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May 18, 2023 8:00am by Kokila Patel

General Debate 18 May 2023

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Mike

Happy International Museum Day!
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May 18, 2023 8:01am
- NeverMindTheBollocks
  
  Celebrating those purveyors & possessors of indigenous property stolen by colonial oppressors?
  
  Shame on you, Mike!
  
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  May 18, 2023 9:27am
  - Mike
    
    I didn’t specify any particular museums or what any of them should or should not hold. I share your desire for museum collections to be reappraised regularly with appropriate respect shown to the artifacts, their origin and collectors.
    
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    May 18, 2023 11:25am
- lastmanstanding
  
  On the matter of rates and yesterdays post. In 1979 when Mrs LMS and I purchased our home we paid East Coast Bays Borough Council $235 in rates. This past year we have paid Auckland Council $4033 in rates an increase of 1700%. Yet inflation over the same period has been 400%. The services we get from AC is no better than than we got from ECBBC.
  
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  May 18, 2023 9:38am
  - KiWombat
    
    My mum is now in her 95th year. She is still living on the property that she and my late father purchased in 1960.
    
    Today she is paying more in rates than what they originally paid for the whole parcel all those years ago.
    
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    May 18, 2023 10:49am
    - Matt Long
      
      You forget the planning document library is now 11700% larger than in 1979, so of course we have to pay more for council “services.”
      (Probably should be another zero there.)
      
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      May 18, 2023 12:06pm
  - kowtow
    
    But think of all the engagement ,communication, diversity , inclusion , equity officers who’ve been hired in the last 30odd years to enhance your experience of council non delivery .
    
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    May 18, 2023 10:59am
  - GJM
    
    When we inherited my gradfathers house in 1997, rates were $1600 per year, including water. They are now over $6000, plus water. Services are actually less than what we got then.
    
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    May 18, 2023 2:29pm
Matt Long

Another vegan who found it wrecks your health and the planet.
https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/health/diet/bear-grylls-embarrassed-by-past-vegan-diet-says-hes-never-been-better-with-all-meat-diet/news-story/11e177feda4cb85493553bdc2d63dc9b
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May 18, 2023 8:02am
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  Must be running out of energy.
  You won’t go far on the nutrients of half a lettuce.
  
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  May 18, 2023 8:11am
- Suze Wainwright
  
  Wow! Bear Grylls doesn’t strike me as someone who’d ever want to look like a sanctimonious little pasty-faced Wellington public servant/policy analyst, who believes they look so utterly tres trendy with a few whisps of feeble designer fuzz on their chinless, shallow cheeked face.
  
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  May 18, 2023 9:21am
  - Matt Long
    
    He a global warming true believer, or was.
    
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    May 18, 2023 12:07pm
  - Steve Otto(North Shore)
    
    He is also quite religious – not that it worries me at all.
    Does do some very dangerous things, but good on him for assessing it first.
    I hope he does not meet his maker like Steve Irwin did. I always thought Irwin’s croc Monty would be his fate.
    
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    May 18, 2023 3:50pm
- ClanMcleod
  
  Great mea culpa, he even wrote a vegan cook book at one stage. Nothing wrong with admitting you were wrong, he could teach the politicians in the Beehive a lesson.
  
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  May 18, 2023 9:41am
  - kowtow
    
    Hmmm , look at all the publicity the publicist has just generated for himself ……….
    
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    May 18, 2023 11:01am
- NeverMindTheBollocks
  
  I could have sworn I’ve seen him eat all sorts of critters while out in the wild
  
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  May 18, 2023 12:45pm
  - GJM
    
    See – he eats bugs and is happy! that is the future
    
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    May 18, 2023 2:50pm
Scott

Yesterday there was a lot of discussion about the Durham report and some people are still convinced of Trump’s guilt when it comes to Trump and Russia.

Ben Shapiro, who has become a very influential commentator, has this to say about the Durham report –

“And so, in short, we now know that top officials at the White House and the FBI were aware of Hillary Clinton’s plan to disseminate information falsely claiming Trump-Russia collusion; the FBI knew full well that the intelligence it had making such accusations was flimsy at best; they all went ahead anyway. For the rest of the election cycle and much of Trump’s presidency, the Democrats, media and intelligence community continued to parrot the Trump-Russia collusion lie.

This collusion is significantly worse than Watergate. It involves the former secretary of state and Democratic candidate for president laundering false intelligence information to the FBI; and the FBI, overseen by the candidate’s political allies in the Obama administration, using that information as the predicate to open a full-scale investigation knowing full well that the Clinton campaign could well be behind the allegations in the first place.

This is patently insane. It destroys any semblance of legitimacy in the FBI. It implicates former President Barack Obama, President Joe Biden, James Clapper, John Brennan and a bevy of other high officials in weaponization of the government to stop Donald Trump. The Russia hoax was much more than a hoax, it turns out. It was a nefarious plan, enacted at the highest levels of government, to corrupt an election and undermine a presidency.”
https://jewishworldreview.com/0523/shapiro051723.php

I note that the FBI has responded by saying basically this is old news and they have already changed their procedures to make sure this doesn’t happen again. However as Shapiro says elsewhere, heads need to roll over this. Unless those involved pay a price, we can expect the Democrats to run this playbook next time a Republican president is elected.
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May 18, 2023 8:02am
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  If Hillary told me to do something I did not want to do, I would do it to save a life.
  
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  May 18, 2023 9:08am
  - Keith White
    
    Yeah you do not want to be Arkancided!
    
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    May 18, 2023 11:38am
  - cmm
    
    SO: What you really meant is that you’d do it to prevent committing suicide.
    
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    May 18, 2023 3:49pm
    - Steve Otto(North Shore)
      
      Yeah, and I don’t even have a gun – it fell off my boat!
      
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      May 18, 2023 3:51pm
- Simon
  
  The GOPe were happy to go along with the fake Russia collusion to harm Trump Admin.
  
  Undermines trust people have with their govt. From NZ point of view if the US govt runs fake narrative / investigation to harm an elected president then NZ doenst have to accept anything from the US. This includes fake man made climate fraud and involvement in that stupid Ukraine border skirmish.
  
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  May 18, 2023 9:11am
  - cmm
    
    Basically Trump is anti-establishment.
    
    The political establishment hate him because of that (be they R or D). That’s also why DPF etc hate him – he thumbs his nose at “the swamp” and Beltway conventions.
    
    The swamp is the bigger threat. The swamp is not R or D. The swamp plays both sides.
    
    Sure he’s a bit crass. But that’s America for you. If it takes a bit of an uncouth bovver-boy to turn over the tables in the swamp well so be it.
    
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    May 18, 2023 3:54pm
- G152
  
  Shut the FBI down.
  Sack all the politicians involved
  
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  May 18, 2023 9:25am
  - mawm
    
    Prosecute and punish all involved. There is no other solution otherwise this kind of behaviour will happen again.
    
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    May 18, 2023 2:49pm
- ClanMcleod
  
  The attack on Trump gets more ludicrous by the week. Making total dicks of themselves.
  
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  May 18, 2023 9:43am
- I remember when
  
  As with most political arguments it isn’t the question of whether Trump, or any other person, is the subject of the debate.
  It is, the behaviour of the government agency involved and the extent to which it can be trusted and is able to be used to control us in the future.
  
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  May 18, 2023 9:46am
- NZer In Exile
  
  Yeeees. It’s bad. Incredibly bad!
  
  I also recommend listening to Senator Ted Cruz’s podcast on this subject:
  
  Bombshell Durham Report Vindicates Trump!
  https://omny.fm/shows/verdict-with-ted-cruz-1/podcast-5-17-23
  
  TDS afflicted especially, please listen!
  
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  May 18, 2023 9:29pm
Matt Long

Musk finds Soros’ alter ego.
https://www.foxnews.com/media/elon-musk-says-george-soros-hates-humanity-reminds-him-magneto-viral-twitter-skirmish
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May 18, 2023 8:03am
- All_on_Red
  
  Here’s a clip of Soros admitting in an interview he collaborated with the Nazis
  “His glory days confiscating Jewish property with his Nazi benefactor “made his character,” he says, teaching him his business ethics.
  “Was it difficult?” the interviewer prompts Soros, probably expecting an expression of some level of remorse…
  
  “Not at all… it created no problem at all,” Soros replies.
  
  “No feeling of guilt?”
  
  “Well, of course I could be on the other side… but there was no sense that I should be there, because that was… well, [in] a funny way, it’s just like in markets: if I weren’t there… somebody else would be taking it away anyhow, whether I was there or not.”
  https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/benbartee/2023/05/16/corporate-media-runs-with-george-soros-holocaust-survivor-lie-n1696036
  
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  May 18, 2023 8:09am
  - ClanMcleod
    
    Another evil, overly influential billionaire, he and Gates are very dangerous people.
    
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    May 18, 2023 9:58am
    - mawm
      
      Both are psychopaths.
      For the down tickers – from Wikipedia. “Psychopathy is characterised by persistent antisocial behaviour, impaired empathy and remorse, and bold, disinhibited, and egotistical traits.”
      
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      May 18, 2023 2:55pm
  - MCōs
    
    You do realize he was 14 at the end of the war.
    
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    May 18, 2023 10:02am
    - All_on_Red
      
      Yes, but after all these years he still has no remorse.
      
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      May 18, 2023 11:01am
      - Jack5
        
        George Soros was and is a champion of Karl Popper, the philosopher of open society and democracy.
        
        The picture Soros’s attackers paint here doesn’t fit this.
        
        Some people may be still angry because Soros won $US1 billion in a currency duel with the Bank of England in September 1992. You can read about it at the link below. This made him the top currency trader of all time.
        
        However, in1998 Soros lost when he tried to break the Hong Kong Monetary Authority’s peg of the HK dollar to the US dollar. (US investor Bill Ackerman has been attacking the peg more recently.)
        
        https://www.thebalancemoney.com/black-wednesday-george-soros-bet-against-britain-1978944
        
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        May 18, 2023 12:09pm
      - All_on_Red
        
        Jack
        Do some research on the DAs Soros has been funding for Election and how those DAs have caused crime to escalate because they won’t prosecute criminals
        Start with Kim Gardner.
        Alvin Bragg is a Soros placement too
        
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        May 18, 2023 12:25pm
    - Mike
      
      It’s just a typical anti-Semitic slur. Soros is a (((globalist))), so no level of attack is too base for the, um, base.
      
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      May 18, 2023 11:28am
      - Inandout
        
        Mike, leave it mate.
        
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        May 18, 2023 12:27pm
    - Keith White
      
      MC: 14 year old boys can seriously malfunction in social and other settings at even the best of times. That said, most of us neither participated in war crimes nor declined to apologise and attempt redress when we reached adulthood. Your gaslighting didn’t work.
      
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      May 18, 2023 1:27pm
artemisia

A quiet sea change is happening in New Zealand. Early childhood centres and aged care beds are closing down in serious numbers because they won’t continue making a loss, or cannot continue without staff. Or both. Can’t blame them.

There is a range of flow on effects on impacted individuals and households.

Even if more funding is announced today, good chance most closures won’t or can’t be reversed.

Do have to say though that the early childcare sector does tend to ramp up the ‘education investment dividend’ aspect. AKA give us more money so there is an element of self serving. It’s a stretch to call babies in daycare an investment, other than an investment to increase the household income.
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May 18, 2023 8:03am
- cmm
  
  Maybe this has all been a temporary failed experiment and we’ll go back to how humanity coped for millions of years:
  * Kids looked after at home.
  * Extended multi-generational families where granny helps out a bit.
  
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  May 18, 2023 8:33am
  - graham
    
    Good ideas, but what happens when first-time parents, who might be struggling a bit and feeling a bit over-whelmed, look for support? Of course, they’ll go to Plunket, where parents have for generations found much-needed support – oh wait …
    
    https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2022/04/plunket-cuts-crucial-service-for-new-parents-due-to-a-lack-of-funding.html
    
    Plunket has once again been forced to cut a crucial service for new parents due to a lack of funding – this time its parenting programmes.
    
    Plunket, a free service aimed at improving the development, health and wellbeing of children under the age of five, announced it can no longer run its parenting programmes at the current annual loss of $400,000.
    
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    May 18, 2023 8:52am
    - artemisia
      
      Well first time parents might need a bit of support. There’s this old fashioned thing called the social investment approach where support is targeted where it is needed and not sprayed at everyone.
      
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      May 18, 2023 9:31am
    - I remember when
      
      There is now considerable offloading of welfare services to vary charities as a way of reducing governmental costs.
      While this can work well at first, there is a tendency for any future increases in things such as wages, etc, to also become an additional cost to the charity.
      The charity then appeals to the public for funding resulting in donations becoming a form of quasi taxation (with the government cost being the rebate.)
      
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      May 18, 2023 10:05am
    - Taieri
      
      what happens when first-time parents, who might be struggling a bit and feeling a bit over-whelmed, look for support?
      —————-
      
      What used to happen in the past when first-time parents, who might have been struggling a bit were looking for support? Don’t they have parents themselves? Grandparents?
      
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      May 18, 2023 10:37am
      - Matt Long
        
        Often not close by, or willing and able to help.
        
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        May 18, 2023 12:11pm
  - Richard
    
    Unfortunately in today’s economy you need both parents working to get ahead. Want to own a home? Forget about doing it on one income. My income pays the mortgage, my wife’s income pays the other bills etc. Our kids were in day care from 11 months and we were fortunate to send them to a small non profit centre with an excellent reputation, including a cook on site, and they transitioned to school well, ahead in their reading and writing. Sadly I can’t see that centre staying alive in the long term, I was on the committee for a while and money was extremely tight. Looks like only the big players will be viable in the future.
    
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    May 18, 2023 9:06am
    - Weetbix3ways
      
      You framed this pretty well.
      
      But it is ultimately a choice of having better finances vs raising your children yourself.
      
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      May 18, 2023 9:17am
      - MCōs
        
        Parents raise their kids.
        They are only at preschool/kindergarten & school for a few hours a day.
        When I was a kid mum, who had no ambition to work outside the home, brought up seven of us while dad brought home the money, looked after the garden and caught more salmon than we could eat.
        We never went to a restaurant, stayed in a hotel, traveled out of Canterbury . . .
        Things have changed a lot since those days
        Once you’ve looked round the corner there’s no going back
        
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        May 18, 2023 10:25am
    - artemisia
      
      DINKYs traditionally bought a house that was not necessarily the forever home but a first step. Perhaps harder now that interest rates are higher but rates have been much lower recently.
      
      People make choices, fair enough, no problem with that. Good if they own the consequences though. (Not making a personal remark here btw, just general.)
      
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      May 18, 2023 9:47am
      - NothingLeft
        
        Trading up in house is very expensive. Real estate fees eat most of an after-tax year’s salary to buy and sell a house in Wellington or Auckland
        
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        May 18, 2023 12:09pm
    - I remember when
      
      “Only the big players will be viable in the future.”
      The government likes big players because they have the resources to be able to handle reports, complicated legislation, pay tax on time.
      This problem also allows the government ever greater control and perhaps easy takeover.
      You only have to look at what has happened with fisheries and forestry, eventually the associated financial and administration costs force the small operators out of the industry.
      
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      May 18, 2023 10:15am
    - cmm
      
      A lot of the problem is over inflated house prices and over inflated expectations.
      
      50 years ago houses cost a lot less. Much of that was because people were not so fussy. Now even state houses have double glazing etc.
      
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      May 18, 2023 1:22pm
      - mawm
        
        The major problem is the decreased buying power of the dollar. For that you can thank successive governments and their mismanagement of the economy and their subsequent need to inflate their wastage away.
        
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        May 18, 2023 3:00pm
      - GJM
        
        The option of a cheaper house isn’t available at present. The new H1 energy efficiency regs that came in at the start of th emonth add ~$40k in extra cost by themselves.
        The old days, a house plan set was 6 pages, so the builders knew what it looked like and you coudl trust them to know how the build a hosue, flash a window etc. Nowdays, everything has to eb drawin in the last detail, and the trades quality is not anywhere near what it was “back in the day”. This ignores Cocunil fees, land costs, water and infrastructure costs, red tape and monooly suppliers. The days of being able to build a cheap houseare long gone.
        
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        May 18, 2023 3:32pm
      - stiff cheese
        
        It’s not double-glazing that’s accounting for the rise in house prices. It’s inflation of the Money Supply. And incomes
        haven’t kept up.
        
        Look at the ratio of House Price (median) to Household Income (median) back in the pre-neoLiberal policies era: it was
        around 4 to 1. Now it’s about 10 to one (or possibly it’s slipped to 9:1 recently but still a bad ratio).
        
        Also, in the earlier era, the household income was one guy’s salary — Today, it’s likely to be 2 adults, working
        their a–es off to own what their parent’s generation could pay for in half the time or less.
        
        A long series of dud Governments led us to where we are today.
        
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        May 18, 2023 4:13pm
      - stiff cheese
        
        Mod: Could you please delete my earlier comment on ratios? I had the ratio around the wrong way.
        [Looked exactly the same to me. mod.]
        
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        May 18, 2023 4:16pm
    - cmm
      
      “need” is a big word. People “need” far too much.
      
      Look at the houses of the 1950s that middle class people were perfectly happy to live and raise 5 kids in. Now even state housing “tenants” would turn up their noses at those.
      
      And cars, clothing and other tat…
      
      Sure, don’t get me wrong, I like a few nice things. But I don’t need them.
      
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      May 18, 2023 3:39pm
  - 7kiwi11
    
    More likely responsible couples will have less kids whilst the number of kids raised on money from the state will increase
    
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    May 18, 2023 9:20am
- redeye
  
  They are still the government of re-announcements.
  
  But Ropati said the $60 million school expansion had been in the planning stages for about three years.
  
  In his opinion: “They are trying to convey to the public it is something new and different – it isn’t.”
  
  https://www.nzherald.co.nz/bay-of-plenty-times/news/education-budget-2023-papamoa-principal-questions-government-funding-announcement/
  
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  May 18, 2023 9:21am
Tomtoddy

A number of intriguing items arise from the Wellington Loafers Inn fire. Firstly, a city with high rise building has no fire truck with extension ladders readily available. It has one apparently, but it has been “getting fixed” for 15 months!!! No urgency??? Brave fireman need the best tools.

Despite the myriad of regulations and national and local level and very recent inspections the building apparently lacked basic safety systems. Now people are wanting even more regulations. When will we wake up and learn that regulations on their own do not achieve a thing except assuage a few consciences. If regulators are not capable of policing regulations, they are useless. We need more accountability and not just an embarrassing lecture from a weak judge. When the carrot doesn’t work you use the stick – and hard. What is it about us that we think all we have to do is pass laws and regulations to make a better world?
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May 18, 2023 8:04am
- artemisia
  
  Did the building lack basic safety systems? Like what? The BWOF is very specific about monthly and annual checks by approved Independently Qualified People.
  
  There has been comment about smoke alarms going off, for example. Well they are checked at least monthly under the BWOF rules. So if they are going off, it will almost never be random. And occupants will be required to follow the evacuation instructions.
  
  And now there is an arson / homicide investigation under way. That may or may not come to anything, but seems there is enough concern to make it public.
  
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  May 18, 2023 8:15am
  - Weetbix3ways
    
    The only time I had a smoke alarm go off while living in an apartment building, it was random, and faulty. Had to literally rip the darn thing out of the ceiling to kill it in the middle of the night.
    
    Likewise I’ve had smoke alarms go off many times in houses. Not once has the house actually been on fire.
    
    Food for thought?
    
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    May 18, 2023 9:21am
    - artemisia
      
      Under the BWOF smoke alarms are checked at least monthly and have to be within their end date. In this case, there are said to be smoke alarms going off ‘randomly’. We will I assume eventually find out what happened with recent instances. If fire techs were called the alarms would have been checked then.
      
      Smoke alarms do go off randomly sometimes, but with regular monthly checks less likely but more likely due to some activity.
      
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      May 18, 2023 10:08am
    - thirteenstars
      
      Add in the number of smoke alarms that are “disabled” because they either malfunction or are inconvenient in certain environments or around certain practices.
      
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      May 18, 2023 10:14am
    - sirknz
      
      Dust, condensation, and cold will set the alarms off.
      
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      May 18, 2023 11:07am
    - Biscuit
      
      Same here, Weetbix3ways.
      
      It only goes off now if we deliberately trigger it to make sure it’s still operational.
      
      Before he left home, our wee fella used to set off our alarm at regular intervals.
      
      He tended to use so much oil you imagined the U.S. Army would soon be invading our kitchen … and he was known to conjure up a variation of Sweet ‘n’ Sour that was more Burnt Beyond Recognition ‘n’ Potentially Fatal.
      
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      May 18, 2023 11:32am
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  In the socialist world today, nobody is ever at fault but another regulation is made.
  
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  May 18, 2023 8:18am
  - kowtow
    
    Unless you can put a straight white “cis” male in the frame.
    
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    May 18, 2023 8:55am
    - pdm
      
      kowtow strange you should say that.
      
      BTW apparently (as yet unconfirmed) the Greens have selected a `straight white cis male’ (age probably mid 30’s) to be their candidate for Tukituki. Not only that but I understand he may also be a `Pom’ so now they are embracing colonisation as well.
      
      The hypocrisy of the Greens is unbelievable.
      
      His wife did say to mrspdm that he does not expect to be elected.
      
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      May 18, 2023 10:17am
      - Jethrod
        
        As long as said cis/white / male takes plenty of vote off the local drunk representative, Well and good!
        
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        May 18, 2023 10:58am
      - Steve Otto(North Shore)
        
        I would not blame all of the Greens are responsible for one raccist.
        
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        May 18, 2023 3:53pm
- Simon
  
  The council have to look the other way. They cant close down this type of housing. The coal front council workers have to get on with it. There is just so much detachment from reality with the bozo politicians & high level bureaucrats.
  
  Here in Auckland people are sleeping in industrial units. Unsure of the legal status but its commercially run. It provides a needed service. At least in Auckland there are major housing issues with a lot of people struggling. Those most vulnerable are already gone burger.
  
  Then you look at those utter fucking clowns going about something like NetZero. So removed from the real world.
  
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  May 18, 2023 8:22am
  - artemisia
    
    Simon “The council have to look the other way. They cant close down this type of housing.”
    
    Of course they can close it down if the regs are not being met. The BWOF process is clear and monitored. There may be a case to change the BWOF and related rules, and let’s face it that would see some, maybe many, buildings repurposed.
    
    About half the social housing waiting list is single people, most working age, not necessarily working. Good chance many at this Lodge will be on that waiting list and heading for emergency housing meantime. Big step up from this Lodge and now heavily subsidised by taxpayers.
    
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    May 18, 2023 9:05am
    - Simon
      
      They grey area to muddle through in other words.
      
      Emergency housing waiting list grows every year. Those that cant make it increasing.
      
      ” most working age, not necessarily working. ”
      
      Govt has to bring in a force work from India to carry out basic functions adds massively to the housing problem.
      
      Meanwhile outrage from the NetZero crowd while they collect gold plated remuneration.
      
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      May 18, 2023 9:48am
- kowtow
  
  Yesterday NZME made out James Shaw as some sort of conscience of parliament / the nation , as he was reported to be ‘very, very angry ‘ that our most vulnerable etc are not housed properly etc .
  
  OK apart from blithering on about the planet , farmers , cows and CO2 and spending time abroad at mega conferences re same, just what have the Greens practically done for the poor and vulnerable of NZ .
  
  And by the same token we see some Maori “charity” has donated ( against all the rules) hundreds of thousnads to a political blow hard Front Bum John’s political aspirations when one would have thought it could have gone some way to the vulnerable Maoris in our urban environment .
  
  As to the govt itself; they increased to great fanfare the refugee intake . Where are they housed .Doesn’t charity begin at home .
  
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  May 18, 2023 8:42am
  - Tempist
    
    The Greens performative outrage is mainly so no one asks them – haven’t you been in Government for the last six years with a clear left-wing majority for three and a co-leader as the Minister of Homelessness…. ?
    
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    May 18, 2023 9:20am
    - NeverMindTheBollocks
      
      Exactly
      
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      May 18, 2023 12:54pm
  - Maggy Wassilieff
    
    Not Just James Shaw…
    
    Also Marama Davidson of the Greens grandstanding in Parliament yesterday about people profiting off misery with regard to social housing.
    
    The profit off misery—the profit off misery—that this place has allowed to happen is completely scandalous. The way that we have over 40 years—over 40 years, at least—in this House, led an economic model that is today seeing people profit off misery.
    
    https://www.parliament.nz/en/pb/hansard-debates/rhr/combined/HansDeb_20230517_20230517_16
    
    Perhaps she forgot that she is the Associate Minister of Housing…and as such, is in one of the most powerful positions to effect change for the better for the vulnerable people in this country.
    
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    May 18, 2023 9:23am
    - greybeard
      
      Perhaps she also forgets the billions handed out in Waitangi settlements which should have eradicated all maori housing and poverty problems by now.
      
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      May 18, 2023 10:12am
      - Wayne Mapp
        
        If every last cent of the settlements has been spent oh social houses, it would be 2,000 houses.
        However, as you well know the purpose of the settlements is not recreate Kianga Ora. That is the job of the state, or more accurately all taxpayers, including you.
        The Treaty settlements are intended to strengthen the iwi as a collective grouping. Building a capital base for the purpose of refurbishing marae, providing iwi scholarships for young people and things of that nature. The iwi scholarships are making a major difference, though I suspect not in a way you would approve. Much of the contemporary Māori movement comes from the graduates who had the benefit of these scholarships. I see these things in the extended family.
        
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        May 18, 2023 8:16pm
- artemisia
  
  Wellington CC does police BWOF regs. Effectively too.
  
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  May 18, 2023 8:58am
- RoboRob
  
  All the regular talking heads in the media and the stupid politicians talking about forcing older buildings to come up to code.
  
  Here’s a hint drongos, the reason that people were in this building was because it was cheap and they could afford it. If you force all these buildings owners to spend $500,000 putting in sprinklers and $200,000 installing fire doors and replacing Gib, what do you think will happen? The landlord will put up the rent and market it to higher income tenants. The people who lived there will be on the street and homeless waiting for the government (that’s you and me) to pay to build them housing. In the meantime they will get involved in drugs and crime etc.
  
  It’s EXACTLY what happened when Labours new healthy homes policy arrived. Great intentions but obvious outcomes. Rents went up and previously cheap student accommodation was suddenly unaffordable. The government claimed it was greedy landlords but anyone with a brain knows that if something costs more to provide a business needs to sell it for more.
  
  Whether we like it or not, there is a need for cheap basic accommodation. Just like there is a need for basic cheap cars, not everyone can afford a tesla no matter how hard the left try to convince people.
  
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  May 18, 2023 9:07am
  - artemisia
    
    Yes, but need is not just for cheap basic accommodation. There is also a need to house people sensible landlords will not take on. Loafers Lodge was providing a social service, and occupants could, if eligible, apply for government support such as the Accommodation Supplement and TAS.
    
    In this case alternative accommodation will be provided as needed at tax/rate payer expense. Nearly 100 people …. If other similar complexes close their doors that level of support might not be available.
    
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    May 18, 2023 9:39am
  - I remember when
    
    Why do the fire alarms in these buildings not work?
    And is the reason the same one that makes the installation of sprinklers a problem.
    Where do homeless, jobless, arsonists get accommodation?
    What happens when you put mental health patients in with other unfortunates?
    Another one of those ‘lucky it doesn’t happen more often’ situations about which it is easy to say, “We must make certain it doesn’t ever happen again,” when it is near impossible to ensure this is the case.
    Action yes, but luck is still needed!
    
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    May 18, 2023 4:22pm
    - artemisia
      
      The fire alarms in this case almost certainly did work. Unless there was a systemic failure or people destroyed them. They get tested at least every month by an Independent Qualified Person, a requirement for the BWOF. I expect they are hard wired and there are many of them.
      
      A better question, if the alarms did in fact sound, is why some occupants did not follow the evacuation instructions. There were likely reasons, just not great ones.
      
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      May 18, 2023 4:44pm
- ClanMcleod
  
  This country has been over regulated to suffocation point for decades. The problem is, the only way they can justify their positions and salaries is to identify new ‘problems’ to do nothing about.
  There needs t be a massive clean out of this destructive bureaucracy at all levels. It is destroying the country. 80% of it is likely a complete waste of time.
  
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  May 18, 2023 10:03am
  - kowtow
    
    ‘identify new ‘problems’ to do nothing about.’
    
    I am convinced that that is exactly what carbon zero or whatever other catchy catch phrase is the go is actually all about.
    
    Instead of fixing real problems they can play act at “saving the planet” , which is so virtuous it can’t be argued against and shows they really do care.
    
    But they know it’s all bollocks .
    
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    May 18, 2023 11:10am
  - Keith White
    
    Why would anyone downtick CM’s post? Show us on the doll where the truth groped you, downticker…
    
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    May 18, 2023 11:41am
  - cmm
    
    More regulations are for children.
    
    It is naive to think that regulations can fix all problems, but that’s socialist/nanny state/patronising politicians for you.
    
    Like is not guaranteed. People die sometimes. Systems are not perfect and never will be. Suck it up.
    
    Overregulation does not fix problems. It just crushes flexibility and what value is in living.
    
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    May 18, 2023 1:28pm
- sirknz
  
  Please politicians, will you save us from random events…
  
  By passing laws, the politicians can make it look like they are doing something useful.
  
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  May 18, 2023 11:10am
- GJM
  
  Looking at the photos, the top floor was gutted. I am willing to bet that the fire walls didn’t exist or were poorly built and entirely inadequate. Fire should never have sprad from the room of fire origin to teh other units.
  A history of false alarms (twice a week) also does not help. People smoking, cooking toast in their rooms will set off alarms.
  
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  May 18, 2023 3:35pm
Yvette

Winston?

Today, Waititi did the reverse to Luxon, saying he would rule him out as a potential partner in any Te Pāti Māori-involved coalition government.

Last week Luxon ruled out Te Pāti Māori as a partner in any National-led coalition government in 2023. That leaves National hooking up with Act and New Zealand First, should Winston Peters have enough magic dust to sprinkle on his potential voter base, who deserted him in 2020.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/kahu/te-pati-maori-co-leader-waititi-to-luxon-dont-wait-by-the-phone-chris/MDVR4UPHNZF6XDAFPVMACVC7EQ/

I wonder if there will be any pressure on Winston to, this time, indicate who he will actually side with.
Last time, 2017, I think he not only surprised many but disappointed about as many by choosing Labour.

So why give Winston a vote for him to do with it what he may just arbitrarily want?
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May 18, 2023 8:05am
- Tony Stuart
  
  I wouldn’t trust Peters as far as I could throw him, which isn’t far at all. Any decision he makes, if he can convince enough suckers to get him over the line, will be all about what’s best for Winston Peters.
  
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  May 18, 2023 8:27am
  - pdm
    
    Main aims for Peters.
    
    1. Deputy Prime Minister
    2. Foreign Minister
    
    To hell with anything that means hard work.
    
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    May 18, 2023 8:33am
    - kowtow
      
      1. Keeping snout in trough.
      
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      May 18, 2023 8:48am
    - All_on_Red
      
      Is he healthy enough to last?
      Personally I think he’s too old now
      
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      May 18, 2023 8:57am
      - Maggy Wassilieff
        
        He’s 78… time to put his feet up.
        
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        May 18, 2023 9:28am
      - peterwn
        
        A modest alcohol intake seems to do wonders for his health. His health is very good for his age. He is good for another 3 – 6 years.
        
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        May 18, 2023 9:39am
      - Keith White
        
        Joe Biden has set a shining example for the ages that you’re never too old and feeble to be able to keep your feet up on a desk doing nothing productive at the same time as your snout is in the trough sucking up money earned by the productive.
        
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        May 18, 2023 10:05am
      - pdm
        
        One year older than me.
        
        But he ahas sucked on tens of thousands,if not hundreds of thousands, more fags than I have.
        
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        May 18, 2023 10:22am
      - Mike
        
        Takes us into Trump/Biden territory, but NZ hasn’t got a tradition of gerontocracy like the US or Soviet Russia. Having said that, we have had a PM or two who were notably physically incapable towards the end of their careers – Holland and Nash for example.
        
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        May 18, 2023 11:34am
    - peterwn
      
      3. Three letters in front of his name.
      
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      May 18, 2023 9:34am
      - lemuzz
        
        OBE. Other Buggers Efforts
        
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        May 18, 2023 12:17pm
    - Biscuit
      
      pdm, he’d probably want to be Minister of Racing again, too…
      
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      May 18, 2023 12:05pm
  - david
    
    “I wouldn’t trust Peters as far as I could throw him, …. ”
    You should be aware that Dwarf tossing is severely frowned upon among a section of our well-balanced communities. Me, couldn’t give a toss (see what I did there) as long as it is consensual.
    
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    May 18, 2023 12:01pm
- Bernard Black
  
  A couple of promising polls and Waititis head swells so much he is going to need a bigger hat.
  Talk about counting your chickens before they hatch.
  If he loses his seat back to labour Te Pati are out on their arse, we live in hope.
  
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  May 18, 2023 8:29am
  - Maggy Wassilieff
    
    If he loses his seat, and Meka Whaitiri retains hers…there’ll still be Te Pati Maori in Parliament….and guess who will be #1 on the TPM List.
    
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    May 18, 2023 9:31am
    - Bernard Black
      
      True
      However if I voted for someone on the basis that they are representing the party I support and they then jump ship to a party I don’t support, regardless of my vote and my wishes, I would be somewhat annoyed with them.
      Personally I think Meka has Waka jumped her way straight out of parliament, we will have to wait and see.
      
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      May 18, 2023 11:54am
      - NeverMindTheBollocks
        
        FFD – sorry
        
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        May 18, 2023 12:58pm
- ClanMcleod
  
  Peters ruled out working with Labour again.
  
  https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/2018868041/winston-peters-rules-out-working-with-the-labour-party-again
  
  Seymour says he won’t work with Winston. It will be an interesting election, Seymour is as big a liar as Winnie as we found out recently when he stated unequivocally that the vaccines hadn’t killed anyone.
  
  Now, presented with this evidence, you’d either say ‘hmm it looks like the vaccine didn’t kill people, COVID did, I was wrong,’ or you’d keep clinging to total lunacy. Up to you I guess.
  
  He forgot Rory Nairn in a disgusting hurry, not to mention the many others that have been covered up due to failure to test.
  
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  May 18, 2023 10:12am
  - cmm
    
    A promise from WP is worth as much as a promise from WP.
    
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    May 18, 2023 1:29pm
  - leoj
    
    Hugely disappoint that Seymour is in denial about vaccine harm and excess deaths.
    
    But why be surprised? He, along with the other 119 MPs, hid behind Jacinda’s skirt during the protest.
    
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    May 18, 2023 2:03pm
- G the giant from Dunedin
  
  He has stated he could not work with the Labour party this election, if anyone trust that asshole they have rocks in their heads.
  
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  May 18, 2023 11:04am
  - leoj
    
    For once, I agree with you. If Winnie was on fire, I wouldn’t pee on him.
    
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    May 18, 2023 2:06pm
- leoj
  
  Anyone thinking about voting NZF has a pathetically short memory.
  Winnie got us into this mess and you want to give him the power to screw us again?
  Such people are idiots.
  
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  May 18, 2023 2:09pm
- Raphael
  
  Peters is brilliant as a member of the Opposition. As much as I dislike the man when he is on the Opposition benches, he does a lot to keep the other side honest.
  Peters on the Treasury benches is one of the most hypocritical self-serving twerp that there is.
  
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  May 18, 2023 2:27pm
- lemuzz
  
  Great. The Maori cowboy will be independant come October
  
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  May 18, 2023 2:41pm
Matt Long

In a massive surprise, DOC, which spends up large for lawyers to stop people using and enjoying their personal property, while being the worst land steward and neighbour in the country, does it again.

High-country hoons ‘tear apart’ DoC land

[Mod – cleaned up link]
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May 18, 2023 8:06am
- Gravelroad
  
  @Matt-
  Thanks to loud Green “we know best” voices, people believe that farmers cannot be trusted to protect the land.
  Recreational use trumps productive use.
  DoC is not fit for purpose.
  It is perhaps the most passive/aggressive government entity we have here in NZ.
  
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  May 18, 2023 8:18am
  - kowtow
    
    People need to remember that that “Green” ‘hate the farmers’ rhetoric is conveyed to the general public via the media pardy.
    
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    May 18, 2023 8:50am
  - Keith White
    
    I think that would be a tie between them (DOC) and Infernal Revenue, with Oranga Tamawhatsit in close 3rd place.
    
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    May 18, 2023 10:06am
  - ClanMcleod
    
    Another well intended project now overloaded with university educated careerists and bureaucrats. Time to rip it apart and start again, along with all of the other cancerous bureaucracies.
    
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    May 18, 2023 10:16am
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  For those interested, the rubbish after a URL can be deleted.
  In the one Matt posted, look for the question mark. In this case everything can be deleted from the end right back to – and including the question mark.
  apart-doc-land can be the end.
  No offence Matt, just showing an example.
  
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  May 18, 2023 8:48am
  - Matt Long
    
    I’ll give that a try.
    
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    May 18, 2023 10:05am
    - Steve Otto(North Shore)
      
      Just test after posting. Not working, the Mods will fix it sometimes. Otherwise post the whole thing.
      If the question mark is not there, look for things like (utm) Can’t find any more but most is after the question mark. A twitter link has a lot of shit after it sometimes.
      
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      May 18, 2023 4:09pm
Tony Stuart

A two-hour, high-speed, “near catastrophic” chase in gridlocked Manhattan? Give me strength! Even the NYPD are calling bullshit on Harry and Meghan’s latest flight of fantasy!
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May 18, 2023 8:14am
- Cassandra
  
  According to the NYC mayor, a former police chief, 10 minutes is more likely. Observers said that the paparazzi were not driving fast. Typical beat up. Making a living by being a celebrity involves some reduction in privacy. If they stay in California, where they are minor celebs at best, they will not have a problem.
  
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  May 18, 2023 8:20am
  - Ehlana
    
    Considering what they have done since they moved to America, can they really claim an expectation of respect for their privacy any more?
    
    I first heard of this on the BBC, where the reporter was explaining how they try to verify stories like this, by looking for evidence such as the filming you would expect would occur if a 2 hour high-speed chase were happening in New York. Remember the OJ Simpson car chase? With drones these days, the coverage should be even better.
    
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    May 18, 2023 9:17am
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  But but but Harry’s Mum died in a car crash.
  Wonder if those two idiots know what a publicity junkie is?
  
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  May 18, 2023 8:21am
  - G the giant from Dunedin
    
    No no, suicide by tunnel.
    
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    May 18, 2023 11:05am
- Flossie
  
  They really do need a Look at Me moment don’t they!! And of course it never hurts to remind us of What Happened to My Mum.
  
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  May 18, 2023 8:25am
- bjools
  
  When I heard this, I immediately thought….
  Is this their Jussy Smollett moment?
  Maybe one of the cars had a “MAGA” sign written on it?
  
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  May 18, 2023 9:12am
- Bill Felt
  
  Maybe they should move to Springfield
  
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  May 18, 2023 9:30am
- ClanMcleod
  
  South Park absolutely smashed these clowns in their inimitable way. The whole episode was hilarious. This is a 25 second clip.
  
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtQKFaP_XvU
  
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  May 18, 2023 10:19am
  - sirknz
    
    “We want our privuhcy!”
    
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    May 18, 2023 11:17am
- ClanMcleod
  
  Tony – with the apparent worldwide speed reduction policies being implemented, 20mph is breakneck!!
  
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  May 18, 2023 10:20am
- rangitoto
  
  Did they remember to wear seat belts?
  
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  May 18, 2023 12:05pm
- Biscuit
  
  Love to see just where it was that Mrs & Ms Markle encountered ‘high speed’, ha.
  
  NYC traffic – particularly in Manhattan – rarely reaches much more than walking pace…
  
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  May 18, 2023 12:08pm
- Ghost
  
  Harry and MeGain not in the press since the coronation. Need a good story to pull on Diana’s memory. No doubt it will be in his next book……
  
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  May 18, 2023 12:12pm
- NeverMindTheBollocks
  
  Weren’t they in a taxi? What does the meter say?
  
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  May 18, 2023 1:00pm
  - Raphael
    
    The taxi driver has already said there was no high speed chase.
    
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    May 18, 2023 2:28pm
Matt Long

Brian Leyland’s article in Basset, Brash and Hide, reminds us why so called clean energy isn’t going to work. The problems with pines have been clearly shown in the last few months.
It reminds me of the ten year project we did here to capture teens of thousands of tons of carbon in the soil with good practice pastoral farming.
Government; “New Zealand soils are different to the rest of the world and cannot capture carbon. We need taxes and poverty to improve the lot for New Zealanders.”
https://www.bassettbrashandhide.com/post/bryan-leyland-the-wind-and-solar-power-need-storage?postId=e596c37b-db52-42eb-b956-633730e658d2&cid=db970c6d-6f12-48e2-a04d-5c512f666dee
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May 18, 2023 8:15am
- alloytoo
  
  If wind and solar cannot meet gross demand then storage remains a “magical” pipedream.
  
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  May 18, 2023 8:53am
  - kowtow
    
    So does their much touted “green” hydrogen.
    
    What is certain though is the price of electricity will just keep going up .Hitting the poorest hardest.
    
    At some stage the gullible fools who believe in climate catastrophy might wake up , but an awful lot of the fault lies with the Little Red Guards in the media constantly ,relentlessly pushing this secular religion and with an electorate who refuse to do even some basic research into what must be ( batflu aside) the scam of the century.
    
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    May 18, 2023 9:13am
Maggy Wassilieff

MIQ Clown show

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/coronavirus/300875917/man-accused-of-escaping-miq-to-buy-toothpaste-has-charges-dismissed

Lying officials… Thank you, Jacinda
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May 18, 2023 8:15am
- Keith White
  
  When I was in MIQ there was never civilian security without army personnel nearby, and there were uniformed police on every floor and at the swab testing station. And I know that wasn’t there just for me, that was there well before I arrived 🙂
  
  There was very much an atmosphere of adult bullying from those people, and sadly – at least on my floor – the evangelist nurse “in charge” was the worst; and again just on my floor, during my two weeks’ stay, two people ‘down the hall’ overdosed and had to be taken to hospital.
  
  The only times you were permitted to set foot outside your doorway were (a) when you were graciously allowed to walk down the hall and up a floor to get a swab test and if you didn’t want to do that they’d swab you in your doorway with a policeman a meter away; or (b) if they allowed you to exercise-walk (but no running!!!) around a track on the hotel terrace for 20 minutes. Those spaces were very limited and usually booked up very quickly and there was an informal agreement to let mothers with small children book the exercise slots first, to get out of the room and the rest of us would wait for what was available. I got to walk outside three times in 14 days.
  
  This is not an attempt at Poor Me Syndrome, for example as a solo without children I had my room to myself. This is me explaining to those who don’t know, why some people (including myself) are not forgetting or forgetting. Not. Fucking. Ever.
  
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  May 18, 2023 10:13am
  - mawm
    
    This is just a taste (test?) of what is coming when the WHO gets unrestricted power to tell previously sovereign nations what to do, after they decide that there is a threat – actual or potential, of a pandemic or threat to health as defined by themselves.
    
    I have not heard a word from any NZ politician about the new WHO pandemic treaty that is being formulated at this very time and from what I have seen it takes away individual sovereignty as well as national. They surely cannot be unaware of it.
    
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    May 18, 2023 3:29pm
  - info@cruzpro.com
    
    Hi Keith,
    
    Sorry to hear about your very sad experience.
    
    I never had to stay in MIQ because the family stayed put in NZ the entire time that that tyrant ran the country.
    
    Because I didn’t want to get injected with an experimental and largely unproven medication ( just can’t get myself to call it a vaccine), my wife and I were barred from eating out, social activities and other normal day-to- day events. We too will never forget or forgive those responsible and will vote accordingly this coming October.
    
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    May 18, 2023 7:24pm
    - Keith White
      
      Thank you. I don’t believe most of the NZ public really knew what the Podium of Odium was doing to us overseas at the time.
      
      I was overseas for work (not a holiday) and I was still paying taxes in NZ – and denied re-entry all the same.
      
      The country’s NZ Embassy on instructions from the NZ Govt would not even write a letter to the Immigration authorities of the country I was stranded in saying that they were stopping me leaving within the three months of my business travel visa – so I ended up an illegal overstayer, and sometimes slept in my rental car because you had to show a passport and valid visa at the local hotels in that EU country.
      
      Again, I did not have wife or children with me. I could manage.
      
      But also again – no forgiveness, no forgetfulness.
      
      Peace Crimes tribunals need to happen (unless of course Kate Hannah reports me to the Blue Patched Gang for subversion and I get detained at His Majesty’s pleasure*).
      
      *I joke, but is that scenario really that unimaginable these days?
      
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      May 18, 2023 8:31pm
- ClanMcleod
  
  Maggy – I found this the most concerning and frightening part about the whole fiasco.
  
  Singh, who now lives in Australia, received online abuse and had angry members of the public show up at his house as result of the allegations against him.
  
  “When he was released from MIQ, he ended up having to lock himself up inside his house,” Wimsett said.
  
  This is the NZ created by “kind and caring” Ardern and supported and even encouraged by Seymour and Luxon. People were going to his house to abuse him? Comparisons to Nazi Germany were not exaggerated.
  
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  May 18, 2023 10:25am
  - Maggy Wassilieff
    
    You can see why the authorities never wanted this case to come to court.
    
    Why did Webb lie to the public:
    At the time, head of MIQ Air Commodore Darryn Webb said Singh “escaped through a fenced area” as a section of the fence was being replaced.
    
    Was it deliberate,
    or didn’t he have a clue as to what had occurred ?
    
    And how bloody difficult would it have been for MIQ to have some basics like toothpaste available for inmates?
    
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    May 18, 2023 10:52am
    - kowtow
      
      ‘Singh was due to defend the charge at a judge alone trial on Thursday, however Judge Brooke Gibson dismissed the charge due to police witnesses being unavailable.’
      
      There’s no report in that story on why Plod was not available. Nor any report of the judge commenting on same .
      
      Once upon a time if the prosecution couldn’t proceed , that was a bigly deal.
      
      The whole thing doesn’t pass the sniff test.
      
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      May 18, 2023 12:24pm
    - Keith White
      
      If you were from overseas and didn’t have the ability or the know-how or an Internet account to set up an online shopping “basket” with for example Countdown (IIRC the only other option was New World), and you didn’t have a New Zealand credit card with of course a New Zealand billing address, there was absolutely nothing you could buy while in prison either from outside or from the front desk. To be fair to the hotel front desk people, they did their best. But they were absolutely not allowed to do anything which the police, the nurses, and the army did not allow.
      
      And there were certainly quite substantial minority of collaborators with the authorities inside the hotel – who would immediately denounce and identify any people who perpetrated what those Karens decided in their awesome self-righteousness were breaches of quarantine.
      
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      May 18, 2023 12:30pm
    - Keith White
      
      A small group of us kulak-agitators persuaded a few of our fellow travellers on the inbound flight, to snaffle whatever toiletries they could get as we walked through (or rather shuffled through) the business class section, while exiting the aircraft. We were suspicious that basics like that would not be available at destination. And no, they fucking weren’t. Again, in those respects we were treated far worse than convicted murderers, rapists and child molesters. I was a Boy Scout once upon a time and loaded up with biscuits, toiletries, medicines and chocolate in the full expectation I needed to be reliant on my own resources. As previously mentioned, Customs stole/confiscated the medicines, keep the biscuits because I doubt they were this enormous biohazard, but left me with the toiletries and chocolates*.
      
      *I was so incredibly grateful, thank you so much Govt people, tugging my forelock, you were so kind to let me keep those.
      
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      May 18, 2023 12:34pm
- Jim
  
  Misinformation and disinformation are the greatest threats to democracy said Ardern……yep indeed they are ………from a lying corrupt government.
  Remember the same government lies about the “two gang affiliated northland hookers”
  
  It should be glaringly obvious to everyone just how much lies, BS and deception the government used during the autocratic tyranny of covid.
  
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  May 19, 2023 3:09pm
slightlyrighty

Te Pati Maori might need to pass round Rawiri’s hat..

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/waipareira-trust-to-try-to-claw-back-385k-in-loans-to-john-tamihere-campaigns/BUB2PAXWBBAIDKFIK723Z7C4Z4/

When you consider that Te Pati Maori only got $37,800 in donations, they might be looking down the barrel of insolvency.
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May 18, 2023 8:16am
- Tony Stuart
  
  Rawiri is all hat and no cattle, or maybe a better phrase would be all steam and no hangi…
  
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  May 18, 2023 8:29am
  - Tarquin North
    
    They’re already looking down the barrel of total stupidity and insolvency is probably some kind of colonial construct that doesn’t apply in their world.
    
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    May 18, 2023 8:35am
  - fightingtemeraire
    
    In the North of England the description is
    
    “Fur coat no knickers”, in Cockney “All mouth and trousers”.
    
    8 0
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    May 18, 2023 8:44am
    - Keith White
      
      Where I was raised, the comparable expression was “twenty pounds of bullshit in a ten-pound bag.”
      
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      May 18, 2023 10:14am
  - wisteria
    
    Rawiri was an entertainer and had JT stage manage his “performance” in Parliament on Tuesday. What a croc but now that JT has had his hand in the till all might turn to custard.
    
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    May 18, 2023 9:21am
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  Crikey, How the hell is this legal?
  
  Is this where Whanau Ora’s grant money is being diverted to?
  
  Who is overseeing the Waipareira Trust?
  
  19 0
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  May 18, 2023 10:09am
  - pdm
    
    Whomever said – `never trust a Maori with a briefcase was bang on.
    
    Tamahere is a prime example.
    
    17 0
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    May 18, 2023 10:27am
    - Yvette
      
      Just for the hell of it –
      On the first visit of several visits to Japan, I was exiting Narita Airport to use the limousine bus to connect to the internal airport, Haneda, and wondering if I was in the right bus queue, I asked an elderly Japanese man standing there if I was in the right place, and he put down his briefcase beside me, walked back into the building and after a moment came back and nodded, then picked up his case, obviously knowing that no one would dream of touching it meanwhile – and being before 2001 also knew no one would blow it up either in his absence.
      Sadly that aspect of Japan is slowly changing,
      
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      May 18, 2023 12:32pm
- NeverMindTheBollocks
  
  Not just 6 figure loans but interest-free 6 figure loans.
  
  That Trust sure is some kind of trough!
  
  7 1
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  May 18, 2023 1:05pm
Steve Otto(North Shore)

Trump says he will release the remainder of the JFK files if elected.
https://allamericansavageshow.com/trump-promises-full-release-of-jfk-assassination-files-if-re-elected/
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May 18, 2023 8:23am
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  And this:
  https://allamericansavageshow.com/rfk-jr-overwhelming-evidence-that-the-cia-involved-in-kennedy-assassination/
  
  13 3
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  May 18, 2023 8:24am
  - MCōs
    
    Did he find this stuff on Hunter Biden’s laptop?
    
    4 18
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    May 18, 2023 9:15am
    - RightNow
      
      No the laptop only had traces of cocaine and grool
      
      8 1
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      May 18, 2023 1:00pm
    - Steve Otto(North Shore)
      
      Best ask the FBI, and why they are holding it back.
      The contents will bring the whole Biden family down.
      
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      May 18, 2023 4:34pm
- RoboRob
  
  Now theres a good election bribe 🙂
  
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  May 18, 2023 9:08am
- Vory v zakone
  
  So far the excuse has been that the truth about JFK is “a threat to national security.”
  
  So it looks like Donald Trump is going to fulfill the following proclamation..
  
  ‘I will splinter the CIA into a thousand pieces and scatter it into the wind.’
  
  -John F. Kennedy
  
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  May 18, 2023 9:15am
BananaLlama

Never seen such a shit show trying to get a protection order enforced against a violent criminal man have my eyes been opened to the state of our justice system. Should be a quick bang of the gavel and a five year stretch in prison.
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May 18, 2023 8:26am
- MCōs
  
  Don’t know what you’re talking about, but our judges don’t use gavels.
  
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  May 18, 2023 9:19am
  - kowtow
    
    or common sense.
    
    7 0
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    May 18, 2023 9:37am
  - Keith White
    
    Yeah, no gavels, the judges just raise their voice. But woe betide anyone else who raises their voice in the presence of the Lord Judge Almighty!
    
    4 1
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    May 18, 2023 10:15am
  - All_on_Red
    
    We bow to your superior experience as a Defendant
    
    11 3
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    May 18, 2023 10:58am
    - Keith White
      
      Actually so far I have been lucky (or something) enough to not ever be in the dock.
      
      I have been frequently required to be present to testify as to my professional inspection and record of injuries sustained, and to comment on plausible – or woefully implausible – “reasons” for those injuries alleged / advanced by the defense.
      
      So yeah, I have had quite a number of hours of observations of the various parties in that circus over the years, and I am professionally familiar with the clowns – but I was never the ringmaster, nor the chief clown.
      
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      May 18, 2023 1:58pm
      - All_on_Red
        
        cool
        I was talking to MCos
        
        6 2
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        May 18, 2023 2:10pm
  - Mike
    
    There was an amusing article about this in (I think) Capital Letter last year. a common misconception apparently, even among some (ill-educated) lawyers.
    
    5 5
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    May 18, 2023 11:37am
Nickc2

Tamihere’s been sprung borrowing money from a Charity to fund his ventures into Politics. As stated in the linked article, this is illegal but he won’t be charged. It appears that if he pays back the $385,000, all will be ok. Well, good luck with that!
If he doesn’t pay the illegally used money, will he be charged? I sincerely doubt it, he’s one of the favored race.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/waipareira-trust-to-try-to-claw-back-385k-in-loans-to-john-tamihere-campaigns/BUB2PAXWBBAIDKFIK723Z7C4Z4/
The article is paywalled, but the message is obvious.
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May 18, 2023 8:34am
- peterwn
  
  You know what Faigan said – Charity’s fine – subscribe to mine.
  
  7 0
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  May 18, 2023 9:46am
- Tauhei Notts
  
  Would that interest free loan trigger fringe benefit tax problems?
  My knowledge of FBT is insufficient to comment on this possibility.
  
  10 0
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  May 18, 2023 10:30am
  - Ehlana
    
    According to IRD:
    You usually need to pay fringe benefit tax if:
    
    you give an employee a loan at less than the prescribed or market rate of interest
    this loan is not available to the public
    
    It’s not a problem – as long as they paid the FBT.
    
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    May 18, 2023 1:57pm
- G the giant from Dunedin
  
  Did this not happen to him last election?
  
  5 0
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  May 18, 2023 11:09am
Maggie Pie

WATCH

Man reacts badly after receiving 190 YEAR PRISON SENTENCE for killing his 4-year-old child….. we thort the scum was lucky he didn’t get life!

https://twitter.com/raphousetv2/status/1658509616911884290
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May 18, 2023 8:38am
Steve Otto(North Shore)

Well, well, Dominion Voting Systems wanted Tucker Carlson sacked?
Is the Fox payout just a sham? Well there is no way Dominion will shut Carlson down.
I just hope crooked Dominion’s cheating is exposed before the 2024 Vote.
https://libertyonenews.com/gov-abbott-takes-on-dominion-after-report-reveals-free-speech-attack-in-lawsuit/
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May 18, 2023 8:41am
- trout
  
  Tucker Carlson’s first Twitter contribution after being axed drew 21.2 million views. Remains to be seen if FOX can hold him to his contract and restrict further media work.
  
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  May 18, 2023 9:24am
  - G the giant from Dunedin
    
    His new work is a podcast is it not?, i think he will be banned for working for another network, i guess a podcast is his own stuff
    
    7 0
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    May 18, 2023 11:17am
- Mike
  
  Give it up. You think Fox paid them $1 billion (NZ) for fun?
  
  2 13
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  May 18, 2023 11:38am
  - All_on_Red
    
    Effectively, it was a lot less than that.
    They were insured and quite a bit can be written off against Tax
    
    8 3
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    May 18, 2023 12:34pm
- peterwn
  
  Election losers need someone or something to blame and they saw Dominion (a Canadian company as the name would suggest) as an easy target. Dominion was not going to have its reputation hollowed out by cheap shots and needed to do something about it to retain its integrity.
  
  5 7
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  May 18, 2023 12:31pm
cmm

Now here’s the problem when vehicles become sentient:
* The Mazda took exception to the way another car was driving and started driving aggressively.
* The other vehicle took evasive action.

Finally, people got involved when the occupants of the hatchback started shooting.

FFS, why this crappy reporting? The vehicles are lumps of plastic and metal. They don’t take exception. Put the blame where it belongs: the scum people in the vehicles.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ai1n-dqs3So
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May 18, 2023 8:42am
- Blog-aholic
  
  What more do you expect from our now extremely incompetent and lazy self styled journalists…even AI would be more conversant with reality than some of these people.
  
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  May 18, 2023 8:51am
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  One of the media’s best – “The vehicle lost control”
  Puts the fault on the vehicle, not the dick behind the wheel.
  
  19 1
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  May 18, 2023 9:02am
  - Flossie
    
    My personal favourite – The car was in a collision with a tree.
    
    6 0
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    May 18, 2023 11:15am
  - Bobba Fret
    
    “The vehicle failed to take the corner” is my favorite. Nothing to do with the driver going too fast.
    
    7 0
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    May 18, 2023 11:48am
- sirknz
  
  Does anybody feel safer with the police stating that this incident wasn’t gang related and is instead a seemingly random event?
  
  Also, I’m really glad that Jacinda got all those scary guns out of the hands of all those law abiding citizens when she did. Imagine how bad it would be if she didn’t…
  
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  May 18, 2023 11:23am
  - kowtow
    
    How the hell can they say that when they haven’t ( as far as I know) made any arrests ……
    
    More of the “no there’s no gang related crime/looting going on”
    
    Really does bring to mind ” Move along please , nothing to see here”.
    
    8 1
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    May 18, 2023 12:28pm
  - Maggy Wassilieff
    
    Whew, that’s a relief then..
    
    It’s not gangs… just another bunch of crazed citizens with guns intimidating & shooting up the public.
    
    6 1
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    May 18, 2023 2:25pm
- Jim
  
  Agree with the poor use of language, but more concerning is that societally this type of violence has now normalised across NZ.
  What the f##k happened to NZ under Labour?
  
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  May 19, 2023 4:10pm
Nickc2

Coutesy Anon

“Copy and pasted”. I did.
[Mod : the link would have done – long cut/paste jobs just clutter the place ]
\Well said that man! I totally agree with the above and it’s the politicians have allowed these rich corporate companies to do as they will to get richer. I don’t give any of them money towards cleaning the world or the oceans. Oh no only we are expected to do it I’m only saying
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May 18, 2023 8:48am
JimBobJoe

Auckland… The CBD and adjacent waterfront are becoming an open air fight club….

Just another day in ‘paradise’?

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/video-group-attack-outside-ferry-building-quay-st-downtown-auckland/BD5DOP4FGRHQZKDUHUPXZ2BW54/
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May 18, 2023 8:51am
- kowtow
  
  Anybody feeling “safer”.
  
  13 0
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  May 18, 2023 9:04am
  - Keith White
    
    We just need a registry of places it’s safe to go to and be at and then everyone will be safe.
    
    We could call it a Safe Registry and use the same software as the Gun Registry for the same purpose. Win-win!
    
    6 1
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    May 18, 2023 10:17am
- In Vino Veritas
  
  Auckland is turning into a shit hole Jim. A 15 year old girl (passenger in minivan driven by parents) was shot and wounded in a road rage incident near St Lukes yesterday. WTF are the police doing in this country? Or should I say, WTF are the ALLOWED by the Government to do?
  
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  May 18, 2023 9:07am
  - kowtow
    
    From their website ;
    
    ‘Commitment to Māori and the Treaty
    Police act in good faith of, and respect, the principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi. The principles are “partnership”, “protection” and “participation”. Working with Māori is essential to success. Police and Māori stand together, because only then can we build the support and relationships to reverse the over-representation of Māori in the criminal justice system.’
    
    A racist police “service” is not an effective police force.
    
    Note they also value “diversity”.
    
    Nope , their “management” has woked them into a high degree of uselessness.
    
    https://www.newcops.govt.nz/about-the-job/our-values
    
    16 1
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    May 18, 2023 9:22am
  - JimBobJoe
    
    Yip… I posted a link to the shooting in yesterdays GD.
    
    That part of Auckland has always been a bit rough at night.. But now its daytime as well.
    
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    May 18, 2023 9:29am
  - rouppe
    
    Not just Auckland. I was driving into Wellington the other night, and as I was going along, some cars merged from Tawa on-ramp, and one of them lurched – literally – into my lane in front of me.
    
    Wasn’t an emergency, but I did have to brake, and flashed lights at them.
    
    Oh my God… For the rest of the trip, blocking manoeuvres, one-fingered gesticulations, all on.
    
    All from a fairly young female. Or at least I think it was, had a pony tail. Ferals…
    
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    May 18, 2023 10:06am
    - Keith White
      
      Always check road-ragers for their visible M.B.I. (Man-Bun Index = a.k.a. a samurai-style topknot. If there is one, add three extra Risk Points).
      
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      May 18, 2023 1:52pm
    - Captain Mainwaring
      
      Tawa on-ramp largely explains it. Strange people live there.
      
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      May 18, 2023 3:34pm
  - Keith White
    
    I think the police are doing – or not doing – exactly as they want to do. Cahill, Coster and the ranks are all aligned with the policies. There are no dissenters or whistleblowers in the NZ Police, surely we’ve all seen that. NZ Police should rename themselves FBI – Fabulous, Bullying, Incompetent.
    
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    May 18, 2023 10:19am
    - jgw739
      
      I’d say there are a fair few of the experienced good quality Police that have left the force in disgust.
      
      As an institution, they are heading the way of the Education sector.
      
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      May 18, 2023 8:11pm
      - Keith White
        
        But they left without blowing the whistle.
        
        2 0
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        May 18, 2023 8:21pm
- All_on_Red
  
  “Is it them again Yogi?”
  “Yes, its them again”
  
  Check out how vicious the female in the White Hoodie (?) is.
  Was it a homeless person they were beating? That’s usually where one does his begging
  
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  May 18, 2023 9:54am
  - Scooter
    
    Even the dog was having a go
    
    5 0
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    May 18, 2023 12:23pm
- Tricati
  
  Send Ginny Anderson in as she reckons its safe to go anywhere in NZ.
  
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  May 18, 2023 10:54am
- Loddenthinks
  
  Simon Bridges described it as “barbaric and entirely beyond the pale”. Beyond the pale indeed, judging by the video footage.
  
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  May 18, 2023 12:24pm
- kowtow
  
  Christchurch too.
  
  ‘Hordes of roving youths continue to smash their way into business across the city – and it is all being captured on CCTV security cameras.’
  
  https://www.odt.co.nz/star-news/star-christchurch/rampage-continues-attempted-break-leaves-witness-afraid
  
  And it looks like the dog owners there are feral too.
  
  ‘The godwits are breeding in Alaska and will arrive back at the Avon-Heathcote Estuary Ihutai in September, exhausted and starving after a non-stop flight. Bird groups hope they will not be greeted by dogs stretching their legs.’
  
  https://www.odt.co.nz/star-news/star-christchurch/calls-dog-ban-christchurch-estuary
  
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  May 18, 2023 12:40pm
- cmm
  
  OK cops, how about a deal:
  * You can still have the monopoly on Glocks and Bushmasters in your cars.
  * We can have pepper sprays.
  
  5 0
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  May 18, 2023 1:40pm
  - Keith White
    
    …as long as our children and wives can have high-capacity pepper sprays…
    
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    May 18, 2023 1:49pm
O C Smith

Budget day and apparently “we” want a wealth tax. Have we been given any details regarding the survey. The phrasing of the questions could be revealing.
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May 18, 2023 8:53am
- Ehlana
  
  I’m fairly sure the question would something bland, like, do you support a wealth tax?
  
  Rather than something more honest, such as, what percentage of your retirement savings and house value would you be comfortable giving to the government each year in additional tax?
  
  As Nicola Willis pointed out this morning, it isn’t easy to do one of these without catching a lot of people who don’t think of themselves as wealthy.
  
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  May 18, 2023 10:00am
  - Loddenthinks
    
    It wouldn’t be phrased anything like that. it would be along the lines of:
    
    “Recent analysis has shown that the very wealthy only pay tax at an effective rate of 9.5%, much lower than the average effective tax rate ordinary New Zealanders pay, which is 20%.
    
    Do you support legislation that would force the super-wealthy to pay their fair share?”
    
    Leaving out, of course, that the 9.5% effective rate they pay accounts for almost 70% of all tax collected.
    
    But we needn’t fear, there can’t possibly be a wealth tax because Chippy himself said so:
    
    “Former prime minister Jacinda Ardern supported a capital gains tax prior to taking office but did not implement one in government after failing to win support from coalition partners NZ First.
    
    She subsequently ruled it out for the rest of her tenure, which finished up in January.
    
    Her successor Chris Hipkins is yet to be drawn, but he said he would not seek to implement one without a mandate from voters.”
    
    Possibly a Tui advert coming up today…
    
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    May 18, 2023 12:29pm
- Chris Nisbet
  
  Yes, do we _really_ support a wealth tax, or is just an example of how to get the result you want by careful construction of the survey and selection of the people surveyed?
  I know how I’d bet my dollar.
  
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  May 18, 2023 10:24am
- G the giant from Dunedin
  
  Only that is was done by Reid, did they not have some other poll giving the complete opposite of all other polls, might have been legalising dope
  
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  May 18, 2023 11:20am
Maggie Pie

The Horrid reports –

‘Waipareira Trust to try claw back $385,000.oo in loans to JT’

‘This hits Tamahere in the back pocket and also throws a considerable wrinkle into Te-Party-Maori’s general election planning…..’

https://documentcloud.org/documents/23498267-waipareira-2022-accounts#document/p15/a2256298
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May 18, 2023 8:55am
- RoboRob
  
  That’s a massive amount of money for a charity to loan someone.
  
  Interestingly the loan is interest free with no specified term. That means the trust not only loaned him the money but is also paying significant fringe benefit tax on the interest they should be charging him. My calculations (and I am no expert) is that with an assumed low interest rate of 7% (its an unsecured loan) the interest would be $26,950 of which the IRD would want ~33% ($8,893.50). So the trust is paying ~$9,000 a year for the privilege of loaning the Maori party money.
  
  I hope the Maori party is declaring this as an in kind donation. lol, I know they are not.
  
  Because there is no payback term, they also run the risk of a significant tax bill if the IRD was to deem this a gift.
  
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  May 18, 2023 9:28am
  - artemisia
    
    How about a few people ask IRD via their anonymous tip line?
    
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    May 18, 2023 11:06am
  - peterwn
    
    IRD will just ignore it. The Commissioner does not wish to raise the ire of the Minister. In any case a Maori charitable trust can get away with more than a Pakeha charitable trust. For example Iwi is a valid charitable beneficiary but any Pakeha equivalent is not.
    
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    May 18, 2023 12:22pm
RoboRob

I see that Newhub ran a ‘survey’ and ‘discovered’ huge support for a wealth tax. They released the results last night just prior to the budget announcement today. What a coincidence. Politically motivated and Labour aligned much?

Watched the AM show and heard the Maori, Greens & Labour talking it up. The Maori party don’t have the brains to realise that the IWI will be hit significantly by this. They have a truck load of high value assets, many of which are not actually earning any money to pay said tax. What about churches (Land buildings), sports clubs (Land buildings), kiwi saver etc. Kiwis are so ill informed around this, when its someone else paying that’s fine.

Oh and for those about to say, it will exclude charities and IWI. Well if they try to do that, the people with real money will lawyer up and move their assets into charitable trusts. Leaving the rest of us plebs to pay the wealth tax. Which is the exact opposite of that the fools in favour of this expect.
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May 18, 2023 9:15am
- rouppe
  
  The Maori party don’t have the brains to realise that the IWI will be hit significantly by this
  
  What on earth makes you think Maori will be affected? They will be exempt. Because…. Treaty.
  
  Maori land doesn’t pay rates, and Maori land is already exempt from the bright line test. Of course the MP are advocating for a wealth and land tax, precisely because they know they’ll be given an exemption
  
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  May 18, 2023 10:02am
  - stiff cheese
    
    Re the Bright Line Test:
    
    Have I got this right? — It’s targeted at owners of Residential Properties (i.e. if you sell a rental you bought less than 10 years ago, then you are legally liable to pay tax on the profit).
    
    Q. Is there anything similar for Commercial Property owners? .. or do just the little people get stung by it.
    
    PS. I believe the limit was five years before they changed it to ten.
    
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    May 18, 2023 2:56pm
    - artemisia
      
      The bright line tax relates only to residential property – excluding the main home but including bare residential land. Main home is defined though not straightforward. AFAIK Maori land is included if it meets the residential land and date tests. The date tests (now) mean purchased after March 2018.
      
      The first bright line was 2 years, now all expired. The second was 5 years and began expiring March 2023. Currently 10 years and will start expiring in March 2026 or March 2031 depending on new build or not.
      
      And guess what, there are more rules.
      
      Easy peasy! LOL.
      
      People will be caught out for sure and find themselves paying up to 39% of their capital gain to the government. Smart people will decide to wait till the period expires if they can. Or vote in a different government in October, one that has committed to revert it to 2 years.
      
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      May 18, 2023 4:10pm
- Tauhei Notts
  
  Newshub’s survey that you refer to was run outside the Lower Hutt office of WINZ.
  
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  May 18, 2023 10:33am
  - RoboRob
    
    Are you joking or do you have a link to that?
    
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    May 18, 2023 11:14am
- mogg
  
  According to Massey, a Metro, choices retirement for a couple needs $2,000,060.00 capital plus paid off home plus car. Who are all these wealthy people with surplus moneythat we are going to tax.
  
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  May 18, 2023 1:56pm
- In Vino Veritas
  
  Equally as valid Rob, is the survey I did. I discovered that there was absolutely zero support for a wealth tax. Not one person in the survey thought it was a good idea.
  
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  May 18, 2023 3:42pm
- Bullion
  
  No.
  
  Newshub Reid Research ran a poll and probably included hot political topics of the day, and given the IRD report and OliverShaw reports recently this issue is topical. After reporting on the poll results, Newshub release findings of any other questions they may have asked later (don’t blow their load all at once). This is a regular pattern for Newshub not some sort of conspiracy.
  
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  May 18, 2023 4:16pm
bjools

Well…..
According to TV3 AM show…
53% of us want a wealth tax.
Question:
Where’s the money coming from when the people earning it, that have the best ability to do so, do what they have done in EVERY country around the world have done….and move them and their money to another country…..to pay all their taxers there.
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May 18, 2023 9:16am
- RoboRob
  
  The irony of the wealth tax is that it makes CGT look positively awesome. Wealth tax doesn’t even tax money.
  
  Example :
  You have an asset, lets say football club with a football field and clubrooms in Fendlaton.
  
  The government values it at $20m (a 500sqm house section is ~ $500,000).
  
  The goverment taxes the football club 2% ($400,000) of that value each year, because they are wealthy.
  
  As I mentioned earlier, you can exclude charities but then watch the actual wealthy form charitable trusts and other avoidance tools.
  
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  May 18, 2023 10:16am
- spryte
  
  So 53% of “us” was the other 47% to pay more.
  
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  May 18, 2023 2:52pm
Maggie Pie

A tweet by someone very much in the know…

‘Labor is to reduce debt and sell housing.
Kainga Ora suspends plans to add extra social housing from mid 2024. It will sell new builds in private market and stop ‘whole of house’ heating and retro-fitting existing state houses for people with disabilities’.

As my partner said…wait till the Member-for-Tijuana gets wind of this 😀
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May 18, 2023 9:22am
- kowtow
  
  ‘Ricardo Menéndez March (Green, List)
  
  Real property
  
  Family home – Mexico’
  
  From newshub.
  
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  May 18, 2023 9:41am
  - NeverMindTheBollocks
    
    His father must have died
    
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    May 18, 2023 9:58pm
- RoboRob
  
  So one rule for landlords and a different set for the government.
  
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  May 18, 2023 10:19am
- Bullion
  
  Seemed like someone not in the know – or talking about the wrong Labour
  
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  May 18, 2023 4:17pm
EvoDriver

I was just thinking more today about the “Taxpayer’s Receipt” that Luxon promised us…

Would it go down to the level of the individual names of people whose benefit I have paid with my tax? If so, it could be kind of like the “sponsor a starving child in Africa” thing where I get the details and life stories of the people receiving their benefit, photos of them, updates on their progress and how their life is being enriched my “donation”, etc. etc…. I think it would be kind of lovely. I would really feel like I’m making a difference in the world.
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May 18, 2023 9:35am
- kowtow
  
  I’d like mine to show how many mils of sea level rise my taxes have prevented and/or which particular “extreme weather event ” was mitigated and by how much and where . It could even have a photo of a stop bank that wasn’t breached in a one in a gazzillion flood.
  
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  May 18, 2023 10:06am
- G the giant from Dunedin
  
  No, it will break down how much of your tax has gone to which sector, but one of these fools on benefit or low earners will show then they are neutral tax payers or even negative tax payers
  
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  May 18, 2023 11:22am
- Ian Boag
  
  I’d like to know which well-off pensioners I am helping too …. 🙂 seeing as the pension is about half the social welfare spend.
  
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  May 18, 2023 1:47pm
  - JimBobJoe
    
    Oh dear Ian. Still on the Nat Super hobby horse. The envy is strong.
    
    Nat Super can be afford, especially with some small adjustments in age of eligibility.
    
    How is it affordable? Well simple – trim up wasteful spending in central government. And there is a lot of it.
    
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    May 18, 2023 2:15pm
    - Nickc2
      
      If it’s not affordable, the money put into it has been misappropriated. Who would have done that?
      
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      May 18, 2023 3:49pm
  - Yabster
    
    Your figures are not correct- benefit spend in 2022 was around 39 billion, super 14.5 billion-so benfits (includes working for familes) nearly 3 times super.
    
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    May 18, 2023 2:32pm
    - Ian Boag
      
      https://figure.nz/chart/2eIStXKBWssxMIze
      
      Super is 18bn out of a bit over 40-odd total. Super is part of the 40-odd. 5 is wage subsidy which presumably is disappearing. 3 is acc supp which – as a subsidy to landlords is presumably untouchable. WFF is about 0.7
      
      Your numbers must have come from a different place to mine.
      
      Go figure.
      
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      May 18, 2023 8:26pm
O C Smith

In the U.S. the Durham report has been released it confirms what Fox has been saying for years. I suspect there will be very few consequences.
8 1
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May 18, 2023 9:48am
Maggie Pie

OMG you gotta love this lady 😀

Te fab ‘Aunty Heihei’ launches into Rawiri’s dodgy father-in-law…..

https://twitter.com/AuntyHeihei/status/1658934962635284483
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May 18, 2023 10:04am
- ClanMcleod
  
  Wonderful woman, compare her to the dodgy faux Maori bastards leading that racist group of parasites.
  All power to her elbow, speaking it like it is.
  
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  May 18, 2023 10:39am
NeverMindTheBollocks

I see that various female footballers are advocating for the right to wear the rainbow armband at the upcoming World Cup. All very meritorious, you would think.

Unpacking this:

* There won’t be any gay male players
* I’m pretty sure there won’t be any trans players (because they would have told you by now)
* Intersex & the rest of the acronym are vanishingly small in number
* Which just leaves lesbians, of which there will be a disproportionate number.

Why not cut to the chase & just wear a purple armband?
5 4
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May 18, 2023 10:26am
- All_on_Red
  
  There won’t be any viewers either!
  
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  May 18, 2023 12:37pm
- Libertarians are right
  
  I believe there is a female to male Japanese player who is waiting until after their playing career to officially transition.
  
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  May 18, 2023 1:50pm
Hugh Jarse

So TV3 expect us to believe at a time of rampant inflation causing mortgage interest rates to go up significantly, food costs at the highest they are have been in 30 odd years, highest government debt ever and little prospect of utilising natural resources to assist paying it back that 50% of the people want to pay more tax ?, to give more money to this government to waste. Sorry that’s the final straw for TV3’s polling credibility for me. Jenna must be gett8ng a good bonus for that one. The only other explanation is that those vapour trails appearing behind aircraft now are actually chemtrails and we are being tranquillised into a non thinking stupor.
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May 18, 2023 10:28am
- Matt Long
  
  50 percent of people want other people to pay more tax, that’s hardly surprising. Maybe a good percentage of those against realise there no such thing as a free lunch.
  
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  May 18, 2023 1:04pm
  - Ian Boag
    
    Perhaps 50% of the people think that since we tax income and consumption maybe we should look at taxing wealth in some fashion.
    
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    May 18, 2023 1:50pm
    - Ehlana
      
      While the other 50% wonder why, having been taxed on their income and consumption, they should pay more tax if they manage to save some money and invest it.
      
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      May 18, 2023 2:39pm
      - mawm
        
        Or if they have saved enough (after tax money) for a home deposit, been frugal for decades to pay (with after tax money) the mortgage and have had their rateable value (paid for with after tax money) increase beyond belief are suddenly perceived as wealthy and those who want to be beneficiaries of taxing it are cheering it on.
        
        To Ian Boag – “what exactly is your ‘fair share’ of what ‘someone else’ has worked for?” (Thomas Sowell).
        
        5 1
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        May 18, 2023 3:56pm
      - Ian Boag
        
        what exactly is your ‘fair share’
        
        You could ask the same question about income and consumption ….
        
        0 3
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        May 18, 2023 8:14pm
    - Spam
      
      Yeah – great plan. Let’s completely destroy any incentive to save.
      
      10 1
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      May 18, 2023 2:48pm
      - Yabster
        
        what do expect from a full on socialist…
        
        7 0
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        May 18, 2023 3:32pm
thirteenstars

“I’m nine years old and even I know this.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AnXXeO-bpmA

Schoolkid lectures her school board on how to do the right thing. Show it to your kids and grandkids. This is a switched-on, eloquent, and nicely-sarcastic child.

The woman at left has a great reaction.
8 1
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May 18, 2023 10:34am
Captain Mainwaring

The moronic greenies seem to have stopped glueing themselves to the roads around Wellington.
Must be getting a bit cold.
23 0
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May 18, 2023 10:39am
ClanMcleod

Elon Musk is an enigma, but he comes out with some wonderful stuff at times!

The other day he compared George Soros to ‘Magneto’, the villain in X-men, and added to that by saying that Soros “hates humanity”. I agree with him.
But this anchor tried to take Musk to task re his comments. Musk’s response is absolute gold!!!

“Why share that opinion when people may not agree with you? People who buy Teslas may not agree with you?”

Musk. “I don’t care”. lol

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuAV3eekMQU

Brilliant!
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May 18, 2023 10:44am
- Maggie Pie
  
  Elon has since apologized for comparing Soros with Magneto.
  
  Saying in a tweet….”It was unfair on Magneto”
  
  😀 😀 😀
  
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  May 18, 2023 11:55am
Maggie Pie

Check this out… White people in our TV adverts! 😀

https://twitter.com/colecameron/status/1658917803808751620
15 1
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May 18, 2023 10:47am
ClanMcleod

Who funds the WHO? Where does the money go?

In 2022, the World Health Organization spent twice as much money on salaries ($1.164 billion) as they did on medical supplies and materials ($551 million).

An informative breakdown of where this bloated bureaucracy gets it’s money and who has the power to influence their policies.
No surprises re the names at the top of the list.

https://jamesroguski.substack.com/p/who-funds-the-who-where-does-the
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May 18, 2023 10:53am
Maggy Wassilieff

I thought DoC was meant to be looking after our natural ecosystems, not fomenting tribal discord.

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/490064/dug-up-whale-jawbones-should-never-have-been-released-to-iwi-high-court-rules
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May 18, 2023 10:56am
- Maggie Pie
  
  Hmmm…
  
  KINGS 3: 16 – 28
  
  7 1
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  May 18, 2023 11:09am
- Suze Wainwright
  
  Oh pish posh, Poto Williams said that Maori hate DoC…
  
  7 0
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  May 18, 2023 12:00pm
G the giant from Dunedin

No, it will break down how much of your tax has gone to which sector, but one of these fools on benefit or low earners will show then they are neutral tax payers or even negative tax payers
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May 18, 2023 11:23am
thirteenstars

The CEO of Ikea just got elected Prime Minister of Sweden.

They say the first thing he’ll do is assemble his cabinet.
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May 18, 2023 11:37am
- Suze Wainwright
  
  Assemble it from a flat pack?!?
  
  4 0
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  May 18, 2023 11:58am
  - kowtow
    
    Sweden?
    
    Flak jacket .
    
    4 1
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    May 18, 2023 12:56pm
Surely Knott

Who shot Green candidate Jack Brazil? What was found in the raid of his far-left activist cafe? Who was in the car with him? Why can’t Jack tell us who was in the car with him and who shot him? Why didn’t Jack want to be named? What were the details of the shooting? Was the shooter driving another car what is its description? Or did they jump out of the bushes? Was the shooter the person in the car with Jack? Was he shot at close range or long range? What were they doing at 3 in the morning? Who owned the car that was found that Jack and his anonymous companion were in? Have they found the shooters car? Is the shooter linked to the other 4 Dunedin shootings? How is Jack’s health? What can he tell us about the shooting?

Shot on 16 April.
4 May – Police seek man with Jack Brazil when he was shot
18 May – still no word.

Are the media or police suppressing details that would be politically embarrassing to their favoured party.
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May 18, 2023 11:38am
- Ghost
  
  Big accusation against the police. They don’t typically talk about cases they are investigating unless it is releasing a detail they need the public’s help with.
  
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  December 18, 2022 12:04pm
  - kowtow
    
    Tosh .
    
    They’ll say whatever suits .
    
    This , just today .
    
    Given charges have been laid one would think they’d keep mum.
    
    “The two Ruākākā children allegedly murdered on Monday were dead before emergency services were called, Northland police have revealed.
    
    The new information was disclosed after media questioned why police took close to an hour to send an officer to the Peter Snell Dr home after receiving a distressed call from a woman at the property.”
    
    NZME
    
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    May 18, 2023 1:15pm
    - Ghost
      
      They were asked a question that they answered that in no way would have interfered with an investigation which is closed and now before the courts and an answer that would in no way interfere with that case. Surely you have the brains to understand the difference between that and an ongoing case, I guess not
      
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      May 18, 2023 1:25pm
      - kowtow
        
        The investigation is closed ?
        
        And you know this , how ?
        
        You must have a super brain , inside knowledge or you’re just blow harding.
        
        8 1
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        May 18, 2023 1:44pm
- Maggie Pie
  
  Could just have been more Green Party infighting?
  
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  May 18, 2023 1:21pm
Maggie Pie

Wonder what Jason Paris has to say about this then?

https://www.totalrl.com/jailed-former-super-league-and-nrl-winger-manu-vatuvei-to-return-to-former-club-in-new-role/
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May 18, 2023 11:42am
- Ghost
  
  “Thank god we finally have someone that can give the team a little extra…..to win for once in their life”?
  
  5 0
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  May 18, 2023 12:22pm
thirteenstars

Oh, dear, just heard Jack Tame opine on government-funded news that budgets are like journalism, you should underpromise and overdeliver.

I guffawed so loudly the dog barked.

This would be the Jack Tame that when reporting live from the Posie Parker event at Albert Park, upon witnessing her being doused with tomato juice, snickered like some snide snotty little shit, I guess she’s got dinner sorted.

Pretentious idiot.
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May 18, 2023 12:13pm
- Keith White
  
  “Pretentious idiot.”
  
  Nuanced but accurate 🙂
  
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  May 18, 2023 1:43pm
- In Vino Veritas
  
  Jack is an amateur. Everyone has seen him under promise. Equally, everyone has seen him constantly underdeliver. It’s not working for him.
  
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  May 18, 2023 3:46pm
Ghost

Damn, this seems like a school you shouldn’t trust your children with

Whangārei Boys’ High School is halting all outdoor education class trips as three investigations into its practices begin.

Stuff can also reveal outdoor education trips previously approved by the board included year 12 overnight stays in Russell Forest – with one trip planned for Thursday night amid a forecast for heavy rain and strong wind.

Article
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May 18, 2023 12:19pm
- ClanMcleod
  
  three investigations – more inane virtue signaling. There is zero justification for 3 different bodies to investigate the same event.
  In all reality, the school principal could write a report overnight in less than a thousand words that would cover it.
  Everyone knows exactly what went wrong.
  
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  May 19, 2023 6:05am
thirteenstars

Excellent stuff here from a young woman, Gloria Alvarez, running for president of Guatemala, educating people about the dangers of socialism, interviewed by John Stossel.

Snippet that applies to NZ, a generation (or two) basking in material wealth, miseducated as to the origins of that wealth, instead baying for bigger government, for socialism:

https://youtu.be/CUfRwYcaL-k?t=860

The whole interview is quite uplifting.
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May 18, 2023 12:28pm
- Mike
  
  I don’t think Guatemala has been noted for its socialist governments. Perhaps there are other explanations for the country’s violence and poverty.
  
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  May 18, 2023 1:17pm
  - In Vino Veritas
    
    I’m not sure about that Mike, I’m pretty sure they were communist 1945-54 under Arevalo and then Arbenz.
    
    3 3
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    May 18, 2023 3:57pm
    - Mike
      
      Sure. And since the 1954 coup there has been 70 years of progress, right?
      
      2 1
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      May 18, 2023 4:23pm
  - Matt Long
    
    Of course there is Mike, white colonial oppression, it’s there every time.
    Actually the lady puts it very well, alternating between socialism and ineffective crony capitalism that doesn’t roll back the socialist follies, sounds like a country near here.
    
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    May 18, 2023 4:16pm
- NothingLeft
  
  yeah, really good.
  
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  May 18, 2023 1:24pm
Maggie Pie

I’ll just leave this here 😀 😀 😀

https://twitter.com/ClownWorld_/status/1658915961104211997
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May 18, 2023 12:38pm
- Ghost
  
  That sad moment you realise you are too old for joe to sniff
  
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  May 18, 2023 12:42pm
thirteenstars

Vivek Ramaswamy, son of immigrants, successful businessman, presidential candidate, interviewed by John Stossel:

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

Give it five minutes and you’ll be hooked. I don’t agree with his entire program but he makes the glib Obama look like an empty suit.

2024 won’t be his time, the field is too messy, but 2028 might well be his moment.
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May 18, 2023 12:57pm
Burtland

Chippies working class pantomime grows …
“an innovation” cheese roll with a sausage in the middle

chippie from the Hutt
with the working class hair cut
bread and butter policy
shops at Pack n Save
goes to Saturday sport with his (invisible) kids
eats sausage rolls with NZ made Watties TS
wears Barkers off-the-shelf suits
had a blooming good day
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May 18, 2023 1:24pm
- In Vino Veritas
  
  Seriously? A sausage in a cheese roll? Then it’s not a cheese roll the arsed pile of shite. Best cheese rolls are in the South Island (hands down the best) from Oamaru down.
  
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  May 18, 2023 4:01pm
Maggie Pie

And good on New World for employing Pensioners as Trolley Collectors.

Saw a guy working in the carpark there earlier….
he must have been pushing 70.
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May 18, 2023 1:40pm
- fightingtemeraire
  
  70 Trolleys??? World Champ
  
  11 0
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  May 18, 2023 1:49pm
- thirteenstars
  
  Our NW doesn’t even have 70 trolleys, the baskets being very popular.
  
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  May 18, 2023 3:32pm
  - marcw
    
    I’ve discovered my new strength – I can easily lift a NW basket with $100 of groceries with one hand.
    
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    May 18, 2023 3:46pm
    - Maggy Wassilieff
      
      You’ve clearly not mastered hubby’s ruse when sent out shopping with our kids.
      He’d fill the basket with a largish pack of toilet paper, squeeze in his favourite packet of chockie bickies and then head for the check-out, telling the girls that there was no room for anything else.
      
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      May 18, 2023 3:59pm
    - Ghost
      
      Isn’t the real accomplishment there that NW have just lifted $100 off you for very little in return
      
      7 0
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      May 18, 2023 4:02pm
    - Jethrod
      
      A year ago you could have bought 2 NW baskets of groceries with $100.
      That’s the beauty of inflation for you.//
      
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      May 18, 2023 4:28pm
- cmm
  
  Soon to be seen at the nursery pushing daisies.
  
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  May 18, 2023 4:12pm
Swifty

FIFA confirms what New Zealanders have known for years:

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/fifa-claims-media-star-hilary-barry-is-not-a-bona-fide-member-of-the-media/U6O7PLUYDJBG7HKMFYQV4ZCEQ4/
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May 18, 2023 1:55pm
- All_on_Red
  
  That’s hilarious.
  In an own goal, they list all her Awards, which aren’t for Journalism but Presenting.
  
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  May 18, 2023 2:29pm
  - thirteenstars
    
    Oh, dear, the luvvies will be apoplectic, hurling themselves about, shaking their boney little fists at the TV while hubby seeks refuge in the liquor cabinet.
    
    8 0
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    May 18, 2023 3:03pm
    - Swifty
      
      Heh
      
      4 0
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      May 18, 2023 4:04pm
- graham
  
  So according to the screenshot:
  
  “The information on your registration form is incomplete or fails to meet our requirements for confirming that you are a bona fide member of the media.”
  
  Oh dear. So, was it Ms Barry who messed up when she submitted her registration form and forgot to provide the correct documentation? Or some nameless pleb?
  
  Whatever, I see her adoring fans are furious, with one prat apparently writing in response, “don’t they know who you are?”
  
  Oh. My. Goodness.
  
  And the so-called journalist who wrote the story then proceeds to make things even worse, by swooning over Ms Barry, calling her “a popular Kiwi journalist and media personality” with an “extensive media career” and finishes up just about wetting themselves by writing:
  
  Barry is no doubt a Kiwi media icon and has won a slew of awards …
  
  I’ve got no particular issue against Hilary Barry, but my word some of these so-called celebrities don’t half fancy themselves.
  
  12 2
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  May 18, 2023 2:38pm
  - Libertarians are right
    
    They keep saying google her.
    I’m pretty sure if you Google her it’s not hard to see her laughing her ass off whilst saying a Somalian plane blew up, killing a person (she was actually laughing at the previous story about an emergency defecation situation).
    
    Maybe they didn’t want someone who has a habit of going into giggling fits on live TV.
    
    Or she simply didn’t fill out the documentation correctly.
    
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    May 18, 2023 3:32pm
Yabster

Lame as budget for anyone without kids- $34m for kapa haka though……

and a new fucking crown agency called……Rau Paenga – any guess what it does by the name?
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May 18, 2023 2:38pm
- Burtland
  
  Rau Paenga = Leaf Fence
  
  The package would deliver a new Crown “infratructure delivery agency”, dubbed Rau Paenga, at a cost of $100 million, the Government said in the statement. Rau Paenga will use the lessons learnt in driving forward major Christchurch rebuild projects post-quake to help deliver construction projects, said Infrastructure Minister Megan Woods.
  
  looks like a new Ministry of Works
  
  Rau Paenga are the clowns overseeing the Christchurch Parakiore Sports Center.
  
  https://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/131411733/delayed-by-years-over-budget–now-the-ground-at-christchurchs-metro-sports-facility-has-sunk
  
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  May 18, 2023 4:01pm
  - sirknz
    
    So it’s basically a trough for those with the correct contacts to eat it whenever they want…
    
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    May 18, 2023 4:28pm
  - Burtland
    
    Woods’ sticky fingers have been all over Parakiore – she did a cost cutting exercise on it when she first got in – looks like something out of Glasnost
    
    Heres the naming story https://youtu.be/RYhNkO-9678
    Should have been named after NZ’s most successful Paralympian
    
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    May 18, 2023 6:35pm
  - Piniwi
    
    Thanks mate really glad somebody else caught that little nugget as we note the continued expansion of buffer troughs with native names which as we have already become aware of as pending failures. Another $100Million down the gurgler when when those most closely effected by what should be done see it being just another impediment to recovery.
    
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    May 18, 2023 10:09pm
mandk

Stuff poll currently showing that 80% of people do not think the Budget will benefit them.

No surprising really. There were a few new subsidies that will benefit a few people, but workers will find a greater and greater proportion of their earnings are attracting higher tax rates because tax brackets have not been adjusted.
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May 18, 2023 3:09pm
- kowtow
  
  That makes sense .
  
  It looks like a Labour Party bribe to a certain ethnicity to fight for the race seats in the upcoming general election , rather than a national budget for the whole country.
  
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  May 18, 2023 3:48pm
  - Burtland
    
    Childcare a big winner – this targets the women under 50 vote
    
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    May 18, 2023 4:06pm
- Swifty
  
  The question should be whether we think this budget good for the COUNTRY.
  
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  May 18, 2023 5:13pm
Flossie

Re the budget…”Chippie” says families have been doing it tough. Haven’t we all?!
17 2
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May 18, 2023 3:18pm
Gravelroad

On newstalkzb- hosts and political reporters and man from some economists outfit saying “Grant” (obviously all on first name terms) has generally done a super job with the budget.
Election in the bag.
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May 18, 2023 3:40pm
- barnacle bill
  
  Well done Grant and Chris.
  
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  May 18, 2023 3:52pm
- mogg
  
  More borrow and spend from Robbo, bonds up across the board. He’s trying to buy the next election. Still talking about ‘World events and imported costs’ when inflation is now home grown.
  Both he and his msm fan girls are trying to maintain the illusion of economic competency, but he still looks like he is ‘eating all the pies’
  
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  May 18, 2023 3:53pm
  - nathie
    
    Presumably voters (including Labour voters) with mortgages won’t be impressed when RBNZ and therefore bank mortgage rates increase – they are literally paying for Labour’s excessive spending. Hopefully they will give a two-fingered message to Labour on 14 Oct, oh dear!
    
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    May 18, 2023 4:10pm
  - Jack5
    
    Mogg’s …Both he [Robertson] and his msm fan girls …
    
    A new technique. Where once some journo’s were said to interview their typewriters, tonight three TVNZ political reporters interviewed each other.
    
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    May 18, 2023 8:56pm
lifesgood

Ha ha ha…that budget ain’t no election winner.
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May 18, 2023 3:56pm
- Ghost
  
  Isn’t it? How about the $5 billion set aside for election bribes?
  
  6 2
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  May 18, 2023 4:11pm
  - G the giant from Dunedin
    
    Luxon will have that same 5 billion to
    Play with
    
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    May 18, 2023 5:42pm
  - Ghost
    
    No, he won’t, because they will spend that $5 billion before the election when it is fresh in voters minds
    
    2 1
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    May 18, 2023 6:17pm
- Matt Long
  
  It’s the vanilla budget, because they’re so responsible.
  The bubbles will come out when the election campaign starts.
  Wait for the fantasy promises and rash spending to start.
  
  8 1
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  May 18, 2023 4:25pm
  - Gravelroad
    
    Guy on the radio just before 3pm said it was the Baked Bean budget – according to “Grant”.
    Could be mistaken, but I don’t recall any reporter referring to Finance Minister English in public as “ Bill”…. On budget day.
    All mates together though , eh.
    
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    May 18, 2023 4:46pm
    - Ghost
      
      Yeah. It certainly is the baked bean budget, a lot of smelly air coming out of labour after they consumed it
      
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      May 18, 2023 4:50pm
Swifty

Homophobia. Islamophobia, transphobia, fatphobia – yes, that’s right, disagree with us in any way and you’re phobic. You have a problem. You are hateful and need to adjust your thinking.

And you over there, you trying to help people with their weight – you can all ROT IN HELL!

https://i.stuff.co.nz/life-style/wellbeing/300882004/why-jenny-craig-will-not-be-missed-at-all-by-these-kiwi-women-rot-in-hell

Filthy capitalist pigs!

//
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May 18, 2023 4:02pm
- Ghost
  
  It is a shame that we have now reached a point of making obesity not a health problem but something healthy and bullshitting ourselves about it. We should be fighting obesity, not encouraging it and the health problems that so many children are now facing. Yeah joke now about how grateful you are they’ve closed, the joke will get its last laugh when you realise too late how you have damaged your health
  
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  May 18, 2023 4:10pm
  - cmm
    
    Remember Dr Cat Pausé? PhD in Fat Studies. Sponsored by the NZ taxpayer.
    
    Died of heath a few months back.
    
    How many lives has she ruined by normalising and encouraging fatness rather than encouraging people to face their health issues?
    
    13 2
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    May 18, 2023 4:18pm
    - Matt Long
      
      I had heard she died from unnatural causes.
      
      5 1
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      May 18, 2023 4:29pm
    - slightlyrighty
      
      It was a self harm incident, largly as a result of the backlash that came after her symposium on fat issues was shown to be a complete sham by Steven Crowder.
      
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bekDq_Ebi2I&t=878s
      
      3 1
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      May 18, 2023 5:00pm
      - Swifty
        
        Is that right? I had thought that she just ‘died in her sleep’.
        
        4 1
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        May 18, 2023 5:49pm
  - Mike
    
    Dare I ask whether Jenny Craig and other proprietary weight-loss programs were very successful in helping many people at all?
    
    5 8
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    May 18, 2023 4:19pm
    - Ghost
      
      Plenty of people who have over the years shared their weight loss stories on the different programs, but it doesn’t work for some people, and some people lack the ability to actually stick to them. Reminds me of an extremely obese patient at my doctors practise that tells everyone how hard he is working to lose weight, yeah, works so hard we see him at McDonald’s and kfc a lot when driving by them.
      
      4 3
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      May 18, 2023 4:41pm
    - Keith White
      
      Jenny Craig has one of the higher success rates in ‘branded’ weight loss programs, over 2 years is about 30%. 8% higher than WeightWatchers.
      
      Disclaimer: no shares or involvement or participation in either.
      
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      May 18, 2023 8:04pm
- Burtland
  
  “Diet culture is intrinsically linked to capitalism, colonisation, and the patriarchy. Until we address those, I don’t see how we’ll be able to dismantle diet culture at the core.” 🤡
  
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  May 18, 2023 4:13pm
  - Swifty
    
    Yep.
    
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    May 18, 2023 5:07pm
  - than
    
    Capitalism: an economic and political system in which a country’s trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit.
    
    Where do these clowns think economics comes into this at all?
    
    I doubt obesity was anywhere near as widespread prior to colonisation, but even still, let’s take a country that’s never been colonised. Tonga, with an exceptionally high obesity rate.
    
    You only hear of obese women talking about this “fat positivity” stuff. Never men, no matter how obese they are. Again, still a BS talking point.
    
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    May 18, 2023 5:46pm
    - Burtland
      
      is there anything neoMarxism hasnt touched?
      
      4 0
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      May 18, 2023 6:04pm
    - Keith White
      
      As a high-BMI patient of my professional acquaintance once said about his own weight:
      
      “You need a heavy hammer to drive a hard nail.”
      
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      May 18, 2023 8:05pm
Maggie Pie

So the $5 prescription fee has been wiped….who on earth paid it anyway?
The Chemist Warehouse put an end to that.
You can bet this change came from pressure by the Pharmacy Guild to stop their members going out of business. They’ve had it easy for years.
Big ups to Dan Carter’s wife.
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May 18, 2023 4:18pm
- cmm
  
  “who on earth paid it anyway?”
  
  We all do. “Free” stuff from the taxpayer isn’t “free”.
  
  Ask your boyf to explain.
  
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  May 18, 2023 4:20pm
  - Maggie Pie
    
    Why don’t you ask him?
    You sound like you could do with some sound financial advice 😀
    
    7 3
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    May 18, 2023 4:56pm
- MCōs
  
  When I lived in Bangkok it cost me ~$500/mth for my epilepsy medication. I asked my GP here and he told me that’s about have much it costs Pharmac.
  So for the last ten years the taxpayer has subsidized my treatment to the tune of ~$490/ 3 mths.
  I have no issue paying the $5 to chemist attached to the medical clinic rather than some conglomerate
  
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  May 18, 2023 5:03pm
  - Maggie Pie
    
    Actually Cossie…what you just divulged there, is similar to what National will introduce by way of an ‘Annual-Taxpayers-Statement’.
    
    You’re very welcome by the way 😀
    
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    May 18, 2023 5:32pm
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  I pay nothing, but I think yearly reset I pay $5 for the first x prescriptions.
  After that is no charge. I know nothing is free. To be free it was taken from someone else. 🙂
  
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  May 18, 2023 5:10pm
  - Kumbukani Obi
    
    Indeed IIRC the standard prescription charge in Australia is about $20 with safety nets for high volume users and welfare recipients.
    
    I would support a $15 fee with similar safety nets. It is a regressive policy. Like EV subsidies and other welfare for all.
    
    4 1
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    May 18, 2023 6:45pm
- Kumbukani Obi
  
  I thought you would never been seen dead in a Chemist Warehouse.
  
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  May 18, 2023 7:32pm
  - Keith White
    
    No one would be pronounced dead at the Chemist’s Warehouse, they’d be taken to the local ER for that to happen…
    
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    May 18, 2023 8:07pm
Steve Otto(North Shore)

How crazy can a person get?
https://thedailymojo.com/trump-accuser-gets-called-out-on-previous-tweets/
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May 18, 2023 4:39pm
lifesgood

$84million for maori dancing! FFS.
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May 18, 2023 5:10pm
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  They can dance. Left foot – boom, boom; right foot, boom, boom.
  Have a think – even on the ‘disco floor’ it really is the same, just some arms moving!
  $84 million is vote buying – tell me it is not……..
  $5 million? maybe. But 84 fucking million when people die from lack of cancer surgeries?
  The sick and the old are liabilities to Labour.
  
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  May 18, 2023 5:37pm
- Ghost
  
  Te Matatini Got $34 million, not $84. You have to wonder why when they previously got $3 million for this that it is now going to cost $34 million to run it…….
  
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  May 18, 2023 5:42pm
  - Burtland
    
    does a John Tamihere run it?
    
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    May 18, 2023 6:01pm
    - Ghost
      
      Here is a good article on it
      
      Sigh
      
      Article
      
      “This funding will continue to support the importance of culture in uplifting whānau in these recent difficult times and into the future,” she said.
      
      Ross said they will be opening 12 regional offices across the motu and establishing a liaison between the regions and Te Matatini.
      
      “Seventy percent of this budget increase will be making it to our communities to use in their areas aligned with our agreed outputs from government and supported by our office to meet the compliance, so it’s very very exciting going regional.”
      
      The funding boost will allow the regions to decide what they spend that money on, Ross said.
      
      Whether that was funding secondary school kapa haka or for supporting kaumātua – so they are not just focusing on one national competition every two years, he said.
      
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      May 18, 2023 6:06pm
  - Keith White
    
    Meanwhile, cancer and cystic fibrosis and other patients have to set up public begging pages to fund life-saving and life-prolonging treatment that Pharmac will not fund because they do not have a budget that allows it.
    
    Our “ruling elite” is evil.
    
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    May 18, 2023 8:17pm
Tauhei Notts

Some will call me a cynical prick but the thought has crossed my mind on several occasions;
“How much did the funds management industry have to give Michael Cullen’s Labour Party to get those unwieldly complicated Portfolio Investment Entities set up.”
With a 39% tax rate on Trustees’ income the flight to those PIE’s will be great news to those in the funds management industry.
That is because the tax rate on income in a PIE is limited to 28%.
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May 18, 2023 5:28pm
- G the giant from Dunedin
  
  Did you see the smug arrogant smirk on Robertsons face when he announced that?
  
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  May 18, 2023 5:45pm
  - Tauhei Notts
    
    Watching that “smug arrogant smirk” shown by a tail gunner is damaging to my mental health.
    
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    May 18, 2023 10:39pm
Maggie Pie

Good God!
OneEwes reporting that the Wellington-Fire Brigade extension ladder only reaches 9 floors….and it wasn’t working anyway!!

Considering there’s 60 high-rise buildings in the Capital between 12 & 29 floors…..imagine how tenants of the ‘Majestic Centre’ must be feeling hearing this?

Welcome to the 3rd world 🙁
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May 18, 2023 6:48pm
- kowtow
  
  But there’s millions for Maori dancing.
  
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  May 18, 2023 7:05pm
  - Maggie Pie
    
    I KNOW!
    And what about that wastrel Mike Bush when he was Polive Commissioner spending over $500k on designs for…. ‘Covid Memes’?
    
    SHEESH!!
    
    Think how many fog-cannons and stab-proof vests that could have bought 🙁
    
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    May 18, 2023 7:24pm
  - Sparrow
    
    To be fair millions of dollars go to minority arts such as ballet. This is only balancing the situation. I have no figures but I expect more people attend and enjoy Kapa haka than ballet.
    
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    May 18, 2023 9:47pm
    - Ghost
      
      They won’t tell you how many attended the competition, just thousands
      
      https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2023/02/te-matatini-thousands-flood-eden-park-for-finals-day-as-one-team-faces-stiff-competition.html
      
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      May 18, 2023 9:56pm
- Kumbukani Obi
  
  Internationally that is normal. You are scare mongering. Or ignorant. I won’t judge because I have insufficient information.
  
  https://www.fdnysmart.org/fire-trucks/#:~:text=Fire%20trucks%20carry%20the%20ladders,the%20Rockefeller%20Center%20Christmas%20tree).
  
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  May 18, 2023 7:41pm
  - Hard Cheese
    
    Well it’s certainly not normal to be not working. And not working for two years, that doesn’t scream first world to me.
    
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    May 18, 2023 9:05pm
Fisiani2

34,000,000 for KapaHaka and nothing for me. Says it all. 149 days till we get a decent government
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May 18, 2023 7:02pm
- Sir Cullen's Sidekick
  
  Fisiani2 – With this budget and the 5B stashed cash, Robbo has stolen the election for sure
  
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  May 18, 2023 7:41pm
  - Cinematic
    
    What’s Robertson going to do? 5 billion is pocket change.
    
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    May 18, 2023 9:03pm
MCōs

How to lose an election
https://twitter.com/dimsie/status/1659095282787786754?s=61&t=yFkzCNMWRCaVt1p5eRxUog
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May 18, 2023 7:36pm
- Ghost
  
  Same thought I had when I saw that
  
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  May 18, 2023 7:43pm
  - Captain Mainwaring
    
    Haven’t paid for a prescription in years.
    Ever heard of Countdown Pharmacy?
    
    4 1
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    May 18, 2023 8:41pm
    - Ghost
      
      No pharmacy in our countdowns, even the new one didn’t put one in, despite that it was on the plan.
      
      1 1
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      May 18, 2023 8:48pm
      - kevn
        
        @Ghost… Look for Zoom Pharmacy. Auckland based on-line only. Get your doc the email the script (if he will of course). Medicines comes to your door by courier. No charges.
        
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        May 19, 2023 6:41pm
    - kevn
      
      @Captn… The old, ‘I’m alright Jack’ syndrome.
      
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      May 19, 2023 6:38pm
- Right of way is Way of Right
  
  The headline is terribly misleading.
  
  The substance of the report clearly stated that there are already sufficient mechanisms in place that reduce or completely remove prescription charges for frequent users or those who are unable to pay. The removal of the $5 charge for everyone is in response to a cost of living crisis that THEY created.
  
  National simply wish to return to the status quo, where those who can afford to subsidise the cost of medication can continue to do so.
  
  Notwithstanding that, there are already plenty of pharmacies that do not charge to fee in any case.
  
  Typical media beat up!
  
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  May 18, 2023 8:49pm
  - Ghost
    
    As a frequent user and someone that even had a high health user card I’ve never had any help with prescriptions, never been offered it, even for the expensive unsubsidised meds.
    
    1 0
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    May 18, 2023 9:07pm
- Cinematic
  
  Yeah because the $5 prescription waiver is a massive vote winner. Not.
  
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  May 18, 2023 9:01pm
  - Ghost
    
    For pensioners, beneficiaries and low income, then yes that $5 is a lot, for kiwiblog people who have little idea how much people are struggling, it isn’t
    
    2 4
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    May 18, 2023 9:11pm
    - Cinematic
      
      Low income and desperates mostly vote Labour, so no it’s not. Bedsides, your ram raided chemist can’t serve you, so don’t sweat it.
      
      1 0
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      May 18, 2023 9:12pm
      - Ghost
        
        It’s going to be a close election with National wanting to put this back onto people, act wanting to change how the pension and benefits are done. If the right keep going the way they are then you will be looking at a third term labour government, because people like you and national and act can’t read the swing voters
        
        1 3
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        May 18, 2023 9:42pm
    - Hard Cheese
      
      Yeah but Labour, not having two brain cells to rub together, roll out the least optimal, most expensive version of the policy possible and make it completely untargeted. Two weeks ago they were railing against the uber wealthy not paying their fair share, today they’re giving them a $5 discount on their prescriptions!
      
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      May 18, 2023 9:47pm
      - Ghost
        
        Pretty much, it should have been free to those with a community service card, and it should of included unsubsidised medications to a certain value
        
        1 0
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        May 18, 2023 9:53pm
    - rockape
      
      They get a good deal anyway and can’t pay more than $100. I know, I am on super and after$100 it’s all free. The cost of seeing the doc is the expensive bit as
      As is asking for a repeat script at $15 a pop.
      
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      May 18, 2023 10:20pm
      - Ghost
        
        But you can and do pay more than $100 when your medication is not subsidised
        
        0 0
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        May 18, 2023 10:24pm
- Inandout
  
  MC, the extra petrol tax will cost me another $10 a week, or $500 a year. My prescription fee is about $20 a year.
  
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  May 18, 2023 10:10pm
  - Ghost
    
    I’ve just gone on a new medication that has to be made up by a compound pharmacist at $110 per 3 months. I have another non funded medication that is depending on what strength I need $45 to $60 a month
    
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    May 18, 2023 10:32pm
Cinematic

All that money and so little to show for it. Bloated sludge of bureaucracy and an inept debt fuelled Labour government steering NZ onto the rocks. Useless bunch of wankers.
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May 18, 2023 9:11pm
Ghost

Breaking news

One man has been charged with two counts of arson following the fire at Loafers Lodge in Newtown, Wellington on Monday night.

He is scheduled to appear in Wellington District Court on Friday, May 19.

Article
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May 18, 2023 9:52pm
Tauhei Notts

I read where the presidents of South Africa, Egypt, Zambia, Uganda, Senegal and the Republic of the Congo are all planning to visit Kiev and Moscow to broker peace in the Ukraine.
I guess if the successors to Verwoerd, Nasser, Kaunda, Amin and Lamumba can’t sort it out then nobody can.
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May 18, 2023 10:36pm
wilderbeast

Just when I think we’ve reached peak madness something new strikes…today I hear that our local college has sponsored a support group for students that identify as cats or dogs – it’s called “the furry support group”. Have told a couple of mates who couldn’t stop laughing and asked if I was kidding – sadly not. God help students at that school when adults refuse to be adults and disillusion children’s whacky fantasies. On the plus side of the culture wars I reckon Dylan Mulvaney is doing a great job destroying any credibility that the militant transgender brigade might have had. I guess his modus operandi is to indulge his narcissism and make as much money as possibly in a short time frame. Beam me up Scotty…..
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May 18, 2023 10:49pm

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