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September 13, 2023 8:00am by Kokila Patel

General Debate 13 September 2023

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General Debate

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NeverMindTheBollocks

From Sarah Gardner at Let’s Get Wellington Moving:

“A city begins with its people. So I was curious what the findings were from the Wellington City Council’s recently released annual residents survey. Two figures that jumped out to me: only 43% of Wellingtonians find the city centre “lively and attractive” (down from 80% in 2019), and that only 45% feel safe in the city centre at night (down from 76% in 2019).

Revitalisation of the Golden Mile is set to help address these concerns and more, making the heart of the city safer and more attractive …”

Talk about missing the point, Trev. No amount of cycle lanes is going to change the number of mentally disturbed and drug dealing scumbags hanging around the streets as a result of Labour’s insane policy of housing these people in the central city.

Build it, but your cyclists will not come, Sarah.
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September 13, 2023 8:01am
- Blog-aholic
  
  I lived in Wellington in the 1990’s and it was a fantastic city with some real soul in the central area.
  
  I have been back many times sonce and have seen the marked progressive decline particularly since the 2010 onwards….
  
  Crime is like rust unless you treat it, it only gets worse.
  
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  September 13, 2023 8:13am
  - pdm
    
    mrspdm and I travelled by bus from the Airport to Wellington Railway Station a few weeks ago.
    
    What desolate bomb sites Courtenay Place and Manners Street looked. Willis Street was a slight improvement and Lambton Quay seemed to have some life.
    
    None of those areas would attract us back though.
    
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    September 13, 2023 8:49am
    - zulumonster
      
      Since your visit pdm there has been a group set up a mini tent city along Manners Street … they look quite entrenched in their little alcove .. .not a great look for the city and certainly a little disconcerting for passers by.in their
      
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      September 13, 2023 9:16am
      - G the giant from Dunedin
        
        They have been watching tv in Leftie LA, if the police don’t move them on, you will end up with a ghetto and shit on the streets
        
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        September 13, 2023 9:20am
  - David Garrett
    
    Blog: Crime is like rust unless you treat it, it only gets worse.
    
    An excellent simile/analogy Sir. Spot on.
    
    Of course the clowns running the cutter presently will see no connection at all between radically reducing the prison population and the crime wave now upon us.
    
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    September 13, 2023 9:55am
  - ClanMcleod
    
    My first visit to Wellington was 1992 for the cricket world cup quarter final between NZ and England. It was also my first visit to a game of international cricket in any format. What an introduction!
    The city was truly vibrant and over the next 5 or 6 years I would regularly make the 2 hour trip to head down for a weekend of fun and entertainment.
    
    Spent ten days there during the parliament protest and often got out and about to revisit old haunts and check the place out.
    Abject dismay doesn’t begin to describe what I saw. What a sad deterioration.
    
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    September 13, 2023 10:06am
    - I remember when
      
      Both Athletic Park and the Basin meant that people streamed into the city after a game.
      The Cake Tin allows most out-of-towners to start heading home straight after the game.
      
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      September 13, 2023 11:22am
- Reg Perrin
  
  Another case of misusing data to push through a project rather than looking for the true cause of why the numbers have risen
  
  I would like to know if she would stake her job on the results improving significantly with the improvements she is pushing
  
  These people work on the notion that if they repeat it enough then it becomes fact
  
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  September 13, 2023 8:27am
  - Dougal10
    
    Don’t get her to stake her job on it Dunedin doesn’t want her back.
    
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    September 13, 2023 4:04pm
- cmm
  
  In the case of Wellington, it begins with the country’s tax.
  
  They “own” the tax right? So why shouldn’t they feel entitled to spend it on white elephants?
  
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  September 13, 2023 8:52am
- rouppe
  
  Also missed the point.
  
  “Lively and attractive” is largely around the entertainment district of Courtney Place. Nothing you do in Lampton Quay will affect that, unless there is a migration of bars etc into Lampton Quay.
  
  I now go into the city for entertainment about twice a year.
  
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  September 13, 2023 10:10am
- thirteenstars
  
  Wellington has been hoist by its own petard.
  
  It’s the perfect comeuppance. They have stabbed themselves with the same sword they have always forced others to live by.
  
  Eventually you run our of other people’s money. The regulations don’t work. The ratepayers flee. Society devolves.
  
  Mind you that’s the fate that awaits us all if National persists with its plans to drive this country into the insanity of Net Zero.
  
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  September 13, 2023 10:42am
  - Paulus
    
    Hoist or Foist – slightly different meanings !
    
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    September 13, 2023 1:25pm
    - thirteenstars
      
      The saying is hoist so let’s go with that.
      
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      September 13, 2023 3:27pm
NeverMindTheBollocks

Mad woman bailed to Dunedin. Points for being true to her principles by refusing to fly, though I note she’s not taking the Picton – Christchurch train.

I hope that any breach of her bail terms will see her remanded in custody.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/132921626/restore-passenger-rail-protester-rosemary-penwarden-granted-bail
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September 13, 2023 8:01am
- Ehlana
  
  I hope they are sending her by bus. Or bicycle.
  
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  September 13, 2023 8:08am
  - Blog-aholic
    
    By bus in the luggage compartment hopefully. Imagine having to be the poor sucker that gets the seat next to her.
    
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    September 13, 2023 8:15am
  - kowtow
    
    Unless she crossed the Cook Strait in a dugout canoe ,she’s a hypocrite.
    
    Hopefully her life jacket would be made of native cork , not the imported Portugese stuff.
    
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    September 13, 2023 8:43am
  - Gravelroad
    
    Horse and cart more appropriate for this woman if she is really sincere with her activism.
    Yes, horses fart, but they don’t use fossil fuels as do buses and boats.
    
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    September 13, 2023 8:50am
    - kowtow
      
      Huge swathes of good agricultural land was given over to growing oats for feeding ‘orses .
      Now that land is used to feed people , cos cars run on dinosaur poo .
      But the pendulum is swinging again and the Loons want to “rewild” everything but of course we billions can now live on lab grown Frankenstein food …….
      
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      September 13, 2023 10:13am
      - I remember when
        
        A lot of the ‘new foods’ would appear to fall into the highly processed category.
        However, you can always ignore the inconvenient health facts.
        
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        September 13, 2023 11:27am
      - kowtow
        
        IRW
        
        And that shit is really bad and cancerous .
        
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        September 13, 2023 1:38pm
- In Vino Veritas
  
  Bollocks, these are the people that are first to whine when the price of their rail ticket goes through the roof when they are actually charged at a price that covers rails costs.
  
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  September 13, 2023 8:12am
  - Steve Otto(North Shore)
    
    But the Govt can pay subsidies, that is the socialist way.
    
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    September 13, 2023 8:20am
  - wsk12345
    
    It’s been a decade since I took that train. 30 years ago it was $25 one way.10 yrs ago it was $159 one way. And empty except for overseas tourists.
    
    I womder if that is “cost” or profit making?
    
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    September 13, 2023 3:26pm
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  Not right in the head.
  
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  September 13, 2023 8:15am
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  She wants passenger rail restore and then does not take a train. That makes her a hypocrite.
  
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  September 13, 2023 8:55am
- David Garrett
  
  Nevermind: Have you ever seen such mad eyes?!!
  
  As Pink Floyd sang many years ago: “She’s got wild staring eyes…and a strong urge to fly…”
  
  Except this particular mad woman won’t fly. I’ll bet the provervial servo pied she will breach her bail conditions sooner rather than later, and end up back in the pokey.
  
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  September 13, 2023 10:05am
  - Steve Otto(North Shore)
    
    Picture is 2020. She will look crazier now.
    
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    September 13, 2023 2:35pm
- ClanMcleod
  
  Rosemary Penwarden epitomises this other German climate change, ideological loon, Judith Beadle. She’s married to an Englishman hence the surname.
  The covid blogger Eugyppius does what I believe is an accurate analysis and profile of this person and I would warrant it’s a profile that fits the majority of these people.
  
  Activism, agency, and the escape from mundane domesticity: The curious case of Judith Beadle, 43 year-old mother of two, climate vandal and self-gluing street activist
  
  An excerpt:
  
  Meet Judith Beadle.
  
  She is a dead-eyed 43 year-old Letzte Generation (The last generation) activist from Berlin who first came to the notice of the German public for gluing herself to a Munich street last November. The action won her nearly a month of preventive custody in Munich-Stadlheim, where she reports her vegan preferences were not initially respected.
  
  Everybody say ‘awwww…..!’ 🙄
  
  Anyway:
  
  Notably, Beadle’s chronology places the origins of her climate anxiety not with Greta Thunberg’s emergence in late 2018, but around the start of the Covid pandemic. It was at this time that she and her family stopped booking flights (easy to do back then), avoiding meat and – most likely during the Summer of Floyd – attending climate demonstrations. In the broadest sense, Letzte Generation is an astroturfed, foreign-funded operation, but I suspect Beadle is typical of its rank-and-file members. Their radical, hysterical approach arises from social dynamics unleashed by pandemic restrictions. Prolonged isolation, overmuch time at home and feelings of disempowerment all play important roles here.
  
  https://www.eugyppius.com/p/activism-agency-and-the-escape-from
  
  These people have no life. This makes them feel relevant and important.
  
  It’s almost sad. Not quite, almost.
  
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  September 13, 2023 10:23am
  - Steve Otto(North Shore)
    
    Thing is Judith Beadle is a mother of two. They breed!!
    
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    September 13, 2023 2:37pm
  - Kiwisaint
    
    ‘Watch Out, Beadle’s About’
    
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    September 13, 2023 3:32pm
- NZer In Exile
  
  Really these spoilt prats should be given the choice of booking a legit 15 min street march (also so people can see what a pathetic gaggle of support they really have) or face serious penalties for disrupting essential services (not to mention wasting police time).
  
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  September 13, 2023 11:33am
  - kiwimike
    
    first offence 1 month suspended for 2=3 yrs.
    2nd offence 3 months in Jail suspended for 2-3 yrs.
    3rd offence 6 months and a day jail.
    
    2 chances, then none.
    
    could do the same to RAM raiders, but their charges should cop 5 yrs, for the amalgam of burglary, theft, malicious damage, threatening behaviour etc
    
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    September 14, 2023 12:03pm
kiwikidsnz

“Every picture tells a story don’t it”
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-09-12/sydney-airport-lithium-ion-battery-causes-fire/102846146
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September 13, 2023 8:12am
- cmm
  
  A point that few understand is that an EV battery fire is not really a fire. It is a runaway chemical reaction that does not need oxygen.
  
  However, once it heats up the surrounding area (eg. the rest of the car), then that can catch fire and be a “normal” fire.
  
  Because it is not burning in the normal sense of the word, normal firefighting methods don’t apply either.
  
  I am no firefighter, but the emphasis seems to be not on putting out the battery “fire”, but mainly containment to try to prevent it spreading to other combustible material.
  
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  September 13, 2023 8:50am
  - Steve Otto(North Shore)
    
    Foam? or just let it burn and remove other cars?
    
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    September 13, 2023 8:58am
    - OlderChas
      
      Foam works by smothering the fuel and denying oxygen to it. As cmm states above – lithium battery fires are chemical and do not need oxygen. Fires need fuel, oxygen and heat – remove one of those and the fire goes out. Seems like water (cooling) is the only way to handle lithium battery fires.
      
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      September 13, 2023 9:17am
      - Taieri
        
        Seems like water (cooling) is the only way to handle lithium battery fires.
        ———-
        
        Either a copious amount of water or burying in the sand.
        Backup lithium batteries on the seismic survey vessels used to be housed in the swinging craddle mounted in such a way that in case of fire the whole lot could be dumped over the side.
        
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        September 13, 2023 9:34am
      - cmm
        
        IIRC the critical temperature is around 80 degrees.
        It is close to impossible to cool an EV fire to under 80 degrees. Somewhere in there it is still 80 degrees and will just start up again.
        
        Fighting regular fires (ie. oxygen consuming) fires has two parts to it:
        * denying oxygen (through foam, water etc).
        * cooling everything down to prevent re-ignition.
        
        Denying the oxygen is what is critical in a normal fire because it is really hard to cool down the material if the fire is still going and is self-heating.
        
        Since the batteries do not require oxygen to “burn”, copious flooding with water to cool things down is the only approach and success is not guaranteed.
        
        It’s a real bugger for firefighters. Very nasty stuff to breath in. Some Aussie firefighters have been forced into retirement for health reasons after fighting an EV fire.
        
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        September 13, 2023 9:56am
      - ClanMcleod
        
        The Greens, saving the environment one disastrous policy after another…../s
        
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        September 13, 2023 10:36am
      - NZer In Exile
        
        It would actually be a lot cheaper and cleaner overall to go back to CNG powered cars until a decent technology can replace them. The green doomers of course won’t listen though. Full steam ahead to poverty and misery for no good reason!
        
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        September 13, 2023 11:41am
    - NothingLeft
      
      All you can do is soak up heat generated somehow. There is enough energy in Li ion battery fire to vaporise 2-3 kg of water per kg of battery, so a 500kg EV battery gives off the same amount of energy as burning ~100L of petrol. In practice (due to runoff) that means you need a huge amount of water over an extended period to quench an EV fire.
      
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      September 13, 2023 9:30am
      - cmm
        
        It isn’t just the stored electrical energy of a charged battery. It is the actual lithium etc itself too.
        
        A flat battery can burn just as well as a fully charged battery, though the charged battery probably has a better chance of kicking off if it self heats with a short circuit etc. But once going, it is a chemical reaction of the stuff the battery is made of – mainly.
        
        In some ways a half-charged battery might be the best bet because then the lithium ions are most spread out.
        
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        September 13, 2023 10:03am
    - Nickc2
      
      Foam only starves a fire of Oxygen. Therefore, it is irrelevant in extinguishing an EV Battery’s chemical reaction.
      
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      September 13, 2023 11:45am
  - NothingLeft
    
    EV fires are super easy to initiate for insurance fraud too, just run a small heat-gun or similar on underside of battery. That will be responsible for a significant proportion of fires.
    
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    September 13, 2023 9:22am
  - Taieri
    
    It is a runaway chemical reaction that does not need oxygen.
    —————–
    
    It does. But these fires generate their own oxygen.
    The whole process is explained here:
    
    https://publications.iafss.org/publications/fss/8/375/view
    
    Lithium battery fire process is quite similar to iron fires, as in some steam boilers, where water dissociates into oxygen and hydrogen at the suitably high temperature and then increases the temperature of the surrounding steel to the point where rapid oxidation of iron begins. The end result is a complete destruction of a boiler and all around it as the whole lot just melts. Not a pleasant sight at all. And the only way to fight such a fire is to flood it with a copious amount of water. Easier said than done of course…
    
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    September 13, 2023 9:47am
    - cmm
      
      Correct. I meant external oxygen that can be denied by conventional fire fighting methods (such as fire extinguishers).
      
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      September 13, 2023 10:05am
  - James Stephenson
    
    A point that few understand is that an EV battery fire is not really a fire. It is a runaway chemical reaction that does not need oxygen.
    
    No, it’s most definitely a fire, it just produces its own oxygen rather than needing it from the atmosphere. The upshot is the same though – contain it until the fuel is exhausted.
    
    Imagine that in the underground carpark at Sky City for instance…
    
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    September 13, 2023 1:17pm
  - MikeS
    
    “an EV battery fire is not really a fire”
    
    It’s a chemical fire, but it’s definitely still a fire.
    
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    September 13, 2023 4:49pm
- redeye
  
  The batteries use rare earth minerals that are mined by kids and slaves, they can’t yet be disposed of safely yet only last 8 years & they combust spontaneously. Welcome to environmentalism in 2023.
  
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  September 13, 2023 8:50am
  - ISeeRed
    
    Giving up your laptop and smartphone that use the same child/slave labour for their batteries?
    
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    September 13, 2023 6:19pm
- Loddenthinks
  
  From the article:
  
  “Superintendent Adam Dewberry from Fire and Rescue NSW said that while battery fires were not uncommon, electric vehicles were not a concern for authorities.”
  
  I think Superintendent Dingleberry will change his tune pretty quickly. Certainly that electric vehicle was a concern for its owner, and the owners of the 5 or 6 other cars it incinerated.
  
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  September 13, 2023 10:14am
  - ClanMcleod
    
    I think you might find Superintendent Adam Dewberry was instructed to say this publicly or career advancement could become problematic.
    
    I can’t prove that, but it appears to be a tactic that has kept quite few people quiet on numerous controversial subjects. Money or skeletons. It’s a tacky world we live in.
    
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    September 13, 2023 10:44am
  - imalwaysright
    
    Lod,
    you are right.
    Maybe he doesnt know that some American universities have banned electric bikes from dorms and other indoor areas because of the fire risk.
    
    It is unfortunately only a matter of time before we have a fatal home or apartment block fire.
    
    When ideology meets reality and becomes deadly.
    
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    September 13, 2023 11:36am
    - sirknz
      
      We did have the e-bike battery explode in a Wellington apartment a few weeks back.
      
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      September 13, 2023 2:15pm
Steve Otto(North Shore)

Play school TV! breakfast. Weather. They show videos of Auckland in monochrome, and other cities in colour. Why?
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September 13, 2023 8:18am
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  I could have said black and white, but that would be racist.//
  
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  September 13, 2023 8:24am
Maggie Pie

Enny, Meeny, Miny, Moe….. Cuddles and Ginny need to go.

The sooner we get rid of this pathetic excuse for a ‘government’ …..the SAFER we’ll all be! Roll on October 14th.

https://twitter.com/NewsHubPolitics/status/1701511517043310762
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September 13, 2023 8:19am
- kowtow
  
  The gang cancer that’s rotting this country runs deep and wide.
  
  https://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/news/crime/hospital-drop-off-homicide-jimel-burns-wong-tung-found-guilty-of-murdering-rangiwhero-ngaronoa/?dicbo=v2-zGFGtmP
  
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  September 13, 2023 8:32am
  - Steve Otto(North Shore)
    
    Don’t know why we have Police, Courts, and Jails.
    
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    September 13, 2023 9:00am
    - peterwn
      
      The Maori Party seems to have come to this conclusion.
      
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      September 13, 2023 9:45am
    - JerJer
      
      Forget all that. Whats really important right now is that we discuss private property owners rights to exclude people that look like crims from their own property.
      
      https://www.nzherald.co.nz/kahu/facial-moko-maori-war-veteran-with-mataora-barred-from-perth-pub/GY3NTQPFZJGJJG5Q537JIC65KY/
      
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      September 13, 2023 12:36pm
- cmm
  
  Isn’t Cuddles on a longer contract? Can he be fired?
  
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  September 13, 2023 8:52am
  - Maggie Pie
    
    YIP YIP….I have it on good authority Mark just needs to pay him out the balance of the contract and put him on ‘gardening leave’.
    
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    September 13, 2023 9:00am
    - cmm
      
      It would be worth it. Five times over.
      
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      September 13, 2023 9:21am
      - imalwaysright
        
        750k a year!
        He should be paying us out.
        
        What does it take for a public servant to get sacked?
        
        He has proved to be worse than useless.
        
        He has in fact made NZ a dangerous place .
        
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        September 13, 2023 11:45am
    - kujira
      
      i wouldnt sack the prick move him to some absolute shithole where he has to work frontline seeing the results of his cuddles regime.
      
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      September 13, 2023 3:05pm
- NeverMindTheBollocks
  
  Exhibit A – the people most affected by Maori criminals are other Maoris
  
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  September 13, 2023 7:24pm
Matt Long

For the people who are convinced we need good managers in government, not reformers who will bring policy back to the centre, I bring you the best option.
Caution, content may be disturbing to some people.
https://twitter.com/TeiNZAO/status/1701178894223913453
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September 13, 2023 8:21am
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  Why? Why did I click on that?
  Disturbing? That has screwed my whole day. Can’t unsee it.
  
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  September 13, 2023 8:27am
  - imalwaysright
    
    Helen of Clarke.
    
    The face that sunk a thousand ships.
    
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    September 13, 2023 12:05pm
- Ghost
  
  Gollum……
  
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  September 13, 2023 8:31am
- Blog-aholic
  
  That is one scary clown.
  
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  September 13, 2023 8:33am
- Media hater
  
  Good Lord, looks like Pennywise from ‘IT’.
  
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  September 13, 2023 11:56am
- Pope Punctilious II
  
  In what way was Clarke worse than Key? I was overseas during her 3 terms as PM, so no doubt there’s plenty I don’t know about. But I do know it wasn’t Helen Clarke’s government that brought radical gender ideology into schools (via de Trojan Horse of “Mates n Dates”), it wasn’t Clarke that signed us up to UNDRIP (she described it as incompatible with NZ democracy), it wasn’t Clarke that got into bed with the Maaori Party (she described them as “wreckers and haters”).
  
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  September 13, 2023 4:21pm
  - Pineapple Lumps
    
    Presided over economic and social destruction. Was branded the Nanny State government.
    
    Legislated against parents using a smack as a tool for loving discipline. Gaslighted that legislation would prevent abuse. Outcome – 20 years of young people growing up with less discipline = constant behavioural issues in schools, increasing rates of youth crime ie ram raiding, abuse hasn’t been prevented.
    
    Legislated for paid parental leave – because better to have the children of our country being raised by minimum wage workers than by a loving primary blood relative caregiver.
    
    Economically, incentivised the takers not the givers, fuelling inter generational give me give me’s.
    
    Left the countries accounts in tatters.
    
    Key lead the country through the GFC and Christchurch and Kaikoura earthquake recovery. Managed to get the fiscal health back to better state. Did a poor job of reversing the Nanny State doctrines despite large public referendum with 80% voting for anti-smacking legislation to be overturned.
    
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    September 13, 2023 6:08pm
    - Pope Punctilious II
      
      Thanks for taking the trouble to respond. “Presided over economic and social destruction” is too subjective and broad-brush to be much use. “Was branded the Nanny State government” isn’t much of an argument either – Key got “branded” lots of things too, sometimes deservedly, sometimes not. Fortunately you have some more convincing specific points. I agree the anti-smacking law was virtue-signalled BS – what sort of fool thinks stopping middle-class parents from administering a timely corrective smack will make the slighest difference to what happens in Flaxmere? But let’s remember that bill can be sheeted to the god-awful Sue Bradford of the so-called Greens, and not to Clarke. I also agree with your point about paid parental leave. But don’t expect me to believe the current spate of ram-raiding can be attributed to a lack of smacking – as I implied, Sue Bradford’s brainfart won’t have made the slightest difference to what happens in Flaxmere.
      
      You concede that Key did a “poor” job of reversing the Clark government’s mistakes. That’s an understatement – and an indicator of what we can expect from Luxon’s Nats (unless Seymour or Peters has enough votes to force Luxon’s hand).
      
      I don’t think you’ve established that Clarke did more damage to the country than Key. Clarke was an unlikeable puritan (“thin-lipped” as Muldoon would have said) and made plenty of mistakes. But she was clear-eyed enough to see UNDRIP and the Maaori Party for what they were, and had the guts to act accordingly.
      
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      September 13, 2023 7:04pm
  - Pope Punctilious II
    
    Down-voting doesn’t answer the question: in what way was Clarke worse than Key? Any answers?
    
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    September 13, 2023 6:12pm
    - NeverMindTheBollocks
      
      Clark destroyed any possible threat to her position within Labour. Jacinda was, ultimately, the heiress of that scorched earth policy.
      
      Key, by contrast, encouraged strong Ministers. He chose to walk and left Bill English in a strong position that saw him win the highest share of the votes at the subsequent election.
      
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      September 13, 2023 7:29pm
      - Pope Punctilious II
        
        So your argument is that Key was better for the Nats than Clarke was for Labour? Leaving aside the question of whether that’s true or not, what is the point of being good for your party if your party isn’t much good for your country?
        
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        September 13, 2023 8:01pm
Cassandra

Seymour sensibly winding back his ruminations on confidence and supply. Act and National will have a sensible discussion and form a stable coalition. The hard part will follow – National’s tax cuts are unaffordable right now. First step is to get rid of several thousand public “servants” with the HRC and the race-based ministries top of the list. Then work out how to reduce the tax burden. But note only the top 30% of earners actually pay net tax. Luxon might have to have a quick lesson in economics and maths. And politics.
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September 13, 2023 8:22am
- Mark Hanley
  
  As predicted, Luxon”s bottom up approach to fixing and managing the National Party is producing results.
  
  Luxon will do the same for NZ.
  
  I called Luxon getting National to high forties some time ago and the prediction looks very safe.
  
  It is interesting the tax policy critics don’t supply their own forecasts and predictions to counter Nationals.
  
  It is so easy to throw meaningless barbs.
  
  It is much more challenging to produce a set of detailed forecast accounts and assumptions,
  
  Then send the forecasts off for peer review,
  
  Then publish the forecasts.
  
  Then make yourself available for critics (the despicable mentally deficient nz media) to question you on the accounts.
  
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  September 13, 2023 8:47am
- G the giant from Dunedin
  
  Seymour has damaged ACT with his arrogance, people will not vote for instability, he is putting everything at risk, the tax cuts are threshold adjustments we should be getting annually, we did when I was younger
  
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  September 13, 2023 9:34am
  - peterwn
    
    Yes. If National gets over 46% or so, Seymour will be like Sampson with a crewcut.
    
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    September 13, 2023 9:49am
    - David Garrett
      
      …like Sampson with a crewcut.
      
      I do like that Sir! But I can’t see the Nats getting 46%…anything higher than 40 would make me happy.
      
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      September 13, 2023 10:52am
      - ClanMcleod
        
        DG – not sure if you saw it, but I replied to your comment in yesterday’s post re HDPA’s article about Labour lies, however it was very late so you may not be aware of it.
        I’d be keen for you to check it out and in particular the couple of links I provided, also keen to hear your thoughts.
        Cheers
        
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        September 13, 2023 11:45am
    - imalwaysright
      
      Pete,
      If they get over 46% Winston will shout Seymour the full back, crack and sack.
      
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      September 13, 2023 12:09pm
  - Mrs_Right
    
    “Seymour has damaged ACT with his arrogance….” Rubbish.
    
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    September 13, 2023 1:17pm
Grunter

Oil just hit US$92 a barrel, the highest since Nov.

But inflation is going to drop according to Robertson and Treasury. Yeah Right!

The world has a decreasing supply of energy due to less exploration of fossil fuel. And it takes about 10 yrs to turn that around.

The climate communists have steered the ship onto the rocks!
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September 13, 2023 8:22am
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  The US was self reliant and selling fuel. Then along came Joe (not Jones) and turned everything off. The what? He went to the Saudis and begged them to increase production.
  I don’t know what it is with lefties screwing things up.
  
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  September 13, 2023 8:49am
  - kowtow
    
    He gave the Saudi Prince a very friendly handshake at G 20 , the one he bowed to a wee while back when he needed his help.
    
    People might remember that was the Prince who was alleged to have bumped off that critic and who prior to being elected Biden made such a big deal of saying he’d have nuffink to do with.
    
    And has the media held him to account ……
    
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    September 13, 2023 11:59am
    - imalwaysright
      
      Good recall Kow
      
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      September 13, 2023 12:11pm
    - Steve Otto(North Shore)
      
      No body, if I am right. Some acid and a big drain.
      
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      September 13, 2023 2:42pm
  - virtualmark
    
    US is still, notionally, self-reliant on oil. That said, some of the the US production is exported, and there are imports to the US too.
    
    But net-net US production exceeds US consumption.
    
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    September 13, 2023 4:22pm
- All_on_Red
  
  The price of oil has risen due to the Saudi’s extending their production drop of 1 Mio barrels per day
  Inventories are low too
  But worldwide production is increasing
  ‘We forecast global liquid fuels production will increase by 1.2 million b/d in 2023 despite recent voluntary decreases in production from OPEC+. Global production in our forecast increases by 1.7 million b/d in 2024. Non-OPEC production is the main driver of global production growth in our forecast, increasing by 2.0 million b/d in 2023 and 1.3 million b/d in 2024, led by the United States, Brazil, Canada, and Guyana.’
  https://www.eia.gov/outlooks/steo/report/global_oil.php
  
  But hey Onward to victory eh Tovarishch
  
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  September 13, 2023 9:10am
- Master Mariner
  
  Interesting thing for NZ is the uncertainty of refinery prices irrespective of Oil/bbl/$.
  We are really out on a limb with uncertainty for Refined Diesel,Petrol, Av Gas and Bitumen etc because of closure too Marsden Pt.
  USA Strategic Reserves are at the lowest level ever and AT some time they will have to Buy / Fill.
  Watch bbl/$ sky rocket then.
  Inflation ain’t going no where but UP in NZ due to this very fact alone.
  Labour’s “Scorched Earth ” policy Knows no bounds.
  
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  September 13, 2023 11:30am
  - Steve Otto(North Shore)
    
    New Zealand should have purchased that Refinery. But nope, the princess knew better.
    Filled the pipes with concrete! So fucking what? Get new pipes and get it running again.
    I did hear of a tanker full of Avgas that became contaminated. Marsden could have refined that into diesel I think? Nope, the tanker was sent away. Probably the closest refinery – Oz?
    
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    September 13, 2023 2:48pm
    - NZer In Exile
      
      Is National going to fire up that refinery again? Or are they going to kiss UN/WEF arse?
      
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      September 13, 2023 6:19pm
- Paulus
  
  What we pay for Petrol is controlled more by the Government Taxes than the actual price of the fuel.
  Plus GST.
  
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  September 13, 2023 1:33pm
  - Steve Otto(North Shore)
    
    Just like the left don’t understand that a Tax break means more disposable income so when spent, more GST.
    It may be small, but small multiplies to big when applied.
    
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    September 13, 2023 2:55pm
- virtualmark
  
  The Saudis have cut back production, hence the price rises.
  
  General consensus is that they want to hurt Biden by driving inflation up. US inflation had been falling hard since mid-2022, which is politically good for Biden.
  
  So each time you fill up your car and wince at the price just chant “Let’s go Brandon” and celebrate.
  
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  September 13, 2023 4:21pm
kevn

robberson talking his way out of… everything with Hosking.
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September 13, 2023 8:24am
- kowtow
  
  Both “news” broadcasts last night were extremely posidive .
  
  Money talks.
  
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  September 13, 2023 8:30am
- lifesgood
  
  Still trying to fathom why Hosking was so gentle on him.
  
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  September 13, 2023 8:47am
- Gravelroad
  
  Talking is really the only thing Mr Robertson is proficient at………..
  
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  September 13, 2023 8:53am
- Grunter
  
  The Hosk was very soft!
  
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  September 13, 2023 9:15am
- Waipuk
  
  Hosking was extremely soft.
  
  I think it’s the not wanting to kick a man when he is down thing.
  
  Both Hosking and Robertson know labour are done for.
  
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  September 13, 2023 9:35am
  - hullkiwi
    
    Not only Robertson, but even Labour commentators are critical (putting the boot in). Last night on the HDPA slot the Huddle she had Josie Pagani and Trish Sherson.
    
    Both agreed NZ is faced with austerity to get the annual deficits and the debt levels down.
    
    However, it was Pagani who made the telling comments that:
    
    That NZ needed vision from our leaders;
    
    A strategy based on rebuilding Hawkes Bay & mass immigration is not a strategy for growth; and
    
    Labour are lost.
    
    Sentiments that are hit the nail 100% right on the head and need to be front of mind to the incoming government on 15/10/2023.
    
    It is my opinion, that NZ doesn’t just need a change of government, or just change for change sake, or just even an approach that gets the country back on track.
    
    NZ needs more from its political leaders, and all of us. Else NZ will be a country that just does business as usual, and in so doing, it allows itself to be the “victim” of external events & circumstances.
    
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    September 13, 2023 10:17am
  - lifesgood
    
    Yeah, all well and good but he rips into Hipkins. Curiouser and curiouser.
    
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    September 13, 2023 12:11pm
- G the giant from Dunedin
  
  He can say what ever he likes, parliament is resolved, thank god he can no longer help himself.
  
  He will go down as just as much of a f as I lure than any minister
  
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  September 13, 2023 9:36am
  - Don Beckett
    
    read your comment before hitting ‘post’ 🙁
    
    [Mod – focus on the message]
    
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    September 13, 2023 10:47am
  - NZer In Exile
    
    Typing on your mobile in the bog at work G? 😂
    
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    September 13, 2023 11:44am
- Maggie Pie
  
  Pretty sure you’ll find the Hosk fully realises the value of the ‘pink dollar’
  
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  September 13, 2023 9:47am
Captain Mainwaring

Labour seems to be mystified as to the cause of their slide in the polls.
Here’s an idea: Mainstream New Zealanders are sick of the unlegislated, unwanted, creeping Maorification of their country. From place names on the weather forecast to road signs to newsreaders introducing themselves to the Air NZ safety video to the names of Government agencies Kiwis are over it and they are going to express their views at the ballot box.
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September 13, 2023 8:24am
- kowtow
  
  That’s the tip of the ice berg .
  
  People need to be very worried about how practically the whole of the Establishment want to and are actively changing the constitution , in front of our eyes , and the vast majoridy just don’t get it.
  
  ACT does , is it any wonder they take so much flak.
  
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  September 13, 2023 8:53am
  - Pope Punctilious II
    
    I love the Ardernesque spelling of “majoridy”.
    
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    September 13, 2023 4:59pm
- pdm
  
  Right on the mark Capt.
  
  The following is my email to Luxon following the Pledge Card release.
  
  `You disappoint me by ignoring Co-Governance in you pledges yet you have the myth that is Climate Change included. This may lose you my electorate vote – Party Vote is already with ACT.’
  
  Don’t know if he saw it – his staff probably only pass on the good stuff to him.
  
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  September 13, 2023 8:57am
  - The Veteran
    
    pdm … you can’t cover everything off on a pledge card. National’s position is clear and I quote from the Party website … “We interpret tino rangatiratanga within Te Tiriti as partnership, not co-governance, and New Zealand should be governed under one system. Targeted and powerful interventions should also be based off need, rather than based off ethnicity”.
    
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    September 13, 2023 9:48am
    - Pope Punctilious II
      
      No, you can’t cover everything on a pledge card – only the essential stuff. And what could be more essential than pushing back against so-called “co-governance” (in reality a Maaori ethnostate) and the neo-Marxist cancer in our institutions? Get ready for backroom deals with the iwiocracy if Seymour or Peters doesn’t have the numbers to force Luxon’s hand.
      
      And even Luxon’s “partnership” is BS. The Treaty of Waitangi a partnership? Would the superpower of the 19th century go into partnership with 100K indigenous people?
      
      And what is the Nats’ position on maatauranga? Will they throw out the current government’s science-denying decree that maatauranga is “co-equal” with so-called Western science? Can we have our science curriculum back, or will schools and universities continue to import “mauri” and “wairua” into science classes?
      
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      September 13, 2023 10:41am
      - David Garrett
        
        Would the superpower of the 19th century go into partnership with 100K indigenous people
        
        With respect Pope, it’s much more fundamental than that (and even Justice Cooke didn’t say it was a partnership back in 1987, but rather “a relationship in the nature of partnership” – and even that was legally absurd)
        
        The idea of the sovereign – good Queen Wikitoria – going into partnership with some of her subjects is legally and constitutiionally absurd. It would be akin to her making a “treaty” with Cockney Londoners, and granting them some special rights that her other subjects didn’t have.
        
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        September 13, 2023 1:44pm
    - pdm
      
      Vet I consider Co-Governance and its spin offs a far bigger danger to New Zealand and New Zealanders than Climate change.
      
      I don’t think Luxon does – he wants to be everyones friend.
      
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      September 13, 2023 2:18pm
      - Colville
        
        pdm – He needs to get elected. You dont.
        
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        September 13, 2023 4:16pm
  - Tom Hunter
    
    “My prediction, there will be a substantial empowering of iwi in education, heath, housing supply and social policy in the next few years. National will go along with most of this once they are back in government, just as they have done so since 1990.
    
    In that sense Don Brash was a bit of an aberration, one that National is not keen on repeating.”
    
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    September 13, 2023 10:58am
    - Pope Punctilious II
      
      I got so depressed reading that, but I think the author is clear-eyed about the Nats. I think there are only 7 current National MPs that I would NOT describe as cucks (Brown, Lee, McClay, O’Connor, Penk, Reti, Woodhouse).
      
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      September 13, 2023 1:30pm
      - kiwimike
        
        yes
        Look at who voted against the “anti Gay counselling” legislation…..
        
        7 National MP’s, with Simon now left Parliament.
        
        The rest are woke.
        They won’t save us from the Tribal Apartheid.
        
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        September 14, 2023 12:18pm
- G the giant from Dunedin
  
  Hipkins keeps saying Luxon is out of touch, yet they can not see why people are giving them the ass card, let’s not forget how often we heard people saying they are not listening
  
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  September 13, 2023 9:38am
  - In Vino Veritas
    
    G, Labour have been claiming National leaders have “been out of touch” since forever. I think I’d far rather have a National leader that they think is out of touch than their Labour leader who is clearly out of his depth and after yesterday’s PREFU, out of his mind.
    
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    September 13, 2023 12:37pm
- Benedict Yu
  
  Last week I emailed a government agency with a routine inquiry.
  
  I received a reply written entirely in Maori. An English translation then followed. It just seems such a waste of resources. By all means if someone sends an inquiry written in Maori, then of course they should expect a reply in Maori.
  
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  September 13, 2023 9:48am
  - G the giant from Dunedin
    
    Does it mean two sets of staff
    
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    September 13, 2023 11:43am
  - imalwaysright
    
    B.Y
    My cousin works for the gov. She/he got an email entirely in Samoan .
    
    She/he sent a reply entirely in Greek.
    
    I thought you would like that.
    
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    September 13, 2023 12:18pm
- Drone
  
  That may be true Captain Mainwaring but, and it is a big BUT the die is cast, that is now the way government departments, companies and broadcasters will behave in the future. Government departments are running te reo classes and talking about giving staff extra money on the basis of proficiency in te reo as they once did for professional skills. Companies that wish to engage with government departments in responding to tenders or RFPs will need to demonstrate their commitment to te tiriti and have policies in place to prove it, possibly even a kaumatua as part of the senior management team. There is no way back, six short years have seen a revolution in the way people now think, all due to the kindness queen and her crippled court..
  
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  September 13, 2023 10:16am
  - hullkiwi
    
    Drone, most of what you wrote is correct, the past 6 years has been one way traffic. However, the cost of doing business (even for govt agencies) has increased substantially for no added value. Bottom line is, if the money runs out, you either do less business this way, or you don’t do business at all! It is that simple.
    
    A Chinese company supplying NZ govt departments are not going to fall over themselves to do things in a contrived Maori way just because writes something like that in its procurement manual. If NZ insists, it either costs or we don’t get. Where is the benefit to NZ Ltd?
    
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    September 13, 2023 10:35am
    - imalwaysright
      
      Good point hull,
      We can indulge in role playing and dress up games all we want, but the rest of the trading world are realists who cant afford to indulge our government mandated south pacific race pandering.
      
      We are not too far away from Fonterra executives doing a haka at the next milk fat auction.
      
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      September 13, 2023 12:31pm
- Nickc2
  
  Will a change of Govt rid us of the Maorification processes/trends in New Zealand?
  
  Uptick = YES
  Downtick = NO
  
  I’ve yet to hear anything from the major Political Parties on the subject.
  Comments welcome.
  
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  September 13, 2023 12:11pm
  - Pope Punctilious II
    
    Look for your answer in the makeup of the Nats’ front bench – they’re all liberals except for Shane Reti.
    
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    September 13, 2023 5:24pm
Souvlaki

This is worth a read…..sadly for us( NZ)…on button.

http://karldufresne.blogspot.com/2023/09/matthew-hooton-on-christopher-luxon.html?m=1
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September 13, 2023 8:26am
- Inandout
  
  Sou, I read the situation as Luxon having an extensive business background to draw on. Hipkins has nothing but academia, a group which sucks on the taxpayer tit and is steeped in socialist ideas.
  
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  September 13, 2023 8:37am
  - mogg
    
    As with Ardern Hipkins has a team of thirty plus spin doctors giving him buzzwords and slogans to spout on any subject which might come up.
    Luxon is not doing any of that, he does repeat the same vocabulary a lot but he is busy pointing out the numerous social and economic problems that we have, these things are all very real. Sincerity in politics should be an asset, but now it is made to seem dull, whereas being an airhead is interesting.
    
    Both Ardern and Hipkins are very superficial at all times about everything and they are allowed to do it without contradiction. Why was Hooton not saying any of these things to Ardern.
    Also my wife taught Hooton at school, if anyone is hardworking and B grade it is him, he was very ordinary.
    
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    September 13, 2023 10:48am
    - David Garrett
      
      mogg: I was unable (for some reason) to leave a comment on Karl’s blog. He made a waspish comment – most unlike him – in response to some guy who, perfectly reasonsably – asked rhetorically “Is this the same Hooten who thought Todd Muller was a good idea?”, but misspelled Hooton’s name. So what?
      
      I don’t much rate Hooton to be honest…and I think Karl is a little out of date if he thinks Hooton is still “an insider” among the Nats. That doesn’t accord with what I have been told.
      
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      September 13, 2023 2:01pm
  - Paulus
    
    Hipkins has no expertise in Academia.
    He has a BA in nothing relative from Victoria Uni thence into Labour Parliament Office where no expertise or Academia is required as we see.
    
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    September 13, 2023 1:38pm
    - David Garrett
      
      Paulus: Indeed..the BA (I have one myself) was once known as the “Bugger All”. I certainly don’t regret doing mine; my second major was history, and studying same at uni level was the foundation of the very keen interest in WW II history I have today. But it is certainly nothing much as a degree – especially if it’s in some bullshit subject like Sociology (I have no idea what Hipkins’ degree is in)
      
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      September 13, 2023 2:03pm
- JJ56
  
  Hooton Tootin as usual.
  
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  September 13, 2023 9:08am
- The Veteran
  
  If Hooten was the answer then it had to be a silly question.
  
  He also wrote this about Luxon less than on moth ago … “In Luxon’s defence, he’s a first term MP, up against career politicians. It should also be noted that getting to the top of the corporate ladder is brutally competitive. You need to be very smart, hard working, durable and able to build a team around you – a good skillset for a PM”.
  
  Seems Hooten’s left hand doesn’t know what his right hand is doing.
  
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  September 13, 2023 9:33am
  - Jack5
    
    Hooton cheered on the mutiny in National that led to the downfall of Simon Bridges as National Opposition leader in 2020.
    
    This made way for Todd Muller. The article in the Herald linked to below reports Hooten calling himself Muller’s “chief friend”.
    
    Now Hooten’s ripping into Luxon. Hooter’s good value for Labour.
    
    https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/matthew-hooton-simon-bridges-was-the-most-unpopular-senior-political-figure-in-the-english-speaking-world/VLKQOFR4QVZ26WFGPWG6PYEWTQ/
    
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    September 13, 2023 12:01pm
  - Nickc2
    
    Hooton is nothing but a Poison Pen for hire!
    
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    September 13, 2023 12:21pm
- Tom Hunter
  
  Pfft…. I’m no fan of Luxon and some of this criticism is spot on – but Hooton was the genius who bought us Todd Muller FFS so let’s just say that their are limits on how much notice I’ll take of Hooton’s political prognostications.
  
  Luxon has done what past successful National leaders have done; stopped the leaks and the in-fighting, kept calm and said little or nothing to piss anybody off, and let Labour self-destruct. He’ll be the Chairman of the Board like Holyoake, Bolger and Key.
  
  The real problem that Hooton misses is that this nation needs far more than that. We’re a few years away from a 1983-84 situation.
  
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  September 13, 2023 10:32am
  - Pope Punctilious II
    
    Yes. How on earth did someone as glass-jawed as Muller get to the top of the National Party? Serious question.
    
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    September 13, 2023 10:44am
    - Jack5
      
      Muller supporters likely included the old guard of the National Party, such as Bolger and Shipley from the 1990s, as well, of course outsiders like Hooter.
      
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      September 13, 2023 12:04pm
      - gravedodger
        
        Muller also had Nikki Kaye and Amy (I wont retire now ) Adams, says a lot really.
        
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        September 13, 2023 4:11pm
- hullkiwi
  
  Souvlaki, with that opinion piece, Hooton was sending a message to kick National. To what end other than attempting to be destructive, I do not know why. But certainly, National’s opponents grabbed the piece with glee, and it certainly will not help Act.
  
  Hooton is one of those political tragics who has shown that he is not really a team player and he has worked on the fringes of politics for years and will remain so.
  
  His history over the past decade suggests he is something of a political mercenary (IMO), having had involvement with Peters, National (he was reportedly the numbers man for Muller), and Act.
  
  So, personally, I don’t take his opinions seriously.
  
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  September 13, 2023 10:55am
  - lifesgood
    
    Runs with the hares, hunts with the hounds, sells his soul to the highest bidder. I have absolutely no time for him.
    
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    September 13, 2023 12:08pm
Maggie Pie

COULD have saved $5.75 on my way home this morning.

Passionfruit @ NW $49.95 a kg.

Just saying.
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September 13, 2023 8:32am
- OlderChas
  
  Is that – like – a sugar sack sized bag? Or a coal sack size? (Groan – I just showed my age with those ancient bag descriptions!)
  
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  September 13, 2023 10:00am
  - Maggie Pie
    
    16 of the little buggas 😀
    
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    September 13, 2023 10:35am
    - hullkiwi
      
      Cheaper by the jar in the baking aisle.
      
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      September 13, 2023 10:57am
      - Maggie Pie
        
        Doing nothing to save the planet though 🙁
        
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        September 13, 2023 11:09am
      - hullkiwi
        
        Maggie, sorry, nor does out of season (by NZ growing season) produce with high food KMs do anything for the planet…..😉
        
        NB I am not setting myself as a virtuous geenie here, in fact the one person you can always throw those comments at is the virtuous MP, one time Assoc Minister of Health & Transport, cyclist, vegan and ….now from Wellington….MP
        
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        September 13, 2023 12:27pm
- imalwaysright
  
  Passion killer.
  Good whiskey is cheaper.
  
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  September 13, 2023 12:37pm
Kiwiguy

A friend of mine has just posted this on LinkedIn; I’m sure he won’t mind me posting it here. This is a message he received from one of his political connections:

“Our economic team are just out of the Treasury lock-up where they’ve been studying the Pre-Election Fiscal and Economic Update (PREFU).

And things are bad, really bad.

We were expecting a blood bath, but what has been delivered is better described as a “shambles” – a butcher’s slaughter house.

The opening of the books reveal that the Government is spending more than ever before. Astonishingly, Grant Robertson is spending even more now than he did during the height of COVID lockdowns.

According to the IMF, New Zealand is now running the second largest fiscal deficit of all the developed economies.

Core Crown Debt has exploded out to more than 160 billion dollars. Per person, that is nearly $123,000 for the typical household of Mum, Dad, and two kids. For the average (smaller) household it is just shy of $82,000.

And the interest costs are enormous. Already we were paying more for debt services than for law and order (Police, Corrections, the Courts etc), but now it’s projected to be $9.8 billion by 2027 – which is more than what we are forecast to spend on schooling kids!

Our kids will be paying dearly for Grant Robertson’s recklessness.
Grant Robertson has pulled all the tricks to try and massage today’s figures. He told the Treasury to slash projected future spending so that he can provide false assurances about getting back into surplus.
But the numbers do not lie. Treasury has exposed that Grant Robertson’s deficit spending now amounts to $72 million per day.

With the national debt getting 3 million dollars heavier every hour, every day, we need to ensure every Kiwi knows about this awful situation.”
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September 13, 2023 8:33am
- cmm
  
  ” Per person, that is nearly $123,000 for the typical household of Mum, Dad, and two kids.”
  
  But they are not repaying the debt.
  
  Debt is only repaid by net taxpayers (ie. those that pay more tax than the services they consume). There are likely only about 200,000 of those in NZ. And that number is not increasing.
  
  $160bn is about $800k per net taxpayer.
  
  Somehow the next few generations of net taxpayers need to dig really deep. Or just bugger off to Australia.
  
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  September 13, 2023 8:58am
- In Vino Veritas
  
  Is his friends connection Jordan Williams of the Tax Payers Union? Most of his post is plagiarised from Williams email of yesterday at 14.51.
  
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  September 13, 2023 9:04am
  - Kiwiguy
    
    No idea.
    But you’re right, I hadn’t noticed that until now.
    I get so many emails I overlooked Jordan’s one, so I went back and had a look. Thank you.
    
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    September 13, 2023 9:19am
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  The “shambles” we have had for six years. Plain and simple, Labour and numbers are never on the same page.
  
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  September 13, 2023 9:17am
  - Paulus
    
    Why is the fact that this is the Ardern Government being left out, by the so called media ?
    
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    September 13, 2023 1:42pm
    - Steve Otto(North Shore)
      
      No more koha for the media. It stopped a while back. The slackarsed media are on their own.
      
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      September 13, 2023 3:00pm
- Martonman
  
  Interest alone is around $2000 per person in NZ per year.
  
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  September 13, 2023 9:50am
Tomtoddy

A couple of weeks ago, at the time of his passing away, I spent some time watching various interviews by Michael Parkinson. He interviewed some well known names and many lesser lights but always with politeness and dignity. His questions were brilliant in terms of drawing out what he sought from his interviewees so the audience became more fully informed. There was no rude butting in, no raised voice, no boisterous challenging and certainly no intervening with his ideas, views, or thoughts.

Then I watched Jack Tame….
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September 13, 2023 8:49am
- In Vino Veritas
  
  Parkinson was a pretty decent cricketer as well. Played for Pudsey St Lawrence with Geoff Boycott and Dickie Bird. When Boycott was a young bloke, Parkinson apparently kept Boycott out of the team when he was available!
  
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  September 13, 2023 12:43pm
- David Garrett
  
  Tom: I watched Tame “interview” that tattooed idiot from the Maori Party the other day…he – Tame – quite reasonably asked, re their proposed wealth tax, how it would be applied to trusts, and whether the tax would be paid by the trustees (who legally own trust property) or the beneficiaries, discretionary or otherwise.
  
  Waititi clearly didn’t have a clue what the difference was, and just keep saying “if you own it, we’ll tax you”, then dissolving into Billy T James Maori/Polynesian style giggling. Tame didn’t pull him up on his obvious ignorance, and just moved on.
  
  I didn’t bother with the rest of the “interview”.
  
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  September 13, 2023 2:19pm
  - In Vino Veritas
    
    It’s quite scary for NZ how people who are as intellectually limited as Waititi can get into Parliament.
    “if you own it, we’ll tax you”. Bet a dollar to a knob of goat shit he hasn’t thought about taxing Maori entities on what they own.
    Maybe tax rates on MP’s should be put up. Just because. Say 80% on everything. Same if you work in a University. Might just harden their attitude to tax a little.
    
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    September 13, 2023 2:41pm
    - Pope Punctilious II
      
      Unfortunately, “intellectually limited” applies to quite a lot of NZ’s parliamentarians.
      
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      September 13, 2023 4:03pm
Scooter

The Shane Reti interview on the Platform is about the best I have heard of a politician, he is extremely articulate and to the point.

https://theplatform.kiwi/podcasts/episode/dr-shane-reti-on-maori-health-and-health-targets
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September 13, 2023 8:50am
- Pope Punctilious II
  
  Reti is gold, one of the Nats’ best and brightest.
  
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  September 13, 2023 10:45am
Maggie Pie

Katie Hopkins is one of my absolute besties!
Sooo wish she lived here…

‘Nobody in this country will have the right
to own a private motor vehicle within 5 years’

WATCH 🙁

https://twitter.com/UFA_Alliance/status/1701299793082065355
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September 13, 2023 8:54am
- imalwaysright
  
  M.P
  If you like her that much why would you want to subject her to this shambles.
  She deserves better, an actual ” brave, strong woman” , a term bastardised and demeaned by the left.
  
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  September 13, 2023 12:44pm
  - In Vino Veritas
    
    Demeaned by the left? Like this?
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=URz-RYEOaig
    
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    September 13, 2023 2:47pm
slightlyrighty

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHjXW-aAmB8

A great speech. The NZ education system and scxience community gets a pasting, as it should.
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September 13, 2023 8:55am
- Blog-aholic
  
  How far in?
  
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  September 13, 2023 9:06am
Opie

Luxon:

“I’ve said I would increase spending on health and education to protect frontline services but what I’m not up for is endless communications consultants, lots of back-office functions, people not focused on outcomes,” he said.

“I want everybody in the public service going to work this morning knowing what they’re there to do. At the moment, they are not clear about that and they need to be clear because that’s how we improve outcomes for New Zealand.”

Luxon told AM all the “good things” around front-line services will be “safe”.

“Things that have real value, that are actually delivering frontline services to people, we are saying we want those protected,” he said.

“I want every CEO of every agency to be spending money as if it’s their own and being responsible about that. ”

Hard to argue with him. The question is, how did it get to this point? The answer? Poor management by student politicians.
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September 13, 2023 9:08am
- Taieri
  
  The answer? Poor management by student politicians.
  ————–
  
  And who allowed them to do it? We did!
  
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  September 13, 2023 9:50am
  - kowloon
    
    Taieri….YOU did probably; I certainly didn’t !
    Always voted for competence, ability, experience and responsibility, when I lived in NZ
    
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    September 13, 2023 10:04am
    - Taieri
      
      Taieri….YOU did probably
      ———-
      
      Never voted Labour, never will.
      
      However, the “student politicians” do not get into positions of power of their own volition. Someone puts them there. Who?
      
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      September 13, 2023 10:30am
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  Many are there to eat their lunch and collect a payslip.
  Luxon knows this. I hope he fixes it.
  
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  September 13, 2023 9:57am
  - kowtow
    
    He’ll do some but not enough .
    
    All those useless ministries he’s already vowed to hold onto.
    
    And he can be bold . The situation is so dire he doesn’t need an excuse to be.
    
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    September 13, 2023 12:12pm
  - Ian Boag
    
    Many are there to eat their lunch and collect a payslip.
    
    Sounds like you know some of them – or did you just pull this out of someplace? Maybe you could give us some examples?
    
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    September 13, 2023 1:57pm
    - gravedodger
      
      OK Ian hows about those who organised the farewell from PI affairs for Leauanae, and then a welcome to his next gig at Culture and Heritage. All up nearly NZ$50 000 if I remember.
      Good work if you can get it.
      
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      September 13, 2023 4:26pm
- Sacha
  
  How? Perhaps it’s something do with voters who don’t understand that they get what they vote for . . . .
  
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  September 13, 2023 9:58am
- peterwn
  
  I was once told by another employee “Anyone would think you were paying for the job out of your own pocket.” I took that as a complement. Chris Luxon I am sure would have that attitude.
  
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  September 13, 2023 10:17am
NothingLeft

Interesting paper on temperatures in southern Europe (from isotopic composition of pyrenes cave stalactites) over last 3000 years. Roman warm period 50BC – 200AD saw temperatures 2°C higher than 1750-1950AD, and modern warming isn’t as warm as Roman warm period.

Thermaggedonist propaganda always fails to give context of normal variability in terms of temperature and sea level changes.

https://joannenova.com.au/2023/09/2500-years-of-wild-climate-change-in-southern-europe-it-was-warmer-in-roman-times-than-now/
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September 13, 2023 9:15am
- Grunter
  
  There’s no doubt the “Global Boiling” scam is complete BS. The trouble is it is so deep seated and has been going on for decades.
  
  In the “West” we now have the runaway freight train of fast depleting fossil fuel supplies (because we have stopped exploration, coal mining, etc) and the Green Energy myth that hasn’t materialised (it was all part of the BS). Just watch as the price of Oil, Uranium, Coal sky rocket over the next 5 years.
  
  Brazil, Russia India, China etc (BRICS+) are all laughing their heads off at how stupid we are.
  
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  September 13, 2023 9:35am
  - I remember when
    
    It is going to be very interesting to see how the Greens and Left manage to continue to sell the anti oil message when those affected will largely be their voters.
    
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    September 13, 2023 10:45am
  - All_on_Red
    
    God you talk a lot of rubbish
    Our fossil fuels are not ‘fast depleting’
    I showed you up thread that production is increasing
    Perhaps you should let the Adults talk..,
    
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    September 13, 2023 2:12pm
    - All_on_Red
      
      And BRICs is a joke.
      The organisation has done nothing since inception and wont do anything.
      Anybody who thinks they are an actual force is a moron
      
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      September 13, 2023 2:32pm
    - NothingLeft
      
      The lack of investment in fossil fuel development is a real issue, as many are nervous about investing in developments that have to pay back in potentially much shorter time than usual (if they place weight on un realistic schedules for reduction in fossil fuel use). Yes there is plenty out there, but it takes a decade or more to bring big fields up to full production and connect to pipelines etc. Large exporters have greatly curtailed both exploration and field development, and it is going to cause big supply problems and consequence cost increases in 10-20 years.
      
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      September 13, 2023 4:51pm
    - NZer In Exile
      
      I’m not seeing a lot of adult in your responses All_on_Red.
      
      Biden has shut down oil pipelines. Victoria and SA Australia have limited or stopped coal and gas extraction. (Cough) “Dame” Jacinda has destroyed the gas extraction industry in NZ. You know full well reducing fossil fuel consumption IS the goal of many western woke-grifting governments.
      
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      September 13, 2023 6:25pm
- Grunter
  
  And here is another example of how weird and nutty some countries have become. This from Austria…..
  https://www.klimaticket.at/en/
  
  In Austria, the government is offering free transportation to anyone who chooses to tattoo their Climate Ticket (Klimaticket) on their skin.
  
  The Klimaticket grants users access to all public and private transportation for one year at the cost of €1,095. However, those who permanently mark their body with an ode to the Klimaticket will receive free transportation, but only for one year. You’d have to be extremely desperate or stupid to agree to those terms. Austrian Climate Minister Leonore Gewessler said the initiative will help the country grow closer to their goals of the Paris Agreement. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) would like to reduce private car ownership by 16% before 2024, claiming transportation is the largest carbon pollutant.
  
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  September 13, 2023 9:54am
  - Taieri
    
    In Austria, the government is offering free transportation to anyone who chooses to tattoo their Climate Ticket (Klimaticket) on their skin.
    ——————
    
    On their forehead or their foreskin?
    
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    September 13, 2023 10:33am
  - Scott
    
    That’s the mark of the beast right there. Time to revisit the Book of Revelation!
    
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    September 13, 2023 10:38am
  - miltonF
    
    Austrians seem to have a fascination with tattooing govt barcodes on their skin…
    
    Some things never change.
    
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    September 13, 2023 10:45am
    - hullkiwi
      
      My thoughts entirely.
      
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      September 13, 2023 1:28pm
    - RdM
      
      Not only Austrians perhaps.
      This was obviously a voluntary tattoo.
      (But what if it wasn’t…?)
      
      Smoker Number Barcode
      https://imgbox.com/e7CLT6k9
      
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      September 13, 2023 7:02pm
- Raphael
  
  but if you’re NIWA, you only count approved temps from the 1970s onwards, that way you can ignore all the inconvenient historical data.
  
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  September 13, 2023 12:06pm
- imalwaysright
  
  Nothing
  
  “Thermaggedonist”
  
  Brilliant , trademark or copywright or whatever .
  
  Great t shirt
  
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  September 13, 2023 12:55pm
Tauhei Notts

I saw an interesting piece on Facebook.
Don’t bad mouth Hipkins. He has kept Labour’s polling figures above 20%. Taking into account that he has the worst caucus in the political history of our country such a feat is commendable.
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September 13, 2023 9:23am
- Colville
  
  above 20%? not for much longer!! 🙂
  
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  September 13, 2023 4:33pm
- Pope Punctilious II
  
  Very droll Tauhei. Yes the current LINO caucus is a wonderful advertisement for DEI.
  
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  September 13, 2023 6:01pm
Maggie Pie

Had to smile to myself. My partner’s mum called up for a chat last night. She gets sooo pissed off watching telly and having to put up with what she describes as…all this Te Reo shit on OneEwes.

Although probably makes a good point to be fair. Like she said… “Why the f**k would I want to learn to speak Maori at my age. Who wants to get round the f**ing place sounding like one of them unwashed Mobsters anyway?”

I tried to explain it was Maori Language Week. She hung up.
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September 13, 2023 9:40am
- Sacha
  
  I can sympathise with Partners Mum, lol.
  No TV here, yet I still seem to know what’s going on.
  
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  September 13, 2023 9:56am
- kevn
  
  Maggie… I’m guessing the mobsters speak very little maori language bro.
  
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  September 13, 2023 9:59am
The Veteran

Last night’s Taxpayer Union/Curia poll on Northland will have those who on this blog argued that the renegade Matt King would win the seat and bring 20 MP’s in on his coattails choking on their cornflakes. The result …

Grant McCallum (National): 43 percent
Willow-Jean Prime (Labour): 18 percent
Shane Jones (NZ First): 13 percent
Reina Penney (Greens): 4 percent
Matt King (Democracy NZ): 4 percent
Mark Cameron (ACT): 2 percent
Undecided: 11 percent

All over including the shouting.
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September 13, 2023 9:42am
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  Poor Shane Jones. No money for him to give away.
  
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  September 13, 2023 10:01am
  - Matt Long
    
    Don’t cry for Shane yet, the latest Guardian Poll has NZ First holding the balance of power, and I suspect the Newshub one would too if NZ First was a whisker higher.
    The last round of polls had a couple of outliers with Roy Morgan having ACT over 18% and Newshub National over 40%.
    The positive trend is that Labour is consistently in the mid twenties and falling now, but the negative is that NACT is not convincingly able to form a majority at this point.
    
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    September 13, 2023 11:12am
    - Matt Long
      
      My current odds of NZ First passing the threshold would be a strong 85%.
      National over 35% of the vote, again an 85% chance, over 40% of the vote, a 30% chance , over 45% a 5% chance.
      ACT over 12% an 85% chance, over 15% a 50% chance, over 17% a 30% chance.
      
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      September 13, 2023 11:19am
    - NothingLeft
      
      Would appreciate all you theists exhorting your various deities for permanent censure of Mr Peters, preferably before voting gets started. Or alternatively a good hard divine slapping for all the dumbarses intending to vote for him.
      
      NZ has more than enough troubles to manage without involving him in the next govt.
      
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      September 13, 2023 4:56pm
Steve Otto(North Shore)

Stop Co-Governance. Julian Batchelor.

https://stopcogovernance.kiwi/blog/how-identity-politics-is-destroying-new-zealand/

More Indications Luxon Is Going To Keep Co-Governance Going. Luxon: “Maori Are Absolutely The Indigenous People Of New Zealand”

https://stopcogovernance.kiwi/blog/more-indications-luxon-is-going-to-keep-co-governance-going-luxon-maori-are-absolutely-the-indigenous-people-of-new-zealand/
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September 13, 2023 10:10am
- The Veteran
  
  Indigenous defined … “Indigenous peoples[a] are the first inhabitants of an area and their descendants.[6]”
  
  Got a problem with that?
  
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  September 13, 2023 10:17am
  - miltonF
    
    I worry that this new definition of “indigenous” opens up a whole can of worms.
    
    For example, Shorthorn cows are now “indigenous” cows of NZ as they were the first cows to be imported.
    
    Sorry Friesiands, Jerseys and Angus. You’re second class cows.
    
    18 1
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    September 13, 2023 10:56am
    - Gravelroad
      
      Except the Angus ones.
      Think about it.
      (And it’s nothing to do with Scotland).
      
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      September 13, 2023 11:19am
    - kevn
      
      milton… Along with the maori dogs and rats that hitched along.
      
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      September 13, 2023 4:53pm
  - Libertarians are right
    
    No that’s first peoples.
    Indigenous is “that’s where they came from”.
    Generally speaking, Indigenous people shouldn’t be able to name the boats their ancestors came in on.
    
    There isn’t really a difference between Indigenous and First peoples re claims on the land but there is no question that Maori were colonists, not indigenous.
    
    Yes, I realise the UN regards them as indigenous but the UN also puts Islamic countries on the women’s rights councils.
    
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    September 13, 2023 11:08am
  - Swifty
    
    Ask New Zealanders 20, 30, 50 years ago what the meaning of indigenous is and not one of them would have defined it as ‘first inhabitants’ – all would have replied ‘naturally occurring, native to, originating in’.
    
    The whole thing is one great fat deceit.
    
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    September 13, 2023 11:37am
  - imalwaysright
    
    The only people concerned about who is indigenous are the greedy bastards on the gravy train.
    Actual people are more concerned with keeping body and soul together.
    
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    September 13, 2023 1:00pm
- Lara
  
  He doesn’t want co-governance.
  
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  September 13, 2023 5:58pm
I remember when

Breaking Views:
Christe: Snatching Defeat from the Jaws of Victory:
“And now, with the election only a matter of weeks away, there is clearly something wrong within the ACT party itself.
Five candidates have withdrawn from the party in the last few weeks.”

And that something, is clearly an unwillingness to accept candidates who may have posted their doubts, or disputed actions taken, about covid.
They have become part of the undead created to protect the correctness of the covid narrative.
They are now ‘covid conspiracy theorists.’

So much for tell the truth and reap the rewards!
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September 13, 2023 10:13am
- ClanMcleod
  
  The narrative control permeates the whole political establishment do much I may well decide to waste my vote and give it to Liz Gunn. May not achieve much but at least I won’t need a clothes peg and a sick bucket when carrying my vote.
  
  Well at least it’s not Winston. 🤣
  
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  September 13, 2023 11:05am
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  Maybe Act are tidying up their List?
  Seems Act will get quite a few seats, so the Act hierarchy are going through the List and saying, “are you up to this. Are you happy with what National may give? And shadow seats.”
  I think Act is genuine on this.
  
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  September 13, 2023 3:07pm
  - wsk12345
    
    No. I know one of those who left. He 100% was forced to resign over his views on the vaccines/mandates.
    
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    September 13, 2023 4:14pm
    - kevn
      
      123… For or agin? Agin I’m guessing.
      
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      September 13, 2023 4:51pm
    - MikeS
      
      How can they be “forced to resign…” ?
      
      1 0
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      September 13, 2023 5:56pm
Steve Otto(North Shore)

Biden is going to bed.

https://rumble.com/v3gtlkq-biden-announces-to-world-hes-going-to-bed.html
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September 13, 2023 10:18am
- lifesgood
  
  America is the laughing stock of the world. I’d be embarrassed if I was American and that’s saying something given our clown government.
  
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  September 13, 2023 12:00pm
  - hullkiwi
    
    Did you see Mitch McConnell freeze while speaking? Apparently, he has done it a couple of times
    
    Then there is the trailer Diane Feinstein and the semi retired Nancy Pelosi. What is it about this people not letting go?
    
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    September 13, 2023 1:41pm
    - Steve Otto(North Shore)
      
      2
      
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      September 13, 2023 3:11pm
    - Steve Otto(North Shore)
      
      Keep the corruption and the secrecy going. This ‘swamp’ thing
      
      1 1
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      September 13, 2023 3:14pm
    - kevn
      
      hulll… They want to die richer.
      
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      September 13, 2023 4:49pm
- kowtow
  
  If that’s the Hanoi speech it’s worth people looking up in full’
  It’s about 28 minutes but is worth it to see how rambling and out of it the old fool is.
  Starting with his mistake about a “song” good morning vietnam , the doozy about climate change being more of an existential threat to humanity than a nuclear war ! and towards the end the John Wayne stuff dog faced lying pony soldiers.
  
  And the best bit is of how little of those howlers were covered by te media pahti , unlike had it been Orange Man Bad.
  
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  September 13, 2023 1:26pm
imalwaysright

New Zealand has just breathed a sigh of relief that the Labour led government is on its way into ignominy .

New Zealand will now perform a collective intake of breath as they realise who will replace them.
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September 13, 2023 10:30am
- Ghost
  
  They’re not gone until they’re voted out. Hopefully people won’t think it’s a done deal and not go vote
  
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  September 13, 2023 10:41am
  - NZer In Exile
    
    Indeed. This revolting mob has form with cunning stunts. Stay vigilant!
    
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    September 13, 2023 1:23pm
Tom Hunter

Chuckle. Neo nazis for Biden:

“I think Biden’s better than Trump because he sends rockets to Ukraine… Hail Ukraine! Hail Azov!”
…
“We’re not voting for the right wing. It’s the kike wing.”

That and other similar statements were made by a small group of nwo-Nazis protesting in Florida. “Fuck DeSantis” was also prominent.

I shall now sit back and wait for all the usual suspects, starting with MSM’s like the NYT and WaPo to demand that Biden disavow himself and the Democrat Party from these people.

You know, like they constantly demanded of Trump and in fact any GOP politician.

Admittedly that might be tough given how similar many of their claims are – especially about the Jews – to those of Democrat Party heavyweights like Al Sharpton.
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September 13, 2023 10:50am
- NZer In Exile
  
  “made by a small group of nwo-Nazis protesting in Florida”
  
  Yep actual “Nazi” nuts are a tiny tiny percentage of the population. The far left would have you believe they are everywhere, waiting to pounce!
  
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  September 13, 2023 6:30pm
I remember when

Does the announced Te Pati Maori policy on prisons simply indicate the path Labour are heading in the direction of.
They want to abolish prisons by 2040.
Waititi said that 20% of the Corrections, Police and Court budgets would be reallocated to the Maori Justice Authority.
Labour’s goal is to reduce the prison population by 30% from 2017 levels by 2033.
In 2018 the level was 213 per 100,000 of population and it is now 149 per 100,000.
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September 13, 2023 10:58am
- ClanMcleod
  
  I would warrant the lowering prison numbers correlate perfectly with the increase in violent crime and ram raids. As with covid policies and jabs, correlation is not causation. 🤡
  
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  September 13, 2023 11:37am
I remember when

Muriel Newman: A Broken Country:
“with the Party that claimed to be leading the war against misinformation and disinformation, now the chief perpetrator….”

Why, ‘NOW THE CHIEF PERPETRATOR’?
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September 13, 2023 11:03am
Maggie Pie

Well well well….

Don’t think I’d take this guy too seriously 😀

https://tiktok.com/@hyram/video/7276215729123265838

(full screen/sound up)
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September 13, 2023 11:05am
- Ghost
  
  Oh for god sakes.
  
  Can we please have a nuclear war now, humans have peaked, time to start over
  
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  September 13, 2023 11:39am
  - Steve Otto(North Shore)
    
    Can’t we just wait until the World ends in 10 years?
    Climate boiling point my left tit.
    
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    September 13, 2023 3:31pm
- Paul Marsden
  
  That’s four minutes of my life I won’t get back. Thanks for nothing.
  
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  September 13, 2023 11:45am
- NZer In Exile
  
  If you want a good laugh/wtf look up the guy giving graphic instructions on how to remove bum hair with hair removing cream. It’s already gone viral. Some of the re-posts are blurred out, and some not! Watch in your own private space.
  
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  September 13, 2023 2:26pm
- In Vino Veritas
  
  Sorry Mags, I had to stop when I found myself reaching for my pocket knife with thoughts of slitting my wrist lengthways. This moron has reached the apex of stupid. I have to go now – I think I’ve been damaged psychologically……
  
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  September 13, 2023 3:04pm
I remember when

The control of inflation.
When I first joined the workforce the average adult wage was in the vicinity of 7-8 pounds (14 to16 dollars) per week.
Stats NZ now show the median weekly earnings from wages and salary is $1273 for the year to June.
So using $16 they have increased 79.56 times.

It’s not just the annual percentage it is the cumulative effect.
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September 13, 2023 11:14am
- Ian Boag
  
  7-8 quid week would have been sometime in the late 1950’s. Call it 1960 … 65 years give or take a bit.
  
  80x is about 6 1/2 doublings 2-4-8-16-32-64 and a bit. So that’s about 10 years per doubling or an annual growth rate of 7%. Growth rate is (72/doubling time) – a bit of simple maths.
  
  7% per year doesn’t sound quite as terrible.
  
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  September 13, 2023 2:10pm
  - Tauhei Notts
    
    Dad’s farm worker was getting 15 quid and a three bedroomed house on the farm in the late fifties. Yes, even then I was a nosey bastard that enabled me to find out such things. I think the 7 to 8 quid average wage may have been about 1952 or so.
    
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    September 13, 2023 3:35pm
- MikeS
  
  Wage inflation (like that you’ve mentioned) isn’t as important in this comparison as is whether or not the buying power has changed.
  
  In other words if $16 was the average then you should use the average today not the median. The average hourly rate today is $39.60 an hour so lets say around $1600 a week before income tax.
  
  The question is what can you buy with it? Could you buy the same or more or less with the $1600 (less tax) today?
  
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  September 13, 2023 7:15pm
Jack5

Wind power collides with whale conservation ….

What’s a Green gonna choose?

The “Save the Right Whales Coalition” is arguing that noisce from wind turbines is driving whales from the east coast of the United States into zones of high ship traffic.

Collisions with ships are the primary cause of whale deaths, the coalition says.

Public News at Substack reports the US Government’s National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) saying there is no evidence that industrial wind turbines cause whale deaths off America’s East Coast. NOAA’s role includes monitoring ocean conditions and protecting marine life.

However, the save-whales organisation says the setback distances adopted to protect ocean life from the noise of wind turbines are too short and place whales and other marine mammals at a “high risk of encountering harmful levels”.

It cites a study by a research firm, Rand Acoustics, in Maine this year. The study capture high decibel noise at a wind-survey site 43 nautical miles off the coast.
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September 13, 2023 11:17am
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  Strange thing, whales don’t seem to collide with themselves.
  NOAA get paid to research this?
  
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  September 13, 2023 3:43pm
Warren

Can someone please explain why Labour are spending the 2027 surplus already when they don’t have them money to pay for this Election now.
Labour will train 335 Doctors a year from 2027 in the lastest bribe for power by the Prime Minister Chris Hipkins says.
https://i.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/300969563/nz-election-2023-live-labour-pledges-biggest-ever-increase-to-training-doctors
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September 13, 2023 11:29am
- Ghost
  
  Screw 2027, ramp it up now, and nurses
  
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  September 13, 2023 11:32am
  - Paulus
    
    Proper training to performance for Doctors and Nurses will take up to 10 years to get there.
    
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    September 13, 2023 1:48pm
    - Ghost
      
      which is why we can’t wait 4 years
      
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      September 13, 2023 2:20pm
    - kevn
      
      Immigration stuffed lots of medical applicants around. Our NZ brand is well tarnished now.
      
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      September 13, 2023 4:47pm
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  2027 is just a number.
  Labour and numbers are not on the same page – never have been.
  
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  September 13, 2023 3:44pm
Swifty

Every time I hear or read Robertson talk about how our national debt is comparable to other nations, or even perhaps lower than them, I have this vision of a husband or wife coming home to their spouse and saying “Hey darling, I’ve just been round the neighbours and they’re all hocked up to our eyeballs so that means we should borrow more too….”

In other words, it just makes no sense – unless you actively wish us to be as dangerously indebted as other nations.
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September 13, 2023 11:30am
- emmess
  
  It’s worse
  Remember, that this government inherited a very low amount of debt (<20% of GDP)
  Now, Robertson in say but but but atleast it is not 100%+
  
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  September 13, 2023 12:37pm
  - Steve Otto(North Shore)
    
    Comparisons is all Labour do. Who gives a shit what other Countries are doing?
    This is New Zealand! Forget other Countries – they are not our “nannies”!
    Robertson is a walking idiot.
    
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    September 13, 2023 3:50pm
    - MikeS
      
      So if you don’t care about other countries then why does it matter a jot what the national debt is?
      
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      September 13, 2023 7:18pm
    - Ghost
      
      I thought you cared about other countries, after all you’re always going on about the USA
      
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      September 13, 2023 7:26pm
Paul Marsden

Call me a cynic, but this has more to do with politics than it has for any other reason..

“Former Justice Minister Kiri Allan’s court case relating to a late-night car crash in Wellington has been put off for a second time.

Allan’s case was due to be called in Wellington District Court before a registrar on Thursday. However, the court has confirmed the case is now to be called in November”
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September 13, 2023 11:37am
- Ghost
  
  They said that was because Allan had filed a not guilty plea via her lawyer to the charge of refusing to accompany an enforcement officer.
  
  The matter has been remanded to the next available Case Review Hearing, which is November 10.
  
  Article
  
  No surprise, there seems to be much longer delays in cases getting to court than this
  
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  September 13, 2023 11:44am
  - Paul Marsden
    
    A competent judge would put their foot down and have none of this prevaricating nonsense.
    
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    September 13, 2023 11:50am
    - fernglas
      
      Nonsense. That is standard administrative stuff. If you want short adjournments before trials, get your government to fund the Courts properly. If you classify pleading not guilty as “prevaricating nonsense” then you probably belong to the school that thinks everyone charged by the Police is guilty unless its you.
      
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      September 13, 2023 2:37pm
      - Paul Marsden
        
        Of course I knew a lawyer would emerge from the woodwork and give me a serve. I know it’s standard stuff, but is a judge in charge of their own courtroom or not? If judges continue to remain mute about how defendants can manipulate the courts to their advantage just because they can, then nothing will ever change.
        
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        September 13, 2023 5:34pm
  - Maggy Wassilieff
    
    I wonder what grounds she has for pleading not guilty.
    
    I did notice that in her last public explanation for her recent behaviour she omitted to mention that she was drink-driving at the time of her crash.
    
    https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/kiri-allan-shares-new-mental-health-diagnosis-grief-shes-experienced-and-plans-for-future/NDWKP526BRD3JLATCWYSGBAT4Q/
    
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    September 13, 2023 1:26pm
    - Ghost
      
      maybe she was busy having a Kōrero to someone the officer couldn’t see…. Guess we will find out in 2 months.
      
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      September 13, 2023 1:39pm
      - Nickc2
        
        In two months’ time, we will have a new Govt and people like Allan will just be ‘jetsam’ on the tide of politics.
        Who will give a stuff?
        
        7 1
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        September 13, 2023 1:50pm
      - Paul Marsden
        
        I could be smart and say ‘insanity’, but I won’t. However, I’ll wager a bet she’ll use the mental health issue argument to weasel her way out. Watch the judge buy it hook, line and sinker.
        
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        September 13, 2023 2:12pm
      - Tauhei Notts
        
        Paul, if you could update this in November readers of this site will be most interested.
        I think Maggy’s comment about the stitch up is poignant.
        
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        September 13, 2023 3:14pm
    - hullkiwi
      
      Sorry Maggy, other than it being a car assigned to her as a Minister, where is the evidence she was driving it.
      
      Remember she was found (not by the police dog) some distance from the car.
      
      Sorry, I’m with Paul, the longer this drags on, the more it seems that we are witnessing a political stitch up.
      
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      September 13, 2023 1:51pm
      - Maggy Wassilieff
        
        Yes, I had considered the possibility that there was at least one other person in the car.
        
        I’ve also considered the possibility that some items were removed from the car and discarded some distance away.
        
        I’ve also considered the fact that Ms Allan is still in Labour’s thrall and has been carefully orchestrating her court hearings…..
        
        but then again, I’m just a cynical old bird with a tendency to disbelieve politicians.
        
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        September 13, 2023 2:30pm
      - cmm
        
        “I’m just a cynical old bird with a tendency to disbelieve politicians.”
        
        Maggy, that’s called experience:
        
        Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.
        
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        September 13, 2023 2:44pm
      - kevn
        
        Hull… Apparently the police dog tracked her scent back to the car confirming she was the driver.
        
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        September 13, 2023 2:59pm
    - Steve Otto(North Shore)
      
      Maybe over the limit is not drunk. Let’s try this way……
      
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      September 13, 2023 3:54pm
      - MikeS
        
        Over the limit (250mcg) isn’t drunk if you’re over 250 but under 400 in which case you get a fine and not a disqualification
        
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        September 13, 2023 7:24pm
- kevn
  
  PaulM… Yes, inconvenient timing and labour don’t want their dirty laundry aired any more.
  
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  September 13, 2023 3:01pm
Ghost

Bugger

Extreme flash flooding in Eastern Libya has killed at least 2,000 people.

More than 10,000 people are still feared missing as flash floods rip through the towns.

Article
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September 13, 2023 11:50am
- kowtow
  
  Only it wasn’t a flash flood.
  It was dams breaking.
  Prolly due to lack of maintenance .
  
  Wouldn’t have happened under an Italian or British colonial administration.
  
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  September 13, 2023 12:26pm
  - Maggie Pie
    
    Or the Colonel for that matter.
    
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    September 13, 2023 12:46pm
NZer In Exile

How to pay off NZ’s debt, fix it’s problems, stop the outflow of skilled people, and stop people (especially children and youth) developing mental problems over the relatively minor issue of “climate change”?

I had to live on a shoestring for a significant period. It was an interesting experience in discovering how little one actually *needs* to get by. I think a lot of that experience could also apply to a country.

Think before spending. Can I make do with what I already have? Can I fix something instead of buying a new one? Can I get a significantly cheaper second hand one? Is there a workaround?

Save or set aside an emergency fund. At first just a couple of weeks of earnings, then a couple of months, then six months. NZ can have severe earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.

Do I need flashy new stuff? No I don’t “need” it. Stick with the dull boring stuff you already have that simply “does the job”. It won’t kill you. Forget trying to impress people.

What about the big important spends to keep the essential wheels greased so to speak when your budget is very tight (for an individual that would be dental, medical, major car repairs etc etc)? You save until you can complete a partial increment towards completing that stuff. It’s slow and it’s boring to wait it out steadily, but it works.

NZ doesn’t need to be the big flashy modern “miracle” showpiece either ideologically or macro-economically. That leads to the boom/bust Tweedledum/Tweedledee political see-sawing that has been happening for decades. Until NZ is back on it’s feet it just needs to be functional and stable. All the ideological social engineering needs to be cleaned out of all institutions and we need to go back to the very basics with spending of taxpayer funds. If someone is bitching and nitpicking about what “back to basics” means they are probably ideological zealots.

People used to love NZ because life was “simple” and often “boring” (for the posers, hustlers and jet-setters), but it was a stable and good life for the vast majority. Pssst; The scenery and climate is very good.

NZ is basically stuffed now and needs to get real. There has to be a period of even-handed frugality to build things back up (but not by pushing significant numbers further into despair and instability) in order to get the finances and morale back in order. There are signs that the going is going to get even more tough in the coming years as far as the global economy goes.
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September 13, 2023 12:31pm
- NothingLeft
  
  Some ideas for improving NZ’s outlook:
  
  1/ Downsize central and local govt drastically. Essential services only, no cultural bollocks, defund and defenestrate all govt supported left wing indoctrination + racist preference, in education, universities (no more ‘studies’ depts that damage NZ both in time wasted and brain-damage inflicted on students), govt depts, media, law.
  
  2/ Eradicate current employment law, revert to employment contracts act and get rid of 99% of dismissal requirements. At will ‘You’re fired’ should be sufficient to increase labour market function. Professional HR and legislation driving need for it is all cancer to productivity and inserts woke toxicity into operation of business.
  
  3/ Revert health and safety law to 1990’s era. Eliminate vast unproductive waste on activities that cost orders of magnitude more than any benefits delivered. Accept slightly higher accident rates, assess rules and regs on basis of reasonable assessment of cost/benefit, rather than absolute doctrinaire intolerance of accidents.
  
  4/ Pare back environmental mitigation requirements on infrastructure and maintenance projects to bare minimum, it is doubling or tripling the cost of building stuff, and NZ is no longer wealthy enough to afford it. Dust or muddy streams happen naturally due to land slips etc all the time, don’t hold human activities to a higher standard than mother nature.
  
  5/ Put a cap on income tax of say $200k – encouraging high net worth people and industries to move to or stay in NZ. They are the people who drive business and industry development, the long term engine of economic success.
  
  6/ Encourage shift away from property investment as status quo: lower income tax and initiate land value tax (eg greatly increase rates). This would over time reduce land/house prices, stop ‘land banking’ and get people investing in more productive enterprises rather than housing as their nest egg. Capital gains should apply to family homes too.
  
  7/ build coal-to-liquid plant in southland to make NZ self sufficient in fuel. Save $4-5Billion a year in oil imports. Create more useful engineering industry to support it (that engineering industry will pay off in other fields and enterprises)
  
  8/Develop any and all mining opportunities. Works for Australia, and fosters a lot of other industry.
  
  9/ Establish solar cell manufacturing to support build of grid scale PV in NZ. Again useful to have more engineering industry in NZ, and we need massive expansion of NZ power generation to support inevitable shift to EVs, better to not have to pay import costs on PV. NZ should be building about 0.5-1GW of PV a year.
  
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  September 13, 2023 1:21pm
  - Steve Otto(North Shore)
    
    8/ It is about time we told these Green wankers to just fuck off.
    Dig deep into why certain things happened and it goes right back to the Greens.
    I won’t mention any, but you all know why.
    
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    September 13, 2023 4:06pm
- cmm
  
  You’re joking.
  
  It has been a long time since anyone in government (and here I mean councils too) stuck to the boring stuff that keeps the country going (pipes in the ground, pot holes, etc etc).
  
  Nope, they are always “visionaries” etc who want to build huge monuments and waste money.
  
  After all, taxpayers wouldn’t pay the tax if they didn’t want it spent – right?
  
  So we und up spending millions on extravagant rubbish. Look at the “Light House” thing in Auckland – a monument to state housing. It cost a few M to build and perhaps somewhere around $1M a year to maintain. And it can’t even house a single person.
  
  Or the $8M concrete wall that serves as a monument for the Chch EQ. Why not something practical and functional. A sports ground maybe?
  
  What we need first is a huge reset in entitlement, discipline and duty.
  
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  September 13, 2023 2:42pm
bjools

Bare with me
One of the reasons (there are many) I will NOT be voting Labour
Received this in the post….(NB: Not EMail, where I could spread it quickly).
07 March 2023

Dear Mr ******** (Me)
Dr *** *** referred you to be assessed by a specialist in the Orthopaedic Outpatient Department.

Public hospitals have limited resources including funding. Currently we receive more requests for specialist appointments than we are able to provide. Therefore, we have had to limit referrals to those that are most urgent.

A specialist has reviewed your referral and based on the information in your referral we are unable to offer you an appointment.

While we understand that this is not the outcome you were expecting and may cause you some distress, we also believe it is important to be honest with our community about the services we can and cannot provide.

We suggest you discuss with your referer what other options are available to you. If your condition gets worse please see them for a re-assessment.

If you have any questions please phone 04 566 6999

Yours sincerely
(unsigned)
Surgical, Women’s & Children’s Health Directorate.

My GP sent me to the Physio, who got me an MRI.
Turns out there was nothing she could do, my back is clearly out of alignment and surgery is the only fix.

6 months later, sleeping is intermittent due to back ache, when I lie down. Nurofen does help.
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September 13, 2023 12:42pm
- Ghost
  
  Have you Dr keep referring you back to the Orthopaedic Department. When you get a questionnaire on the pain levels make sure you put it at the highest ratings and that it is affecting your life, you can’t do much. And hope for a govt change.
  
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  September 13, 2023 1:14pm
  - Ian Boag
    
    hope for a govt change.
    
    Expect to see more orthopedic surgeons and nurses/beds to support them real soon. Really …
    
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    September 13, 2023 2:16pm
    - All_on_Red
      
      National seemed to manage delivery with the same number of hospitals and staff.
      Under National I got a Hip Joint replacement in two months.
      Under Labour it took 18
      
      But hey, you do your troll thing
      
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      September 13, 2023 2:40pm
      - Jack5
        
        the same number of hospitals and staff….
        
        Are you sure about that. Doctors are in short supply and the position is becoming worse.
        
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        September 13, 2023 3:09pm
    - Ghost
      
      It’s not hard Ian. When National was in and there was a backlog with the orthopedic list down here the DHB was allowed to push patients privately to reduce the list. Under labour they have had to fight to get patients approved. But the biggest problem is some of our orthopedic surgeons down here have stated if labour get back in they will be leaving NZ
      
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      September 13, 2023 4:22pm
      - kevn
        
        ‘down here’ ? Where dat?
        
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        September 13, 2023 4:43pm
- Maggy Wassilieff
  
  Go back to the doctor..explain that because of back pain, etc, you are unable to partake of sexual relations……
  
  (excuse seemed to work wonders for an elderly friend needing a hip replacement that was being delayed)
  
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  September 13, 2023 1:14pm
  - Biscuit
    
    My back and hip(s) are doing nicely, Maggy.
    
    But I love your turn of phrase there.
    
    When my partner returns from her week away ‘wih the girls’, I shall enquire if she might care to partake in sexual relations.
    
    I will report back on my progress .. or lack thereof!
    
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    September 13, 2023 1:20pm
    - bjools
      
      If anything like mine.
      You will have to ask twice.
      ie wait for the laughter to die down, before the second attempt.
      
      7 1
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      September 13, 2023 1:26pm
- NothingLeft
  
  Tell em it’s preventing you from dressing up in drag and that it’s hampering your ability to start transitioning. You’ll be front of queue before you know it.
  
  8 1
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  September 13, 2023 1:25pm
- rouppe
  
  Do you have family in a different dhb?
  
  Maybe see about a referral to a different post code
  
  4 0
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  September 13, 2023 3:54pm
- Steve Otto(North Shore)
  
  Pain? get on the Tramadol. Even that is sometimes not enough.
  Tramadol and alcohol keeps me going.
  
  2 1
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  September 13, 2023 4:56pm
ClanMcleod

Terrible story of discrimination in Australia for a former NZ SAS soldier.

Facial moko: Māori war veteran with mataora barred from Perth pub
NZ Herald

As a side note, what would happen if that headline said white war veteran instead of Maori? Just a thought

“Barclay, who served with the SAS, said he was embarrassed by his treatment and told A Current Affair that he had served to protect the freedoms he was denied.”

‘So we left, there was nothing we saw stating we couldn’t enter the pub because of facial tattoos, and it wasn’t until later that we had a look on the website and were aghast to find … that you couldn’t enter with facial tattoos, however, dogs were allowed on the premises.”

During the height of the covid madness, our local club had a rule that unvaccinated had to stay outside a roped off perimeter area, same as where the dogs had to stay.
Discrimination isn’t always race or religion based.
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September 13, 2023 1:05pm
- NZer In Exile
  
  And, did he talk to the owner to calmly explain his unique situation first? Australia isn’t NZ and doesn’t spend too much time sweating over the peculiarities of other countries’ cultures. Did ACA (one of Australia’s media bottom-trawlers) pay him for this story?
  
  Did ACA honestly investigate why the pub had a face tatts ban?
  
  7 0
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  September 13, 2023 1:53pm
- kevn
  
  Clan… Same deal in Japan I think. That’s half of NZ that will have bother..
  Un-vaxxed with the dogs, no problem, better company. Remind the club management of the farce do you?
  
  5 0
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  September 13, 2023 2:55pm
- Jack5
  
  NZ armed services policy on tattoos:
  
  Tattoos, including large and highly visible cultural tattoos are acceptable provided they are appropriate for a military environment and are complementary to the NZDF’s values and image.
  
  So basically there’s no set policy or standard in NZ armed forces.
  
  But when in Rome do as the Romans do …
  
  Australian Defence Force policy on tattoos:
  
  As things stand, ADF’s tattoo policy prohibits members from having visible head, neck, and face tattoos. Also, the body art shouldn’t be visible in a passport photo, which rules out tattoos in the eye area as well as these visible while wearing a t-shirt.
  
  However, the ADF reserves itself the rise to make exceptions to the general requirements since the consideration of a candidate with body art will be made in recognition of their religious beliefs and/or ethnic background.
  
  https://www.defencecareers.mil.nz/search/SearchForm?Search=tattoo
  
  American military policy on tattoos:
  
  https://www.army.mil/article/257828/army_eases_tattoo_restrictions_with_new_policy
  
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  September 13, 2023 3:28pm
BananaLlama

Looking forwards to voting ACT and delivering deep cuts to government departments in Wellington that have sucked the life out of this country and delivered 10 billion deficits to our children.
19 0
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September 13, 2023 1:15pm
Maggie Pie

My partner was saying how dire the house building industry is looking in Oz.
Apparently, there’s been ANOTHER big Property Developer over there just go tits up, leaving more than 200 home-buyers in the shite!

Hopefully we might see a lot of properly qualified and skilled Tradies come here…..rather than all those hammer-hands and their families from India. As Katie said early this morning, there has to be a limit as to how many Uber Drivers we need.
11 1
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September 13, 2023 1:24pm
- bjools
  
  Remind me…Australia has a Labour Govt, too?
  
  4 2
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  September 13, 2023 1:30pm
  - NZer In Exile
    
    Wall to wall Labour. Tasmania the only state that isn’t.
    
    Too many troughers at the public or union trough. An endless cycle of “grey” corruption.
    
    It’s all down hill from here.
    
    8 1
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    September 13, 2023 1:57pm
James Stephenson

I’m amused to see that in rushing the claim underdog status ahead of the election debates, Luxon has said “But I tell you what the country needs is not a great debater. What they need is a great manager.”

Not sure how many downticks I got the other day for voicing the opinion that he was a manager and not a leader, but it seems at least he agrees with me.
16 0
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September 13, 2023 1:25pm
- bjools
  
  A great leader MUST be a great manager, otherwise he is a dictator. He can’t do it alone and Luxon seems to recognize that.
  Hipkins is neither a great manager or leader.
  Q:
  1. Who has he lead, what has lead and to where?
  2. What has managed and what were the results?
  It appears.
  A:
  1. Nobody and nothing, he has a great number of “loose cannons on deck” saying what thry like and lying about everything.
  2. He has only managed to make everything he touches….worse.
  But to be fair, Jacinda started the incompetency ball rolling.
  
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  September 13, 2023 1:37pm
  - Benedict Yu
    
    Good points.
    
    Inevitably a National Government will have Ministerial failures, scandals, incompetents. Hopefully not many, but it happens. I predict Luxon will act ruthlessly. He will have seen what has happened with Jacinda. Also, I have read the bios of every National candidate. He will have competent backbenchers who can be given a shot if a Minister walks the plank. That is totally opposite of the last 6 years.
    
    8 0
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    September 13, 2023 5:39pm
- Prince
  
  A great manager is a great leader.
  Sets the goals, communicates them well, delegates to competent people, manages performance both good and bad.
  
  10 0
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  September 13, 2023 2:44pm
  - Steve Otto(North Shore)
    
    Stop making sense.
    
    3 0
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    September 13, 2023 5:08pm
- kevn
  
  James… Indeed. There is a big bunch of very good people for him to manage.
  
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  September 13, 2023 4:41pm
cmm

I drive past a very fancy new housing development that makes up about 6 of the 100,000 houses Labour built for us.

Fantastic looking, new place. I’d be more than happy to live there…. Well maybe not any more.

The last few weeks the tenants started moving in. Already noticing rubbish strewn around.
16 0
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September 13, 2023 2:48pm
- Blog-aholic
  
  I hear tell of a site in the North Islands gang capital recently finished, furnished and the night before the ‘tenants’from KO were to move in they were cleaned out of furniture and fittings…..surrounded of course by several gangs who were ‘keeping an eye on them’….
  
  8 0
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  September 13, 2023 3:50pm
  - kevn
    
    Blog… Sounds like a Vegas hapening.
    
    5 0
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    September 13, 2023 4:39pm
kevn

cmm… Add a few car wrecks and broken bottles to certify it as an up-coming slum.
Sadly.
Plus they can’t be evicted or made to keep the place tidy.
8 0
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September 13, 2023 2:51pm
- kowtow
  
  Then the un restrained , unregistered, nasty dog breeds , followed by no more mail deliveries …..
  
  5 0
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  September 13, 2023 5:06pm
  - kevn
    
    kow… In Rotorua even the pizza delivery folk pulled out.
    
    4 0
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    September 13, 2023 5:29pm
Tasman devil

Luxon called Hipkins a great debater.
He referred to his huge experience in debating.

Did he mean Hipkins was a mass debater?

Just asking for a taxpayer.
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September 13, 2023 3:02pm
- Blog-aholic
  
  Maybe he meant he was good in a large gathering as in good at mass debating?
  
  3 1
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  September 13, 2023 3:51pm
  - Don Beckett
    
    Hipkins would be good at mass-debating, even if he was on his own. 😆
    
    2 2
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    September 13, 2023 5:25pm
Mrs_Right

New poll out tonight on TV One News.
5 1
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September 13, 2023 4:53pm
All_on_Red

Netherlands Police use Water Cannon on Climate Protestors and detain thousands.
To a cheering crowd they all get a good soaking before being dragged off.
I loved this part
‘Many agitators took their children to the protests — in one case, even a kid as young as six. The police referred the detained children to the country’s domestic abuse watchdog. The referral apparently upset some of the parents who dragged minors to the protests, a report on the Dutch News website suggests.’

Children shouldn’t be used as political pawns
https://legalinsurrection.com/2023/09/netherlands-police-detain-thousands-of-climate-militants-amid-massive-traffic-disruptions/
9 0
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September 13, 2023 5:07pm
- Benedict Yu
  
  Sadly, the Netherlands is the European Canada. 🙁
  
  4 0
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  September 13, 2023 5:31pm
  - NZer In Exile
    
    The UK has a lot of mental crap going on as well.
    
    1 0
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    September 13, 2023 6:42pm
Don Beckett

Hipkins would be good at mass-debating, even if he was on his own. 😆
3 2
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September 13, 2023 5:24pm
Benedict Yu

This has happened before of course.

“I can’t serve you’: Kiwi man barred from Australian pub because of his moko”

https://www.stuff.co.nz/world/australia/300970097/i-cant-serve-you-kiwi-man-barred-from-australian-pub-because-of-his-moko

I can see both sides here. This guy is an army veteran. He comes across as a nice guy.

However, this has happened before. IIRC a woman with tattoos complained because Air New Zealand would not hire her as a flight attendant.

This guy has, let’s be honest, ‘confronting’ facial tattoos. There are certain people who would totally freak out. All Japanese tourists for starters. So the bar is probably acting in its commercial interests.

The reality is that if you have full facial tattoos, it comes with a cost of partial social exclusion. I wish it were otherwise, because I have no issues with the practice. However, that is not the reality.
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September 13, 2023 5:29pm
- BananaLlama
  
  Guy serves in the military so he can tell others what to do with their property, many such cases.
  
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  September 13, 2023 5:38pm
- NothingLeft
  
  A lot of full facial tats are done within gang context with intent to intimidate and also make the person unemployable and irrevocably committed to gang. Screw them, they should lose acceptance, they are predators and parasites on society, and in a more rational world would be permanently excluded from the society they exploit.
  
  3 0
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  September 13, 2023 6:09pm
  - Maggie Pie
    
    Shame the same rules don’t apply in the Patisseries of Paris.
    
    2 1
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    September 13, 2023 6:37pm
- Warren
  
  If he owns or leases the bar it’s his right, as much as I disagree if guy hasn’t given them reason.
  
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  September 13, 2023 6:31pm
kevn

BY… He could wear a balaclava? A smiley face one.
Or just go home a have beer in front of the TV.
3 0
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September 13, 2023 5:34pm
greybeard

https://www.stuff.co.nz/taranaki-daily-news/132929502/man-given-home-detention-for-hitandrun-which-shattered-victims-life
Another piece of shit who deserves years away from the public, in prison.
He will do it again.
6 0
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September 13, 2023 5:44pm
Ghost

I decided to watch the news for a few minutes, now back to the Block. But I have come to the conclusion that a vote for Chirs Hipkins is a vote for a heart attack. He always seems to be in the news eating crap, pies, sausage rolls or cake, and now tonight donuts. seriously nz media enough of showing him shoving food in his mouth.
11 0
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September 13, 2023 6:13pm
- Benedict Yu
  
  I had exactly the same thought. 🙁 Horrible.
  
  He needs a crash diet of Gua bao and bubble tea.
  
  6 0
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  September 13, 2023 6:20pm
- greybeard
  
  It is his constant bloody smirk which gets me: no matter what he is saying there is this ghastly smirk, and his eyes are disconnected to his speech.
  Programmed in some way.
  
  7 0
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  September 13, 2023 6:57pm
  - kevn
    
    grey… aka fake.
    
    3 0
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    September 13, 2023 7:13pm
Warren

It’s obvious that Hipkins and Labour are waiting for Jessica Mutch McKay , Tova O’Brien and Jenna Lynch to promote all the Economists that they have jacked up to tear Nationals Tax Cuts and Housing Tax policy apart as was announced on One News tonight.
The News Media are terrified that National will win the upcoming General Election and will stop at nothing to stop them.
13 1
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September 13, 2023 6:23pm
- Mrs_Right
  
  Yes, it was a pathetic effort by Jessica Mutch McKay.
  
  7 1
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  September 13, 2023 6:42pm
  - NeverMindTheBollocks
    
    She had those mad poppy eyes when she wants to emphasise things. It’s an unfortunate personal trait for a TV journalist.
    
    3 0
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    September 13, 2023 9:11pm
- Prince
  
  That’s fine. Let them publicise National’s tax cut package every night.
  Whether it is ‘fully funded’ or not, does anyone believe Labour/Greens/TPM will stay within any Operating Budget in the next three years ?
  I expect Labour’s tame economist Shamubeel Eaqub to be at the head of the attacks. He who assured us Labour’s shadow budget was sound in 2017 – before Labour put us $30B more in debt by 2020.
  
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  September 13, 2023 7:30pm
  - NeverMindTheBollocks
    
    And Craig Rennie
    
    1 0
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    September 13, 2023 9:12pm
Ghost

What an horrific story

A Virginia high school student ran away from home and was sex-trafficked through multiple states — in part because her high school failed to tell the child’s parents she identified as a male and was relentlessly bullied for it, a suit alleges.

“They stole my right to protect my daughter,” grandmother and adoptive mother Michele Blair told the Washington Examiner of Sage, now 16.

Article
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September 13, 2023 6:43pm
Ghost

Military shouldn’t be allowed to use starlink. It would just make starlink a target

US Senator Elizabeth Warren has called on Congress to investigate Elon Musk over his refusal to enable a Ukrainian drone attack on the Russian naval fleet in Crimea. Despite condemnation in Washington, Musk has defended his decision to cut satellite service to the Ukrainian military.

Article
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September 13, 2023 6:54pm
greybeard

TV1 poll is very kind to Winston, Labour and maori.
5 1
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September 13, 2023 7:05pm
Swifty

KiwiKai – coming soon to your community!

https://i.stuff.co.nz/waikato-times/waikato-top-stories/300970045/te-pti-moris-fresh-new-policy-seeks-to-take-control-from-big-supermarkets

Be afraid, be very afraid.

Shortages, food rationing, prices skyrocketing and taxes going up markedly to pay for it all.

This is our future – it’s when not if. If anyone thinks that a change of government in Oct will put a stop to this madness they’re wrong. I confidently predict government farms, markets and food stations in the next few decades and all at an eye-watering cost to taxpayers.
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September 13, 2023 8:22pm
Prince

All those encouraging Luxon to discount Peters need to read the side panel of Polling on this Blog.
National/Act = 60 seats.
Labour/Greens/TPM = 53 Seats
NZ First = 7 seats.

If you want change, vote National.
If you can’t, vote Act.
But don’t throw NZ First out of the Lifeboat if you want a change of Government more that anything else.
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September 14, 2023 3:42pm

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