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May 10, 2023 8:00am by Kokila Patel

General Debate 10 May 2023

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General Debate

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Bridgenag

Wonder how many vaccines we are committed to and how many we have in stock?
“The Biden Administration have announced that their insane vaccine requirements for government employees and international travellers will finally end on 11 May, when the American pandemic state of emergency expires. The WHO have likewise declared that Covid-19 “no longer constitutes a public health emergency of international concern.” Three years and two months after it all started, the last remaining participants in the Covid circus are finally folding up their tables and going home. ….
The pandemic may be over, but there is no stopping the vaccines. Thanks to the incredibly stupid contracts that the EU concluded with Pfizer/BioNTech, we are drowning in them, and some of our less prosperous neighbours to the east have had enough:
With the Covid vaccination campaigns concluded, the European Union is sitting on an enormous vaccine surplus – and hundreds of millions more doses are expected to arrive this year and next… Because they are not needed, EU member states have been trying for months to retroactively adjust the contracts, without much success…..”
https://open.substack.com/pub/eugyppius/p/biden-admin-and-who-finally-realise?r=1aj1bv&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email
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May 10, 2023 8:10am
- lastmanstanding
  
  History shows there is always a time when the worst regimes are dealt to. Think the Roman Empire the French aristos and the Nazis. I say that time will come for the Labour Party and the Maori Party and to a lesser extent the Green Party. The citizens will tolerate no more and rise up against them. In the case of the Maori Party it could will become violent as they are a violent race and have the Gangs mostly Maori in support.
  Unless these trecherous lot are removed at the ballot box a civil war at some point is likely.
  
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  May 10, 2023 9:22am
- ClanMcleod
  
  Pfizer very generously offered Poland a half price deal. They wouldn’t send the ordered vaccines and would only charge half price for the vaccines they don’t supply…….
  
  Deal of the century if you ask me!!
  
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  May 10, 2023 10:38am
  - Matt Long
    
    Deal of the Century for Poland, anyone stupid enough not to do due diligence on a deal shouldn’t wriggle and whine once they’re on the hook.
    Pfizer incurred considerable expense in shonky trials, fake advertising and gearing up manufacture of their vaccine, they also presumably had to grease a lot of palms.
    
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    May 10, 2023 11:05am
    - cjn
      
      Do we know what was in the contract signed by the Labour government?
      
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      May 10, 2023 12:13pm
      - NZer In Exile
        
        Only a secret-squirrel self selected elite get to know that stuff it appears.
        
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        May 10, 2023 1:42pm
      - Keith White
        
        We do not. I tried months ago (actually, checking the date of the application, 14 months ago) to find out the details of the contract via OIA. But no.
        
        Others have tried as well. Included here is a link to one of ‘better’ (for certain definitions of better) replies from the infogatekeepers – the link is to a NZ Treasury website so hopefully it’s OK for here.
        
        https://www.treasury.govt.nz/sites/default/files/2022-04/oia-20210528.pdf
        
        Inside the attached document is another link to a Word document
        
        https://www.parliament.nz/resource/en-NZ/PAP_115897/f9afacc11cb0d5ed85394ce89c6b4672f7071469
        
        …which states very briefly —
        
        “In September 2021 I, Grant Robertson, Minister of Finance, on behalf of the Crown, gave
        indemnities to Pfizer New Zealand Limited, Pfizer Inc and BioNTech and specific
        associated persons, and to Spain and Denmark, in relation to the supply of a COVID-19
        vaccine.”
        
        There it is.
        
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        May 10, 2023 2:54pm
      - artemisia
        
        Should be able to find out how many have been destroyed. And keep asking month by month.
        
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        May 10, 2023 3:37pm
  - artemisia
    
    Worse than that Clan. They were not even going to produce them for the half price money. Vapourvaccines?
    
    Still it was a contract.
    
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    May 10, 2023 3:31pm
- artemisia
  
  Should be able to find out how many have been destroyed. And keep asking month by month.
  
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  May 10, 2023 3:34pm
  - Keith White
    
    They may have been repurposed as this year’s flu vaccine.
    
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    May 10, 2023 6:28pm
Right of way is Way of Right

What on earth happened during Question Time yesterday?

Well, apart from Rawiri Waititi, Debbie Ngariwa Packer and Meka Whaitiri making up ‘tikanga’ on the spot, how is it that they thought they had approval to carry out that debacle in the first place?

Could it be that they actually think that simply informing other parties of what they are going to do constitutes getting approval to do so? Are they actually that arrogant that they believe, with a total of only two MP’s in the house, that they can somehow do whatever they want, whenever they want?

The answer is yes, they actually believe that, and they’ll continue to believe that if they ever join a coalition agreement in Government! This will spell disaster for the country, and a very short lived Coalition!

Te Maori Party do not believe in compromise!
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May 10, 2023 8:10am
- G the giant from Dunedin
  
  Waititi told the speaker when they wee kicked out, we are not ruled by you, time for them to be hold before the committee
  
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  May 10, 2023 9:33am
  - Bob
    
    we are not ruled by you…..
    strange that this ‘telling comment’ from Waititi has not become headline news in the Media. A telling silence there!
    
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    May 10, 2023 10:06am
    - Ghost
      
      The kicking out was top news yesterday, no one really will care what he said, most political junkies won’t even care
      
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      May 10, 2023 10:12am
    - ClanMcleod
      
      We are not ruled by you……
      
      Ok, kick them out of parliament, keep them out of parliament, then tell them to do whatever they think they want. Tell them to try an “insurrection”. The way they are talking they clearly think they have the numbers.
      Arrogant assholes.
      
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      May 10, 2023 10:43am
  - Right of way is Way of Right
    
    Ah, manufacture outrage then scream racism.
    
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    May 10, 2023 10:34am
- ClanMcleod
  
  They are fomenting a coup of sorts. They need stopped very quickly and very firmly. Like any thug or bully, comply with them and things will get rapidly worse. Not better.
  We saw this clearly with mask and vaccine mandates. The answer is simple, do not comply, do not acquiesce. Do not encourage thuggish behaviour, this is what we are witnessing from the Maori Party.
  It needs to be stopped.
  
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  May 10, 2023 10:41am
Bridgenag

This will be labelled as conspiracy….worth the read
“The World Health Organization (WHO) is a supranational United Nations agency that is effectively controlled by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), as evidenced, among other things, by the manner in which the WHO’s Director-General, Dr. Tedros Ghebreyesus, has relentlessly accomplished Beijing’s bidding. That includes advancing the CCP’s interest in bringing about a post-Constitutional-America and “global governance” dominated by the Party. The CCP’s hegemonic ambitions have no place for a powerful United States of America, human freedom or personal sovereignty.
The WHO is, moreover, underwritten and malignly influenced by other hostile special interests, including Bill Gates and Big Pharma. Their efforts to expand the WHO’s supranational control align with Beijing’s. If they are no more concerned than the CCP with actually advancing public health, Gates and his fellow corporate globalists exploit their roles with the World Health Organization to generate profits……”
https://open.substack.com/pub/rwmalonemd/p/the-american-sovereignty-declaration?r=1aj1bv&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
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May 10, 2023 8:11am
- ClanMcleod
  
  Gates was the biggest funder of the WHO until Biden started paying up for the US again. Trump had stopped funding them. Gates is now number two.
  
  No private person should have that much influence over a body this is meant to be working on behalf of the health of billions. Particularly one who has massive vested financial interest in profiting from experimental pharmaceutical products. This is not and never will be acceptable behaviour.
  
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  May 10, 2023 10:47am
  - sirknz
    
    He is also dabbling in the micro reactor space in the UK.
    
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    May 10, 2023 10:51am
- ClanMcleod
  
  The WHO along with the UN are two of the most dangerous organisations in history, the proposed WHO “pandemic treaty” is an Orwellian proposal that must be stopped at all cost.
  
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  May 10, 2023 10:53am
  - cjn
    
    If we have a Maori government perhaps they will take no notice of WHO or health mandates or vaccines or masks. Will this be a silver lining?
    
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    May 10, 2023 12:18pm
- Che Guava
  
  If you can say that the Chinese run the world and you don’t get cancelled for it, it’s probably safe to say that they don’t. Think again.
  
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  May 10, 2023 11:10am
Maggie Pie

GOOD GOD!

We just saw the news on Fox that Trumpy has been found guilty of sexual-assault & defamation.

As my partner said….

>Where is the evidence?
>Why did it take the woman 23 years to report it?
>And have you seen those pics of E Jean Carrol back in the 90’s?

It was nothing more than a case of “show me the money honey” 😀
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May 10, 2023 8:12am
- MCōs
  
  Unfortunately for Mr Trump your man wasn’t on the jury
  
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  May 10, 2023 8:19am
  - Maggy Wassilieff
    
    Probably a fairly good chance….
    
    The couple of times I’ve been in Smith & Caughey looking for an item of clothing, I’ve been completely ignored by the staff on the floor who seemed to be busy talking to themselves in a corner or hiding away somewhere.
    
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    May 10, 2023 9:18am
    - Maggie Pie
      
      What I was referring to Maggz was how small those fitting rooms are.
      There’s hardly room to swing a cat….. let alone be raped by a guy wearing an Astrakhan overcoat.
      
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      May 10, 2023 9:46am
    - Steve Otto(North Shore)
      
      Bit like Bunnings/Mitre10. Want to ask something and all workers seem to know.
      Nobody anywhere. Gone, disappeared.
      
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      May 10, 2023 12:14pm
    - Maggy Wassilieff
      
      Haha…
      
      Just back from Bunnings for a few light bulbs …I’m $265 poorer but the owner of new weed eater (and battery pack).
      
      Nice man saw hubby & Me trying to figure out how a bladed weed eater worked….soon had us (me) looking at an alternative set-up.
      
      We’ve always had good service at Bunnings.
      
      Perhaps the ladies in Smith & Caugheys aren’t too comfortable dealing with a frump like me.
      
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      May 10, 2023 2:18pm
    - Dave
      
      Somehow, with one flick of the finger, I’ve managed to both uptick and report MW @ 2.18.
      
      Mt Roskill Bunnings has often given good service and patient, helpful advice to an ignorant home handyman. Just yesterday the advice of the woman in the sealants section, noticing my uncertainty, saved me from making a damaging mistake with an intended roof repair, recommended the plumbing guy, who directed me to a guy more knowledgeable about roofing, who came up with the solution.
      
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      May 10, 2023 4:46pm
- Simon
  
  Well in NZ we all know how shit house garbage National are. But they are not Labo so National get around 30% to 35% of the vote. Same in Merica. Someone like Trump took over the GOP because like National they are just garbage.
  
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  May 10, 2023 8:30am
  - G the giant from Dunedin
    
    Then you will be happy Nats have today ruled out the TPM then
    
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    May 10, 2023 9:36am
    - ClanMcleod
      
      It’s a not unexpected, overdue, but big step forward.
      Not a difficult decision. But it has been hard to get clarity re anything contentious from National, so yes, good news.
      
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      May 10, 2023 10:58am
- Nickc2
  
  Ttump’s team is appealing the verdict and that should prove interesting eh?
  
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  May 10, 2023 8:34am
  - G the giant from Dunedin
    
    Yes, snd he was cleared of rape, so this may well be easy to win
    
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    May 10, 2023 9:37am
    - Steve Otto(North Shore)
      
      I want to see E. Jean Carroll’s face when Trump wins 2024.
      
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      May 10, 2023 12:17pm
  - ClanMcleod
    
    Nickc2 – it will be exactly the same as the ‘Russiagate’ fiasco. A simple win and more proof of the politicisation of the legal system by corrupt and malign forces.
    
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    May 10, 2023 11:00am
    - Nickc2
      
      The politicisation of the legal system by corrupt and malign forces
      Geez Cloud, I thought you were talking about the Waitangi Tribunal for a few seconds there.
      
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      May 10, 2023 12:14pm
      - ClanMcleod
        
        Nick, if the cap fits…..
        
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        May 10, 2023 1:06pm
Tony Stuart

Will there be any consequences for Te Pati Maori for their blatant display of petulance in the House yesterday? Will they face any sanction, such as a referral to the Privileges Committee for deliberately lying to the Speaker?

Of course not. See that rug over there; here’s a broom…
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May 10, 2023 8:18am
- Tricati
  
  Hell Tony, we need a much bigger rug to hide all the recent appalling behaviour from Labour, Greens & Maori parties.
  Just imagine that lot as the next government – It doesn’t bare thinking about.
  
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  May 10, 2023 8:22am
- Maggie Pie
  
  But just how easy was it to pull the kakahu over the Speaker’s kanohi?
  Silly old fool.
  
  Willie & JT would have been p*ssing themselves laughing yesterday.
  
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  May 10, 2023 8:24am
- MCōs
  
  What did you have in mind?
  
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  May 10, 2023 8:26am
  - Ruawai
    
    Take away their seats one by one each time they try this sort of stunt.
    
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    May 10, 2023 8:46am
    - MCōs
      
      Can’t do that of course
      No matter how badly a member behaves they have been democratically elected to that seat.
      
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      May 10, 2023 10:23am
      - Right of way is Way of Right
        
        Right now, Meka Whaitiri hasn’t been!
        
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        May 10, 2023 10:35am
      - ClanMcleod
        
        There are surely ways that an MP can be removed, they cannot have carte blanche to behave as they like? The current lot are making a mockery of the system.
        
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        May 10, 2023 11:05am
      - MCōs
        
        There’s been a number of MPs in recent years who did far worse than create a disturbance in parliament without getting the flick by anyone other than themselves or their party.
        
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        May 10, 2023 6:40pm
- Gravelroad
  
  @TS-
  I don’t think anyone at parliament would bother with the broom – or rug.
  Why would they?
  Certain people and groups are now so emboldened they know they can do as they like with no consequence.
  That’s the parliament we have now folks – out of control, no respect for procedure – we will do as we please- the rest of you can get stuffed.
  There is a breakdown of civilised behaviour with no effective leadership to control it.
  
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  May 10, 2023 8:36am
  - Paulus
    
    Which is why younger people see “No Consequences” for any misdemeanour.
    
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    May 10, 2023 8:55am
    - Steve Otto(North Shore)
      
      Yes, they don’t give a shit.
      
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      May 10, 2023 12:21pm
  - ClanMcleod
    
    Gravelroad – it looks like they’ve been learning from the ram raiding whanau. Ignore the rules and protocols, nobody will hold you to account.
    
    This sort of acquiescence to gross behaviour never, ever ends well.
    
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    May 10, 2023 11:06am
- Simon
  
  Te Pati Murray. Law unto themselves. Thats your co-governance / ToW principals in action. Thats how its gonna work in the future. Enabled by that hot garbage National who had the chance to get rid of the Maori seats and still do. National to utter reject fake “indigenous rights” and not hand political & economic power to iwi mafia. But weak dripping wet National are part & parcel of NZ’s neo-racism.
  
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  May 10, 2023 8:38am
- nathie
  
  The behavior exhibited by Te Pati Maori would be totally unacceptable on a Marae, so why should they deem it acceptable at Parliament?
  
  Shows up Te Pati Maori (Rawiri Waititi and Debbie Ngarewa-Packer) as lacking mana.
  
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  May 10, 2023 8:51am
  - Maggy Wassilieff
    
    According to Maori Tikanga The Leaders of the Maori Party should have deferred to the authority of the senior Maori in Parliament… the Speaker.
    
    Speaking
    Avoid entering and crossing a room while someone in authority is addressing an audience. To avoid offence, either wait quietly by the door until there is a break in the dialogue or, when that is not appropriate, enter as discretely as possible. Try not to walk directly in front of the speaker or, if you can not avoid it, crouch down as you pass as a sign of respect. Why? Traditionally Māori society is very hierarchical and crossing in front of a more ‘senior’ person is considered rude.
    
    https://www.wgtn.ac.nz/maori-hub/ako/teaching-resources/tikanga-tips
    
    Rawiri Waititi may be able to pull the wool over pakeha eyes by going on TV and exclaiming that he was just carrying out his duty to Meka Whaitiri, but I wonder if he has convinced many other Maori folk.
    
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    May 10, 2023 9:34am
    - Gravelroad
      
      @MW-
      The point is that certain special people can now flout the rules of Parliament when they please and with no
      push back.
      The precedent has been set.
      I would have thought this might be a bit concerning for whoever is responsible for maintaining the integrity and legality of how Parliamentary functions are managed and lead for all.
      But, apparently not.
      Our Parliament is now no different from a dysfunctional factory operating in a third world town.
      
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      May 10, 2023 10:02am
  - ClanMcleod
    
    nathie – very, very good observation. Behaviour like this on a marae would be a total outrage and would never be accepted. Anyone trying it would likely be lynched.
    It’s good to see that their own protocols aren’t at all meaningful, well, if they can’t follow them themselves, why should anyone else?
    
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    May 10, 2023 11:12am
  - Piniwi
    
    Have to laugh at all these people pandering to the TPM when as we convey our comment in English they are and will remain The Maori Party. It also maintains the links to all that nasty marofication that has been so prominent over the last 5 plus years. … [Deleted – Please lose the casual racism. mod.]
    
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    May 10, 2023 1:38pm
- kowtow
  
  But the House early on let them have special priveliges and this lot just follow the trend of taking everything they can ( under the guise of race victimisation) .They were allowed to wear those cosplay hats .
  And didn’t this start with another race hustler who was allowed not to wear a tie.
  
  Standards matter.
  
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  May 10, 2023 8:54am
  - ClanMcleod
    
    Yup, try breaching dress code at a nice golf course ffs…….you’re arse wouldn’t touch the ground!
    
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    May 10, 2023 11:14am
- Simon
  
  Te Pati Maori: We dont recognize your stink colonial laws
  
  Luxon : Here’s $200 million p.a to run a fake unaccountable health system
  
  Te Pati Maori: Kia ora bro!
  
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  May 10, 2023 8:58am
  - NZer In Exile
    
    Looks like we’ve got a pro bro-governance auto-downvote bot lurking.
    
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    May 10, 2023 3:05pm
- nathie
  
  And good to see Chris Luxon recognising Te Pāti Māori’s lack of mana – National confirms they are ruling out a coalition with the racist and radical Te Pāti Māori.
  
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  May 10, 2023 8:59am
- G the giant from Dunedin
  
  I seem to remember SMITH getting pushed out of parliament for more than a week, just because he said the place was a joke
  
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  May 10, 2023 9:49am
- Sideoiler
  
  From the little bit I saw, they were “named“when told to leave the house.
  I think this will mean a financial sanction.
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naming_(parliamentary_procedure)
  
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  May 10, 2023 10:29am
  - cmm
    
    $5 a week?
    
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    May 10, 2023 3:57pm
- Beach Haven expat
  
  I was thinking the Meka fiasco is a great example of what co-governance will look like: here’s not only the agreed rules but also the intent behind them only for them to say, yeah, nah we’re just ignoring that and doing what we want. And the rest of us stand idly by.
  
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  May 10, 2023 10:54am
Scooter

Seriously, when there are weather warnings for days and public transport is cancelled, a school allows a trip to a cave, wtf are they thinking?
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May 10, 2023 8:19am
- Bob
  
  wtf are they thinking?…..
  they weren’t thinking at all. Remember that this generation of school principals are the first graduates of ‘Tomorrows Schools’ taught what to think, not how to think.
  This tragedy is the result!
  
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  May 10, 2023 10:11am
  - Scooter
    
    Hopefully they all get sacked and then charged. It’s time people are held to account so they think twice about repercussions.
    
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    May 10, 2023 10:25am
  - G152
    
    Should have been listening to a local spelunker before going anywhere near
    
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    May 10, 2023 11:05am
  - ClanMcleod
    
    Yup -we are witnessing the outcomes of a couple of generations who have been taught that nothing is their fault and the state will take care of everything.
    Tragedy for the family of the boy. My thoughts are with them. If it was my child I do not know how I would react, it wouldn’t be pleasant.
    
    There should be accountability, and appropriate punishment for this ludicrous failure to apply the bare minimum of common sense. I cannot see any scenario where there is a reason for this inexcusable, disastrous cock up.
    
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    May 10, 2023 11:19am
    - Steve Otto(North Shore)
      
      There would be a few kissing concrete.
      
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      May 10, 2023 12:26pm
  - coge
    
    The decision makers in this case clearly have no knowledge of geology, and the process by which caves are created. They are natural underground drainage systems. Maybe some of those boys did (It’s not rocket science), but still put their faith in those teachers. Who they trusted to know.
    
    The Principal must resign, responsibility comes from the top. Surely she knew what the plans for the day was, that’s her job!
    
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    May 10, 2023 1:14pm
- Ghost
  
  It’s not just the school at fault but parents who knowing the warnings went ahead and sent their kids on this caving trip
  
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  May 10, 2023 10:32am
  - Maggy Wassilieff
    
    That’s unfair..
    
    If the children are under 16, the parents are legally obliged to send them to school.
    
    It is not clear that the parents were aware that the outdoor ed class was heading into the caves.
    
    Some of the parents seem to have had an expectation that the teachers would have cancelled the trip because of the rain & forecast.
    
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    May 10, 2023 10:48am
    - Ghost
      
      I remember one outdoor education trip in fifth form where we all turned up to school in uniform ready for class because of the weather, the geography teacher at that point hadn’t cancelled the trip. T
      
      he weather warnings were out, parents have a responsibility for the safety of their children and commonsense that when warnings are out to not send their child on those trips.
      
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      May 10, 2023 11:18am
      - Maggy Wassilieff
        
        At age 15-16, my father had been at work for 1 hour before I got up for school.
        
        My step-ma was often sick in bed.
        
        There wasn’t anyone else around to tell me what to do or not do.
        
        You can’t assume all pupils come from a home where
        mummy and daddy kiss the kiddies goodbye as they set off for school with a packed lunch and clean uniform.
        
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        May 10, 2023 11:30am
  - ClanMcleod
    
    It wasn’t meant to be a caving trip, it was meant to be a rock climbing trip.
    
    Questions about why the outing was not called off remain unanswered, and intensified after Stuff revealed students were meant to be rock climbing but the forecast downpours forced the trip underground instead.
    
    The foul weather apparently made someone decide to go underground. Someone made a disastrous and idiotic decision, but there were 2 teachers there. Both are equally at fault.
    I’d be slightly surprised if even one of the students didn’t point out the potential error? Did they, was it overridden by an authority figure?
    
    Who would know, but without any doubt, a preventable tragedy.
    
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    May 10, 2023 11:25am
    - Ghost
      
      The rock climbing was cancelled last Friday because of the forecast weather so parents knew the children were going caving. They were told in an email last week it was changed to caving
      
      https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/300873898/student-swept-away-on-school-trip-wasnt-meant-to-be-caving-leaked-email-reveals
      
      The email, from the school’s head of outdoor education Stevie Huurnink was sent to parents last Friday.
      
      It said due to “forecasted rain” they had to modify “planned trips”.
      
      “Initially, we had rock climbing scheduled. This has been changed to caving.”
      
      A parent who said her son’s friend had been in the group who entered the cave a day earlier, said he told them the water had been “above their heads” in some areas.
      
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      May 10, 2023 11:30am
      - Anan Carpentie
        
        I think the Coroner will have some harsh things to say a year or two from now.
        
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        May 10, 2023 11:49am
      - ClanMcleod
        
        Then a terrible decision by those who made it. As a parent, I would have presumed that those organising it would have checked all of the potential risks etc. Going into a cave that is prone to flooding when there is a heavy rain warning in place seems like a ludicrous decision.
        
        I certainly wouldn’t have thought it was my job to do their job for them. We have to sign approvals for many different school trips. I don’t believe it is my job to to a risk assessment on every one of them.
        Maybe I need to change my thinking. If I do, because I can’t trust educators to be responsible, then it means our education system is really in the gutter.
        
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        May 10, 2023 11:55am
  - cmm
    
    I think it is way too early to be drawing beads on anyone in particular.
    
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    May 10, 2023 3:58pm
    - info@cruzpro.com
      
      I agree.
      
      Here is a copy of what I posted on ysb.co.nz a few minutes ago:
      
      “I usually agree with your well thought-out posts but have to disagree with this one.
      The principal cannot be expected to know everything about everything. This principal may not even have total control over who gets hired.
      
      All businesses have to rely on their subordinates to do their job properly. The person, or persons, responsible for this tragic trip were simply not up to the job. Caving is very likely not a skill that they had or were even required to have.
      
      Sometimes bad things happen to good people despite their best efforts. Hindsight is a wonderful thing. The two adults were also in a dangerous situation and could easily have been victims themselves.
      
      My condolences to the families affected, including the people responsible for this event.”
      
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      May 10, 2023 7:01pm
- sirknz
  
  $tuff managed to find a caving expert to say that they shouldn’t have gone in.
  
  Who needs to told by an expert to keep out of low places where your movement is limited when it is raining heavily or predicted to rain heavily?
  
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  May 10, 2023 10:55am
  - ClanMcleod
    
    Ghost – no, I totally disagree. The children are transferred to the care and responsibility of the school. I know parents have to give permission to go on these trips, but you do so trusting the people involved are responsible.
    
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    May 10, 2023 11:41am
    - Ghost
      
      Clan, it’s your child, the ultimate responsibility of your child’s safety rests with the parent, they are the only one who really have their child’s best interest at heart
      
      So clan an email went out Friday advising because of weather the rock climbing was cancelled and would go to caving.
      
      Metservice has had warnings out for that area for a few days now
      
      What would you do, send your child to school thinking the school would protect your child. Tell your child they can’t go on the trip, or let the child go on the trip. As one parent said this morning on tv locals know you don’t go anywhere near the caves if it is raining.
      
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      May 10, 2023 12:18pm
      - ClanMcleod
        
        Ghost – furnished with that information I promise, I would not only have told the school my child wasn’t going, I would be asking in no uncertain terms, who is the idiot responsible for this decision? I would also be telling the school that I was reporting it to the media and would do so immediately.
        
        I had no idea that the decision to change was so early on. I can not believe that parents actually read this email and allowed their children to go? I am presuming that like many things we get in the email, if it looked like a form letter or unimportant, it was binned before reading?
        
        A very preventable screw up that turned to tragedy, no matter what the truth turns out to be.
        
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        May 10, 2023 1:11pm
- Fuzzysnuggleduck
  
  In recent years, the dangers of caving in the context of heavy rain should be well known via international headlines/near tragedies and even Netflix movies about the Thai cave incident.
  
  Even from a distance and no personal connection, I feel grief and anger to think of someone’s son being washed away to drown in the darkness of a cave during a school trip.
  A terrible thing in every way, and utterly unacceptable when they cancelled an outdoors activity due to the weather warnings; yet they though a cave would be a good idea.
  
  At the very least, a bunch of folk need to lose their jobs, let alone some new policy and perhaps even warnings/signage at the mouths of similar caves which are open to the the ordinary public.
  
  I almost hate to say this, because NZ is already so risk adverse it seems silly (like walkways still closed off in my city due to a few scruffy ‘slips’ due to Gabrielle, or warnings that boiling water is Hot) but when you have adults without any sense, a parent should be able to expect that the school doesn’t place their children in mortal danger.
  
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  May 10, 2023 11:12am
Matt Long

What happens when you give people control of former public property?Unsurprisingly they exert control,
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/whanganui-chronicle/news/iwi-set-to-reserve-parts-of-whanganui-river-for-annual-tribal-journey/P7RMRBL6Q5GYXJDF4RW5QISDMI/
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May 10, 2023 8:20am
- Tomtoddy
  
  This is a very serious move with significant constitutional implications. Where does it end if gradually, inch by inch rights to public property are given away.
  
  It all sounds plausible, done with decorum and care but it is a potentially slippery slope from which it may be difficult to return.
  
  Why can’t our leadership see how these steps, the co-governance moves, the forcing of a useless language on us all is going to lead to revolt – a nasty backlash that will bring hurt and set us all back years?
  
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  May 10, 2023 8:42am
  - Che Guava
    
    Slippery slope; thin end of the wedge; give and inch, take a mile….etc. Call it what you like, but it doesn’t take a genius to extrapolate out to where this logically concludes. Stupid.
    
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    May 10, 2023 11:21am
- Simon
  
  Whats National’s position on this divisive anti-NZ mumbo jumbo?
  
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  May 10, 2023 8:42am
  - Anan Carpentie
    
    It was Chris Finlayson in the last National Government who introduced the Bill to give the river the status as a person.
    
    https://www.parliament.nz/en/get-involved/features/innovative-bill-protects-whanganui-river-with-legal-personhood/
    
    The “mumbo jumbo” as you call it was enabled by Chris Finlayson and the last Government. I think that answers your question.
    
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    May 10, 2023 10:16am
    - Keith White
      
      IMO the phrase “he’s another Chris Finlayson” will in future years be derided in NZ in a similar (not the same) way to “he’s another Vidkun Quisling.” Aiding and abetting the minority anti-freedom occupiers.
      
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      May 10, 2023 3:06pm
- Ruawai
  
  Just madness, two of the busiest weeks of the year for operators and holiday makers and they can’t use the river. Let’s hope they don’t need rescuing by those pesky jet boats.
  
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  May 10, 2023 8:54am
  - rouppe
    
    Nope. They can rescue themselves the matauranga Maori way…
    
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    May 10, 2023 7:01pm
- Chris Nisbet
  
  Well, I guess this is what’s going to happen when people think the river is theirs.
  Do we blame them, or the people who let this happen.
  I guess that for now we should all be thankful they let us use their river some of the time.
  Isn’t this us and them stuff wonderful?
  
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  May 10, 2023 11:08am
- Drone
  
  @Matt Long, so to list the restrictions to access:
  1. Lake Waikaremoana – forever
  2. Wanganui River – 2 weeks in January
  3. There’s probably a beach somewhere ?
  4. DOC Huts – Get in quick before they’re all gone
  It won’t end, it will spread.
  
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  May 10, 2023 11:53am
- ClanMcleod
  
  Give ’em an inch…..
  
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  May 10, 2023 11:57am
- NeverMindTheBollocks
  
  Has anyone asked the Wanganui River whether it’s ok with this?
  
  After all, the River is a (legal) person nowadays.
  
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  May 10, 2023 9:17pm
Matt Long

I won’t say written risk assessment plans or similar bits of government mandated productivity killers are a complete waste of time, but maybe the focus is a little out of balance?
Horrible caving tragedy.
https://www.1news.co.nz/2023/05/10/whangarei-boys-had-risk-assessment-plan-for-flood-prone-caves/
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May 10, 2023 8:40am
- Simon
  
  School staff will be in shock. At least give them a couple of days to cope before “assessment report” them. Pieces of shit. Its what NZ has become.
  
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  May 10, 2023 9:04am
RoboRob

The ‘Kiri Allan’ / RNZ shenanigans just further highlight the issues with Govt owning news outlets.

In a world of special interest podcasts and news services, I struggle to see the need for a govt owned radio station. Especially considering the cost and potential for manipulation. What is it the RNZ brings to NZers that wouldn’t be available without it?
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May 10, 2023 8:58am
- Anan Carpentie
  
  I don’t have any issues with RNZ. There is clearly a market for a communist radio station with a blended language. The people who listen to it should pay for it via subscription.
  
  There is no need for a “radio” station to broadcast using 100 year old transmission systems. Broadcast it on the web with pay access.
  
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  May 10, 2023 10:19am
Maggie Pie

JUST IN….

Tucker Carlson to host his own shoe on TWITTER!!

https://twitter.com/TuckerCarlson/status/1656037032538390530
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May 10, 2023 9:00am
- Nickc2
  
  Bugger, my Twitter Password’s grown Cobwebs!
  
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  May 10, 2023 9:03am
- virtualmark
  
  Shrug.
  
  First, Tucker has to get out of his contract with Fox. His lawyers are alleging Fox breached his contract, and so his non-compete isn’t valid … we’ll have to wait and see.
  
  Second, Glenn Beck, Megyn Kelly and Bill O’Reilly all left Fox and started their own media shows … but they’ve never had the profile, audience or heft that they had with Fox. I strongly doubt Tucker will be able to set the agenda on Twitter the way he could on Fox.
  
  Third, this may not prove good for Twitter. The big problem Fox had with Tucker is that advertisers had turned off his show. It had a big audience, but lost money because the advertisers didn’t want their names associated with Tucker’s messaging. Twitter’s already struggling to retain advertisers, so I doubt Tucker joining in will help there. And it further reinforces that Musk has radicalised Twitter, which in turn accelerates its death spiral. If I were a Twitter bank lender I wouldn’t see this step as a positive.
  
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  May 10, 2023 9:44am
  - RightNow
    
    The reports of Twitters demise have been greatly exaggerated lol.
    But you can dream
    
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    May 10, 2023 10:02am
  - Matt Long
    
    Are Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson and Johnson currently big Twitter advertisers?
    
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    May 10, 2023 10:06am
  - Cinematic
    
    That reads like a wish list. Carlson has a huge following and follow they will.
    
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    May 10, 2023 10:42am
    - virtualmark
      
      Maybe.
      
      Bill O’Reilly had a huge following too … but his profile now is a fraction of what it was when he was on Fox.
      
      But Twitter is at least sure to get more advertising from MyPillow.
      
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      May 10, 2023 12:23pm
  - All_on_Red
    
    If you think Bill O’Reilly is comparable to Tucker Carlson then you dont understand.
    And Megan Kelly has over 1 million You Tube subscribers. Thats a large audience. Profitable too.
    How many watch Fox now?
    lol
    
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    May 10, 2023 1:06pm
    - virtualmark
      
      Bill O’Reilly was the immediate predecessor of Sean Hannity in Fox News’ 8pm time slot. So yes, sure, he’s comparable to Tucker Carlson, who’s just vacated Fox News’ 7pm time slot.
      
      I’m sure Tucker can produce his own independent show and get well paid for it … but history says that independent show won’t have the reach and profile that he had on Fox News, and that he won’t be able to influence the agenda in the way he could at Fox.
      
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      May 10, 2023 1:16pm
      - Matt Long
        
        If you follow the Twitter link you will see Tucker talking about his frustration that he was only allowed to mislead while at Fox or his other News Organisations or he would get fired.
        Which is better, to have a wide reach or to tell the truth as you see it to a more limited audience?
        
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        May 10, 2023 2:33pm
      - virtualmark
        
        I’m cautious whenever I see “Tucker Carlson” and “truth” in the same sentence.
        
        Happy to wait and see if/what he publishes through this Twitter opportunity. But my long-held view is that Tucker plays a role … basically that “Tucker Carlson” is an act … and that the truth is less important than never being seen to break role.
        
        He’s also very very skilled at saying something without actually saying something. “I’m just asking questions” kind of phrasing. The absolute master of the media dog whistle. Which is an odd way of clearly saying the truth.
        
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        May 10, 2023 5:36pm
  - Tom Hunter
    
    It had a big audience, but lost money because the advertisers didn’t want their names associated with Tucker’s messaging.
    
    Thanks to a big campaign by your Lefty friends in America. All part of the de-platforming process.
    
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    May 10, 2023 7:02pm
- Che Guava
  
  “…to host his own shoe”? Will he be interviewing his loafers one day, and his Nikes the next? Could catch on.
  
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  May 10, 2023 11:23am
  - kowtow
    
    Pointing out simple typing errors like that shows you have no sole.
    
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    May 10, 2023 2:17pm
- ClanMcleod
  
  I’m still ‘permanently suspended’.
  Any grammar specialists out there, is that an oxymoron????
  
  7 1
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  May 10, 2023 12:06pm
  - Maggy Wassilieff
    
    Yep,
    
    It is a contradiction.
    
    To be suspended means to be temporarily debarred/prevented from doing something.
    
    4 0
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    May 10, 2023 1:51pm
    - ClanMcleod
      
      Maggy – thanks, I thought so. I’ve emailed them and asked them to delete everything they have on record re my account for that reason, no response. Twilight zone it is then.
      Meanwhile I’ve moved to Substack Notes and invested a few dollars there to boot.
      
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      May 10, 2023 2:11pm
tknorriss

Luxon just ruled out working with the Maori Party on ZB.

That is a smart move that has probaby guaranteed them the election as voters will probably find the alternative three headed monster to be quite a repulsive option.
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May 10, 2023 9:00am
- slightlyrighty
  
  That is great to hear. His statement that a separate Maori Parliament and current pushes by the Maori Party for 50/50 power split by race is against the One Person-One Vote principle and one that National will not allow was refreshing and gives me hope.
  
  I voted ACT last time, but this has got me looking at the Nats again….
  
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  May 10, 2023 9:04am
  - G the giant from Dunedin
    
    As I have stated many times, what was the point telling us what will happen this election last year, he has struck at the perfect time to say this, remembering TPM is right in our face through the rotten media, snd the damage they are doing to Labour, everyone says Luxon is weak and gutless, but they demand he does these things to their timing, it’s all about timing, not their timing
    
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    May 10, 2023 9:57am
  - Bob
    
    His statement……Christopher Luxon has been chanting this statement ever since he became the Parliamentary Leader of the National Party.
    ‘Voted Act’… think very deeply this October, very deeply. Act would be a good support party, but they lack credible Policies in many areas, and depth of management experience in the real world.
    
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    May 10, 2023 10:29am
- Unity
  
  Thank goodness for that. I was most definitely not going to vote for National if they even ‘thought’ of working with the Maori Party, let alone having them in coalition. He needs to keep on emphasising this point right up to the election. It’s a vote winner as far as all the disenchanted National (or former National) voters are concerned
  
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  May 10, 2023 9:24am
  - G the giant from Dunedin
    
    You really didn’t think he was going to even suggest they would go into a deal with them did you?
    
    Remember Key took MP with them, he did not need them, but what he did was take them away from Labour
    
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    May 10, 2023 9:59am
    - The Redbaiter
      
      .. and Key then used his coalition with Maori to break his election promise to do away with the Maori seats. So now we’re stuck with them.
      
      Key’s breaking of this promise is why we are stuck with them today, & people who vote National for no reason other than they are a little bit better than Labour are also the reason we are where we are today. why Jacinda was elected and why the country is stuffed.
      
      Voters, be they National or Labour supporters, who do not hold politicians in either party to account are voting NZ into a Venezuelan style disaster.
      
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      May 10, 2023 10:44am
      - Che Guava
        
        I think this issue presents an opportunity to not only repudiate co-governance, but also an opportunity to actually wind-back some of the existing Treaty industry and adjacent Maorification matters. When there is instability and uncertainty, it can be used to advance things in an opposing direction. But Luxon doesn’t have either the will, the political skill, or the political instincts to do this. Thus, it becomes a “victory” to merely water down Maori demands and give them less than they ask for.
        
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        May 10, 2023 11:29am
      - NZer In Exile
        
        Can’t disagree with anything there RB. Looks like an accurate take.
        
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        May 10, 2023 1:49pm
- Chris Nisbet
  
  I gave an uptick in an effort to be optimistic.
  If I’m honest I don’t have that much faith in voters though – how on earth can those 3 parties be polling anywhere near 50%, given the last 6 years of destruction? Seriously.
  
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  May 10, 2023 11:12am
thirteenstars

Good to see Andrew Hoggard standing for ACT as a list candidate.

This is a big deal. Hoggard has been a good president for Federated Farmers and his standing for ACT is a sign of the shift in loyalties since ACT has stepped up as the defender of classical liberal values–particularly those of property rights which greatly interest farmers– and National has moved ever left and championed the environmental imperatives of the urban elites.
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May 10, 2023 9:08am
- G the giant from Dunedin
  
  Hoggard has angered many a farmer for speaking on their behalf before, he got in a lot a trouble for working with Ardern over farm emissions, lucky for him she reneged, one man’s opinion does not mean a whole sector has changed, tell me just one thing ACT are offering farming?
  
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  May 10, 2023 10:01am
  - Matt Long
    
    ACT’s farming policy.
    https://www.act.org.nz/primary-industries
    Regarding the recommendations of HWEN which it is NATIONAL’S policy to implement; Federated Farmers worked hard to get a workable agreement for farmers , despite dubious input by other better resourced HWEN players. Hoggard has set out 3 bottom lines for Federated Farmers support of HWEN implementation,
    1. A review of methane targets taking actual science into account.
    2. No Levies to encourage uptake of mitigation technology unless technology actually exists.
    3. No emissions leakage to other countries taking up production because of NZ legislative failure.
    https://www.fedsnews.co.nz/feds-hold-strong-on-emissions-bottom-lines/
    
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    May 10, 2023 10:26am
    - Matt Long
      
      Does National commit to only implementing HWEN if these 3 objectives are met?
      
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      May 10, 2023 10:29am
      - Anan Carpentie
        
        Well maybe. But if agriculture emissions are off the table how can “net zero” be achieved? And no we can’t change the way we measure them.
        
        Politicians are going to tie themselves in knots over net zero. Around 2030 or before it will collapse like a house of cards.
        
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        May 10, 2023 10:34am
      - Chris Nisbet
        
        @Anan – Net Zero cannot be achieved, that path leads to devastation – that’s what politicians need to understand.
        
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        May 10, 2023 11:15am
      - rangitoto
        
        “how can “net zero” be achieved?”
        
        Why would you bother?
        
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        May 10, 2023 3:16pm
    - Anan Carpentie
      
      Needless to say… those conditions cannot be met.
      
      1 can’t be met because New Zealand is bound by UNFCCC accounting rules. New Zealand was instrumental in developing those rules.
      
      2 well maybe but when?
      
      3, 😂
      
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      May 10, 2023 10:31am
      - Matt Long
        
        With regard to 2. It is because targets for methane are not net zero but large cuts in emissions, that FF is asking for change.
        It would make farming responsible for meting net zero targets to compensate for rising emissions from other sectors.
        My reference to science belongs in another argument.
        
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        May 10, 2023 11:23am
- G the giant from Dunedin
  
  Another thing,,clearly ACT have not got their messaging right, because Hoggard is not standing list only, he is standing in the Rangetiki electorate.
  
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  May 10, 2023 10:07am
  - Anan Carpentie
    
    So?
    
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    May 10, 2023 10:34am
  - thirteenstars
    
    Both Hoggard and Seymour confirmed in an interview yesterday that Hoggard was standing in Rangitikei but the list vote is what they’re after:
    
    https://www.iheart.com/podcast/53-the-country-28628176/episode/the-country-090523-david-seymour-and-114710829/#
    
    Which makes sense as for any party it’s the list that matters, but it’s also important that within an electorate there’s a robust public debate.
    
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    May 10, 2023 11:09am
Pongo

National need to spend some of their enormous cash pile on getting their blue checks on Twitter.
They need to remember life exists outside the beltway bubble and if you want to reach more people its pretty cost effective.
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May 10, 2023 9:10am
- Che Guava
  
  And then say what, I wonder? The medium is one thing, but they also need a compelling alternative message to go with it.
  
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  May 10, 2023 11:32am
Burtland

article by Shane Jones in the Herald

Shane Jones: Our preoccupation with Māori theatrics while sacrificing economic realism

the Treaty chocolate factory needs to be melted. If the staff want to advance iwi, they should become truancy officers.
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May 10, 2023 9:10am
- kowtow
  
  Yer , but coming from one of the biggest troughers of the lot ……..
  
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  May 10, 2023 9:41am
- G the giant from Dunedin
  
  And this is why Luxons timing about ruling them out is do good, yesterday there was also an article saying there is absolutely no way thatTPM will be king maker, the article is correct, TMP will be lucky to get 2%
  
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  May 10, 2023 10:09am
  - Anan Carpentie
    
    Of course the Maori Party could hold the balance of power following the election.
    
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    May 10, 2023 10:37am
    - Matt Long
      
      That’s like saying the Greens will hold the balance of power. TMP is almost to radical for Labour now, but Labour is their only possible home.
      They forget Peter and Tariana’s Softly Softly Catchee Monkey that bought in co-governance with National.
      
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      May 10, 2023 10:52am
  - rouppe
    
    2% gets them 2.4 seats, so 2 or 3 assuming Rawiri or Meka get their electorate seat (that only Maori can vote in)
    
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    May 10, 2023 6:55pm
DimChappie

Patrick Smellie says calm down about the Maori Party’s election chances (Herald has a brief version only):
https://bit.ly/3NWaCjg

Can someone with access to Business Desk post the full story from this link please:
https://bit.ly/42IL3X4

[Mod – the article is paywalled, the blog does not allow people bypassing that by posting it for other to read]
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May 10, 2023 9:16am
- G the giant from Dunedin
  
  He is the guy saying they will not bee we king maker
  
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  May 10, 2023 10:11am
slightlyrighty

So we now have the following set of circumstances.

Meka Whaitiri announces she is leaving Labour to join Te Pati Maori, and that she has so informed the Speaker

The Speaker announces in Parliament that Meka has resigned from Labour and, for Parliamentary purposes, is now Independent, allowing her to remain in Parliament and not trigger her expulsion from Parliament due to the Electoral Integrity Act.

Rumours abound that the official notification to the speaker was withdrawn and amended, but the general public is none the wiser.

The Speaker reiterates that no official notification was received in the proper format.

Meka goes to ground for a week.

A week later Te Pati Maori attempts to hijack parliament by carrying out a Powhiri to Welcome Meka to the Party that the speaker has ruled she is NOT A MEMBER OF!

Meka has thumbed her nose at everyone. Labour looks weak, the speaker looks shaky in his rulings and the reasoning behind them, and Te Pati Maori are looking more and more radical and self serving by the day.

Luxon was right to rule out working with them. They are poison. Not just to the parliament, but also the country, and, more importantly, to their own people.
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May 10, 2023 9:18am
- Chris Nisbet
  
  If the Speaker kicks the racist Maori Party out of the house, does Meka have to go too?
  Serious question.
  
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  May 10, 2023 11:18am
- My
  
  This is such a farce.
  How can anyone sit in parliament as an unelected independent MP, and go check her online banking to make sure her salary has gone in, has got me beat.
  She is completely devoid of integrity, self awareness or sense of democracy.
  She should have resigned and left her constituents unrepresented, just like Jacinda.
  
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  May 10, 2023 1:15pm
thirteenstars

NRL considering suing Jason Paris, head of One NZ, a major Warriors sponsor, over his allegations of refereeing bias:

https://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/nrl-premiership/teams/warriors/1m-threat-as-referees-union-consider-action-over-cheating-claim/news-story/9ddcd21f903da117d652b1b475ba363e

One is possibly NZ’s wokest company, fully onboard with every silly and destructive aspect of ESG:

https://one.nz/our-company/corporate-responsibility/

Which is where Paris’ comments come from, his allegations of bias obviously referring to the racial mix found in the Warriors and no doubt some reflections on Australian cultural history.
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May 10, 2023 9:24am
- I remember when
  
  Graham Annesley:
  Statement of the week:
  “That his referees did not suffer from “unconscious bias.”
  Obviously the Warriors, Phoenix and Breakers will wholeheartedly support his belief.
  
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  May 10, 2023 9:48am
  - Libertarians are right
    
    So it’s conscious bias then?
    
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    May 10, 2023 10:53am
    - ClanMcleod
      
      Or is it funded bias……
      
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      May 10, 2023 12:13pm
- G the giant from Dunedin
  
  He is right about the refereeing, it was all fine until the week they had Melbourne stuffed at 18-6 from that minute on the refereeing has been shocking, one whole half last week virtually was none stop opposition receiving the ball on stupid findings, just like Johnson being penalised when kicking from the goal line when every kicker does the same but never penalised.
  
  What this will do is see a huge improvement of refereeing of Warriors games
  
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  May 10, 2023 10:15am
- G152
  
  Just play a video of the game in question to prove the bias
  
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  May 10, 2023 11:10am
MCōs

The saddest thing this morning was the death of the school boy in the cave at Whangārei.
A lot of people are affected beyond the boy’s family, including one of the teachers who said that was the end of teaching for him. The boy who couldn’t hang onto him and the other boys suffering from survivor guilt.
Then there is the question of what were they doing down there? Nobody should be allowed to cover their arse.
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May 10, 2023 9:27am
- Ghost
  
  Imagine weather reports cancel the rock climbing so you decide to take them caving, this is insane
  
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  May 10, 2023 9:28am
  - Anan Carpentie
    
    Indeed. Very sad. With that weather forecast the best course would have been to postpone to another day.
    
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    May 10, 2023 10:27am
    - Bob
      
      Stay at school, and concentrate on Reading writing and arithmetic.
      
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      May 10, 2023 10:34am
  - Ehlana
    
    It’s like the Mangatepopo Canyon disaster never happened and nor did the Tham Luang cave incident.
    
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    May 10, 2023 12:06pm
- G the giant from Dunedin
  
  Sad but should they have gone to those caves with the forecast?
  
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  May 10, 2023 10:16am
  - Matt Long
    
    Of course not, it was a criminally stupid decision.
    
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    May 10, 2023 10:36am
    - Matt Long
      
      Made by people who lacked basic competence, on a par with building a viewing structure above a canyon without the basic competency level to know that nails won’t hold significant structures together.
      
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      May 10, 2023 10:45am
      - david
        
        Sadly predictable however is that schools will become further risk-averse and will just not do outdoor education, rock climbing, kayaking, etc. Followed by a growth in “safe” activities that involve no physical activity, body contact, interaction with the natural world etc etc. Knitting anyone?
        
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        May 10, 2023 11:42am
      - Ghost
        
        That’s not happened before when kids have died or been injured on outdoor education trips.
        
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        May 10, 2023 12:14pm
      - Steve Otto(North Shore)
        
        Yes, about 20 x 12mm bolts and that would never have happened. Who actually designed it and who built it? Amateurs.
        
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        May 10, 2023 12:48pm
      - Matt Long
        
        Ghost, I cannot imagine a worse place to take a school trip with saturated soils and rain warnings than in a cave system that is an underground creek bed.
        City storm water drains perhaps would be as dangerous. It’s like exploring a furnace when you’ve been told it’s going to be fired up.
        
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        May 10, 2023 2:44pm
      - Ghost
        
        Matt, yes it was stupid, and it should be criminal. Rock climbing cancelled on Friday and transferred to caving, metservice reports throughout the weekend with warnings. It never stops, I believe not long ago there were students out tramping that had to be rescued despite the storm warnings before they went.
        
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        May 10, 2023 3:00pm
- Anan Carpentie
  
  “Nobody should be allowed to cover their arse.”
  
  The Coroner has considerable powers. The truth will come out.
  
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  May 10, 2023 12:05pm
  - Keith White
    
    I cannot share your optimism. The entire coroner workforce of NZ has either deliberately been incurious, or actively prevented the truth coming out, about the relationship of the mandated Covid injection to sudden and later cardiac arrest and other implicated-organ* deaths (*acute kidney injury, cerebrovascular thrombosis and haemorrhage, deep venous thrombosis and pulmonary embolism, intrauterine and neonatal death etc).
    
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    May 10, 2023 12:13pm
  - MCōs
    
    My brother in law, a lawyer in a rural town, acted for a mother who lost her son in similar circumstances.
    She was very softly spoken and maybe a little slow, but her treatment by the school was disgraceful.
    The staff room knew her son was dead before she dead.
    All she ever got was an apology and a bit of money
    
    After that the whole system had a shake up
    
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    May 10, 2023 2:10pm
    - Keith White
      
      One of the very much underappreciated and no doubt unintended but nevertheless serious consequences of the no-fault Accident Compensation legislation, was that people could no longer be sued for killing or badly damaging others. ACC monies would be paid out instead from the pockets of the general taxpayer, but only of course if there was a injury and not an illness.
      
      As a consequence, there are literal generations of New Zealanders who grow up with the idea that if someone badly damages or kills you or your loved ones, there is essentially no recourse in law. Very occasionally a case may be taken against the instigator of the death or injury, but the consequences are truly light, as an accurate generalisation, compared to people being sued into financial oblivion in other jurisdictions.
      
      Clearly, the ability to sue enriches lawyers as much or even more than it does people who are wronged, but removing the ability to sue also removes much sense of accountability or apprehension from people who take care of others, or who are regulating and mixing and moving around in the general population without concern for how they might harm others due to their acts of negligence or commission.
      
      But we are stuck with ACC. I doubt we’ll ever get back the right to sue anybody – and I’m sure that all of the smurfs that make up MedSafe & the NZ Medical Council & the Ministry Of Health & Te Whatu Ora are happily reassured by the lack of our ability to sue them. And not only or even primarily because of the damage-jab but also because of their repeated daily and nightly failure to provide careful and timely health care services to those in desperate need in hospitals and clinics around the country.
      
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      May 10, 2023 2:46pm
I remember when

John Tamihere:
“She crossed the floor, not out of protest, not out of bitterness but because she had liberated herself from a party controlled by Non-Maori.”

The beginning of the end for the Maori electorate seats?
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May 10, 2023 9:33am
- Taieri
  
  because she had liberated herself from a party controlled by Non-Maori
  ————-
  
  Was she forced into joining that horrible non-Maori party?
  
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  May 10, 2023 10:02am
  - Piniwi
    
    But spare a thought for poor old Meka who struggles to put even a modest sentence together and it was a bout of wind in her gut that made her rise to her feet and walk. Some interested parties are still waiting for something that might be considered a valid reason for her desertion of the part that got her where she is/was. Her recent utterances do not seem to indicate she is capable of much above the bash to win any argument. Better off in R T Rower.
    
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    May 10, 2023 2:05pm
  - rouppe
    
    And remain there for… How long again?
    
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    May 10, 2023 6:44pm
- Cinematic
  
  John has completely lost the plot. Of course his motivation is dollars.
  
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  May 10, 2023 10:32am
  - nathie
    
    Not sure if John is motivated by “utu” on Labour for the way they treated him back in Helen’s time, but it will be interesting to see if he turns up the heat on Labour because so far they are acquiescing.
    
    Popcorn for us in the meantime …. or is there now a shortage as John bought up all remaining stock for himself as he watches Labour squirm?
    
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    May 10, 2023 11:42am
  - Nickc2
    
    Luxon’s only just realised this and it’s about bloody time!
    
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    May 10, 2023 11:46am
  - Steve Otto(North Shore)
    
    I am one who has liked JT for many, many years.
    That has all changed now.
    
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    May 10, 2023 12:51pm
- ClanMcleod
  
  Here’s hoping that happens.
  
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  May 10, 2023 12:14pm
- Nickc2
  
  Why do [Mod – nice try, thanks for the laugh, but if you have to write that to get around the rules you know it won’t be posted] flock to join Tamahere’s mob?
  IMO, they’re either too young to remember his term for Woman Politicians or he’s promised them something other Political Parties can’t and it sure as hell can’t be longevity in the job.
  
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  May 10, 2023 12:19pm
I remember when

With all the strikes at present and emphasis on the pressure of work, it might be time to mention real pressure.
Youth counsellor who is taking a job outside of the industry after many years in the profession.
Reason.
They use to have one potential suicide referral a week – now it is a least one a day.
The pressure from the possibility of getting it wrong is just too much.
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May 10, 2023 9:44am
OverseasKiwi

It seems to me that the English-speaking world is in ever increasing decline. Europe, USA, NZ, and others claim to stand for freedom and democracy, but they are authoritarian regimes and are devoted to denying their inhabitants of personal freedom.

Let us be clear: the radical left has won, with control of virtually all major political parties and ideologies, public institutions, the media, and corporate boardrooms. We now live in a delusional world where those who profess to be enlightened and just are in fact narrow-minded intolerant bigots.

So what hope is there? Consider the situation in NZ. We have an ethnic party, the Greens, Labour, and National on the left. They are all beholden to increasingly crazy and incoherent ideologies (National is not going to save us – it is part of the problem). ACT occupies the sensible centre, but will remain a minor party in the face of media hostility.

Well meaning (perhaps) people who religiously worship gender theory, anti-racism theory, and anti-colonisation theory have done and will continue to tear apart the socio-economic fabric of NZ. They cannot be reasoned with. How then do we reach those who are not fundamentalists? I am pessimistic and do not see a way out of this madness.
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May 10, 2023 9:50am
- RightNow
  
  Are you ready to embrace Islam yet?
  
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  May 10, 2023 11:11am
  - Che Guava
    
    The good thing about Islam is that they are socially conservative, and would laugh in the face of a male who claims to “identify” as a woman. I respect Islam much more than I respect leftist-progressivism.
    
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    May 10, 2023 12:00pm
    - Fuzzysnuggleduck
      
      In Iran, this is not the case.
      https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2019/04/04/why-iran-is-a-hub-for-sex-reassignment-surgery
      In some cases, they are essentially de-sexing gay men, by performing gender reassignment surgery.
      
      Rather than a fashion, it borders on compulsion from society or a desperate choice for gay men. Iran tolerates transgenders, but executes homosexuals.
      
      In any case: not a fan of Islam here, although I do expect they do have a bit of a laugh at the West and are having their opinions about it being a cess-pool confirmed daily.
      But Madras schools here are just as much a worry as gender theory in public schools.
      Otherwise it is like looking favorably on cancer in comparison to a flesh-eating virus.
      
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      May 10, 2023 1:41pm
Maggie Pie

Jacinda Ardern – walking past socialism straight to communism…..

https://twitter.com/shellenberger/status/1655963232291672074

(the replies are very telling 🙁 )
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May 10, 2023 10:10am
- ClanMcleod
  
  Maggie – watch this short video of Mr compassionate Dan Andrews (the one who battered anti mandate protesters in Victoria) and wouldn’t tolerate anyone opposing his narrative, now demanding tolerance for the alphabet community….
  
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HbnpC88R8CE
  
  The hypocrisy is beautifully highlighted in that video. Clown world doesn’t begin to describe what is happening around the planet right now.
  
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  May 10, 2023 12:22pm
  - Maggie Pie
    
    “Poor vulnerable LGBTQI people” ….what a condescending pr*ck!!
    
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    May 10, 2023 12:47pm
Gravelroad

Re caving-
Some years ago, I went as a parent help on a school camp trip which included a caving experience.
When we got to the site, the organisers said that X numbers of adult helpers had to participate otherwise the caving experience couldn’t go ahead.
I had no intention at all of going into the cave, but pressure was applied, so in the end, I agreed.
It was one of the worst experiences I have ever endured.
There was a “professional” guide but very few details of what to expect.
I naively thought it would be just walking through a perhaps narrow passage way to enter a large impressive space.
It turned out to be nothing like that.
There was wading through creeks, dark, very cramped climbing through narrow, claustrophobic rock apertures – along with 30 or so 14 year old girls, most of whom were, at times, screaming in fear.
If one of those girls had had a real panic attack or been injured, I have no idea how they would have got out.
Afterwards, I wrote a letter to the school about how the lack of preparation, realism of what to expect and consent was unacceptable.
The didn’t seem to be too bothered and said nothing untoward had happened previously, so………?
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May 10, 2023 10:26am
- Anan Carpentie
  
  Agree. I went on a caving experience led by an experienced guide. It was very dark and very wet. We were all wearing helmets and they were definitely needed.
  
  Humans have a tendency to continue a course even when all the evidence says it is time to pull out. Often referred to as “get there itis”.
  
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  May 10, 2023 10:42am
  - Maggy Wassilieff
    
    My couple of caving experiences were enough to convince me that my life wouldn’t be missing much if I never entered a dark, wet, narrow passage again.
    
    Main thing I learnt was always to follow someone fatter/wider than me.
    
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    May 10, 2023 11:05am
    - Scooter
      
      Yes we should have learnt that lesson at birth, some didn’t.
      
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      May 11, 2023 4:57am
- fightingtemeraire
  
  My worst job at sea was crawling through Double Bottom Tanks and up duct keels. No way would I go caving.
  
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  May 10, 2023 11:13am
- rockape
  
  I used to cave to the top level, super severe, so have a bit of experience
  If the water in a cave is mid calf deep you can stand up, any deeper and it will take your feet away as the bottom is usually pretty slick. I wouldn’t go down any cave unless I had a weather forecast and knew the flooding characteristics of the cave.
  I have gone caving and because it was raining gone rock climbing instead. Never the other way round.
  
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  May 10, 2023 4:06pm
  - rouppe
    
    Apparently this group were going abseiling, but that was changed because of the conditions…
    
    One wonders…
    
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    May 10, 2023 6:41pm
Maggie Pie

Has anyone seen or heard from Cuddles lately?

According to one of the girls from tennis (her cousin is a cop)…. he seemed to go into what has been described as ‘an emotional decline’ not long after Jacinda resigned.

Asking for a friend.
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May 10, 2023 11:36am
- Keith White
  
  People who only studied arts and not history at uni, generally come late to the conclusion that payback for treating the citizenry with enforced contempt may be slow – but one day you might still wake up looking at the tricoteuses and wondering ‘how did that happen to me?’
  
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  May 10, 2023 11:50am
  - Maggie Pie
    
    Talking of tricoteuse Keith….were you aware of the rumor circulating last year the Jacinda and Cuddles were cousins?
    
    Can’t remember what the outcome of that was, but would be interesting if troo.
    
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    May 10, 2023 12:36pm
    - Keith White
      
      MP, that was debunked by Andrea Vance in Stuff which has gotta be the most reliable source sonce Moses carried the commandments down the mountain.
      
      From Andrea’s Epistle to the Costernians:
      
      “I’ve observed his passion for a police force that knows its strength lies in what it can achieve with the community it serves,” Ardern said, announcing his appointment for a five-year term. At 44, he was the youngest commissioner in the service’s history.
      
      The Government was impressed by Coster’s ideas on how police should work in a modern, multicultural society, “where the Treaty was the basis of race relations, and where the police service had been hauled over the coals for unconscious bias”, the source said. It aligned with their progressive policies.
      
      Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern selected Coster in early March 2020, praising his “positivity, inclusion and integrity”.
      
      He is not, as the persistent online conspiracy theory asserts, her cousin. Coster was Auckland city area commander between 2009 and 2013, and they met when she twice contested the Auckland Central seat.
      
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      May 10, 2023 2:58pm
      - kowtow
        
        Lots of folk say he’s supposed to be very clever .
        
        But there was a $tuffed article where he went to great lengths to butcher Peel’s Principles on policing ( policing by consent) to justify the unlawful racist road blocks that were allowed to run during the covid scam.
        
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        May 10, 2023 4:27pm
Keith White

No-one could possibly have seen this coming. Right? Right??

“People who received a COVID-19 vaccine have an increased risk of a serious eye problem, according to a new study.

“The risk of retinal vascular occlusion “increased significantly” after a first or second dose of the messenger RNA (mRNA) COVID-19 vaccines, researchers reported in a study published by Nature.

“Retinal vascular occlusion refers to the blockage of veins or vessels that carry blood to or from the retina. It can cause sudden vision loss.

“Out of 207,626 Pfizer vaccine doses administered in the population that was studied, 226 cases of the eye problem were detected after two years. Among 97,918 Moderna vaccine doses administered, 220 cases were detected over the same time.

“The risk of retinal vascular occlusion was 3.5 times for vaccinated people compared to an unvaccinated group after 12 weeks and 2.19 times higher after two years. An increased risk was found shortly after vaccination.
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May 10, 2023 11:47am
- miltonF
  
  Source?
  
  I know someone suffering from this. Only 34yr old. Perfectly healthy, took two jabs and went blind in one eye. Suffering from brain swelling. Excessive liquid around the brain. Will be on medication for the rest of her life. I don’t think she’s made to connection to the jabs but it’s blindingly obvious in my opinion.
  
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  May 10, 2023 3:24pm
  - Keith White
    
    Article in ‘Nature’ –
    Published: 02 May 2023
    Risk assessment of retinal vascular occlusion after COVID-19 vaccination
    
    https://www.nature.com/articles/s41541-023-00661-7
    
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    May 10, 2023 6:25pm
Steve Otto(North Shore)

Stop Co-Governance. Julian Batchelor.

Bit late to the party today. Change in post surgery meds wacked me out.

https://www.stopcogovernance.kiwi/blog/everyone-who-wants-to-stop-cogovernance-please-be-sure-to-read-this/

Link:
https://www.stopcogovernance.kiwi/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Appeal-for-PUPs-and-BDLs-5.pdf

Anyone from this Blog are welcome to participate. Just contact Julian Batchelor, details in the blog.
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May 10, 2023 11:48am
- Che Guava
  
  You’re actually Julian Batchelor, aren’t you “Steve”?
  
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  May 10, 2023 11:57am
  - Steve Otto(North Shore)
    
    Nope, I don’t have the energy he has. Up at 3am and lights out post 9pm.
    I did that sort of stuff in my 20s, saving for a house. 71 soon. I have met Julian – nice bloke.
    Evangelist sure, but that does not bother me one bit. He says he is committed to what he is doing.
    
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    May 10, 2023 1:01pm
I remember when

The Biodynamics New Zealand conference is in Feilding next weekend, May 19-21.
It is the first time the conference has been held in person for a couple of years due to Covid-19.

Will one of the topics being discussed be why, despite having more trace minerals and said to be much tastier, they are almost invariably not as visually attractive?
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May 10, 2023 12:00pm
I remember when

Chloe Swarbrick on TV News at noon, as expected, stating that the weather is the result of global warming.
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May 10, 2023 12:16pm
- Fuzzysnuggleduck
  
  It’s called ‘Climate change’ now.
  All bases covered, including seasons of drought.
  
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  May 10, 2023 1:56pm
- Piniwi
  
  Poor kid looked like she had got her outfit from an op shop on the way. Must be the ADSD or some such acronym but lately with all her exposure she is looking like challenging JAG for the bat shit crazy (BSC) title. Love her economic theories as they are always good for a chuckle.
  
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  May 10, 2023 2:14pm
- Chris Nisbet
  
  Did she provide any evidence?
  No?
  I thought not.
  Bad weather happens with or without ‘global warming’.
  
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  May 10, 2023 7:46pm
PeeJay

On the health service.

I had a minor injury that needed to be looked at over the weekend – not life threatening, but extremely painful.

Went along to one of the few after-hour’s surgery’s in Christchurch. Chaos. This is a big facility (one of only three outside ER). Absolutely packed. Due to my condition, I was lucky and got quickly assessed by the triage nurse. Even then though, I ended up waiting for hours to be seen by a doctor. The wait was horrible due to the pain but I know I was one of the lucky ones that day.

During my wait, spoke to a few of the nursing staff – they were completely exhausted. Some of them were pulling double shifts to help out capacity. The doctor I finally saw was semi-retired and came in to help out when they were severely short staffed. She was great (they all were) but she told me that things are really bad and are getting worse.

After my own experience and hearing from work colleagues, I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say the health system is broken.

Regarding solutions, while ACT seem to have some good ideas, I don’t think National are radical enough – as National would still be the senior partner in an National / ACT government, most of National’s policy would be prioritised.

If National / ACT form a government in October, they have a hell of a job unravelling all the chaos that Labour and the Greens have left for them!

Regardless, it’s obvious to me that the health system probably can’t survive another three years of Labour / Greens, let alone adding TPM into the mix!
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May 10, 2023 12:18pm
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  I know it is broken and I also know why, and who is to blame.
  Oma rapeti, oma rapeti, oma oma oma.
  
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  May 10, 2023 1:05pm
- Anan Carpentie
  
  Look at this. Any New Zealand nurse can just walk into a job in Australia. Average salary in Western Australia $A 84,659.
  
  https://au.indeed.com/career/registered-nurse/salaries/Western-Australia
  
  Go to Darwin for a couple of years $100K plus
  
  https://au.indeed.com/career/nurse/salaries/Darwin-NT
  
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  May 10, 2023 1:25pm
  - rockape
    
    Why would my wife, a nurse, leave her job at the DHB that pays her $146,000 plus penals to work in a compound in the Aussie outback for much less.
    
    4 0
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    May 10, 2023 3:59pm
- ClanMcleod
  
  Same in the UK, the once lauded and respected NHS is heading down the toilet. Another deliberate destruction of a pillar of our society?
  Who is demolishing our way of life and for what aim?
  It’s happening. This isn’t accidental. All of these divisions and apparent calamities aren’t coincidental.
  
  7 0
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  May 10, 2023 2:36pm
NeverMindTheBollocks

More inconvenient truths …

‘At present, nearly 100% of solar panels end up in landfills, while waste from wind turbines is expected to amount to 47 million tons of blade waste each year by 2050’

https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/The-Clean-Energy-Boom-Has-A-Major-Waste-Problem.html
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May 10, 2023 12:35pm
- All_on_Red
  
  And theres this inconvenient truth
  ‘EV emissions realities start with physics. To match the energy stored in one pound of oil requires 15 pounds of lithium battery, which in turn entails digging up about 7,000 pounds of rock and dirt to get the minerals needed—lithium, graphite, copper, nickel, aluminum, zinc, neodymium, manganese, and so on. Thus, fabricating a typical, single half-ton EV battery requires mining and processing about 250 tons of materials. (These figures hold roughly true for all lithium chemistries.)
  https://www.city-journal.org/article/electric-vehicles-and-carbon-emissions
  
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  May 10, 2023 12:56pm
ClanMcleod

More evidence of the harms being done by the covid “vaccines”.
This excellent video put together by a long time opponent of jabs and mandates is worth taking the 20 minutes to watch.
We have been badly misinformed/lied to by those we are meant to respect and trust.

They all told us, and are still telling us, that the #Covid19 shots are safe and effective for pregnant and breastfeeding women, but Pfizer’s own documents, which the FDA and #Pfizer wanted to remain hidden until 2096, tell a very different story. After trawling through various videos and webinars from 2021, I made this montage of what we were all told here in New Zealand about the #Pfizer mRNA shot being safe for pregnant and breast feeding women, juxtaposed with what Pfizer’s own documents tell us.

https://rumble.com/v2mcw0w-they-told-us-it-was-safe-for-pregnant-and-breast-feeding-women-then-the-pfi.html

When is this nightmare going to end?
14 1
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May 10, 2023 1:03pm
- Anan Carpentie
  
  To my surprise the numbers of people taking up the new boosters has increased week on week – 60,000 last week, up from 40,000 from the week before.
  
  https://www.health.govt.nz/covid-19-novel-coronavirus/covid-19-data-and-statistics/covid-19-vaccine-data
  
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  May 10, 2023 1:30pm
  - ClanMcleod
    
    Anan Carpentie – it does help explain how Ardern won the last election. There’s no helping stupid.
    
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    May 10, 2023 2:30pm
  - ClanMcleod
    
    Saying that, we’ve been lied to regarding so many aspects of the covid narrative that I do not trust anything that comes from any government source.
    Tragic, but true.
    
    7 0
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    May 10, 2023 2:31pm
- Keith White
  
  The nightmare won’t end. So far, the Covid jab is implicated in sudden cardiac death, myocarditis (heart inflammation), premature birth, stillbirth, neonatal death, menstrual issues, fertility issues, thrombosis, primary as well as prothrombotic neurological disorders, and now eye issues.
  
  It’s shorter to just list the things that the vaccine doesn’t do – it does not prevent people from getting Covid, it does not prevent people from transferring Covid, and it does not prevent people from dying from Covid. In fact if anything it seems to improve transmission of the virus.
  
  But about $250 million of taxpayers money (55 million directly to the media, probably another 200 million indirectly via publicity and advertising) buys an awful lot of propaganda to push the jab onto people who are (a) invested in the sunken cost fallacy, (b) still worship Ardern, (c) are still frightened, (d) still believe the ministry knows best or (e) all of the above.
  
  7 2
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  May 10, 2023 3:13pm
Surely Knott

If Maori party votes are 3.7% as per the latest poll. And Maori are 16% of NZers. Then is it safe to say that Maori party don’t represent the interests of most Maori. It’s a problem to use the name Maori for your party as it seems to imply you speak for an entire race.

Also I wonder if the pollsters know, what percentage of the poll respondents who vote for Maori are Maori themselves. How many are liberals of other nationalities.
12 0
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May 10, 2023 1:25pm
- MCōs
  
  ACT stands for Association of Consumers and Taxpayers.
  I’m a consumer and taxpayer. ACT does not represent me. The Māori Party represents some Māori. So do all the other parties.
  
  3 8
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  May 10, 2023 4:29pm
Maggie Pie

Unbelievable…..

“HER” penis

https://mol.im/a/12054769
14 0
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May 10, 2023 1:34pm
- ClanMcleod
  
  “comments are moderated in advance” – Even Orwell wasn’t so blatantly up front……
  
  That isn’t a trans anything, that’s a parasitical waste of oxygen taking the piss out of all of us, and who needs to remove themselves from the gene pool.
  
  11 0
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  May 10, 2023 1:45pm
- Fuzzysnuggleduck
  
  Not going to click on that link……
  But is this the Ricky Gervais stand up bit?
  i.e. “HER penis, you bigot!”
  
  4 0
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  May 10, 2023 1:59pm
  - Maggie Pie
    
    Nope….it’s a ruling from Judge David McNamee relating to a fat tranny who exposed ‘her’ penis. And don’t be afraid to clik on the link Fuzzy, it made my day for a start 😀
    
    7 0
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    May 10, 2023 2:14pm
- NeverMindTheBollocks
  
  Doncha luv the Daily Mail!
  
  7 0
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  May 10, 2023 2:12pm
thirteenstars

Latest Taxpayers Union-Curia poll:

https://www.taxpayers.org.nz/taxpayer_update_230510

The guts of it is Labour down 4 seats and ACT up 4 which hands a Nat/ACT coalition a healthy majority, 62 plays 53.

Bad news is the Nats down 1 seat and Luxon not showing much leadership popularity.

With five months to go if Labour/Green/Maori shenanigans start to finally bite them, and National stalls, only ACT might stand to really make ground.

It’s not unlikely that we could see Nat/ACT with a 2-to-1 coalition power split.
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May 10, 2023 2:04pm
- thirteenstars
  
  Actually, the poll defines the Centre-Left as not including Maori. But Maori will go with Lab/Green and Maori are as hard left as it comes.
  
  So the actual numbers would be: Nat/Act, 62, Lab/Green/Maori, 58.
  
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  May 10, 2023 2:13pm
- nathie
  
  This is good news for National/ACT.
  
  And also shows (at this point in time) the likes of the Maori Party aren’t so-called King Makers.
  
  About the “favourability’ results, who cares, voters don’t vote for a personality they vote for their party and electorate candidate.
  
  I mean if we want to get hung op on Chris Luxon being -7, well David Seymour is -11 … is anyone calling for him to “step up”, or step down?
  
  And Swarbrick is in the negatives too – worse than Luxon (but better Seymour), but no-one calls for her to step up or step down either! Sure maybe kinda interesting for political poll geeks but at the end of the day who cares as none of this matters as the only true “poll” that counts is Oct 14.
  
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  May 10, 2023 3:10pm
ClanMcleod

An excellent quiz from Tom Jefferson and Professor Carl Heneghan from the ‘Trust the Evidence’ substack.
If you are wondering who these men are, here’s a quote from them on April 2nd 2020:

“Lockdown is going to bankrupt all of us and our descendants and is unlikely at this point to slow or halt viral circulation as the genie is out of the bottle.” (Day, BMJ 2020;369:m1375, April 2) Seven months later their opinion was unchanged: “…lockdowns do not work in the long run; they just kick the can down the road. Meanwhile, ever-increasing restrictions will destroy lives and livelihoods.” (dailymail.co.uk, Oct 31)

https://www.bmj.com/content/369/bmj.m1375/rr-19

Any ‘expert’ or politician who claims they didn’t know what the outcomes of the draconian covid policies were going to be is a liar, incompetent, or likely a combination of these.

Where will CDC Director Rochelle Walensky finish up now she has resigned from her position?

https://trusttheevidence.substack.com/p/the-great-trust-the-evidence-quiz

Someone needs to put one up re Ardern…….

WHO? UN? Gates Foundation?
9 2
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May 10, 2023 2:06pm
ClanMcleod

A beautiful 3 bar chart that shows the comparison between the covid responses of Norway, South Korea and Sweden from early 2020 until this month.

https://boriquagato.substack.com/p/kitten-corner-testable-predictions

As one commenter pointed out:

we were right about everything, they were wrong about everything. Literally.
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May 10, 2023 2:27pm
- kowtow
  
  The attacks on Sweden to my mind proved they were doing something right.
  
  Flak heaviest when over the target and all that .
  
  8 1
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  May 10, 2023 4:21pm
Maggy Wassilieff

Oh Dear…

https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2023/05/greens-marama-davidson-booted-from-parliament-s-house-by-speaker.html
16 0
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May 10, 2023 2:40pm
- ClanMcleod
  
  “The honourable Marama Davidson……….”
  
  Yeah nah.
  
  13 0
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  May 10, 2023 3:00pm
  - septic skeptic
    
    Obviously she figured she was just as much a rebel as TPM
    
    6 0
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    May 10, 2023 3:12pm
greybeard

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/education/300874641/whangrei-principal-refuses-to-answer-questions-about-abbey-caves-death
After seeing this article I can believe in the total ineptitude of that school.
Is she really a principal ? Good God.
10 0
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May 10, 2023 3:02pm
- ClanMcleod
  
  Total refusal to answer questions by all involved. Another example of the need to control narrative or be exposed as a failure. We’ve been witnessing this for years. Refusal to respond to OIAs, redacted information, removal of critical information re risks to health from covid jabs by politicians.
  
  This can’t continue or we cannot function as a society. No wonder the school has had to hire security guards.
  
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  May 10, 2023 3:12pm
Ghost

The latest political poll has National nudging past Labour and able to form a government with the Act Party.

But National leader Christopher Luxon still does not appear to be resonating with voters, at his lowest favorability rating since becoming the leader in November 2021.

The latest Taxpayers’ Union-Curia poll was released today, revealing Labour had dropped just over three points in the past month to 33.8 per cent of the party vote, falling behind National which dropped by just under one point to 35.6 per cent.

Article
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May 10, 2023 3:09pm
- ClanMcleod
  
  The problem is who would replace him at this stage? I can’t see anyone obvious who would improve the situation?
  
  8 2
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  May 10, 2023 3:14pm
- greybeard
  
  If National + ACT form a government, what does it matter if Mr. Luxon is not the “preferred” PM ?
  
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  May 10, 2023 3:43pm
  - kowtow
    
    Once he becomes PM his ratings will rise .
    
    Exposure does that .
    
    Te Media Pardy responsible for a lot of this .Also many voters are sadly as thick as pig shit.
    
    15 0
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    May 10, 2023 4:10pm
  - Matt Long
    
    Helen Clark was desperately unpopular in opposition but went on to become a popular prime minister. So it’s possible.
    Popular but not good.
    
    11 0
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    May 10, 2023 4:18pm
    - mandk
      
      Despite the fact that her programme was anathema to most folk here on Kiwiblog, Helen Clark was far more successful than Jacinda Ardern, in that she was actually a good manager.
      
      10 0
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      May 10, 2023 4:33pm
greybeard

“Stuff” finally achieves the zenith of critical information for the masses in 2023:

https://www.stuff.co.nz/travel/news/300874828/the-next-great-travel-debate-how-much-underwear-to-pack
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May 10, 2023 3:52pm
Nookin

In keeping with the highest standards of good faith in employment relations, Minister Jackson unceremoniously flings his staff under the bus while graciously accepting token responsibility.
https://www.msn.com/en-nz/news/national/wasn-t-too-happy-jackson-let-down-surprised-by-issues-in-office-but-takes-responsibility/ar-AA1aVi4k?ocid=entnewsntp&pc=U531&cvid=e0c93bec549343d289a92ca8bd804603&ei=14
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May 10, 2023 5:41pm
- Swifty
  
  In the private sector admitting to being ‘surprised’ and ‘let down’ is an admission you’re not on top of things, haven’t got a grip of your areas and responsibilities, blind to risks and poor performance.
  
  Unacceptable.
  
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  May 10, 2023 7:21pm
Gravelroad

I see on Te News on 1 tonight that Josie Pagani is now a political commentator.
This would be the same Josie Pagani with a very strong and lengthy association with Te Pati Labour?Despite what she contributed barely making sense, I will look forward to seeing some National aligned political commentary on the news very soon.
Please suggest some suitable names to put forward to TVNZ.
You know – for balance in election year and all that…..
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May 10, 2023 7:23pm
Burtland

Pagani – ex Labour candidate in Rangitikei 2011 – came 2nd. Regular contributor to Stuff.

Masquerades as an independent commentator
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May 10, 2023 8:27pm
Ghost

If you want to know what an amateur is Debbie, it is someone that votes against their own bill, lol

A bill banning all seabed mining – and which the Government said would have cancelled all existing oil and gas permits as well – was heavily defeated in Parliament today after a heated debate.

The sponsor of the bill, Maori Party co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer, gave an angry speech to conclude the debate, in which she accused MPs opposing it as amateurs and out of their depth.

“I feel insulted that I’ve had to sit here and listen to you all pretend you know what’s going on here. You don’t. It has been insulting to our people that we’ve had to watch these amateurs sit here and talk about things they have no understanding of…our intelligence as Taranaki has been insulted today.”

In the heat of the moment, she then cast three votes against the bill, instead of in favour, and then quickly corrected it to two votes in favour.

Article
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May 10, 2023 8:28pm
Prince

POLITICAL Commentator Glenn McConnell says that Luxon’s claim that TPM was closer to Labour than National was just ‘Spin’ !
And this guy claims to be a political commentator. Where has he been for the last 6 years ?
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May 10, 2023 9:10pm
- Keith White
  
  He’s been part of the Team of $55 million.
  
  7 0
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  May 10, 2023 9:20pm

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