Reserve Bank chairman are all on the same side – calling for an inquiry into the economic response to COVID-19.

They say inflation and increased inequality are a result of the Government’s COVID cash and the Reserve Bank’s money printing.

https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2022/07/greens-national-act-former-reserve-bank-chairman-call-for-major-covid-19-inquiry.html
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July 28, 2022 7:43pm
- NeverMindTheBollocks
  
  That’s gotta be a first
  
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  July 28, 2022 9:57pm
- Chris Nisbet
  
  Wouldn’t be surprised to hear claims that looking back is a waste of time.
  This, after being told that ‘now is not the time’ if anybody dared to question what was being inflicted upon us at the time.
  
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  July 29, 2022 6:26am

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