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May 16, 2023 8:00am by Kokila Patel

General Debate 16 May 2023

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General Debate

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peterwn

I have to admit that my previous appraisal of the Gore Mayoralty situation is somewhat off the mark. It did not occur to me to check the Council web site for the extraordinary meeting at 3.15pm today. The meeting papers are here:
https://www.goredc.govt.nz/repository/libraries/id:2buwl3j7c17q9srz9ase/hierarchy/Your%20Council/Documents/Agendas%20%26%20Minutes/2023%20Council%20Meetings/Council/16%20May%20Extraorinary/2023-05-16%20Agenda

Working through the agenda:

2. Declaration of Conflict of Interest – Since the meeting is about the Mayor I suspect that the Mayor will be replaced by the Deputy Mayor (who is hostile to the Mayor) as Chair of that meeting. I suspect the Mayor will concede rather than sit tight which could result in the Police being called.

3. Ministerial intervention – this is a dead duck at least for the moment. The ‘spat’ has so far not compromised the ability of the Council to carry out its functions. This implies the Mayor is chairing full Council meetings effectively and in a way that is not obstructing the ability of Council to carry out its functions. If the Mayor continues his chairmanship in a similar tenor, there would be no cause for the Minister of Internal Affairs to intervene. The meeting will probably carry this resolution and seek a meeting with the Minister but nothing is likely come of it. Anyway it is a dangerous move because if the Minister did intervene it may be in a way the councillors and CEO would not be happy with.

4. Vote of No Confidence in the Mayor – This will make the supporting councillors feel good, but will not topple the Mayor. The only way that the Mayor (or other councillor) can be ‘impeached’ is to apply to the District Court for the removal of the Mayor. The hurdle for this is pretty high, and any alleged ‘misconduct’ of the Mayor comes nowhere near meeting this high hurdle. However this vote could possibly add weight with respect to items 3, 5 and 6.

5. Legal Opinion (the whole Opinion is included in the meeting papers referenced above) and Report on exclusion of the Mayor from the proposed Chief Executive Appraisal Committee. The Mayor has challenged this claiming that the under Local Government Act the Mayor is a member of all Council committees, but Schedule 7 arguably provides exceptions. So Council sought a legal opinion to ‘clarify’ this and in my opinion the Legal Opinion provided is not even handed. As things stand the Mayor will not be on this committee which is very unusual since the Mayor is the nominal ‘employer’ of the CEO.

6. Removal of Mayor from Committees. I consider that the Act is quite clear on this – that the Mayor is an ex-officio member of all committees, but the Legal Opinion referred to above casts doubt on this. I think the Opinion is quite wrong on initial reading (I have not got time to do a blow by blow rebuttal). The Mayor may have sought an alternative Opinion with respect to items 5 and 6 and it will be interesting to see he produces one at today’s meeting. However is (quite wrongly) comes down as to who has the deeper pocket – the Council (using ratepayers’ money) or the Mayor (out of his own pocket). So if I was in the mayor’s shoes I would just have to accept reality and concede that I would not be on any Council committee. Of course if I was in that position I would be hopping mad. This is a dreadful conclusion I have drawn but the only hope is for someone with wealth to step up and ‘sponsor’ any legal action that the Mayor may take.

As I mentioned earlier the one thing the Council cannot readily do is to sack the Mayor. The Council could try and unseat the Mayor on a meeting by meeting basis but has not done this so far. Thus the mayor has two and a half years to build and consolidate relationships and to attempt to bring more councillors ‘on side’ and stand for Mayor in 2025 with a sympathetic ‘ticket’ of councillors similar to what George Hawkins did in Papakura years ago. In the meantime he is likely to continue to be a nasty thorn in the side of the CEO and councillors, but as long as he does not compromise the ability of Council to carry out its functions he cannot be touched.

Incidentally the Legal Opinion contains a glaring error. It makes reference to the Interpretation Act 1999. However that Act was repealed by the Legislation (Repeals and Amendments) Act 2019. While this does not materially invalidate the Opinion, it does cast grave aspersions on the accuracy of the Opinion as a whole. Does it mean there are other issues with the Opinion? Surely one of the most prominent law firms in Dunedin can do better than that?

By the way nominations close for the Gore ward byelection tomorrow. This byelection would be interesting especially if the two ‘camps’ put up opposing candidates.

In conclusion the Councillors who oppose the Mayor need to think long and hard about who they represent – the people of Gore District or the CEO.
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May 16, 2023 8:01am
- alex Masterley
  
  Just had a quick look at the opinion.
  
  When an opinion starts with a familiar “Dear Steve” instead of the more formal “Dear Sir” one does worry about the advice being slanted towards the recipient.
  
  Or am I an old fashioned type?
  
  Likewise the error identified. if there is one error there may be more.
  
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  May 16, 2023 8:54am
  - peterwn
    
    Exactly. I noted this too, but my piece was rather long winded as it was I chose not to mention it. The law firm seemed to forget that the opinion was supposed to be one giving an impartial opinion to Council, not one supporting the views of councillors opposed to the Mayor. But then you cannot bite the hand that feeds you.
    
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    May 16, 2023 9:11am
- Taieri
  
  who they represent – the people of Gore District or the CEO
  ————–
  
  Themselves?
  
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  May 16, 2023 8:57am
- tknorriss
  
  Judging by the petition that is running demanding that the CEO resign, the Ben Bell seems to have a lot of community support.
  
  So, perhaps he should start a “Give a little” page or similar for donations to fund legal action. Heck, I might even through in a few bucks.
  
  I can’t stand bullies.
  
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  May 16, 2023 9:47am
- peterwn
  
  See this RNZ item where the chair of the Mataura Community Board (the only Community Board in the Gore District) is very critical of the Council. She also sheds further light on things including the ‘meeting’ where the decision to try and shaft the Mayor was made. In particular she said:
  “It’s absolutely ridiculous,” she told RNZ today.
  “He was elected as a member to represent our community and he was voted in by the ratepayers of Gore. There’s absolutely no way he should be standing down or removed from committees.”
  
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  May 16, 2023 10:57am
  - peterwn
    
    Sorry, I omitted link to RNZ which is:
    https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/489959/council-staff-extremely-unprofessional-towards-gore-mayor-ben-bell-at-times-board-chair-says
    
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    May 16, 2023 11:06am
- Loddenthinks
  
  Like many people, I’m guessing, I watched the item on Sunday with an open mind and a belief that if Ben Bell was a dick it would become apparent fairly early on.
  
  I formed the opinion that Ben Bell is not a dick in the slightest, that he’s an earnest young man trying to do the best job he can for all of the Gore District, and that the CEO is a bully.
  
  If Bell sets up a GiveaLittle page I’ll certainly chip in a few bucks.
  
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  May 16, 2023 11:10am
  - Littletramp
    
    Re the Sunday program interview with Ben Bell – I was a bit concerned seeing the tilted head and frowny forehead.
    I’ve seen that recently somewhere else, and it generally implies FOS (full of . . . ), manipulative, virtue signalling.
    Just an impression -he may be fair dinkum.
    The only normal bloke apparent to me was the ex mayor.
    
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    May 16, 2023 12:10pm
    - peterwn
      
      As someone mentioned in ‘Spinoff’, what has the Mayor actually done that is wrong? The only thing he has apparently done wrong (as far as I can see) is get up the nose of the CEO who allegedly does not suffer fools gladly. But it is part of a council CEO’s job to suffer fools gladly when they are sitting around the Council table. Some Councillors claimed their mental health was being affected one week into the new Mayor’s mayoralty. If this is the case, the Mayor must have been an expert gaslighter and that is unbelievable. Seems to me that many of the councillors are being manipulated like puppets by a skilled puppeteer. Similarly with Internal Affairs officials except that it seems they have not fallen for it.
      
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      May 16, 2023 1:52pm
- peterwn
  
  Well, the meeting was a fantastic outcome for the Mayor! The vote of no confidence imploded and no councillor was prepared to move that the Mayor be removed from committees. The Mayor supported the proposal that assistance be sought from DIA and conceded that he should not be on the CEO Appraisal Committee if he was going to be regarded as a thorn in the side. Seems some of the councillors accepted they needed a wakeup call on this. The Mayor conducted himself with great dignity at that meeting. We would have strengthened his position significantly and hopefully people will think twice before trying to take him down again. Congratulations Ben!
  
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  May 16, 2023 4:18pm
  - Loddenthinks
    
    Excellent news, and outcome. Bell showing real maturity to step aside from a committee where he could’ve dug his toes in. Taking a step forward to meet them half-way is a great tactic and seems to have spiked the guns of some of the councillors.
    
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    May 16, 2023 4:35pm
krazykiwi

Sometimes life serves up an object lesson disguised as delicious karma. This is one such story.

In Toronto there is, or rather was, an “anti-capitalist cafe” called “The Anarchist”. From Zerohedge:

A Toronto cafe for anti-capitalists, “The Anarchist,” is permanently shuttering after just 12 months in business after following a “pay-when-you-can” business model.

The Anarchist describes itself as an “anti-capitalist, anti-colonial cafe, shop and radical community space on stolen land.”

“Unfortunately, the lack of generational wealth/seed capital from ethically bankrupt sources left me unable to weather the quiet winter season, or to grow in the ways needed to be sustainable longer-term,” the owner, Gabriel Sims-Fewer wrote last week. “It’s been an amazing experience, connecting with so many great community members, sparking desperately needed debate, raising the blood pressure of Conservatives (that includes you, “anarcho-capitalists” and “Libertarians”), fulfilling the dream of most service workers by not having to tolerate the presence of professional class-traitors (pigs and military), and experimenting with living and working in ways that don’t enthusiastically embrace the pure misanthropy of Capitalism,” he continued.

I try pretty hard to not take joy from the failings of others, but on this occasion the LAMO urge has been overwhelming. I’m up for suggestions on what innovative business Mr Sims-Fewer might try next. Christian counselling in Teheran? Concrete lifejackets? Exporting oil to Saudi? Allocution lessons for Ardern? A comedy channel for the woke?
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May 16, 2023 8:01am
- Gravelroad
  
  Communism only works for a few – they being the elites literally at the top of the food chain.
  
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  May 16, 2023 8:09am
  - sirknz
    
    As I keep arguing with a lefty friend of mine, communism doesn’t scale up beyond 200 people at best. It can work in a small group but having too many people, the lazy can hide and get away with doing nothing.
    
    He predictably goes on about the Rojava giving as good as they get and being a fantastic example for all societies. To which the only answer is “what happens when the western forces go away with their air support?”. Simple answer is, ten minutes later they are back in the stone age.
    
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    May 16, 2023 8:16am
  - kowtow
    
    Firmly kept entrenched there by a huge , oppressive security apparatus manned by “professional class-traitors (pigs and military)”
    
    My point being they’re like Tommy Atkins , very popular with these types , but only once they’re ensconced at the trough.
    
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    May 16, 2023 8:18am
    - Che Guava
      
      “Firmly kept entrenched there by a huge , oppressive security apparatus”
      
      Have you ever noticed that we live under capitalism and are subjected to the most extensive security state ever devised by man?
      
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      May 16, 2023 10:09am
      - kowtow
        
        I agree we are becoming very authoritarian and increasingly so.
        
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        May 16, 2023 10:53am
      - Che Guava
        
        I saw an article recently referencing “non-regular ideologies.” This implies a “regular ideology” which is a feature of totalitarian societies. We can’t legitimately call ourselves a free and open society when there is an acceptable and unacceptable view. The former doesn’t even have to be a majority view (and it usually isn’t), it is just the view that is imposed and enforced from the top via the institutions. Notions like “hate speech” are just tools of ideological maintanance.
        
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        May 16, 2023 11:09am
      - Loddenthinks
        
        “Live under capitalism” what does that mean, exactly, and what makes you think we are subject to “the most extensive security state ever devised by man”? It sounds quite dreadful, and yet I’ve managed to build a life that meets my needs, and – other than the disastrous descent into authoritarianism this government rapidly embraced and is proving very reluctant to let go of – I’m able to go about my business with not the slightest let or hindrance, here or internationally.
        
        If this is what “living under capitalism” (the system that has lifted many billions out of poverty and continues to do so) and being free to go out my business means, then I’m all for it!
        
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        May 16, 2023 11:16am
      - the deity formerly known as nigel6888
        
        Except we don’t live under capitalism. We live under corporatism. Entirely different, and ultimately with spiffier uniforms! Plus you get a strange fascination with trains thrown in!
        
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        May 16, 2023 12:14pm
      - stiff cheese
        
        I favour the term Crony Capitalism.
        
        As long as NZ is governed by a kind of UniParty, a lot of its Donors don’t mind too much which party is sitting to The Speaker’s right. Their dream is Cheap Money forever FOR THEM — created by a mere bookkeeping entry in the Banking System — so they can buy up an ever growing share of NZ’s productive assets.
        
        That’s why their godhead, the WEF, is softening us up for our Brave New World Future — a future where a few people own everything. “But don’t worry!” cos we’ll rent to you what you need .. “It’s gonna be great. No you won’t be a serf, trust us .. In fact, please don’t notice it’s happening”.
        
        The latest distraction for the ‘little people’ is so-called ‘trans rights’. Get them talking about that at election time, so they can imagine their vote REALLY matters.
        
        They don’t want you asking about the general prosperity of our own people, and why we’re always lagging behind other nations i.e. the nations we like to compare ourselves with, in the OECD. In fact, we’re slipping further and further down the rankings. Productivity-wise, we’re a perennial loser and there’s no sign of improvement.
        
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        May 16, 2023 1:32pm
  - Odakyu-sen
    
    “Under Communism, it is every man for himself.”
    
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    May 16, 2023 8:45am
  - Stellaboxer
    
    Joe Strummer when questioned on his return from a trip to the Soviet Union about what he thought of it said that it wasn’t much different to home only far fewer people driving the big cars.
    
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    May 16, 2023 9:42am
  - mogg
    
    Communism was the original pyramid scheme.
    
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    May 16, 2023 10:15am
  - Che Guava
    
    People paying for the coffee they receive under a system of voluntary exchange isn’t capitalism – it is the free market. We need to stop conflating the two and living under a 19th or 20th century binary of “if it’s not capitalism, it’s communism” and vice versa.
    
    Capitalism is, to simplify the matter, usury, a financialised economy on a massive scale and printing money out of thin air. Just as you had a protected elite who manipulated the system under Communism, so too is this true of capitalism. The cheerleaders for capitalism are really not much different than those dupes who believed the “workers of the world unite” con-job that underlied communism.
    
    Capitalism if exemplified by behemoths like Black Rock, Vanguard and other such vipers, rather than small coffee shops.
    
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    May 16, 2023 10:17am
    - Loddenthinks
      
      “Capitalism is, to simplify the matter, usury” haha, nice one comrade. You can skip re-education classes today.
      
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      May 16, 2023 11:19am
    - stiff cheese
      
      Wasn’t the term Capitalism coined by Marx? That’s reason enough to reject it. Why be defined by your enemy?
      
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      May 16, 2023 1:41pm
    - alphabeatrium
      
      Strange definition of usury… I thought that was simply interest on a loan? Christians took issue with it (Muslims still do) until we realised that there is an opportunity cost when you lend money and that actually it’s reasonable to be compensated for it. (“Usury” was then redefined within mainstream Christendom to be “excessive interest”, à la loan sharks.)
      
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      May 16, 2023 10:51pm
- sirknz
  
  You love to see it.
  
  Who knew that any business needs capital and paying customers to survive and grow?
  
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  May 16, 2023 8:10am
- Blog-aholic
  
  Delusion comes in many forms. What exactly is “generational wealth/seed capital from ethically bankrupt sources”
  Sounds like people with money to ‘shop’ were just staying away……
  
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  May 16, 2023 8:19am
  - ClanMcleod
    
    Yup – ‘shoppers’ would have covered it more than adequately.
    
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    May 16, 2023 8:43am
    - Opie
      
      What he is really trying to say is that the government hasn’t given enough taxpayers money to allow him to buy the stuff he is selling to people that can’t pay for it because they are too lazy/drug dependant/stupid.
      
      Can you really be that stupid to open a pay when you can business? I guess so…
      
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      May 16, 2023 9:21am
  - Loddenthinks
    
    What it means is he ran out of other people’s money.
    
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    May 16, 2023 11:22am
  - the deity formerly known as nigel6888
    
    whereas there were plenty of deadbeat grifters prepared to drink free coffee somewhere warm….
    
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    May 16, 2023 12:16pm
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  Gabriel Sims-Fewer has made a serious mistake of judging human nature. An expensive mistake. Has she learnt anything, or will she do it again?
  
  A comedy channel for the woke. Love it!
  
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  May 16, 2023 8:32am
  - Loddenthinks
    
    Gabriel is a man – pretty common name in Toronto. If he was a she it would be Gabrielle.
    
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    May 16, 2023 11:24am
    - Steve Otto(North Shore)
      
      I found the ‘he’ bit. I just assumed a female.
      
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      May 16, 2023 11:55am
- Lee C
  
  Great contribution as always kk. Just one point of order, did you misspell ‘Electrocution’?
  
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  May 16, 2023 9:29am
  - Steve Otto(North Shore)
    
    Terrible typo.
    
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    May 16, 2023 9:42am
- Dave
  
  allocution
  
  noun
  
  1) A formal and authoritative speech; an address.
  2) A statement that is made by a defendant before a sentence is pronounced.
  3) A speaking to; an address, especially a formal address.
  
  Always interesting to encounter a word whose precise meaning is unfamiliar; meaning #2 is tempting, but is ‘allocution’ here a homophonic error?
  
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  May 16, 2023 9:58am
  - rouppe
    
    I had assumed he meant “elocution”.
    
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    May 16, 2023 12:37pm
Yvette

For past wrongs?

California’s Reparations Task Force voted on Saturday to recommend that the state issue a formal apology for slavery and potentially provide billions of dollars in cash payments, moving forward a historic effort to enact remedies and compensation for descendants of African Americans who were enslaved in the U.S.
The vote at a public meeting in Oakland marks the beginning of the end of the nine-member panel’s two-year process to craft a report recommending reparations for slavery, which is due to the state Legislature by July 1.

and from further down the article –

…The amounts each individual receives would be determined by the number of years they have resided in California for a minimum of six months. The money would be given to every eligible recipient and no one would need to provide proof that they suffered individual harms in each category.
• Compensation for health disparities: $13,619 for each year of residency. This figure was derived by comparing life expectancy between Black non-Hispanic and white non-Hispanic Californians.
• Compensation for mass incarceration and over-policing of African Americans: $2,352 for each year of residency in California during the war on drugs from 1971 to 2020.
• Compensation for housing discrimination: $3,366 for each year between 1933 and 1977 spent as a resident of the state of California.
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-05-06/californias-reparations-task-force-recommendations-heres-what-you-need-to-know – free access, non-subscription

Another source (NYT) would suggest the cost of such reparations for slavery could be US$ 3 trillion –give or take a few dollars

In California it has been asked “in a state where slavery didn’t exist, will people who never owned slaves be happy to pay reparation to people who never were slaves?” (I am sorry at my age I don’t have faculties or facilities to fact check that – it is too complicated)
But if, for other reasons as well, these slavery reparations don’t go ahead, will it leave a massive ethnic group less satisfied with what they believe their status in life should be, than it in fact is?

And, as with the overturning of Roe v Wade, Abortion as a right was seen as the issue, rather than whether that right was in the Constitution, here Abortion was also hammered again, not any veracity check in looking at our supposed founding document, the Treaty of Waitangi.

Likewise does Californian considerations of reparation to slave descendants have any implications for New Zealand?
Does kindling aspirations, which are to become embers, leave certain groups less better off than where they psychologically were?
To be more precise: Does Labour policy, for example, that suggests Maori own water, or legislation – already passed into law – that establishes Mana o te Wai Statements (exclusive to Maori) gives them power to act as if they do in reality own water, but are then withdrawn by a National coalition, to leave Maori Elite and their followers to feel as entitled, but then deprived, as any Californian with ancestors who were slaves?
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May 16, 2023 8:03am
- ClanMcleod
  
  The only place that moronic ideas like this leads is to race wars, misery, death and the economic devastation that accompanies these stupid, stupid notions.
  
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  May 16, 2023 8:45am
  - Yvette
    
    ClanMcleod
    You put perhaps more bluntly the sentiments that I was thinking of – Labour part implementing a promising proposition and then it being withdrawn will only increase perceived Maori misery.
    
    As my Mum used to predict of certain activities – “It will only end in tears”
    
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    May 16, 2023 9:07am
- herb1
  
  If they are genuine in attempting to put a price on the losses to the Black population of their slavery, they need to subtract the benefits.
  A good starting point is the position, they or their descendants would be if they remained in their country of birth.
  Any quick glance at the state of the main countries of origin would indicate ,it’s most likely the descendants of slaves are in a far better position, than they would be if they remained in the country of their ancestors
  
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  May 16, 2023 8:53am
- krazykiwi
  
  If members of the California’s Reparations Task Force are wracked with guilt for the alleged sins of their forefathers then they should self flagellate rather than giving away other people’s money.
  
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  May 16, 2023 9:03am
- Tom Hunter
  
  For decades the phrase was that California is the future of America, and for a long time that seemed to be true (think of the great opening scenes and monologue of LA Confidential, even laced with cynicism as they were.
  
  But I can’t think of any aspect of that State in the last twenty years, not even the second Silicon Valley Tech Boom, that could be said to be America’s future – or at least a desirable, safe, clean, prosperous, happy future.
  
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  May 16, 2023 9:07am
  - waikatosinger
    
    One might argue that California still is the future of America. Unfortunately. I really hope that isn’t true.
    
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    May 16, 2023 10:43am
  - virtualmark
    
    When you do business with the Silicon Valley tech firms you find that less than half the people there are Americans. The majority are immigrants, many from Europe.
    
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    May 16, 2023 1:43pm
- Yvette
  
  Of course the whole California “reparations for slavery proposition” may be to relieve “white” people of their perceived guil – their emancipation.`
  
  And if one seeks out the real root of the problem, how much should some ethic groups get for tribal warfare, slavery, cannibalism and indiscriminate population policies resulting in famine, driving their ancestors to flee Hawaiki to intemperate islands thousands of miles away, to be forever plagued by land-long white cloud?
  
  Or being on the wrong side of Hadrian’s Wall when it was built, or being forced in slavery to actually build it so it would then keep you out, or being cast as slaves into Egypt or the same bloody disaster happening again in Babylon?
  
  How much is too much – and why even start
  Rather that targeting help to those who need it – now
  
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  May 16, 2023 9:46am
- Local Miller
  
  My understanding is that Governor Newsome has already vetoed the reparations proposal, so no one’s getting any money.
  Now everyone in California is unhappy. Those who had money and were against the reparations have left, those without money but weren’t in line for reparations are unhappy because of the waste of the Task Force. But most of all, those who have been waiting with baited breath for their money are now “missing out”.
  So sad//
  
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  May 16, 2023 9:51am
  - Matt Long
    
    Yesterday Newsome said reparations could include money.
    What was grown in the plantations in California? Cotton, tea, sugar cane? Virtue signaling welfare crime drug plantations?
    
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    May 16, 2023 10:21am
  - rangitoto
    
    ‘bated breath’
    
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    May 16, 2023 11:22am
- Che Guava
  
  The ancestors of slaves got to live in America rather than Africa. Any reparations due have been paid many times over. If they really want reparations, then a condition should be repatriation back “home” to Africa.
  
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  May 16, 2023 10:23am
  - kowtow
    
    It would be interesting if some academic did a survey of attitudes in Liberia asking the descendants of the repatriated slaves if they wished their forefathers had opted to stay in the US of A instead of returning “home”.
    
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    May 16, 2023 10:51am
- Ghost
  
  Just to add to this stupidity
  
  https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.cnn.com/cnn/2023/05/14/us/oakland-teachers-union-agreement-strike/index.html
  
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  May 16, 2023 10:26am
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  Nobody should be responsible for their ancestors actions.
  
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  May 16, 2023 12:02pm
- the deity formerly known as nigel6888
  
  Well speaking as a Trans-black lesbian, I am looking forward to my reparations!
  
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  May 16, 2023 12:17pm
  - Steve Otto(North Shore)
    
    Your Great, Great, Grandpa would sort you out in no time!//
    
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    May 16, 2023 4:31pm
Souvlaki

Does anyone know when Lawn Mower entrepreneur ,Karel Sroubek’s judicial appeal against his deportation order is scheduled?
Post election I imagine….
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May 16, 2023 8:07am
- G the giant from Dunedin
  
  Not sure, but I do know the well known NZ identity who was caught importing a large amount of drugs on a fishing boat through Fiji, was up in early May this year, everything has been very quiet, the only possible thing is an delay, in which case would media not say it’s delayed
  
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  May 16, 2023 8:11am
- grumpy
  
  A good point, all those houses being moved around the country need their lawns mown…..
  
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  May 16, 2023 8:14am
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  I know exactly who to ask – but I like it here.
  
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  May 16, 2023 8:34am
- RoboRob
  
  What about Kim Dotcom? If I recall correctly his appeal was turned down in Jan last year and the only remaining way of staying was another appear of Ministerial action. As far as I can tell neither have occured yet here he is a year later. The wheels of justice in NZ roll far to slowly. His extration started in 2015, 8 years ago.
  
  Wikipedia (for what its worth)
  On 4 November 2020, the Supreme Court of New Zealand ruled that Dotcom could be extradited to the United States to face 12 criminal copyright-related charges. However, the Supreme Court also ruled that he and three other co-defendants could challenge the decision through a judicial review. In addition, the Supreme Court ruled that the High Court and Court of Appeal had been wrong not to consider their application for a judicial review of the original district court decision in 2015 that had first ruled in favour of extradition. Dotcom’s lawyer Ron Mansfield described the judgment as a “mixed bag”, stating that the Supreme Court had accepted there were “serious procedural issues” while warning that the Court’s rejection of Megaupload’s “safe harbour” defence would have “an immediate and chilling impact” on the Internet.[12][134]
  
  As of May 2022, Dotcom continued fighting his extradition, with no end to the legal battle in sight.[135]
  
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  May 16, 2023 9:05am
  - Maggie Pie
    
    The difference is of course, KDC is an asset to this country….and those in the know know it.
    
    Why would we want to get rid of someone like Kim and his wonderful family who contribute sooo much?
    
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    May 16, 2023 10:03am
    - RoboRob
      
      I hope you forgot the tags?
      
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      May 16, 2023 10:44am
      - RoboRob
        
        That was supposed to say
        
        I hope you forgot the ‘sarc’ tags.
        
        I am not doing well today 🙂
        
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        May 16, 2023 11:23am
tedbear

I hear Labour have announced they’ll build 300 new classrooms but I can’t find when the work starts.
Presumably it’ll be after the 100,000th affordable home rolls off the assembly line which based on their current progress, won’t be before the year 2313.

But in reality we don’t need any new classrooms. 40% of children don’t go to school so we already have 300 empty classrooms.
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May 16, 2023 8:07am
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  Oxymoron? Work does not start under Labour, but they talk a lot.
  
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  May 16, 2023 8:42am
  - Keith White
    
    Well, while those in charge are hypoxic morons, all we get for our taxpayer dollars are oxymorons 🙁
    
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    May 16, 2023 9:04am
    - Steve Otto(North Shore)
      
      I had to use the google machine for that, and it ir probably true. I best have a long think.
      
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      May 16, 2023 4:35pm
- G the giant from Dunedin
  
  But but but, it’s all costed, but Nats policies that would bd using the same money not costed you know. Pretty sure Nats and ACT will spend that extra 1 billion a week and have plenty left over
  
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  May 16, 2023 8:43am
- G the giant from Dunedin
  
  If classroom’s are so empty, what are they wasting the money on
  
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  May 16, 2023 8:44am
- nathie
  
  The key word there is “announced” … as in probably yet another Labour announcement of an announcement but not much likely to happen (apart from a token classroom or two to allow Labour to turn up and cut the ribbon for the adoring media circus)!
  
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  May 16, 2023 8:54am
- redeye
  
  HDPA sums it up nicely.
  https://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/on-air/heather-du-plessis-allan-drive/opinion/heather-du-plessis-allan-do-you-believe-grant-robertson/
  
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  May 16, 2023 8:55am
- RoboRob
  
  I dont think that annoucement is ‘real’. I think what they are annoucing is the MOEs standard build program and pretending its something that wouldn’t have happened under any government.
  
  The MOE builds new schools, classes and does maintence (hopefully) as required. As far as I can tell they didn’t announce a one of additional boost for MOE or even a major general budget increase. They are just keeping up with inflation.
  
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  May 16, 2023 9:09am
  - RoboRob
    
    I meant ‘… pretending its not something that would have happened under any government’.
    
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    May 16, 2023 9:49am
- G152
  
  And dont forget the billion trees to add to the slash
  
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  May 16, 2023 9:16am
  - kowtow
    
    Bullion trees.
    
    For the Elites.
    
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    May 16, 2023 9:30am
  - stiff cheese
    
    And don’t forget the 82 ‘Truancy Officers’ (after funding given for all, only one delivered). They’re not what you and I would call a Truancy Officer.
    
    As one Principal has complained, they won’t even be collaring kids in the street, or visiting their homes to drag them back to school, which is what she actually wants.
    
    Instead, the Officers are going to be desk-bound, looking at data, trying to identify pupils on the verge of dropping out, and then planning to intercede before they drop out for good.
    
    The permanent dropouts? They won’t be chasing THEM.
    
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    May 16, 2023 2:06pm
- sirknz
  
  Have any of the media folks asked where the teachers are coming from to staff these new classrooms given that we currently have kids staying home at least one day a week?
  
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  May 16, 2023 9:41am
- geoff3012
  
  How many of these classrooms were part of already planned normal new/reconstructed assets due to replacement and growth in the roll…..maybe next they will announce a new motorway from Auckland to Hamilton…….
  
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  May 16, 2023 10:31am
- Paulus
  
  I assume that they include the new Brookfield, Otumoetai, Tauranga Kura, – not a Primary School any more, which is enormous and should be ready for next year.
  Three stories in huge blocks and a huge Whare block for kapa haka= where do enough children come from ?, as the current School 200 metres away will remain for whom……….
  There is a large Maori only Secondary school not far away in Bethlehem.
  So !
  
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  May 16, 2023 11:28am
Simon

https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2023/05/read-and-watch-national-leader-christopher-luxon-s-full-pre-budget-speech.html

Read through this utter garbage. Chicken shit National party promise the manage the failure of big govt better than Labo. National fully supported Labo covid economic policies. Now the foolishness is apparent to even National suddenly National is against policies it used to support.

Looks like the 100,000 pa people National are going to bring “to control inflation” will be from India.

This is National inflation / economic plan. 100,000 new people pa will create demand for housing and other services but that will not cause inflation. Mad as a fucking meat axe.
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May 16, 2023 8:13am
- Captain Mainwaring
  
  Simon, your closing sentence described you very well.
  
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  May 16, 2023 10:19am
- Che Guava
  
  They’ve got to keep the Ponzi scheme going, just like every other government does. More affordable housing and a less-competitive job market would be disastrous for the Boomers.
  
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  May 16, 2023 10:36am
- RoboRob
  
  FFS enough with the ‘immigration pushes up house prices BS’. Labour proved it was BS. They closed the f@3king country for more than 2 years. Pretty much zero immigration, actually net migration at some points. What happened during that time…..
  Largest house price / rental price jumps in history. Would the anti immigration people pull your heads in and go and find another way to bash immigrants.
  
  What is / was pushing up house prices…
  1) Super low interest rates and printing money
  2) Massive overhead costs for developers (govt contributions, incredibly slow permitting, over the top rules etc)
  3) Underspend on infrastructure for decades by local govt.
  4) Monopoly on materials supply (Fletchers) and govt agencies specifying / mandating Fletchers products.
  5) Shipping delays and costs. Everything is slow to move and incredibly expensive to ship in NZ.
  
  Yes immigration increases demand for housing. It also helps offset skills shortages in labour and related supply side areas. The actual impact is likely fairly minimal.
  
  Again. We have seen a government that believe immigration was the issue restrict immigration to near zero and we have seen the issue worsen.
  
  NZ has a paltry 5m people trying to pay for infrastructure and services on a relatively large land mass. Our tiny population pushes up prices as we don’t get the economy of scale that other parts of the world enjoy. When we build a infrastructure our costs are high, the number of beneficiaries is relatively low and the number of people paying is low. NZ would have better roads and infrastructure in general if our population was significantly larger.
  
  Most people don’t want this.
  
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  May 16, 2023 11:04am
All_on_Red

So what happened to the ‘500,000’ more Soldiers Russia was supposed to have recruited?
And where’s the equipment. A T54 against a Challenger or Abrams? Lol
Say, you don’t think the Military leadership could be corrupt and they have been lying to Putin whilst they steal all the funding.
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May 16, 2023 8:17am
- virtualmark
  
  But some General somewhere is collecting 500,000 new salaries …
  
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  May 16, 2023 8:35am
  - Steve Otto(North Shore)
    
    Uptick for you. So much unseen trousering going on.
    
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    May 16, 2023 8:45am
- Tom Hunter
  
  I explored the idea of whether the invasion would be Russia’s Verdun or Tannenberg and opted for the latter after seeing this video a few weeks ago of T-54/55 tanks on railcars heading for Ukraine:
  
  T-54/55’s? AFKM? They’re fifty years and three generations out of date. But perhaps the important point here is that if you are going to fight a defensive battle then they’re good enough as close-in artillery support in fixed, hull-down positions. The same goes for those 300,000 conscripts: you don’t need skill in combined arms to fight from a fixed fortification.
  
  Which does sound like Verdun – but I don’t think Ukraine will play the attrition game.
  
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  May 16, 2023 9:18am
  - the deity formerly known as nigel6888
    
    I think Ukraine lost an awful lot of its new western munitions the other day. The blast recorded 3.4 on the Richter scale, and apparently included UK depleted uranium rounds, given radiation levels have spiked. Apparently 200m Euros of munitions gone boom.
    
    bugger.
    
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    May 16, 2023 12:27pm
    - Tom Hunter
      
      … and apparently included UK depleted uranium rounds, given radiation levels have spiked.
      
      One of the many disappointing aspects of this debate is to see things being re-hashed after having had the anti-Gulf War Left push them in the 1990’s. I lost track of how many times I had to argue with this Pilgeresque bullshit here on KB over a decade ago.
      
      First up, depleted Uranium means it’s been depleted of U-235 in extracting that isotope for use in power stations. What you’re left with is U-238, which is vastly less radioactive given its half-life of 4.468 billion years.
      
      Second, they’re solid pieces of metal that don’t turn to dust and just float through the air. One of the arguments made originally in the 1990’s was that they’d caused “cancer clusters” but that relied upon a theoretical combination of the shell virtually vapourising after penetrating armor, then burning, then escaping in a cloud.
      
      Cancer clusters appear all the time around the world and people are always trying to link them to something obviously. I’m not aware that any of the 1990/92 Gulf War claims or the Iraq War claims ever amounted to anything approaching evidence, let alone proof.
      
      Finally, there’s the fact that there are a number of ex-serviceman (37 from memory) living their lives with fragments of depleted uranium in their bodies that have never been removed because the surgery was judged to be higher risk!!!!
      
      But it’s 2023 and now there are new wars and new good/bad guys for which the same crap arguments are being made.
      
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      May 16, 2023 12:53pm
      - the deity formerly known as nigel6888
        
        https://www.businessinsider.com/watch-4-russian-drones-cause-huge-explosions-fireball-ukraine-city-2023-5
        
        OK, whatever, I don’t have a dog in this fight – but the size of that explosion is capable of vaporising a fair bit of stuff I would have thought.
        
        https://newindian.in/gamma-radiation-spikes-as-explosions-rock-munitions-depot-in-ukraine/
        
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        May 16, 2023 3:56pm
- Grunter
  
  If you are correct – and maybe you are – then that just means Putin and/or his hard liners in the back office are even closer to his last resort scenario. I’m not sure why that’s a good thing?
  
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  May 16, 2023 9:28am
  - Che Guava
    
    TV says we need all-out war. Sorry, TV is always right. Nuclear war is the only thing protection Our Freedom to be Trans and such like. Thinking for yourself is a sign of Russian disinformation.
    
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    May 16, 2023 10:37am
Maggie Pie

Can you believe this?

‘Sports Illustrated 2023 Swimsuit Edition’….

features a biological man on the front cover with FAKE TITS!

https://twitter.com/SI_Swimsuit/status/1658096139827298304
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May 16, 2023 8:24am
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  I don’t think the top piece will stay in place if you get hit by a wave.
  
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  May 16, 2023 8:30am
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  Comments – Austin Powers!
  
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  May 16, 2023 8:36am
  - Maggie Pie
    
    And see THE SUN reporting it had a dictodectomy at 16!!
    
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    May 16, 2023 8:41am
- RoboRob
  
  I’m sure that will help boost their sales. Busy doing a Budweiser>
  
  The swimsuit addition is thier biggest selling. Hint, its to men who like to look at hot woman. Putting a guy on the front aint a great way to appeal to your market 🙂
  
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  May 16, 2023 9:11am
- Ghost
  
  Isn’t having fake tits part of getting the swimsuit edition job?
  
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  May 16, 2023 9:29am
- virtualmark
  
  Each year they have several covers. Martha Stewart (81yo) is on one of the other ones this year.
  
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  May 16, 2023 11:15am
- Loddenthinks
  
  In an effort to not leave out anyone, and which ironically will turn millions off, SI is doing 4 “Covers” for this year’s swimsuit edition.
  
  One of them is Martha Stewart, who’s 81 but doesn’t look a day over 79. She still looks 1,000 times more attractive than the bloke MP referred to.
  
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  May 16, 2023 11:42am
Tony Stuart

Despite widespread media speculation as to his leadership, Christopher Luxon looked very assured and prime ministerial in delivering his pre-budget speech in Auckland yesterday. You can watch the full speech here:

https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2023/05/read-and-watch-national-leader-christopher-luxon-s-full-pre-budget-speech.html
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May 16, 2023 8:26am
- G the giant from Dunedin
  
  Exactly, they even had an article saying the right are in disharmony, after Seymour mouthed off at Nats again, not a good way for him to try and get my party vote back
  
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  May 16, 2023 8:28am
- G the giant from Dunedin
  
  Another thing, they are saying his PM figures are at 16% behind Collins at the last election, if my memory serves me right, she was at 6% are they straight out lying now? Funny isn’t it, that Hipkins is only at 23% and I would have thought that was more the problem, but they had the cheek to say Hipkins was up 3%, seeing Newshub have not polled this year, I find this hard to believe, unless they like one news chose not to release a previous poll
  
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  May 16, 2023 8:32am
  - Steve Otto(North Shore)
    
    Straight out lying?
    Never.
    
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    May 16, 2023 8:54am
  - nathie
    
    DPF on HDPA’s “huddle” yesterday – apparently Hipkins support levels might seem high (as per the MSM narrative) but they are in fact way lower than previous Prime Ministers.
    
    Funny how the MSM don’t talk about that (like they do with Luxon etc) and call for new Labour leaders to replace Hipkins due to his “lower” popularity levels!
    
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    May 16, 2023 8:59am
    - kowtow
      
      Not funny at all.
      
      Te Media pardy are doing the job they were/are paid for by acting as the regime PR dept.
      
      Literally.
      
      Our democracy is in very great danger , directly because of the regime antics of paying the media and the media accepting said payments and the attached contractual arrangements.
      
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      May 16, 2023 9:25am
      - Che Guava
        
        Who do you think runs mass popular media? It’s either a state (in New Zealand’s case), or by private interests who control the state (in the case of, say, America). Therefore, nothing you see or hear on “the news” is in any way objective or unbiased, but invariably serves to shape the opinions, and therefore the actions, or its consumers, in service of an agenda that suits them. This completely undermines the idea of a democracy in which individuals with agency make free rational decisions. What we call “democracy” is as manipulated and regulated as any other system.
        
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        May 16, 2023 10:54am
  - RoboRob
    
    Not unusual for the opposition leader to be low in the polls. It is very unusual for a relatively new sitting PM however.
    
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    May 16, 2023 9:13am
  - Grumpy Silver Haired Female
    
    Familiar with the phrase “lies, damn lies and statistics”?
    Opt-in polls aren’t statistically valid, no no no! Nor are polls of 500 people representative of the population. Our ill-educated press (they are not journalists) have no critical faculties and parrot the press releases fed to them. They are the greatest weapon of the red faction.
    
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    May 16, 2023 9:31am
- Hugh Jarse
  
  Thanks Tony, I have heard Luxon speak and he speaks well, off the cuff, no notes and is engaging.
  An interesting revelation (well for me anyway) this morning by Mike Hosking, the three main polling companies in NZ use a varying degree of volunteer for their polls, I think the split was TV1 – 50%, TV3 – 30% and Curia – 20%. So varying degrees of randomness. Roy Morgan is totally random. Take from that what you will.
  
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  May 16, 2023 8:39am
  - Dougal10
    
    They are only random as they want to be , often after a few questions you are told that enough people in you age bracket or area of nz have already answered and it ends there .
    
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    May 16, 2023 10:33am
  - jon
    
    Glad you raised that Hugh about the panel/volunteer component of these polls. What i d like to know do the results from these online panels, mirror the random component results. I m somewhat suspicious, rightly or wrongly of these panels. I believe the polling companies should give us a breakdown of the two sets of figures.
    
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    May 16, 2023 5:47pm
- Loddenthinks
  
  “…widespread media speculation…”
  
  You spelled “relentless hatchet-jobs” wrong.
  
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  May 16, 2023 12:26pm
- leoj
  
  [Mod – people are fee to express their views here every day without accusations of being paid to do so, including you]
  
  The one thing that is assured is that Luxon and the Nats cannot break through the 35% barrier.
  
  Seymour’s announcement had way more guts to it.
  
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  May 16, 2023 1:31pm
  - Loddenthinks
    
    “fee” to express their views – Freudian slip? 🙂
    
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    May 16, 2023 4:37pm
ClanMcleod

This is the first of a two-part discussion by a consultant surgeon of the damage done by the government’s irrational Covid policies.

A superb read.

Non-maleficence is often described by the Latin phrase Primum non nocere, which means ‘first, do no harm’. Given an existing problem, it may be better not to do something, or to do nothing, than to risk causing more harm than good. It prompts vigilance as to the possible harm that any intervention might do. That is why alarm bells rang for me in late spring 2020 when there was much discussion about how vaccines would get us out of the pandemic. Never before had we been able to produce a vaccine for a coronavirus (one of the common cold viruses) due to their high rate of mutation. Drug development is a notoriously long drawn-out affair taking roughly a decade to complete multiple key safety steps, each of which must be passed to progress to the next. First, preclinical drug trials when the drugs are tested using computer models and human cells grown in the laboratory. In these studies researchers determine the following information about the drug: its absorption, biodistribution, metabolisation and excretion. Next, animal trials. Finally come the human clinical trials.

https://www.conservativewoman.co.uk/covid-the-destruction-of-medical-ethics-and-trust-in-the-medical-profession/
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May 16, 2023 8:28am
Suze Wainwright

Listening to Hosking this morning, I had no idea that 50% of Kantar and 30% of Reid Research respondents were ‘opt in’.

So even with 1,000 respondents, if 50% and 30% of them have opted in to do the poll, it makes you wonder slightly about the figures obtained
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May 16, 2023 8:28am
- G the giant from Dunedin
  
  Yes, snd that’s the problem, opt inners will definitely be lefties, all though I did a poll for that other on line pollster, it was opt in, told them I voted Labour last time but not this time(jokes about voting labour last time)
  
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  May 16, 2023 8:48am
- G152
  
  If you do their poll to their satisfaction bingo
  
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  May 16, 2023 9:19am
  - G the giant from Dunedin
    
    Nope, they were clear and precise questions
    
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    May 16, 2023 10:54am
- Ehlana
  
  What does that mean? Surely anyone who is called by a pollster and agrees to answer the questions is, by definition, opting in. It’s not like they can force you to answer – you just hang up if you don’t want to be in it.
  
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  May 16, 2023 4:40pm
- Surely Knott
  
  Here’s the reid research panel you can join. It’s very intrusive questions. It’s also not anonymous. You have to give your personal details, name, birth, address, income, cars, kids, who you bank with, your credit cards. It’s a very skewed demographic of people who would be willing and interested in filling out surveys for the chance to win money. Definitely labour voters/ greens 🤣😂
  
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  May 17, 2023 9:22am
Jmac

Israel Adesanya’s ex-girlfriend is reportedly trying to sue him in NZ for half his fortune. Not married, no children. Not sure how long they were together for.

It always surprises me how little press Adesanya gets in NZ. He’s far and away our most well known sportsman these days. Staunch critic of the Ardern government and some sportswriters.
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May 16, 2023 8:31am
- G the giant from Dunedin
  
  He will be canceled because lefties will presume violence
  
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  May 16, 2023 8:49am
- sirknz
  
  Sounds like it was long enough to trigger the de facto marriage laws.
  
  It looks like she dipped out before he hit the big time and now she wants a payday on half his earnings after that.
  
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  May 16, 2023 10:33am
- Tony Stuart
  
  The Stylebender is a Whanganui boy. He lived here prior to moving to Auckland and his parents live and work here. A couple of years ago he build a block of five townhouses close to town as an investment. He’s a good bastard who doesn’t mince his words or pull any punches.
  
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  May 16, 2023 10:59am
- NeverMindTheBollocks
  
  Well, the media luvvies love Israel.
  
  I have to say, I’m shocked how much adulation there is for someone whose skill is to beat the living shit out of his (or her) opponent.
  
  If two men were to do exactly the same thing outside a pub, never mind they both consented to fight, if one was struck to the ground & struck some more, assault charges would certainly follow.
  
  Not to mention the widespread public concern about brain damage.
  
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  May 16, 2023 8:23pm
Nickc2

Hipkins has just received a ninth Dan to his Black Belt in Obfuscation as a result of his underwhelming performance on Talkback ZB with Mike Hosking this morning.
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May 16, 2023 8:32am
- G the giant from Dunedin
  
  He is always underwhelming, his weak gutless attempt to tell TPM careful what policies you wish for, then the pathetic response to Luxons speech yesterday saying what a waste of money, greet to see Bats last night put up an ad saying on Labour would see success snd accountability as a waste of money, with Hipkins dorky face in tow
  
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  May 16, 2023 8:55am
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  He was taught by an expert.
  Wait until we get to the lies by omission bit.
  
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  May 16, 2023 9:07am
- My
  
  Yeah, that was hilarious. I stayed in the car an extra few minutes to listen to it:
  Mike – What do you see in your economy that is driving inflation down.
  Chris – Oh we have certainly seen food prices in particular have elevated in recent times and we are still seeing that..
  duh..
  
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  May 16, 2023 9:19am
  - Steve Otto(North Shore)
    
    That’s a Jaspinda answer.
    
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    May 16, 2023 9:55am
- mandk
  
  Yes, Hipkins claimed that inflation is on a downward trend. But all we have had is a single data point that is lower than the previous data point.
  
  But I will hand it to him – he is a masterful blusterer.
  
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  May 16, 2023 9:49am
- Burtland
  
  yeah Ingrid Hipkiss cornered him on Morning Report this morning – it was looking like it might become a bloodbath but she let him off the hook
  
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  May 16, 2023 10:14am
krazykiwi

Our leaders are either complicit in this (Labour) or asleep at the Wheel (National, ACT).

The World Council for Health officially puts British MPs on notice that it is not acceptable to transfer any decision-making powers reserved for democratic institutions to an unelected, unaccountable supranational body like the WHO.

Next week, your MPs will receive

1- a full 45-page policy brief document called Rejecting Monopoly Power over Global Public Health prepared by political and legal experts,

2- a 7-page summary of the policy brief,

3- a cover letter highlighting the issues with the proposed amendments to the International Health Regulations (IHR) and/or the WHO Pandemic Accord concerning sovereignty, censorship, surveillance, gain-of-function research, and more,

4- a copy of the WHO’s Article-by-Article Compilation of Proposed Amendments to the IHR. MPs can no longer say they did not know.

Just so you know, the proposed amendment (WHO 2023a:3) of Article 3 Principles, strikes out ‘full respect for the dignity, human rights and fundamental freedoms of persons’ and replaces it with a banality referring to equity and inclusivity, which is basically just bla bla – word salad to make it sound like people will actually have rights… when they won’t.
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May 16, 2023 8:34am
- G the giant from Dunedin
  
  Luxon has stated before that the UN does not run this country, you may well be surprised if he becomes pm
  
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  May 16, 2023 8:50am
  - krazykiwi
    
    That good to hear. We will need more than statements though because come October 2023 the period during which New Zealand can formally withdraw concludes and we become ‘bound’.
    
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    May 16, 2023 10:28am
- Blog-aholic
  
  The WHO Pandemic thing is simply a massive coup and any sovereign countries politician that signs up to it literally should be burnt in effigy and run out of town. It is quite literally the complete opposite of human rights.
  
  18 1
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  May 16, 2023 8:53am
- ClanMcleod
  
  The WHO needs disbanded and urgently. It’s not fit for purpose, hasn’t been for quite some time.
  Mind you, the same could be said for Medsafe in NZ. They are nothing other than pharma enablers, they certainly aren’t looking after the health of NZers.
  
  On the topic of health, I have to thank NZ MedClearance who stopped my Ivermectin at the border and destroyed it last year. Almost certainly saved my life.
  A little bit trickier taking the veterinary stuff, but obviously much safer than importing the real thing eh? //
  
  Great job MedClearance, outstanding work.
  
  18 1
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  May 16, 2023 8:53am
  - Keith White
    
    NZ Customs simply took my Ivermectin, chloroquine and Vit D out of my suitcase before I got it back days later in my enforced (by Army and Police) quarantine for 2 weeks.
    
    Then I had to pay $1000s for my incarceration – even the vilest of murderers and rapists and molesters get a charge and a trial before prison, and they do not have to pay for their prison accommodation, and they are allowed visitors…
    
    But the absolute worst was being separated from my family for many months beforehand and not being allowed home to see parents and in-laws one more time before their solitary, isolated deaths.
    
    I still have contact with some “corridor mates” – the only way we could talk to each other was to first yell down the hotel corridor at daily meal delivery times to get phone numbers and emails if we wanted to chat later – and there are a lot of people who are not ever forgiving or forgetting the entire NZ Govt/MOH Covid response in all its Goering-kabuki + Château d’If totality.
    
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    May 16, 2023 9:13am
    - ClanMcleod
      
      Horrendous how NZers trying to return home were treated.
      No, many of us will never forget and certainly never forgive until the perpetrators are brought to justice.
      
      17 2
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      May 16, 2023 10:19am
    - Matt Long
      
      What I so admired is the bravery of the opposition in government speaking out against this.
      The confiscation of personal property in particular.
      We are so fortunate to have centre right political parties who believe in individual rights.
      
      10 0
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      May 16, 2023 10:31am
  - Steve Otto(North Shore)
    
    They saved your life?
    Thing is, ‘they’ really do think like that – pricks.
    
    16 2
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    May 16, 2023 9:16am
    - the deity formerly known as nigel6888
      
      They also gave themselves bloody medals for their selfless “service”
      
      So, destroy your business, let your granny die alone, force your kids not to go to school for years, force vaccination for the proles, and terrify everyone that the plague is coming to carry you off. Oh, yes nearly forgot, vilify and slander innocent NZers by running a name and shame campaign from a “podium of truth”…
      
      Yes that deserves a “spirit of service” award nicely, have a payrise and a gong!
      
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      May 16, 2023 12:36pm
Matt Long

I was so pleased when Doug Graham announced with tears in his eyes that all the treaty grievances we’re solved.
https://www.teaomaori.news/iwi-dispute-leaves-new-plymouth-district-council-caught-between-rock-and-hard-place
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May 16, 2023 8:34am
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  Time to get out the Mere, Patau and Taiaha.
  
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  May 16, 2023 9:22am
- NeverMindTheBollocks
  
  So that’s where Bali Haque has washed up
  
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  May 16, 2023 8:32pm
Maggie Pie

OMG you gotta luv this lady 😀

Aunty Heihei spills the beans on JT…..

Says, “Rawiri will be lucky to have a job by the time she finishes with all his father-in-laws antics. Never mind all this kingmaker nonsense”
LOL!!

https://twitter.com/AuntyHeihei/status/1657916254018232321
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May 16, 2023 8:34am
- Swifty
  
  I’ve received those texts from Waipareira.
  
  I wondered how they got my number and under what permissions they were texting me.
  
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  May 16, 2023 9:53am
Matt Long

Will Erdogan step down if he loses the election after 20 years of turning Turkey into an islamist state?
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/may/14/turkish-polls-close-after-record-numbers-vote-in-test-of-erdogans-rule
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May 16, 2023 8:37am
- Maggie Pie
  
  Turkey’s Recep Erdogan poised to be returned to power with largest minority ever!
  
  11 1
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  May 16, 2023 8:44am
  - Keith White
    
    103% voter turnout and 112% in favour of Erdogan.
    
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    May 16, 2023 9:14am
- Blog-aholic
  
  I see trouble brewing in the land of the Turk. Mustafa Ataturk will be spinning in his grave at what the progressive nation he envisioned has become…just another ME dictatorship.
  
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  May 16, 2023 8:56am
  - kowtow
    
    It was never “progressive” under him either.
    
    That’s all a myth.
    
    For some very strange reason western Elites are very enamoured by Turkey .
    
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    May 16, 2023 9:36am
- kowtow
  
  I see he led prayers in the Great Church built by Justinian .
  Very significant act and provocative.
  
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  May 16, 2023 9:02am
- Paulus
  
  No ! he will do all he can to stay in Power as he still has the Army and the Secret Police on his side.
  He expected to win comfortably and has 10 days to prove it.
  He is corruption personified.
  Putin will help.
  
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  May 16, 2023 2:00pm
Steve Otto(North Shore)

He hit the ground running and very quickly got told ” Listen sonny, we don’t do that here”
Who?
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May 16, 2023 8:48am
- G the giant from Dunedin
  
  Please don’t say Peters, because that was the time he was shown sleeping on the world stage, so bloody embarrassing
  
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  May 16, 2023 8:52am
- Libertarians are right
  
  Sharma, hence the drama.
  
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  May 16, 2023 10:25am
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  Not even close so far.
  
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  May 16, 2023 12:27pm
- Chris Nisbet
  
  Twyford told us he was going to hit the ground running with Kiwibuild.
  That was the high point in Labour’s run – it’s been all downhill since then.
  
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  May 16, 2023 5:49pm
Scooter

Is Labour wishing JA was back?
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May 16, 2023 8:49am
- Paulus
  
  One of the polls the other day had Ardern as 10% favoured Prime Minister.
  
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  May 16, 2023 2:02pm
ClanMcleod

Oh no, more ‘domestic terrorists’ have been uncovered in the US………nice uniforms……lol

Yesterday, the group calling themselves “Patriot Front” marched on Washington DC. They wore perfectly coordinated uniforms, carried shields and batons, and were masked up to make Tony Fauci proud.

Perhaps you saw the “chilling footage”.

Nobody is quite sure why they were there, or what they wanted. Then they packed their gear into a U-haul, got on the subway and left.

OffGuardian does a delicious shredding of yet another attempt at manufacturing a narrative by the establishment. So predictable.

https://off-guardian.org/2023/05/15/offgs-quick-take-patriot-front/
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May 16, 2023 9:01am
- sirknz
  
  And nobody in the media thought to follow them to see where they were going…
  
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  May 16, 2023 10:39am
  - the deity formerly known as nigel6888
    
    Pretty clear it was back to the FBI field office for a debrief and a barbie. Job well done!
    
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    May 16, 2023 12:37pm
    - Ehlana
      
      Or back to the frat house.
      
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      May 16, 2023 6:08pm
Maggie Pie

Absolute tragedy in Wellington this morning.

Heard one of the tenants telling RNZ there were alarms going off at least twice a week….but not this time. It was a person running thru the building shouting “FIRE” that alerted him.
Also reports of lack of maintenance to damage (holes in wall etc) in the building.

Hmmm…
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May 16, 2023 9:02am
- Charmaine Hawke
  
  I have a friend who is a property manager, she pointed out that place houses a lot of the nurses brought in to work at the hospital from overseas.
  I remember the lodge 20+ years ago as having a dodgy reputation so I hope this is just a tragic accident not a case of lack of maintenance.
  
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  May 16, 2023 9:40am
  - DistantObserver
    
    Of course it will be in-part owing to a lack of maintenance, have you looked at NZ property standards of late?
    They’re not something one maintains, they are something to sit on for capital gain whilst keeping outgoings to a minimum.
    
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    May 16, 2023 9:50am
  - Stu2
    
    No sprinklers?
    
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    May 16, 2023 9:51am
    - Ehlana
      
      Built before the requirement. I guess they’d be difficult to retrofit.
      
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      May 16, 2023 6:09pm
  - Maggie Pie
    
    Slumlord?
    
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    May 16, 2023 9:54am
  - Scooter
    
    Or worse if it was deliberately lit, if so Govt and police have a lot to answer for.
    
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    May 16, 2023 10:12am
    - Ghost
      
      Why do the police and government have anything to answer for this tragedy?
      
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      May 16, 2023 10:15am
      - Scooter
        
        Not cracking down on crime in Wellington, or making it generally a safer place to live. If you don’t think govt have to answer then why do we bother voting for them?
        
        3 4
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        May 16, 2023 10:25am
      - Ghost
        
        Only person responsible for this crime is the person who committed it. If it is a person who should have been in some form of care or was slapped previously with a wet bus ticket then some blame can be attributed.
        
        4 1
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        May 16, 2023 10:36am
    - Tony Stuart
      
      That seems to be the conclusion at the moment. They’re hoping the death toll won’t go past ten, but there are still around 20 people not accounted for.
      
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      May 16, 2023 11:02am
  - Steve Otto(North Shore)
    
    The owners seem to own many hostel, accommodation type buildings, about 15 or more, all in a Trust.
    Can’t find it now, the internet thingy is swamped with media crap.
    
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    May 16, 2023 10:22am
- krazykiwi
  
  This is unspeakably ghastly. I find it difficult to concentrate on work as my mind runs through the hell that these people were confronted with.
  
  There will be a time for recriminations, investigations. But not yet. This is a huge tragedy and there are injured and grieving people to be shown love.
  
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  May 16, 2023 10:56am
  - peterwn
    
    This is similar to a similar tragedy at a similar place in Courtenay Place in the 1970’s. A resident accidentally burned his Kapok mattress when smoking in bed. He got a replacement mattress from a store cupboard and put the still smouldering damaged mattress in the store cupboard with dire consequences. Egress was impeded by a padlocked gate for which the operators were fined.
    One resident was arrested for drunkedness in the early evening and spent the night in the cells. At the time such people were hauled up before a magistrate next morning and usually fined. The prosecutor told the magistrate that he owed his life to being in the cells overnight and the magistrate let him off.
    There is a dilemma here. If the Government imposes harsh requirements on such places they could go out of business. This then means fewer beds for people (especially single people) at the bottom of the heap in society (who effectively have no political voice). Perhaps the Government could offer incentives to such places such as contributing towards installation of fire sprinklers.
    
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    May 16, 2023 11:25am
    - sirknz
      
      So when the government inevitably reprioritise their spending after the $50-$60 they will spend in Hawkes Bay out of the $1 billion promised, they can target it at places like this…
      
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      May 16, 2023 4:14pm
- Ghost
  
  One person has said the alarms were going off.
  
  Paul Jury had been living in the lodge for about 18 months. He said fire alarms regularly sounded at the building so when it went off last night he thought it was another false alarm.
  
  It “went on forever” and when he sensed something was wrong, he went to check the other levels before smelling the smoke and getting out.
  
  Live feed
  
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  May 16, 2023 11:01am
  - Maggie Pie
    
    Caller to talkback was saying she’s very concerned about the elderly tenants living on the tip floor. Only one lift and no sprinkler system by the sound of it either. Horrifying if correct 🙁
    
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    May 16, 2023 11:27am
    - Ghost
      
      one shop owner has aid the building was run down and had a bad reputation. Hipkins has said the building just had an inspection. Hmmm
      
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      May 16, 2023 11:40am
      - Steve Otto(North Shore)
        
        How would Hipkins know of the inspection. There may be a certificate displayed on the ground floor, but nobody was allowed near. A Fireman would not have given that info to Hipkins without permission.
        Smell test?
        
        3 3
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        May 16, 2023 12:38pm
      - Ghost
        
        Council would have told his staff.
        
        4 1
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        May 16, 2023 12:50pm
      - Paulus
        
        Inspected by Hipkins I expect !
        
        2 1
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        May 16, 2023 2:05pm
    - Ghost
      
      This is from the stuff live feed, sorry for posting it all mod but worth reading the state of the building
      
      A former resident of Loafers Lodge said he was “horrified” to see the floor he previously stayed on had gone up in flames.
      He had repeatedly raised concerns about the safety standards of the building during his stay a few years ago.
      
      He wasn’t surprised people had been rescued off the roof because in some areas of the top floors, access to a fire exit was not possible.
      
      One of his suggestions was for there to be an overnight supervisor as there were many vulnerable people living in the building. Some would accidentally leave the stove on after cooking in the early hours of the morning, he said and others had volatile behaviour.
      
      The man, who did not want to be named, said he still had friends living at the lodge and he wasn’t sure if they had been accounted for.
      
      “I’m really angry that people have died,” he said. “It’s not good enough.”
      He said the fire alarms frequently went off in the building and the manager had told him before, not to worry because it was probably burnt toast.
      
      “People just stay in their rooms.” He was angry that that was the kaupapa in the building when it was risking people’s lives.
      
      There were cracks on the wall “where concrete was coming off like sandpaper” and the building warrant of fitness was out for two years when he lived there, he said.
      
      The light fixture in his room was sparking and it took the building manager two weeks to come to his assistance.
      
      “If our rent was late by one day, they’d be there but if the light fixture was sparking, it might take them three weeks.”
      
      He had moved out because of safety concerns. “Now this has happened.”
      “They weren’t willing to address safety issues then,” he said. “They were warned all those times.”
      
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      May 16, 2023 11:43am
      - Drone
        
        I feel it is neccesary to point out that under a Labour government, there have been a large number of disasters in the last few years that give the leadership team the opportunity to appear kind on camera, plague, shootings, volcanoes, floods, burning buildings. It’s no wonder the countries in a state, the government don’t have enough time to focus on the economy..
        
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        May 16, 2023 3:34pm
- MCōs
  
  A lot of stuff will come out in the multiplicity of inquiries.
  In the meantime sprinklers are not required for that type of building according to several people I heard on the radio today, but reliable smoke alarms are.
  The alarms, it seems, we’re not reliable and out of date.
  Who is the owner.
  Chris Stevenson.
  
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  May 16, 2023 12:08pm
  - Maggie Pie
    
    Is the owner a Lawyer ?
    
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    May 16, 2023 12:43pm
  - artemisia
    
    Since the alarms in the Lodge building are said to go off regularly I guess they were working. Burnt toast, maybe, more likely people smoking.
    
    In order to get the annual BWOF specified systems as set out in the compliance schedule have to be checked regularly through the year by an IQP. My building has a monthly inspection and an annual one. All common area alarms are tested at least monthly by the IQP and alarm sounders in units tested annually.
    
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    May 16, 2023 7:04pm
    - RdM
      
      “Since the alarms in the Lodge building are said to go off regularly I guess they were working. Burnt toast, maybe, more likely people smoking.”
      
      Reliability already questioned above.
      I don’t burn my toast – that’s a maybe.
      An unattended frying pan burning would likely trigger them.
      Maybe burning potatoes in a pot.
      I triggered mine once in 9 years, the latter.
      
      In our building there are notices to the effect that if you trigger yours, you ventilate the apartment, do not open the door to the common corridor/stairwell, in case you trigger their/those fire alarms, which will cost a $1400 call out fee.
      
      Tobacco smoking will definitely not trigger modern smoke alarms, and neither should it.
      I doubt that cannabis smoke would either.
      
      Just another subconsciously absorbed hit of MSM and Public Health anti-smoking propaganda regurgitated as bias and prejudice, IMHO.
      
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      May 16, 2023 9:03pm
      - artemisia
        
        Suggest consider the occupants at this Lodge. Many on each floor, not necessarily rule followers or even literate. If they congregate in common areas and a few are smoking, smoke alarms may well be triggered.
        
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        May 17, 2023 5:17am
Surely Knott

Professor Grant Schofield writes a vital article on the downfall of NZ universities as the critics and conscience of society and the new censorial atmosphere that stifles debate. A love letter to freedom of expression that advocates for a return for debate between academics and the public being able to join the debate.
“How is it thinkable that my field of public health wouldn’t include the public? The importance of the free and open university in society should not be underestimated. Cancel culture, lack of respect for others’ arguments and invention of new, previously unknown words like “misinformation” and “disinformation” simply must go. ”
“In my experience this means your opinion is so unworthy that I don’t even have to lower myself to have to debate you on facts. I’m simply right because I’ve labeled you as a harbourer of disinformation. This is dangerous and a sign of non-functioning science. It’s a sign of a university which is no longer relevant.”

Must read.
https://profgrant.com/2023/04/24/a-falling-out-of-love-letter-to-the-university-we-need-to-talk/
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May 16, 2023 9:15am
- Nickc2
  
  Well said.
  How did we get to this situation. and probably more importantly, what do we have to do to rid ourselves of this Pox on Society?
  As a starter, will establishing new Universities or academic enclaves with opposing views start the ball rolling, or is it too late for that?
  I don’t believe letting the current situation run out of steam is a solution because to do so will only allow further proliferation and enhancements to what is largely accepted as the norm in today’s floundering misguided society.
  An ancient Chinese proverb states: A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
  
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  May 16, 2023 10:04am
  - Burtland
    
    the University cancer is easy to fix – defund anything of CRT or neoMarxist ideology. Scrap depts that are riddled with it. Switch the funding to STEM and gain some economic benefit.
    
    Cancellation is part of their cookbook – so its OK.
    
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    May 16, 2023 10:33am
Maggie Pie

“We are ready to expand cooperation with the Islamic world”

– Vladimir Putin (TASS)
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May 16, 2023 9:39am
Maggie Pie

And for anyone with a mortgage who thinks they’ve got it bad here….my partner was just saying Argentina have boosted rates by 600 basis points, raising their key interest rate to 97%.

LOL!!
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May 16, 2023 9:52am
- Matt Long
  
  Still under the rate of inflation. Don’t let Hipkins know or he will have aspirational goals.
  
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  May 16, 2023 10:39am
Ghost

A report from Special Counsel John Durham accuses the FBI of a double standard for aggressively probing ties between Russia and Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign while soft-pedaling similar claims about foreigners seeking influence over Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton.

Durham’s long-awaited, 306-page report slams the FBI’s handling of the Trump-Russia probe as deeply flawed. But Durham’s investigation into the origins of that probe resulted in few criminal charges, and the release of his report is unlikely to offset his high-profile failures in court. He charged just three defendants during his four-year investigation; juries quickly acquitted two of them, while a third pleaded guilty and avoided prison time.

Article
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May 16, 2023 10:04am
- Inandout
  
  Ghost, a quick breakdown of the report.
  https://technofog.substack.com/p/the-durham-report?r=1gsw1f
  
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  May 16, 2023 10:56am
- virtualmark
  
  So when the Australian High Commissioner to London, a former Leader of the Opposition at one of the USA’s Five Eye intelligence partners, informs the FBI that one of Trump’s campaign is talking with Russia about potential election interference … the FBI is supposed to ignore that?
  
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  May 16, 2023 11:18am
  - the deity formerly known as nigel6888
    
    Two words: Malcolm Turnbull.
    
    Maybe a third one:
    
    Tool.
    
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    May 16, 2023 12:40pm
    - virtualmark
      
      Nup.
      
      The FBI was right to investigate. Despite what you may have heard from Fox News “Crossfire Hurricane” was an investigation into Russian activities, not the Trump campaign. The Trump campaign then got dragged into that investigation because they kept talking to Russian intelligence agents and assets (the Trump Tower meeting on “adoptions”, Manafort & Gates with Kilimnik, Stone with Assange).
      
      Russia took actions to help Trump win the 2016 presidential election.
      Trump welcomed that Russian help.
      Trump’s intimates sought even more Russian help.
      Trump’s campaign manager shared information with Russian (GRU) intelligence.
      All repeatedly lied about it.
      Then, in office, Trump supported Russian policy goals.
      
      Durham was a “but Hilary!” attempt to distract the rubes from those truths. He basically took some Sean Hannity monologues and spun them into two failed prosecutions, a guilty plea for someone who got probation, and a 300 page report that says Mueller, Hilary Clinton, and the FBI did nothing wrong.
      
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      May 16, 2023 1:38pm
  - Lenticular
    
    Go read the report. There was a significant amoint of exculpatory evidence, which was ignored at every point.
    
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    May 16, 2023 10:55pm
  - Lenticular
    
    Didn’t happen. Downer never said such a thing. You got lied to.
    
    From the Durham report:
    
    Both diplomats advised that prior to the Spring
    of 2016, Papadopoulos was unknown to them. Notably, the information in Paragraph
    Five does not include any mention of the hacking ofthe DNC, the Russians being in
    possession of emails, or the public release of any emails. In addition, when interviewed by
    the Office, Downer stated that he would have characterized the statements made by
    Papadopoulos differently than Australian Diplomat- I did in Paragraph 5. According to
    Downer, Papadopoulos made no mention of Clinton emails, dirt or any specific approach by
    the Russian government to the Trump campaign team with an offer or suggestion of
    providing assistance. Rather, Downer’s recollection was that Papadopoulos simply stated
    “the Russians have information” and that was all.
    
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    May 16, 2023 11:03pm
    - virtualmark
      
      Downer told the FBI that he’d heard (from Papadopoulos) that the Russians had information on Hilary’s campaign, and that they were planning to use it to meddle in the election.
      
      Which is why the FBI began to investigate. Quite properly. Remember that one of the FBI’s key roles is counter-intelligence.
      
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      May 17, 2023 9:37am
Jack5

… I have identified an inclination in myself to limit free speech …

Says Anaru Eketone in an opinion piece today in the “Otago Daily Times”. It was also printed in the “NZ Herald” yesterday (in that case complete with a photo of Posie Parker under attack in Auckland).

The Leftists and Wokies are making a last-ditch effort as the Hipkins-Ardern Labour regime lurches towards the electoral gallows.

Eketone is described as an “associate professor in social and community work at the University of Otago”.

He is a lecturer in the university’s “Centre for Research on Colonial Culture,” and a not-infrequent voice in the newspaper.

Eketone pins his support for speech controls on his receiving a trespass notice for protesting with a “Treaty” banner at Waitangi in 1994.

Then he says we have to find better ways of disagreeing with each other than shouting down.

The guts of this is that Leftist and Wokie ways of protesting – waving banners and hurling sex toys and mud at speakers – are okay , but traditional discussion is not.

At best, the “ODT” showed a commitment to freedom of speech by publishing this activist’s argument of why speech should be controlled.

It’s still ironic: a banner-waver and activist who uses the media to promote his own views, wants controls on free speech.
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May 16, 2023 10:53am
- kowtow
  
  ODT sacked Tremaine.
  
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  May 16, 2023 11:44am
Steve Otto(North Shore)

Stop Co-Governance. Julian Batchelor.

Re Horsham Downs meeting cancelled.
Big Daddy has come in to cover Samantha Baker. She was the one that waited until noon Friday to inform the meeting was cancelled. Samantha was the mule, relaying the decision made by Gavin Ion, Chief Executive, Waikato District Council.
Gavin wants all reference to this event removed from this blog, and to desist from communicating on this matter.

Hey Gavin, that is censorship of free speech.

His letter is in the blog.
Letters of Stop Co-Governance support are also there.

https://www.stopcogovernance.kiwi/blog/huge-support-received-after-waikato-council-cancels-our-meeting/
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May 16, 2023 10:54am
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  Looks like dealing with Waikato District Council has opened a tin of worms.
  If they were going to cancel the meeting, they could have done it any time after May 7th. They had a whole week but waited until noon Friday.
  That is just being arseholes.
  
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  May 16, 2023 11:01am
- Inandout
  
  SO, the language under Ion’s title says it all, with the exception of the PO Box number. That Council is the epitome of wokeness.
  
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  May 16, 2023 11:02am
  - waikatosinger
    
    They used to call themselves “Environment Waikato”. An unfortunate name that just seemed to encourage hordes of environmentalist green fruitloops to want to stand for office. Not a good thing for a local council covering a rural area where there are a lot of farms. Hopefully under their more boring and sane name the level of green fruitloopery will fall back to the background level for NZ politics.
    
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    May 16, 2023 12:24pm
  - Steve Otto(North Shore)
    
    Like his tie? LOL.
    
    1 2
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    May 16, 2023 12:40pm
  - Rich Prick
    
    That massive thing dangling from his neck tells us all we need to know about his/the council’s stance on “co-governance”.
    
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    May 16, 2023 1:26pm
- jon
  
  Another example of CEOs of local authoritites having too much power. Better when they were mere Town Clerks and took their riding instructions from elected councillors. Again, little wonder voter turnout for local elections is so poor now.
  
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  May 16, 2023 6:35pm
waikatosinger

Te Pūkenga is a shit show. It needs to be urgently dismantled back into its local bits and pieces – 90% of the administrators need to be sacked and those resources spent on the useful people who actually do the teaching.

This diatribe was provoked because my soon to be daughter in law had her pharmacy technician qualification cancelled without warning when she was 6 months away from completing it. No staff apparently. And no apology or recompense for the young people who have wasted years on a qualification they now won’t get. Meanwhile all the pooh bahs supposedly on charge of this mess continue to mismanage everything and waste money on themselves.

Typical Labour. Endless money for administrators, middle managers and political apparatchiks. Nothing for the people who do stuff. What about the worker’s”? Yeah right!
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May 16, 2023 10:57am
Steve Otto(North Shore)

Texas Governor Greg Abbott sent two busloads of migrants to Kamala Harris’ mansion. Until Biden does his job, Abbott will continue sending migrants to sanctuary cities.

https://valiantnews.com/2023/05/video-texas-bus-drops-off-30-illegal-migrants-at-kamala-harris-house/
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May 16, 2023 11:27am
- Che Guava
  
  Why doesn’t Abbott do his job and stop them crossing the Texas border in the first place? When they are flooding across every day and being let into the interior as a policy, sending two busloads to a sanctuary city as a stunt is frankly a very unfunny joke.
  
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  May 16, 2023 11:36am
  - mandk
    
    Stupid comment.
    
    State Governors do not have the powers to regulate entry into the USA, legal or otherwise.
    
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    May 16, 2023 12:17pm
    - Che Guava
      
      You’re telling me that a state has no power to prevent illegal immigrants coming into their state (i.e. by way of an illegal act, committed in their state)? If you want to get technical, the federal government has no power to act against the laws of the land as they stand, which they presumably are as they are called “illegal” as opposed to legal immigrants and the laws aren’t being enforced. I’ll retract my comment if you can show me some evidence for your claim to the contrary.
      
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      May 16, 2023 2:10pm
      - mandk
        
        And you’re implying that Governor Abbott has powers to control border crossings that he hasn’t used?
        
        We’re talking about Texas here. I’m sure Abbott would be delighted to organise a force of border control agents.
        
        Come to think of it, that would be a great idea.
        
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        May 16, 2023 2:25pm
  - Ghost
    
    Didn’t he invoke the invasion clause?
    
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    May 16, 2023 12:22pm
  - Steve Otto(North Shore)
    
    I don’t think Abbott has power over the Border Patrol.
    I think it comes under Homeland Security.
    
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    May 16, 2023 12:44pm
    - Che Guava
      
      “Homeland Security.” That’s the world’s biggest joke, given that the policy seems to be a complete absence of security of the homeland.
      
      1 3
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      May 16, 2023 2:11pm
    - Steve Otto(North Shore)
      
      This may show why Abbott can’t do anything.
      Came to me by email.
      
      Brandon Judd, NBPC’s president, told Fox News on Wednesday that Biden is effectively smuggling migrants into the country but is not being held accountable because of his position.
      Judd cannot even arrest Biden……
      
      https://billingsreport.com/border-patrol-union-corrupt-biden-should-be-arrested-for-worst-sustained-disaster-ever-seen-at-our-border/
      
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      May 16, 2023 4:46pm
  - Kumbukani Obi
    
    “Why doesn’t Abbott do his job..?”
    
    Because it is NOT his job. Border control is a responsibility of the Federal Government.
    
    Alejandro Mayorkas is in charge of Homeland Security.
    
    Watch this. It is a clown show.
    
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-IqTgt2tCIg
    
    Sen. Cruz, Homeland Security Sec. Mayorkas have heated exchange during Senate Judiciary hearing …
    
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    May 16, 2023 1:09pm
    - Che Guava
      
      Presumably an illegal immigrant is a criminal once in Texas by definition. Arrest them. The US is spending 200 billion defending Ukraine’s border, while they have an open border at home. People should have Texas, California and Arizona flags in their Twitter bios, not Ukraine flags.
      
      6 2
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      May 16, 2023 2:12pm
      - Kumbukani Obi
        
        “Presumably an illegal immigrant is a criminal once in Texas by definition.”
        
        How? Once they get in how do you find them?
        
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        May 16, 2023 7:42pm
    - Steve Otto(North Shore)
      
      Sen. Ted Cruz is great when he gets a full head of steam.
      Clown show? To some yes. I like Cruz venting his spleen.
      
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      May 16, 2023 5:08pm
Maggie Pie

FLORIDA sounds nice….. ANY time of the year 😀

https://twitter.com/4Mischief/status/1658166873085685760
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May 16, 2023 11:37am
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  Gene pool is losing them. So sad.
  
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  May 16, 2023 5:11pm
Steve Otto(North Shore)

If elected what is the first thing Trump will do bring down rising costs.
Um, I may have posted this.
https://twitter.com/bennyjohnson/status/1656460288902955010

And this:
https://twitter.com/KimDotcom/status/1656494145836572674

https://twitter.com/alx/status/1656468593767514112
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May 16, 2023 11:46am
- waikatosinger
  
  He answered this question in the recent CNN town hall.
  “Drill baby drill”. Of course that won’t fix it. Not much he could do to retrieve the trillions of printed money that is causing the inflation to be honest. But making the US self sufficient in energy again would certainly help.
  
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  May 16, 2023 12:11pm
  - Steve Otto(North Shore)
    
    I purposely left the drill bit out.
    
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    May 16, 2023 12:45pm
  - Steve Otto(North Shore)
    
    Keystone pipeline stopped. 28 thousand jobs – stopped.
    Crude oil reserves sold – shipped out – American Oil!
    
    Biden has/is throwing America down the gutter…..
    
    I could be wrong, I have been wrong before.
    
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    May 16, 2023 5:17pm
Kumbukani Obi

The PM just drops this line:

“Hipkins added there was “work to do” to upgrade and update outdated fire and emergency equipment.”

““I acknowledge that we’ve got work to do in terms of making sure our first responders with fire and emergency have the gear that they need in order to be able to respond to every situation that they might face.”

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/132052301/rongotai-mp-paul-eagle-on-the-hostel-fire-i-knew-it-probably-would-be-loafers-lodge?cx_testId=16&cx_testVariant=cx_1&cx_artPos=1#cxrecs_s

Why does the fire service have outdated equipment? He says it like we all know.
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May 16, 2023 11:48am
- Ghost
  
  Who is responsible for fire equipment, does the govt buy it or does it come from the insurance levy?
  
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  May 16, 2023 11:55am
  - Kumbukani Obi
    
    Fire and Emergency will buy the equipment.
    
    https://www.fireandemergency.nz/
    
    It is mainly funded via an insurance levy. I don’t know how that levy is set. I guess it is negotiated with the insurance companies.
    
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    May 16, 2023 12:15pm
    - Paulus
      
      Used to be that tthe Fire Sevice collected 80% from the Insurance Industry.
      The Industry was just given a letter telling them how much to collect, with no discussion.
      
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      May 16, 2023 2:12pm
    - GJM
      
      One issue they have is that many large companies such as bunnings and the government departments like schools or KO either self insure or insure offshore through head office, so no fire serv levy payable. As usual, the little people pay for everyone else
      
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      May 17, 2023 12:48pm
Kumbukani Obi

An opinion piece from some ‘transport expert’ advocating lower speed limits.

200+ comments so far – 95 percent ridiculing the guy.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/opinion/132042835/the-quickest-way-to-save-lives-on-the-road-is-to-reduce-the-speed-limit

I can see why Chris Hipkins has walked back NZTA’s plan for mass reductions to the 100 kmh limit to 80 kmh.
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May 16, 2023 12:12pm
- Taieri
  
  An opinion piece from some ‘transport expert’ advocating lower speed limits
  ————
  
  He is correct actually. If we reduced speed limits to 5 km/h there’d be a very few if any fatalities. Better still, make the ownership of private passenger vehicle illegal. It will work.
  As the bloke says, “many more people are killed or seriously injured on our roads than from falling off balconies or drowning in swimming pools.”
  But that’s not all that difficult; I haven’t heard of anyone falling off a balcony in the last month or so. Or of anyone drowning in a swimming pool.
  
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  May 16, 2023 4:03pm
  - sirknz
    
    If we reduced speed limits to 5 km/h there’d be a very few if any fatalities.
    ————————————–
    We could reduce it to zero and the stupid who walk amongst us would still find a way.
    
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    May 16, 2023 4:36pm
stiff cheese

Predictions of an 8% interest rate are entirely possible.

We’re currently importing migrants at a Net rate of 65,000 per 12 months* — and economists (the ones RNZ talks to) are predicting this high rate will cause short-term demand for goods & services to go up.
That all generates more inflation, and since we’re in ‘Fighting Inflation’ mode, the Reserve Bank will have to hike interest rates again.

Oh well, never mind, maybe inflation will come down with higher interest rates. Although, bad luck if you’ve got a mortgage! Ouch! .. You might end up wishing they’d left inflation at 7% .. “Hey maybe we’ll get the double-whammy”: high interest rates AND stubborn, persistent high inflation! You never know.

*up from the rate of 52,000 in the 12 months to the end of Feb. (I believe the highest rates we ever achieved were 70,000 under Key and Ardern). So way to go Hipkins! .. Later this year, you’re going to set a new record!
Shame about our Productivity Per Hour Worked though, we’ll still be a flop as measured against the OECD average.
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May 16, 2023 12:21pm
- mogg
  
  No sign of this in the bond market, we are in the very unusual position of bond rates and equities falling in tandem. Usually Robbo’s mouth is as big as his ego but he has been kept quiet for a long time now.
  If National are in office after the election we can expect drastic cuts to govt spending, starting with 14,000 surplus public servants in Wgtn. If Robbo is still there pack your bags.
  
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  May 16, 2023 2:19pm
- All_on_Red
  
  I wouldnt count on too many people immigrating here.
  Due to the Labour shortage there is a lot of competition for Migrants and it will increase over the next decade as the Boomers retire.
  NZ isn’t really that high on the list of attractive places to live anymore.
  Id observe, anecdotally, that more and more people are leaving NZ.
  
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  May 16, 2023 3:57pm
Maggie Pie

HOLY SH*T!!

Just had lunch out in the Conservatory. Sun was pouring in.
Noticed a big ‘Daddy Long-legs’ up in the corner that the cleaning lady had obviously missed. I’m going to leave it there now until she comes again on Friday 🙁

https://twitter.com/TerrifyingNatur/status/1658044974783676416
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May 16, 2023 12:54pm
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  If it is a big daddy Long-legs then it is most likely a mummy long-legs.
  
  (males have small bodies)
  
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  May 16, 2023 1:08pm
  - mandk
    
    And I think Mummy Long-Legs eat Daddy Long-Legs after mating.
    
    It’s a big price the Daddies have to pay for sex.
    
    5 1
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    May 16, 2023 1:18pm
    - Maggie Pie
      
      I call it ‘cock-tax’ around here 😛
      
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      May 16, 2023 1:35pm
Surely Knott

NZ Priorities. We imprisoned a woman for months for not displaying a Covid QR code poster in her window, but multi story hotels where people sleep don’t appear to have sprinklers or fire escapes?
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May 16, 2023 12:59pm
- Ghost
  
  If you mean the lady who was sentenced for not following her districts health code and operating without a license that wasn’t to do with the qr code
  
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  May 16, 2023 1:04pm
- MCōs
  
  That building wasn’t required to be sprinkled, apparently
  
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  May 16, 2023 1:41pm
Maggie Pie

See where scribble-face has taken poll @ QT today….

Asking chippy “what he intends doing about shifting more of the tax burden from the poor and onto the wealthy?”

Hopefully, chippy will tell him they’re considering taxing ‘Maori Tribes’…..that should bring in a few billion 😀

https://stuff.co.nz/waikato-times-/news/5130429/Super-rich-tribes-pay-no-tax
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May 16, 2023 1:33pm
MCōs

I worked in the midst of a number of small businesses in the late seventies who all used the same receptionist.
She was an entertaining not so young Brit. One of the businesses was an optometrist. One day she told me opened a drawer of contact lenses and without thinking blew away a hair that was sitting there.
It took her and the optometrist an hour or two to pair up the lenses again.
Her elderly mother back in the UK was a political tragic and prolific letter writer. They started dateless & none of this ‘My Dear Helen’, but rather ‘Callahan is a fool . . .” or “I do hope I make it to the next election”
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May 16, 2023 1:36pm
Chuck Bird

Did any watch start on Parliament today and the disgusting behaviour of James Shaw and the comical behaviour of the clown wearing the cowboy hat?
9 1
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May 16, 2023 2:44pm
- Captain Mainwaring
  
  Shaw was embarrassed at the crap he was spouting as he was almost in tears.
  As for [Mod – use his name], I can’t think of anything rational to say about the idiot.
  
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  May 16, 2023 3:42pm
Swifty

“Rudy Giuliani, 78, made former business consultant, 43, perform oral sex on him while he was on speaker phone to Trump – because it made him feel like Bill Clinton….”

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12087277/Woman-accuses-Rudy-Giuliani-sexual-harassment-files-lurid-legal-documents.html

Gulp.
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May 16, 2023 3:45pm
MCōs

Gore
Vote of no confidence collapses
Scenes
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May 16, 2023 3:48pm
- Ghost
  
  Meanwhile in timaru, council bought a gang hq and demolished it today
  
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  May 16, 2023 3:52pm
  - kowtow
    
    Bought.
    
    1 0
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    May 16, 2023 4:23pm
    - Steve Otto(North Shore)
      
      This shit costs money you know.
      
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      May 16, 2023 6:16pm
- tknorriss
  
  Looks like everyone is kissy kissy again:
  
  https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/gore-district-council-showdown-councillors-vote-on-motion-of-no-confidence-in-nzs-youngest-mayor-ben-bell/5I62PHG3ZFHFPKXN64WE63RHO4/
  
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  May 16, 2023 4:15pm
  - MCōs
    
    Again?
    
    1 0
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    May 16, 2023 4:49pm
    - tknorriss
      
      Yes. Perhaps “at last” would have been the right words. LOL.
      
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      May 16, 2023 6:44pm
- rouppe
  
  What a bunch of lily-livered dick heads.
  
  They call for an extraordinary meeting to have a vote of no confidence, then not a single one of them has the chops to actually put the motion forward. Parry himself on “compassionate leave”.
  
  Some of those people, especially council staff, who were calling for this ought to resign themselves. Snivelling shitheads
  
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  May 16, 2023 4:23pm
Maggy Wassilieff

Chris Hipkins lied to NZ

He tried to make out that Gangs were not involved in looting in Hawkes Bay during Cyclone Gabrielle’s aftermath.

Stewart Nash knew otherwise.

On February 20, the day after Nash’s text, Hipkins accused National and Act of promoting unsubstantiated rumours regarding the level of crime in Hawke’s Bay, saying “any suggestion that things are out of control is just wrong.

“Amplifying those kinds of rumours isn’t helpful, and it doesn’t help police do their jobs,”

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/sacked-minister-stuart-nash-texts-to-police-commissioner-contradicted-pms-comments-on-cyclone-crime/TOQYJHNTSFENJMY7QDXYXPJZ4M/

Why would anyone believe anything Hipkins says?
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May 16, 2023 4:22pm
- rouppe
  
  Hipkins will just say he wasn’t aware of the texts and that the errant Minister of the time is no longer in the portfolio, so move along.
  
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  May 16, 2023 4:27pm
Steve Otto(North Shore)

The thriving Biden Economy.

https://therightwingclub.com/americanpatriotclub/biden-economy-up-to-400-burger-king-restaurants-about-to-close/

The whole fucking Country won’t have a job soon.
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May 16, 2023 4:26pm
- Ghost
  
  Not sure you can blame Biden for under performing stores and not keeping up with your competitors
  
  https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12050871/Burger-King-store-closures-explained-Fast-food-giant-close-400-underperforming-franchises.html
  
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  May 16, 2023 6:35pm
Maggie Pie

WATCH….

What a CLUSTER if these clowns ever got a say in running the country 🙁

https://twitter.com/NewsHubPolitics/status/1658313712388931584
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May 16, 2023 5:08pm
Ghost

Maybe you should have thought about how this would harm your relatives and victims before carrying out your crimes. What your relatives may face is nothing to what your victims went through

While they concede they will be named eventually, lawyers for the Mama Hooch sexual predators are fighting to keep their identities secret for now.

In one of the biggest prosecutions of its kind in New Zealand, the 40-year-old and 38-year-old men were convicted of dozens of crimes – including rape, sexual violation, indecent assault, and spiking drinks – after a two-month trial in the Christchurch District Court that began in February.

Article
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May 16, 2023 5:12pm
Ghost

Damn!!!!!!

A government funding proposal to bridge the pay gap in early childhood education and care teachers could leave parents forking out up to $700 a week for childcare, a centre owner and teacher says.

Fiona Frew, who owns Kids At Play centres in Timaru, Temuka and Ranfurly, said while pay parity for teachers was hugely important and needed, it was a double-edged sword as centres would have to increase their fees, and parents could be unable to afford to send their children.

Article
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May 16, 2023 5:24pm
nathie

Never mind the cost of living crisis and PM Chris Hipkins never seeming to know anything (see Hosking interview this morning), looks like Newshub’s crummy Parliamentary press gallery journos are on maximum deflection by attacking National.

They have several stories online including a beatup against National’s Otaki electorate candidate (despite no rules have been broken and all is above board), another attack on Luxon’s “popularity” (despite Chippy also polling lower than other PM’s) and a blatant attempt to crash National by suggesting a leadership change. Plus other hits.

And stand by for not only the “bought and paid for MSM” doing this, expect the well known “bought and paid for Blog” to be doing the same in unison in order to support their “sponsors”!
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May 16, 2023 5:42pm
- rockape
  
  And that’s just in Cameron Slaters blog !
  
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  May 16, 2023 6:16pm
  - nathie
    
    Just took a look … good on ya Rockape!
    
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    May 16, 2023 10:45pm
- Ghost
  
  Went to see what this beat up was. So defence minister said nothing wrong with it. Defence force said nothing wrong with it. Might be a hint there Newshub that, I don’t know, maybe there is nothing wrong with it,
  
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  May 16, 2023 6:19pm
Swifty

What next? No ‘out of hours’ arrests for the gangs? Meth dealers? Rapists? Murderers?

https://i.stuff.co.nz/national/300880598/dawn-raids-on-pause-as-government-reviews-outofhours-immigration-visits

Overstayers have by definition broken the law.

And their pledge I might add.

What nonsense about the ‘cultural appropriateness’ of out of hours apprehensions. It’s just more (Labour) pandering and to curry favour with PIs.
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May 16, 2023 6:06pm
- Swifty
  
  And if I was a Samoan or Tongan ‘community leader’ I’d be using my position to plead that my countryfolk stop overstaying because it was making all the rest of us look bad in the eyes of New Zealanders.
  
  It makes us look like routine law-breakers, who are unable to keep their word, and when caught plead for special treatment like children.
  
  Babies.
  
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  May 16, 2023 6:52pm
Maggie Pie

JUST IN

“Man spotted wielding an AXE on Auckland’s popular Queen Strret. Police have been unable to find him”

– nzherald @ 6:43pm

https://twitter.com/MeusliC/status/1649242119712960513
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May 16, 2023 7:07pm
- Maggie Pie
  
  My partner retweets…..
  This may assist in the search?
  
  https://twitter.com/DavisAndrew88/status/1658367382648393729
  
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  May 16, 2023 7:53pm
Ghost

Well James, you’ve been in some form or another a part of the government since 2017, what have you done in that time?

A “very, very angry” James Shaw has blasted the state of the country’s housing and building code following this morning’s deadly hostel fire in Newtown, asking how it could allow the most vulnerable residents to “live in substandard accommodation with a reasonable chance of lethality”.

Article
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May 16, 2023 7:17pm
- Kumbukani Obi
  
  That is just idiotic.
  
  The current Government has made the housing situation far worse for vulnerable people. You can’t just ‘dial up’ prosperity as a country. The policies advocated by James Shaw will make New Zealand a (much) poorer country. People in poor countries are more likely to die in housing fires than in rich countries.
  
  I actually find this guy more annoying than his co-leader. She is kind of open that she is a communist. James is a nation wrecker in a suit.
  
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  May 16, 2023 7:55pm
Hugh Jarse

Hi all, looking for the Jenna Lynch interview of Chippy on Labour being down more than National in the latest polls and he as the current PM only being 7 points ahead of LOTO ?. I am sure there will be one, thanks in advance.
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May 16, 2023 7:17pm
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  Perhaps this one?
  
  https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2023/05/jenna-lynch-analysis-newshub-reid-research-results-show-election-2023-is-on-a-knife-edge.html
  
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  May 16, 2023 8:29pm
Ghost

Perhaps it’s time we have a government that puts a stop to rapists getting home detention

A Dunedin sex offender whose prison sentence was converted to home detention has been caught using dating apps just days after he returned to the community.

Corrections will now apply to the courts for stricter conditions around Michael John Danyon Fraser, to ensure he does not victimise any other women on its watch.

Article
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May 16, 2023 8:00pm
Scooter

Watching Tory Whanau nodding away behind Hipkins reminds me of those bobblehead car toys.
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May 16, 2023 8:01pm

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